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Interview with Nige Rockett of Onslaught
By Metal Mark September 2007
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Thrash band Onslaught formed in England in the early 1980's. They
released three albums between 1985 and 1989 with Power from hell
(1985), the Force (1986) and In search of sanity (1989).However they
broke up in the early 1990's. Eventually the band reunited two years
ago and released Killing Peace earlier this year.
What has been the response to your “Killing Peace” album?
The response to ‘Killing Peace’ has been totally awesome, we couldn’t
have dreamed for a better reaction… the fans and press alike have
really welcomed us back and we can’t thank everyone enough for that…..
How did the idea for a reunion come about and how has the tour gone so
far?
Steve was responsible for the reformation of the band, he co-ordinated
the whole thing after individual discussions with all the band
members.
He had seen that the first 2 albums ‘Power from Hell’ and ‘The Force’
had been re-released and they were doing well, so it was clear there
was still interest and a demand for Onslaught in 2007... We felt we had
some unfinished business to take care of, so here we are….
The live side of things is unbelievable, the shows are really kicking,
great crowds, great reactions and we’re enjoying it more than ever…
In the 1980’s you did three albums and had three different singers.
Why did you pick Sy Keeler as the singer for the reunion album?
Because Sy is ‘the’ Onslaught’ vocalist… everyone considers it that
way… there would have been no Onslaught in 2007 if Sy wasn’t in the
band, it would never have worked…. Mo Mahoney would never be able to
deliver the whole Onslaught catalogue and neither would Steve Grimmett…
we wanted the best man back at the front of the band... |
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The band broke up in 1990 and reformed not long ago. Did any of you
see each other or keep in touch during that time?
We were in touch with each other on different levels after we split, I
kept in touch with Steve socially, whereas Steve was in touch with Sy
on a business basis and Jim as a friend, so we all kinda knew what
each other was still doing…
What was the British metal scene like in the mid to late 1980’s as the
New Wave of British Heavy Metal was fading away?
Crazy… thrash metal kicked in in a big way, the scene was absolutely
massive at the time and the gigs were just insane… we’re real proud to
be a part of all that… and now I see it all coming back around again…
there’s a lot of similar attitudes going on between the fans and the
bands..
There were a lot of speed metal bands in the United States and in
Germany in the mid to late 1980’s, but there didn’t seem to be as many
in England. Is that accurate and if so why do you think that was?
Yeah, that’s fair to say… even though there was a huge scene here
fan-wise, there wasn’t many good bands.. I really don’t know the
answer to why that was , but the kids at the time didn’t seem to wanna
play musical instruments, everyone just wanted to watch bands, stage
dive and get drunk… |
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In say 1985-1986 there was just speed metal or thrash. Now we have so
many more sub-genres like doom metal, black metal, death metal and
others. What do you about the different sounds that exist in today’s
metal scene and have any newer trends had an influence on your new
music?
I don’t really like the genre / sub genre thing, if its heavy and
aggressive then its cool, whether it be ‘thrash, death, black or
whatever metal, the origin is still the same its all derived from
‘thrash metal’..!!!!
None of the newer stuff really does it for me, I try to stay clear of
modern influences, I wouldn’t want it to subconsciously change the
style of Onslaught in any way….
What does the future hold for Onslaught?
We’re gonna be touring right through until next summer in support of
the ‘Killing Peace’ album….. We have many many shows in the pipeline,
which is awesome…
Also, we are working on new songs right now for the next album, which
we’re gonna be looking to record sometime after the festivals next
year….. Its sounding real heavy and fuckin aggressive…
Thanks for the interview buddy, much appreciated
Nige |
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www.onslaughtfromhell.com
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