Who’d have thought that BOLT
THROWER would have appeared in the metal scene after a four year silence? Their
latest album «Mercenary» has made it clear for everyone that one of the best
death metal bands in the history of the European extreme metal scene is back! Bolt
throwers stuck to their guns and delivered a breakneck death with their usual
coolness and mercilessness. Well, it is not the year of 1991 when the band was
considered to be one of the most successful brutal bands in the UK, but
«Mercenary» still has all the brutality you are looking for from a BOLT THROWER
album... Five records within the period of 1988-1994 followed by the four year
silence - many of us have already abandoned hope to see them again. In the
early 1998 the European Metal Blade office suddenly announced that it was going
to sign a contract with BOLT THROWER. The release date of «Mercenary» was
delayed... four times! The Metal Blade employees would lose temper when we
would mention the name of the band. As it turned out, the musicians wanted to
do everything themselves, including mastering and cover. Finally, «Mercenary»
has been released and the waiting was over! And if the idea of the self-made
cover is still questionable - at least for me, - the quality of music dispels
any doubts: masters of war are back to unleash their mercenaries for another
crusade. The guitarist Gavin Ward is on-line...
First of all let me
congratulate you with the release of your album after four year silence! Thank
you! Why did you decide to do everything yourself: cover, mastering and stuff?
Because we were lucky to do it
that way. You see, loss of control means we don’t get the things how we want
them. Pretty basically.
Are you unsatisfied with the
work people do for you?
Sometimes we are. But not always
one hundred percent.
Is there any concept behind
the cover featuring the album?
Not really. It describes the
first signal that comes across the radio when you spot the enemy.
The picture describes the
events that took place during the World War the II, does it?
No.
So, what is it then?
Falkland Islands.
Are you pretty much into it?
No, no. It was just a concept
to the idea, we used an artist that does military artwork for the military.
Did Metal Blade like the cover
made by the musicians themselves?
They didn’t mind. With Metal
Blade the same as with Earache we have got full control over how we do stuff. We
can do whatever covers we want.
What have you been doing over
the four years?
Well, to start with... we
basically toured Europe twice, quite a few countries in Europe. And then it
took a while to get off the Earache. At that time we were still on Earache. In
the end we basically had to wait to be dropped. So, amongst the four years we
toured a bit, gone off the Earache, signed on and started writing «Mercenary».
You were not satisfied with
Earache, weren’t you?
No.
Are you satisfied with Metal
Blade, the label you signed a deal with?
Oh yes, of course. At this
point everything is being good. Who knows how it will go in the future, but at
this point everything is going really good with them. They have obviously put a
lot more promotion than Earache would have done. The band is a lot more
priority than in Earache.
How did you manage to sign a
contract with Metal Blade?
Basically through Michael. He
runs the European office of Metal Blade. He was a friend of ours, he used to
come to the gigs. So, we’ve known him over a long period of time. We talked to
him about signing to Metal Blade, we basically kept it quiet until everything
was really clear with Earache.
You delayed the release date
of the album four times. What made you play on the nerves of your fans for such
a long time?
We had to. Well, we hadn’t got
the cover done, we hadn’t got the booklet artwork done. We were waiting for the
graphics being done. So, we did delays a couple of times. And we also did the
mastering three times. We didn’t like the sound. The third mastering wasn’t
probably too bad, but we decided in the end to make the mastering in England. We
mastered all the year around.
It seems to me you were
working really hard this time! After a four year silence you had to show
everybody «who was who», hadn’t you?
Oh yeah. Probably, even more
this time. ‘Cos we got a lot more hands on the recording, putting the sound,
producing it.
I suppose Metal Blade was
really pissed off with your delaying the release of «Mercenary».
Oh, of course. They were,
probably, promising the release dates... But first - Earache, then we were
signing to Metal Blade, and we were making sure the album was right.
Did you argue a lot at that
point with Metal Blade?
No! They were very supportive.
And we used to walk at our own pace. We obviously made sure it was right before
it gets released. It is important for us to have full control.
Dave, your new vocalist after
Martin, has left BENEDICTION for BOLT THROWER. Yet he presently lives in
Denmark. How do you keep in touch with each other?
Well, we have computers and
faxes, no problems. Plus Martin lived in Holland when we lived in England. It
is just the same.
Rumor has it that Dave moved
to Denmark because of a woman who lives in the country...
Oh, I don’t know the stories
of David’s leaving BENEDICTION. But he definitely got married after moving to
Denmark. But it’s another story, I don’t really know.
The image of war has always
been the distinctive feature of BOLT THROWER. Are you really that fascinated by
war?
I had an interest to war
basically since I was a kid. My brother is in the army, my father was in the
army, my uncle... from that sort of background anyway. And I have always been
interested with reading history books. So, it was my concept for BOLT THROWER
doing that, and the members were also interested. So, it’s a natural thing to
do.
And what do you think about
war in general? You sing about it so much.
Hmm, hard question. I’d
probably need a few hours to even think of the answer, ha ha! You know what I
mean?
I can wait!
You’ll have to!
Joe Bench - female bass player
in BOLT THROWER. Is it complicated to play with a woman in the death metal
band?
No, it is easy. For us it
really didn’t matter - male, female. She is certainly involved in this sort of
music. She is obviously hundred percent into it. She is probably was one of the
original members. But she is probably closer to the five-piece. So, she’s being
in, probably, for ten or eleven years at this point. She’s totally dedicated to
it. That’s why we had to swap people around, it’s not something we like to do. But
we do expect one hundred percent loyalty. And hundred percent dedication to us
and the band. And if we don’t get that we used to get rid of them.
What could you say about the
reaction of fans and mass media on the latest album?
Oh, the reaction’s being very
good at this point. But we never thought about it. When you record an album,
when you release it, you never know if anyone buys it or likes it. But everything
is being good, feedback is being very good.
What is the first thing that
comes to your mind when you recollect the early ‘90s in the UK?
At that point there was not a
real scene, or no real audience for the bands like CARCASS, NAPALM DEATH, BOLT
THROWER. There was obviously a lot of English bands, not American or European. At
that point there was no crowd. There was just bands that started to play that
sort of music.
Do you think death metal was
popular in the UK back then?
Probably was. But I’d say the
UK has probably more of a trend scene. I have seen in Europe the fans are more
dedicated. That’s why we don’t play in England. We stopped playing there about
five years ago. We could easily, we are offered gigs, but we don’t play. BOLT
THROWER is a lot smaller band for England, in the other countries we are a lot
bigger. So, we go to where we want.
Is there anything going on in
the death metal scene nowadays in England?
Probably. Black metal has got
a lot bigger. In England it’s not so big. In England we don’t read all those
magazines, we don’t read that crap. It’s just mainstream. Kerrang! is probably
more mainstream, Metal Hammer is not very good in England. There’s big
difference between German Metal Hammer and the English one.
It seems to me, you are very
selective, very picky about the places you play gigs in.
Yes. We pick where we play. Simply
we haven’t got management, we manage the band ourselves. So, we make the right
decisions. We vote, and if one person doesn’t wanna do it, it doesn’t happen. We
wanna play pretty reasonable gigs, in big venues. They must be where we wanna
play.
Well, and finally, Gavin, I
would like to make sure your fans won’t be waiting for your next album for so
long!
Oh! They won’t wait that long!