I vividly remember hearing SAXON for the first time: It was 1980, I was young and thirsty, and "Princess of the Night" was blaring out of my little radio. In essence, that seems like the ideal time for a person like me. Sadly, I missed out on those times b ya decade or two. But that's okay. We have SPELLCASTER. From the high lands of Portland, OR (USA), come the 5 piece chainsaw champions, recently signed to HEAVY ARTILLERY RECORDS, delivering us speed metal mayhem to a new generation of metalheads who may have or may not have experienced W.A.S.P., EXCITER, RAZOR, or, satan forbid, JUDAS PRIEST. I've had the pleasure (to kill) to interview Cory Boyd, 6 string slinger for the up and coming group who have just recently released their brutalizing EP, "Spells of Speed".
So I know you guys recently got back from a small stint on the road, and as far as I know it's been the most extensive gigging done in support of your recent signing to Heavy Artillery Records. How did it go?
It was great man! we got to go to a lot of new places most of us had never been too, drink beer, and play Heavy Metal so it definitely went very well.
It seems like there's been a rise in old school sounding metal bands the last few years- Cauldron, Voltax, Enforcer- why do you think there's been a resurgence in it?
I think there has been such a resurgence because nothing is more loud, powerful, and energetic than Heavy Metal music. People want to crank up a record, or go to a show, have fun, and listen to music that gets their blood pumping, and I think Heavy Metal brings that to the table.
I love how he capitalizes "Heavy Metal" like a pronoun. Death to those who refuse to refer to metal as a pronoun.
You guys have certainly put a lot on the table in response to all the overseas acts taking a similar approach. With the success of your EP, what can we expect from the full length?
Thanks Chris! all the Metal Maniacs out there can expect some new songs that we're very excited to get into your ears, definitely more touring around Spring/Summer, and hopefully our first music video.
What's the reception been like for Spells of Speed?
It's been pretty good so far man, we received a lot of positive feedback from people who bought either the Vinyl or CD, and the reviews on various websites, zines, etc. have all been pretty good, even the blabbermouth review was decent and those guy's are usually dick's when they review bands that aren't hipster metal haha.
Ah that's true. Blabbermouth always seem love all the bree bree bands with their trendy sounds. So what's the next move for Spellcaster?
Haha oh how they do. The next move for us is to get our full length done, we're gonna head down to a local studio and record at the end of this month and then it's scheduled to come out in May. Once summertime comes around we plan on doing some extensive touring in the U.S and hopefully Canada depending on how we are doing financially, and if the album does really well and get's us out there, our biggest goal is to go to Europe.
Fuckin' A. I think you guys would be taken with a lot more interest over in Europe or South America then here in most of North America. They're the biggest ragers haha. I forgot to ask some other basic stuff: How did Spellcaster come into existence?
Yeah, granted there are ton's of true metalhead's here in the states but man, it's like every where else it's like a fucking religion! Spellcaster came into existence after I quit a band I was a part of most of High School back in 2008, I wasn't happy with the direction it was going and wanted to start a more traditional metal band with a dose of speed and intensity. After getting our drummer Shad on board, I met our singer Thomas at a job we were both working at, heard him sing, thought he had pipes, and he hopped on as well. We then went through a few line up changes with the Bass and second guitar positions until we recruited our buddy Gabe Franco on Bass, and our buddy Tyler on second guitar who was actually in the band I played in back in High School.
So I'm assuming you guys clicked well. Do any struggles come about with 5 members and touring?
Yeah we all mesh very well personality and songwriting wise. Oh yeah, obviously packing 5 guy's(Actually 6 including our buddy Logan who did lights for us) in a ford Econoline van for 3 weeks, barely getting any sleep, you don't know whether you'll make enough money to get home, and your giving your all at every show you start to get worn down after a while and arguments and things like that happen, but they always get resolved very quickly.
That's good man, bands that deliver real metal like you guys need to stick around. Any last words for our readers?
Thanks man! we definitely don't want to go away any time soon. Yeah, our debut album "Under The Spell" will be coming out in May on Heavy Artillery Records so definitely be on the lookout for that, and we'll be touring a lot this Summer so come out to a show, buy some merch, and enjoy a rip roarin' Heavy Metal show! And last but not least thank you very much Chris for doing this interview and helping us spread our brand of spellbinding Heavy Metal!
And so I return to reminisce on the good days when ANGEL WITCH was around and I wasn't. if you're a fan of traditional metal but don't mind a circle pit or two, be sure to give a much-needed listen to SPELLCASTER.
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