Chris: Greetings Nige! Thanks for being patient with us. Man, let’s get the obvious out of the way; Sounds of Violence is garnering some impressive reviews around the metal underground. That has to feel damn good. Did you think Onslaught would be kicking around in 2011 way back when you guys started in ‘83?

Nige:  Hi Chris… Hahaha, jeez I really guess not, especially after the way things ended back in 1991... But it sure feels good to hear right now and we’re still having a blast….

Chris: With the incredible amount of thrash bands popping up these days, is there additional pressure for a band like Onslaught to keep the formula familiar or do you just go with what feels right when crafting tracks for new albums?

Nige:  No, no pressure whatsoever… A great deal of the original bands and all the important ones are still here and doing great business and we’re very much part of that group. It’s cool to see a new wave of bands coming through but they really need to try and do their own thing and bring something new to the table.

Of course we stick to our roots to a certain extent because that’s why we have a great fan base. With the SOV album we did let the flow go a little as we tried to inject different feels and different influences here and there, it’s all about expanding our horizons and making a very interesting record for the listener.

Chris: I have to say that Sy Keeler sounds as aggressive and brutal as anything out there right now, even more so than on The Force. “Born for War” is a track tailor-made for his volatile delivery. Honestly, the entire CD is a testament to aggression. Is there anything particularly inspiring that really forces the creative juices to flow easier when writing lyrics or music this heavy? 

Nige: That’s cool man thanks. We’re still carrying a lot of anger from the breaking up scenario and what we potentially missed out on, ya know? It’s really fuelling the fire right now and we’re determined to make things even better this time around. Every riff or every lyric we wrote for this album we wanted to make the next one ever more aggressive and heavier; it almost became an obsession during writing, and we really, really pushed ourselves to the max on every aspect.

Chris: So you guys are already gigging around Europe and I hear you also just got signed for Wacken ’11. How have the shows been so far, and what is the reaction to the band’s new material?

Nige: Yeah, all confirmed for ‘Wacken’ which is gonna be awesome! Hopefully we’re gonna be doing something special there which will be real cool….We’ve only done one show so far this year and aired just the one new song, so we’re yet to see how things really go down live. But as this whole album was written with the live show in mind I’m sure things will be just fine for the new tracks. The response to the SOV tracks via the streams and reviews have been mind-blowing; things couldn’t really be better, so it’s down to us now to transfer it to the stage.

Chris: On Sounds of Violence I can seriously hear so many elements of heavy metal: Thrash, speed, groove, technical (aren’t all of these little labels great?). Do you guys purposefully set out to incorporate such varying styles or is it pretty much coincidence that it varies as it does?

Nige: Haha no, no deliberate intentions, nothing contrived… the prerequisites that we did set out for SOV was Aggression / Heavy / Variation and more Technical than the Killing Peace album…. Once we had laid down this outline everything came very naturally because we had our direction, if it felt good it was in, if it didn’t move our heads it was out.

Chris: “Rest in Pieces” is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The riffs in there are just mind-blowing! I know we briefly touched on this, but do you have any plans to hit the U.S. in ’11? We truly need a shot of old-school thrash around these parts.

Nige: Yeah cool its mine too. Fucking angry slab of thrash metal…!!!
Well, our agent is looking at options right now for taking Onslaught to the US, but it’s a real costly venture what with visas and work permits so we have to be real careful how we do things to make it successful. We hear so many stories of bands being too eager to come play the US, when they’re not ready and end up losing tens of thousands of dollars and playing to empty rooms. We wanna come and do it right and give you all a great bunch of shows… We’re very confident it will happen sometime soon.

Chris: If I may slip into fan boy mode, I’ve been a fan since Power From Hell and sincerely feel that while those early albums are stellar pieces of metal history, some of the band’s best material has definitely come over the past five years by way of Killing Peace and Sounds of Violence. I hope it’s not silly to ask you how you see the metal community now, some 25-years later. Do you think the scene is thriving as well as it should in the underground? Here in the States we seem to have the American Idol mentality to music now, and it’s frustrating. We need our underground back. If you could change anything about the scene today what would you suggest? 

Nige: That’s a good question, I think the metal scene is pretty healthy in mainland Europe; it’s hard for me to comment on Stateside, but judging by all the places we’ve been touring Japan / South America etc. etc. and seeing what other bands are doing on the road, things ain’t bad and definitely improving all the time…

One thing I’d change…hmmmn, The answer to this question is really a double edged sword, while the internet has been an awesome tool for communication and the promotion of music, it could also be the tool that kills the whole music industry forever… You only have to look and see that there are no longer any huge bands coming thru, where is the next Maiden / Metallica / AC/DC? It’s not gonna happen and it’s all down to the internet and downloading. The investment and development money from labels is no longer there; labels will cease to exist in 15-years if things continue the way they are going, which will mean no new bands whatsoever - everyone will expect it all for free.

Chris: Live Damnation was a terrific live album, my friend! The total fury of the band’s live set was captured perfectly. Are you recording any of the coming shows for another live DVD or CD in the future?

Nige: It’s definitely something we’re looking at. Not another ‘live album’, but quite possibly a ‘live DVD’. The Polish Assault release came very early after Onslaught returning and I don’t think it’s a true representation of the real Onslaught and the Onslaught of 2011, so that’s something we’d like to address fairly soon. I think there’s gonna be some cool opportunities in the coming year to maybe film a show or two, plus we have been shooting a lot of random road stuff over the last few years to use as extras.

Chris: You and I are friends on the mighty Facebook. Did you ever think we’d be doing this over computers way back when? Do you feel social networks like this are a positive for the metal underground? If we had this kind of promotion back in the day it would have been amazing!

Nige: Yeah we are indeed… :)
No way, but can you imagine a world now without cell phones and internet? There was none of that first time around - it’s unbelievable...

Social network sites are good for music but people become too reliant on them. Some promoters try to promote shows solely on them and bands think they can solely rely on them to promote their music, and this is not the case. The only real way to do this shit is the old school way, posters / ads and flyers and let the internet work as an aid. Not everyone is online looking at a particular bands site every day to see about upcoming shows / releases. Having said all that we can’t live without it hahaha…!!!!!

Chris: Nige, brother, thanks for your time and answers, my friend! I hope to see you hit our shores in the coming months if it works out! Good luck on the road (tear Wacken up!!) and with the album as well. Would you like to end this with anything of the top of your head?

Nige: Thanks Chris, Been a pleasure and I look forward to seeing you sometime real soon. I’d just like to say a big thank you to all the fans. The press has been so supportive of Onslaught over the years. It’s very much appreciated and we hope to see you all real soon on the ‘Scream for Violence’ tours… \m/

Onslaught's Nige Rockett

Interviewer: Chris

February 2, 2011

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TO THE TOP

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Formed: 1983
Bristol, England  United Kingdom
Label: AFM Records
Genre: Heavy/Thrash Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Sy Keeler:  Vocals
Nige Rockett:  Guitar
Andy Rosser-Davies:  Guitar
Jeff Williams:  Bass
Steve Grice:  Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

Power from Hell (1985)
The Force (1986)
Let There Be Rock EP (1987)
Shellshock EP (1988)
Welcome To Dying EP (1989)
In Search of Sanity (1989)
Killing Peace (2007)
Live Polish Assault DVD (2007)
The Shadow of Death (2008)
Live Damnation (2009)
Sounds of Violence (2011)

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)