Interviews - Live 4 Metal

Interview with Paul Arnold of At War
January 2008 by Metal Mark

Speed metal band At War hail from the Virginia Beach area and released a couple of albums in the 1980’s. Now they are back, they have been playing shows and have a new album in the works. I recently got to speak with vocalist/bass player Paul Arnold to find out more.

You reformed about a year ago, what are you currently working on?
We are currently working on our newest CD it will be called "Infidel"! We are also rehearsing for our first appearance in Germany at the "Thrash Assault II" Festival.

Do you currently have a label or will you be shopping your album around for a label or releasing it yourselves?
We will shop around and do have interest already, but we may choose to release it on my label "Warmetal Records". It all depends.

What were you doing before reforming the band?
I have an Electrical and HVAC contracting company that keeps me busy.

Why did you break up in the first place?
We never really officially broke up. Other things in our lives consume our time, but we never broke up.

There have been a number of younger bands that play old style thrash popping up recently like Merciless Death, Fueled by fire and Municipal Waste. Do you think old style thrash is making a comeback?
It looks as though it has, and I couldn’t be happier. The thrash scene seems to be one of the more tightly knit groups out there and we're proud to be a part of it. I also dig bands like Merciless Death, Toxic Holocaust, and Municipal Waste.

If so then what role does At War play at this point?
I'm not sure we have a "role". Hell we do what At War does for the people who want to hear it and mostly for ourselves. People are always going to try to put you in a specific place in the scene and I just leave that to the people who want to do that. In the meantime I think we'll just keep playing real metal!

You formed into 1983. Where you playing speed metal when you started or did you progress into that style?
We started out playing the more obscure and faster songs from the bands we looked as at the time as being cutting edge in the world of metal, but we always gravitated towards the faster and more aggressive styles.

Back in the 1980’s were there that many metal bands besides you in the Virginia Beach area?
There we're a few hair bands but nothing like At War... that's for sure.

Did you ever play much outside of the east coast?
Absolutely! We played all over the US and Canada. We also got tons of airplay and record sales in Europe and South America.

You still have the same band line-up. It seems like every band that formed in the 80’s has changed at least one member. What’s your secret?
We are great friends and we all share the same feelings about At War. It is "OUR" band collectively. At War is held in high regard among all three of us and see it as our badges of honor to be proud of.

Did you have any other label interest before signing with New Renaissance?
Yes we were offered quite a few deals from Combat, RoadRunner and Metal Blade, but went with NR. Their deal was what we felt was the best for us at the time.

Along with you, New Renaissance also had such great bands as Executioner, Medieval and Blood Feast. Yet it seemed everyone who was on that label never went anywhere. Any ideas why?
Small label, small budget. In retrospect it is true that NR just didn’t have the resources to really develop a band the way the bigger labels could.

With the war going on, have you ever had anyone say something negative to you about your band name?
Never. Even if they did it wouldn’t mean a thing.

What metal bands do you like that have popped up in the last say ten years?
I like Merciless Death, 3 Inches of Blood, Toxic Holocaust, and even though it's more punk, I really like the Casualties.

Is there anything that you wished you had done differently in your career?
You know... you can go down this would of, could of road all day and in the end it's not going to change a thing. Do I wish some things could have happened differently? Hell yes I do. I do feel that what we did do and are doing and will do with At War is definitely going to make an impact on metal fans all across the world. There are plenty of At War fans and we are here for them.

Anything else you want to say about your band or your music?
Keep your ears open for the new CD from At War entitled "Infidel" and an all new Live DVD all to be released in 2008. Thanks to you and all the At War fans for all the support through all the years. Check us out at