Savage Messiah are a band who have kicked things up a notch with their latest album “Plague Of Conscience”, which is available as a free download from Earache Records. This is an route that the label have taken before with Gama Bomb and Wormrot, and CackBlabbath caught up with SM frontman David Silver to find out the thinking behind this approach, and to get his thoughts on a great year for the band.
CB : Three words, describe Savage Messiah…
DS : English Heavy Metal!
CB : It’s been a busy few months for the band, what’s been the highlight so far?
DS : All of it really, but it’s been incredibly rewarding to have the album so well received by both fans and critics alike. We put a lot of work into the writing and recording of it, a real blood, sweat and tears effort, so it’s great to see that our work is appreciated! And we’re extremely grateful!
CB : You won a lot of new fans on your recent tour with label mates Evile. After rehearsing and recording the new album, how did it feel to be back on the road again?
DS : To tour so quickly after wrapping up the recording was absolutely perfect, we couldn’t have planned it any better, and it was a great experience. We really gelled as a band and we had a really old school metal band camaraderie. Evile are a great band, who we’ve known for a long time, so it was great to go out together flying the flag for English metal.
CB : You are often shoehorned into the “thrash” genre, It’s a question bands dislike, but for the uninitiated, how would you describe your music?
DS : We’re not exclusively a thrash band, there is thrash in what we do, but we’re quite diverse. We channel the spirit from the last 40 years of headbanging music and bring it right up to 2012.
CB : What would you say was the main benefit to you as a band from working with a label like Earache?
DS : I like Earache as a label because to my mind they have the most logical signing policy of all the metal labels at the moment, which is, if they like the band, they’ll get behind it. Which gives a band like us a tremendous opportunity to become successful because we know that we’re going to get the patience and attention needed to break a band.
CB : Earache have a different approach to the issues of music piracy, making albums available for free. Do you think this is the way forward?
DS : The point is, there are no right or wrong answers, and I think an overly scientific approach to the music industry has led to the utter stagnation of popular music as a whole. In allowing people to have the record for free we’ve opened the door to massive exposure in a comparatively very short space of time, so in that sense I’d say it’s worked for us. Would if work for other bands? Who knows?
CB : How does that affect you as a band, if there is no record royalties for band or label do you split tour and merch revenue?
DS : There is still revenue coming in from sales, which have so far been ticking along nicely since the release. We have an excellent merch deal with the label too, which I am very pleased about, they’ve basically taken away all start up expenditure from the band which is important for a band at our level, and provided us with good quality merch. This has enabled us to mobilise quickly through the gigging that we’ve done, and because we’ve been sensible financially we’ve been able to make a profit on all of our recent shows, which we intend to continue to do. We’ve had to be quite innovative on the road also, and make every pound go as far as possible. It means being disciplined, which might not sound like much fun, considering most people think a touring rock band’s all about sex, drugs and rock n’ roll, but let me tell you, it’s far more rewarding to finish a tour and all get paid a reasonable cut than go home with a hangover!
CB : Were you involved in the decision to make the album available for a free download?
DS : Earache approached us with the idea and it made sense, so we went a long with it. If we hadn’t have been into the idea, I think they would have respected that, but as it seemed completely logical, there was no need to question it.
CB : Most metal fans want to hold the shiny thing, so I’d guess that sales of the CD are doing well?
DS : Definitely, and the promotion has only really started and we’ve already shipped healthy figures, which considering the state of the retail business (particularly in this country) is a positive start. We need to establish ourselves as a touring band now, which is the next piece of the jigsaw, but I can see this album selling well if we’re successful in our bid to tour heavily, which will in turn create the demand for our next record and future tours etc…
CB : You’ve been confirmed for Hammerfest, looking forward to that one ?
DS : Absolutely! We’ve played before, just after we’d finished a European tour with Overkill and it was a great experience, this time we’re that extra experienced as a band to really take it by the horns and give people a real show! So I can’t wait!
CB : What else is coming up for the band, summer festival appearances in the pipeline?
DS : We have our first ever UK headlining shows in March, which we’re planning to act as a catalyst for other opportunities, in terms of other festivals? We’re available, so we’ll see what happens.
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