The hell-child of Alice Cooper, King Diamond, Impaler, and Iron Maiden has been unleashed onto this Earth, in the form of Chicago's RAVENSTHORN. Drawing influences from the aforementioned bands AND a whole lot more, RAVENSTHORN are conquoring fans one by one with their brand of Melodic Thrash/Power Metal. Answering the questions are Bill “Count Bloodwyn” Jannusch (vokills), Bill Hall (guitar), Mario Sanchez (bass), and Tony Barr (drums). Read on, and see what all the buzz is about. BE WARNED......this band is INTENSE!!!!!
Interview by Anthony
Anthony (Unstoppable Force): Hello Ravensthorn!! Please start out by introducing yourselves and mention what you do in the band.
Anthony: Nice to meet all of you again. I would like to discuss the history of the band. How was the band formed and who are the original members? Also, how did the band find itself with the name RAVENSTHORN?
Count Bloodwyn: RAVENSTHORN originally formed in 2001. Our drummer Tony Barr wanted to form a heavier band than the ones he had been working with and eventually teamed up with the band’s original guitarist Greg Verthein. They immediately began writing much of the music that is heard on the band’s first release, “House of the Damned.” The band then recruited a bass player named Jimmy H and was actively seeking a vocalist. Finally, Tony (whom I had been friends with for years) called me and offered me an opportunity to audition for the band. They liked what they heard from me and I was immediately impressed with the band’s musicianship. That’s how the very first formation of RAVENSTHORN came about. After writing all the lyrics for the songs that would appear on the first album (House of the Damned), we began to gig out. Shortly after, Jimmy H complained about the theatrics and soon went missing in action. Tony then summoned the talents of another long time friend, bassist Marion Sanchez in December of 2002. We soon began playing out again and entered Pumpkin Studios (Orland Park, IL) in January of 03’ to begin recording “House of the Damned.”
Anthony: Part of your previous lineup included original member Greg Verthein and bassist Jeff Taylor. Why did they depart from the band and how was the process finding their replacements?
Count Bloodwyn: That’s a real tough question to answer Anthony. The band members of RAVENSTHORN have always kept any “problems” within the band…in house. We do that out of respect for each other. However, to at least somewhat answer your question, it eventually became evident that we were simply no longer “on the same page” with each other. All of the remaining band members of RAVENSTHORN deeply regret that situation and we sincerely appreciate all of their contributions to the band. We truly wish them the very best. With their talent, we know they’ll do well.
Anthony: Hello Tony. It was fun hanging out with you in April. Please tell me a bit about yourself. How long have you been playing drums? Who are your influences? What song ideas have you incorporated into RAVENSTHORN? Also, please tell me about some of your previous bands.
Anthony: Hello Mario. According to the official RAVENSTHORN website, you have played in numerous bands prior to RAVENSTHORN. How have you grown as a musician since then? And, would you mind talking a little about some of your work in the other bands you were in?
Anthony: Hello Bill (Hall). Great times were had in April. Is RAVENSTHORN the first band you’ve played in? What contributions have you made to the band? And, how would you compare your guitar playing style to the band’s new guitarist?
Anthony: Count Bloodwyn, you are credited with writing all/most of the lyrics for the band. What inspires you to write, besides horror movies? Speaking of such, what are some of your favorite horror movies? And, what are some of the theatrics you use in your unique stage show?
Count Bloodwyn: Well, along with being a horror movie fan, I have long been interested in the occult, witchcraft, old legends and the sadness that I sometimes feel in my heart. My favorite movies would have to include The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead, The Ring, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, all of the Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing Hammer Dracula flix, all the Halloween and Friday the 13th movies, Evil Dead…I could go on forever.
Anthony: There is a prevalent horror theme in the lyrics of the band. What are some of the horror movies the band has written songs about? Going forward, are there plans to continue to write about horror movies? And if so, which ones?
Count Bloodwyn: I guess I would have to say that some of my lyrics were inspired by the movies The Exorcist and The Ring. Of course, all of the Dracula movies have inspired me in my lyric writing too. Will there be more lyrics inspired by horror movies in the future for RAVENSTHORN? You can…Count Bloodwyn…on it! As to which movies they’ll be, you’ll have to stay tuned for that…
Tony Barr: “House of the Damned” was our first “creation” and it will always be very special to the band. The production on “House” could have been a little better, but we are all still extremely proud of that record and enjoy playing songs from it to this day. “Lust for a Vampire”, “Lavey’s Ghost”, “The Occultress” and “House of the Damned” are a few of the songs from that recording that we are still playing LIVE today. I find it hard to compare it with “Hauntings and Possessions” because for me, they are unique recordings within themselves. But I would definitely say that “Hauntings” was recorded far superior to “House.” And, “Hauntings and Possessions” is the recording that actually got the band signed to a record label.
Anthony: In reference to the aforementioned, how did the band find itself signed to Hellion Records? Have they helped in getting the band international gigs throughout Europe? Or, are they just for distribution?
Count Bloodwyn: RAVENSTHORN was recruited by Hellion Records, Mausoleum Records and Iron Glory Records after the band’s performance at the “2004 Classic Metal Fest.” Juergen Hegewald, owner of Hellion Records, received a great review about us from the fest and immediately asked to hear the band’s newest recordings. Because Hellion showed the most interest in the band, we signed with them. Hellion did a fantastic job of packaging “Hauntings and Possessions” and we couldn’t have been happier with its total production. On top of that, Hellion even produced a limited edition, double vinyl LP version of “Hauntings and Possessions” which also includes the “House of the Damned” recordings! The vinyl version is called “Haunted House of the Possessed.” Again, beautifully packaged and manufactured with red or gold vinyl.
Anthony: Describe your experiences at the Headbanger’s Open Air Metal fest. Where did this event take place and what other bands did RAVENSTHORN play alongside? And, will the band return to Europe?
Tony Barr: The HOA was an AWESOME experience for everyone in the band. It was a dream come true. We had always wanted to go to Europe and perform there because we knew we had fans there. Frankly, our best reception ever…was in Germany at that festival. The metal maniacs there are INCREDIBLE! We absolutely want to return as soon as possible. The people there treated us extremely well. I know our manager, Jerry Parsley, is working hard to get us back to Europe.
Anthony: RAVENSTHORN has also played at the “Classic Metal Fest” in Chicago. What significant memories do you have of this event? Did the band have a lot of fans in the crowd, seeing how this was on your “home turf”?
Tony Barr: We always have a pretty good size “home crowd.” We usually don’t have to worry about that. But, as far as the “Classic Metal Fest” goes for RAVENSTHORN, that was the show that put the band in the position that it is today. From that gig, we signed to a record label (Hellion Records), we were invited to perform in Germany and the doors of opportunity have continued to open for us ever since. RAVENSTHORN owes much to Brad Youngblood and the Metal Music Foundation, the people responsible for putting on the fest.
Anthony: Let’s discuss the album “Hauntings and Possessions.” Floyd Brown is credited for some keyboard work on the album. Is he part of the band or a studio musician? This album also has an interesting cover. What does it signify and how did this design/concept materialize?
Anthony: Tell me about the song “Buried in the Basement” and how this relates to…The Count. Which other songs, if any, relate to personal occurrences?
Mario Sanchez: Both of the songs “Buried in the Basement” and “Hands of The Killer” from “Hauntings and Possessions” are about the experience The Count went through with the David Maust (murderer) situation. That was a horrible ordeal that is hard to look back on. Anyone that’s interested in reading about all the gory details can go to our website (www.ravensthorn.net) and look at the “Hammond House of Horrors” page. That page tells the story of what happened and how The Count was unfortunately involved.
Anthony: For anyone who has never seen RAVENSTHORN LIVE, what can one expect out of a live performance?
Anthony: When might the new album be released? And, how has the band grown since the release of “Haunting and Possessions”?
Count Bloodwyn: We’ve already begun the recording process for “Horrors of the Black Mass”, but we’ve still got quite a way to go. We were hoping to get “Horrors” released by the end of this year, but it might be the first part of 2007 before the final product is manufactured, packaged and distributed.
Anthony: Describe your experiences here in New Jersey performing at the ATTACKER Record Release Party.
Bill Hall: That gig was a HUGE success and even BIGGER party! All of the bands that performed at the show gave intense performances and we all had a BLAST! The guys in ATTACKER are our Brothers in Metal and they couldn’t have treated us better. They did everything they could to make us feel welcome and at home, and we really appreciated that. All of our Metal Brothers in Hallows Eve, Icarus Witch and Magus Beast were cool to hang out with too. Hell, we partied with those guys all night long! So again, we’re really looking forward to getting back to New Jersey in January for the “Iron & Steel” Festival to get the opportunity to see our fans and friends once again.
Anthony: Thank You RAVENSTHORN for your time. Do you have anything to add or a final comment you wish to make?
Count Bloodwyn: First of all, I would like to THANK YOU Anthony, for your undying support of RAVENSTHORN. We have sincerely appreciated your help in getting the word out about the band and we will continue to support UNSTOPPABLE FORCE! I would also like to encourage everyone to check out the website for a little bloody taste of our new material. There are two new songs (rough mixes) on the DOWNLOADS page just waiting for our fans to sink their fangs into (The Ouija & Wolf Witchery).
DISCOGRAPHY
HOUSE OF THE DAMNED (2003)
HAUNTINGS AND POSSESSIONS (2005)
HAUNTED HOUSE OF THE POSSESSED (2005)
HORRORS OF THE BLACK MASS (early 2007)
LINKS
MySpace Page
Bill “Count Bloodwyn” Jannusch (Vokills): Hello Anthony! How are you Metal Brother? First of all, THANK YOU for this opportunity. RAVENSTHORN sincerely appreciates your support. As for the band, we have our rhythm section that includes Tony Barr on drums and Mario Sanchez on bass guitar. We have Bill Hall shredding for us on guitar. And, the band has recently acquired the guitar expertise of Jeff West (Winterkill / Tyrant’s Reign). With the addition of Jeff on lead guitar, we feel the band’s “guitar attack” is harder, faster and HEAVIER…than ever! And of course, I am the band’s “vokillist”…Bill “Count Bloodwyn” Jannusch.
The band name was something we came upon when both Tony and Greg made lists of possible band names. In the middle of one list was “Thorn” and in the middle of the other list was written, “Raven’s Cry.” When we laid the two lists on a table, the paper with “Thorn” just happened to be lying on top of the word “Cry” on the other list. Greg immediately spotted the result and suggested we call the band RAVENSTHORN. It reminded me of The Omen and Damien Thorn. Damien is the raven’s thorn…the child of the devil.
Finding their replacements hasn’t been easy by any means. It took months to get ourselves together and get everything going again. The band immediately turned to its original bass player Mario Sanchez, to fill the rhythm section with Tony. Unfortunately, Mario’s earlier departure from the band was solely due to personal reasons only. So, asking Mario back was a “no brainer.” But, finding “quality” guitarists has definitely been difficult. We thought we got lucky right off the bat when we asked this one guy to join the band that could really shred. But within days, we discovered that his WIFE thought SHE was going to take over the band! Obviously, that wasn’t going to work, so it was back to auditioning guitarists again. Soon after, we acquired the talents of Bill Hall (Animosity) and Tomek Spirala (Rosenguard). We enjoyed some really cool gigs with that combination…especially the one you attended Anthony, the show in New Jersey at DingBatz with ATTACKER and HALLOWS EVE. We’ll NEVER forget that one! But unfortunately, the “original” band members still weren’t totally satisfied with the way things were going. That “magic”, that “chemistry” simply wasn’t what some of us thought it should be. So again, because we want the best for our fans, as well as ourselves, we decided to take another look at the guitar situation once again. We eventually decided to ask Bill Hall to stay on with us and go ahead and try to find another lead guitarist. We anticipated that it could take a long time to find the caliber of musician that we were looking for, but we were extremely fortunate. It wasn’t long before Jeff West (Tyrant’s Reign) made himself available, and that’s where we are today. We’re VERY excited about the heaviness of our twin guitar “attack” now.
Tony Barr (Drums): Hi Anthony! It was great hanging out with you as well. Truthfully, I’ve been playing drums for about as long as I can remember. As a kid, I was always pounding on anything I could find to use as a drum. My family loved music, so it was always there for me. I’ve also been influenced by many styles of music over the years as well. But as far as metal goes, Dream Theatre has always been one of my favorites. Being a drummer myself, I have always admired Mike Portnoy. He is, and always will be, amazing to me. I was also influenced by bands like Rush, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Judas Priest and King Diamond. Obviously, these are all bands that have outstanding musicians.
As for myself, I’ve performed in several local Chicago area south side bands, most notably, Dream Seeker. We had a BLAST with that band, but after a while, I wanted to work on something much heavier. That’s when I started putting together what would eventually become RAVENSTHORN.
As far as ideas for the band go, many times I come up with song titles for the band. I’ll give The Count my title idea and he’ll come up with the lyrics to match. That formula has worked well for us many times. I enjoy coming up with song titles and The Count enjoys elaborating on them with his incredible lyrics.
Mario Sanchez (Bass): Hello Anthony! Yes, I’ve played in several Chicago area based bands over the years. None of them ever really did that well, but we had a great time anyway. I eventually joined up with Tony in Dream Seeker, which was probably the most successful project for me personally up until RAVENSTHORN.
As with most musicians, practice and rehearsing is the key. After years of playing bass guitar, I would like to think that I have greatly improved over the years. But, you can ALWAYS improve your skills with extra hard work. Being in RAVENSTHORN has also required that I perform at a higher level than ever before.
Bill Hall (Guitar): Anthony, we had a FANTASTIC time in New Jersey! We’re really looking forward to going back in January of 2007 for the “Iron & Steel” Festival. I’ve actually played in several Chicago area bands just like the other band members have. But, the band that I was the most involved with was called Animosity. I’ve also performed in a few tribute bands before finally joining RAVENSTHORN.
I guess that my most recent contribution to the band would be writing some of the new material for our next release, “Horrors of the Black Mass.” I laid down the riffs to a new song called “Up from the Crypt” that the guys really liked, so we’re recording it now. I’ve also been asked to contribute more on the lead guitar end, rather than just concentrating on rhythm. I’m up for that challenge and looking forward to it.
Jeff and I compliment each other very well because we have different styles of playing. Our approach is somewhat different. Jeff’s style is more melodic, where my style is more thrash oriented. Our contrasting styles however, give the band a full and melodic sound, and it also provides massive amounts of power and aggression.
As far as the stage show goes Anthony…as you very well know…it just MAY include a little blood, maybe a few human skulls, maybe a burning fire summoned by the devil himself…and…possibly a few “battle” weapons…if needed. Of course, none of our shows are exactly the same. So, “true” metalheads need to check us out for themselves.
Anthony: “House of the Damned” was the band’s first release. Which songs off this album are played LIVE today? Having never heard this album, please tell me a bit about it. How would you compare it to “Hauntings and Possessions”? And, did this first release serve as a tool in aiding the band to shop for a record label?
Hellion also helped us tremendously by inviting the band to perform at the “Headbanger’s Open Air” Festival held in Germany back in July of 2005. That was an unbelievable metal experience that none of us will ever forget! Hellion has truly been great to us.
The HOA was held in a very small town outside of Hamburg, not far from our record label’s (Hellion Records) headquarters. The fest takes place on this guy’s farm, at least I think it’s a farm. Anyway, it’s out in the German countryside with people camping, cooking out, enjoying quality heavy metal music and the whole outside festival bit. It was great! We would love to return to the HOA anytime.
We shared the stage with HEATHEN, WARRANT, GASKIN, TYRANT’S REIGN, RIVAL and our very good friends ATTACKER. We ALWAYS have a memorable time when we play out with those guys.
Mario Sanchez: Floyd is a very close friend of the band and has been for many years. He’s not a regular member of the band Anthony, but he’s an excellent musician who can come in the studio with us and help with special effects, keyboards, whatever is needed. The guy knows how to play several instruments and can play just about any style of music. He’s extremely talented and very valuable to have around.
The “Hauntings and Possessions” album cover credit has to go strictly to the artist who created it, and that would be Travis Smith. The band feels Travis did an outstanding job and was a total professional to work with. The concept however, was basically his. He came up with the main idea and then we “tweaked” it with him a few times until we were completely satisfied with what we were looking at. Travis usually works with a digital format, so it was easy for him to make the adjustments. Again, we thought he represented the band very well.
On our next release, “Horrors of the Black Mass”, the cover will be hand painted by Europe’s AWESOME Jowita Kaminska. She paints cover artwork for bands from scratch and anyone who has ever seen her work knows how amazing her artwork really is. She’s truly incredible. The Count has given her a few ideas to work with and she’s going to take it from there. We can’t wait to see what she comes up with. We KNOW it will be over the top!
Bill Hall: One thing is for sure about RAVENSTHORN Anthony, the band has ALWAYS given one hundred percent when on stage. We NEVER want to short change our fans. If you’re into “old school”, “classic” style heavy metal, RAVENSTHORN will not only give you “true”, kick-ass heavy freakin’ metal music, but we will also give the audience an interesting “visual” performance as well. We don’t just stand around, there’s always something going on. The Count is always very active as he stalks the stage with all his theatrics and stage props as the rest of us continue with the assault. And of course, our music is about the darker side of life. So, people should be prepared…
I would say that our twin guitar attack would be the most notable sign of growth in the band right now. Jeff and Bill work great with each other and the power and aggression they create is sometimes overwhelming. The band sounds much heavier than ever before. We can’t wait for our fans to hear them both mercilessly shred on “Horrors of the Black Mass.”
And of course Anthony…HAIL the Dark One…and hold aloft the Sign of the Horns and drink from the Chalice of Black Blood! In Metal…RAVENSTHORN…