The Goregrowlers Ball 5…the aftermath
First and foremost I have no regrets. This was a hard few weeks for me and I am feeling a bit battle damaged but I would do it again anyway… Metal, from what I recall in the glory days, is not supposed to be for pussies.
You may remember I had considered laying Nokturnel to rest until my old friend Alex Marquez told me he had my back. His enthusiasm snapped me out of my nightmare and plans were made for rehearsal in San Antonio with Alex handling the drums. A situation that we had hoped would pass became a serious threat to Nokturnel possibly forcing us to cancel. Besides letting down our fans it would have resulted in a lot of extra time and money being wasted. We rolled the dice and our one in a million chance to have Matt Francis on board worked out so we flew Matt in for rehearsal in San Antonio. That went extremely well and we were going minimalist with equipment, I barely got to do any vocals. Even with a lot of time spent on tech issues we sounded amazing. I was more than content. We had overcome a serious, almost impossible situation and were prepared for the show.
I had made arrangements with some trustworthy friends, the guys in Atrocious Abnormality. I asked for what NO drummer wants to lend anyone…snare, cymbals and pedals. When they said no problem I knew I had that covered. After that last nail in the coffin we began to unleash. The Mexican food was flying and we were partying excited about the Fest. That Friday morning came and things became botched and plans to arrive early got all fouled up. My stress level began to rise but I fought off the insanity after we were loaded in and I was feeling pretty good…for at least 42 to 49 minutes. Then we find out there are no cymbal stands available and my savior Brent from AA was playing on a different stage and the Fest did not have the triggers we needed [we thought they did]. More chaos, slow progress… but it gets better! Then of all things… No seat for the drummer. Matt was pissed and freaking as we were supposed to go on in minutes and he had no time to warm up. Then more running around… wasting time… I get my shit set up and am enjoying shredding some leads for a sound check and then getting all of up n running on stage knowing Hellwitch was still on I went for my Spikes. Then that awesome douche of a sound guy says the magic words that pretty much say “hey band I don’t give a fuck about, you are already into your time…”. Wardrobe malfunction ensues, Mauler is not tied on right, abort the mission, un-knot the thing, grab guitar and can see Matt is still not ready and he is scrambling. Knowing more time has passed we hit the fuck it all switch and go into Legend of the Wolven…
Billy seemed OK, I was fine, I could hear pretty clearly and I felt things were going to be just like practice. The crowd roars in approval as if things are OK and I begin Realms Of Possession. During some part of this new version we ended up improvising our way through I was informed by Matt his monitor was worthless and he could not hear us at all. If you are in a band… it was one of those situations where you are driving blind and the only hope is making eye contact to give each other a clue what the fuck we are doing. I could see Matt was struggling under the conditions that were forced on him. We had intended to play Forcefed Fear but it was announced we had less than 10 minutes left to play. Seeing that song is double bass overload we predicted a clusterfuck and chose the simpler crowd favorite Immortal Destroyer and then ended with Ancestral Calling. We also played Demonic Supremacy in the middle of the set.
I left the stage extremely pissed off but when people approach you completely elated by your performance you cannot walk away that fucking mad. Some parts of our show were laughable for Bill and myself but it is safe to say Bill has paid his dues and dealt with this before and he can hold his own… Some people thought Matt was amazing and he is but once again we were robbed of a golden opportunity to own a show…we could have been so much better if it weren’t for all the tech issues, miscommunication and disorganization at this event…..way too casual and dependent on Bring Your Own Equipment situation which is no fun for someone flying. Matt, Billy and I went through a lot for this show, so did Alex Marquez and many others. I refuse to bash the promoter but believe me he has his hands full and I have a feeling many people he himself counted on ended up leaving him hanging.
The following day I took a solo trip over to the Fest to see Atrocious Abnormality. I was not feeling well… a lot of stress filled days and being away from my family must have caught up with me. I am guessing I overdid it a bit and you know I prepare for shit like this. This takes a lot out of me and though I was on my game, feeling awesome, strong and so prepared for this I literally thought I was gonna hit the floor during the show. I felt so out of wack that after I saw my friends play for 20 minutes I returned to the Hotel missing all of the other bands. I was shot…just spent and all I wanted was to rest and be with my wife. There were other bands I really wanted to see, goodbyes I did not have a chance to say and I left San Antonio with a sour fucking taste in my mouth if you know what I mean. But remember….
I started this off by saying I have no regrets. I don’t…..Festivals are not supposed to cater to any one band and there is shit you just have to deal with. Nokturnel remains strong and proud to have played the Goregrowlers Ball again. The next step for us is to have our own sound guy and more help overall to ensure a smoother running show. Keep in mind we are independent and also how close we came to canceling. Instead we chose to fight!
Like I said In No 2nd Chance….
I’d do it again if I had the chance! TEAR YOUR BODY LIMB FROM LIMB!
Thanks to all involved with the Fest, thanks to all the bands and fans. Extra enormous thanks to my wife Eloisa who deals with me during all my moments on madness. And the one friend I can count on Vinny at Signature Riff. We hope to tear it up with you all again soon.
A Day of Death 2011
This mission to Buffalo was something I looked forward too and let me begin by saying the show was very good to us and for us. Those who have followed me for years know how important this band is to me. The struggle to keep the band alive as an independent is a difficult one but since Maryland Death Fest I have taken things to the limit just to be sure Nokturnel would destroy the stage…and that we did and it was so worth it.
Shortly after MDF I had to get right back on the road to break in drummer Matt Francis. That went well and the entire mission was a success, bringing my confidence level up and stress level way down. Regardless of that we are talking about a week of my life where I had to put most everything on hold and put my all into Nokturnel. Matt is awesome, he was obviously ready for this and I returned home and found myself so busy practice was scarce. It seemed like I blinked my eyes and was back on the road heading North. Yes.. there was way too many things going on since before MDF and I see no point in sharing any of that which got me into the position where flying was not an option. So the plan was Matt was flying in from Florida, Billy driving from NJ and I was driving from TX.
The drive there was harsh. Police were pulling people over, sometimes 3 cop cars at once and it looked like they were tearing apart peoples personal shit right there on the side of the road. FUCK That… Eloisa and I drove slow, took our time and paced ourselves, eating well and partying at night in hotels. We got to the Buffalo area early and went to Niagara Falls and the best news was I got into Canada no hassles…. I had an amazing day that Thursday before the weekend but when I returned to my hotel it hit like a ton of bricks….my phone was going off with texts every 5 seconds and plans were made for Nokturnel rehearsal. Tomorrow was the day we would practice and begin to meet up with people at the pre Fest show. Matt’s flight was on time and he was exhausted and Billy was still on his way so we hit our hotel again which was surprisingly clean and spacious. The timing of Billy’s arrival began to make me nervous but he ended up meeting us at the practice place with some of the guys from a killer local band called Hubris. Exhausted or not Matt got his shit rolling and we ran through the set one time… and keep in mind Matt and I only had a few hours of practice under our belts but again not only was I content, but Billy could see this was not going to be a problem and we left it at that. It was Matt’s first time playing Ancestral Calling…it went well and we went back to the hotel.
We were Buffalo, so we ate like savages… wings and pizza were flying and a few hours later we hit the pre Fest show. Glorious Times editor and show putter onner Brian Pattison was there in a great mood and we ran into some fellow Texans Matt from Blaspherian, Dave from P.L.F., The Lone Goat and Roobie Doobie…. also babbling with various people from other bands and locals. Hell Cannon were a great young band that were great to drink too…and that we did. Soon after Lethal Aggression hit the stage and I loved.their set. I got to open for them in 1985 in my Savage Death days and they played my favorite songs and a lot more. It was an early show and we went back to the hotel to party. It was great that we didn’t have to be wake up early, but when we did we feasted again and then Matt. Billy and Vinny of Signature Riff went to the club to see Hubris who were excellent. These young guys make no bones about showing their Black Metal influence and it was the right thing to do to be there for them and Seplophile since both bands lent us equipment. Though they opened the show and went on early they had plenty of support, I was pleased to see a good amount of people at the show so early. 2 great bands and A Day of Death was officially on…and then my chaos began. The dreaded word….Merch. Had to go on a mission and change plans so I dropped the guys off and went back alone with the merch to set up. By then my good friend Robin from Derketa was there so I set up with her. Eloisa’s day would begin with seeing them so like a typical man, I waited til the last minute and drove like a maniac on empty to make that happen. I was victorious once again and we were all back at the club.
From the merch area I could still hear but not really see the bands. I still enjoyed band after band and ran into old friends Chuck Parsons, Chris from Abominog [has a newer band but to me...that's his name]. I was overjoyed to see Ed Farshtey who was part of Rage Records which released Nokturnel’s Anti Grunge 7 inch. I also ran into some young fans who had great taste in metal, which is a relief since so many young metal fans listen fucking garbage. Jim Nickels was another guy I wanted to meet and he also came through for me lending Matt some Drum equipment. When Deceased was on I got to sing the chorus for Night of the Deceased which is my favorite song… King just handed me the mic in the crowd and left haha! I was also very happy to meet King’s son, and I love King Fowley like a brother so I felt like I was related to the guy. Insanity was really killer and I was pumped for our set.
I could tell in 10 seconds if I am going to like my guitar sound,,,and my sound was siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick! It was not long before I began my rambling and we went into Legend of the Wolven. Billy and I go mental immediately and we are up and running. Going into the solo Billy most awesomely steps on my cord yanking it out of my effects and I lose guitar. After a what the fuck moment I get my sound back and raise my hands to the crowd like I scored a touchdown and a bunch of approving faces continue to enjoy the assault. Shortly after…I believe before Visions of the Haunted,,…my strap lock decided to break, and fell into my fumbling hands as I was speaking. I summoned Vinny to help me get that resolved and we continued on through the set. One Spinal Tap joke later and we were rolling again. When I say my picking hand was on fire…I mean it is an inferno. No one but no one could have touched me that night. Moyses of Krisiun would have been proud. The 3 of us tore it up and unfortunately Matt was the one who could not really hear…which only goes to show you how bad ass he is. He knew his shit and had barely any mistakes at all…I was having the time of my life up there. Some people said Force Fed Fear was a highlight of our set and a bunch of people went absolutely mental for Demonic Supremacy. We closed the set with Ancestral Calling. I did mention had only rehearsed it once…and just like MDF we nailed it. The crowd was especially hypnotized during this one and we really felt like we delivered a great performance. Brian Pattison came through for me and the only regret I have is that co editor Alan Moses could not attend. Fans bought merch, I signed a few books and CD covers and the weekend was a total success.
The following morning I got Matt to the airport and we then hit the road. After all was said and done I was feeling great when we stopped for the first night. On day two I was shocked to find the roads much more empty and very little police action. We made such great time that we decided to drive the 16 hours straight through so we could get home to family. I am extremely proud of my band, and grateful for all the support and fortunate to have the greatest wife on the planet. This trip was so worth all that went into it and I am determined to get to work on the new single with a hellish assault of technical speed and madness.
Horns raised for Matt, many people really were impressed with his skills. 666!
Thanks to all, Nokturnel lives because of your undying support and we are working hard to keep this band undead.
Tom Stevens
Maryland Death Fest 2011
This 10 day period of my life got pretty crazy, extremely stressful and the details may make it to this Blog or one of my other pages in the future but for now I will stick to the short version.
I am the type of person that always has a plan. My days of “waiting to see what happens” are long gone and I left room for error on this important trip and as you may have suspected, there were plenty of errors. Before I even left my home I had things come up leaving me with worries about my guitars and other gear and I ended up hours behind schedule from day one. I did not let it get to me and headed on to rehearsal that night where I realized my fears were valid, I had shit to deal with. I quickly burned through my options and ended up on the phone with Gary Kahler himself who actually gave a shit about me, the man behind Kahler tremelo’s seemed to get a kick out of my hyper serious attitude and I still need to get back to him, but thought he made great efforts to help me I was forced to leave. Already we missed out on hours of needed rehearsal. I was thrilled.
After an interesting cross country trek we arrived in Baltimore and I was feeling fine. I prepared myself mentally [easy when you're fired up for the show of shows] and physically as many people don’t seem to understand Nokturnel drains every ounce of my being. It is very difficult for me to perform the music and sing and I wanted to be on top of my game so I was as fit as I could possibly be for this event. Ending up in a situation I had little control over we ended up trying to make use of the practice room and I was getting more and more frustrated and let’s not forget pissed off with the situation, and other personal things I see no point in getting into. When shit starts to go sour, it seems easy for things to go straight into the toilet which was where my mind was by the second night in Baltimore. I had found a pro to help with my guitars and wanted to practice a lot more but we didn’t. I knew we wouldn’t so as usual, I took it upon myself to practice, for hours, alone in my hotel. This was a test run for my tweaked Kahler tremelo and my guitar issues were fixed. A great relief.
I finally met one of the men behind MDF and found Ryan Taylor to be an easy going like able guy I was happy to meet him. By then I had run into many friends including Morgan of Marduk and Apollyon of Aura Noir and seeing friends always puts me in a good mood. Morgan was encouraging and it is a damn shame they were not able to stay until Sunday but for me? Seeing those bands and of course Exhumed really got my blood boiling and it was also cool to see there was quite a buzz about Nokturnel. I was pacing
myself since leaving home and still had a ton of energy and felt ready to take on the world. Saturday even more friends and fans arrived. I practiced some more and knew that no matter what, I was going to make this as brutal as possible. My mind was hell bent on thrashing like a maniac and busting through a set list of favorites. I enjoyed more
killer sets from amazing bands like Nunslaughter, Impaled Nazarene, Hail of Bullets and then my heroes, idols, hugest inspiration, Voivod took the stage. Nothing and I mean nothing could have been more inspiring. The fact I was with the ultimate Warriors of Ice, King Fowley of Deceased, my old friend Jeff Kaos and my queen Eloisa made it so unbelievably special to me…unexplainable, just one of the greatest metal experiences of my life. When they finished, I called it a night and disappeared back to my hotel.
I have never experienced stage fright. I love people at shows, love to be the frontman, and just live to be metal. However when the witching hour struck that night I did go through a short period of what I would describe as shock. I felt very weird and my wife said well after the fact it was obvious my stress level was through the roof for days…it
is unbelievable I didn’t go berserk but I didn’t. That night we mellowed out with some greenery and I ate a Lazy Brownie… I got the rest I needed and woke up in complete Manowarrior mode. I was up and running early, running last minute errands and I went down to investigate my situation…when to be where with what. I returned to the room, packed my gear and got to the Fest with tons of time to set up. I chose an amp, got a sound and kept it simple. One guitar, one cord, one amp, NO effects. Not by choice… but when everything was fucking up and I was concerned about my situation I chose the safest way to get through the set. It was strange to witness Gravehill doing what I was doing all the way across the lot on the other stage. I had wrapped up my sound and was watching from afar when I heard a bloodsoaked Mike Abominator sending a song out to me. I made my way over to them, warmed my neck up thrashing to my faves and saw many friends loving Gravehill, many who rushed over to wait for us immediately after.
We ran through a quick line check for our own sake with the monitors. The stage sound guy was easy to deal with, and we thought the sound was going to be fine. Apparently it was rough as hell at the beginning for the audience’s ears, a common occurrence for Nokturnel but the crowd asked for more guitars and the sound was improved a bit. We were feeling it, Billy and I were doing our best to thrash hard, play fast and look cool. An amazing moment for me personally was the crowd’s reaction to my intro to Immortal Destroyer and then the first riff hit like a bomb blast. Heads were banging, hundreds of them, to the hooks and into the speed everyone from the crusties outside the fence to the security were watching and just digging on it. I also took a moment to explain what Nokturnel is all about, and how I took influence from the greatest bands of all time during the 80s and took it to the next level. I had to say that Voivod was just godly, and I dedicated Force Fed Fear to the greatest guitar player to walk the Earth, Piggy. Without nitpicking things were going well. I was having a blast interacting with the crowd and the set carried on to the end when we had to decide if we would do Ancestral Calling or not. Keep in mind Billy barely knew how to play it, Duane and I ran through it a time or two but never ended it and the song has a fade out on the recording. Are we not men? Fuck it all, of course we did it! What a fucking handful for me, remembering all those lyrics and 2 enormous solos. Many people said it was amazing and loved every minute of it. I left the stage grinning like the fucking devil. After that incredible experience I took many pictures with tons of friends and fans and captured one of myself and my biggest supporter, my wife and I that shows how lucky I am. MDF has been great to us, and now great for Nokturnel. We had one of the most amazing weekends of our lives and after another adventure ending back at home all I can say is I have SO much to tell you this is the fucking SHORT version!
I am blown away by your support and have decided to get to work on a new single immediately. I want to record something on my new Halo guitar.
Thanks for your undying support, I have big plans and things to accomplish.
Expect a review of my favorite bands from MDF on KikAxeMusic.com soon
Tom Stevens June 2nd 2011
ANCESTRAL CALLING, How It Came To Be And Some Things You Should Find Interesting
Posted on Nokturnel’s Facebook Notes April 17th 2011
I wanted to talk a little about the new single Ancestral Calling. There was solid reasoning behind my choice for it to be the first single since Demonic Supremacy. It is different for Nokturnel but it is not that different for me, I am surprised no one noticed….
I have been working in the studio alone on and off for a long while now. I have found that the environment there with an engineer whipping up drum machine beats instantly made a huge difference in making my songs come out exactly the way I want them. I have scrapped ideas I thought were killer and saved myself a lot of time eliminating things that seemed like they would work but just didn’t. I have been working on about 5 new songs and 2 of them were recorded with click tracks and the drum machine. I also recorded many other riffs with drums and I can tell you I have so much to offer… I will continue to work hard as an independent but I found myself in a position where I was calling on a session drummer and in this situation it was in my best interest to go with a very straightforward song. It’s also important to remember the new guitar I bought proved to be useless… it cannot withstand the brutal beatings I deliver every time I play and the faster and more chaotic the riffing was the shittier the guitar sounded. After showing the engineer some of my crazier riffs he agreed it was a bad move to work on any of that material and thought I was on track heading into the sessions where we messed around with Ancestral Calling. He actually looked forward to the files drummer Chad Walls was sending as he really found Chad’s work effortless to get rolling in the studio. I recorded all Nokturnel’s material after the Anti Grunge 7 inch with Stuart Laurnce at Isotopia Studios in Austin so he’d worked with Chad during Demonic Supremacy. Chad’s completed the mission, the new song was done and when we heard it we found it pointless to nit pick, we both thought it was killer and I was ready to begin.
I was stuck for a long while during the writing process as the song flows beautifully and just takes you on a journey but I knew I needed to begin the song with a different feel. For all you guitar players out there… I am not sure if you notice there is barely any open E string at all in this song. It is in an odd key and it was hard to attach something to it. I finalized the opening riff and realized that the song was 98% double bass from beginning to end but there was not much on top of it… however the few who heard my drum machine demo loved that as is…with even simpler drums so the song was complete and the lyrics were also close to being finished.
The reason I began taking this song seriously was it go to the point where it drove me insane. It was all I could think about and one day I lost it, rushing into the studio to make the demo being drum machine, guitar and bass but the thing was I had some lyrics and did some vocals. Although you will find it in the middle of the song, the lines My Flesh Was Cold As Ice As I Entered The Flames! Never Feeling So Alive Yet So Close To The Grave! were the first that came to mind when
I came up with the main riffs. The few who heard that very first version didn’t seem to understand where I was going with it, soon I shut the door on most everyone for demo 2 and even then the lyrics weren’t complete. I saw the potential to tie this lyric into Legend of the Wolven off of the Fury Unleashed record and I went with it. Take a look at the lyrics to both…hopefully you’ll be feeling it. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on this song and I feel it shows and THIS is the way I will continue to write Nokturnel’s music.
I know why you listen to my band, and I have no intention of changing anything. As different as this track is, it is just a single song and I have more music I will be recording that may also surprise you, but no doubts….it will sound like Nokturnel. For the people who follow everything I have ever done… I am surprised none of you noticed the”Savage Death” pattern of this song. A basic riff played in a predictable amount of times, then moved one string over and done the
same… I am shocked no one commented on that old school aspect of this track? Especially since the release of my 25 year old Savage Death recordings in 2010… where of course some have to insist that was the cooler music I wrote, and how I changed and blah blah blah….that is a whole other story but here? This IS that kind of song… and I was going back to my roots! I did that for myself. It felt like everything fell into place and I worked my fucking balls off on this one. Simply because this song would be considered slow for me did not make it any easier for me to record. I completed the lyrics in the studio, did the vocals, played bass, did 4 rhythm tracks and one lead track of guitars. I put a lot into those enormous guitar solos and let my 80s demons rise from the depths and did it in the spirit of the old days of REAL metal. Way back when,.. King from Deceased sent me a demo with some tracks that ended up on their Fearless Undead Machines record. Those songs reeked of real metal and I can thank songwriter guitarist Mike Smith of Deceased for that inspiring record. He was very influential in the sense of writing music that shows your influences without ripping them off. That had a lot to do with the shaping of the Fury Unleashed material. So… Yeah my guitar ONLY Has 6 strings, I only tune to D and I barely use any effects…. I can make enough chaos with a tremelo and distortion pedal…. Nokturnel
may be a tech band but the raw energy is not created with some monstrous effects rack…its one solid sound that goes in a billion directions or on a journey into the unknown. This song is was meant to take you, and me! back to the glory days of metal.
I wrote this song with doubts…that it would not fit among my other songs, but the more I worked on it the more I felt it was going to be killer. I went with the less is more approach, worked hard on a killer story line for the lyrics, made the vocals as over the top as I could and went ballistic with the solos. In the end you have what I feel to be one my greatest songs. I also really enjoyed stringing you along keeping this track so secret. I have been working on it for months and
it was hard to not share any of the demos. My next new songs will also be different. Demonic Supremacy was the song I needed to follow up the Fury Unleashed record. Ancestral Calling has opened new doors for Nokturnel and the timing is critical as I want to deliver unto you a full length record. The future is uncertain but I will continue to work on more new songs. We are gearing up for some big shows this summer and I am taking the band more seriously than ever before, and I have ALWAYS been serious. Your support means everything, and the voice of Nokturnel’s legions has made a huge difference in where we are right now. DEMAND us worldwide and know we are hungry and ready to show the world what we are made of. Thanks for your eternal support!
Tom Stevens
The New Song DEMONIC SUPREMACY Is Finally Posted!!!
Originally posted in Nokturnel’s MySpace Blog on Febuary 4th 2009
Greetings! I can not believe it but my new song is finally complete! It’s titled Demonic Supremacy and this is the first song I have recorded since the Fury Unleashed record several years ago. I put a lot of blood sweat and tears into this. I had a lot of difficulty with my guitar as it just doesn’t play like it used too and all sorts of tuning problems made getting this completed a royal pain in the ass. The 29 fret Washburn is now retired…for now….
As always I dedicate everything I do to my wife Eloisa and daughter Lillianna who let me take time away from them to once again play music. If you have a family, I am sure you understand, this is a lot to ask of someone…. Timing is everything and I am glad I acted on this while I had the chance. However, know this people….in a Manowar like moment I will say this song is for YOU, the real supporters of Nokturnel who patiently waited all these years for another song and
who never forgot about Nothing But Hatred and of course supported me during the Fury Unleashed era. THANKS! And I hope you enjoy this song.
I think Chad Walls did a great job with the drums and with horns raised high I thank him from the bottom of my heart for getting me through this. It is a scary thought for me to think I almost used a drum machine. Thanks bro! You’re the man and I can not wait to hear what we do next!
Once again Stuart Laurence helped me get the raw, savage ugly sound Nokturnel erupts at Isotopia Studios in Austin Texas. I did Fury Unleashed there too and will be going back again for the next single.
Blog edited of useless info on 4-18-2011
