Vicious Nature
8 November 2013
MG: Hi!! thanks for your time!!
VN :As you know, VICIOUS NATURE has been formed by ANDY SOUTHWELL ( guitar )...x Marshall Law, MARK CULLEY
( bass) x Cerebral Fix, ANDY PYKE (vox), x Marshall Law....JON...J.B. BROWN( drums) x Cloven Hoof .
Andy S and Mark got back together a few years ago and started to write material, they had known each other for many years and played in a few bands together previously, namely REALM (with personnel who went on to form Wolfsbane and Rattlesnake Kiss) however these had long since faded away. They soon recruited Andy Pyke into the fold as Andy S had played with him for several years in Marshall Law and knew his capabilities. All they needed was a drummer and I got the call from PYKE in the summer of 2012, forming an instant musical bond with the guys and thus VICIOUS NATURE was born.
VICIOUS NATURE the name came from the title of one of our tracks, PYKE had written a track with a double meaning, based around World Disasters and Natural Phenomena and the volatile side the human race/violent mental personality traits called VICIOUS NATURE, this being just one of a few ideas we had for a band name at the time. I went armed with a few names and ideas to see a mate who works doing advertising graphics for metal bands and the V.N idea looked the best and thus was adopted.
We are currently working on some new tracks which we hope to record early in the new year, they are both more heavy and direct.
MG: Personal favourite tracks?
PYKE......My favourite track of V.N. is Bleeding all the way, Why? Well its slightly an abstract tune pre chorus tempo makes it almost oldskool punk edgy. We tend to finish the set with it as it is also a real up tempo heads down type of riff. I love the song as it is so different to the True Metal vibe of my previous band. Its also one of the first songs myself and the lads wrote together.
ANDY. S......My favourite V.N track is Dream Stealer, the hypnotizing riff does it for me, I think its AWESOME!!
MARK......My favourite V.N track is Salvation, this is a new heavier track which I think is showing the way that V.N will progress, a sign of things to come.....THE HEAVIER THE BETTER!!!!
J.B.....very much like Pyke, I love BLEEDIN, its so different from anything I have done before, it has a great VIBE to it and grooves along nicely, however I also love FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE a track I would describe as Nevermore meets Priest, a true classic "in your face" metal track that drives along at a fair old pace..
MM: Outstanding live performance?
VN : I think we all agree that HAMMERFEST V was a true resounding success for us, to land such a prestigious gig with only a handful of shows under our belt as V.N was a massive coup and showed peoples faith in us and I don't believe we let anyone down .. the venue was rockin, the on and off stage sound was great and the crowd reaction was AWESOME....the press room was buzzin the next day too when we did interviews.
MG: Plans for 2014....
VN: As I said we are currently writing new material for release in early 2014, this will hopefully retain the direct style that we have adopted so far in our music in attempt to make it accessible to a wide audience, although the tracks so far have been heavier than those that have preceded. We are in discussion with a couple of large UK Festivals and a European Festival, but we are not at liberty to say exactly what as yet as we do not want to jinx anything, but needless to say we will be out there gigging and spreading the gospel according to VICIOUS NATURE.
MM: What can an audience expect from a V.N. show?
VN: You can expect the best live performance that V.N can give on the night, we love playing live and have been told that that comes over in the POWER and INTENSITY of our live shows. We are all enjoying METAL once again and are all 100% committed to V.N and want to introduce more and more people to our music and share our enjoyment in what we do.. hopefully they will feed from our enthusiasm and love it as much as we do
MG: What is your biggest challenge as a new band?
VN: To shake the mould of being classed as a N.W.O.B.H.M band, which we certainly are not!!!!!!! Our joint past's have the advantage of being able to open a few doors for us and certainly spell out the pedigree of musicians involved in this project, however they are no reflection on the type/style of music that V.N are producing. There may be a few undertones of some of the more classic metal bands in the music we are creating but it has a more current and direct edginess to it and a pure POWER that previous band that we have been involved in have lacked.
Even so its not easy starting out as a NEW BAND and retracing your steps that you took a fair few years ago, but its very exciting and the HUNGER to make this project work is there more than ever...
MG: Individual influences ...
PYKE: Well many and wide if I go back to being a kid for example then it would have to be what my parents listened to. I got to appreciate Roy Orbison,B uddy Holly. Then later on before I discovered metal Bowie, Sweet, ELO, Sex Pistols, early Aerosmith, Sham 69, Stranglers, GBH, CULT, Billy Idol. My first metal influences would be Thin Lizzy and Rainbow. Then I got into stuff ranging from Motorhead, Saxon, Sabbath, Malice, MSG, Racer X, Pretty Maids,Rush, Queensryche, Ramstein, Nevermore, list is endless really.
Vocalist/songwriters I love to this day.........Dio, Halford [76-91] B.Holly, D.Bowie, A.Eldrich, J.Lydon, S.Perry, R.Atkins, I Anderson, J.Lynn and J Oliva to name a few.
Life.......Influences My nan, Churchill, Many a good German philosopher, my father, Wiccan faith. Good healthy sex and loose women.
ANDY.S: I started playing guitar at the age of 15 being very heavily influenced by Randy Rhodes and Eddie Van Halen and I still love the music that these guys have created to this day.
MARK.C: I first picked up the bass at the age of 16 after being influenced by such greats as Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Geddy Lee and Lemmy and learnt the basics from these......
Early / mid late Eighties influences - Motorhead, Sabbath, Accept, Metallica, Rush, Venom, Slayer. Megadeth, Ozzy. Anthrax.
Early / mid 90's - Big Black, Shellac, NIN, Ministry, Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Murder Inc, Korn, Killing Joke, Prong. RHCP, Faith No More. Machine Head. Coal Chamber. Primus. New Model Army. COC
Current - All of the above and....the following: Slipknot, Mushroomhead, Lamb of God, Rob Zombie, August Burns Red, Soil, Parkway Drive, Ravens Creed, Kill Switch Engage.
More so influenced by the darker side of life, anything that brings you down in the moment and moves you, something with energy and conviction.....in your FUCKING FACE METAL!!!!!!!
J.B: from an early age I had always nagged my parents to get me a set of drums and when they finally relented I don't think they ever realised what a monster they would create, there lives would never be the same again, so my undying gratitude goes out to them for putting up with all the endless hours of practice and heartache I gave them. I grew up listening to the true Metal greats, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple, Rush to name but a few and became heavily influence by JOHN BONNHAM and BILL WARD, the raw direct power still being a factor in my style today. More recently the speed and power of drummers such as DAVE LOMBARDO and MARK CROSS have had a great influence on my style of playing along with the "groove" attained by MIKE BORDIN.
I have always had the ability to change my style of drumming to compliment the band I am playing with at the time and listening to current metal music of all varieties, drawing from a wide range of influences and not being afraid to try something new, all of these have helped to shape me into the drummer that I am.
Currently I am listening to Lamb Of God, Nevermore, Firewind, Disturbed, Drowning Pool.....my influences being too many and varied to attempt to catalogue!
MG: Describe V.N in four words ...
PYKE...." nothing like Marshall Law!!!!"
J.B...." certainly not Cloven Hoof!!!"......
MARK. C....."in your FUCKING FACE METAL!!!!!!!"
ANDY. S....."Power Metal with Groove"
MG: Thanks ever so much for your time!!
Interview by: Seb Di Gatto