Dead Rhetoric: The band recently celebrated a 25-year anniversary, what is the driving force that pushes you to continue writing and making music?
Conklin: Our brotherly love for the music we generate and our combined energy within the songs we conjure from nothing.
Lopez: We have a pretty stellar lineup right now, everyone gets along great and we just want to keep making music. It’s in our blood, in our essence, we love doing it. We plan to keep making music and releasing records for as long as we can. The music business can be hard and dishearting here and there, but you roll with the punches and keep going. We love performing live and we love making records, we have a legacy and we just want to keep adding to it. We have great fans around the world who love what we do and write us all the time telling us how they love and appreciate what we do as a musicians and as a band, that is the greatest feeling in the world. The LEGIONS WORLD WIDE are the GREATEST! We keep getting more fans and keep growing, so even though the day was shitty with trivial crap, at the end of day we got the fans and our legacy to put a smile on our face and get us geared up to fight again the next day.
Dead Rhetoric: Satan’s Host seems to get a ton of great press with each release, yet after all this time there is still a certain level of obscurity associated with the band. Is it ever frustrating to see that you are doing great things but never really getting the audience you deserve?
Lopez: Yes, and we just keep fighting and keep trying to put the right pieces to the puzzle, it is very frustrating and we don’t really know why big shots in the industry are afraid of Satan’s Host. We have the goods, we are very easy to work with, we love performing; there is a demand for Satan’s Host all across the globe and we don’t know why no one wants to jump in with us and capitalize on what we have to offer. We get stellar feedback and awesome reviews on what we produce, and we are going to just keep pumping albums out and the LEGIONS will win in the end.
Dead Rhetoric: Looking back, do you think the moniker Satan’s Host has impeded some potential exposure for the band, given the finicky nature of metal fans?
Lopez: I’m sure but it is kinda too late to change the name, lol, metal is the devil’s music, all music belongs to Lucifer. Everyone is proudly extending the devil horns, but yet they are afraid of a band called “Satan’s Host?” Give me a fucking break, quit being posers, that’s what the title Great American Scapegoat means; everyone wants to act like they are “evil” or “dark,” like they are part of this “evil” family and then they pass us by because of the name. It doesn’t make sense, they are as hypocritical as the powers that be and organizations that plague and stifle the human race. Satan is the scapegoat for all the bad shit, dare not anyone take any responsibility for the fucked up shit they do, just blame it on Satan, and that’s kinda where we fall at and where we are at. I was always attracted to metal because of the darkness, I loved Venom and Mercyful Fate since the early days; I think that essence from where we really came from got lost a long time ago.
Dead Rhetoric: Being in the business for such an extended period, how do you feel that the music industry has changed over the years?
Lopez: I think the music business is saturated with no talent bands, it’s a popcorn machine and that’s why it is hard for the true metal bands with great talent to get anywhere anymore, it isn’t about the music anymore, it’s about getting all the middle men their money. Everyone is validated today, and there is no good work ethic. I think that is why there is such a large revolving door of bands with no longevity. That’s why we don’t get into the trend thing.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on the state of metal, going into 2014?
Lopez: I don’t know how to answer that anymore, I think the state of metal is saturated, I didn’t think 2013 had a lot to offer other than what the older bands have been putting out, and I think it is going to continue that way into 2014. New blood is good but there is not much from the younger bands that I haven’t heard or seen that is really impressive or been done before. I thought Attic was great, really loved them, I really dig Voices, I’m a huge Akercocke fan and some of the guys from that went on to do Voices; I’m really digging Thrall and Apostolum from our label. There are some gems out there to discover, and that’s the problem, too much crap to sift thought to find the gems.
Dead Rhetoric: Does Satan’s Host have any plans going forward into the New Year?
Conklin: We are writing new material now and are ½ way thru with the next project. Our goal is to be finished with the project by FEB and record in spring, New material to spread to the masses and searching for greater and lengthier tours.
Lopez: Yep, we are currently working on the next album and plan to record and release it in 2014. We are booking some “one-off” shows in Europe and in the US. We are very interested in the larger European festivals and very interested and ready to take on some tours. We have the goods and we are more than ready to deliver. We would like to extend our thanks to Dead Rhetoric for always posting reviews on our albums, all the LEGIONS WORLD WIDE 9, all the magazines and webzines that has supported us, our label, our European affiliates, and anyone else that has supported Satan’s Host in the industry. We are here and there is a demand for Satan’s Host across the global, we invite all concert promoters to review us and give us a chance, the fans are there, we have the goods, and we are ready! We ask all our fans old and new to spread the word, visit satanshost.com and like all our social pages! Stay true! Stay METAL!