eGigs Goes a-Raiding

Having seen Blood Island Raiders tear Prestatyn a new one mere weeks before, eGigs locked horns with the very metal Reverend Al to discuss the finer things in life, like comic books and Iron Maiden.

We caught your set on the Thrash/Power Metal stage at Hammerfest a couple of weeks back. You're not really thrash or power metal are you?
Not really, I'd say we are heavy metal, plain and simple. I grew up with the classic thrash bands and still listen to them a lot. They are a huge influence on my playing and there are songs that are thrash based but then we also have a lot of 70's rock influences. As for power metal, not really into the bands that are described that way now but love what was called power metal in the 80s – Omen, Savatage, Sword, Sanctuary and so on.

What's with the name? Sounds suspiciously piratey - what's wrong with Daffodil Island Smilers?
That was clearly our first choice, but y'know how it is. Comes from a song by the old thrash band Decimator who got it from an old b-movie. It may sound a bit piratey but I'm not sure we sound much like Alestorm .

Didn't you guys get together through the Crobar pub in Soho? Is there any more appropriate way for a metal band to form?
Backstage at a Black Sabbath show in Newcastle is clearly the most metal way to form a band but I suppose we come a close second. The old bassist and I actually met after an Overkill show back in the early 90's but I was introduced to our singer at the Crobar by Steve who owns the place.

How has emerging from the London rock scene been a help (or a hindrance) to the band?
Hard to say, I suppose the main advantage is that here we get to see most of the bands playing and we have managed to get some great gigs in the past. The scene we come from (stoner and doom) is quite healthy now but when I was growing up and playing straight up doom there was no scene for it here. There were perhaps a handful of people who knew about the likes of Pentagram, Saint Vitus and The Obsessed here. The northern scenes were much stronger but the popularity of doom has rocketed in the last 10 years.

You've established a sound that takes plenty of heed from classic rock and old school heavy metal, what do you make of all this 'New Wave Of Trad Metal' business that's popped up as of late?
I think it's great. The NWOTM tag is just one that's being used for a whole range of bands that just get the vibe right I suppose. They have mostly been going for a few years at least but it's just a good way of letting people know about them. We don't sound all that much like some of them but then NWOBHM was more a movement than a particular sound. Iron Maiden didn't sound like Saxon who didn't sound like Def Leppard who didn't sound like Witchfinder General. It's just great to hear metal bands that don't use plastic production or feel the need to swear to sound tough.

How important do you think it is for young metal fans to appreciate the genre's roots?
Whilst perhaps they don't need to be tracking down private presses of obscure bands from 1981 they should at least know the basics. Sabbath, Priest, Maiden and so on. It's like learning English literature, you should at least know some Shakespeare – know where so much comes from. It's like when a black metal fan says they don't know Bathory – how can you have a frame of reference?

Speaking of which, you're a huge Iron Maiden fan, did you catch them on the 'Somewhere Back In Time' tour, and did it match up to actually being there the first time round?
I am, and yes I did. How could it compare? First time around I was 13 and had been waiting 4 years to finally get to see them. This time around I was a jaded 30-something who'd seen a thousand gigs or more in the meantime. That said it was, of course, incredible. They are still the greatest metal band of all time. They are still firing on all cylinders.

You're gone on record as stating that there's no new music you're particularly fond of, surely that's not totally true?
There's always good music coming out, it's more that modern production is appalling. Plastic guitar sounds, triggered drums and everything sounds identikit. There are great new metal bands like Baroness, Torche, Deathspell Omega, Urfaust and many more doing modern music that doesn’t suck, but I’m not really interested in 'modern metal'.

Which year was the greatest ever for metal, and why?
You could pick any year between `79 and '84 really. And 1970 for Black Sabbath of course. Perhaps you’d have to single out 1980 for Iron Maiden's debut, 'Heaven and Hell', 'British Steel', Angel Witch's debut, 'Wheels Of Steel' and 'Strong Arm Of The Law' from Saxon, Cirith Ungol's 'Frost And Fire' and of course the debut from Michael Schenker Group.

If we were to start a metal band, what boxes would have to be ticked for us to remain tr00?
Good riffs! Don't think that brutality or speed is any real substitute for a good riff. Can you remember it after you've heard it? Don't be afraid to write a hook. Solos are great but remember there is more to solos than just exercises.

You state on your website that DC's Lobo is the greatest ever superhero. Is he the most metal though? Surely Wolverine takes that title on biological traits alone?
Nah, Lobo even has the corpse paint.

Finally, for those pathetic mortals who missed you at Hammerfest, where can we catch Blood Island Raiders next?
Nothing booked at the moment. We are trying to write at the moment so and it's festival season so there will be shows in Autumn probably.

'Blood Island Raiders' is out now on Invada Records.

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