Metal Mayhem UK

Metal Mayhem: What made you decide to re-released "Storm Alert" after seventeen years of its initial release?
Tortured Tom: A lot of that had to do with me finding Neil Kernon in 1996, when he was working from the studio we originally recorded "Storm Alert" at in 1989. It was called Village Productions and turned into Sonic Ranch, now a world famous facility. Neil was in one of my favorite guitar/hair metal bands so I was very excited to see he was there! I contacted him and he agreed to take on the challenge of remixing this CD that was recorded at three different studios, over a period of three years, using many different instruments. It was quite an experience to go into the recording studio with a pro like Neil. From the beginning, I only intended to do this for my own personal reasons, to see how much better I could get the songs to sound. I never expected this remix to ever be re-released. I mean, who woulda ever thought after all this time! Thrash seems to be on the comeback, though, so it seems the timing was right.

MM: How did you go about assembling the all-star cast like Neil Kernon (production) and Micheal Angelo Batio (guest guitar solo)?
TT: Neil has been with us from the time the actual master tapes were found. It was pure coincidence that we found each other the way we did. It was just a matter of contacting him and asking, at that point. The project wasn't easy and he knew it would be time consuming. Luckily, for us, it all worked out over a period of time as our schedules coordinated. I've been a Michael Angelo fanatic for ages. I remember seeing his band Nitro live in 1989 and asked him to sign a poster after the show.

Joking, I asked if he'd do a solo on our next record. When he said 'yes', it blew my mind so I had him put it in writing, with a Sharpie on his concert poster! Since we never really had a next records then, nothing ever happened. Little did he know that 16 years later I'd be giving him a call reminding him of his contractual obligations! Seriously, Michael is great and was a true professional putting his solo together for us. He did everything just as it should be. We can't thank him enough for that piece of godly shred.

MM: You mentioned in an email how surprised you are with the reaction to "Storm Alert". Can you elaborate on the reaction from fans and critics? Why didn't the album receive as strong of a reaction the first time around?
TT: It's just been incredible! We are always surprised and grateful when we hear these compliments because we never expected our music to be received the way it has been. These are songs that got some pretty good reviews in 1989 so we weren't sure what would happen in 2006. It seems to be one incredible review after another, though. "Storm Alert" seems to be bringing back a lot of memories for those around when Dark Angel, Death, Sacrifice and the others were all thrashing it out. It was recorded with that same innocence. It's far from perfect and we all know that. We were inexperienced in the studio and just kids playing our stuff. It did receive a strong reaction in 1989 just not on this kind of scale. Much of that had to do with lack of touring and being on a London based independent record label, I think.

MM: "Storm Alert" was your first and last full-length CD. Why did the band not release any other albums? Why did Torture call it quits?
TT: To be honest, "Storm Alert" was released so late in the 'thrash game' that record labels were turning elsewhere and we weren't in a position to self-finance anything. We didn't feel it was important to release anything more at that time. We had our fun and felt like we should move on with our lives. We called it quits so we could go to college; spend more time on our careers and family. Whatever the case, the music scene had lost its importance to us with alternative music taking over.

MM: What has the band been doing for the last seventeen years?
TT: Geez, I wish I knew! Personally, I was studying at Arizona State and living life in Tempe and now San Francisco as a married man. I don't think any of us were doing anything musically. I hadn't kept in touch with the guys at all. Deric started a family and landed a great high tech job, Jerry spends a lot of time with his family and kids and Joe I'm not sure about.

MM: What tour and gigs were special to you and your band mates in the late eighties and early nineties?
TT: They were all pretty special because we felt very lucky to be playing any of them at all. Actually, I think the most special were the shows we played in Mexico. I mean, those fans are just amazing and come out in the thousands! It was surreal for us, signing autographs in records stores, radio interviews, people chasing our bus, all these crazy things. We were a young band so to see all of these metalheads coming out to see us was awesome. The crowds were crazy and acting nuts! It had a great effect on us. We sold many shirts, made posters and even recorded a video for "Into the Darkness". It was also the first time we traveled as a band and learned to put up with each other! So, all the shows were special but these, in particular, were extremely memorable.

MM: Do you have any tours or gigs scheduled in the near future?
TT: For now, we get to open for Exodus on May 19. We just played with Overkill and Dragonlord so those are great shows to restart our 'rebirth' with, aren't they? Hopefully we can arrange to play some festivals in Europe at some point, too. Since this is our first CD, we're not expecting any miracles on the tour front. We'll just use this to promote ourselves to booking agents and management for our future.

MM: So is Torture back together as a full-time band? If so, how does it feel to be playing together after so many years?
TT: Yep, we sure are and I think we are better musically than we've ever been. It feels just insane! We still have that same excitement but we have more direction with our purpose. We are more serious now, more like we're on a mission. "Storm Alert" seems to be reaching many more people on a much larger scale. We still need to practice and become better live and that will come with more experience.

MM: Most of this country' s elite thrash bands came from the California bay area. Torture has a distinctive bay area sound, yet you hail from Texas. Was there a thrash scene in Texas?
TT: Where we were from, El Paso, there wasn't much at all: good local bands playing covers but only a few metal bands doing their own thing. Our friends in Devastation and Rigor Mortis played live with us but I didn't follow the underground in Texas too much. I was more interested in the bay area scene since it seemed on the verge of something big in 1985. I'm sure there was plenty going on. The press, however, mainly covered SF, LA and New York so many of us Texas bands didn't get much attention nationally.

MM: Besides having a definite U.S. thrash sound, "Storm Alert" has touches of German thrash, ala Destruction, and even a small dose of early death metal on "Dwell into Surreality". What were your influences? How did you integrate those sounds into your overall sound? Were you listening to any death metal at the time?
TT: That's interesting because I did and do listen to a lot of Metallica and Megadeth but I worshiped bands like Slayer, Destruction, Kreator, Artillery and Infernal Majesty. I probably mixed all of them around when I went writing songs :) All of them really became heavy influences in our style. I want fans of those bands to be fans of Torture. Integrating those sounds came from just listening to those bands so much, I guess...something we picked up subconsciously. I did listen to death metal but back then it was bands like Death and Gorguts. They were the extreme. Then Cannibal Corpse came along and I listened to Eaten Back all the time.

MM: What bands do you guys listen to today?
TT: Wow, a lot of great bands out there; Demiricous, Shadows Fall, Children of Bodom, Nile, Hate Eternal, Dimmu, Arch Enemy, Heaven Shall Burn, Diabolical

MM: I would like to take you back seventeen or eighteen years to when "Storm Alert" was in the early stages of creation. Obviously, the album' s title is from the song "Storm Alert". What inspired you to write this song? Why did you feel it was the perfect title for the album?
TT: The song Storm Alert was a big experiment for us. We never put much of those slow acoustic/keyboard parts together until we were actually in the studio recording. It showed a more mainstream side to us. We listened to a lot of "Master of Puppets" and tried to put something along those lines together. We weren't sure what our fans would think since they associated us with Slayer and Celtic Frost. No one in the band wanted to sing the slow parts so Jerry, our drummer then, took it on just to goof with the crowd live. He always had fun with it and it was never serious. That's how he wound up with the credit! I can't remember why we used "Storm Alert" as the title really. It was probably because that was our biggest sounding song as far as pushing our boundaries so we felt the song was an important step.

MM: "Dwell into Surreality" is a very demented tune. How did you come up with the concept and lyrics? What is this song's theme?
TT: Ha, that one was based on the insane guy in Hellraiser 2 who cut himself up with a razor because he thought he was covered in maggots. I tried to envision what was in his head and how he felt about where he was. It' s about this guy who is locked in an asylum and talks to these voices everyday.

They tell him they can take him to a better, beautiful place called Surreality if he just closes his eyes and follows them. They only show up every now and then, though. He's always tried but they disappear too fast. This time, however, he catches them and goes for it. Surreality winds up being this places where lost souls are burning and cry for him to release them from their pain. So, ultimately, he's trapped there and can't get back home.

MM: The "Children of the Corn" intro (I described it as "The Omen") and "Slay Ride" show your fiendish devotion to horror films? What are some of your favorite horror films and how have they inspired you creatively?
TT: Amityville 2, Prince of Darkness, Hellraiser 2, The Shining, Silent Night-Deadly Night. All of these are brilliant evil, evil stories of dark terror. I try to make each Torture song a story in itself. It often winds up in an 8-minute journey but that just seems to be what happens. These movies, in particular, I'm a big fan of. Not many more seem to interest me for some reason.

MM: One phenomenal aspect of "Storm Alert" is the speed. Was it a goal of the band to create one of the fastest albums of the time? How much time did each band member put into practice to achieve this dizzying speed?
TT: Hmm, I'm not sure we thought much about the speed aspect. Back then, Dark Angel/Destruction and these bands were all playing that speed, if not faster. I don't remember having to practice too much either or try to make an effort for the songs to be fast. I think, since we all listened to thrash, that it came naturally. That guitar picking and drum style gets in your blood!

MM: Is Torture going to release another album or is "Storm Alert" the last we will ever hear from you?
TT: Ha, well I sure hope we have another album! We are working on new material right now with plans to record with Fredrik Nordstrom. We do have some new songs in the works as well as a couple left over from the "Storm Alert" sessions. The new songs are very much in the same style as what you hear now because my influences are still the same bands. I think we will call the new CD "Torn Apart" and aim for a 2007 release.