ONSLAUGHT – Interview with Nige Rockett

Old school thrashers Onslaught have solidified their triumphant return to metal with their sophomore comeback album Sounds of Violence! Onslaught came back on the scene in 2004, began writing Killing Peace in 2005, and released it in 2007, officially ending their more-than-decade-long hiatus. Now that Sounds of Violence has been unleashed worldwide, it looks like Onslaught is DEFINITELY here to stay! Check out what guitarist Nige Rockett has to say about Onslaught's current events!

What exactly prompted you guys to reform the band?

The real catalyst for Onslaught reforming was the re-release of the first 2 album Power From Hell & The Force..

Steve heard thru the metal grapevine that these albums were once again available in the stores, and did some extensive research… We spoke to the releasing label ‘Blackened Records’ who told us that both records were selling amazingly well and the response had been great…. It definitely showed us that there was still a big interest in the band in 2004, we realised that this could be the chance to finally lay the ghosts to rest and right all the wrongs that caused the band to split first time around.

What was the most difficult part of returning to the metal scene after a 13-year absence?

To be perfectly honest it was all kinda easy, everything was pretty much the same as before except the internet and studio technology, both of which has made our life considerably more comfortable.. I guess the one hurdle we had to overcome was making some people realise we were back for all the right reasons and not just nostalgia in any way shape or form…. I think once we released the Killing Peace album everyone knew we were back for real.

Did you have side projects going on during Onslaught's hiatus? Do you currently have any side projects?

I did a project during the break called the ‘Power Junkies’ with our now bassist Jeff Williams. It was a Metal / Punk type thing, very raw, kinda early Metallica meets the Sex Pistols type vibe.. We were real close to landing a big deal but unfortunately talks broke down and it never came to nothing, I got really disillusioned with the music industry after this and decided to quit for good until the Onslaught thing came back around.. Funny you should ask that, I’m just starting working on a new project right now for when I have some down time with Onslaught… We have the band line up together and we’re all ready to roll when the time comes. Its gonna be a bit more Hard-core than Onslaught but still very metal and aggressive.

Your comeback album Killing Peace has a very strong war/death/destruction theme, but the lyrics are completely apolitical. Do you guys have anything in particular to say about the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Yeah, Here’s religion for ya..!!! Welcome to the Holy land of chaos and destruction..!!!! Its not our problem out there, so why are we letting hundreds our troops die..? We never should have got involved in Iraq, protect the surrounding free states Yeah, but that should have been it.. Russia could not win in Afghanistan and neither will we. If I was in control I would pull them all out right now and let the people of these countries live and die how they please. But there are two reasons why we will have to stay in the Middle East & Afghanistan, 1) to look after the black gold (Oil) and 2) to try and halt the trade of opiates as much as possible… and now we have a potential Nuclear crisis looming, fucking holocaust if these countries get the Bomb…

I couldn't help but notice the anti-Christian themes in Sounds Of Violence (as well as the vast majority of your discography). Are you anti-Christian or anti-religion in general?

I’m both, Anti – Christian because of my upbringing and Anti Religion simply because of all the hatred and terror it causes around the world. I’m from a Christian family and I was forced into this faith from about 3 years old and was given no choices about it until I was old enough to rebel and say ’No, Fuck you’. I hated everything it stood for, it was all complete bullshit as far as I was concerned, I just wanted to play Football and be a kid…My crusade against religion is born from genuine life experience and not just because it’s a cool to be Anti.

Despite the overall thrashiness of Sounds Of Violence, there appears to be a little black metal thrown in for good measure. Were you influenced by any black metal bands as you composed the album?

Onslaught have always had some kind of Black Metal roots and inspiration right back to the Power From Hell album, not necessarily the BM we know today, but the more original form from way back.. We are very honoured by the fact that Onslaught are one of the very few Thrash bands that can truly crossover to the current Black / Death metal audience… I love a lot of BM music, it [exudes] darkness and we really wanted to make SOV a truly dark record, so it was cool to add some of these elements into the sound to give some of the songs an extra evil, if you like…

Onslaught has a European tour coming up in a little over a month. Do you have any plans to tour North America at some point in the near future?

Yeah for sure, we’re looking into things for later this year as we speak, but we have to be very careful how to approach a US tour.. We hear many tales of bands coming to the US losing $30,000 for the pleasure and playing [regularly] to 5 people, we don’t wanna subscribe to that way of thinking, so were gonna be patient and wait for the right moment.. We wanna be able to come and do ourselves justice and to be able to put on a great show for our US fans.

You have said that your progression from punk to thrash occurred naturally, but were there any specific thrash influences you had back in the early '80s when thrash was (arguably) at its peak?

Yeah, because hardcore punk music along with Motorhead was really the early seeds of Thrash metal, it was a very natural step for us to make as our musicianship improved. Influences, Not really because we were there pretty much at the beginning of things ourselves Power from Hell was conceived in 1984 and certainly in the Uk we were the only band playing this style of music, We had obviously heard the albums coming out of America by Metallica / Slayer etc and they were awesome, but they didn’t have any great bearing on the way PFH was going to sound..

Who were your influences during the punk years?

Exactly the same as always, Discharge and Motorhead have always been our main influences, we loved the raw energy and power that both these bands had at the time. We would jam their songs at every rehearsal, it really helped improve our standards.

What is your favorite song to perform in concert?

For me it has to be 'Killing Peace’ we always open with that track and I can just just get my head down and bang like fuck.. then the chorus hits and it’s awesome to hear the whole place screaming ‘Spitting Blood in the Face of God’ sends a shiver down my spine every time…

My favorite song on Sounds Of Violence is “Antitheist.” What's yours?

That’s a tough question.. Its changing every day at the moment, I’m listening to it over and over because we’re rehearsing for the tours and a lot of it depends on my mood.. If I had to choose life or death, I would say.. ‘Rest in Pieces’ today hahaha. Tomorrow ’Code Black’… 🙂

I know January's already half-over, but what are your New Year's resolutions for 2011 if you have any?

No, I never bothered this year because I know by February they would all be broken and I would be back to square one…My will power aint good hahaha

Anything you want the fans to know that you haven't already told them?

I’d just like to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you to all the Slaught fans out there who have supported the band over the years and who helped our return to be such an amazing experience. SOV has been a long time in the making and we really hope you all massively enjoy this new slab of violence.. We’ll be Seeing you on the road very very soon… Love and Metal – Nige & Onslaught m/ …!!!!!

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Official Fanclub Site: http://www.powerfromhell.com/site/index.php