SEVERED ANGEL

SEVERED ANGEL popped on the scene a few years ago but they have not been idle.  In that short timespan, these guys have managed to release three full length records with each one building on the sound of the previous one.  These prolific metalers have just signed a deal with a label to release their newest album “When Eternity Ends” after self-releasing their earlier catalogue.  I’m tired just writing about their breakneck pace of putting out product.  Anyway, this East Coast outfit blend metal with a little prog and a little power metal to create sound that is familiar yet new.  The influences are there but there is something new mixed in to make your ears perk up and take notice.  I was lucky enough to chat with drummer Wayne Noon about the newest record, cover concepts, influences, and a number of other topics.  He was very open and thoughtful in his answers which in my mind makes for a great interview.  So without further ado, here we go:

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: You have released three studio records in three years.  Do you write for each record or do you have a stockpile of songs and ideas that you go into for each release?

WAYNE NOON: We just wrote songs as we were going and when we felt we had enough songs that would be it for the album. The only song that was something from the past was “Dogs of War” which came from Lou who had previously wrote it years ago for someone who was in MMA. He wrote it as their theme entrance. He sent it to me and said “what do you think of this?”  I said ,let’s work on it and we haven’t stopped working on music since.  One thing we wanted to be conscious of though was album length. We feel 40-45 minutes is good. Anything over that we feel is overkill and fatigue on the listener. Unless there’s a reason for it to be longer like maybe a concept album where you might need an extra song or two to tell a story.

WC: You pack a lot into each song.  How do you know when a song is finished and you can’t add anymore?

WN:  You can kind of feel or tell if a song is finished. If something gets too repetitive you gotta know when it’s enough. I love IRON MAIDEN to death but their songs have gotten so repetitive. If they shaved off at least 2 minutes from a lot of their songs, it would really make a huge difference. I don’t want to fall into that trap.  You want people to come back and listen to your songs over and over again so you really have to learn when enough is enough.

WC: All of your cover art has a central theme and a mascot, so to speak.  How do you go about creating and picking out the album artwork?

WN: We wanted something that would fit the name of the band and make good imagery. Obviously we have Angel in our name so we needed an Angel, but it’s a SEVERED ANGEL. An Angel who has seen and been through a lot in their life and is better off on their own right now.  So we try to portray that in the artwork. On the debut album there’s a lot going on and it really is a roller coaster ride of emotions. On the album cover you can clearly see this Angel warrior was in a battle, he’s been through a lot but he’s survived. On “Skyward” we felt those songs were a little more uplifting or positive sounding. For the album cover you see a new Angel character who has left that burning down city from the previous album onto hopefully a more peaceful life. With “When Eternity Ends” these songs have a more edgier vibe and some take really dark turns and we also try some new things as well. For the album cover we have another new Angel who’s alone and just floating there with the dark clouds behind him not knowing what’s to come but he’s ready to take on whatever is put before him.  I just want to mention that Aleh Zielankievič who does our artwork, has done a great job with every idea we have thrown at him. His style fits with our music very well.

WC: Was there always a concerted effort to have that visual continuity with all of your records?

WN: We tossed around the idea of somehow making each album cover fit with one another but then that kind of restricts you. Instead we just try and have the artwork portray the emotions of the album. Maybe at some point we could have all of these characters together.

WC: Each one of your records has “your sound” but they build upon the previous release making them familiar, yet new.  Do you have any song ideas on where the next record will take us listeners and will it venture out past “When Eternity Ends”?

WN: I’m glad you noticed. It’s another thing we’re very conscious of. We don’t want to repeat ourselves which is why we have a song like “A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing” and “In My Skin” where we try something new and see what happens. So far “A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing” has went over really, really well. Our next album is actually already done. I don’t want to give too much away but it’s a concept album. I had an idea that I thought would make a good story and the rest of the band was interested. As with every album, everyone brought in their ideas musically and also story wise. It’ll also have the longest song we’ve done so far at 18 minutes. The album itself is longer too.  I mentioned before about album lengths and this story needed those few extra minutes to do justice to these characters. We had a lot of fun making it. We’re also considering doing an animated movie for it as well, but that’s as much as I want to get into it right now.

WC: Why go with a label at this point instead of self-releasing again?

WN: We were almost with a label for our first album but we found out we were being lied to about basically everything so we completely disassociated ourselves from them. After that we were really sold on just self-releasing our music which we did for the first two albums.  We released a mini ep of cover songs from DEF LEPPARD and PARADISE LOST. Scott Waters who runs No Life Til Metal Records, who I’ve known for probably 20 years, messages me and says “why are you guys not on a label?” He was interested in adding us to his label. Since I knew him and another band I’m also in with Alex called ABSOLON, is with No Life Til Metal Records, I knew we could trust them. There’s only so much we could do on our own. Being with the label is helping us get our name out to more places than we can. Plus too, if someone is a fan of another band on the label and they go to purchase their album they’ll be able to check out the other bands and hopefully that will lead them to us as well. There’s just more opportunities being with a label and it’s proving to be working so far.

WC: Are you planning on a “When Eternity Ends” tour?

WN: Unfortunately no. We all come from other bands that have played shows throughout the years. I think at this time, we really like just being able to come up with songs and release albums. Unless something comes to us where we feel it’s really worthwhile doing we’re mainly a studio band.

WC: If you did tour, would be your “dream” tour or festival?

WN: I’d love to tour with HELLOWEEN or IRON MAIDEN. As far as a festival it would be Wacken Open Air. Lou would have loved to tour with BLACK SABBATH, Alex probably DREAM THEATER, George is an 80’s hair metal guy so maybe LIZZY BORDEN  and Marc, that’s a tough one but I’m going to go with PARADISE LOST.

WC: What are your main influences?

WN: My main influences are HELLOWEEN, IRON MAIDEN, ANTHRAX, MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND and METALLICA. Some bands the other guys are into are DREAM THEATER, BLACK SABBATH, CANDLEMASS, SOILWORK, LIZZY BORDEN, SAVATAGE.

WC: Is there a band or artist that you love that would surprise your fans?

WN: Even though I love heavy metal and that’s my preferred genre, I don’t consider myself a “metal head”. I just love music in general mostly in the rock and metal genres. I’m a fan of alternative, so I’m into bands like PULP, BAND OF HORSES, THE KILLERS, SHINY TOY GUNS, etc.

WC: Was there a defining moment in your life that made you want to be a musician?

WN: I really got into music at a young age. My grandfather pushed me to take up an instrument and I chose the guitar. I had a really cheap acoustic that would fall apart all the time. While in practice my guitar broke and I was pretty much done with the guitar. My parents didn’t have a lot of money back then either to buy top of the line equipment. So as I’m sitting in the room some guy came in the shop and started playing drums and I was just like, wow! I want to do what that guy just did! I was around 8 or 9 years old and I’ve played drums ever since. DEF LEPPARD was the first real rock band I listened to and I was just so amazed at Rick Allen and how he could play drums with one arm. I would see live performances on MTV and it just looked like fun to be playing music you made in front of people. I always wanted to know what that would be like. Unfortunately I’ve never had anything as glamorous as DEF LEPPARD but I did get to play some cool shows and the last show I played with my old band PHOENIX REIGN was sold out at the Gramercy Theater in NYC.

WC: What was the last CD you purchased?

WN: DEEP PURPLE- “Abandon”.  I was just on vacation and I like to find record shops to stop in. This one place really didn’t have much, but I didn’t have that CD so I grabbed it. I just recently started getting into DEEP PURPLE. Another store I stopped in I bought some cassettes to add to my collection of FAITH NO MORE, RATT and SAVATAGE. I collect CDs, records and I’ve been getting back into cassettes again. I had such a big cassette collection when I was younger and when I finally got a cd player I sold all of them off but over time you regret doing that so little by little if I find something cheap enough I’ll get it.

WC: What was the last concert you attended as a fan?

WN: I don’t go to many concerts but the last one I went to was the MERCYFUL FATE reunion show in Brooklyn NY with MIDNIGHT and KREATOR. That was a really great show and a great venue. In a few weeks LIVING COLOUR is playing near me and I’ll be going to that.

WC: What’s next for SEVERED ANGEL?

WN: Like I mentioned earlier, our 4th album is done. I actually just talked to Aleh about doing the artwork. Then hopefully things work out with the animated movie to go along with the album. I think we’re also going to do another cover song that kind of fits along with the 4th album but it won’t be on the album; it’ll be a stand alone digital single. Other than that, we’re already throwing around ideas for our 5th album. No rest for the wicked.

WC: Any last words for your fans?

WN: Yes, thanks to everyone who has checked out our music. We hope we can keep making music you enjoy. Also to the people who haven’t listened to us yet or maybe heard a few early songs from previous albums and didn’t get into it, give “When Eternity Ends” a try. I really think it’s a strong album and it has a little something for everyone who likes rock and metal music.

SEVERED ANGEL