So, once again Headbang Today showed no remorse and no morals but instead, our own hardened balls. We’re grabbing MotherFUDD 2010 by its horns and we’re having pre-festival interviews with a majority of the bands that will be performing at MotherFUDD.

We’ve caught up with SacriFist once again for a quick interview and asked them what they have in stall for us at one of South Africa’s BIGGEST heavy metal festivals as well as how they’ll be working together minus one of their guitarists!

Interview by: Scream

SacriFist are: Sammy F. Simegi – Guitars, Dwayne Coetzee – Vocals, Shaun Mosely – Bass, Michael Kiefer – Drums

Headbang Today: Welcome back! It is satisfying to have SacriFist featured on Headbang Today once again… This time we’ll be talking about MotherFUDD 2010… It’s going to be the event of the year and

SacriFist still seems to be minus a guitarist… How are you guys preparing yourselves for this event?

SacriFist: Michael: Well the thing is that we have a couple of shows that were already confirmed last year. We have not parted on any bad terms with Byron and he will still be jamming with us at these shows. So we are not really short a guitarist. It’s business as usual!

Darkness releases two of the horsemen...

Sammy: Firstly thank you for having us back . With regards to the guitarist story, we’re still looking but Byron is helping until we find the right replacement. Like we stated before its bloody big shoes to fill ; So therefore Byron is still basically part of the band?

Shaun: We’re not too concerned as something like this takes time & we

are looking for the right person that has the same drive & outlook as the

rest of us. Besides that, Byron said he will help us out when ever we need

help.

Headbang Today: We can only imagine the amount of dust that’ll be kicked up once SacriFist hits that stage… Tell us.. which one of your songs out of your set do you think will get the entire crowd to breakdown into a solid headbanging session alltogether? (we hope it’s Surrealist Plague!)

SacriFist: Michael: Oh yeah definitely Surreallist Plague, but In the Dragons blood always goes down really great. But so do many of the others. We are going to give them all our absolute best. I almost forgot – JUGGERNAUT !!!!

Sammy: HAHA!, I don’t know… people seem to like Dragon’s blood a lot, I think that gets em going and also Surrealist Plague… and of course the Creeping Death cover makes fans go apeshit.

Shaun: Hahahaha – when we play Surrealist, we’ll keep an eye out for you moshing it up then.

Headbang Today: Keeping that very song in mind, what’s the possibility that you could notify the masses that HeadbangToday.com is attending the festival and that we want to see each and every single MotherFudder to bang the shit out of their own skulls for us?

SacriFist: Michael: That’s going to cost you big time! HAHA!, No really it will be a pleasure.

Sammy: HAHAHAH I think Dwayne should answer that one?

Shaun: Done deal! You owe us beer! Hahahaha

Headbang Today: Now that we’ve got something brewing… is there a special something headbangers can expect from SacriFist at MotherFUDD (Come on, break the ice) ?

SacriFist: Michael: As artists we always look for new and exciting things to try out and do on stage. But it is actually a very risky business to experiment on stage because it can go very wrong. So we rather not mention anything because if it does go wrong, then not so many people will know because they were not expecting the real thing.

Sammy: We might be able to play a brand new SacriFist track at MotherFudd 2010… NOTE: I did say maybe (smiles)

Shaun: That would be letting the cat out the bag don’t you think?

Headbang Today: The last time we spoke, you were preparing to tour Germany again. How is that going?

SacriFist: Michael: Planning a tour to Germany or any other country is a really big thing indeed, and it takes time. Lots of it. And even more money. But yeah, we are in discussion with several agents in Germany, so things are definitely on track.

Sammy: Seriously we’re taking everything slowly there is no need to rushing things BUT we do have our deadlines set, make no mistake about that.

Shaun: Not bad at all, however there is something else that is in the

pipeline, that we think you all will enjoy a lot more. That’s as much as I’m prepared to say, sorry!

Headbang Today:What else does SacriFist have planned for 2010?

SacriFist: Michael: Party with all our friends that come to our shows! On top of that we are slowly getting new material together for a new album so much of our time will go into that.

Sammy: We’re all talking about maybe bringing out a well known international act but further more we can’t say shit about it.

Shaun: All I can say is that there are big things that will be happening

in 2010 & early 2011.

Attacking by order of the Red Headbang general...

Headbang Today: So when will SacriFist’s new album be ready for us to rock out to?

SacriFist: Michael: Now that will be telling.

Sammy: The plan is ASAP, We’re really so busy with a lot of things and more often our plans clash with eachother so that why I mentioned that we’re taking everything on step at a time, realistically we would like to bring out a new album ASAP but we don’t always have time to write new material when we have other “business” to attend to (if you catch my drift).

Shaun: Soon, but right now it would be better to concentrate on one of the most ass kicking festivals in S.A. which is MOTHERFUDD!

Headbang Today: A group of scientists is looking to dig up the remains of Leonardo Da Vinci so that they can reconstruct his face…. Would any of you like it if people in the future are to dig up your bones only to reconstruct your face?

SacriFist: Michael: Eish I have never thought of it, especially in that way. I suppose the difference is that in the days of Da Vinci there were no camera’s to capture an image for future generations to view, and nowadays we have such technology so there wouldn’t be a need. I suppose I would rather have people remember me from a photo, as opposed to dig up and then take a look. Can only be an ugly sight. Might make a good album cover though.

Sammy: HAHA! WTF?! Holy hell I don’t know? Maybe not cause I’d like to be cremated …

Shaun: Well if they reconstruct my face, they might as well reconstruct my ass ’cause that’s what they can kiss when I’m dead!

Headbang Today: Any last words?

SacriFist: Michael: It’s always good to chat to you guys at Heabangtoday.com and thank you for time. See you in the mosh pit!

Sammy: You fucking ROCK!! And thanks for the interview!

Shaun: Thank you for this interview & we’ll see all you Motherfudders at

MotherFudd fucking shit up with us!!!!!! HELL YEAH!!!!

Throatball

Throatball

Review By Wraith

Biography:
Well I was thinking about a little history concerning the band, and what better place to get it than from them, themselves, so here is the history of the band, that I received from their manager:

“In early 2003, Paul Opie, Simon Portlock & Ian Watson got together at the, now defunct (soon to be resurrected at another location), SUI Studios to rehearse some songs for an aborted Lithium reunion. It was during these sessions that Throatball was born.
Simon and Paul had, for some years before that, been jamming in a free rock ensemble featuring, at different times, Alistair Douglas, Dane Minojlovic and Ramon Dasilva called Moranga. It was during these sessions that a love for all things speed was kindled in Simon, but, it was only when Throatball came along that it coalesced into something tangible.

In a matter of a few short months, Throatball (then called The Monomen), had a short set of songs, including ‘Packet Of Birdseed & a Pellet Gun’, ‘Deathtrap’, ‘Destruction’ and ‘Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On’, all of which were destined to appear on their first album. They showcased these songs to mixed reactions, some loving it, some looking on quizzically, and some walking out. It soon dawned upon the members that speed in music, was an acquired taste.

Then disaster struck! For personal reasons, Paul decided to quit the band. Lesser bands would have folded, but Throatball (still The Monomen) went straight into the studio to cut their first demo EP, ‘Drink Up, Fall Down. Puke In, Pass Out, Wake Up, Down Down, Oi! Oi! Oi!’. The EP featured tracks that would later appear on the album and a few that would be cut from the set as the band moved in a more metal/hardcore direction.

To add bass lines to the songs, during the recording of the demo, required a bass. This was lent to the band by Gavin Essel (a friend of Simon’s) and, from that, it seemed only natural that Gavin should join the band. This he did, and with the inclusion of mutual friend of Simon & Gavin, Warren Weitz, the band moved forward. Again to mixed reactions.

Throatball (still The Monomen) found themselves in the unenviable position of being too metal for the punk crowd and to punk for the metal crowd. ‘This must be how the New York Hardcore bands of the late 80’/early 90’s felt back in the day’, they thought. They soldiered on. Constantly pushing the boundaries of the genre they found themselves in. But it was time for some more drama…..

Warren Weitz was fired. It was with this move that Throatball became Throatball. The Monomen moniker was dropped. The band had contacted the only other Monomen in the world (a US harcore punk band funnily enough who were no longer together), and they had sternly recommended that the band change their name. So it was done. And the band was back as a power trio.

A couple of months later it was decided that the band should record an album. They had 10 songs in the bag, and with an investment from Miles Keylock (music journalist and fan) and the band, Throatball entered Ari Tereblanche’s West Coast studio to begin tracking.

It was decided that the band would live next door to Ari, and track for 5 days straight. The band would then return, piecemeal, to complete the album. The drum takes were done in 4 days. The first guitar tracks were laid down on day 5. The band said goodbye to Ari, and returned for the next 2 years to add vocals, bass and more guitar. During this time the band continued to play shows in and around Cape Town.

Following the final tracking it was decided to take the individual tracks to Theo Crous (legendary guitarist and producer) to mix. He did this again in a piecemeal fashion over the next year. During this period Paul began rumblings of wanting to return to Throatball. After many drunken evenings of ‘how can we make this work?’ Gavin was shifted to guitar and Paul assumed bass duties. The rejuvenated Throatball played their first show on Paul’s birthday, 5 June 2009. It had been a long and winding road.”

Review:
So after doing my review on the Melodic Death Metal band, Day Turns Night , I received an email from the manager of Throatball, asking me to review their self entitled album ‘Throatball’, as I didn’t know who to review next, this came as quite a help to me (thanks guys ). But enough about that, and lets get to the fun part. After I had gotten the album it was time for what I do best, listening to music and then tossing some ideas and feelings to the side, and then giving the horns where they are due \m/.
With the start of track 1 (Sound Of The Underground), you can hear some symbols, and some water dripping, only to be greeted further down the line by some drums, that lead you down to a classic hardcore / speed metal vibe of sound, which to me was quite a unique mix, this was the first time I’ve heard something like this, sure I’ve heard hardcore music from the likes of ‘Hatebreed’ and ‘Madball’ but it has never been as fast as Throatball. The vocals weren’t the usual screaming and/or growling I’m used to listening to, so this was a welcome change, and it suited the style of music brilliantly. Moving on to track 2 (Get Up), and my oh my, never have I felt so uplifted and amped to be running around as with this song, which had some punk elements to it, it reminded me of bands like ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Lost Prophets’ and probably some others, but moving my mouse all the way to some place on my screen to go and find the band I’m thinking of is just too.. much.. effort . Track 3 (Packet Of Birdseed) had some heavy thrash sounds to it, which was once again, something I didn’t expect, but it was awesome to listen to. Ahhh track 4 (Anon We Go), this was the first song of Throatball that I heard, and I must admit, it actually reminded me of some earlier vocals, like from ‘The Police’s ‘Message In a Bottle’, it was a catchy song with some really well constructed parts in it, I highly advise it to people who haven’t heard this band before, because wow! I really digged it \m/. The next song ‘Passenger’, actually reminded me of the band ‘Deftones’, I have no idea why, but it just did, also a cool song. The rest of the album has some more Speed Metal and Punk sounding tracks which all in all fit in really well with the songs that have been heard up until this point, not to mention the ending of the last track on the album, ‘Deathtrap’, it definitely makes you feel like the album is done, with the car crash sound right at the end.

So from a band which I’ve never heard of, and probably never would’ve, I can say that I’m glad I did hear them, because I’ll be looking out for any other album releases they do, as well as any shows they are going to play.
Another thing that really struck me as amazing, was the recording that they did themselves on the album, it sounds really, REALLY good, almost too good, what did you guys sell to get that quality?
If Speed Metal elements mixed with some Punk vibes is your thing, then Throatball is definitely what you are looking for.
I give them 4 / 5 horns \m/.
Well done guys.

Oh another thing, their manager asked me to mention the following:
Throatball will be having their CD launch metal party at Mercury Live on the 6th of November.

Details are as follows:

MPH – Metal Punk Hardcore
6th November
Throatball
Warinsane

Mercury Live from 8pm

Wraith