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THE SCEPTER “Raiders From The North”
THE SCEPTER “Raiders From The North”
By Theron Moore
By Theron Moore
THE SCEPTER hail from the Northern Tundra of Canada, a hotbed for heavy metal with bands like TERRIFIER, DROWNING IN BLOOD, and the resurging EXCITER making a name for themselves or in the case of EXCITER, reminding fans who the true godfathers are.
Add to this list THE SCEPTER who play a style of metal best characterized as speed meets power meets the NWOBHM. With the band signing with No Remorse records, and a new full length record due out soon, the band has a lot to celebrate and talk about. So here we go…
WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Hello, please introduce yourself.
THE SCEPTER: Hey, we are THE SCEPTER from Ottawa, Canada. We play speed/power metal influenced heavy metal. THE SCEPTER was formed by lead guitar player Josh Collins and has been playing shows since 2018. Our lineup is currently:
Josh Collins-guitar
Morgan Walsh-guitar
Jesse Harvey-vocals
Stew Everitt-bass
John Crawford-drums
WC: Do you remember what got you into metal? Was it a record you bought or a show you saw?
JOSH COLLINS: For me, it was my first time seeing IRON MAIDEN live. It was all over after that.
MORGAN WALSH: for me it was when I was younger, I’d always here rock music on the radio and I loved it. ZEPPELIN, VAN HALEN, SCORPIONS, THIN LIZZY and DEEP PURPLE, just great bands that really got me interested in the guitar. As I got older, I discovered heavier shit like PRIEST, MOTORHEAD, SABBATH, PANTERA, METALLICA, and MOTLEY CRUE, I just loved the sound, the style, and the attitude that came with metal.
JESSE HARVEY: It all started when I was 8 years old. I was with my old man in the car heading somewhere, not quite sure, so long ago, then on the radio this song came up. When I heard this song, I asked my old man who it was, and he said that’s IRON MAIDEN. I have their record downstairs somewhere. When I heard it, there was nothing like it—such beautiful harmony and killer leads that are melodic with thundering bass and drums along with soaring vocals about a man being sent to his death.
I rushed home to find this album, rummaging through the basement, and there it was: this beast puppeteering the devil that was puppeteering the beast called “Eddie.” It was the most insane image I had ever seen. That album was called “The Number of the Beast.” After that, I was sold, and the rest is history. The song that was played in the car that day was... “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” still one of my personal favorites to this day.
STEW EVERITT: There was always a lot of classic rock and stuff in the house growing up. Somewhere at the start of high school started seeing things like CRADLE OF FILTH and stuff on MTV. That sort of stuff I had never seen in my hometown of North Bay, it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. My taste has changed a ton since then, but I think that's where it started for me.
JOHN CRAWFORD: Growing up I was always vaguely aware of metal but didn’t know much about it. My gateway to the genre and many of its classic bands was actually from playing the Guitar Hero games as a kid. I always gravitated to those faster heavier songs. This also inspired me to want to pick up an instrument and be a musician myself.
WC: Which leads into this question…how did THE SCEPTER happen and tell me about the name of the band itself. Who came up with it?
THE SCEPTER: Josh formed the band and came up with the name. Originally we were just called "Scepter" but as it turns out, that name is taken by a few bands. The idea was taken from a scene in the movie "Heavy Metal"
WC: When I listen to the single you have on Bandcamp, "Shadows In The Tower," I hear hints of 80's metal, trad metal, elements of speed, even some MAIDEN and MEGADETH in there. If somebody asks you to describe your sound to them what's your answer?
THE SCEPTER: We would describe our sound as speed/power metal influenced traditional heavy metal.
WC: Speaking of influences, what bands factor into THE SCEPTER's sound?
THE SCEPTER: We are influenced by bands like HELLOWEEN, RUNNING WILD, JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN. Lots of NWOBHM and 80s/90s speed/power metal.
WC: What is going on with Canadian metal these days, it’s on fire! EXCITER, TERRIFIER, AGGRESSION, you guys, wow! It sounds like the Canadian metal scene is vibrant enough you could tour across the country with steady booking. Tell us a little bit about the Canadian metal scene from your perspective and what bands - beside yourself, of course - you're recommending to people.
THE SCEPTER: The Canadian scene seems to be doing pretty well. I hear of new “old school” sounding bands popping up all the time now. Some bands we would recommend are ULTRA-RAPTOR, AMMO, TOWER HILL, METALIAN, TURBO, RIOT CITY, TRAVELER, GATEKEEPER, SAMURAI and MOTORWOLF to name a few.
WC: I can't help noticing that on the "Supersonic Steel Tour 2024" you guys made a tour stop on 3/28 at the Bovine Sex Club, Toronto ON. You know I must ask about this, is it a real sex club and well, tell us about the gig (wink, wink) …,
THE SCEPTER: As far as we know it is not a real sex club, but it is a real great venue! Someone did a review of our gig there, it was a great time.
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