Formed in 1985, in Phoenix, Arizona, Sacred Reich are credited with being leaders of the second wave of thrash metal in the 80’s, alongside Testament, Death Angel and Dark Angel. With their socially conscious and political brand of speed metal, Sacred Reich released a brutal run of albums on Metal Blade Records and Hollywood Records. 2019 brought the much-anticipated release of the bands’ fifth studio album “Awakening” to rave reviews and the return of powerhouse ex-Machine Head member Dave McClain on drums to the Sacred Reich stronghold. Sacred Reich are teaming up with Vio-lence for a run of shows in Australia so we spoke to vocalist/bassist Phil Rind ahead of the tour to find out what fans can expect as well as the reunion of a few members and much more.
Andrew: We are very excited to see you in Australia shortly!
Phil: Yeah we’re excited to be coming back, it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Andrew: I was reading the press release when the tour was announced, am I reading correctly that it’s been 25 years since the last time you were down our way?
Phil: Yeah ’94 I guess with Sepultura.
Andrew: Oh wow Ok! Do you remember anything from that tour or highlights from that run?
Phil: I just remember all the shows were totally fucking insane and the country was so killer, the people were wonderful and it made such a great impression on us that we’ve been trying to get back. So it only took us 25 years but finally we made it.
Andrew: [laughs] Better late than never I guess! And you’re teaming up with veteran thrash band, Vio-lence who just reunited a few years back, you guys must have a pretty big history together over the years.
Phil: Yeah we’ve known each other since the late 80’s and played shows together in Oakland and Phoenix and I was pretty close friends with Phil [Demmel] for a long time, a long time ago.
Andrew: And how does it feel to have Dave McClain back in the band?
Phil: Yeah it feels great to have Dave back in the band, we are very lucky that it worked out timing wise, us looking for a drummer. Initially when we spoke to him he was in Machine Head so one thing led to another and I don’t think he was happy and he wound up leaving and so it worked out great for us.
Andrew: I spoke to Phil recently and he was pretty excited about doing this tour with you guys, it seemed like all the cards lined up together and those guys reunited as well and you guys coming back. It just seems like a really good time not only for Sacred Reich but for thrash metal in general I suppose.
Andrew: Yeah and I don’t know what to attribute it to but there seems to be a resurgence of heavy music, I don’t know why but I’m not going to argue with it and we just do our best and keep playing.
Andrew: Yeah definitely and speaking of, you dropped a new album “Awakening” last year and I gotta say it’s probably the best album you guys ever put out. You must be pretty happy with how that came out.
Phil: Yeah we’re really excited about everything and I agree, I think it’s our best record. You know, bands say that right, ‘Our new record is our best record’ so I don’t know if people believe it but I do feel that way. It’s been great playing the new songs live and seeing people sing along with it already, you never know how the new songs are going to go over with people. People listen to the old stuff for so long it’s branded into their brain but playing the new songs live I think they just fit in the set really well, our record came out great and couldn’t be happier.
Andrew: Yeah it’s fantastic and I wasn’t surprised as you always put out some really good albums over the years but this one seemed to be a next level kind of thing. Was there anything in particular when you went into the writing and recording of this one that you really wanted to achieve with it?
Phil: Well we knew that we wanted to have some fast and heavy songs. It had been so long since we had made a record, we didn’t want to forget the people that had been with us since “Ignorance”. The other thing is you don’t want to force things, you want them to come about naturally so we were lucky that we had some fast and heavy songs that just came out. It’s funny because “Divide & Conquer” is one of the faster songs on the record and that was the first song that we wrote and “Manifest Reality” is one of the fastest songs too, that was the last song that we wrote so it’s funny that the first and last song kind of came out that way. But we just wanted to make the best record that we could and the most honest record and put all of ourselves into it, the recording experience was really very special and very positive and pretty emotional because we all went through a lot to get to this point and Dave going leaving Machine Head and going through what he went through with them, it was a bit of a journey to get here.
Andrew: So you mentioned how these songs have been fitting well with the older stuff, putting a setlist together especially for a country that you haven’t been to in a while, is that a difficult or easy process?
Phil: Na I think we have a pretty good idea of what people want to hear, what people react to so there’s a nice mixture of new and old songs.
Andrew: Oh right cool because it always varies between bands where it can be a bit of a democracy or a dictatorship as far as what songs you want to be playing. Is this something that everyone in the band is on the same page with or do you argue over what songs you do want to play?
Phil: No I think at this point too I think I have an idea, we all know what songs we like to play, we all know what songs go over well. I know what Wiley’s [Arnett, guitar) favorite song is, I know what Dave’s favorites are so we just try to mix it up from tour to tour and make sure that…there’s several songs that we just have to play, we can’t get away without playing them. We have to play “Surf”, we have to play “The American Way”, we have to play “Death Squad” or people are going to be angry at us and that’s not what we want people going to the show! We don’t want them to be upset, we want them to get what they want to get and we try to mix in some stuff that they may not have thought about. So we pretty much all agree on this stuff, it’s not very difficult.
Andrew: And going back to having Dave back in the band, just on the live front how has that been working out? Has he made you guys an even better band now as well?
Phil: Dave is a great drummer and he’s so solid and consistent, night to night, song to song. He really works hard at being a drummer, he’s always practicing and always working on technique. It’s funny to see his hands – we just did 3 months in a row, we did 8 weeks in the US and then we did 5 weeks in Europe and he doesn’t have a blister on his hands, it’s pretty amazing to see and that’s a testament to the work that he puts in with technique.
Andrew: Yeah and it’s hard work for anyone that’s in a band, especially for as long as you guys have been doing it. Did you ever think this many years later that you would still be going at it, still writing music and still touring?
Phil: No I never really thought about it. I feel really fotunate, I just turned 50 and I was like, ‘Oh man I just turned 50 and just put out a new record and really getting back at it’, so we’re just really fortunate the fact that we have an audience and that there’s people out there that are still interested in us is really lucky. We were never the biggest band to begin with so it’s pretty amazing, we’;re really lucky.
Andrew: If you weren’t doing music what do you think you would be doing?
Phil: Being miserable. When I wasn’t doing music I was pretty miserable so I would be miserable. There’s a lot of things you can do in life but I really love playing music and I love being creative and everything associated with it so when you get a taste of that, doing anything else just feels like a bit of a let down.
Andrew: Yeah it must be exciting to play on stage in front of many people that love your music. Do you remember the very first tour you guys went on together and that feeling you had at that time?
Phil: Oh yeah we put out “Ignorance” in 1987, we wound up doing 4 shows. It was Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto and Cincinnati, that was the extend of our first tour. But it was just exciting, we just all hopped in a van and we ended up driving from Phoenix all the way to Toronto! It was crazy but it was a lot of fun and the fact that anyone showed up we were always amazed. I remember one of the first times we went to Europe, we went to Greece and thinking, ‘Is anyone going to be here? I mean does anyone even known who we are in Greece?’ And it was a pretty big place outside and I think it was pretty packed, at least a thousand people and we were just blown away. I’m still surprised that anyone really shows up and really cares so it’s pretty cool!
Andrew: Well music is one of those things that transcends language and all that stuff and worldwide everyone can connect to it and I suppose these days it’s even easier with the internet so it’s a great thing to be a part of.
Phil: Yeah I think so and there’s a song called “Salvation” on the record and the idea is salvation through music and our music brings us together and make connections. I just feel that music is the greatest art form and it’s the soundtrack of our lives, it’s almost like a time machine where you hear a song and reminds you of a different period from your life and it seems so vivid. It’s something that really brings us together and when you’re actually sitting in your bedroom and you have your headphones on and you’re listening to the song and something really resonates with you and makes a connection between you and a stranger in another part of the world, you’ve never met but you know that you have a connection because you’re like, ‘That’s how I feel’ or someone giving a voice to some inner feeling that you had or something that you recognised. I just think it’s the most important thing that we can do because we need to remember that we’re all connected and it’s beyond space and time and religion and color and nationality and boundaries, it’s something that binds us all together.
Andrew: Yeah absolutely, I totally agree. Well we are very excited to see you in Australia, before I let you go do you have any last words for the Aussie fans?
Phil: We look forward to coming back, we appreciate you sticking with us. We look forward to playing and having a good time especially after everything that the country has been through so it’s really going to be a great time.
NEW SACRED REICH AND VIO-LENCE 2020 TOUR DATES:
TUES 7 JULY – CANBERRA – THE BASEMENT
WED 8 JULY – BRISBANE – THE OUTPOST
THUR 9 JULY – MELBOURNE – MAX WATTS
FRI 10 JULY – SYDNEY – CROWBAR
SAT 11 JULY – ADELAIDE – ENIGMA
TICKETS FOR THE NEW DATES ARE AVAILABLE HERE:
https://hardlinemedia.net/current-tours
