ROCKET Interviews Bruce Corbitt

Legendary RIGOR MORTIS/WARBEAST vocalist Bruce Corbitt passed away in early 2019, and leaves behind a legion of fans who are going to miss his unmistakable voice and undeniable passion for Heavy Metal music. TMD’s creator/editor, Randy “Rocket” Cody, interviewed Bruce Corbitt prior to the debut Warbeast album being released via Philip Anselmo’s label Housecore Records in 2010. It would be Corbitt’s first official music release in 22 years, and his excitement for getting back into the game was child-like and totally inspirational.

ROCKET: What were the feelings you had after initially finding out Philip Anselmo was going to sign WARBEAST to his label Housecore Records?

BRUCE: Oh man, what a phone call that was for me. One of those moments that you will never forget. It would take alot of “setting up” the moment to really explain the impact it would have on my life and the rest of the guys in the band. So fuck it, if you really wanna know… I will just go ahead and tell you the entire long/in-depth story here for the first, and probably last time.

It was all kind of crazy how it all happened in the first place. I hadn’t seen Philip since he moved out of Dallas/Ft. Worth…. 15-years-ago or some shit like that. Then Rigor Mortis did those few shows with Arson Anthem back in late 2007. Hell to be honest with ya, bro… I didn’t have a fucking clue what the guy would be like after so many years. Yeah, I knew about all his up-and-downs in life and the problems with his bands/band members etc. Like everyone else, I had heard all-kinds-of-shit about him over the years. Some of it good… and alot of it bad. But I only judge a person by how they are towards me. Fuck what ya hear about someone… and who gives a fuck if you have a problem with him… that doesn’t fuckin’ mean I will. Ya know? … sort of how you would like everyone to give you the same chance and not judge you by what they hear about ya. But of course we all know that isn’t always the case.

Anyway, back in the 80s, both of us had “joined” bands (Pantera & Rigor Mortis) that just really didn’t like each other. The Rigor Mortis guys just hated Pantera for whatever reasons. The Pantera guys just thought Rigor Mortis sucked. Neither band liked the others band’s style etc. The fans got in on it too… so because of that “so-called” rivalry… we didn’t really hang out that much back then when Philip lived around here. But whenever I did see him back in those days, he was always very cool and respectful to me. So I always considered him and friend and I was anxious to see the guy after so long.

During those Rigor Mortis & Arson Anthem shows we had a few chances to get reacquainted. That’s when I told him about the new band. Yes, I already knew he had a label and of course any band wants to get signed. But I even remember being uncomfortable about it and thinking to myself, “I sure hope he doesn’t think I am trying to get him to sign us just by mentioning my new band.” So I was really just talking to him in a “friend” type of way… ya know? Like… “I got another band going now bro. You remember Rick Perry and Scott Shelby from Gammacide? … I am jamming with those dudes now. This is the best band I have been in since Rigor Mortis. We gotta badass bass player and this young monster-of a-drummer etc.” Even though Philip acted interested in what kind of style the band was… again I just thought of it as brothers catching up on what is going on with each others lives etc. I never talked to him that much about his label, I remember I kind of thought we might not be the type of band Philip would be interested in. Hell, I really didn’t know what he wanted for his label now that I think about it… because we didn’t really talk about it that much.

Then we had some long talks on the phone in the next few months following the tour. During one of those calls he started asking what everyone around here had been up to. He asked me about the band and what Rick and Scott were doing these days. I filled him in… then I told him that we had our demo finished and mixed. So I mentioned that I would like to send it to him to check out. Again, I just wanted him to hear it like you would want any friend and “music fan” to hear your band. I wasn’t thinking of it like I was submitting our demo to his label. So if he didn’t like our music or if he didn’t want to sign us… that would’nt have bothered me one fucking bit, or changed our friendship at all. I wasn’t expecting shit… just hoping he wouldn’t think we sucked… haha!

Anyway I guess what I am trying to get at is this… when Philip called me a week later and started praising me, the band, the songs and our demo. I knew “immediately” that it was SINCERE. This wasn’t about “friendship” or any kind of crap like that. This was actually because he had heard something he “believed in” when he listened to this band. Ya see, I’d like to think I know Philip Anselmo good enough to know that he didn’t start his own Record Label as a charity to sign all of his friend’s bands. The man wants to be successful at anything he does and he has a shitload of friends in bands. So that’s what made that call so special to me… because I knew he wasn’t just trying to help us out as a friend. It was because he fucking loved our band and wanted to sign us. Dude, you just can’t explain that feeling unless you experience it for yourself. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get to experience something like this twice in my life… with two different bands.

Now the fact that we “are” friends even made it cooler for me. So it was a special conversation for me that night is was totally unexpected. After about an hour of asking me all kinds of questions and getting all the details he could about the band… Philip then told me he wanted to talk about business. That’s when he told me he wanted “first” chance at signing us. It was at that “exact” moment that I knew we were going to be signed to Housecore Records. Talk about getting some chills brother. Fuck I knew the other dudes in the band wouldn’t want to be on any other label when I told them this news. That was another cool thing for me… I was the “one” that got to let the other guys in the band know what Philip had said about us.

So for the band itself and the rest of the other guys… I was freaking out for them. I always believed we had a solid lineup and we were writing some great songs. I just couldn’t wait to call the guys and tell all of them the good news. Imagine how good that made me feel to let my bros know we had someone that believed in us enough to sign us? Especially when that someone is a metal legend and an old friend to Rick, Scott and myself. Plus our bassist and drummer were big fans of Philip… so I knew they would shit-in-their-pants.

Rick Perry and Scott Shelby were always a great guitar duo and I always felt they should have been signed to a real label back in their Gammacide days. In fact I always thought it was complete bullshit that Gammacide and some of the other great metal bands around here in (D/FW) didn’t get signed. But what I learned from being signed to Capitol Records with Rigor Mortis back then was… sometimes it takes more than just being a good band with good songs. Sometimes it can come down to just meeting a “key person” that will be the hidden piece to the puzzle. If you don’t happen to be in the right place at the right time… or cross paths with someone at a certain moment in life… sadly your break may never happen. So with all the talent and work it takes for a band to get to a point where they deserve to be signed… there has to be some luck involved to accomplish your dreams. For Warbeast… that “key person” turned out to be Philip Anselmo. CRAZY!! Anyway, I was happy for Rick and Scott and felt it was long overdue for them.

Then with our bassist Alan Bovee… he hasn’t been in bands as long as us. But he is a solid, dependable musician and his talent is equal to the rest of us. We like to give the guy a hard time and we fuck with him sometimes. He is a good sport about it and he knows we aren’t serious. He is actually the member that makes this band fun to be in. I just know I felt good for him to be able to have this experience of getting signed.

As far as our drummer Joe Gonzalez, he had just turned 17-years-old when he joined us . The first thing I told him when he came into the band was… “I am going to get you signed mother fucker!” To make a bold statment like that and then for us to actually get signed… I knew he would freak-out when I told him that we really did it. To be honest with ya… when we first decided to keep this band going after doing that first benefit show for Wayne Abney. I “never” thought about us getting signed. I thought we would just do some shows here and there and that would keep us busy in between Rigor Mortis and Gammacide stuff. But Joe was such a talented young musician and when I looked into his eyes… I could see he had a hunger and passion that few musicians have. He had his entire life and career ahead of him. That made me really want to do something for him that would have an impact on his life forever. Joe is grateful to us for everything that has happened to him and he has thanked all of us many times. He also didn’t forget my bold statement I made to him when he first joined. But now looking back, I should be the one thanking him. Because he was the final piece of this band and because of him… I really got the feeling that we could do something from the moment he joined us.

How I felt for myself was REDEMPTION. I never really did anything that great in bands after I was fired from Rigor Mortis over 20 years ago. All the other guys from Rigor had joined or started bands and they have been successful. But my ‘Thrash” style of vocals weren’t wanted during the 90s. Hell I wasn’t even in a band for about 15 years and I thought my days of being onstage were over, until the Rigor reunion in 2005.

I admit that I ain’t shit unless I have a good band doing the type of music I can fit in with. I was fortunate enough to have jammed with some talented musicians in Rigor Mortis. Part of the reason I never did anything after Rigor Mortis was simply because I was never able to get with another band as good as Rigor Mortis. It is hard to go from driving a Ferrari to a Volkswagon. So my heart was just never into it like it was with Rigor Mortis. Then Scott Shelby and Rick Perry wanted to jam with me all these years later. So finally I had something I felt was as good as Rigor Mortis… and I had some badass-motherfucking musicians to back me up. That is when I am at my best… not just the frontman part, but everything I do to help the band… promoting etc. Somehow I had this second chance and now I can “finally” say that I have done something good besides Rigor Mortis. So the redemption feeling I got wasn’t about proving anything to anyone else… it was about proving it to myself.

Most important of all to me was that I knew my big brother Jeff Corbitt (RIP) would have been proud of me. I still believe my bro might still be alive if Rigor Mortis wouldn’t have done a reunion back in 2005. Life is crazy sometimes and life can have bad timing. My bro was having some depressed times after his separation from his wife of 20 years. He asked me to move down to his place near Austin and work with him on his sound and lighting business. I could sense that he really needed me.

But right before he asked me that… Rigor Mortis had suddenly all agreed to reunite with the original lineup after 17 years. Now at any point in my life in the 15 years prior to that… I would have moved in with my bro in a heartbeat. I loved him, I looked up to him and he was always like my hero. Like I said… life can have bad timing. So I had to tell my bro I couldn’t because we were about to start rehearsing for a 2 1/2 week reunion tour. Now don’t get me wrong…. my bro was proudest of me back when I was in Rigor Mortis. So he was happy to hear about the reunion. He was the type of guy that had too much pride to really let you know if he was having tough times and really needed you.

Ironically, Rigor Mortis stayed at my bro’s house after we played one of those reunion shows in San Antonio. It would be the last time I would ever see him. Again he was proud of me when he watched us drive off that day to continue the tour. He knew this what I loved doing more than anything else in my life. Anyway all of us in the band noticed he was in bad shape. He was obviously depressed and taking too many pills to try and deal with it all.

When we got up the road we all started talking about it. I told them that I knew I needed to try and do an intervention on my bro as soon as the tour was over. I thought about it often during the rest of the tour. Not thinking at all about suicide or anything like that. I just wanted my big bro to be himself again… so I intended to help him. I knew I was the “one” person that could help him…. maybe the “only” one. But I made the decision to wait until after the tour before I started talking to him about it. A decision I will regret for the rest of my life.

Sadly I waited a day too late to help my brother. The night I got home from the tour I was exhausted… I just wanted to sleep for like 24 hours. I wanted to get fresh before I called him to start trying to help him. The next night after my marathon sleep… I was just about to call him. But instead, I got the call I never wanted to receive. His ex-wife told me my bro had killed himself. I couldn’t believe it and still can’t to this day. He always “had” me… so I couldn’t understand why he didn’t talk to me first. Plus now he didn’t even know I was intending to help him and that he was what was always on my mind. I still regret not calling him during the rest of that tour now. But I just thought I wanted to talk to him about this stuff when I wasn’t out on the road.

My mind is still fucked from thinking about how it all happened. I always felt like I lost my brother because I started singing again. That was a fucked up feeling! So the only way I could deal with it was to prove there had to be a reason that it happened this way. That there had to be more to it than just a 2 1/2 week Rigor Mortis reunion tour. So what getting signed with Warbeast really meant to me was that I finally had some closure on my bro’s death. I know that my bro would be proud of me for doing what I love to do. I realize now that this is what I am supposed to be doing… so I can’t keep blaming “myself” for his loss. His spirit will always live on in me. He is my motivation for everything I do with this band and with Rigor Mortis.

ROCKET: You recorded the WARBEAST debut “Krush The Enemy” at Philip’s home studio in New Orleans. As I understand it, Phil helped you work on your vocal delivery a bit before you actually began laying down your vocals. What were the things you two worked on?

BRUCE: Well he didn’t really work with me on my actual vocal delivery. It wasn’t like he gave me singing lessons or any kind of shit like that. I guess I can sort of sum it up like this… It was like an old boxer hiring the best boxing trainer around before his next big fight. The trainer is smart enough to know not to change this veteran boxers style after so many years. He isn’t going to try and make a boxer into a puncher, or visa versa. Instead he is going eliminate some of his weaknesses and focus on improving his strengths… etc. He would teach him some of his “own” knowledge that he has learned himself by having more experience. They would concentrate on adding new techniques to the fighters arsenal etc. With the main goal to simply have him as mentally and physically prepared as possible when the fight starts. Then in between rounds he would give him advice, tips and make the right adjustments.

That is pretty much how it was working with Philip. I wanted him to be in my corner when I did my vocals on this album. I am older than Philip, but he has recorded ten-times more than I have. I wanted to improve and he had the experience I needed to help me. So before we went in the studio to record the vocals, we spent several days listening to the demos and analyzing everything. We worked together on improving the lyrics in certain spots and adding some hooks. He would hear lines that he noticed were giving me some trouble. Maybe there were too many words in one spot that made me just have to spew them out too fast. Or like if a couple of words were tongue-twisters for me etc. He was cool about it… he had a way of telling me I was singing a part stupid and make me laugh about it. So it was fun to work with him and learn from him. He had me prepared before we went into the studio. Then once we started actually recording, he was there to listen closely after each take. If I nailed it… we would move on. If not, he would offer a suggestion and we would try it again. He wasn’t trying to change me at all… it was all about just bringing out the best in me. He also taught me a lot of studio tips that I will take with me to my grave.

ROCKET: The engineer who was chosen to work on “Krush The Enemy” is named David “The Puma” Troia. He’s worked with DOWN, OTEP and MUDVAYNE. In your opinion, how important is it – even for an underground metal band – to work with people that have a proven track record?

BRUCE: Well you already know going in that they have proven they will accomplish good results. That will give a band confidence right there that the final product will be what we want it to be… as long as we do our parts. Of course alot of it is the chemistry and how well you work together. We found out the first night we met ‘The Puma’ that we would all be on the same page. He’s a young and very talented-hard-working engineer. But just as important… he had the patience that a picky band like us needed. So everything just went smooth-as-hell during the entire recording process. We always felt like we were on the same team, and that is about all a band can ask for. I honestly wouldn’t want to use anyone else the next time we enter the studio. I just hope that we didn’t drive him crazy with all of our different types of personalities … haha! Everyone of us is completely different to work with… but he seemed to adjust to our individual personalities and moods.

ROCKET: Can you provide some insight as to how the actual recording process worked? Was Philip there the whole entire time in the studio?

BRUCE: We drove to Louisiana and we had ten days of recording scheduled. We arrived at Philip’s house on a Friday night and started recording early the next day. No, Philip wasn’t in the studio for all of it. The first night we got there we sat down and listened to the demos. Philip wrote down some notes for ideas and suggestions for the drums and guitar parts. So he went over it with them before they went in to record. Philip also worked with Alan a little bit at his house about a few bass ideas. Then he went in for the early stages when Alan started recording his bass tracks. But he pretty much had faith that they all could handle it without him having to be there.

We actually recorded this album at three different places. The drums were recorded at a really badass studio called Balance Productions. Joe spent two days working on his drum tracks. Scott played the rough rhythm guitar tracks for all of the songs while Joe was recording his parts. Fuck, I gotta give Joe his props for coming through under the pressure. He finished his tracks with time to spare.

The guitar and bass tracks were recorded over the next week at The Puma’s home studio. I wasn’t there for any of those sessions. During that time I worked with Philip on adjusting some lyrics and preparing a gameplan for when we recording my vocals. Other than that I did a lot of fucking off and partying in my free time… haha! We hoped we would be able to record the vocals parts during those 10 days. But it came down to where I would’ve had just a little over one day to record all 10 songs. So we all said fuck that and Joe drove me back to do my parts two weeks later. In other words… I pretty much had a 10-day Vacation on that first trip… haha! I mean I worked on stuff while I was there… I just didn’t get to record my parts. So I just fuckin’ relaxed, partied and lived it up… yes I did… thank you very much!

The reason I didn’t just stay and we didn’t just extend the recording time was because I had a show in Germany with Rigor Mortis the following weekend. So we figured those long rehearsals with Rigor Mortis would be a good way to warm up my voice before I started recording my vocals for Warbeast. It also gave me some extra time to prepare for any lyric changes we had made. Of course with Philip being a vocalist, he wanted to be there when I recorded. Because I had already asked him to work with me anyway. So he was there for every second of the vocal tracks. We did my vocals right there at Philip’s own studio just a short distance from his house. It is pretty much just a studio they built in his barn… AKA known as Nodferatus’s Lair.

I put my life and everything I had into my vocals on this album. There was this old mirror ball on the ceiling hanging right above me. Everytime I was about to sing a part on this album… I would look up at that mirror ball and think about my big brother. That’s how I motivated myself right before I sang each line. I had five nights to record the vocals. So we did two songs a night and we took our time with them. I got on-a-roll one night and finished 4 songs and actually finished all of the vocals in 4 nights. So on that last night it gave us extra time to be able to add some sound clips I wanted to use in the last song on the album called We Are The Vultures.

ROCKET: How intense was Philip to actually work with and was it at all nerve-wracking?

BRUCE: Oh man, can you imaging trying to work with Philip Anselmo? I mean we have all heard what an asshole he is ya know? haha! No seriously dude… we worked our asses off and had a blast doing it. He was very respectful to all of us and treated us like family. We were all so different with our moods and personalities when we were there to make this album. Philip was able to adapt to each of our styles. The guy may have this intense image as a metal frontman. But when you actually get to know him as a friend… he’s a good guy.

He’s a pretty cool boss too… he’s not a dick or a dictator. For a band like us, it is nice to associate with someone that has already been through it all in their own bands. Because it’s easier for him to look at the band’s side of things too. So he is very fair to the band when it comes to business with Housecore Records. We could have done this album without any input from Philip and he would have believed in us to give him a good product. But we wanted him to be our Producer and be involved in the creation of this album. He made this album even better… and that is what a Producer is supposed to do.

For myself, I always work best when I feel comfortable and when it’s fun at the same time. I felt more at home doing my vocals in Philip’s barn studio. I always felt weird when I was in some fuckin’ a high-dollar studio all isolated and behind the glass. I just feel out of my element and I hate it when I can’t always hear what everyone is saying on the other side of the glass. But if you put me in a room that looks like a place I usually just hang out with a few bros… then it is easier for me to relax and just be myself. We were joking between takes… throwing out old Steve Martin and Cheech & Chong lines and singing Beatles etc. That made it easier for me to be less nervous when it was time to get serious and record a song. So overall… Philip made it a very productive, but also a fun and memorable experience.

ROCKET: Does Phil do any guest vocals on “Krush The Enemy”?

BRUCE: He did a couple of “special effect” type of vocals on the album. In other words… he didn’t sing any parts in his normal voice or do any backups. But in a couple of parts he did like a background voice in one song and a breathing-type-of-sound in another. Little things that no one would know it was him doing it unless I pointed it out to them. Fuck man… it would have been cool with me to have him sing some on the album.

Well there is one song that Philip sang with me. But it is more of just a “Joke” song. He has a copy of it and so do I… and I hope it stays that way. But yeah, we knew the rest of the guys in the band would be all anxious to hear my vocals when I returned to Texas. So when things were going ahead of schedule and we were having so much fun… we got a spur-of-the-moment idea to fuck with the other guys. So I sang one of the songs in one of my wimpy Rock/John Lennon type of voices. Philip sang some parts with a melodic/vibrato type of voice. He deliberately sang some of the lines off-time and off-key… haha! We got our drummer Joe to do some high-pitched screams and a couple of pig squeals. Even Kate got in on the fun and added some funny parts. The mic got knocked over when we started recording it and the dogs started barking… so we just left that in their too.

So anyway, we placed the song like 4th so they wouldn’t be expecting it when I let them hear the CD. I admit I had to leave the room before it came on… because I knew I couldn’t keep a straight face. The funny part is that it took them awhile to figure out it was all a joke. At first they were like “What the fuck??” … haha! But then they actually said they liked that I could sing in different ways and maybe I should do some of that on new songs. I was like… “NO FUCKING WAY… not for Warbeast!” If I really wanted to sing like that I would just form a John Lennon tribute band… haha!

ROCKET: The Texas metal scene obviously took a major hit when Dimebag Darrell was murdered, therefore ending PANTERA once and for all. In my mind, WARBEAST is going to be perhaps the biggest Texas metal band to emerge in such a way since those Cowboys From Hell. Do you have bigger expectations for the success of “Krush The Enemy” because of this?

BRUCE: Honestly I don’t even think about that kind of shit. I admit that I’m damn proud of this album… but I don’t ever have like these “big” expectations. I just hope people will like what they hear. I’m the type of guy that would rather be surprised if the band has any type of success. The label and some of the other band members might think differently about it than I do. Either way, I have never thought about anything like being the next biggest metal band from this area since Pantera. Now that I think about it… I don’t even think about Warbeast getting bigger than Rigor Mortis either. I know that for many people… I will always be thought of as the singer of Rigor Mortis. So I am just concentrating on doing my best with this band. What Pantera accomplished will never come close to being duplicated by any metal band from around here. I am also aware of what Rigor Mortis did for this local scene back in the early underground days and that we have our own local legacy too.

Anyway, to be honest with ya bro… I admit I never became like a real big Pantera fan. But I remember I was happy for them when everything exploded and took-off for Pantera. I was just as proud as anyone else that they were from our area and they were out there kicking the worlds ass on stage every night. I can also honestly say that everyone of us in Rigor Mortis felt the impact of Dime’s death like the rest of the metal world. We were all shocked and devastated and mainly… we were pissed-off that anyone could do that to Dimebag. Ironically, that tragedy seemed to have helped Rigor Mortis heal some old wounds… and we reunited not too long after that. I think if we could all go back and re-live those 80s days again… Rigor Mortis and Pantera would be Party-buds. Because that was the one thing both bands did have in common.

Sometimes I think how crazy it is that the singers for Rigor Mortis and Pantera are now on the same team. It was the last thing anyone would have ever predicted. Even though I never had any probs with Philip at any time… it is still all still a fucking trip to me because of the old Rigor/Pantera thing back. Looking back many years later, all that “fueding” or “rivarly” bullshit just seems so stupid, silly and kind-of funny to me. Because I actually always got along with the other Pantera guys when I did see them back then and over the years. Sometimes I think Philip and I are making up for lost time because of the stupid crap that prevented us from being better friends back then.

So you see, there is just so much history involved with how we even got to this point. I don’t like to compete with history…. so when you asked me about my expectations… I guess I can sum it up like this. All I really hope for with Warbeast is that we become our “own” band and form our “own” identity. So hopefully one day we can be added to the list of the other great D/FW metal bands that will always be remembered. To get to that point where we don’t have to be known as the band with members of Rigor Mortis and Gammacide… or the band on Philip from Pantera’s record label. Maybe in time, people will just simply think of us as “Warbeast”… and maybe even say “They were one of the best metal bands to ever come out of D/FW.” For myself, that right there would be an accomplishment that I would always be proud of. YOU KNOW DAMN WELL!

ROCKET: WARBEAST has begun playing live shows around the scene. How is the reaction for this band any different than what you’ve experienced in the past with RIGOR MORTIS?

BRUCE: Man, a lot of that depends on who is in the crowd that night. At some shows you have 50 people that want to mosh… at others you have 2. In some cities everyone is going crazy and getting into it, at others they stand there just watching you. We put everything we can into every show and we just see different reactions at different places. But no matter what the crowd does during our set… after the show the majority of them seemed to have liked us. From the wild-drunk-chick headbanging on the front row… to the laid-back guy watching from back by the bar area… they all came up afterwards and let us know how much they dug Warbeast.

The crowds are really similar to the Rigor Mortis crowds. It’s not like we are a completely different genre that brings in different types of crowds. I am the same guy onstage when I perform with both bands. Rigor Mortis fans have also liked watching Warbeast live. They always come up to me afterwards and praise us. Then they usually proceed to ask me when Rigor Mortis is going to play again or when are when are we going to record a new Rigor Mortis album… haha! Like I said… once you are typecast from a certain band… it never goes away. But that’s cool man… fuck it. I will always be proud to be part of the Rigor Mortis history.

ROCKET: The street date for “Krush The Enemy” is this coming April 27th. Do you guys plan on throwing a CD release party?

BRUCE: Hell yes! It will be on May 8 at The Ridglea Theater in Fort Worth. We have some of our buds playing on the show with us. Hell Goat… which has our long-time friend Alapeno in the band, he was in Big Iron. Mitra of course has Harden Harrison, my bro from Rigor Mortis. Blood Stain Carpet are our drummer Joe’s good friends and they are badass. Turbid North is my favorite of the young metal bands around here. I kind of try to be like their manager when needed and I help those guys out whenever I can… because I believe in them. Of course we have had many special guest musicians join us on stage during our set over the years. We will probably have a “special surprise guest” for this one too… so ya never know who might get on stage with Warbeast at our CD release show.

ROCKET: Any idea on what the retail price of the album is going to be?

BRUCE: Man I really don’t know right now to be honest with ya. I would guess it would be the standard price that most albums sell for these days.

ROCKET: When it officially drops, where is the best place for fans to pickup a copy of “Krush The Enemy”?

BRUCE: You will be able to get it as big chain stores like Best Buy, as well as independent music stores. You will be able to order it off of our web site and the labels website. Of course it will also be available to download on iTunes etc. We will be taking pre-orders on the Housecore Records Website soon. It will also be released in Europe, but probably a few months after the US release date.

ROCKET: Do you guys plan on shooting a music video any time soon?

BRUCE: Hell yes! We are shooting a video with Michael Huebner and 12 Pound Productions on Sunday, March 20. It will be for the song ‘Scorched Earth Policy’ and it should be released right before the album comes out. So everyone should be expecting to see the video in a few weeks.

ROCKET: What’s your opinion of the new age of thrash acts making names for themselves right now?

I’m talking about great bands like Warbringer, Lazarus A.D., Toxic Holocaust… or any others that you may specifically follow.

BRUCE: I love that shit to be honest with ya. I am not one of those that think you have to be from that era to write good thrash songs. It just proves to me that the Thrash torch will keep burning for many years to come. I would love to do some shows with those bands down the road.

ROCKET: ‘The Eagle’ radio station in Dallas, Fort Worth has already begin playing some tracks off “Krush The Enemy”. How does it feel to hear your first new music in decades being played on the radio?

BRUCE: It’s kind of weird for me to be honest… Rigor Mortis never got played on a local station like that around here… ever. So if you consider that it’s the first time I have ever heard myself on a big radio station. I will admit that it’s a damn good feeling dude! So I appreciate Angela Chase and “The Eagle” for being the first to play a song off of this album.

Around here locally for me… it has always been about KNON 89.3 FM… our public radio station. That is the station where our local D/FW metal bands have “always” been supported. Because they are willing to play heavier types of music and unsigned bands etc. So I will always support KNON for being there for us and supporting our local scene from the beginning.

I myself feel thrash is the most important sub-genre of metal music because it generally doesn’t let the fans down, you know what I mean? With thrash metal, the listener knows what they are generally in for. There’s always the speeding tempo and shredding guitars to rely on, which is what I love about metal period. Why do you think that thrash is on one hand adored, but on the other hand looked at still like some bastard child in the industry? I mean, it amazes me how a great thrash act like MEGADETH struggles to sell albums, while bands from the other more widely accepted sub-genres of metal are able to sell a ton more and get way more radio play. Even METALLICA turned away from thrash – cut off their hair – so they could be more widely accepted in the music biz during the 90’s.

Well to be honest with ya, if I really gave a shit about what’s more popular and what sells more… I obviously wouldn’t be singing for bands like Warbeast and Rigor Mortis. I mean I like to listen to all kinds of music… I certainly don’t only listen to Thrash. But it is my favorite and it is what kind of band I want to be in. Thrash music is like a rush of adrenalin for me. Those that “get it” or that are “into it” know what I am talking about. I’d like to think of it like we just have better taste than most music fans… so that is probably why there are less of us out there. Haha! But yeah, you are right… you aren’t usually disappointed with a good Thrash band if that is what you are into.

ROCKET: What are some of the upcoming gigs for WARBEAST that we need to watch out for?

BRUCE: We play the Grand Opening of Rock Dogs on April 2. That is at the old location of the Rock Star in Ft. Worth. On April 6 we have a cool gig opening for HammerFall and Havok. That will be also our first chance to play at the legendary Trees in Deep Ellum since it re-opened. Then we are playing at a 2-day metal fest in Oklahoma City on Saturday, April 17. That will actually be out first show out of Texas. I already mentioned our CD release show on May 8. There will also be a CD release show in New Orleans… I just don’t have the date yet. I am positive we will be playing at Joe’s Garage Tribute Weekend II in a few months. That will also be at the new Rock Dogs Sportsbar. Then look for us to be hitting the road around summer time to support the album. We hope to tour as much as possible in the 2nd half of the year.

ROCKET: Thanks very much for rocking this out with me, brother. I wish you the best of luck with your music. Go ahead and give special thanks out to your biggest supporters.

BRUCE: I have said this numerous times… but it always comes from the heart. I always believed a band is only as good as their fans. Without them… we aint shit… PERIOD! So I want all of them to know how appreciated they really are. This Warbeast album is my first official release in 22 years. So I want to dedicate it to all of those that have been behind me during my ups and downs.

I would also like to take this time to mention some people that do a lot to help Warbeast exist… because we couldn’t do it all without them. So special thanks goes out to Kate Richardson for all her hard work and dedication she does for Housecore Records. Larry Holmes, he is our main roadie, supporter and guitar tech. Carcass John Fossum for his artwork designs for our album cover, T-shirts and flyers. Beth Shelby for all kinds of numerous shit she does for the band. Tim Vasquez for doing our official website. Rodney Dunsmore for doing a great job on our T-shirts. Michael Huebner of 12 Pound Productions and Ricky Warden of Outlaw Video TV for tons of video promotion. Kenny King who recently came on board to help as a guitar tech and roadie. I am sure I’m forgetting some others. But we consider all of them part of this Warbeast/Housecore family we have going on. We salute all of them! CHEERS and you fucking heard me!