Birmingham has been home to many notorious metal acts, so it should come as no surprise that a force like Revenant Dead emerges and lays waste with the competitors.
With their current buzz in the metal media and their current signing with Orchard Records, the metal foursome have been making a name for themselves with their debut CD entitled 'Imperial Rape March' which is a salad of styles from thrash, death metal, groove, and straight forward rock 'n roll. Here to give more insight into the realm of the Dead is guitarist, Aydin.
Ultimate-Guitar: Let's begin with the formation of Revenant Dead. Was it easy finding members with similar musical interests in Birmingham?
Aydin: For starters, it was important the band was in Birmingham. So many great bands have come from here, and, the scene really is the best. You see it in the streets, in the bars, clubs, it's so vivid. There are so many venues that do metal shows and there are so many bands. It's the home of heavy metal, period.
I think it's impossible to find a group of people who like exactly the same music, but it's important to evolve as a group and let everyone have their input. Even if some members don't always like the same things at first, as a combination, as a band, you'll eventually find a formula were everyone is happy. It's hard work finding the right band; we've been through a lot of members in our time; it takes a lot of patience and persistence. We're all really lucky. The four of us now have been together for about 3 years now.
You started playing guitar at a fairly young age. How does a young kid in Birmingham get into playing guitar as you did?
I was actually born in Liverpool, and, as a kid, I used to be completely high on Coca Cola and sugar n stuff, so I was always running around. And, as a kid, my older sisters would always have bands like Nirvana, Prince and Rage Against The Machine on. I'd always dance around to it and jump on the sofas and air guitar to it all. So, that's how it started. I had a lisp at the time and would call it a 'Kitar'. Eventually my mum got me a Spanish acoustic when I was 7 years old and the first day I had it, I played it so hard, I snapped the neck in half. My mum wouldn't buy me a new one, so I just kept playing on this snapped, smashed up acoustic. I loved it.
Your guitar teacher had passed away some time ago. Was this difficult for you to overcome?
Yeah, that's right. I had lessons from about 10 to 14 years of age. And throughout that period, I was mainly just playing bluesy, rocky type stuff like, the Beatles, Hendrix and Oasis. When I heard the news that my teacher had committed suicide, it was devastating. That night I remember just watching my Hendrix videos and just playing guitar and just trying to get over the shock. I vowed never to get a new teacher, and, as a result, I kind of had this new motivation to become the best I could be. My first objective was to become as fast as I could possibly be. I wanted to have full flexibility and strength in my fretting hand. I also wanted to be the loudest guitarist out there and I wanted to have a wow factor about me. So, from about 14 years of age, I constantly did chromatics, exercises, alternate picking, scales, techniques - everything and anything just to become the fastest guitarist. I'm still working on it.
Guitar wise, what are you playing through these days?
At the moment, I'm just trying to express myself as much as possible. The days of playing through scales for 6 hours a day are over for me now. I feel I'm at the stage we're I need to really put my soul into the instrument. You know how Vai and Malmsteen are? Even Satch and Johnson?.those guys have the most amazing tones and feel in their music, I envy that. I want to be able to play like them. I want to have full control of my instrument.
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| "Birmingham the home of heavy metal, period." |
Do you find yourself branching out in terms of finding a guitar suitable and comfortable for you to use onstage?
Absolutely. I'm left handed so it's really difficult to find the right guitar for me and Revenant Dead. I need it to have a high output, straight bridge and medium/thin neck. When following that criteria, my options are low, especially when I'm looking at high standard guitars. I used a BC Rich NJ when we first started, but I didn't like the Floyd Rose on it, I could never get the action or the tuning the way I wanted it. I then used an Epiphone Les Paul for a while, but didn't really like the bulkiness of it. I went through so many guitars; I even used a Dean Flying V at one point. Right now, I've got the perfect guitar though. I'm using an American Fender Telecaster with a Seymour Duncan Hotrail. They're the best guitars in the world. It's a strange guitar to use for a band like ours, but it seems to work.
There are so many styles floating throughout 'Imperial Rape March' and I've noticed hints of black metal used in songs like "Torment" amongst others. Are you a fan of this genre?
I'm not the biggest black metal fan but I do appreciate the genre and I've got some Emporer and Cradle Of Filth CD's in my collection. You see, we've never tried to be a certain genre. I think as the band has progressed, our music has become darker and thrashier, but that's only because we get bored if the music isn't vibrant or fast enough. That might be the reason why there's so much happening on IRM. The next CD will definitely be more focused. Our style is defined now and the next CD I'm sure will be a definitive album for us.
Do you try to keep your onstage gear as simple as possible, and what are you using these days?
I used to have so much gear on stage, equalizer's, phasers, noise suppressors, flangers, you name it. I used to be addicted to buying effects pedals and messing around with different tones. However, as time went on, and especially when playing the clubs, It was obvious the best option was to just keep it simple. Things get broken, things don't work and when you're only playing a 30 minute set, it's important to have a solid set up. For the last year I've been using an Engl Powerball. It's an amazing amp; it's all tube and the loudest thing on earth. At the shows, I want its tone to come through as much as possible. I want it to be 100% Engl. My effects rig lately has been a Dunlop Wah, A Boss Digital Delay and a Boss tuner - nothing too crazy. The emphasis is on the amp and the guitar.
How do you approach your songwriting? Do you bring a riff to practice or do you generally construct the entirety of the song?
It really depends. Sometimes I will write the whole song from start to finish or it'll just start with a few riffs and we'll all work on it. I think my personal favorite and a song I feel is everything Revenant Dead is about, is one of the songs on our debut album, the song titled 'Torment'. The whole idea with that song was to deify the formal structural cliches with songs and create something that started at one point and ended at another. So, you'll see that the song doesn't repeat itself at all, it starts on A and finishes on Z. It's a great song and it really feels like a song, not just a series of riffs. It works great and it's a blast to play live.
Do you practice any sort of warm-up regimen before playing live?
I used too, but not so much anymore. The songs off IRM aren't as challenging to play for us as they once were. I just try to loosen up my fingers and make sure they're not cold, cold hands makes it impossible to lay songs like Perfekt Hate and Torment. Usually, before I leave to go to the venue, I will play through the whole set maybe 3 or 4 times ? just to acquaint myself with it all. There's no nature like second nature, is there?
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| "At the moment, I'm just trying to express myself as much as possible." |
Has explaining the title of your CD become tiresome?
I think our next album title will definitely be something less controversial! It's ok ? It's understandable that people ask about it because anything with the word 'rape' in it is always going to be frowned upon. It's not about that at all. It's about standing up for yourself and not letting people get in your way. If you look at all those three words, Imperial, Rape, and March and put them all together. Think about what it means. It's actually the most devastating combination of words. There's always going to people out there who will seek to destroy with their reign of terror. It's important to stand tall and deify any opposition. I think that's what our album signifies.
Are there any particular bands you would like to see Revenant Dead playing with onstage in 2008?
There's so many bands out there that we respect and love. We're all huge Disturbed fans, we've met the band several times and go to all their shows. I think Disturbed would be a great band to play with. They deserve a good support band! We would also love to play Donington, that's been a dream of ours from the beginning, to play on the main stage at Donington with so many great bands.
What are some of the more challenging songs for you to play off 'Imperial Rape March'? Do you find yourself writing songs more comfortable to play onstage rather than juggling with fretboard technicalities?
'Perfekt Hate' is the hardest song to play off our album, and funnily enough, it was one of the first songs we ever done. The song was written for a solo project I was working on, and one time at rehearsals, I was jamming it, and West said, 'What's that you're playing?' and I said, 'It's just a song I'm working on for my new shred album' and he said, 'Let's do it!'. We changed a few parts to make it more 'songy' but, yeah that's were it came from. As the band has progressed, we've tried to collectively write the best songs we can so, the intricate guitar work isn't as vivid as it could be. Songs like 'Decay Dance' and 'Jailhouse' have taken over. However, on the second album, we're definitely pushing the boat out and there's songs we're working on now that make the veins come out of my neck when playing. I can't wait to record and release it; it's going to be amazing.
Aydin, many thanks to you for doing this interview! Are there any last words you would like to share with young guitarists out there?
No problem Ryk, thanks for giving me the oppurtunity to ramble on to you! If I could give any advise to young guitarists... It would be to never ever give in to peer pressure. Our favorite guitarists never got as good as they are now without hard work and dedication. It's important you play what you want to play and achieve what you want to achieve. It's your instrument and it's your rules. Come up with a tone you're happy with and make every note count. A solo with four notes can be just as powerful as a solo with 50. It's how you fret it and it's how it sounds through your amp. Set challenges for yourself, like a song you've always wanted to play or a chord or scale progression you've wanted to master, take your time and make sure you're happy with the finished product. Good Luck and thanks for the support!
Interview by Ryk Weston
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