MORTAL SIN's "Mayhemic Destruction" being one of the thrash metal lps I like
alot, it was natural to make an interview with this band one day. By the
way, vocalist Mat Maurer's interest for the interview was there, and he quickly
answered the questions ! Here we go...
MORTAL SIN was born in 1985. How did the band members meet ? At the beginning,
were you only playing for your dedication to Metal or did you have already
a goal in mind ?
Back in 1985, of course we had been listening to
lots of Metal from overseas and when Thrash Metal started coming out, we
all felt that this was the style of music we had been waiting for. It was
just a matter of getting some musicians together so we could form our own
band, so we could play this style of music too.
I think drummer Wayne Campbell previously played in a band called Wizzard,
what was the style of this band and was there any release under this name
?
Wizzard were playing Iron Maiden style of music,
which was heavy and cool, but when I went along to audition they didn’t like
my growly voice – that’s why we decided to form our own band and took the
guitarist (Keith Krstin) from Wizzard as well to form Mortal Sin.
MORTAL SIN and Hobb’s Angel Of Death are often mentioned as the first
Australian Thrash Metal bands. What are your feelings been considered as
pioneers ? Were there other interesting Thrash Metal bands in the Australian
underground back then ?
Back in 1985 there were no other Thrash bands in
Australia. Once we had started playing by early 1986, there were several
bands who had got started after us like Slaughterlord, Death Mission, Tyrus
(Peter Hobb’s first band), Addictive and several others.
You recorded a demo in ’86 that became you first LP in ’87. Why did you
take this decision ? Financially, it seems you financially fear releasing
a self-financed album… Did the first printing sell quickly ?
Well our first decision was to go and record our
songs as a demo so we could send the demo overseas to hopefully get a record
contract, but when we finished recording the songs we thought they sounded
really cool and then we thought we would just go out and make our own record
instead. We thought that being so far away in Australia we probably wouldn’t
have much chance of getting some European or American labels interested in
us because they might not have even know about the Thrash scene here. So
after we got the record made we sent hundreds of copies to all the underground
magazines and some record stores in the United Kingdom, in the hope that
someone might take some notice of MORTAL SIN. We printed up 2000 records
in the first printing and they sold within about a month. Then we printed
up another 2000 records and they sold straight away. It was this time that
Phonogram in the UK called us and said they wanted to sign us, and they bought
the whole next pressing of 2000 records to release over in the UK while we
waited for them to re-release it.
How did you get in touch with Vertigo that re-released the "Mayhemic Destruction"
LP ? How many albums was the deal ? Do you think they did a good promotional
job, have you any figures about sales ?
We sent one of our records over to Shades Record
shop in London because we always saw their ads in Kerrang and Metal Forces
magazines. The day the record arrived the staff put the record on in the
shop to have a listen. They liked what they heard, and somehow a record label
guy from Phonogram records was in the shop and heard the album. He asked
was it the new Metallica album !!, and the staff said that it was a new band
from Australia called MORTAL SIN. Next thing we knew we got a call from London
and found out Phonogram Records wanted to sign us. At first we felt they
did a good promotion job, but we really wanted to play in Europe and the
record company said it was too early to play in Europe yet, which disappointed
us. I think the record sales for both albums was around the 350,000 to 400,000
mark.
"Mayhemic Destruction" is considered as a classic Thrash Metal album.
Are you proud of that achievement ? I saw some reviews comparing it to early
Slayer material…
Of course we are proud ! We love playing songs off
the album live, and every fan demands that we play "Mayhemic Destruction"
and "Lebanon" when we play. The album often gets rated amongst some of the
greatest albums of Thrash ever made which is pretty fucking cool.
In spite of being a very good band playing a solid Thrash, MORTAL SIN
suffered from an unstable line-up. What were the reasons ? Do you think you
could have gone further with a better line up ?
We have always had good line ups in the band but
the problem is always pressure or personalities amongst the band. Most people
join a band because they think it’s a great way to pick up girls and get
into drugs. MORTAL SIN wanted success and there was a lot of pressure right
from the start when all the press was saying we were gonna be the next Metallica
or whatever. We set a high standard and sometimes the musicians cracked under
the pressure. Keith was the first to go in 1987 when he kept fucking up songs
at a show at Selinas in Sydney. He was a great musician but got very nervous
at shows and he got the sack after that show and we got Mick Burke from Slaughterlord.
Wayne was next to go in 1989 when he was having a lot of personal problems
and we felt it was best for MORTAL SIN if we let him go. Steve Hughes from
Slaughterlord took his place. Straight away Steve was causing some problems
in the band and there were some fights among the band when we played our
first tour in Europe in 1990, and this is was caused me to leave the band
when we got back to Australia that year. Most bands will tell you that trying
to keep a stable line up and having a great bunch of guys who all have the
same passion for the band is the most difficult thing for a band. Having
five people in the band who all want to make something out of the music is
important. We can always say we have a great line up and a great bunch of
guys in the band, but it only takes one thing to change the happiness in
the band. A lot of bands struggle and when this happens it becomes very tough
for everyone. If you have family or girlfriends and you go on the road for
a long time and sometimes people can’t cope with being away, the pressure
starts, and unless you can deal with it, the harmony will suffer. The line
ups that we have had probably would not have made any difference of whether
we could have made it bigger or not, the success of a band depends a lot
on the record company, management, agents and the songs that you make, just
as much as the harmony within.
In ’89, you recorded your second LP "Face Of Despair". Was the response
as good as "Mayhemic Destruction" ?
You know a lot of people love this album more today
then when it first came out ! I think that’s a good thing, because maybe
people didn’t understand it back in 1989. I personally feel it was a better
album then "Mayhemic Destruction", but the two albums were so different that
it’s hard to compare the two. "Mayhemic Destruction" was raw in production
and "Face of Despair" was very polished. There were more layers to "Face
of Despair" which might take the listener time to hear, whereas "Mayhemic
Destruction" hits you straight away with catchy songs.
You opened for METALLICA during their Australian tour for "And Justice
For All". which bands did you play with for the European and American tours
? What are your memories of these gigs ? How was the relationship between
both bands ? James Newsted had just joined Metallica back then, did you feel
he was really part of the band as he took place of Cliff Burton ?
The Metallica tour is one of legend in Australia.
People still talk about that tour like it was yesterday ! We had a great
time on tour with them and we got on really well with the band. I met up
with Kirk back in 2005 when Metallica came back to Australia for the Big
Day Out Festival and he said he loved it in Australia and has fond memories
of the first tour here. When we played Europe the first time we played with
Testament. One week after that we played with Faith No More in the UK, and
then we went over to America to play about 6 shows. Biohazard was one of
the bands we played with over there, but mostly we played our own showcase
shows. I can’t really answer the question about Jason Newstead from his point
of view, but I can tell you that when Metallica came back to Australia in
1993, myself and Wayne Campbell and a few mates hooked up with Jason in the
Garden of the hotel they were staying at and we partied til about 10am in
the morning, singing songs and playing guitar, which was really cool. Jason
was an awesome dude !
You left Thrash Metal for traditional Heavy Metal with ’91 third LP "Every
Dog Has Its Day". Why did you do this change ? By the way could you explain
this strange cover, it's like dog ripping a Metal album cover or so ?
I had left the band before this, so I can’t really
answer this question, but I guess it might have had something to do with
the style of the new singer Steve Sly and the new musicians.A few months
after the release of the LP, the band broke up. What disappointed you to
the point you ended the band ? I left the band as soon as we got back from
Europe in 1990. I was upset over the way Steve Hughes had treated me and
my wife while we were on tour, and how he was trying to take over everything.
The musical direction was not going the way I wanted it to, but you gotta
remember that 1991 & 1992 was the era when Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Chili
Peppers, Nirvana and all that type of music pretty much took over everything,
so Thrash was not the flavour of the month anymore.
MORTAL SIN did a first return in 1996 with an EP, but it seems it wasn’t
as successful as you expected and the band made a second sleeping… Was it
hard at this time ?
Realistically "Revolution of the Mind" was recorded
just so we could have some product out while we were waiting to write some
new songs. We put two new songs on the album along with some never before
released stuff. It was taking the band quite some time to come up with some
new material as we had two completely new guitarists in the band. As any
band would understand, having to replace both guitarists can completely change
your identity, so we had to be careful on how we wrote any new songs. Unfortunately
for MORTAL SIN, the new line up was not gelling well when it came to writing
songs, although the live show was always excellent. In 1996, MORTAL SIN found
it difficult to drum up any interest in what we had recorded, so we took
some time out.
You returned with a second EP in 2004 and this time, it seems MORTAL SIN
is here to stay. Do you think that it is the end of hard times ? How was
the feed back for the ep ?
Ha Ha, I think it will always be hard times for
MORTAL SIN ! I have personally felt that MORTAL SIN has always had something
great to offer, we continue to write some great music, and our live show
is always energetic and electric. What we need now is a little help from
a record company and some management who can drive the wheel for a while
so we can just concentrate on what we do best – playing live.
Recently you played all the "Mayhemic Destruction" album on stage. How
were the shows ? Didn't you a plan releasing a live DVD ?
We played one show in February where we did the
complete "Mayhemic Destruction" album from start to finish, and yes we had
planned to record it for a DVD, however, the audio got damaged and was not
able to be recovered, so we had to postpone the idea. We hope to do the show
again sometime soon and re-record it for a DVD release next year. A lot of
people who watched the show said it was an amazing experience to hear all
the songs together for the first time.
I've to congratulate you for the show you did under the Wet Tent at Wacken
this year (2006), I was on the front line and you blew me away. Your Metal
was so fucking powerful that I felt like returning in the 80's, but how was
Wacken from your side ? Which bands did you enjoy ?
Wacken was a dream come true for MORTAL SIN. We
had split up before the very first Wacken in 1990, so it has taken us 17
years to finally make it to Wacken and I’m sure as you would agree we made
it worthwhile ! All the reviews we have read have been fantastic and we played
an excellent show. The response from the fans was incredible. We enjoyed
the whole week we were there and it was a great Metal atmosphere. We have
told everyone in Australia that they must visit Wacken at least once in their
lifetime as it really is an amazing experience !
Can you speak about the future comeback album ?
We are just about to start recording the album now
– by the time you read this we will probably be finished recording. As yet
we are undecided about the name but all that will be decided shortly. The
tracks we will be recording are: "Out of the Darkness", "Before the Bough
Breaks", "Tears of Redemption (Lebanon Part Two)", "Say Your Prayers", "Eye
in the Sky", "Rise or Fall", "Deadman Walking", "Lost Within" and "Broken
Promises".
You called your band MORTAL SIN, but what is this famous sin which brings
death ?
Back in 1985, all the names of the bands we had
heard of were all so heavy – Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Death Angel etc….,
so we wanted a name that was gonna sound just as heavy. MORTAL SIN sounded
great to us and we felt it was a name that would stand proud along with all
the thrash bands of 1985.
I was wondering if you were into AC/DC and Rose Tattoo in the early 80's
because I read an int' with Dave Evans and he sates the Aussy scene was extremely
huge in the 70's…
The first show I ever saw when I was 14 was AC/DC
and Rose tattoo in the mid 70’s, and after that I was SOLD ! We had a great
scene over here back then and also through the 1980’s in Australia. The 1990’s
was not so great because a lot of venues shut down because of poker machines
and fire restrictions.
What is you view now on the Australian Metal scene ?
I think the Australian scene is very healthy now.
Australian bands are not scared to pack their bags and head off overseas
to play shows. Even though we are still a million miles away (it’s a 24hr
flight to Europe), I think the combination of lots of touring bands coming
to Australia and lots of Aussie bands touring in Europe and America, I think
we finally have lots of people taking notice. It would be great to have a
bunch of Australian bands touring together on the same show in Europe to
let everyone know who good our scene is getting !
Thanks for answering the questions… The last words are yours…
Thanks fellas, hope you enjoyed the interview, hopefully
we’ll be back in Europe playing some more shows after we finish the album,
early 2007! website
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