Interview with ARCHANGEL A.D.

Imagine in Testament and Exodus crash landed on a desert island with nothing but a copy of Zelda, and a Nintendo console that somehow works on a desert island. This describes the youthful thrash styling of Archangel A.D.  Soaring vocals, imaginative lyrics and epic guitars fuel their new single "Eventide," which was released in September on their bandcamp. So, it's not exactly a new new single, but due to the a backlog of horror business, I'm finally releasing this five-month old interview now. Definitely be on the look out for these young bucks, who are eager to play out far beyond the lone star state.


HELL-O thrashers, how's life? 
Edward Vera, drums: We’re great! Ready to get back to playing shows after a short hiatus and getting ready for the release of our single!   

Tell me about your new single "Eventide". It strikes me as a sort of Testament-stranded on a desert island type of thrash metal song, in the best way.
Justin Lopez, guitar/vocals: So the inspiration for this song actually came from a video game, of all places. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to be exact. Roman, one of our guitarists, came in one day with this really awesome lick and I just had something click in my head and I was like “wait, I can write some more riffs to that”. Eventually we just spent a whole day hammering it out and we figured it kinda had an island/surfer feel about it. All of us in Archangel A.D. love video games, so we decided to base the song on Eventide island from the most recent Zelda game. On that island you get stripped of all your items and are left to your own skills to survive this very harrowing trial. We thought it was a pretty cool premise for a song.  

What's in store for you ahead of the single release?
EV: We’re currently planning out something bigger that’ll serve as a follow-up to our upcoming single and the pre-production stage of it is looking great so far.  

I'm impressed by the vocal performance on this song. What is your method for hitting those sweet high notes?
JL: So when it comes to vocals, I’ve been singing since high school, but I didn’t really refine my style or my voice until college. It’s actually just a lot of practice and trying to emulate my heroes that got me to this point. I have also been singing in my university choir for the past five years, and learning how to sing classically (in some form, I’ve never taken voice lessons) has really helped my tone and my singing ability. As far as how we recorded it, that’s thanks to our producer Joshua Lopez from Widowmaker Studios and his awesome microphones and recording equipment. The guy is a wizard.  

Who are your musical heroes, and why?
EV: Being a drummer, my musical heroes will obviously be...flute players! Ok, drummers. Nick Menza from Megadeth (May he Rest In Peace) has been a hero for me ever since I heard “Holy Wars” at a young age. His unique style of double pedaling in “Rust in Peace” to his “to-the-point” drumming in “Countdown to Extinction” really impressed me and showed me how drummers can really change their style yet keep it the same throughout a band’s discography. 
RT: That’s a bold statement right there. First off, I want to give a couple of honorable mentions to the Beatles, whose music has helped shaped my life together, The Cure, which was the first band to inspire me to play drums at age 3 & last but not least Ozzy Osbourne and Ronnie James Dio, not only because of their contribution and performance in Black Sabbath, but what they have done during their “solo career”. Ozzy started in the late sixties and is still a driving force to this day. Did he mess up along the way though? Yes, but who else didn’t? But when Ronnie came to replace Ozzy, he absolutely filled the shoes and was phenomenal onstage. They are both icons in my eyes, but moving forward or else I’ll keep talking about Sabbath, I’m going to say my top five musical heroes that has shaped my playing as a guitarist and drummer which would be Joe Satriani, Judas Priest, Megadeth, AC/DC and I think you guys know this last band, everyone say it on 3. 1,2,3 RUSH. 

I’ll make this short just as I am, but Joe Satriani is a monster guitar player who’s compositions are stellar. Flying In A Blue Dream, oh my god! The Guitar duo attack in Judas Priest, is insane, even though the leads aren’t “Crazy” but Glenn Tipton and KK downing played what needed to be in their songs. Dave Mustaine and Megadeth has always been my favorite since I was 7, and just like ED said, SFSGSW was the first full Megadeth album I’ve heard in its entirety, and it really speaks for itself, the aggression, the speed was there and definitely blew my mind. AC/DC turned me into the dark side of Rock and Roll ever since I saw music videos with the original lineup, and that’s when I wanted to start learning guitar. There’s nothing much I can say about Rush because they are the holy trinity, and everything about them is just unbelievable considering it’s three guys, the drummer writes the lyrics, bassist sings and plays keyboard with his hands and feet, and Alex Lifeson on guitar brings a full sound to the band which makes the music enchanting.
What else can we be excited about in the future for Archangel A.D.?

EV: We’re currently planning out something bigger that’ll serve as a follow-up to our upcoming single and the pre-production stage of it is looking great so far.  

Jake Garcia, guitar: A new set of songs mainly. Exciting new solos and heavy new riffs. We can’t wait to get this new set of songs out so we can show them to the public. Eventually we’ll talk about a tour and new merchandise, you know, all the things that go along with a new CD release. But for me, I just want to show everyone that we are the real deal. And we are here to kick your ass with this album. “Eventide” is an example of that, it’s fast and thrashy. Just what the doctor ordered.  

 
What's first record to give you a heavy metal hard on?

EV: One of the first records to do that was probably So Far, So Good...So What? By Megadeth. Although I had been familiar with most of Megadeth’s hits, I’ve never experienced a full album of theirs until I was introduced to it by our former guitarist Matthew Karr. I had this album on repeat for weeks and I loved every second of it. Thinking back to it though, there are plenty of better Megadeth records out there.   

Tell me about one of your most memorable concert memories? 

RT: That would definitely be the D.R.I. show in Harlingen Texas, even though unfortunately I was going through a cold, I still felt like we played to the best of our ability because of the energy and feedback the audience was giving us that night. Lastly, D.R.I. is another band that I’ve listened to in my early teens along with Suicidal Tendencies, and never would I thought I would have an opportunity to open for them which was an absolute honor to share with these guys.  


How do you describe your sound in your own words?

JG: I think at first our sound was compared a lot to Metallica and the tone they have. But now that we have a “new” member in Roman, our sound (at least instrumentally) is more that of a Megadeth. He brings those sort of leads-y licks that end up being really heavy verse/chorus riffs. I think I’ve switched over a lot more with my solos and writing them out to be cohesive to where it’s something I do that Marty Friedman would do back in the day. I hope that his sound is evident in my solos. Ed (our drummer) is trying out a lot more things, getting out of his comfort zone a bit. He’s all over the place in terms of drumming, jazz, metal, progressive stuff and more. He’s pulling out all the stops in terms of his sound. Justin is caught between trying to solidify himself as a bad ass bassist with great grooves or the even more badass vocalist. His singing is just so powerful, he’s got us in the booth with him as well. So get ready to sing along ‘cause Justin and his vocals are just as catchy as can be.  

Thank you for going one on one with the GRIM-1 What would you like to say to metal head fans?  

I would like to finish off by saying thank you to everyone who has supported us and given us a chance, whether it be listening to our music, catching us live, buying merch, or just acknowledging the existence of the band. We hope we can keep producing quality thrash and heavy metal for you guys, and that you keep enjoying it. Thanks!

Visit Archangel A.D. on Bandcamp.