HF: First of all, congratulations on your successful debut album. I was allowed to do the review, and I liked the album from time to time better. Somewhat surprising to me that you recorded a thrash album as an English band. Also due to the cover artwork or the band-lettering one suspects more classical (Power-) Heavy Metal. Thrash from the island is still rare, it is rather something German, or American. After all, you can not deny being English. Again and again the NWOBHM style elements flash up, especially with the guitar work and the great melodies. Where do you get your inspiration to make this kind of music. Who influenced you, or still does?<\/strong><\/p>\nPaul Trotter:<\/strong> Firstly, thank you Hellfire for giving us the opportunity to do this interview!<\/em><\/p>\nWe\u2019ve got many influences throughout the band, but starting with Phil<\/strong>, his main influence and inspiration is Iron Maiden. From Iron Maiden\u2019s beginning they\u2019ve been ordinary, hard working musicians from East London and became one of the biggest bands in world. Phil has seen them many times and still goes to see them these days. Phil has met them in person on a few occasions and they\u2019ve always had the time to talk, really nice guys. Phil doesn\u2019t really have a favorite band, there are just too many he likes. <\/em>
\nFor me (Paul<\/strong>) as a guitarist a lot of my early influences would come from the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen and Paul Gilbert, very technical guys and they\u2019d constantly amaze me with their picking technique and feeling in their solos. A lot of people think you can\u2019t put any feeling into fast solos, or shredding, but for me, Yngwie\u2019s early playing had an awful lot of feeling and I think the stuff he produced in the 80\u2019s is his best ever. I still listen to it these days. For bands that I listen to, certainly these days, I think my favourite is Kreator. I just love the riffs and changes they come up with in songs and the guitar tone these days is killer, the Gods of Violence guitar tone I\u2019m on about. Other bands that have had a big influence on me over the years are bands like; Testament, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, Ozzy, too many to mention really, but surely bands that have stood the test of time. <\/em><\/p>\nAlso on guitar is Adam Ironside<\/strong>. Adam joined quite early on in the formation of the band and has been a key member since. As a very talented and accomplished player (he also teaches guitar and music), Adam listens to a lot of music, from old school thrash to prog metal and a lot of his current favourites bands include; Dream Theater, It Bites, Animals as Leaders and Scar Symmetry. As for guitarists, Adam is influenced by; Allan Holdsworth, John Petrucci, Shawn Lane, George Bellas, and Per Nilssen. Some of Adam\u2019s favourite albums include; It Bites: The Tall Ships, Dream Theater: Octavarium, In Flames: Clayman, Mostly Autumn: Glass Shadows, Allan Holdsworth: Hard Hat Area and Dhafer Youssef: Abu Nawas Rhapsody.<\/em><\/p>\nOn bass we have Steve Smart<\/strong>. Steve joined us about six months ago and he\u2019s into all sorts of metal. He\u2019s very talented and we\u2019re lucky that we can have a bass player that can either provide a thumping undertone for the guitars to riff over, or he can just as easily provide fast twinning lines to double up with the guitars. Steve started listening to music when he was around fourteen after being exposed to mid-80s Metallica. Some of his favourite bands include; Devin Townsend\/Strapping Young Lad, Gojira, Tool, Meshuggah, Car Bomb, In Flames, SikTh, Voyager, Karnivool, Porcupine Tree and BTBAM. Steve learnt guitar first so tends to play bass with a pick. One thing that inspired him to pick up bass was hearing the tone of the bass on the album w^w^^w^w by Car Bomb.<\/em><\/p>\nWe\u2019ve just recruited a new drummer and he\u2019s really good, so watch out for that announcement very soon. Very exciting times ahead.<\/em><\/p>\nHF: You are now under contract with the Danish label Mighty Music, the biggest Metal label in Denmark. Have you just sent your demo there and if so why? Was it your favorite label or was Might Music just the fastest? Does the English market not do anything for you? After all, you’re not newcomers to the metal sector.<\/strong><\/p>\nPaul:<\/strong> The UK has a really good metal scene, but not so much for our type of thrash metal, so we need to look further afield for a wider acceptance. We had three offers on the table from record labels, so we did a lot of research before making our decision to go with Mighty Music. We looked at their presence in the industry, how active they were at promoting their bands, the kinds of marketing and PR they were producing, reviews, social media presence, contractual details to name a few, but in the end decided to commit to Mighty Music. We know a couple of the other UK bands who are also signed to Mighty Music so we talked to them and they had nothing but praise for the label, this was a significant factor for us. <\/em>
\nBefore and after signing with Mighty Music, Michael H. Anderson and his team have been fantastic with us and we\u2019re sure we\u2019ve made the right choice. Long live a solid relationship between us!!<\/em>
\nThe fact that the label is in Denmark and we are in the UK has minimal meaning these days. Many years ago communication and music transfer was a lot more difficult if the label and artist were in different countries, but in this highly technological digital age all that stuff is really easy. Everything to do with the album i.e. tracks and artwork is transferred country to country in a few clicks of the mouse. And there are so many options for chatting to one another it\u2019s unbelievable. Hey, you can even use your mobile phone to speak to someone these days.<\/em><\/p>\nHF: Phil and you know each other from the time together at Holosade. How does the rest of the band know each other? Are you still playing in other bands or is ARMORTURA now your one and only?<\/strong><\/p>\nPaul: <\/strong>Armortura<\/strong> is the only band we are all actively playing in right now, which is good because it means it gets all of our attention and regular rehearsals gives us the opportunity to get really tight as a band. <\/em><\/p>\nWe got to know the other guys in the band mainly through local advertising for fellow musicians in the early days. We didn\u2019t actually know each other before they were auditioned for Armortura<\/strong>, but we\u2019ve since developed a great bond and we look forward to a bright future together.<\/em><\/p>\nHF: How did you come to work with Jeff Waters of Annihilator? Was this somehow planned, because musical parallels to his band can not be dismissed out of hand?<\/strong><\/p>\nPaul:<\/strong> Jeff is a really cool guy and we\u2019ve admired him and Annihilator for many years. It was before Jeff was about to set off on his 2017 Annihilator tour with Testament and Death Angel, we thought we\u2019d send him some of our music, knowing he likes to promote up and coming bands and to occasionally guest on their songs if he thinks the material is good enough. Jeff replied back right away saying it was (and I quote) \u201ckick ass thrash\u201d and would love to guest a solo on it. He recorded the solo to 11th Hour<\/strong> in his own studio and dropped it into a different 11th Hour mix. Jeff added that he loved the whole thing and would definitely be up for recording another in future. We\u2019ve been in touch with Jeff on a number of occasions since and he even has one of our Armortura T-shirts, so look out for it when he\u2019s on tour! We tried to have Jeff do a guest spot on one of our upcoming shows whilst Annihilator were in the UK, but our calendars didn\u2019t align so we had to unfortunately let that one go. Next time maybe!<\/em><\/p>\nHF: Well, the first step is done. The debut album is on the market, the first voices are consistently positive. What’s next with ARMORTURA. What are your plans with the band? And do you even see yourself on tour in this young year?<\/strong><\/p>\nPaul:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thankfully, we\u2019ve had some really good album reviews so far, so we\u2019re very appreciative of that. We\u2019ll be doing an album launch show not too far from our hometown in North East UK, following it up with several more dates throughout the UK to promote the album. One of the gigs we have is with fellow label band, Blitzkrieg. We\u2019d also love to play several dates throughout Europe in 2018 as I think thrash metal in general is much more popular in Europe than it is in the UK, so we\u2019re hoping we can generate some excitement in Europe. We also have a video planned for the early part of 2018, so look out for that one and we are constantly writing new material in our spare time, so, if you like what we\u2019re doing (and we hope you do \ud83d\ude42 ), listen out for a second album. <\/em>
\nHaving great reviews from you guys certainly does help us with that and we love you for it!
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\nHF: Thank you for your time and the interview. We at Hellfire Magazine wish you all the best. Hope to see you in the near future!<\/strong><\/p>\nPaul:<\/strong> Sincere thanks to Hellfire Magazine for your good wishes and a great album review! I\u2019m sure will see one another during 2018 for some great shows \\m\/\\m\/.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"English version below Mit dem Hellfire Quick5 Interview versuchen wir dem Leser m\u00f6glichst interessante Infos aus den Musikern rauszukitzeln, ohne dass sie sich seitenlangen Fragen\/Antworten\u2026 weiterlesen!<\/a><\/p>\n