ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 2 DECEMBER 2012
Formed on the NSW Central Coast by one-time Deströyer 666 bass player Simon Berzerker, Assaulter has led a somewhat sedentary existence as line-ups have come and gone, gradually issuing an EP, a split vinyl release and the somewhat underdeveloped debut album Salvation Like Destruction. With the worldwide release of their latest album Boundless! however, Assaulter is now a solid unit that is ready and able to unleash their death n’ thrash attack on the globe. A few days out from their three-date east coast jaunt, Loud caught up with singer/guitarist Simon to discuss the band’s plans for future European decimation, among other things.
Q: This will be the first go-around you’ve had isn’t it? Assaulter hasn’t really toured much before.
A: No we haven’t done any. We’ve been around since 2005, and in that time we’ve played three shows. The last one being in June, which was the Evil Invaders Festival in Sydney. This one come Saturday [in Brisbane] will be our fourth show. That’s basically it. You can put it down to line-up hassles and whatnot, but now we have a killer line-up and it’s all ready to roll.
Q: I’ve read the reviews of the album and everybody’s saying that you’ve really nailed your sound on this one. It’s definitely got that feel to it that I assume you’ve been looking for.
A: Yeah I think you’re right. When all things are done, it is the album we were after. We always wanted to keep that raw, aggressive, up front sound to all the music that we do. If you listen to the first album – because of the budget it’s a bit *too* raw so we missed that punch and power. But together with the production of Boundless! and the way we’ve actually sat down and written the songs as well, we used a lot of Eastern melodies and harmonies and whatnot as well to meld into the more speed metal/death metal/heavy metal kinda riffing. I think it’s come out well. One thing we were accused of in the past was being another one of these Australian Deströyer 666 kinda bands. But I think anyone who listens to Boundless! properly would disagree. I don’t think you could say it sounds like Destroyer. We’re one step closer to having our own seal in sound.
Q: I’d say the soloing sets it apart a little from the rest also.
A: Yeah, definitely! Tom Hellfinder came along a few years ago now, but because of line-up hassles and this, that and the other… we got to play on a split 7” with Trench Hell, but we didn’t get to play much with each other until Boundless! His style of playing is definitely more along the lines of traditional heavy metal. His two main influences in his guitar playing are Adrian Smith and Andy LaRocque. So there’s a lot more soul in the leads that he’s playing. It’s not just that Slayer kinda ripping shredding as-high-as-you-can-get stuff. I think it fits perfectly and it’s a crucial element to our sound.
Q: Well I don’t think you can go far wrong being influenced by Adrian Smith and Andy LaRocque! And that carries over a bit too, because there’s a bit of a Mercyful Fate influence in there too.
A: Definitely. We weren’t trying to… the last two years there’s definitely been this rise in bands that are influenced by bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and that kind of stuff, but for me with some of the songs… I’ve always loved Mercyful Fate’s heavy metal riffing but it’s always been really dark. So I thought it be cool to take some ideas from what they’ve done and add it into the more straight forward, old-style death metal riffing as well. Mix it up a bit.
Q: So how long did it take to get the album together once you had the line-up together and sorted?
A: It took a while. It was a long process. We had a bass player that was gearing up to do the recording of the album. He was in the band, but he was proving pretty fruitless. The bass player that we have now, Zed, was going to step in and do the bass at the time. But our schedule was all set and we didn’t have the time to get him in to actually do it. So even doing the album there wasn’t a complete line-up. It wasn’t until the album was out that we actually got into motion. It serves well for when we do our next one. We’ll have a good, solid line-up. And it’ll only mean that the material will be even stronger.
Q: And you’ve pulled off a bit of a coup there too, because Metal Blade’s distributing the album worldwide.
A: There’s a band from Ireland called Primordial, and the singer from that band Alan Nemtheanga actually started a sub-label under Metal Blade called Poison Tongue where, he approached them and said, ‘There’s some cool bands in the underground and they never get a look-in.’ And because of him Metal Blade actually signed In Solitude and Portrait from Sweden directly and Alan released our album underneath Metal Blade through Poison Tongue. But the good thing is that it meant Metal Blade distribute it worldwide and promote it. It means it gets to more people than would happen on your standard distro kinda label. It works well for us. There’s been some shit reviews, but there’s been some really good ones as well so the response has been good.
Q: How much interest have you had to take Assaulter overseas?
A: A little. We’re gonna be going to Europe next year. We had a couple of offers. We’re very much an unknown band if you consider the European audience. So there was still a lot of offering to play for nothing to get on various festivals and whatnot. But you know, that’s part of it. We just want to get over there and show Europeans what it is we’re made of and give them a kick in the teeth in the process and go from there. It’s helped a little, but when all is said and done, it doesn’t mean that it’s been some kind of breakthrough being on Metal Blade or anything like that. You’re still a band amongst a million other bands out there that are trying to get on festival stages. It’s all looking good. We’re gonna go over there for five weeks and play where we can and see what happens from there.
Q: Given your background, has that helped a little having that past in Deströyer 666 behind you?
A: I would say no. It’s definitely always been used as a promo tool. When I was with Destroyer I wasn’t a key song writer. And I’ve always maintained that I would never use Destroyer as the cornerstone for promoting Assaulter, because it is quite different and it’s my music, and Destroyer at that time was Keith and Ian’s. So I’ve heard people say, ‘Well I thought it would be like Destroyer and it’s not so it’s not my thing’, so I would say no. It has in the past been used as a marketing thing but I don’t think it’s really beneficial for anyone.
Q: Well all the best for the tour, Simon. Hopefully you’ll get a few people who’ll come along and actually buy some copies.
A: Yes and at the Sydney leg, on the Friday at the Wall, or what was called the Bald Faced Stag, on the 9th we’re gonna be cutting a live filmclip. So anyone who’s interested we want to get there pretty loose and be ready to go fucking nuts ‘cause we’re gonna put on a heavy, tight show to get everyone rolling and we’ll cut a good clip.
