AC/DC - 50 Years of Rock and Roll

In the 1980s AC/DC became a household name for rock and heavy metal fans in the United States. However, before reaching such status, they had worked their way through the ranks of 1970s hard rock music. Their first album was released in 1975 only in Australia and it was called High Voltage. The album has such an interesting story that goes with it. Check out below the stories and information that Wikipedia has compiled about AC/DC's debut album.

AC/DC

High Voltage

17 February 1975

Recorded November 1974

Label Albert

Producer Vanda & Young

High Voltage is the debut studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released only in Australia and New Zealand, on 17 February 1975. Their first international release in 1976 would also be named High Voltage, though with a radically different track list. In November 1973, guitarists Malcolm Young and Angus Young formed AC/DC and recruited bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, and Colin Burgess, ex-Masters Apprentices drummer. Soon the Young brothers decided that Evans was not a suitable frontman for the group; they felt he was more of a glam rocker like Gary Glitter. The band had recorded only one single with Evans, "Can I Sit Next To You Girl", with "Rockin' in the Parlour" as the B-side. In September 1974, Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott, an experienced vocalist and friend of producer George Young, replaced Dave Evans after friend Vince Lovegrove recommended him. The addition of Scott redefined the band; like the Young brothers, Scott had been born in Scotland before emigrating to Australia in his childhood, and loved rock and roll, especially Little Richard. Scott had played in the Valentines, the Spektors and Fraternity. In a 2010 interview with Mojo's Sylvie Simmons, Angus Young recalled that Scott "moulded the character of AC/DC... Everything became more down to earth and straight ahead. That's when we became a band."

The album was produced by Vanda & Young at Albert Studios in Sydney, Australia. George Young was the older brother of Angus and Malcolm, and also plays bass guitar on a number of the album's songs. Harry Vanda was a bandmate of George's in the Easybeats, and the pair were the main songwriters of the band's later hits, including their international smash "Friday on My Mind". When George Young heard what his younger siblings were up to, he was quite impressed, telling VH1's Behind the Music in 2000, "All of a sudden the kid brothers were still the kid brothers... but my God, they knew how to play. There was no sort of, 'Do they have it or don't they have it?' It was obvious that they had something." AC/DC were still developing its sound when High Voltage was recorded in November 1974, and singer Bon Scott and the Young brothers were backed by a rhythm section different from the Mark Evans/Phil Rudd combination, which would feature on their next three full-length studio recordings. Rob Bailey and Peter Clack were the band's bassist and drummer, respectively, at the time. Although Murray Engleheart writes in his book AC/DC: Maximum Rock N Roll that bass guitar duties were shared by Malcolm and older brother George, who also played live with the band infrequently, as well as Bailey, Tony Currenti has revealed that he mostly recorded alongside Bailey and that George played bass on "Stick Around", "Love Song" and the song "High Voltage". Clack played drums on "Baby, Please Don't Go", while the rest of the tracks were recorded by Currenti.

AC/DC biographer Jesse Fink laments Currenti's lack of recognition, noting that his name "doesn't bob up anywhere on the Australian or international releases of High Voltage, TNT, '74 Jailbreak, Backtracks or any other releases on which his playing may or may not have appeared." Malcolm and Angus traded-off lead guitar parts on "Soul Stripper" and "Show Business," and Malcolm played the solo on "Little Lover." In the book Highway to Hell: The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott, author Clinton Walker quotes Angus Young: "It was actually recorded in ten days in between gigs, working through the night after we came off stage and then through the day. I suppose it was fun at the time, but there was no thought put into it."

While the songs on High Voltage showcase a glam rock influence that the band would soon discard in favour of a more riff-based hard rock sound, the foundation for the band's songwriting structures are clearly evident. As Angus told Benjamin Smith of VH1 in 2014, "I think the '60s was a great time for music, especially for rock and roll. It was the era of the Beatles, of the Stones, and then later on the Who and Led Zeppelin. But at one point in the '70s it just kind of became... mellow. When Malcolm put the band together, it was obvious what was missing at the time: another great rock band. So it was basically a reaction to that, because the music at that point had just turned into that soft, melodic kind of period, and that seemed to be all over the world. For us, it was a pretty easy choice, especially because Malcolm and myself – we’re two guitarists – so from the get-go, it was going to be a guitar band." Six of its eight songs were written by the Young brothers and Scott, with "Soul Stripper" being credited to the Young brothers alone. "Soul Stripper" evolved from an unrecorded song called "Sunset Strip", also written by Malcolm and Dave Evans. "Soul Stripper" is similar in theme and structure to "Squealer," a song that would be included on Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap in 1976. "Baby, Please Don't Go" is a cover version of a Big Joe Williams song and was chosen as the LP's first single, leading to the group's third appearance on Australia's Countdown music program. The band's appearance included the now-legendary live performance of "Baby, Please Don't Go" featuring Scott dressed as a blonde schoolgirl. "Love Song" evolved from an unrecorded song called "Fell In Love", also written by Malcolm and Dave Evans. This earlier version of the song had different lyrics, and the finished lyrics as heard on the album were added by Scott. In 1994, Bon Scott biographer Clinton Walker speculated that the uncharacteristically maudlin lyric to "Love Song" was likely a leftover from Scott's previous band Fraternity. "Love Song" was released as the album's first single (under the title "Love Song (Oh Jene)") and was backed with "Baby, Please Don't Go", but radio preferred the flip. "She's Got Balls" (about Scott's ex-wife Irene) was the first song that Scott and the Young brothers put together, while "Little Lover" had been a song Malcolm Young had been tinkering with since he was about 14 and had been originally titled "Front Row Fantasies" (Scott, who wrote the song about Angus, mentions glam rock star Gary Glitter by name in the song).

High Voltage was originally released on Albert Productions only in Australia and New Zealand, and has never been reissued by another label in this format. The international version of High Voltage, which was issued on Atlantic Records in 1976, has a different cover art and track listing, with only "She's Got Balls" and "Little Lover" appearing overseas. "Baby Please Don't Go", "Soul Stripper", "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" and "Show Business" were later released on '74 Jailbreak in 1984. "Stick Around" (about Scott's inability to hold onto a lover for more than one night) and "Love Song" have been released on Backtracks in 2009. The title and artwork were the suggestion of Chris Gilbey of Albert Productions. In the 1994 Scott biography Highway to Hell, Gilbey explains that he came up with the concept of "an electricity substation with a dog pissing against it. It's so tame now, but back then we thought it was pretty revolutionary."

Most of the original LP and Cassette releases contain an error to the writing credits for "Baby, Please Don't Go" with credit going to Broonzy (Big Bill Broonzy). Broonzy recorded a cover of the song in 1952, but it was in fact "Big" Joe Williams who wrote the song in 1935. The error was corrected on all CD releases.

All tracks are written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott except where noted.

Side one

No. Title Writer(s) Length

1. "Baby, Please Don't Go" Big Joe Williams 4:50

2. "She's Got Balls" 4:52

3. "Little Lover" 5:40

4. "Stick Around" 4:39

Side two

No. Title Writer(s) Length

5. "Soul Stripper" A. YoungM. Young 6:25

6. "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" 3:31

7. "Love Song (Oh Jene)" 5:14

8. "Show Business" 4:46

Total length: 39:51

"Baby Please Don't Go", "Soul Stripper", "You Ain't Got a Hold on Me" and "Show Business" were later included on the international release of '74 Jailbreak.

"She's Got Balls" and "Little Lover" were later included on the international version of High Voltage.

"Stick Around" and "Love Song" were never officially released internationally in album form. They were eventually included in the 2009 boxed set Backtracks.

AC/DC

Bon Scott – lead vocals

Angus Young – lead guitar, rhythm guitar

Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead guitar (3, 5–6, 8)

Rob Bailey – bass guitar (1–3, 5–6, 8)

Peter Clack – drums (1)

Session musicians and production

George Young – production, bass guitar (4, 7) backing vocals

Harry Vanda – production, backing vocals

Tony Currenti – drums (2–8)

Richard Ford – artwork

AC/DC - High Voltage - King of Pop Awards 1975 (Remastered)

AC/DC - Baby, Please Don't Go LIVE 1975 FULL HD

AC/DC - High Voltage (Live at Donington, 8/17/91)

Alice Cooper's Nightmare and Subsequent Redemption

Rock fans know the name Alice Cooper and know the name of the game: shock horror theatrical rock. The shock rock on stage has been a defining characteristic of Alice Cooper’s legendary career for more than 50 years. The theatrics have served his career well—too well, in fact. The persona and theatrics have worked so well that sometimes we forget that behind the spectacular circus of the macabre is a man of flesh and blood. The business of entertainment and the world of rock music are no place to preserve your sanity. Behind the persona of Alice Cooper there is a man who has reached the greatest heights of the business and has fallen to the lowest of lows that are often secret, hidden from public view. Nowadays, when you mention substance abuse and rock music, lots of names come up—L.A. bands infamous for lip-synching, Bay Area bands notorious for their drinking habits, and British bands with big budgets dedicated to purchasing illegal drugs.

However, the case of Alice Cooper’s addiction to drugs and alcohol is a tale of downfall and redemption through the power coming from an unexpected helper.

Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier in 1948) has been a major name in shock rock since the 1960s and 1970s, but Cooper says that something was wrong: “The persona I created was a mask to hide my insecurities. I was lost inside, trying to find my purpose, and I turned to drugs and alcohol to numb that pain. I thought I was invincible. We’d be out on tour, and I’d be drinking heavily, doing whatever it took to keep going. I didn’t realize how much I was destroying myself, or the people around me.”

His marriage to Sheryl Cooper was in bad shape. “I was a mess. I was selfish, angry, and constantly under the influence. I didn’t see how much I was hurting her, or our daughter, Calico. I was headed for a disaster I couldn’t see coming.”

In the late 1970s Cooper’s health and marriage were in trouble. “I was drinking to escape everything—my fears, my doubts, my loneliness. I never thought I’d get off that treadmill. There were nights I didn’t know how I’d wake up the next morning, and I didn’t care. One night, I woke up in a hotel room, hungover and empty. I looked in the mirror and saw a broken man. That was the moment I realized I was killing myself and everything I loved.”

In 1983, after years of problems, Cooper’s course began to change. “I was at my lowest point. I didn’t want to live anymore, and I certainly didn’t want to keep hurting the people I loved. That night, I prayed—really prayed—and I asked Jesus Christ to save me. I knelt in that hotel room and said, ‘God, if you’re there, I need you now more than ever. Please help me.’ And I felt this overwhelming peace wash over me. It was like a light turned on inside my soul.”

His wife Sheryl remembers, “Seeing him turn to God was a miracle. He was a different person—more humble, more loving, more present. It was as if he had finally found his true purpose.”

Alice has said, “That night changed everything. I realized I’d been living in a fog, trying to fill a void that only Jesus could fill. I finally understood what real salvation meant—a forgiveness that’s bigger than any mistake I’d ever made.” His wife Sheryl has observed, “Watching him surrender his life to Christ was the greatest gift I’ve ever received. It gave us hope, healing, and a new beginning. Our marriage, which was almost broken beyond repair, was restored through faith and love.”

Sheryl also adds, “There were many nights I wondered if we’d make it,” she admits. “But I held onto my faith, trusting that God was working behind the scenes. Seeing him walk in the light after years in darkness was a miracle—proof that nothing is impossible with God.”

Alice shares a powerful story from that era. “One time, I was about to relapse. I remember feeling the temptation so strongly, and I knelt in my hotel room. I prayed, ‘God, I can’t do this without you,’ and suddenly, I felt a strength I knew didn’t come from me. That was the moment I truly surrendered.”

Alice Cooper has been sober for a long time, happily married, and deeply committed to his faith. “God healed me in every way,” he declares. “He restored my marriage, my relationship with my daughter, and gave me a purpose beyond music and shock theatrics.” Sheryl agrees, “Our relationship is stronger than ever. Our faith keeps us grounded. We’ve learned to forgive and to trust in God’s plan for our lives.”

Cooper now uses his platform to inspire others. “I want people to know that no matter how lost or broken you feel,” he says, “Jesus can change your life. I’ve seen it happen firsthand.”

It may be surprising to learn that a major figure of shock rock, whose music and shows have horrified more than a few people, has something in his personal life that he wants to tell people about—but it’s true: “God’s grace is real. And it’s never too late to turn things around.”

Alice Cooper - Hey Stoopid (Official Video)

Alice Cooper - Lost In America

Alice Cooper - No More Mr. Nice Guy (from Alice Cooper: Trashes The World)

Greg Howe - 1988 "Greg Howe" shred debut album

Guitar visionary Greg Howe begins his 1988 debut album with the song "Kick It All Over."

After leaving high school and playing the club circuit around the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania areas with his brother Albert Howe (a singer) for most of the 1980s, Greg Howe officially began his solo career after sending a demo tape to Shrapnel Records in 1987, upon which he was immediately signed by founder Mike Varney. His self-titled debut album, Greg Howe, was released in 1988 during the popular shred era, and went on to become his highest-selling album; a 2009 article in Guitar World magazine ranked it tenth in the all-time top ten list of shred albums. (Wikipedia)

ABOUT GREG HOWE: Legendary guitarist, Greg Howe, has developed a solid reputation as a technical innovator, particularly for his "hammer-on from nowhere" technique, legato runs, unusual time signatures, and linear tapping approach. His self-titled debut album "Greg Howe" is ranked tenth best shred album of all time by Guitar World Magazine.

In addition to being part of the 2018 GRAMMY® nominated band ‘Protocol IV’ which features Simon Phillips, Ernest Tibbs, and Otmaro Ruiz, Howe has produced, written and arranged ten solo instrumental studio albums along with two collaboration albums with Richie Kotzen of the Winery Dogs. Howe has contributed to a long list of albums/records by other legendary artists such as Dennis Chambers, Victor Wooten, Jason Becker, Billy Sheehan, Marco Minneman, and Eddie Jobson.

He's also made a name for himself as a stellar sideman and session musician with artists such as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Enrique Iglesias, and many more. His TV appearances include The Grammy's, American Music Awards, The Tonight Show, The Today Show, The Billboard Awards, Teen Choice Awards, just to name a few.

Howe’s latest release “Wheelhouse”, was voted #6 of the top 20 best guitar albums of the decade by Guitar World Magazine.

Musical trends may come and go, but you always know what's in store with Greg Howe, and this veteran guitarist certainly won't disappoint with this breathtaking showcase as one of the best Rock/Fusion players in the world.

(Greg Howe endorses: DV Mark Amps, Kiesel Guitars, D'Addario Strings, and Carl Martin Pedals.)

Greg Howe - Kick It All Over

Ted Nugent - 50 Years of "Ted Nugent"

The legendary and influential album “Ted Nugent” by the Motor City Mad Man Ted Nugent was released in 1975. Time flies, and Ted flies right along with it. Fifty years ago, the guitar gonzo double bonanzo deer hunter Uncle Ted began the album with “Stranglehold.” Here is the studio version and a live version: a song so nice you have to hear it twice.

Ted Nugent - Stranglehold (Official Audio)

Stranglehold - Ted Nugent | The Midnight Special

Led Zeppelin - 50 Years of Physical Graffiti

In 1975 Led Zeppelin unleashed the double album Physical Graffiti, a work that the rock/metal critic Martin Popoff has called the “aircraft carrier” of an album. Martin Popoff, who is exceedingly knowlegeable and has written tons and tons of reviews and books on rock and metal music, considers Physical Graffiti to be the greatest album of time. Full stop. Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, John Bonham = Led Zeppelin. These are the two first songs from this classic of classics.

Led Zeppelin - Custard Pie (Remaster) (Official Audio)

Led Zeppelin - The Rover (Remaster) (Official Audio)

DAWNBREAKER (Part 3) - Finding a New Beginning in Black Metal After Chaotic Spiritual Upheaval

This is the third installment in a series of interviews with black metal act Dawnbreaker (United States), active since 2018, with five albums released since that year, and a sixth album that will come out very early in 2026.

Hello! You've been busy! You have two new albums coming up. What's going on with these two new albums? One is with Dawnbreaker, and the other with a new project, correct?

- Yes, I’m fortunate to have not only one but two new full-length releases coming up! The two albums are Dawnbreaker’s 6th epic “Pactum Sanguine Novo” and the debut for a new collaboration called Wailing. Both will be released on January 2nd, 2026, and both will be available on CD through Vision of God records. But Pactum Sanguine Novo will be released on vinyl as well at a slightly later date! Wailing is a death metal band and will be my first time releasing purely death metal music in over 15 years. Wailing features Shawn Eldridge on drums, who played in many popular death and black metal bands in the New Jersey / New York / Pennsylvania area. He’s also one of my best friends!

Previously we learned about your blasphemous black metal music from 2003 (and earlier) until 2016 or 2017, more or less, with Angelcide and other projects. However, the excesses of the hedonist lifestyle led you to a crisis, and you called on God for help, and God responded. You began to change your life, but you did not immediately tell people. In 2018 the first Dawnbreaker album, titled Deus Vult, comes out. From the very first second, the music hits loud, fast, barbarically and relentlessly. Can you take us back to your mindset throughout 2017 before the debut album? This would be a big year for you. Where did you find new ideas for lyrics? What's going on with artwork of this album? Who else knew that you were finished with Angelcide and that Dawnbreaker was your new project? What does the name Dawnbreaker mean? The year 2017 must have felt like one of the most exciting in your life: you were working on a renewal.

- Yes, 2017 was a pivotal year indeed! I had gotten a big raise at my job and could finally afford an apartment in one of the “cool” neighborhoods in New York City. In March I moved to Williamsburg Brooklyn – a place with a reputation for being “a mecca for creative types.” It was home to the famous Duff’s metal bar, the iconic Saint Vitus music venue (which I performed at many times), and a lot of other very culturally exciting places. I met my future wife that same month, and I also started attending church regularly – something I had not done since my teenage years. I wrote occasional pieces for a metal zine and got more politically active. The possibilities seemed endless in those days!

- Around this time I started attending a megachurch called C3 (a.k.a. “Christ City Church”) and was invited to audition for their worship team as a guitar player. I got the part, and for awhile I was playing guitar during their services – which had attendances of 400-500 people and were at some pretty big New York venues like Williamsburg Music Hall and Grammercy Theatre. Ironically these were bigger attendances and venues than I had in my days playing metal, haha! This was a few months after the final Angelcide album was released, and I had completely ended the project. I thought I was done with metal but one of my C3 colleagues said “you know, you can make metal that praises God.” And that got me thinking that I should do a Christian metal project, with Christian lyrics.

- I did have a hard time with the lyrics, because I wasn’t too familiar with Christian doctrine in those days. I even made one of the songs an instrumental because I just didn’t have enough ideas. I would hear sermons and write down the things I thought were cool and metal, like “Armor of Light.” But for the most part, the lyrics were about converting to Christianity and all of the growing pains that come about it. A crusade on the darkness! The cover is done by Gustave Dore, an artist from the 1800’s who was frequently used by Norwegian black metal bands like Emperor (who were probably my favorite overall). It’s from his illustrations for a comprehensive book about the crusades. Nobody really knew that I was working on a new metal project, except for the engineer and the logo designer.

- As for the name, it’s from a video game Skyrim – there was a sword in the game that was powerful against vampires and undead, a “sword of the light” called the Dawnbreaker. I was a huge fan of the game, I’d had played it for over 1,000 hours! And I remembered the quote “Mortals called it Dawnbreaker, for it was forged in a holy light.” I thought that was the perfect name for the project, a sword against the darkness.

In 2017 you were rethinking many things, I would imagine. For example, did you look into Christian metal and rock bands? What conclusions did you arrive at, in terms of lyrics for the first Dawnbreaker album? What else would you like to let us in on, in terms of things that you were discovering about making music with a focus on Jesus at that time as a new Christian? Did you feel joy as you were making the new music? Did you have any feelings of being a “beginner” of sorts? Did you have a sense of mischievous joy knowing that people had no idea what you were about to do?

- Ironically my original plans for Dawnbreaker were completely different. It was going to be a side project to Angelcide and was going to be more specifically about the actual crusades. I was going to call the band “Deus Vult” (which would become the title for the first album). The original lyrical ideas were pretty gruesome – some of the early song titles were “The Slaughter of Infidels” and “The Choke of Hanging Witches.” Sort of a cross-and-dagger “kill the heretic!” approach, haha!

- But somewhere along the line, I decided I didn’t want to do Angelcide anymore. I didn’t want to do a band couldn’t be proud of. And so Dawnbreaker became a replacement of Angelcide, almost like a “reboot” of a TV series or movie series. And I wanted to have lyrics that wouldn’t be ashamed of if my fellow parishioners or church leaders were to read. So, the lyrics were reframed to become more of a testimony than a dark fantasy novel. But by making it a new solo project to replace the old, it was extremely liberating. I could start over and make more primitive music than the more technical stuff I was doing in my other bands. So, the sound of Deus Vult became based on a combination of first wave black metal, the earliest American black metal bands, and early thrash-driven death metal. Some of the songs were remakes of old material, and I mean really old material! Others were new songs I had written over the prior years in these varying styles. They were intended for different short conceptual releases, but I eventually came up with a track list that felt like one complete story.

- Yes, there was that mischievous joy. I had low expectations for the album and the response, but I was also really excited about it. Given the sensitive nature of the themes, I chose not to pitch it to any record labels – I instead formed my own label, New Templar Records, and self-funded the entire release and production. This was a very new and exciting endeavor. I sent a lot of copies to Christian metal labels as a gift, and this opened up many opportunities and relationships that continue to this day.

Back then, as you work on your new music, how do you approach the vocals, on one hand, and the technology that you use for the vocals, like recording techniques and technology, microphones, layering, reverb, and similar effects? What were you thinking in terms of vocals: did you plan to make some changes or pretty much continue the same style as before with Angelcide?

- I used the same engineer that recorded the vocals for my work in Abazagorath and Angelcide. The vocals are the only thing I didn’t record myself, because I just couldn’t do that vocal style in a small apartment without scaring the neighbors, you know? But for the Dawnbreaker vocals I tried something a little different – a lower pitched scream. I remember a lot of my friends mentioning how much lower the vocals were from my previous releases, which were all high pitched. I wanted something different, and it fit the heavy riffs of “Deus Vult.” But I kept that style on all of the other Dawnbreaker albums, even though the music changed drastically the voice on each album was the same, guiding through many different storms and seasons.

What about the guitars and the guitar sound? Musicians are notorious for never being happy or satisfied with the sound of their albums because they focus too much on the “mistakes” that audiences often don't hear or notice. In your case, with Dawnbreaker, did you want to make particular changes to your guitar sound? I am not a musician nor an expert, but I would venture to say that Dawnbreaker seems to have a more robust guitar sound. It also seems to me, here from a distance, that thrash and death metal manifest themselves more than on Angelcide, as if you felt freer to do more with your guitar, but I don't know.

- Yeah, my earliest music ever was more in the death/thrash metal style. So as Dawnbreaker was meant to be a “reboot” of my metal career, I wanted to start at the beginning. I tried a different guitar tone for this – I think it was modeled after the Cannibal Corpse tone if I remember correctly. Definitely a lot more low end that what I had been doing for a while!

May 25th, 2018: The debut album from Dawnbreaker comes out. How is the album received? Did it get coverage in the metal press? Do you remember if you had any particular expectations?

- Yes actually, I had the opportunity to do an op-ed about my conversion in a metal zine called “Death Metal Underbground.” DMU was a really underground zine, the ultimate gatekeeper and most hardcore of fans. A lot of them really hated that I was playing metal with Christian lyrics but even they admitted the music was good. That article got a lot of attention and boosted a lot of sales. I made enough money from the sales of that pressing to cover all of the production costs and give many copies away for free. I was really impressed with the response. I thought it would be forgotten quickly and go largely unnoticed. But it did incredibly well, both among Christian and secular fans alike. I saw a number of non-Christians call it “The only good Christian metal album.” Deus Vult is unique in that it would get two more CD pressings and a limited-run vinyl pressing over the years to follow!

What about the Christian metal press? Dawnbreaker would have been a new name. The Christian metal world had not been your world. So, what happens with the Christian metal press and the music of Dawnbreaker? Did you begin making a bunch of new contacts with press people, radio people, labels, and promoters in Christian metal? How did you feel as you were making new contacts in a different corner of the music world? Were you pleasantly surprised?

- I did a lot of marketing in the Christian metal world – in fact that’s where I focused most of the marketing. I was fortunate to get the opportunity to premiere a song in HM Magazine – a popular Christian music zine. The response was really really good, and yes I made many new contacts in press. Most importantly though, I got a call from the owner of Vision of God records with an offer to sign to the label’s subsidiary Christian Metal Underground. He wanted to do a second pressing of Deus Vult and wanted me to sign on for two new albums. I took the deal and I’ve been with Vision of God ever since!

Did you play any shows in 2018? Did you have enough contacts to recruit other musicians to play Dawnbreaker music live in 2018?

- Nope, I never played live with Dawnbreaker and probably never well. I just don’t like organizing concerts, negotiating with promoters etc. I was never good at it, and my most successful bands involved someone else handling that department. I also don’t think I would be able to put a lineup together. Maybe if I used an already established Christian metal band, haha!

In 2018 your new album is your statement of your new mission. I would think that you expected some support from fans that support Christian metal. However, negative, pessimistic, and judgmental people are everywhere, including in the Christian metal scene. Did you get criticism that your music still sounded like satanic evil music? Have you gotten critique that your music is too dark and ominous to be Christian music?

- Nobody in the Christian world had anyone bad to say to me I don’t think. But that’s more likely because of the timing – we’ve already had many decades of great Christian black metal bands like Antestor, Slecthvalk, and Crimson Moonlight. Had I released the album in the 90’s I believe the response would have been much different! I didn’t show the album to Christian friends unless they were already metalheads.

I don't know if your parents and relatives heard Dawnbreaker, but by 2018 how are you doing in terms of repairing your relationship with your parents? I bet they were relieved in some ways to know that you were not going to end up dead or in jail from the reckless lifestyle of promiscuity, substance abuse, and general antisocial behavior from before.

- No, I never played it for family, they never really took that style of music seriously so I typically don’t mention what’s happening in my music life. This is the case for most of the people I know unless I know they’re into extreme metal. I hate talking about my music with “normies” haha! But yes, by now my relationship with my family has been very good for many years, other than my mother arguing with me about politics! It helped that I had moved out several years prior and was living in New York now. You know what they say, “happiness is a tightly knit family – that lives in another state!”

How are you feeling at the end of 2018, after the album has been out? Are you happy with your new life and new music? Now at the end of 2018, most of your friends in the music scene, who are in their vast majority not Christians, know about Dawnbreaker. Basically, just about everyone knows. You must have felt good to finally release the Dawnbreaker album. It wasn't a secret anymore!

- Yes, 2018 was a great year. I started working for a new company, the one I currently work for! I moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which was exciting to be in the “the real New York.” Dawnbreaker is doing well, I have a long-term record deal and a plan for the next album. I’ve sold my Deus Vult stock, and am fully plugged into the Christian metal scene. My relationship is good, I’m attending mass at a church that I really really like, finishing my first read of the Bible, plugged into the Christian world and culture. Probably one of the best years of my life to date!

Of course, as usual, you are a workaholic, and I'm sure you had your next album in the works because Metal Archives shows that in September 2019, Dawnbreaker returns with a second album Total Depravity. Seeing as I have already asked too many questions for this segment of the interview, let’s stop for now and come back to 2019 next time.

- Thanks for all of the great questions! Looking forward to the next chapter of this series!

-- -- Dawnbreaker - Black Metal after Nihilism, Atheism and Self-Destruction (Part 2) https://metalbulletin.blogspot.com/2025/09/dawnbreaker_29.html

ARTIZAN Singer Tom Braden Recovering from Major Heart Problems

Below you will find a statement on the latest on Artizan singer Tom Braden's recovery after a scary health episode with his heart (the health statement is taken from the Brave Words website). Artizan is a melodic heavy metal band in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. The band, according to the information on Metal Archives, began in 2008. They have released an EP and four albums, and they have their new album close to completion, with all music finished and recorded, and only the vocals need to be recorded.

Speaking for myself, I have a special preference for Tom Braden's singing, as I find it to be pleasing, smooth and very melodic. Before the music of Artizan, I enjoyed his singing on the 1991 debut EP "Leviathan" by the band Leviathan from the state of Colorado, USA.

If you are a fan of melodic heavy metal, I recommend any Artizan album, but I guess bands often like their most recent work best. With that in mind, the 2018 album Demon Rider (five songs in 33 minutes) is as wonderful a place to start as any. I recommend the album to fans of hard rock, classic rock, classic heavy metal, traditional heavy metal, true heavy metal, U.S. metal, power metal, progressive heavy metal, and fans of melodic singing in rock and metal in general.

Here is the statement that explains the latest with Tom Braden health condition and the band's upcoming album.

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The eve of Sunday, October 26 started like many others for Tom Braden, vocalist for melodic metal band Artizan, and his wife, Denise. After rehearsing songs for the forthcoming Artizan album, The Furthest Reaches Part 2: The Gaia Effect, Tom and his wife went about their evening without any indication that he was having health issues. Vocal sessions were scheduled just days later and Tom was ready. Just before they went to bed, Tom started experiencing an upset stomach and severe numbness in both arms. He mentioned that he wasn’t feeling well and then passed out. Tom went into cardiac arrest due to sudden arrhythmia causing ventricular fibrillation. Denise, who is a licensed caregiver, immediately administered life-saving CPR. She was able to manually pump Tom’s heart, buying him precious time until the paramedics arrived to continue compressions and insert a breathing tube. Effective CPR requires extremely forceful compressions to the heart to keep the blood circulating. Due to the extent of the compressions, Tom suffered eight broken ribs. Paramedics applied shock paddles three times. Miraculously, on the third attempt, Tom’s heart started to beat on its own.

After being rushed to ICU, he was unconscious for two days. His doctors were amazed to find that his arteries are nearly perfect without any indication of blockage; there is no sign that his heart was damaged from the arrest. The arrhythmia was caused by disrupted electrical signals to his heart. Tom’s cardiac surgeon implanted a Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) which is designed to literally kick-start his heart if the anomaly happens again.

After ten days in the hospital, Tom is now resting back at home. While he will require extensive rest and rehibiltation, he is expected to make a full recovery. Upon asking him about his experience, Braden said, “I am so grateful that my wife was with me. She saved my life. She’s my guardian angel!”

Artizan founder/drummer Ty Tammeus stated, “I am so thankful that Tom is alive and recovering. I have known him for over thirty-five years. His voice is the trademark sound of Artizan. Tom will need the necessary time to heal, and we will set back the release of the album by several months in order for him to come back stronger than ever. The demos thus far are incredible. On the day of his cardiac aresst Tom was singing higher and stronger than ever and we all look forward to when his voice soars once again.”

All music has been recorded for the upcoming album as well as all individual vocal tracks for guest singers Matt Barlow (Iced Earth, Ashes Of Ares), Ray Alder (Fates Warning), Stu Block (Iced Earth) and Sabrina Cruz (Seven Kingdoms).

“All of us wish Tom a speedy recovery and look forward to tracking his vocals as soon as he is ready.”

Artizan - Demon Rider (Official)

ARTIZAN - Lyric Video - Soldiers Of Light (PURE STEEL RECORDS)

https://www.facebook.com/artizanmetal

grindcore maniacs Barren Path are streaming two new unrelenting, frenzied songs

This band Barren Path is implementing a scorched-earth policy of grindcore songwriting, with 12 songs with something like an average length of one minute, give or take. In other words, this is the sound of perfection. Press play, and the barrage races out of the gate and continues in the same fashion for the duration, keeping the music at fast as humanly possible, with screaming and growling all over the place, from the left and the right, from behind and from front, up and down the line, and blasting like a horde of lunatics. The only problem is that this recording is too short. Besides that critique, there is nothing that I find to complain about, just fun, blast and fast. Wonderful.

Barren Path

Grieving

Willowtip Records

31 October 2025

ABOUT THIS GRINDCORE: After completing the final objective and rising from the ashes of the recently self-immolated GRIDLINK, Takafumi Matsubara and Bryan Fajardo now set mission coordinates towards BARREN PATH. Recruiting Maruta/Shock Withdrawal vocalist Mitchell Luna and re-enlisting grindcore commandos Mauro Cordoba and Rory Kobzina from the Coronet Juniper sessions, this operation requires relinquishing high tech weaponry. Only use of rudimentary blades, precision blast strikes, and amplified guttural attacks is allowed. BARREN PATH elevate the flailing savagery of their genre through mincing, precise volleys of melodic and dissonant passages that rip and tear like a swarm of shurikens. By turns cruelly effective and strangely vulnerable, Grieving is a statement release by a new standard-bearer in grindcore. This is music for a vicious, unforgiving world.

Grieving by Barren Path

prog metal guitarist Jim Matheos goes weird - Tuesday the Sky

I have something very different to tell you about. This project is called Tuesday the Sky and it is from long-running progressive heavy metal band Fates Warning (U.S.) head honcho Jim Matheos, who has written tons of music and so many albums. He is known for progressive heavy metal and hard rock. However, Mr. Matheos, ever the curious guitarist, here goes down a path that is not expected of him. I'm no expert, but I think this would be called post-rock or prog post-rock. It is mostly mellow instrumental guitar, but it sounds like the music that you might hear at a yoga studio (I would think) or at the dentist office while you wait or something like meditation music. It is not rock and roll. It's not any form of hard rock. Really, I don't know what this is. This album is being released by Metal Blade Records because Jim Matheos over the decades has made good money for Metal Blade Records, and I'm sure that Mr. Matheos is friends with the bosses at the record label.

If this were a new artist that came up to Metal Blade Records and wanted to be signed by them, there is no way a company known for metal music would release this album. It is Metal Blade Records humoring Jim Matheos and letting him do something strange and very different.

Now, if you are ready for something mellow, very mellow, something light, something soft, then go ahead and explore.

Just be ready. Do not expect metal music at all. This is Jim Matheos doing a little something something, kind of showing us that he listens to post-rock and stuff, and this is his way of getting it out of his system.

Tuesday the Sky

Indoor Enthusiast

Metal Blade Records

24 October 2025

ABOUT THE ALBUM: Indoor Enthusiast, the third record from Tuesday the Sky, the instrumental-driven project from guitarist Jim Matheos, arrives October 24, 2025. With 11 songs of pure Matheos playing and passion, it features Dutch drummer Dennis Leeflang on “The Nearest Exit May be Behind You,” “Bend Toward Light” and “Set Fire to the Stars.” Tuesday the Sky has been described as a “beautifully weird solo project” by Sonic Perspectives, while Dead Rhetoric dubbed it a “kaleidoscope of atmospheric songs.”

Matheos, famed for his work with progressive metal giants Fates Warning, alongside projects such as OSI and his collaboration with John Arch, Arch/Matheos, planted the seeds of Tuesday the Sky around 2016. The impetus came from a Fates Warning bonus track that Matheos felt didn’t fit for the band. He kept writing in that vein, and the result was Tuesday the Sky. The initial offering was 2017's Drift, a record that drew influence from the likes of Brian Eno, Sigur Ros, Boards Of Canada and Explosions In The Sky.

The second Tuesday the Sky album was 2021’s The Blurred Horizon, a mixture of ambient, electronica, post-rock and more. The Blurred Horizon is perhaps best described as a beautiful record, having a natural grace to it. The closing track "Everything Is Free" is a cover of a Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and the only song with vocals, supplied by Tim Bowness.

Indoor Enthusiast is entirely instrumental, produced and mixed by Matheos, and mastered by Jacob Hansen. The guitarist’s TTS work begins differently than writing for his other bands. As Matheos has previously noted, “A lot of it starts with sounds, interesting sound that catches my attention, so I have lots of different effects and amps up in the studio. Often that’ll lead to different chords, progressions, or melodies.” Fates Warning however, generally kicks off with a riff chorus, melody lines. With everything he writes, from Indoor Enthusiast to Fates Warning music, Matheos asks, “’As a listener, does this interest me?’ I usually just go with my gut instinct. If it’s interesting to me, then there’s going to be someone else out there who’s going to find it interesting as well.”

Indoor Enthusiast by Tuesday The Sky

burped-death metal? really? Dead and Dripping

Fan of weird death metal,

Two songs are streaming on Bandcamp from this burped-vocals death metal project.

I cannot recommend this music to any metal fan whatsoever because it has rather weak vocals that ruin the rest of the ok-death metal basic musicianship. The vocals really are burped-whispered, and it sounds stupid, to say the least. This style of vocals is done in honor of an old Finnish band called Demilich from the 1990s. The vocals of that old Finnish band are also weak and stupid. I do not like "safe" growling: This is the type of lazy growling that sounds like the vocalist is trying not hurt himself. He's being "safe" and "careful." I like death metal vocals like on Death's Scream Bloody Gore in which you know that vocalist has, indeed, hurt himself and is about to pass out from how much work he has done. In contrast, these burped vocals are soft, weak and lazy, and this vocalist could easily record 10 to 20 songs every single day because he is basically whispering.

On the other hand, Demilich's album has 30 reviewers on Metal Archives (it's probably all the members of Demilich, their siblings, cousins and friends writing the reviews) that like it. Or, rather, that claim that they like it.

You best believe this Dead and Dripping is going to find an audience! It already has found an audience. There are death metal fans who think this vocal style is awesome, apparently. Get ready for Dead and Dripping to start filling up the arenas and stadiums of your city. This band is going to be huge, huge, I tell you.

Dead and Dripping

Nefarious Scintillations

Transcending Obscurity Records

28 November 2025

ABOUT THIS ONE-MAN PROJECT: Dead And Dripping is back with another album of mind-warping, reality-deconstructing music. One-man crew Evan Daniele, who was already playing everything on the albums so far, has gone ahead and even created the artwork for this album that manages to replicate the intricate nature of the music along with some kind of hallucinogenic quality that it induces. The music is often slower, deliberate, as if to create a hypnotic effect aided by use of repetition, and with that the songs can go on for as long as nine minutes without seeming cumbersome as is almost always the case with the brutal death metal subgenre where lengthy songs go. Dead And Dripping is doing something novel in this space which begs to be heard with all its quirks including the Demilich-esque croaks to go with music sounding just as surreal and twisted. It's an album that is painstakingly composed with thought and effort put into every single aspect of it and with all of it done in a refreshingly organic manner. "Nefarious Scintillations" is a tour-de-force for the style and a testament to the dedication and prowess of one-man bands.

Nefarious Scintillations by DEAD AND DRIPPING

Wretched - Decay (Official Video)

Below you will find the informative official information about WRETCHED, an American melodic technical deathcore death metal band from the state of North Carolina, and their brand new album titled Decay that comes out this week. I have been enjoying the melodic yet heavy brutal sound of the album. Check out this video and see if you understand what this is all about. You're in for a treat!

Wretched

Decay

Metal Blade Records

17 October 2025

With Decay, the decade-long wait for new Wretched music is finally over, the dozen songs worth every moment of anticipation. The first LP since 2014's Cannibal, Decay sees the boundary-pushing lineup breaking past defined walls of their four previous releases. "We've had a lot of time to grow and reflect in the time between our last album and Decay," says drummer Marshall Wieczorek. "Wretched is doing what Wretched always does, and that's exploring our environment and leaving room for ourselves to try different things. To sum things up, the new album is DYNAMIC. We go here, we go there, we go everywhere. There is no shortage of groove, heaviness, speed, melodicism, prettiness, and sadness."

For the last two years, Charlotte, North Carolina's lauded metal monsters worked on the songs that would populate Decay. The result is a conceptual masterpiece that blends haunting melodies with progressive complexity. This fifth album, which is a prequel to 2010's Beyond the Gate, delves into existential themes, D&D-inspired mythology, and personal loss.

"Decay is 100% a concept album," confirms vocalist Billy Powers. "Beyond the Gate had an element this record shares, the talisman. I always knew there was more story there and was very excited to join up with the guys again to put that in motion. The first track I wrote was "The Golden Tide." I had no idea where I was going to take story in connection to BTG until I typed the first line of the song. 'They began in the dark.' After that, the lyrics poured out of my mind and by the end of it I realized that this story takes place many years before the content of BTG."

The LP's title track (and first single) contains the album's main character, Malus, along with a character from BTG named Elturiel, a djinn bound to any creation to come from Xzorian. "In the song, 'decay' refers to Malus' decaying existence, the feeling of loss, and helplessness/lack of control he has to influence anything outside of the darkness in which he has been cast."

In broader terms, decay refers to many elements of the album's story: "The decay of good intention, the loss of loved ones, the influence time and choices has upon our bodies and minds and the decay of the world around us due to the choices of those with ultimate power." Powers found that he'd also subconsciously written certain lines reflecting personal experiences of loss and deception, often influenced by writerly favorites including JRR Tolkien and Michael Crichton as well as countless comic book creators, such as Robert Kirkman and Jonathan Hickman. Decay world even sees Power using Latin words/phrases in the lyrics to "show that in this story languages can span across an incredible amount of time, space, even crossing dimensions."

If this sounds heady, Wretched are glad to expand and explain for fans, with Decay's liner notes offering a more fully realized journey. "The story tells you everything you need to know about what happens before and after each song, so the listener can choose to listen to the album again in story order to gain the full story experience of the album," Wretched explain.

The music "contributes to the story and helps paint an image, in the same way music and movies go together," Wieczorek furthers. To that end, the visually evocative "Radiance" is Decay's second single, described by guitarist Steven Funderburk as a "solid head-banging ripper of a song that has heavy groove riffing as well as a very mournful yet epic melody on the back half, which is something we're known for doing."

Sonically, Decay may be Wretched's most pristine-sounding recording, but it's still raw with a live feeling in the performances. The band didn't track the parts until they sounded like a computer. You hear Steven pick through the strings and fret the instrument, Andrew shines on bass with a potent musicality and movement, his parts as much a part of the sound and structure of the songs as the guitar. Vocally, Powers went as raw as humanly possible, pushing himself and the instrumentals to their furthest for an uncompromisingly powerful performance on every track.

The twelfth and final song on Decay is "Golden Skyway," which is a bit of a wildcard, rife with uplifting energy. Funderburk is drawn to guitar-driven melody from bands like Iron Maiden and Dissection, and that approach is used on "Golden Skyway. "I've wanted to do the key change / modulation move on every record, but it just didn't work out for whatever reason," he recalls. "But 'Golden Skyway' finally opened that door for us. I'm a huge fan of the 80's in general and that was a stamp all over music from that era so it was rad finally doing that." 'Golden Skyway' felt like the proper final track with its triumphant-sounding melody and groove giving listeners an uplifting end to an often-dark musical journey.

When Wretched emerged from North Carolina, in 2005 as a formidable force on the metal scene, their blending of melodic, death, technical and progressive metal captured ears immediately. With their 2025 debut album on Metal Blade, the band is officially back in full force with a tidal wave of music to lift up both old and new fans. "The world is such a wild place that can be hard to navigate. Many people have so many hardships in life. I wanted to create an escape for the listener with the hopes that they will be entertained, get lost in the music/lyrics and forget about everything else going on, if just for a little while."

Billy Powers: Vocals

Steven Funderburk: Guitar

Andrew Grevey: Bass

Marshall Wieczorek: Drums

https://www.facebook.com/wretchednc

Wretched - Decay (Official Video)

An Abstract Illusion "No Dreams Beyond Empty Horizons" - Official Video

An Abstract Illusion

The Sleeping City

Willowtip Records

17 October 2025

Alright, so The Sleeping City is the third full album from AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION. Now, these folks got their own way of doing things. They blend that progressive death metal and black metal, throwing in some arpeggiating synths and drones, along with these huge, wide-open soundscapes that kind of take you back to themm sci-fi movie soundtracks. It is a real trip, like you are wandering through some old futuristic town. This here album is heavy and atmospheric, like it is reaching into the darker parts of your mind. They are talking about human feelings and suffering, digging into those tough emotions, like taking a long walk through your own head, with all its twists and turns. And that sleeping city? Well, it is old and worn down, but still mighty grand in its own way. It is like one of those big, forgotten landmarks that is seen better days, but still stands tall, waiting for you to come and see what is left behind. So, if you are up for a heavy listen with a whole lot of atmosphere and some deep thinking thrown in, this album's got you covered.

The band comments on the forthcoming album:

“When we compose an album we don't want it to just be a collection of random songs, we want a holistic theme coursing through the album's veins. When writing The Sleeping City we wanted to explore what the soundtrack to a dystopian sci-fi film, such as Blade Runner or Terminator, would sound like if it were written by a death metal band.

For The Sleeping City, we took inspiration from acts such as Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine, Kite, Ólafur Arnalds and Boards of Canada, pushing us to expand and refine our sound palette. Going from the long-song format of Woe, it was a fun challenge to once again write self-contained songs with a clear beginning and end.

During the creation of this album we worked with a great team of collaborators. Produced by the band’s own Karl Westerlund, The Sleeping City was once again mixed and mastered by Robin Leijon. Drums were recorded and produced by Jakob Herrmann (Devin Townsend, Evergrey, VOLA, Vildhjärta) at the legendary Top Floor Studios in Gothenburg, who has captured some of our all-time favorite drum tones. The gorgeous artwork, a homage to early black metal's painted artworks, was done by Alex Eckman-Lawn (Horrendous, Afterbirth, Woe, Nero Di Marte). We also worked with amazing musicians who provided us with beautiful strings and vocals.

With The Sleeping City we truly feel we’ve elevated our craft beyond anything we’ve done before and can’t wait for its release. Thank you all for your continued support!”

An Abstract Illusion "No Dreams Beyond Empty Horizons" - Official Video

The Sleeping City by An Abstract Illusion

https://www.facebook.com/anabstractillusion

Dawnbreaker - Black Metal after Nihilism, Atheism and Self-Destruction (Part 2)

Dawnbreaker is black metal from the United States, with five full-length albums released since 2018. What makes Dawnbreaker most unique is its history, which stretches back to 2004 and even before that. Before Dawnbreaker, there was Angelcide—ghastly black metal steeped in contemptuous blasphemy, the kind that would make Slayer blush. Angelcide released three albums, along with several EPs, splits, and demos from 2004 to 2017, in addition to numerous side projects, often profoundly entangled in blasphemy and satanism. The satanic lifestyle of drugs and perversion—and everything that goes with it, too graphic to describe here—was the hallmark of Angelcide.

That was, until one day, when it all became too much. A personal crisis of epic proportions occurred, and the man behind Angelcide, in a shocking turn of events, began to feel the presence of God. Thus, Dawnbreaker was born, and the black metal that had for decades mocked God was now, however unlikely, black metal in the service of God.

In a previous installment of this interview series, we gained insight into a happy childhood, an adolescence gone astray as a black metal anti-social extremist and dangerous weirdo, and the era of Angelcide up to the moment of his conversion to Christianity.

This, more or less, is where we pick up the interview in this installment.

I have read something about your music that I am not sure that I understand. You spent some 15 years making obscenely blasphemous, anti-social black metal against God. However, after you repented and you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you actually went back and recorded your old satanic black metal songs and changed the lyrics to reflect your Christian faith in a project called Hosts of Lord? That seems like a huge amount of work! Is that three full-length albums and a bunch of demos, all your satanic music from 2004 to 2017! Did you go back and read your old lyrics or was that too painful or embarrassing to see what you had written? Did you play all instruments and record it all yourself?

- Yes, I took a great deal of the songs I had from “Angelcide” and other side projects from that era and rerecorded and restructured them for Dawnbreaker and Hosts of Lord. I actually didn’t need to re-listen to anything, I remembered all the riffs and song structures very well. The lyrics I didn’t remember for the most part, I wasn’t thinking about the lyrics at all when I decided to rerecord them. The songs (music, not lyrics) were meaningful and powerful to me and I didn’t want to be ashamed of them. They were also recorded poorly and I wanted to give them another chance now that I was better and more experienced with music production and also a much more proficient musician. This all came after recording and touring with the band Abazagorath, so I understood the recording process much better. And yes, I did it all myself with no collaborators. Just an engineer to record the vocals, since I was living in apartments during this time and couldn’t scream without disturbing the neighbors! There was at least a 10-year gap with everything I rerecorded since the original recordings, so I ended up combining the passion I had in the early days with many years of experience as a musician and audio engineer. And since nobody in the Christian/Unblack metal scene was familiar with my early work, it was all new and fresh to them anyway!

Is Hosts of Lord finished? Has the mission been completed, as way to rectify or atone? Why call it Hosts of Lord and not Dawnbreaker? It's probably not a good business decision, given that for fans it is easier to keep track if everything that you record is simply called Dawnbreaker. I like the raw black metal of Hosts of Lord. I like everything about a song like “I Beheld a Clash of Otherworldly Entities.” The harsh vocals, the guitar riffs, the tone, the drums sound, all of it. Do you use vocal effects on Hosts of Lord? Are the drums on a song like the one I mentioned, are those programmed?

- Hosts of Lord was started because I just had too much music! From about 2016 – 2021, I had a huge surge in motivation and creativity. Maybe it helped that I was getting a prescription for Adderall, which is basically just speed (it literally said “amphetamine salts” on the bottle) and drinking a lot of espresso coffee. But maybe living in New York City during these years also had a cultural impact, the hustle and bustle and the grind, you know? It made me want to work hard. Whatever it was, I couldn’t keep up with all of the inspiration that was flowing at that time. So, by the time of the early Hosts of Lord releases (2020) I had already released 3 Dawnbreaker albums that were improving in technicality and production quality. I didn’t want to oversaturate with too many releases, especially without a logical transition between them. So, I thought I would create a new project that would be raw, low fidelity recordings. To capture those early days of my black metal works, and also the early days of black metal in general. I wanted to take my earliest demos and turn them into completed, full length works. And also record some other stuff that was written from that time frame but never recorded. I didn’t use vocal effects (I used the worst quality computer microphone possible), tuned to standard (the Dawnbreaker albums are downtuned), and yes the drums are programmed but made to sound live. I also initially wanted to release the albums on secular record labels, whereas all of Dawnbreaker’s music was released on a Christian label. But the other labels got complaints from people about releasing a Christian band, so I ended up returning it to Christian Metal Underground Records (a sub label of Vision of God). But Hosts of Lord wasn’t very successful, and maybe I should have recorded this material as Dawnbreaker at some point. Sometimes I even think about rerecording some of it again for a Dawnbreaker release haha! I don’t plan on releasing any more Hosts of Lord albums, but I have admittedly been inconsistent when it comes to this stuff.

You are now a grown man. Do you have a wife and kids? Or, does doing music really leave no time for raising a family? If you don’t have a wife and children, is something that you think about? How does the prospect of raising children sound to you?

- I had a wife for many years, but unfortunately we ended up parting ways. This happens to many of us, Christian or not, although it’s extremely embarrassing as a Christian and a stain on my legacy and testimony. You can “not believe in divorce” but sometimes divorce believes in you! I never particularly liked being around children, and thus never had much of a desire for it, but I’m absolutely open to them if the situation arises! Not because I want to, but because it’s the right thing to do. I think it’s objectively better to have children and I probably would have been a more fulfilled, better version of myself if I had them. But I also believe you don’t necessarily have the right or guarantee to them. I definitely will re-marry if/when the opportunity arises, as the Catholic church never recognized my first marriage (it’s a long story).

Looking back on things, to when you were a teenager and a young man, how do you think that your parents felt seeing their baby become this really disturbed, mentally sick individual?

- Yes, all the time. It was hell for them! But they always loved and believed in me anyway. They tried there best to help in whatever way that they could. They didn’t see the worst of most of it, outside of me going to jail a few times! But we all got along most of the time after my teenage years, even though I still had some troubles to work out. There was only one or two years where things were really terrible. But they were happy we had a continued relationship and I tried to be respectful as I got older. I still see them often!

I sent you a link to an article about a former satanist to whom Jesus appeared. The former satanist had a crisis and a breakdown because he was heavily involved, not just in atheistic-satanism, but rather in worship of the devil. Given your years in the anti-Christian lifestyle, did you come into contact with devil worshippers? Looking back on it now, what are your observations about such people? Are they angry? Are they frustrated with their lives and with the emptiness of their life? It's usually single people who are not real adults because they live their lives for themselves, and are not responsible for other people, family, children or other people in general. Being 18 years old does not make one a man or woman, but when you become directly responsible for the well-being of other human beings, it teaches you the value of serving other people and about the meaning of life, a life shared with other people. What are some of your conclusions and observations as to why disturbed individuals, angry people, people frustrated with their empty lives, people who are unhappy, anti-social, who hate the human race, drug-consuming people, hedonist/pleasure-obsessed people, these types of people attracted to atheism, satanism, nihilism and self-destructive ideologies and behaviors?

- I did read the article yes, fascinating stuff! Yes, I met some real witches, theistic satansists, and genuine psychopaths! I could tell you countless horror stories. Yes, a lot of frustration, hatred, darkness, and psychotic episodes. Our society naturally leads people to hedonism and pleasure obsession. From baby boomers on, these became the new gods and nothing mattered as long as “you were getting yours.” People pursue this hedonism in different ways, and it isn’t necessarily limited to devil worshipers in the literal sense. You have so many pleasures at your fingertips now, the phone that sits in your pocket all day can bring you whatever your mind and heart can conjure up. Just a few swipes from your finger and there’s whatever food you want at your door, or whatever kind of woman you want ready to take her clothes off. Or a community of sickos to tell you that whatever debased habit or thought is in your head, is totally normal and should be encouraged and pursued. There’s a funny meme about this… if somebody in 1970 has sexual fantasies about toasters, they just get over it and live a normal life. But in 2025 there’s a whole Reddit page of people sexualized by toasters ready to encourage you to ruin your life! It takes severe and extreme discipline to keep yourself grounded in this age. Because much of popular culture is ready to reinforce your worst temptations.

Have you encountered people who formerly lived their lives in these ways, but that eventually became tired of the emptiness of their atheistic and satanist way of life? Sometimes such individuals feel the need for a connection with God. They feel God pushing them towards Him. Yet, they resist. They resist, in part, because they know all of the disgusting things that they have done in their past. They feel shame. Shame for alcoholism and what it has done in their lives. Shame for the drug addiction. Shame because of the extreme sexual immorality, thievery, violence, deceit that they have done. Shame because they know they have used people, exploited people, maybe killed people (like drunk driving), raped, spent time in prison, and who knows what else that they have done. It is normal for people to feel shame. How about you? Did you feel shame? What would you like to say to someone reading this, someone who feels a deep sense of shame. That person feels God calling them to a better life, but they don't do it. They feel unworthy. They think, “God won't want me. I'm too filthy.” What would you like to say to that person that is reading this right now, feeling ashamed?

- Yes, I felt great shame. Because in my past, I engaged in almost all of those things, maybe all of them besides rape and murder! But God still decided to not only forgive me, but pursue me relentlessly! Of course, there were consequences to all of them. Consequences I’m still facing over 20 years later. But in Jesus Christ there is forgiveness, there is a way, a truth, a light. A narrow gate. And all through the Gospels, Jesus sees the poor, lowly and broken sinners. He sees the heart and not the exterior. So yes, if you are reading this, look at all the terrible things I’ve done, and see how God forgave me and chose me to represent the Christian faith within the metal scene! There are many who seem so far beyond hope or redemption, that God will do incredible works with. So someone reading this, maybe could be one of them!

When you became Christian, how did you go about telling people? Did you deal with ridicule?

- I was off social media at the time. For years, I was private about it and told no one. Maybe for two years. I didn’t consider myself a full-blown Christian yet. But I was praying to Jesus Christ daily, fasting, meditating. But in 2016 I went to a Joel Osteen event, and they read the verse in the Gospels where Jesus says “He who denies me before people, he I will deny before my father.” So I answered the altar call that night, and became a Christian publicly. But I was pretty isolated at the time. Eventually I joined a church and a church worship team, playing guitar in fairly large services of 300-400 people. It all happened fast, and was surreal. But I needed to make a public declaration still. And I did it with the first Dawnbreaker album, DEUS VULT. That was my true declaration of the Christian faith, and it was intended to be so. I even self-released the album, created a record label to release it, because I wanted to make sure the message was exactly as I wanted it. All of the layout, everything, that the lyrics were there. The album was literally me screaming about my conversion and that I was a Christian now. It was probably the most important thing I ever did. I wanted that testimony out there, so if I died that year, it would be on record, for everyone to see. Most of my friends in the metal scene accepted it, as they had found their way into the “conservative” ecosphere where Christian voices were prominent. Some said “I’m glad your happy, but don’t try to force your beliefs on me.” But others – not my good friends, but others – have said “I don’t like that you’re a Christian.”

If a person reading this, is thinking about what you have been telling them about Jesus, but they don’t know where to start. In religion there are charlatan preachers asking people for money. There are many scams and scandals. So many denominations, too, fighting each other, attacking each other. It is not always easy to know where to start. What part of the Bible is a good start for them to read? How can you help them to start to learn about the real Jesus?

- Just jump in and start reading. I would start with Romans and read to the right – this will give you a sense of what the faith actually entices. Then read one of the gospels, John or Matthew maybe.

To be continued.

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Deus Vult by Dawnbreaker

https://www.facebook.com/dawnbreakerworship/

Readers that are curious about the Dawnbreaker interview installment that came before this one, please see this link.

Dawnbreaker – From Blasphemous Music to Making Christian Black Metal (Part 1)

https://metalbulletin.blogspot.com/2025/09/dawnbreaker.html