Dead Rhetoric: What makes the Canadian metal scene so exciting these days? You have a boatload of incredible newer bands just in the traditional/power/speed genres alone, from Skull Fist and Striker to Axxion and Crimson Shadows – that embody a metal for life philosophy…
Slayes: We are a little bit lost and forgotten up here sometimes. Maybe not Toronto and Montreal, who get those big tours all the time. Over here in the West and especially in the prairies, we don’t get to see them as much. People don’t look here for good metal, so we’ve kind of been trying to raise ourselves above the crowd a little bit. Look over here, we do exist and we are talented musicians- just as in Germany, Finland, Sweden. When we come together, bands across the country playing shows together – even just at the big festivals that we have in Canada – there is a great feeling of camaraderie. Metal heads united when we come together, very much so. Metal for life is kind of the way we feel, we strive so hard to attain those goals that for someone in the United States is like you play 5 shows over there and all the labels kind of know who you are. We work really hard for what we do over here, and we have a mutual appreciation. It’s a very tight and supportive scene up here.
(As far as new bands), there is The Order of Chaos from Edmonton, Alberta- and they are signed to a smaller German label called Killer Metal Records. They just released a new album called Apocalypse Moon which is totally killer. Their vocalist is phenomenal and the musicians are very technically proficient. They are definitely a band that should be checked out for sure. There is another band from Vancouver called Nylithia, super crazy technical death, very talented musicians as well.
Dead Rhetoric: How important is assembling the right team beyond the band members as far as a record label, booking agent, management, etc. to get Unleash the Archers to the next level?
Slayes: I think it’s very important, actually. The band has been self-managed since the beginning and we are looking at management right now. Just because it’s that next step, you get the label that supports you and what you are doing, then you get a manager that is willing to put the time and energy into the business. The booking agency, we haven’t quite gotten to that point of signing with one, we do all the North American booking ourselves which is time consuming and stressful. That will be our next step, and it’s really important that we make the right decision on that front because we do love to tour and we want to get the right opportunities in that. We are excited to be with Napalm Records, they are a driving force right now- they have the enthusiasm to grow, and it feeds into us. They are going to help us grow as well because it’s mutually beneficial for both parties.
Dead Rhetoric: Being a lover of sci-fi/fantasy novels and video games, what are some of your favorites through the years? And are you geeking out over the upcoming Star Wars movie that will hit theaters late this year?
Slayes: (laughs). I am not so much geeking out, but I am very excited for it. I love movies in general, I try not to get into anything too hard. Mad Max I was excited about because I love Tom Hardy and there is a lot of talk about the next Prometheus and I love the whole Alien series. Sci-fi and fantasy are like a huge part of my life. Right now I’m reading The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, I have two chapters left and I don’t want to spoil it for anyone that hasn’t read it, but it’s slow in the beginning and you don’t know why this is considered one of the best quadrilogies (four book series) of the 20th century but then I got into it from there and I could not put it down. I’m a big fan of the Dune series, I read that pretty quickly. Glen Cook, The Black Company series, that’s really opened my eyes. He is actually an astrophysicist, he actually went to school for it, so the science behind those books is so real and believable. If I could just sit home and read all day and watch movies all day, I think I would. Haven’t had as much time for video games, which is unfortunate – I think I’ll get my hands on The Witcher 3 and that will sit me on the couch for a couple of weeks at least.
Dead Rhetoric: Being a long-time Iron Maiden fanatic, I need to know your favorite album and songs from the band… also, please state your case for Daniel Heiman to return to the much missed Lost Horizon and record a third record?
Slayes: (laughs). Oh God, I would give anything for that. I would give anything for Lost Horizon to just play another show together, even if it was only in Europe somewhere and they were playing some festival. I would absolutely go there for that and to see them play. Daniel is so freaking talented – even though there is only two albums, they had such a great breadth of music throughout. That was some hard guitar work to write the vocals over, the guitar players are noodling away to the point where there was no regard to how a vocalist was going to sing over it- and Daniel kills it. I’ll be there if they ever play anywhere.
As for Iron Maiden, favorite album – definitely Brave New World is one of my favorites. They did a lot of that album on their last tour that came through Vancouver, and I hadn’t even looked at the set list even though I know a lot of people check it out ahead of time. When they started playing “Blood Brothers” I cleared a whole circle around me, I was being so loud. I love that album beginning to end, never skip a song, and you know it’s a good record when you can do that. For the older stuff, I actually like Piece of Mind. I mean “Sun and Steel”, “Quest for Fire”, “Revelations”, “Flight of Icarus”, “The Trooper” obviously- that is a really great record to showcase their early stuff and show how fun it was. Those would be my recommendations to any newer Iron Maiden fans- but I don’t know if any really exist out there.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the next 6-12 months playing out for the band? Any plans to pursue the ever growing cruise market, or hopefully get outside of North America for touring action?
Slayes: We are touring North America in the fall – we are concentrating mostly on the Eastern side, which is a benefit for you. I think we are going to try and do 70,000 Tons of Metal for next year, but it’s not a for sure thing. Definitely going to do Europe in early 2016. We are trying to work out something for Japan, Spiritual Beast is a label affiliate of Napalm so we are working on that. Festivals… and I think those metal cruises are awesome. We did sort of a mini-one here in Vancouver which was around our harbor, 4 hours and 3 bands – so I can only imagine what it must be like to be on a cruise ship with a whole bunch of metal fans/bands and the hilariousness that would ensue.