SLAUGHTER were a Canadian band that mixed hardcore punk,speed,and thrash metal into a whirlwind of fury and anger that fueled the Canadian thrash scene in the mid 80's. Their only album "Strappado" is considered a cult classic. Then the band changed their name to STRAPPADO,added a member,and added two more albums to their legacy. Recently,their demo "Surrender or Die" has been re-released and "Strappado" isn't too far behind. Terry Sadler,the band's leader,discusses below in this brief but informative interview every bit of info you need to know about the band and their material's subsequent re-release. Enjoy-Chris
U.F.-How did the band SLAUGHTER get started? How easy was it to find other musicians?What was the scene in Canada like at the time? Had you been in any
other bands prior to forming SLAUGHTER?
T.S.-I started out in 1978,looking for other musicians to form my fantasy band. I was in at least 10 other bands until August of 1984,when I first met Dave Hewson and Ron Sumners,through my younger brother Chris. He was friends with them first. We had all met at a local,record shop called The Record Peddlar,in Toronto, Canada.
There was a small,local,punk rock scene at the time and some glam metal bands,but the only heavy bands in Toronto at that time were ANVIL, RAPID
TEARS and GODDO etc.SLAUGHTER became one of the first bands to combine heavy thrash metal with hardcore punk rock. We then threw in some BLACK SABBATH influences
and we had our sound!
U.F.-How long did it take for the band to release the "Bloody Karnage" demo
after forming? Was it well recieved in the tape-trading community?How long
did it normally take the band to practice and write songs? Has the band ever
recorded songs that weren't released on an album?
T.S.-We rehearsed and wrote lots of original songs and on New Years Eve,we recorded our "BLOODY KARNAGE" demo tape! The first month that we formed we had at least 10 songs written. Dave,Ron and myself,just clicked!
The demo was instantly mailed to tape traders in the back of metal fanzines,and it became one of the most traded tapes of the underground scene at that time!
Many songs were written that didn`t get released like; "Silent Scream", "Twisted Flesh", "Snarling Death", "Into The Oblivia", "Realms Of Void",
"Electric Doom","The Meat Cleaver" etc.
U.F.-After "Bloody Karnage","Surrender or Die" was released. What did you guys do to promote the demo? Is this the demo that got you guys intrest from FRINGE PRODUCTIONS? Have you appeared on the METAL MASSACRE compilation albums?
3) In April 1985,we recorded and released the "SURRENDER OR DIE" demo.(It is now released on CD with new packaging!) This tape really got traded around and put us on the thrash metal map.
Suddenly everybody knew our name and we sold out the demo in 2 or 3 months! We began to play live shows to promote the demo tapes and got good opening act slots for CELTIC FROST, VOIVOD, EXODUS, RAZOR and SACRIFICE!
Record labels were checking us out at every show.
Two main labels were DIABOLIC FORCE/FRINGE RECORDS and ATTIC RECORDS! We signed with BRIAN TAILOR(the producer of our 2 demos) and FRINGE because they were friends and we trusted them! We had a song "Fourth Dimension" on Metal Blades;"METAL MASSACRE 10" CD,
but no full album deals were ever signed.
U.F.-How come it took so long for FRINGE to release the "Strappado" album? Was the "Nocturnal Hell" ep released as a stall tactic to tide over impatient
fans? How well did the album sell when it was finally released?
4) Fringe Records seemed to not have the money to release our first album "STRAPPADO", so as a stalling tactic,released the "NOCTURNAL HELL" single! We came to blows over this and as a result,our "STRAPPADO" album was never licsenced and became very rare and hard to find! Our career was totally fucked up becouse of a coke head named Ben Hoffman from Fringe Records.
All the money and our royalty money went up his nose! To this day,we have no idea how many copies of STRAPPADO ever sold etc. We do know that every copy sold out!
U.F.-How many live shows did the band play to support "Strappado"? Who did you guys play live with at the time? How did you guys become friends with the
guys in SACRIFICE?
5) SLAUGHTER played only about 15 times live!
Those lucky enough to have seen those shows have now claimed to have witnessed the furor of the Bloody (K)Carnage! I knew Scott Watts and Rob Urbinatti, before I was in SLAUGHTER. We all became really good friends in 1984. On the BLOODY KARNAGE demo, Joe Rico and Rob played guitars with us and Rob and I sang "ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE"!
U.F.-What happened with the "Paranormal" album? How about "The Dark"? How come you guys didn't just record the songs and distribute them throught the undergorund like the demos? Was there any label intrest for SLAUGHTER at the time?
T.S.-After the bullshit with the STRAPPADO album,we wrote more songs that took stuff like "Nocturnal Hell" and "Tortured Souls" and added more intense lyrics and more riffs and took the new songs to the next level.
Our second album was to be called "PARANORMAL" but was never released because of a lack of a record deal and some turmoil within the band!
Ron Sumners quit the band and alot of time was wasted looking for a new drummer! A few advance demos of "PARANORMAL" and "THE DARK" demos were sent
around but there was no spark anymore and I was losing interest and quit the band as well. Dave Hewson changed the band with new musicians and the name of the band to STRAPPADO,because he wanted a fresh start!
U.F.-How come the band changed names from "Slaughter" to "Strappado"? Were there any old SLAUGHTER songs used for the first STRAPPADO album?
T.S.-Dave changed the name to STRAPPADO becouse it was a new,different band with a new sound,yet still hinted at the past! The STRAPPADO live shows still contained some old,classics songs,but without the tuned-down,Sabbath riffing that we had been known for. It
became more heavy metal without the punk!
U.F.-STRAPPADO released the "Final Judgement" album,then it seemed like they disappeared from the world of heavy music as well. What happened with the band? How many shows did the band play live?
T.S.-The STRAPPADO band called it quits in 1994,I think! I think 10 shows were played live!
U.F.-What have you been up to since the end of STRAPPADO? Why re-release the "Surrender or Die" demo and the "Strappado" album now? Can we expect the
re-release of the STRAPPADO albums any time soon? How about the "Paranormal" and "The Dark"?
U.F.-I was never a member of STRAPPADO! I had quit the band in 1990 and had tried forming/reforming an old/new band called HALO OF FLIES. We did "Incinerator", "Tales Of The Macabre","Strappado", "Tyrant Of Hell" and
a ton of new,original tunes that were almost SLAUGHTER tunes. I quit that band and the music biz and dissappeared for 10 years! In October of 2000, I got on the internet and discovered the cyber-sea and began building a SLAUGHTER WEB SITE as a shrine to the band.
I got back in touch with Dave and Ron and worked on re-releasing our classic stuff on CD! "SURRENDER OR DIE" is now on CD! We`re currently working on a "STRAPPADO" picture disc and a CD re-release of "STRAPPADO"!
Also in the works is the release of "PARANORMAL" on LP and/or CD and maybe some classic live shows from 1985!
U.F.-Looking back on the bands...what would you like SLAUGHTER and STRAPPADO to be remembered for?
T.S.-Looking back, I would hope that SLAUGHTER will be remembered as a punk/metal band that never conformed or kissed ass and played some vicious,fucking rock and roll! To this day,Dave and myself are still snot-nosed punks who just don`t give a fuck about the kiss-ass,corporate world of the music biz and the ass kissers who usually smother the music from the true fans who just want to smoke a joint and thrash themselves to fucking oblivia! We still dress in torn t-shirts, army fatigues and leather jackets and
still refuse to wear a suit and tie and kiss the buttholes of conformity...
11)Any final comments?
11) For more detailed stuff on SLAUGHTER and releases please come sign our guest book and check out our website at:
http://interactive.rogers.com/terrysadler/INCINERATOR
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