"ARMORY" IS A BAND YOU WILL SOON HEARD ABOUT CAUSE THEY ARE PART OF "HEAVY METAL SHOCK" CONTEST (they will have a friendly fight with HEAVENFALL from Italy in 2 weeks). "ARMORY" AS YOU WILL READ, IS ON THE WAY TO RE RECORD THEIR 2004 DEMO SONGS TO PROPOSE SOMETHING MORE ACCOMPLISHED AND POWERFUL. SO THE SONGS FROM 2004 ARE IN A "EARLY HELLOWEEN" STYLE BUT WITH DIFFERENT RESULT. IT COULD BE A MIX BETWEEN "HELLOWEEN" AND ITALIAN MELODIC SPEED METAL. SO IF IT'S NOT TYPICAL UNDERGROUND HEAVY METAL I THINK THEY HAVE A POTENTIAL FOR THE FUTURE! SO I WAIT THEIR NEXT WORK TO LISTEN IF THEY TURN INTO MORE "HEAVY METAL" OR "MELODIC" (I HOPE IT WILL BE FIRST SOLUTION!!!) !


1/ Could you in few words give us information about you (the place you are from, the year you started, your release(s), your ages) ? And did you played before in some other bands that did a release (Demo, LP, 7', CD..) ?

We are based in Townsend, Massachusetts USA and were formed in the summer of 2001 by Joe Kurland and Chad Fisher. The band lineup is Joe Kurland on rhythm/lead/& acoustic guitars and drums, Chad Fisher on rhythm/lead/& acoustic guitars, Adam Kurland on lead vocals, Thomas Preziosi on bass, and most recently Peter Rutcho on keyboards. Currently we are all in our mid to late twenties. In 2004 we released our first album entitled "The Dawn of Enlightenment" which consists of ten original songs. This summer we will be releasing the entire rerecording of "The Dawn of Enlightenment", this time with professional sound quality and packaging.

2/ How could you describe your music ? Do you have favourite themes in your songs ?

We can most easily be classified by the average metalhead as European-style melodic power metal mixed with traditional metal and with moments of thrash, speed, and progressive elements. We sound most similar to Iron Maiden, Helloween, and Edguy, but with a style all our own. Our music contains lots of double bass drumming, soaring vocals, guitar/keyboard harmonies, solos, galloping bass, and atmospheric keys. The lyrics center mostly on philosophical topics combined with epic fantasy ingredients.

3/ About your CD, who did the cover? How many were pressed and are they all still available ?

For the original recording of TDOE (2004), there were only a couple hundred copies made that we hand-burned and packaged ourselves. As of now, there are only 6 copies of the original version still available to buy online at cdbaby.com. After these 6 are sold, you're not going to be able to find the original recording again. For the rerecording of TDOE (to be released summer 2007) we decided to recruit a professional fantasy artist. We had the pleasure of striking a deal with Texas-based artist Steve Goad. Instead of having him do a new painting from scratch, we decided to use a painting that he had already done as our cover, as it was just too amazing to overlook. For TDOE (2007), we plan on professionally pressing at least 2,000 copies and maybe more depending on the demand.

4/ Who chose the name of the band (and does it means something particular?).

Joe Kurland chose the name of the band at the time we formed. There are many meanings of the name ARMORY. One can think of medieval armor that is made of metal, such as chain-mail, a shield, or a helmet. These pieces of equipment are used to defend yourself. So ARMORY signifies metal that is used to defend, or in other words, "defending metal". The word metal in this case then obviously refers to both a material and to our style of music. Medieval armor can be powerful and foreboding but also intricate and beautiful, just like our music. At the time we were also big into fantasy themes, which we still are. However, now we are more into metaphysical philosophy and probably would have come up with a comparable band name had ARMORY not stuck. I mean come on, don't tell me you don't instantly think of power metal when you hear our name!

5/ How is the Traditional HEAVY METAL scene in your country (State) ?

The "true" heavy metal scene appears to be very scarce in Massachusetts. Around here the more popular forms of heavy music are the hardcorish, more extreme bands, such as the majority of bands that you'll find at the New England Hardcore & Metal Festival. We actually do not like that style of music at all. Even though it is scarce, the "true" heavy metal scene is by no means non-existent here, only that it is more underground. But rest assured there are plenty of die hard "true" metal fans in Massachusetts as well as the rest of the USA.

6/ Give us some other HEAVY METAL bands you know in your area.

These are other heavy metal bands from around our area that we know personally: FROZEN- Progressive/Death Metal, GRAVEHEART- Old School Thrash, VOMITRON- Speed/Death Metal & Nintendo Covers, RAVAGE- Traditional Metal, SOUL REMNANTS- Thrash/Death Metal, IN HARM'S WAY- Power Metal, and FROM THE SHADOWS- Traditional/Power Metal. Our keyboardist Pete Rutcho is also in FROZEN on keys, GRAVEHEART on guitar, and VOMITRON on everything. Our bassist Tom Preziosi is also in SOUL REMNANTS on guitar.

7/ What are your 2007 projects or actualities?

Early in 2007 we got our new album cover for TDOE and acquired a new band member. Pete Rutcho, who has been the professional engineer behind the rerecording process, has decided to join ARMORY full-time as our keyboardist. We have finished the completely revised rerecording of TDOE and are currently mixing it. It will be released this Summer. In the meantime we have been writing completely new songs for our second full length album. Hopefully the whole second album will be all written and ready to be recorded by this Fall, but let's take one thing at a time. We also plan to play shows around the New England area sometime soon.

8/ How do you imagine your band in the future? Are you ready to do a lot of sacrifice to climb the steps to "success" or do you prefer to take only the good moments without thinking about "tomorrow"?

The original goal of the band when it was formed was to create the best damned power/traditional metal full-length album we were capable of. In a few months we will have accomplished this goal. One of our new goals is making a second power/traditional metal full-length album while applying all the extra writing/playing skills and knowledge we have gained since TDOE was written. We also want to heavily promote ourselves through as many mediums necessary, such as playing many shows around the area and having TDOE (2007) reviewed in every place we can find, to let metalheads everywhere know that we are a worthy and "true" professional power/traditional metal band that challenges the most critical fan of the genre to listen to us.

8/ What do you know about French Traditional HEAVY METAL?

Uhhh, not much I guess. We know about Fairyland and Heavenly and are fans of those bands. But they are power metal and not traditional heavy metal. If you know of any then let us know, as we are huge metal fans ourselves.

9/ Give me some of your 80's HEAVY METAL bands you are really fans? (I know you could give tons, so try to give some of the Best)

The bands most deserving of mention are Iron Maiden, Helloween, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Savatage, Manowar, Metallica (only from the 80's), Megadeth, Slayer, Crimson Glory, Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Judas Priest, Virgin Steele, Running Wild, Yngwie Malmsteen, Vicious Rumors, Loudness, and tons more.

10/ Could you change your HEAVY METAL into more commercial Metal to be famous (use if you don't have, a keyboard, or turned some choruses into more melodic because a major Label ask you…) ?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! (Who do you think we are, Metallica! hehe) We are a "true" metal band and the whole point of "true" metal is that you stay true to yourself and never sell out. We make music because we love doing it and listening to it. Since we love "true" metal and understand what the ingredients are to create it, we assume that any other fan of "true" metal will also love our stuff. It's not about being famous; it's about making the best possible music that you yourself will enjoy. The way we see it, our music existed before our fans did, so all we have to do is be true to ourselves and the "true" fans will always be there.

11/ Did you already open for "important bands" ?

Not yet, but we intend to in the near future.

12/ Did you have what we could call something funny, strange or "catastrophic" that happened to your band on stage?

Not yet, but I'm sure we will.

13/ How should be the perfect HEAVY METAL groupie? Is it important to have "Die Hard" fans around you (even if they could be without objectivities about your music…) ?

As we said earlier, we are huge fans of heavy metal ourselves but it is also important to have other die hard fans to support what we do and understand our cause. Since we all enjoy our own music and are proud to have made it, it only makes sense that we would want as many other metalheads as possible to enjoy it too.

14/ What could be the "Heavy Metal War Cry" of your band ? (Not necessary something you will write on your shirts, it could be only a word or a sentence that resume your band).

DEATH TO FALSE METAL!!! (Well that is Manowar's catch phrase, but we can't think of anything better!)

15/ Last question, imagine suddenly you are very (very, very) rich. What could be the gift you could imagine to thanx your fans (of course if it happen I will knock at your door if you forgive me hahahaha!)

The greatest gift for our fans is the music that we so passionately create. This means that being rich would not matter. Alright, maybe we could give our fans really good and loud sound systems so that they can blast metal louder than ever! What do you want? Cash??

16/ Give us the address of your Website and your MYSPACE page!

http://www.faithinsteel.com/  is our Official Website (since 2001), which has much more information about the band than our Myspace site.
http://www.myspace.com/armorymetal  is our Official Myspace Page (since January, 2007).

17/ Tell us how to buy your CD, do we have to contact you directly? If you have something else to add it's the moment!

http://cdbaby.com/cd/armory  is the website where you can buy our music. Right now this is the only way to get our album. Don't worry though, because we have never encountered a problem where someone did not get our music in tact. We would like to thank you Raskal for this interview and helping to promote our music. Heavy metal fans everywhere; get ready for the rerecording of "The Dawn of Enlightenment" this summer! We guarantee that it will blow you away!

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