BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Frontman Talks About AXEWOUND Project (Audio)
May 3, 2012BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE frontman and chief songwriter Matt Tuck made an appearance on this past Monday night's (April 30) edition of the BBC Radio 1 "Rock Show" to announce the launch of his AXEWOUND side project. You can now listen to the eight-minute chat in the YouTube clip below.
During the time off between BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE albums, Tuck grew restless. Recruiting Jason Bowld (PITCHSHIFTER, KILLING JOKE),routinely touted as the best session drummer in the U.K., and engineer Martyn "Ginge" Ford (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, TRIVIUM),Matt set to creating monster riffs and intricate metal melodies at the Atrium recording studios in Cardiff, Wales. The project proved fertile ground for Matt to explore the darker, heavier side of his appetite for metal, and soon enough Matt was recruiting co-conspirators to the cause, including Synyster Gates of AVENGED SEVENFOLD delivering a finger-burning guitar solo on standout track "Vultures".
Choosing a vocalist to match the intensity of the music was easy, says Matt. "The first phone call I made was to Liam [Cormier, of CANCER BATS]. We've toured the world together and I've always admired the furious energy he brings to a performance." Liam flew over from his native Canada to join Matt and Jason at the studio and began recording his trademark searing vocals that took the then-unnamed project to the next level. "That was when it really hit me," continues Matt, "we had something special here, way more than just a studio project. We've gotta take this show on the road!" Guitarist Mike Kingswood (GLAMOUR OF THE KILL) and Joe Copcutt (ex-RISE TO REMAIN) were handpicked to join the lineup and a metal supergroup AXEWOUND was born.
A strict Omerta-like code of silence prevailed around the camp as finishing touches were added to the record and in March the tracks were shipped off to be mixed by Machine (LAMB OF GOD, THE BRONX) at his studio in New Jersey.
AXEWOUND's lead track, "Post Apocalyptic Party", was aired on the BBC Radio 1 "Rock Show" and is available for free download from the band’s web site at www.axewounduk.com.
Tuck admitted in an interview with the "Rock Show" that he is looking forward to not being the singer and leader. "It's going to be different, not being the main vocalist, but it's something I look forward to, [to] just enjoy being a guitar player and a songwriter," Tuck said. "It's not something I ever wanted to do, [to] be the frontman of the band. I was always the guitar player who could sing at the same time and that is how I ended up doing what I do."
He added, "It's going to be a different experience. I've never not been in a band without singing so it'll be quite odd to be up there without a microphone in my face for the whole show. But Liam is a dream to work with and one of the most ferocious vocalists."
AXEWOUND is:
Matt Tuck (BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE) - Guitar, Vocals
Liam Cormier (CANCER BATS) – Vocals
Mike Kingswood (GLAMOUR OF THE KILL) - Guitar
Joe Copcutt (RISE TO REMAIN) - Bass
Jason Bowld (ex-PITCHSHIFTER) - Drums
Tuck first revealed that he was collaborating with other musicians on a "metal-as-fuck" side project last October during an interview with "Metal Zone" host Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone. Tuck said at the time, "It's, like, far more like SLIPKNOT, PANTERA… It's metal as fuck, you know what I mean?! Stepping away from the melodic, not giving a fuck… 'Cause obviously BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE is a business and we have our formula, and what we do works — it's great — so we won't stray from that. So it's nice to step out of that comfort zone and do something fucking ridiculous and not worry about what people are gonna think, because it doesn't exist yet. . . We wanted to go in there with kind of like a SLIPKNOT attitude of just everything… Like the 'Iowa' album — just fucking violent. Let it all out. No holds barred."
AXEWOUND will kick off a European tour on May 31 in Utrecht, Netherlands and will make a number of festival appearances, including at Download (U.K.),Rock Am Ring/Rock Im Park (Germany),Gods Of Metal (Italy) and Graspop Metal Meeting (Belgium).
Interview:
"Post Apocalyptic Party" audio stream:
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