BRAY ROAD

By daylight, Bray Road in Walworth County, Wisconsin doesn’t look much different than the usual country road in the Midwest. At night, though, some pretty strange stuff has gone down on this innocuous patch of asphalt. A half-man/half wolf hybrid has been known to frequent the road and other esoteric phenomena such as UFO’s and Bigfoot have also popped up there.

Therefore, it’s a great name for a hard-charging metal band from Milwaukee. BRAY ROAD the band has been prowling the Midwest for a few years now and has gotten attention with its brand of groovy thrash metal. The dudes have got a new album out entitled “Focused, Fierce, Relentless” and this might just be the catalyst to push them to the next level.

With name and music both catching my interest, it was an opportune time to connect with original band member and guitarist-vocalist Nino Nienas and talk to him about the band. I didn’t even have to wait for a full moon!

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Greetings to BRAY ROAD from Dr. Mality and Wormwood Chronicles! The band will be new to many of our readers even though it’s been active for quite a while. Give us a brief rundown of band members and history, if you would.

NINO NIENAS: The band was started in late 2010 by myself (Nino) and the original drummer for the Chicago thrash metal band ZNOW WHITE/CYCLONE TEMPLE, Tony “Trigg” Heath. It was basically a handful of riffs that I wanted to make into songs that didn’t fit with the other band I was working with at the time. We have had many lineup changes over the years, but the current lineup is Peter “Metal Pete” Kissane and Dave Moran with myself.

 WC: Your new effort “Focused, Fierce, Relentless” is now out.  What is it that you wanted to accomplish with this album and how does it differ from previous works?

NN: We really wanted to focus on our production from our in-house studio. We are a band that does all of our own recording. We wanted to focus on diversity within our musical catalog so as not to get pigeon-holed into one category. We wanted to ensure that our members were able to contribute creatively into this new piece of art. I can safely say listening to this album that this is a maturing of our band.

WC: Press describes you as a thrash metal band and I can sure hear that, but I also hear a lot of old school metal like METAL CHURCH. How would you describe your sound yourselves?

NN: I love METAL CHURCH, they’re a great band, very influential. We are definitely a thrash band, but we are capable of doing many other styles. We like to emphasize the groove aspect because people want to naturally bob their heads to our music. I most often describe our music as driving down the freeway really fast and then throwing the car into reverse.

 WC: What are some of the less obvious influences on BRAY ROAD’s sound? Bands that maybe wouldn’t come to mind immediately when hearing the music?

NN: Peter, Dave, and myself all come from very diverse musical backgrounds starting from classical music to death metal and everything in between. I am personally a big fan of all things classic rock, rap, Motown, and metal, and I feel our musical tastes are reflected through our song writing.

 WC: The new album is a self-released effort. Was this always the plan or did you shop it around to labels?

NN: We chose to keep this one independent as finding a label is very difficult if you don’t know someone working for one. The amount of bands actively playing and on labels has possibly discouraged us from taking that route. We were previously on Empire Records out of Belgium, but the COVID-19 pandemic has dwindled the label.

 WC:. I’ve actually been to the real Bray Road and have written about the subject here at WC. Have you ever visited the Bray Road locations? Has anybody in the band been a witness to the Beast or talked to someone who has?

NN: I actually lived in Elkhorn, WI, for a small part of my life and that is where I ultimately heard about the Beast of Bray Road. I have driven down it many times and have walked down it late at night, but have never encountered the cryptid. I have done interviews with people who said they met this mysterious creature and their stories are always so interesting.

WC: It looks like lycanthropy plays a large part in your lyrics. Are there other subjects you write about and if so, what are they?

NN: Our music spans from everything between child abuse, drug abuse, and serial killers. Most of my lyrics are based on people, places, or things that have impacted my life in some way. I find that it’s easier to write about subjects that we have knowledge about, but it’s also fun to write about the unknown.

 WC: You’ve got an intro “Goodbye, Ms. Godfrey”, which I’m guessing is directed at Linda Godfrey, who did more to publicize the Beast than anybody else. Did you ever talk to her? I tried to get an interview with her for Wormwood but it was no go. She has passed away now.

NN: I have actually spoken with her in two interviews. I felt that that title would be a good homage to someone who spent their life looking into the Beast and other cryptids. It’s unfortunate she passed away, hopefully there are other eager cryptozoologists out there willing to take up the torch.

 WC: I’m curious about the lyrics for “Nobody’s Junior” and “Takes One To Know One”. What exactly inspired these tunes?

NN: At birth I was gifted with a name that the person who gave it to me decided was not a good idea to give to me later in life. Someone’s name should never be weaponized as we do not typically choose them. “Nobody’s Junior” is a means of holding someone accountable for things they have done while holding me accountable for my entire life. “Takes One to Know One” is a blueprint for the people who like to judge and point fingers but don’t realize they are also guilty about the things they are pointing their fingers about. If you have enough knowledge to identify things in others, you should use that knowledge to not become it.

 WC: Your drummer Pete gets a great showcase at the end of “Ride”. Was this pretty much improvised or was it well thought out?

NN: The drum montage was written by Pete as an extra piece of music. We figured it would fit in perfectly at the end of “Ride.” Pete laid down all the percussion instruments and I came in with the shakers, bells, maracas, etc. to layer over his creation. What fun is it being in a band if you can’t do stuff like that? Not everything has to be brutal.

WC: You guys have played a ton of gigs. What stands out as the best one? Who was the best band to play with?

NN: Some of our favorite shows are when we travel out of town. It seems like the fresh places and fresh faces serve us well. I can’t say who was the best band to play with as we’ve played so many great shows with so many great artists.

 WC: On the other side of the ledger, did you ever have a “Spinal Tap” experience where things went haywire that you could share with us?

NN: While traveling home from Missouri on Rt. 66 we noticed the trailer door was flapping in the rearview mirror. Basically we were driving 75 miles an hour with the trailer open and all of our gear in it. Thankfully someone was paying attention and we didn’t lose everything, but Pete did lose thousands of dollars of cymbals and we also lost a mic stand.

 WC: The Milwaukee/Wisconsin metal scene is very active and sorely underrated. Any other bands we should be aware of?

NN: I agree that there is a lot of talent in Milwaukee, unfortunately it’s clouded with nepotism as well. There are many great bands that we have played with. I feel some sorely underrated bands like NSOA and VIOGRESSION are bands people should look out for. They have earned their place in the Milwaukee scene and after many years are still going.

 WC: What’s the live front look like for BRAY ROAD this year?

NN: This year we have Project Mayhem, Blades of Steel, and Slam-O-Ween on our roster and we just played The Road to Midwest Death Fest in Menominee, WI. We are always looking for more opportunities to play from local to around the country and we are accepting show offers. In our down time we will be continuing to write and record.

 WC: Any last messages for the people?

NN: First of all, we’d like to thank everyone that helps us. There are a lot of aspects that other people contribute to such as mixing, mastering, scheduling, merch, etc. We are fortunate to have the team behind us that we do helping us. We’d also like to thank our fans, local, national, and international, for bringing us this far. If I had to leave on a few words it would be to tell people “Be genuine, stand up for what you believe in, and keep grinding forward.”

 Thanks, Dr. Mality, for your time and this interesting interview. Take care, buddy!

BRAY ROAD