It’s that time of year again, with the collective anticipation and excitement surrounding Krank’d Up Fest building its way to a fever pitch.
In preparation for this monumental event, The Metalist za got in touch with old school heavy metal legends, DEADLINE, to chat about their live show journey, upcoming album concept and how they feel about sharing the stage with Intervals and Memphis May Fire.
Firstly, thanks for taking the time to chat to us! So, Krank’d up is less than a month away, and I’m sure the band is excited to perform alongside a stellar local lineup, as well as the international acts.
The DEADLINE sound is obviously representative of the old school wave of metal, so what are your thoughts on the headlining acts and the type of music they play?
Our thoughts on the subject are pretty simple…if they are an international act who fly the heavy metal/hard rock flag no matter what genre or type of music they play we say ‘Welcome to South Africa, let’s play some heavy music!’
The majority of Deadline has never heard of Intervals, but we are familiar with Memphis May Fire, well most of us are so this has just been a new opportunity to get to know new bands and add some new music to our playlist.
As much as we do love thrash, power, speed and heavy metal our tastes do venture into other genres like grunge, goth rock and even indie. I am sure that come the 30th of September we are all going to love the prog and core elements that Intervals and Memphis May Fire will bring to the party.
One metal genre cannot exist without the other!
You guys recently hit your 50th live show mark, congratulations! What has been your favourite live show so far?
Thank you! Not sure we thought we would get here this quick but here we are. Feels real good! You know we have answered this a few times in interviews leading up to events and with every answer we provided we would mention a different show and then it hit us like a ton of Jackson flying V’s that every show we play is our favourite show.
As clichéd as it is it really is a privilege getting up on stage and doing what we do! But I suspect come the 30th of September we could have a new favourite to wax lyrical about in interviews.
Did you ever expect the band to become as popular as it is today when you started out?
Definitely not! It is a tough market out there for an old school heavy metal band that borders on all the older more classic metal genres. We often played shows where we were the only old school metal band among death metal bands and core bands and not many people would watch us.
I believe that our live show has to an extent gotten people to notice us and has definitely been the basis for our ‘popularity’. I use the word ‘popularity’ loosely! HAHA!
If we can convince some of the younger generation to show some interest in the older more classical genres of metal then we have served heavy metal well and done our job well.
So your debut album is finally finished! What can you tell us about Black Wolf City? Where did the name come from and what can we expect from the sound/concept?
Believe it or not! HAHA! This has indeed been a process.
The name basically arises from a graphic novel that I have been working on for ages about an industrial metal band that runs the underground affairs of a fictitious city called San Lombardo and it follows their trials and tribulations whilst they try to wrestle the power away from a the corrupt acting mayor who is destroying the city. Think ‘The Crow’ or ‘Sin City’.
The actual name of the album is the nickname given to San Lombardo and the album basically tells the story of the return of one of the characters (which also happens to be our mascot) Lady Blitzkrieg on her revenge seeking mission to destroy Deadline.
The songs do not follow the concept but the inlay and sleeve tells a short story about her arrival in San Lombardo. Our plan is to follow the story with every subsequent release until either Lady Blitzkrieg or Deadline have been destroyed! Place your bets now…HAHA!
Soon after Krank’d Up you guys will be hitting the road to launch the album, where can people catch you and how can they get hold of an album?
The album will be on most online platforms from Apple to Google to Bandcamp etc…from 14 October 2017.
We are also printing 100 physical copies. Each of the first 100 copies will be individually numbered and signed by each band member and can be purchased directly from the band at shows and on our Facebook page.
I think that will make for a wonderful souvenir to our fans so book your number with the band.
We are having our cd launch party at Railways in Pretoria on 14 October 2017 with Undertone, Cutting Jade and Deity’s Muse as support acts. We hope to be in Durban the following week (We are busy finalizing that) and then we are doing a double header in Cape Town at R.O.A.R. and Rabbit Hole on the 27th and 28th of October respectively where we will be joined by Devilspeak, The Fallen Prophets, Imperial Destruction and Last One Alive as support acts. It all then comes to a head on 18 November 2017 at Sundowners in Alberton with Undertone, PSordid and Raptorbaby as support acts.
There are a few shows sandwiched in between but those are not part of the official tour but we will have cd’s and album related merch available at those.
If you were to collaborate with any one of the acts on the Krank’d Up lineup, who would it be and why?
Wow, there are so many but I think the one we would love to do something with even though they play a different style of music would be Mezzanine Floor form P.E.
They are simply one of the best local acts I have ever seen. Their music transcends genres and boundaries and is pure raw emotion in action, kinda like our live show. You see, perfect match! HAHA!
What would you like to see/see more of at South African festivals?
Apart from heavy, thrash, speed and power metal bands??? Nothing! Wait I lie…more people!!! Organizers are putting some really cool events together these days. More feet would be great. Look at how great the South African Metal Music Awards turned out?
YOU CAN CATCH DEADLINE AT KRANK’D UP, 30 SEPTEMBER 2017
FESTIVAL DETAILS:
Taking place on Saturday, 30th September 2017 at Sundowners, Alberton and featuring 2 highly acclaimed international acts along with 19 of SA’s best alternative acts across two stages, Krank’d Up 2017 should not be missed.
Tickets available from Computicket or http://www.krankdupfestival.co.za/
KRANK’D UP LINEUP:
Memphis May Fire
INTERVALS
Red Helen
Megalodon
albinobeach
State Society
CMR
Ohgod
My Columbine
Mezzanine Floor
Deadline
Vulvodynia
Held On Till May
After Robot
Maximum Carnage
You, Me and the Harmony
Savage Lucy
I AM
De Wallen ( Band )
Coldfield
Mad God
Interviewed by: Sammy SF
Date: 15 September 2017
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