Dead Rhetoric: Being a fan of classic horror films, what do you feel draws you to that type of art? Does psychology and internal suspense send more chills to you then necessarily the hacker and slasher aspect to the genre?
Leatherby: I’m not like a gore guy – I’m into supernatural stuff, Poltergeist stuff. There’s a new song on the record “Stranger in the Room”, I suffer from sleep paralysis. I don’t know if you know what that is, it’s a pretty freaky thing. It’s been happening since I was a kid. I haven’t seen a ghost but I’ve had some pretty freaky things happen. I’m always hunting for shit. I love H.P. Lovecraft stories, suspense, terror. They live in people’s minds. I really have a strong affinity for horror films from the 1980’s- Fright Night, Salem’s Lot, The Lost Boys- these kind of things. There’s a strong correlation between heavy metal and horror.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see the state of the metal scene today? Do you think there is enough variety and versatility between the veterans and the younger bands clawing their way up the ranks? What would you change if at all possible?
Leatherby: It’s hard to say. There are so many more sub-genres in metal than in any other style of music. There is a place for all of them. (We need) more tour packages, stronger packages. Like for example, we are going out with Anvil at the moment. It’s a great tour, their fans are coming out, and our fans are definitely coming out. Those are merging there- we are being discovered by some older fans who have no clue that there is a new scene, they are blown away by it. There’s a responsibility to the bigger bands, Maiden, Priest, Metallica- I’ll name them by name, I’m fine with that. I’m calling them out, I love them- but they need to think longer and harder about what they are going to leave behind for people.
When Judas Priest takes out Steel Panther or Five Finger Death Punch, you can see what is going on- they are either out of touch, or they are letting the big business control what they are doing. At this stage in their career, they do not need to do that- what they need to do is be bringing out the Night Demons of the world, the High Spirits, the Visigoths, Savage Master- and go hey, mainstream world, this is the future, this is what we inspired. This is what is going to be here for you when we are gone, so get into it now. You don’t need Avenged Sevenfold, you don’t need Volbeat, there are places for those bands, there is. It’s a disservice to some of these fans. I know for a fact- I’ve seen it happen just by touring with a smaller band like Anvil – you can imagine what the impact would be when you go to an arena or a stadium show, and you are seeing a real heavy metal band. People would have their minds blown.
The future is looking good, and it’s the responsibility to those bands to do that, they owe it to the community. They aren’t getting any more young fans by bringing out these mainstream openers. I don’t think that keeps them current or relevant- as long as they are putting out new music, that does make them current. I feel very strongly about this, about the future of where this is going. The true metal fans that love those bands, they aren’t into the support acts. I hear it all the time- they are either out of touch or out of the loop, which is very possible. When you get to that status, you aren’t really tied into the underground at all. But it’s available, and a Google search away on your smart phone, what’s going on today in heavy metal. There are tons of articles about it. The bands are signed to labels, they are in stores, they are on the road. It’s not totally buried, but it needs to be exposed.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the rest of 2017 and early 2018 shaping up for promotion? You’ve told us about two future videos to look forward to, will there be another headlining run in North America or will you continue to look into solid opening tour slots?
Leatherby: We’ve been discussing that with our agent. The Anvil tour will wrap up in a week, and we have one week off. We will go to Europe to do quite a bit of club dates and festivals – Up the Hammers in Greece, Keep It True in Germany, Very Eavy festival in the Netherlands, Metalheadz Open Air, Muskelrock in Sweden- which is great with the new album coming out. We get back to the states in early June, we will do Defenders of the Old in New York, and then we have a month off. July 22nd we head back to Europe for another month of festivals. September it looks like we are going to do a run of US dates possibly with Sacred Reich. Late October we will do some one-offs in Chicago and Baltimore, so it looks like November we may do a headlining tour. If a good support slot comes our way, we may do that. 2018 we will do another headlining run – I don’t see a full national tour happening in one shot, I think we will split it up into two.