What with the resurgance in old school thrash gather momentum every day, Planet Loud caught up with one of those bands, the mighty SkeletonWitch to talk about Metallica, thrash gigs and 80s thrash metal.
Planet Loud – Hey guys, how’s it going today?
SkeletonWitch – Very well, actually. We just returned from a 30-day tour with Dying Fetus and Cephalic Carnage. When you’re having such a fucking awesome time on tour nobody really wants to go home, but I suppose it’s nice to have a break every once and a while.
Planet Loud – For anyone who hasn’t heard of SkeletonWitch, who are you?
SkeletonWitch – Five metal maniacs from Athens, Ohio, who play in a blackened-thrash band, love to punish themselves through relentless touring and drinking, and listen to a lot of Mercyful Fate!
Planet Loud – You’ve just been out on tour around the States, how did that go?
SkeletonWitch – Fucking killer!! We were on tour with Dying Fetus, Cephalic Carnage, and Year of Desolation. It was quite an honour for us, to be honest. When I fist met Nate (the other guitar player) he LIVED in a Dying Fetus hoodie. We never thought that years later we be touring the U.S. with them. Definitely the coolest bunch of guys that we’ve ever hit the road with. The tour was supposed to include The Absence and Demiricous. Unfortunately, the Absence had some drummer problems and never made it to a single show, and Demiricous was with us for about a couple of weeks but had some managerial issues and had to drop off. They were amazing dudes and we had a great fucking time with them. It was a sad day when they had to return home.
Planet Loud – Any good stories you can tell us about? What about the other bands..? You guys must have all got pretty fucked up after the shows?
SkeletonWitch – It’s pretty safe to say that everybody got good and fucked up. We, as usual, drank gallons of beer and the other bands, while they drank their share as well, seemed to prefer the “herbal treatments” if you know what I mean. And by that I mean that they smoked a ton of weed.
Planet Loud – What is your live show like?
SkeletonWitch – We get on the stage every night with the intention of ripping everyone’s head off. Our show is extremely energetic and extremely important to us. We put a lot of time and effort into it.
Planet Loud – You’ve got a truly awesome thrash sound. Which bands inspire you?
SkeletonWitch – Thanks for the compliment! Skeletonwitch is largely inspired by 80s thrash, 90s death, and black metal. Some of our favourites include Exodus, Demolition Hammer, Immortal, Testament, early Anthrax, Kampfar, Nuclear Assault, Amon Amarth, Death, Morbid Angel, Dismember, Entombed, Mercyful Fate etc….
Planet Loud – Do you remember your first ever thrash gig? What about your first mosh pit?
SkeletonWitch – When I was 14 or 15 my older brother took me to see Slayer, and it melted my fucking face off!! Honestly, it changed the course of my life. Other than Chance, our singer, I’m not sure about anyone else’s first thrash gig. I believe his was D.R.I.!
Planet Loud – When you were growing up did you have a denim covered in patches or a leather with a painted design on the back?
SkeletonWitch – Chance had denim with old ass Sepultura, Metallica, Exodus and D.R.I. patches. But mostly we all just had our favourite t-shirts that we wore fucking constantly. Mullet Chad had black-tactical-pants, Metallica shirt outfit that he lived in!
Planet Loud – If you could put together the ultimate thrash band who would it be?
SkeletonWitch – This is really tough!! There are so many people that I’d want to include, but here goes…… Drums- Dave Lombardo, Bass-Dan Lilker or Cliff Burton, Guitars- Eric Peterson, Chuck Schuldiner, and Gary Holt (yeah, I’d have three) and vocals- Bobby “blitz” Ellsworth.
Planet Loud – Metallica have had 3 different bassists now – who is your favourite?
SkeletonWitch – No offence to any parties involved, but christ, this is an easy one. There is only one answer to this question and you know what it is!
Planet Loud – Are you looking forward to the new Metallica album?
SkeletonWitch – No.
Planet Loud – Okay, you’ve got an album out through Prosthetic Records, care to plug it a bit?
SkeletonWitch – Sure. The album is called “Beyond the Permafrost” and was released in the U.S. in October, and Europe in November. We recorded it at Karma Studios in Richmond, Virginia, with Cory Smoot. Cory plays guitar in GWAR (Flattus Maximus) and has produced GWAR and Municipal Waste albums, among others. We’re extremely proud of “Beyond the Permafrost” as it’s unquestionably the best (and best-sounding) material we’ve released yet! Check some songs/pics/info out at www.myspace.com/skeletonwitch
Planet Loud – What inspired the lyrics on the album?
SkeletonWitch – That’s a difficult question, because everything around us influences everything we do. Chances, our singer, writes all of the lyrics and comes up with all of the song titles. A lot of the lyrics, I believe, deal with very simple and real emotions and themes such as betrayal, revenge, rage, etc….filtered through unreal elements such as vampires, epic battles, gory shit etc…
Planet Loud – If someone asked you to describe what thrash metal was, how would you describe it?
SkeletonWitch – Demolition Hammer’s “Tortured Existence”.
Planet Loud – What is your favourite thrash metal album of all time?
SkeletonWitch – This really is an unfair question…hahah! I’m sure I’ll answer it differently in the next interview that I do!! I’m going to go with Megadeth’s “Killing is My Business” minus “These Boots”!
Planet Loud – Which one particular song makes you want to bang your head till your ears bleed?
SkeletonWitch – “Killing is my Business”
Planet Loud – Okay, bands like Municipal Waste are bringing thrash to the limelight again. Do you think this is a good thing?
SkeletonWitch – Absolutely! It’s great to see kids getting so into thrash metal! Hopefully it’s benefiting the bands that were involved in the genesis of thrash metal in the 70s and 80s as well as the bands that have been carrying the torch since then! I also don’t know if I would throw around terms such as “revival” or “resurgence” to what’s occuring. As I mentioned earlier, it’s great that people are getting into bands like Municipal Waste, Merciless Death, SSS, Fuelled by Fire, etc…because they’re awesome bands. But I wouldn’t consider Skeletonwitch a “retro-thrash-revival” band.
Planet Loud – Do you think that modern thrash is good for the metal scene?
SkeletonWitch – Sure. So are modern death metal, black metal, grindcore, crust, doom, trashcan metal, and what’s-it metal. Of course some shit is better than others, but it’s great to have a healthy metal scene.
Planet Loud – Okay, what has been the highlight of 2007?
SkeletonWitch – For me it was meeting Pete Sandoval in Tampa, Florida, while on tour w/ Dying Fetus.
Planet Loud – What are your goals for 2008?
SkeletonWitch – Touring as much as possible and writing during the breaks. We’re planning to do a full European tour in late Spring or early Summer, so keep an eye out for tour dates!
Planet Loud – When are you going to come over to the UK?
SkeletonWitch – Spring/early Summer. The dates have yet to be determined, but we can’t fucking wait.
Planet Loud – Any message for the metal thrashing maniacs reading this interview?
SkeletonWitch – Fire up the fucking skullheads!!!
Interview by Graham Finney
