MM: Thanks for talking to us.
Bob Dixon: Hi Chris, thanks to Metal Mayhem and yourself!

MM: I was surprised when I received an e-mail from Sam (Carter ex-guitar) saying that he was leaving the band along with Ciara. How much of a surprise was it for you?
BD: Erm, it was pretty obvious for quite some time that there was a growing lack of enthusiasm from everyone, myself included. I mean, we hadn't had a rehearsal for nearly 2 months, so we weren't learning any new material, and we were overplaying the same old shitty local venues, no names mentioned (cough! the Cartoon cough!) It was just a question of who would be first to leave. I must admit, I didn't expect Battered to suffer TWO casualties in one hit, but hey, shee-at happens. Good luck to Sam and Ciara. I eagerly await the first demo (entitled "Slow as Fuck"- hehe) from Sam's new doom band, Cambian Dawn.

MM: What are your plans now? BD: To drag Battered kicking and screaming from its temporary grave as soon as possible. Basically, I do not want to sit around for months on end while I contemplate my navel or something equally stupid! Myself and Rik (Battered's bass player) do not wish to take an eternity to get Battered up and running again. The good thing is, we've done the groundwork now. We've been playing gigs at various places for a year now, and hopefully we've got our name about a bit. Now is the time for us to lay waste to London's venues and disembowel the opposition! Not that I am viewing all this in overly militaristic terms or anything...

MM: Have you got any people in mind to replace them?
BD: Well, I'm still waiting to hear back from Mike Amott and Dave Lombardo...hehe, seriously, though, we are still auditioning, so any blistering guitarists or drummers out there who would like to join a quality metal band and are prepared to put in the hard grind, please get in touch. My e-mail address is pochinger@yahoo.co.uk.

MM: How will/does your new material compare with the first incarnation?
BD: The first demo and the songs which we were gigging sounded more like a mix of heavy metal and thrash, - Megadeth, Slayer, Maiden and Sabbath. That kind of thing. The new material, which I am very eager to get recorded and start playing live, is heavier, a bit more death metal in places, and a bit weirder. It is also upping the ante technically, too. I love Swedish metal bands like At the Gates, Arch Enemy, The Haunted etc so there is a bit of that kind of feel in there. There is still a Megadeth melodic feel too and more of a power metal feel. Its just that I suppose now I am throwing in the weird chord types and peculiarisms of bands like Voivod, Emperor, Opeth, Today is the Day, Morbid Angel, Death etc. I shamelessly admit that as of yet, Battered's sound is not very original, but we are trying! We are just concentrating on writing outstanding tunes, which hopefully we've got now. Yes, I know, not very good at that modesty thing! But then you have to be explosively arrogant/or at least very confident of your own music if you hope to get anywhere in this industry, so it seems.

MM: I read on your site that at a few gigs, you have been met by "lukewarm crowds of zombified fuckers". Have any of these ever made you think about leaving the band yourself?
BD: Ha! Erm, that would be places like the Croydon Cartoon again (no disprespect to punters who came along and enjoyed our set at this venue!). Its our own fault really for playing the wrong places. I mean let's face it- not everyone in your local rock club is gonna take to a band who are viciously assaulting them with deathrash "kick/snare" drumming, triplet picking, thrashy chugging and widdly guitars. But in answer to your question, I have to say no. The zombified crowds deter me not a jot, as Battered have played to some appreciate audiences at other places and it would take a lot more than a few bad gigs to put me off. Ask me again when Battered have toured Europe and got booed offstage at every venue and I may have changed my mind!

MM: You’ve also played with the likes of Ligature, Throne of Nails, Descent, Vellum, and Desolation. What was this like and what was the reaction to you? BD: As most bands will know, one of the best ways to get audiences is to play with more well known bands. And there are some great hard metal bands playing London at the moment who are building a name for themselves through some great shows and some support from Terrorizer magazine. It has been very good to play with the above bands and their audiences seemed to like us. Once Battered are up and running again with the new line-up and killer new material, it looks set for us to start getting regular shows with many of these bands in and around London, and to start receiving live reviews in Terrorizer. This is the aim anyway.

MM: You are about to appear on the forthcoming Metal Mayhem Vol.I CD, lets hope this gets you noticed and spreads the word about Battered.
BD: Well yeah lets hope so! Cheers for the support and the help, it is much appreciated. If anyone else would like Battered to appear on any compilations or can help us in anyway, please get in touch.

MM: Any last words for people reading this?
BD: Life is like a new porno-grind album. If you don’t learn to get to grips with it fairly quickly, it will fuck you RIGHT up.

Oh yeah, and lastly, we need more animation and numbers at the shows, you zombified @~#!'"