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8. Interviews/Venom

"Venom" Interview with Chris Impellitteri - Metal Journal (April 15, 2015)

Metal Journal

크리스 임펠리테리가 2015년에 "Metal Journal"이라는 스페인어 매체와 가진 인터뷰 및 [Venom] 리뷰입니다. [Venom] 앨범 작업 스토리 뿐만아니라 앨범에서 롭 락과의 케미스트리, Animetal USA 이야기, [Stand in Line] 앨범 관련 이야기 등을 들려줍니다. 원문은 스페인어로 되어있으며 구글 번역기를 통해 영문으로 번역되었습니다.

This is an interview and review with the Spanish website "Metal Journal". Spanish was translated into English through Google translator. So this is not an accurate translation.




INTERVIEW – CHRIS IMPELLITTERI

By Metaljournal on 04/15/2015


Impelliteri. Photo By Alex Solca


“We mix the thrash with melodic rock”


“The first EP of Impellitteri is a cult album, they have from members of Bon Jovi to Disturbed”


“There are bands that do not want us out before them not to stage the barramos”


Chris Impellitteri is a dizzying guitarist able to explore its mast to an exorbitant rate, but never edit ombliguistas discs. Always accompanied by singers frontline, he has been able to mold an excellent career by playing heavy metal which, for various reasons, has never reached the fame he deserved.


Hand in hand with the extraordinary vocalist Rob Rock recover Impellitteri career with a new album, Venom, which links to the previous Wicked Maiden, released in 2009. In recent years the guitarist has been involved in a very special project: Animetal USA, a super band oriented Japanese market recreating the music of the animated series metal key.


METAL JOURNAL contacted Chris Impellitteri, who was in Los Angeles, to reach all the ins and outs of Venom and a career that began in the mid-eighties and has left essential disc for fans of powerful and melodic metal at the same time.



Chris Impelliteri. Photo By Alex Solca

Chris Impellitteri

Although you're a technician and virtuoso guitarist, Venom you have returned to give a higher priority to the structure of the songs that the interpretation itself?
The songs are the most important part of our music. For me the guitar solos are fun and allow me to express my personal emotions, but without a good song no matter. The fundamental thing is to get a great composition with a prominent riff and then comes the solo.


How you could summarize Venom musically and what drives you could compare your career?
It is the most aggressive album we've done. It has the same energy as the debut EP; Impellitteri (The Black EP). That was our first release and contains songs like Lost In The Rain, so we wanted to make a record with the same energy level but with a much higher production. Venom is the most aggressive and exciting record we've done so far.


Does thrash or extreme metal influence you when it comes to composing?
I've always liked thrash metal. The first EP of Impellitteri (The Black EP) was very based on the thrash. To this we joined the melodic voice and the cries of Rob Rock to Judas Priest style and my technical solos. But the music was heavily influenced by thrash originally. And Venom also contains that essence.


Like the thrash 'old school' or also new bands?
I like both old school and the new. I'm definitely one who provides the metal influence on the band. Although our new drummer Jon Dette is also really into thrash, because it is what has made a lifetime.


Could you specify some thrash metal band that you like?
If we return to the principles; Metallica, Slayer, Exodus and all those bands were the elements that defined the style. We take these references and evolved when mature musically. Our ability as musicians was more refined than the components thrash bands. We had more education of music theory and technique. But I'm still listening to those groups today. I thrash see as something that influenced me to make a new and exciting style.


Rob Rock. Photo By Alex Solca

Rob Rock

Drummer Jon Dette comes from bands like Slayer and Testament. Were you looking for a powerful rhythm section?
The rhythm section is very important. If you listen to what we have done, actually we mix the thrash music with melodic rock. Jon Dette and James Pulli play very aggressively. On the other hand, Rob's voice is very strong but melodic at the same time. And this is something that many bands can not do because they have singers with the ability to Rob. This allows us to cross two musical styles, so Impellitteri is so different. We do things that others can not because they lack the technique of voice.


In your promotional information you subrayáis the idea of ​​demonstrating that the metal is melodic, and curiously women is cited as a goal that to get your music.
Absolutely. Women like to have fun with music, choirs sing songs ... They want to have fun. Many thrash bands have vocalists who sing like the 'Cookie Monster', with grunts and howls, and the girls do not like. They prefer to hear more melody. Venom demonstrate that we are technically very advanced, and guitar solos, but the choruses and vocals are melodic, everyone can chant the.


Venom has been a difficult gestation disk?
We wanted to make an album in the sense to dream as a live band, without exchanging computer files like many groups today. First I sat down and wrote a lot of riffs and started to complete demos. Share these issues with Rob Rock and then with James Pulli and Jon Dette to add their influences. When we started rehearsing the songs live as a band. We work very hard. When we were ready we went to NRG Studios in Los Angeles. They are very large and well-known studies, which have recorded Slash and Linkin Park. Much of the material I checked into a Venom takes all playing together. We wanted it to sound very powerful for people to feel as if the audience of a concert, and so add a feeling of direct.


This album will be with Frontiers Music, a label more focused on the melodic rock and AOR. Venom is one of the most heavies discs that have brought.
I love Frontiers. Serafino Perugino is a great business partner. I really appreciate that he likes this kind of music. It is a very smart businessman, but also a fan of good music. It will be a great leader of the music industry in the future, because basically record bands that can play and sing, and this is very important. At the moment I am very excited, we have to wait how sales go. Frontiers will release the album in the United States, South America, Europe ... while JVC will in Asia; Japan, Korea ...


Impellitteri. Photo By Alex Solca

Impellitteri

How do you define the contribution of Rob Rock on disk and how is your relationship?
Rob is just as important as in this band. It is my songwriting partner. When you hear a song like We Own The Night, I wrote the music but Rob did all the vocal melody and letters on their own. The chemistry is very good, when we write together the magic happens; something very special and unique. We sound really different from other bands. And Rob is a key part of that magic. He began Impellitteri me. In the first EP were Rob, drummer Tony Silva and I, who also played bass. We in this more than 30 years. We also share a similar passion and similar musical tastes. When we write we complement each other.


It's been six years since you released Wicked Maiden. At this time you have been involved in the curious band called Animetal USA.
It is a project that we share bassist Rudy Sarzo, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake and Quiet Riot, vocalist Michael Vescera, who was with Loudness and Yngwie Malmsteen, and me. The first battery was Scott Travis of Judas Priest. Sony Music in Japan wanted to form a supergroup that interpreted in key heavy metal songs famous cartoon series. In Japan these films or TV series are popular. Some are serious and other fun. They wanted us to do heavies versions of these songs with guitar solos very fast and all in very aggressive and crazy plan. In Japan we get two albums and both reached number one. In addition, we did concerts in large stadiums. The first was before 18,000 spectators. Animetal USA is completely different, some fans do not like Impellitteri. Really everything is based on very famous music of the animated series. Mike had to sing the original lyrics. It was unique also wore makeup and crazy costumes. We even had a great musical production for direct.


You Are Received many critics who did not understand the meaning of Animetal USA?
Yes, especially the most fanatical followers of Impellitteri, who did not understand what we were doing. They liked alone, but did not understand the concept animated. They told me to see what I was doing, they did not like and again Impellitteri. But many children around the world loved Animetal USA.


Animetal USA is a closed or return with them in the future chapter?
Impellitteri is my absolute priority, the most important band. The company representative told me that Warner Music Japan wants us to do another album, but is still in the air. The next two years I want to focus only on Impellitteri.


Rob Rock. Photo By Alex Solca

Rob Rock

It's a shame that much of the catalog of Impellitteri nineties only out in Japan. Grin And Bear albums like It, Answer To The Master ... Have you thought about the possibility of re-edit if you have the rights?
Yes, I have the rights catalog Impellitteri and we will re-edit those records. We feel bad that many fans in Europe, USA and South America have had to buy imported at a very expensive price. In America for many years the heavy metal was dead, it was not popular at all. He surpassed rap and dance. Now things are changing and Impellitteri is becoming more popular each year. Many kids are discovering us lately. One of the beautiful things of the brotherhood of heavy metal is that you do not need the radio or television as MTV to survive. If you make good metal discs and are a great band live the brotherhood of heavy metal will find you. And that is happening with Impellitteri now.


When you released the first EP, Impellitteri, and then the album Stand In Line with Graham Bonnet in the eighties, you should have gone much further. What really happened?
The first EP Impellitteri has become a cult album. I could tell many rock stars with our first EP. Many people I have encountered in the past told me they had the disc from Disturbed to members of Bon Jovi. When I talk to tell me that these bands are fans of our group. We rehearsed in Los Angeles in premises that we share with groups like Guns 'N' Roses or Motley Crue, and many of them tell us they like us. We have received many compliments from musicians, which is great. Stand In Line was not really an album of Impellitteri, but a tribute to bands like Rainbow or Alcatrazz, which had previously been Graham Bonnet. The EP Impellitteri is a much more aggressive, similar to what we do now disk. Then we started having problems because Graham wanted to return to his family that he was in Australia. We'd go out much on MTV, which were very good with us. We appeared before millions of people in that chain. We did not break because we do not complete the entire cycle. Supposedly we were going out on tour with Iron Maiden in 1988, and Graham did not want to, because I wanted to go home just when we could have been very popular. I love Graham Bonnet, I'm a big fan of his voice, but eventually fold up again with Rob Rock. That's what really happened.


Do you keep in contact with Graham Bonnet? How could you define your contribution to Impellitteri in two stages was with you?
If you listen to the songs Stand In Line Graham it is amazing, is one of the best rock singers in the world. It has a powerful and unique voice. There are very few vocalists who can sing like him. People do not realize that Graham actually replaced Ronnie James Dio in Rainbow. And as you can imagine that there must have been a simple job. Graham was also one of the first singers to exercise headlining an event like the Castle Donington. To AC / DC or Judas Priest was opened for Rainbow when Graham. He is a legend, and that was in Impellitteri Stand In Line and System X gives us tremendous credibility worldwide. I am very grateful, it is also a great business partner. Every time I see him greet us as great friends.


In 2004 you edit Pedal to the Metal with singer Curtis Skelton. He has again not knowing much about it.
It was rather a project, we wanted to do something fun, like a parody of metal bands of the nineties I liked, like In Flames, Children Of Bodom, Disturbed ... Practically we copy those groups. Supposedly it was an album of humor. Curtis is a great singer like that. I think it has even been part of the Ozzfest tour, which is great because it's perfect for that vocalist. It was a project we did because then Rob Rock was busy with his solo albums. Now I have no contact with Curtis, but is a musician with tremendous talent.


Will we get to see Impellitteri live in Europe?
God, I hope so. It has always been very difficult. The reason we have not gone to Europe is because promoters or agencies have not invited us. We tried and we have called to be part of the festivals. But it is a very closed circle, a small number of people control everything and we were excluded. People have told us that they have done because we fear. We have heard that there are bands that do not want us out before them for not barramos stage. It is very frustrating for us. We were in Europe with Wicked Maiden, our previous album. The owner Sweden Rock festival told us he wanted us to play there on the main stage. I think there were about seven scenarios, but only four bands were going to occupy the dominant place: Impellitteri, Journey, Dream Theater and Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell they were called then. We played our first show in Europe and completed the set incredibly before 35,000 people. When we went downstairs people kept asking us to return and there were no more encores songs for us. Rob and I were watching us wondering what we could do. People kept shouting 'Impellitteri, Impellitteri'. I will never forget when we went down the stairs of the stage. On the left were the boys of Black Sabbath and on the right the Journey. By the response of Sweden Rock fans know how we can run, we tried to return but agencies ignore us. Meanwhile we have to focus in Japan or the United States, but we want to do a whole tour in Europe.


Chris Impellitteri. Photo By Alex Solca

Chris Impellitteri

Do you have plans to present live Venom?
In about six weeks we will go to Japan to play in Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima. After returning to the United States and plan to perform in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Florida and in major cities and try to get a tour of Europe. We would like the opening act for a band like Van Halen, but every time we tried tell us they fear us.


In direct you touch topics of all your discography?
Yes it is. We'll play a lot of material from the new album. We have made four videos: Venom, Empire Of Lies, We Own The Night and Face The Enemy, which will be part of the set list with Nightmare and Rise. So we will play six songs from the new album. We started with Lost In The Rain part of our first EP. I want to explain something. The Black EP Impellitteri did in 1987, a few years before the Black Album of Metallica. So we call well before Metallica. Also we will play Burning, Stand In Line, Answer To The Master, The Future Is Black, Warrior, Wicked Maiden, Garden Of Eden and Speed ​​Demon of the Crunch, a topic that is a copy of Dio. It is like a tribute to Ronnie, live works very well. It will be a great tour, we will bring a set of stunning scenery.


You have been awarded many times as one of the best guitarists and have been likened to musicians like Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen. Who are your major influences?
I love all kinds of music, I listen to a lot of classical music like Vivaldi, Beethoven, Brahms ... Vivaldi is one of my favorites. But I also listen to metal, aggressive bands like Arch Enemy, Children Of Bodom ... or classic albums like Master of Puppets and Ride The Lightning Metallica, Megadeth's first material, etc. As for the instrumental part, all guitarists in the world have influenced me in a way. There are musicians who are responsible for my technique. Among my biggest influences are Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin ... Although his music fusion created a great effect on me. When I was little I scored a lot Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Ritchie Blackmore, which I especially like their riffs, Uli John Roth, Michael Schenker ...


You share some influences with Mark Reale, who will lead Riot until his death in 2012. Do you know the band?
It is a great band with amazing songs, although I've never followed them too.


Besides music, what more activities call your attention?
I play guitar every day for many hours, I love that aspect of my work. For me it is also very important education, not many people know that I have a Masters in Business. I am very interested the world of finance. But obviously the music comes first. I also like to play tennis, football ...
Photo : Alex Solca


Chris Impellitteri - GuitarChris Impelliteri.
Photo By Alex Solca
Photo taken at Mates in North Hollywood on 08/04/14.

Chris Impellitteri - Guitar

 

Rob Rock - VocalsRob Rock (Impelliteri).
Photo By Alex Solca
Photo taken at Mates in North Hollywood on 08/04/14.

Rob Rock - Vocals


James Pulli - BassJames Pulli (Impelliteri).
Photo By Alex Solca
Photo taken at Mates in North Hollywood on 08/04/14.

James Pulli - Bass

 

Jon Dette - DrumsJon Dette (Impelliteri).
Photo By Alex Solca
Photo taken at Mates in North Hollywood on 08/04/14.

Jon Dette - Drums






REVIEW : IMPELLITTERI – VENOM

By Metaljournal on 04/01/2015


Impellitteri - Venom


IMPELLITTERI

Venom

Frontiers Music

Release Date: April 17, 2015


Impellitteri's formula counts much better with heavy metal followers than with guitar heroes. Although Chris Impellitteri fascinates him to execute dizzying races through the mast of his guitar, always gives the preponderance to the compositions, mainly short, powerful and very melodic at the same time. For it counts on one of the best voices of heavy metal; Rob Rock, who has been in the band since the beginning, although Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Alcatrazz ...) has been in charge on a couple of occasions and Curtis Skelton in another.


Venom means the return of Impellitteri six years after launching Wicked Maiden and also the debut with the melodic record company Frontiers Music. In addition to Chris and Rob Rock, the formation is completed by drummer Jon Dette and bassist James Pulli.


Produced by Impelliteri and Greg Reely, the album contains a dozen songs with all the usual ingredients that have blossomed in a discontinuous race of about three decades. Heavy metal very classic with the sharp and precise riffs work of Chris Impellitteri, besides alone at the speed of the light, and the voice out of series of a Rob Rock, that unfortunately has never obtained the recognition that deserves.


Chris Impellitteri's dizzying mast race collides head-on with the roar of Rob Rock bristling the hair of the group's followers immediately. It is about Venom, the homonymous theme and a cut mark of the house, three minutes, straight to the jugular. Speedy and melodic metal well braided by the voice of a Rock capable of being a model of how to sing heavy metal.


With Empire Of Lies, the metallic forge again roars on a theme not so fast but equally as resounding as its predecessor. The melody and the epic emerge in a chorus in which Rock excels, later to let Impellitteri explaye jumping frets at the speed of light. With We Own The Night they return to give a practical lesson of how it sounds the perfectly charged classic heavy metal.


They change record with Nightmare, which begins with sharp riffs reminiscent of those of the first stage of Zakk Wylde with Ozzy Osbourne. They go through slower cadences to accelerate in the chorus. They lift the foot of the pedal in Face The Enemy, a half time that serves to relax the accumulated tension.


The needle shoots again with the high index of 'metallization' containing Domino Theory, again with Impellitteri and Rock untied. They implore Jehovah to show them the way with a heavy song and melodic time while Rise is one of the album's most catchy and accessible tracks.


Venom closes with Time Machine and Holding On, two cuts that follow the canon of the Impellitteri sound. Venom is an oriented album, like all those of the American guitarist, who taste the classic heavy metal in which voice and guitar compete in excesses, supported by a great rhythm section, and always in favor of the melody.


Impellitteri Band







- 인터뷰 원문 페이지(Original Interview Page) : http://metaljournal.net/entrevista-chris-impellitteri/

- 리뷰 원문 페이지(Original Review Page) : http://metaljournal.net/impellitteri-venom/



* Copyright and ownership of this interview is to the original website.

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