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By Michael J. for Mindspell Zine; Dec. '97

1. How's the reaction been to "Elements of Anger" so far ?
   Fortunately very great. We thought this album could go either way. We knew it was the best we've ever done, but would the rest of the world be on the same page as us? Think of all the stuff that has come out since album before this one. All the Machine Face's and Fear Company's that have come out, black metal and groove metal and thrash-hop and whatever have been the sway. I guess some old thrash/speed metal band wouldn't stand a chance...?
   
   Well, I guess there are trend setters, and there are trend buffers. We're not the most original band in the world, but we've found our sound, went with it, and stuck with it. Now the listening public has rewarded us for our honesty. Lots of positive press, and great response from the listeners and fans. Mostly people comment on our newest addition of exploratory sounds or the absence of relentless speed. You'll always have the die-hards who want to hear the style we played ten years ago, but if we just dwelled in that style forever (which would be impossible for us anyway) we wouldn't be able to open the doors that we did to the new fans with the new album.

   Why did you decide to entitle it "Elements of Anger" ?
   

   Basically, it's an angry album. Each song could be attributed to the entire picture we've painted on this aggressive canvas we call music; Sadus style. I mean that, lyrically there is a lot of pent up rage being vented here. We didn't set out to write a concept album, and that it is not. But you can't help but notice a common theme running throughout each tune. Some songs convey this more than others, some don't even seem that "angry". But overall, there is a reflection of a band who has been out of the metal scene for too damn long.

   Why did we have to wait 5 years for a new Sadus-record ?
   

   When we got back from our tour at the end of the year in '92, we found ourselves without a label. That only threw us off a little, but it was enough to make my involvement with Death; losing a guitarist; losing our practice space; some of us having kids; looking for a new record company; and just basically wondering what the hell the band was going to be, loose focus enough for that amount of time to go by. Believe me, we didn't want to take all that time to do this record, but shit happens beyond our control. We just tried to remain positive all the time, and we're very thankful we're finally back at this point. But we still have a lot of ground to make up.

   Please tell us about some of the tracks on the new album, and talk about some of the ideas behind the songs.
   

   Hopefully each person can get their own ideas out of the songs. But there are subjects we always seem to write about on each album. Mostly about what goes on around us; environmentally, socially, personally. As you know there is an aggressive theme to these observations this time around, and what the hell?? We're an aggressive band, it fits the sound.
   

   Some of the songs, the ones I wrote particularly; Mask - deals with two faced and plastic/false/fake people. Aggression - obviously a type of revenge is brewing here. Unrealality - not necessarily taking a stand on pro or anti alien life and ufo's, but just a crack at the fanatics either way. I know Darren wrote Crutch about addiction; In The End is about the circle of the life cycle; Power Of One - rising up above all others to achieve objectives and so on; Stonger Than Life - similar to Power Of One, but remaining true to the course no matter how much pain you must endure.

   How important is creativity and originality for you ?
   

   It's always important to stay clear of blatant copying, but come on, lets face it. Nobody is original anymore. Just find your niche and remain true to the rule: your basic job as a musician is to entertain people. If people agree with what you're doing, than support them by doing what got you there in the first place. Originality isn't so important as creativity. You can be creative with a little or a lot. It's always nice to hear someone who is going for a different sound, but it's even better to hear someone playing with integrity within what they're good at.

   What's your favorite song on the new album ? And why ?
   

   I don't know, I favor the newer ones over the older ones. I guess I like Unreality and Crutch because of the variety that flows as the song goes. I could see the new Sadus following along the lines of this style more in the future.

   What are your plans in the near future ? Is there an American/European tour coming up soon ? Who are you going to tour with ? Who'd you like to tour with?
   

   The album has yet to come out in the states, so mainly we're just focusing on Europe and touring there. There has been a lot of tour suggestions thus far, but everything depends on the right promoter and a decent band that we could support. If we were to headline after so long of a lay-off, I don't think that the draw would be significant to justify. But we'll see, I know that we're planning on coming over there one way or another.

   I've heard you were going to play on the next Death-record. How's it been going so far ?
   

   I've just gone out to Florida a few times to work on new songs, I don't know if there will be any live shows soon. I know Chuck is planning on finding a record deal and recording all these new songs, but other than that I couldn't tell you anything past my bass lines.

   A lot of bassists in the metal scene are just " a third guitarist who wants to be in the band too", you've inspired a lot of bassists to avoid this negative trend, how do you feel about this ?
   

   If I've done any inspiring, I guess you could just say I'm more or less a channel of the bassists that insipired me. I hate followers. The term rhythm guitarist is useless; when I was in band class the teacher always said that just because you might play 3rd trombone or 2nd sax doesn't mean you're any less than the lead. Each part has signification in parts of the harmony. Support is not a career, it's a temporary necessity. Would you be on a panel of speakers if you had nothing to say?
   

   My opinions are definitely my own; some people like diminished roles, I don't. Some people like my bass playing, some don't. I just feel that if a musician, or any artist for that matter, is suppressed it can be quite depressing, for him and others. Just like me, I feel I have something to say, if I'm not allowed to do so, I can be really depressed. But sometimes the things I say depress the people around me. Sometimes I feel like the way a shark lives: If I'm not constantly swimming against the current, I feel I'll die.

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