Well, I usually listen to the classic Metal stuff, like Priest, Maiden, Scorpions, Accept, Anvil, Riot as well as others. I really don't listen to or buy a lot of recent so-called nu-Metal bands. that's not my cup of tea so to speak.
Do you remember your first step in
Metal ? Which Metal albums do you consider as timeless masterpieces ?
Around 1980, I bought an album called Metal Mania that contained songs
by Iron Maiden, Riot, Rainbow, Sabbath. that's what really got me into
Metal, and the rest his history. Albums I personally consider timeless
are "Restless And Wild" Accept, "Screaming For Vengeance"
Judas Priest, "Killers" Iron Maiden, "Fire Down Under"
Riot, "Denim & Leather" Saxon, "Animal Magnetism"
Scorpions. I could actually go on and on, there were so many great Metal
albums produced in the early 80's.
The band was created in ’83 with
you on drums, John Joseph on bass, Bob Mitchell on vocals, Pat Marinelli
and Dominic Spina on guitars. How did you meet the other members ? Also,
the first name of the band was WARLOC. Did you remove the K because of
the German band ?
I originally met Dominic Spina in college and he was working with Pat
Marinelli at the time. Bob Mitchell I knew from school and the town we
grew up in. John Joseph was a friend of pat and Dominics'. Warloc was
spelled without the k just to be different. We did not find out about
the German Warlock until later on, so we changed it to avoid conflict.
Later, Dominic Spina was replaced by
Jim Mooney. What were the reason for his departure ?
We really don't know why Dominic left. He just quit after our 1st gig.
then Jim, who was a friend of pat and John Joseph, stepped in.
We got the name actually from Lou Ciarlo, when he was still in Hades, since we had the song "(Call On) The Attacker". He suggested it and we took the name and him from Hades. I don't think we thought about if it was representative of the music, we just liked the name.
In ’84, you released a three song demo which got favourable
press and the attention of Metal Blade. Do you remember how many copies
of this tape were distributed / sold ? Were you astonished by the response
?
Honestly, I have no idea how many we sold. I know
it was a lot. We were definitely surprised by how good the response was,
we didn't really know what to expect, we just hoped that people liked
it.
Then the track “(Call On) The Attacker” was on
Metal Massacre 5 compilation LP. Did you see this apparition on Metal
Massacre 5 as a first achievement for ATTACKER ? Also considering that
the bands which got the best responses on Metal Massacre signed with Metal
Blade or Combat…
That was probably our most exciting moment, our
first piece of music to be on an album and was the stepping stone to our
metal blade contract.
Why bassist John Joseph was replaced by Jimmy Schulman ?
John began slacking off and just not playing to
the level we needed. When we got the Metal Blade deal, we realized that
the band needed a new bass player.
I also met Lou in college. I started hanging out with him and going to Hades rehearsals. We later began doing shows with Hades. Lou and his family are still today some of my closest friends.
Is it true that the bassist incident
resulting in additional costs for the recording annoyed Metal Blade ?
I really don't know, I guess since Brian Slagel had to lay out more money,
he might have been a little upset. But the album turned out better with
Lou's playing on it.
There was a cover
incident too, the original album cover is really fantastic ! But history
told a tragic accident destroyed it at Metal Blade office. Thence the
consequence was a cheesy cover for the first LP…
Yes, we heard that the cover was spotted in Metal Blades' office in not
very good condition. The cover we got was never shown to us before hand.
We were told it was just as good as the original. We all know how that
situation turned out !
The “Battle At Helm’s Deep” LP was released
in ’85. It is melodic and powerful Heavy Metal like “Disciple”
or “The Hermit”, epic pieces like “Battle At Helm’s
Deep” or “The Wrath Of Nevermore”, and anthems of madness
like “Slayer’s Blade” or “(Call On) The Attacker”.
What are your thoughts about this first album ?
I feel it was a good first album. It was very original, it did not sound
like anyone else. I'm very proud of it, as well as "the second coming".
It seems ATTACKER
didn’t tour for this LP, excepted for local gigs. So there was an
obvious lack of support from Metal Blade…
We were supposed to do some tours, but plans kept falling through for
us. I guess it was just bad luck. Metal blade really never got a chance
to support or not support us. We just could not seem to get a good tour
going.
How did the band
feel when Bob Mitchell left ? Did you at first think that it was the end
of the band ? Or had you already in the mind that the idea of a split
was out of question and ATTACKER had to continue with a new vocalist ?
Well, bob did not just quit, we were not happy with some issues with him
at the time and maybe he wanted to leave also, but it was mor e mutual,
we did not want him anymore and I guess he was'nt happy either. Since
lou and I ran the band anyway, him leaving had no impact on our future,
the rest of the band was the driving force, not one person. We knew we
just had to get another vocalist and move on.
I had seen John sing in a cover band in the early 80's and he impressed me. Lou got in touch with him thru a friend of his and he came down for an audition and did a great job, so we took him aboard the attacker team.
After John Leone was in the band, you
recorded a three song demo. Did it get the same response as the ’84
demo ?
We got amazing responses to that demo also. Everyone loved John Leone's
voice and the new songs as well.
Could
you explain why Jim Mooney left after the demo and was replaced by Tom
D’Amico ?
Jim just up and quit one at rehearsal because the singer, John did a scream
that mirrored a solo Jim was doing. Jim did not want any interference
with his solo. We told him it sounded great, but he freaked out and just
left. Tom saw an ad I had in a local rehearsal studio and called me. I
went to see him play and he blew me away. He was amazing.
The song “Emanon” appeared
on the “L’Amour Rocks” compilation lp in ‘87 and
the band signed with Mercenary. ATTACKER had to suffer from featuring
on demo / compilation LP instead of getting a real deal. Did you regret
not to find a suitable label with promo / tour support ?
At that time, Thrash was really happening. Finding a label for our brand
of music was tough, so we went with mercenary, not knowing what would
happen to the label.
“The Second Coming” LP
was released in ’88. It was not Thrash, but it was more Speed Metal
(“Lords Of Thunder”), straighter (“The Madness”),
more intense (“Emanon”) but still melodic (“Revelations
Of Evil”). I would have liked to ask how the response was for the
second LP, but I wonder if it is the right question, considering the very
poor distribution and promotion of Mercenary…
Review wise, it got much better reviews that the first album. Unfortunately,
until the re-releases, not many people got to hear it. especially in Europe,
our main market. I think it could have done well with the proper distribution
at that time.
Yeah, that cover was confusing. it was meant to be a statement of the world super powers at the time, the U.S. and Russia. One gun was American and one Russian. "Lords Of Thunde"r was basically about that.
There wasn't a real tour to support
the album. But have you good memories from the gigs you played with the
band ?
I always had a great time playing with ATTACKER. We met a lot of cool
people and bands throughout the years.
Because of the lack of promotion and
good distribution, ATTACKER was over in ’89. With Lou Ciarlo, you
formed Jersey Dogs, a Thrash Metal band which released the “Don’t
Worry, Get Angry” Ep on Wild Rags and the “Thrash Ranch”
LP on Grudge. Well, these two labels were as poorly distributed in Europe
as Mercenary… I never found these two vinyls, so can you tell the
story of Jersey Dogs ?
ATTACKER ended more because of the Thrash scene, which we were not. Lou
and I loved alot of the Thrash stuff and decided to start a different
heavier band. Wild Rags was a small company, but did a great job here
in the states. Grudge went out of business due to the stock market troubles
in 1990-91. Then the Seattle scene took over and we decided to call it
quits.
What have you done after Jersey Dogs
was over ?
I just played in a couple of other bands for fun, such as an Accept tribute
band called Restless & Wild. And an original band called Grill.
Sadly, Jim Mooney passed away in 2000.
The Metal world also lost J.D. Kimball, Paul Baloff, Chuck Shuldiner and
other talented musicians these last years…What good memories do
you keep of Jim ?
Jim was a very down to earth guy. We spoke on the phone very frequently
right up to the time of his passing. He was a true Metal lover and was
always playing his guitar. He was a good friend and I really miss talking
to him.
I guess you were satisfied with the
CD re-releases of “Battle At Helm’s Deep” and “The
Second Coming” on Sentinel Steel in ’99 because they are really
great stuffs...
Yes, I thank Denis from Sentinel Steel for doing a great job with those
re-issues. It helped start the fire in us to play again.
The current news are ATTACKER is back
with you on drums, Bob Mitchell on vocals, Felix Torres on bass, Pat Marinelli
and Mike Benetatos on guitars… And you signed a deal with German
label Iron Glory… And third album “Soul Taker” is recorded
and will be out in January 2004… How does this new album sound ?
And how do you feel to be back with ATTACKER ?
The new one is a mix of both previous ATTACKER album styles. I think everyone
will be very impressed. It is really great fun to play the old stuff again
as well as the new. It brings back some good memories.
I wish you all the best for the future
! Thank you for answering. If you have last words…
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to express myself and for remembering
ATTACKER. BUY THE NEW RECORD, IT'S GREAT!!!
Franang zine 17/12//06
