JOHN GALLAGHER Says Working With His Brother MARK In RAVEN Is 'A Great Asset': 'We Don't Fight Like Those Other Idiot GALLAGHER Brothers' From OASIS

In a new interview with Bonny Freimuth of Innocents Torn, RAVEN bassist/vocalist John Gallagher was asked what it is like to work so closely with his brother, RAVEN guitarist Mark Gallagher. John responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's actually a great asset, a great plus. We don't fight. We're not like those other idiot Gallagher brothers [Noel and Liam of OASIS]. We don't do that. We're different people, but we have a shared vision of the music and the band and what we wanna do, and we complement each other musically very well. Yeah, I couldn't imagine playing like that with anyone else."

Speaking about how he collaborates with Mark during the RAVEN songwriting process, John said: "Uh, it'll depend. I mean, Mark's one of those guys, he's like lightning in a bottle, like a Joe Perry, Jimmy Page, just like boom, just off the top of his head. Crazy. He'll play an entire song from start to finish. I'm, like, 'Where did that come from? 'I don't know.' And I'll do that. I'll come up with stuff, but I'm a little more measured. I'll take my time. I'll work on putting stuff together, and I'll take ideas from him and work on them. He'll listen to my stuff and go, 'Well, why don't you do this? Why don't you do that?' And, of course, now we've got Mike Heller, our drummer. He chips in all the time. He's got ideas. He plays guitar a little. Some of his riffs ended up in some of the brand-new songs we're working on, which is great. The more, the merrier. That's what makes a difference. You can come up with a song or a great idea, but when you collaborate, and everyone takes it to another level, that's what you need."

John also spoke about last year's "Can't Take Away The Fire" EP, which contained five new songs along with three live bonus tracks from across the band's career — "The Power", "Architect Of Fear" and "Don't Need Your Money". He said: "Well, ['Can't Take Away The Fire'] kind of worked out very well for us because the previous full album, 'All Hell's Breaking Loose', we did, and it came out [in 2023], and we were ready to start doing another album, but Mike moved. His studio was in Los Angeles. He moved and had to start over out in Texas, building a new studio. And before he moved we were, like, 'We're gonna need something in the back pocket in case this doesn't work out. Let's record some songs.' So we had some cool songs — five of them, to be exact — and we did them. And there was a little to-and-fro with the record company because record companies these days don't like EPs. 'Cause an EP costs exactly the same to make as a CD, a full one, but they don't make as much money. So they can't sell it for what they would sell [a full CD]. So they're, like, 'We need something extra.' So we put a couple of live tracks on. There's a live track from '84 from Holland. There's one from — I believe it's somewhere in Germany from '91, and then there's one from New Jersey from 2022, I believe. So that's a little potted history along with it. And cool artwork and all the rest of it. But it worked out really good."

In August 2025, it was announced that RAVEN was postponing its previously announced summer/fall 2025 European tour so that John could undergo emergency brain surgery.

The now-68-year-old Gallagher was admitted to hospital on August 12, 2025 after experiencing an intense headache. A subsequent CT scan revealed a subdural hematoma, a type of bleeding on the brain, requiring urgent surgical attention.

Considered part of the "New Wave Of British Heavy Metal" movement of the early '80s, RAVEN is perhaps best remembered for its trailblazing tours in America in the early '80s that gave groups like METALLICA and ANTHRAX their first taste of the road.

RAVEN's classic albums "Rock Until You Drop", "Wiped Out" and "All For One" virtually invented both the speed metal and power metal genres, with the band consistently pushing the envelope while retaining its unique sound and attack — both in the studio and in their true element: onstage.