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Terror

18.07.2008 | KYS-Cam | 0 Comments

Having captured the undivided attention of the world wide hardcore scene in 2004, the LA based Terror are as aggressive as ever.

Doug Weber called in to talk about metal, face plants and Earth Crisis…

By Cameron Chambers

Good man, how’s it going? 

I’m pretty sick to be honest man. Where are you calling from? 

That sucks. I’m just chilling in San Francisco. 

You guys are at the tail end of a South American tour yeah?  

Yeah, we just got home yesterday actually.  

How did the shows go? Is there a noticeable difference between the crowds in Central America and those in South America? 

The shows were great actually. They were pretty big! Not many bands have a chance to go down there so the people were just really excited that we were there. Tons of people came out and yeah, they were just excited to have some music down there.  

Going back to 2007, you guys released the “Rhythm Amongst The Chaos” EP through Reaper Records. Can you tell us what happened with Trustkill and why you went with another label for the EP? 

Well, our contract was up with Trustkill and we wanted a fresh start on a new label that would be excited about us, so we chose Century Media because we felt their presence is a lot better than Trustkill’s worldwide.  

We’ve got licensing deals in other parts of the world through different labels in different countries so they’re not really pushing us. This way we have one label all over the world that will actually advertise our record and push it.  

Were you intending to do an EP or was its purpose to give your fans something while you were sorting out your label situation? 

The songs from the EP were actually the B-Sides from “Always The Hard Way”. The label is run by a friend of ours called Patrick and he approached us about releasing them. We weren’t going to use them for anything so we agreed to do it.

How did your signing with Century Media come about? Did you approach them or was it vice versa?  

It was kind of both actually. We knew we wanted to sign to a new label so we demo’d five songs and sent them out to a ton of labels. They were the label that showed the most interest and they seemed to be the most excited about putting the record out.  

There were labels offering us more money but they weren’t as excited as Century Media. We went with them because hopefully they’ll push the record a bit harder.  

Century Media has built its name off the back of more traditional sounding metal bands. What can they offer a band like Terror? 

I don’t know man. I mean, look at the back catalogue. They did a lot of hardcore in their early days. They put out records from the Cro-Mags, Sick Of It All, Ignite, Turmoil and they did an old Merauder record too.  

They know how to market a hardcore record but anyway, I think these days there’s such a fine line between hardcore and metal that it doesn’t really matter.  

Do you think the change in label has the potential to open you up to a larger audience, one that transcends the hardcore scene? 

Yeah, I definitely hope that happens too. At this point we’ve been doing hardcore shows for six years straight, so if you like hardcore and listen to it then you should know who Terror is by now. 

We want to keep advancing as a band but we need to play to new people to do that so hopefully we can get some new fans through Century Media.  

Your new record “The Damned, The Shamed” came out yesterday. How would you describe the record to those that haven’t heard it? Do you think the band’s sound has evolved at all given the number of member changes you’ve been through and your natural growth as a group? 

It sounds like a natural progression from our last record. The structures are better and we threw some guitar solos in. There’s more double bass too! That stuff wasn’t intended, we just wrote the songs and that’s what came out. 

I know every band says their new record is their best but I’m really proud of this one. I listen to it a lot more than our other records so we’re all pretty stoked on it. With a new label and a new record I’m just hoping that people will dig it.  

You guys had Zeuss (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall) on board to produce “The Damned, The Shamed”. Did he play much of a role when it came to writing and arranging the songs or was his involvement purely to make sure the record sounded as big as possible? 

He didn’t try to change the songs or anything like that. We demo’d the whole record before we went in and he listened to the shitty recording and didn’t change anything, ha ha. He just made it sound good!  

The press release that accompanied the record says it’s the definite hardcore record album of 2008. In your opinion, how does “The Damned, The Shamed” stand up when you compare it to previous Terror releases? 

Um, I dunno, ha ha. I’m not one to say that we put out the best record of the year but it’s definitely a solid record. I dunno, I hope people like it as much as we do. I’m not going to say it’s the best or worst record the year though, ha ha. 

Terror was selected as the main support on the recent Earth Crisis reformation tour. How did the shows go and was it at all daunting playing before such a hugely influential band? 

The tour was great man. I was curious to see how it would go… to see if people still remembered Earth Crisis. There were a lot of people there who liked all the bands and it went down really well with such a diverse line up. 

The shows were awesome and it was cool hanging out with those dudes. We’d love to do another tour like that again.  

On the touring front, when can we expect to see you guys back in Australia? 

There’s talk about us coming back later this year although we heard we might do the Soundwave Festival next year. I’m not too sure though, hopefully by the end of this year or early next year.  

We’ve got time to fit in a quick final five questions if that’s cool mate? Something a little less serious… 

Yeah man, go for it.  

Favourite place you’ve travelled to with the band?  

Australia man. Every time we go there it’s more like a vacation than anything. The people are laid back and we get treated well and the shows are always awesome.  

Favourite album at the moment?

What have I been listening to a lot? Shit! I don’t really listen to newer stuff. I listen to a lot of classic rock so I’m into Thin Lizzy at the moment, ha ha.  

Most embarrassing on-stage experience? 

One time I was running kind of fast because we were playing this huge outdoor stage and our old bass player was playing with a cable and I had a wireless. Anyway, I was funning fast and his cable got caught on my leg and he ran the other way and ripped my leg out and I smashed my face on the stage in front of about a thousand people, ha ha.  

Most ridiculous thing you’ve done for a buck? 

Pissed my pants or something, ha ha.  

Pre-Bad or Post-Bad Michael Jackson? 

Pre-Bad for sure. Michael Jackson was the shit back in the day!  

That’s all we’ve got time for Doug, is there anything else you’d like to add? 

Awesome man, I don’t think I’ve got anything else to say though, ha ha.  

Thanks for your time mate.