REVERENCE Interview
Published Date Written by Verkaim Hits: 224
Genre: Power metal
1. Hello! How are you? What kind of feelings do you have now that your debut album entitled “When Darkness Call” is released? Which are your expectations from it?
Hello Nick, I am well thank you for allowing me to indulge my new band to your readers. So far both fan and media feedback has been amazing, we’ve had nothing but positive reviews of the new album. We feel very fortunate to have all of the support that’s been shown to us. As far as expectations, we tried not to get our hopes too high, we knew we had some good songs but when we’re so close to the songs it’s hard to be subjective knowing when something is good or bad. We did release a few demo clips to the fans and that helped a lot with knowing how people felt so we felt confident we were on the right track.
2. How and under which circumstances did you decide to form REVERENCE? How easy or difficult was it to find a stable line – up?
Well I had just left TOKYO BLADE, in fact I knew things were not likely to last while we were on the last tour so I needed to decide what I wanted to do. I came home from the tour took some time off for the holidays and felt I couldn’t just give up and quit so I started searching and quickly came across Todd’s MySpace page, I contacted him agreed to joined forces and got a game plan together. We started writing, after a few songs I approached my old friend Steve ‘Dr. Killdrums’ Wacholz and he signed on immediately. The songs really called for two guitarists so Doc suggested a friend of his Pete Rossi, a total shredder guitarist from Pittsburg whom Doc had played with before, upon hearing the demos Pete eagerly joined on. Frank Kruckel my bassist in TOKYO BLADE joined as well and recorded the album with us but had to bow out due to some personal circumstances so Todd contacted Ned Meloni and he joined without hesitation. So in reality the band came together pretty quickly and easily, no one has huge egos, which was the downfall of TOKYO BLADE, so this is a really pleasant experience so far.
3. By the way can you present us the current line – up?
Sure, vocalist Todd Hall and myself on guitar formed the band together in early 2010 and are the core songwriters, Todd is currently in JACK STARR’S BURNING STARR and I was formerly the guitarist for NWOBMH band TOKYO BLADE and ARREST. I have known former SAVATAGE, CRIMSON GLORY drummer Steve ‘Dr. KIlldrums’ Wacholz for over 15 years, he came onboard upon hearing the early demos. Doc then suggested guitar shredder Pete Rossi, formerly of SANXTION as our second guitarist, Pete and I have very similar influences so our styles are very complimentary and worked very well. Todd then brought in bassist Ned Meloni, also from JACK STARR’S BURNING STARR and also FUNNY MONEY.
4. Also I know that you have played or you still participate in other bands, so how do you find time for REVERENCE and is REVERENCE a band or more of a project?
Without a doubt REVERENCE IS a band not a project, I’ve actually begun writing for the next album even while we’re still promoting “When Darkness Calls”. So we plan on REVERENCE continuing on as long as the fans will have us! I don’t have any other outside projects, REVERENCE is my only band and my main focus, Doc doesn’t have any other musical ventures either. Todd and Ned are still members of BURNING STARR but we haven’t had any scheduling issues yet. Pete also has a local band he plays with in Pittsburg so he stays active doing that too. I had been asked to join a few other known acts but I really wanted to build my own band. So far I don’t feel I’m spread too thinly and working even though REVERENCE does take an enormous amount of time.
5. I think that there are many people who will read this interview and haven’t checked Reverence out yet, so please give them a description of your sound in a way that you think will attract their interest. Can you also tell us which bands you consider as your influence?
Well I think if you are a fan of the older-school early to mid 80’s metal such as JUDAS PRIEST, early QUEENSRYCHE, SAVATAGE, DIO, HELLOWEEN and SCORPIONS then we are right up your alley. We purposely geared REVERENCE to sound like the bands we grew up loving but with our own spin on it, which seems to have been lost in today’s music. We have a lot of big guitar riffs, harmony guitars and shredding solos, a 4 octave screaming vocalist and the best rhythm section in the business with big memorable choruses and fist pumping arena anthems… everything a metalhead will love!
6. How long did it take you to compose and produce “When Darkness Call”? Did you have any difficulties in the whole process and if yes what kind?
We really took our time in the writing sessions. We really wanted to make sure this was a quality album. We wrote for over a year but didn’t really have any difficulties. We did a lot of tweaking and editing of arrangements just trying to perfect the sounds we wanted on the final product. We hit the studio on 11/11/11 to record the rhythm section and then we recorded the guitars and vocals in our home studios, we did that simply due to the amount of tracks we knew would be needed and we wanted a stress free environment. We then finished up mixing and mastering with Sid Garcia at Sight16 Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the spring. We’re very happy with the final product, I think Sid did an exceptional job on our album. He’s definitely an upcoming producer.
7. From all the songs included in your debut album which one was the quickest to compose and which one gave you the hardest times and why?
I think “Monster” was the fastest, I recall throwing that one together over a weekend just before heading out on vacation as I wanted to give Todd something to work on while I was gone, within a few days he had the basic lyrics and melodies written. “Too Late” was also a faster one, it just seemed to flow quickly once I got the main riff written, I felt really good about that one and knew it was gonna be special what Todd came up with for the vocals just blew me away. I think the last couple of the heavier songs I wrote were “Devil in Disguise” and “When Darkness Calls”, both of those seemed tougher to wrap up simply because I felt we were close to having enough songs for the album and I wanted to be done writing so we could move on with other aspects of the production so I think it was more struggling within myself more than anything, but over all there weren’t any real difficulties, it was really amazing writing with Todd. I’m really looking forward to working on the next album which now Ned and Pete can be a bigger part of with writing.
8. How did the deal with Razar Ice Records occur? Are you satisfied with the cooperation so far? Is there anything that you would like your label to do more for you?
You know Razar Ice has been a very, very cool label, they’ve poured lots of money and support into REVERENCE. Not many labels are supporting their bands like they have with us including tour support which is being planned for November 2012 and more touring in 2013. I have been affiliated with Razar Ice since they worked with the album and DVD releases while I was in TOKYO BLADE.
9. You have chosen to do a video – clip for “Too Late”. Why did you choose to visualize this specific song? How was the whole experience of video – shooting? Did something funny occur that you would like to share with us?
Like I said above “Too Late” was always kinda special to us, it seemed like one of the strongest songs on the album with a real big hooky chorus, it seemed the most logical to promote as a single with it being a bit more commercial sounding. The video shoot was a lot of fun and a lot of work all at the same time, the location was amazing and is also where we did our most recent photo shoot, it was a very old building from the Civil War period and was basically falling apart so it could be a really dangerous place too and I’m sure it was full of toxic asbestos, pigeon crap and complete filth but at the same time that’s what made it so appealing for the video and photo shoots. The most memorable part for me was that we all had to record solo video shots and to me it was really amazing to watch Doc doing his solo shots, he hits his drums so F’in hard, hence the nickname ‘Killdrums’ and he was a complete showman and professional as was everyone, the shoot went very smoothly, no egos, no bitching, no complaining, totally professionals. I could’t ask for better bandmates and partners in REVERENCE.
Official ‘Too Late” Video: http://youtu.be/B4GzT_geBKM
10. How have the press and fans received your new album so far? Which is the best comment that you have received and which was the worst or the most bizarre one?
We really haven’t had any crazy comments yet, all the reviews we’ve seen have been 8/10 or higher, many are saying this could even be a contender for album of the year to them. After so much hard work, time and money spent on this it’s really rewarding to hear those kinds of things and then to have fans embrace the band and album so much is truly humbling. Probably one of the best ones was a response to the “Too Late” song/video and they said something like “That was the best 5 minutes and 19 seconds of my life”. To me that’s a massive compliment and is the entire reason we do what we do!
11. A decade ago things for heavy metal were not so good in the U.S.A. Lately I feel that this has changed. Which are your feelings and thoughts about the current U.S. metal scene?
Well, being in the USA I still think the scene here sucks but there is an underground movement similar to what we had in the early 80’s but we are still a long way from being like it was in the heyday. I do think people are getting tired of hearing every band trying to sound like NICKELBACK, GODSMACK and DISTURBED and are looking back to what they used to love. We’re hoping things continue to improve but until then we’ll be taking our show to the fans in Europe, UK, Scandinavian, etc. those fans still really embrace the metal scene and never let go of it. We’d love to play in the US but it’s just not in the cards quite yet.
12. Thanks for your time answering my questions. The album is very good and I wish you the best of luck! Please put an epilogue to our interview…
It’s been my pleasure Nick, we really appreciate your and everyone’s support so far. It’s been amazing to see so much love for our brand of metal and gives us hope for the future of this style of music. It can and will come back and we’re ready to be a part of it!
You can check out REVERENCE at these links.
Keep It Loud! ~ Bryan
RN: reverbnation.com/reverenceofficial
FB: facebook.com/reverencemetal
Web: reverencemetal.com
Twitter: @ReverenceMetal
Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis
http://www.behindtheveil.hostingsiteforfree.com/index.php/interviews/676-reverence-interview
