A Mutual Love of Old School Death Metal: Hail of Fuckin' Bullets

 

Hail of Bullets, from Official Website

Recently, I had a chance to speak with Ed Warby, the mastermind behind crushing, old school death metal band Hail of Bullets.  Catch them at MDF this year on Saturday, at Hellfest, Wacken, Party.San Open Air, Summer Breeze, Way of Darkness and more!

PG: Hails dudes!  How is life in the Netherlands at the moment?
Ed Warby/ Hail of Bullets: Fine, thanks! Enjoying some decent weather for a change…

PG: Hail of Bullets is a really young band but with veteran members.  Was HoB started intentionally as a super group?
EW: No, but it was started as a band with the right people in the right place, one that would be able to exist without spending ages in a rehearsal space and where all members do what they’re supposed to do based on a mutual love for old school death metal. Steph handpicked us and I think he did a great job!

PG:  HoB lyrics focus a lot on war and World War II in particular.  What draws you guys to this topic?  Which band member is the most knowledgeable on the topic?
EW:  It started when Martin heard the first demo and said it sounded like war, he then came up with the Eastern Front subject and we decided to stick with the theme as it fits our music perfectly. Martin is by far the biggest expert on this stuff, he literally devours book after book on the subject and knows all there is to know. He prides himself on the accuracy of his lyrics and makes sure everything is thoroughly researched.

PG:  How is the writing process with such veteran members?
EW:   I’m responsible for the biggest chunk of the music and I usually write at home, making demos for the other guys so they can weigh in with their opinion. Paul and Stephan also contribute and whenever they have an idea they come over to my studio so we can work the arrangement out and record a demo for everyone to work with. We don’t record anything that we feel less than 100% about, so certain songs require a lot of fine-tuning since we all have strong opinions. Fortunately we have a similar musical vision for this band so it rarely comes to real conflicts.

PG:  How does HoB differ from other projects members are involved in?
EW:  When I was still in Gorefest I noticed that HoB was a lot more fun, it’s a bunch of guys having fun doing something they love wholeheartedly and although every band should be that way it’s not always the case. It’s by far the easiest band I’ve ever been in, we have our arguments but in general it’s smooth sailing and we’re so single-mindedly dedicated to the style of metal we play it’s almost telepathic the way we function.

PG:  If there was a battle between Hail of Bullets and Asphyx to have Martin Van Drunen as a frontman, who would win? J
EW:  Jeez, what a question… let’s just hope it never comes to that! Asphyx means a lot to Martin, but I know he’s also proud as hell to be a part of the Bullets. Besides, he needs both bands to support himself!

PG:  Being WWII buffs, which military weapons would you most like in your arsenal? 
EW:  I wouldn’t mind having a Tiger tank in my backyard, and as a kid I was very fond of the way the MP-40 machine guns looked. I think Martin would say the Eisenbahnmörser, a massive railway gun he dedicated an Asphyx song to.

PG:  The Dutch have a history of being a seafaring nation.  How do you think Hail of Bullets would fare in a land war?
EW:  Well, I’d like to say I’d be a fearsome warrior but in all honesty I don’t think I’d last a day during a war, be it on land or sea. Then again if we could translate our musical prowess to warfare techniques we might do alright…

PG:  Here in America, we have this perception that the Netherlands are just full of people smoking pot and having crazy sex with prostitutes.  Is this an accurate perception?  Is there a more correct one?
EW:  Hardly, I think that applies more to foreigners who come to The Netherlands to do these exact things, bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy if you will. I don’t smoke pot, nobody in the band does, I’m reasonably sure we all have lots of crazy sex but it doesn’t involve prostitutes… I think the fact that it’s quite easy to come by takes away much of the fascination. I don’t care about drugs at all, whereas most American bands seem completely obsessed with smoking dope. To further disappoint you, we don’t wear wooden shoes or grow tulips either…

PG:   I’m so bummed J  Back to the music…HoB covered Twisted Sister’s “Destroyer.”  Why this song?  Did you guys catch any shit for covering Dee Snyder?
EW:  Yeah, some, and we weren’t expecting that at all. We just picked a song from our youth that we liked, back from the time where there was only “metal” and “everything else”, instead of all these silly subdivisons. Some guy that reviewed the EP thought it was a disgrace for us to cover “Motley Crue”, but fortunately most people got it. Besides, Dee’s an icon and Twisted Sister still rock harder than most death metal bands I’ve seen recently.

PG:  Do you have any plans for upcoming releases or tours?
EW:  No releases for a while we poured everything we had into On Divine Winds and since we want to keep releasing quality stuff we’ll take it easy creating a follow-up. We do have a busy year playing most major European festivals (and even an American one, the Maryland Deathfest) and some selected clubshows.

PG:  Alright, do you have anything you’d like to add?
EW:  I think we covered it all, and then some!

 The Scrapyard thanks Ed Warby and Hail of Bullets for their time!
Check em out at:  www.hailofbullets.com and www.MySpace.com/
hailoffuckenbullets