Interview With Dave Barrett
By Keith Clement
Hey guys, I’m Keith Editor In Chief of Metalheads Forever Magazine, How are you today?
Dave: Doing pretty good! Dealing with this new day to day life until things start to open up and get back to normal. I guess we take for granted the activities and luxuries that we are able to do on a regular basis when you are unable to do something as basic is go out for dinner or get a drink at the local bar.
Your third album “Path To Immortality” is scheduled to be released on May 15, can you tell me about the writing process?
Dave: The writing process is one of my personal favorite parts about putting an album together. My brother Tom, lead guitarist and songwriter, will start by putting most of the song together on a recording. We usually have some riffs and melodies left over from the previous album cycle that we either didn’t decide to use or hadn’t fully developed yet. So you can say that as soon as the previous record is done we are writing for the next. From there once the structure is complete the song will be sent out to the rest of the band to study and start writing/adjusting their individual parts. For me as a vocalist/lyricist I usually have a few songs written or at least the lyrical themes ready. We like to rehearse them heavily after that so that we can hear how they translate live as well. We are lucky to all live within a 30 minute drive of each other and our rehearsal studio is right in the middle. Once everything is dialed in at that stage we start our pre production by recording all of the instruments ourselves to see if we need to add parts, take away parts, make any adjustments, etc. Over the years we have kind of put an emphasis on the pre production process. It really prepares us for the recording stage.
“Path to Immortality” sounds the apt title for times like this, we can save lives if we know the secret of Immortality, don’t you think so?
Dave: I was thinking about that the other day! Although an unusual time to release a record the title makes sense. I heard if you buy this album that the secret is in the booklet! Haha
The album sounds amazing, with roots to the Scandinavian metal scene, are you influenced by the Scandinavian scene, Man I gotta say this album is amazing, What would be your musical influences?
Dave: Thank you so much! We are pretty heavily influenced by that Scandinavian scene. We all grew up listening to the classic American Metal bands like Slayer, Metallica, Pantera, Megadeth, Cannibal Corpse, and that era in the 80’s and 90’s that was available to us. When Tom and I first heard bands like In Flames, Hypocrisy, Carcass, At The Gates and Dark Tranquillity we became immediate fans of the genre. In fact my first live show was In Flames in ’99 for I believe was the “Colony” tour. I am also a big fan of the blackened metal from that region like Dissection, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir and many of those pioneers. Our band does have a diverse group of influences as well. Our drummer Lonnie started in the punk scene whereas Bassist Wally was into the Sunset Strip rock scene. I think the diverse influence helps us make a unique sound.
How is it to work with the amazing Logan Mader, how did you guys met him?
Dave: Logan was awesome to work with, he is so talented and very very experienced. He really demanded that each performance on the record was the best we could do. That really pushed us to nail the recordings and I think made us all better players as well. The whole process from start to finish was a great experience for us all. We reached out to him and sent him some of our previous work and the pre production for PTI. We were very lucky that he was available to work with us to make the record.
Voices of Ruin might be new for some, would you like to tell the readers a brief history of the band?
Dave: We started jamming together back in 2006. The band was originally a Misfits/Slayer cover band and evolved as new members joined. We were really a thrash band to begin with but always had that melodic feel to it. We like to party hard and play heavy metal music! After the first full length “Into Oblivion” we started to do small local tours in addition to the local shows we have been doing for a few years. We had some member changes during the first album cycle and eventually we found our current lineup.
It’s been five years since the last album “Born From The Dark” how was things over the years?
Dave: The last few years have been amazing for us. We have had our most successful touring cycle for the last record. We embarked on a US tour in 2017 with Vader, Internal Bleeding, Sacrificial Slaughter, and Micawber. That really opened up the door for us and we also became good friends with those bands. In 2018 we did a European tour with Internal Bleeding, played Wacken Open Air, and a short Japanese run with Vader and Hate. A ton of shows to support the last album and we had a blast partying and shredding around the world! Now we are very excited to sign with M-Theory Audio to release the next record!
What would be the one place that you would love to make an amazing performance, if you get a chance?
Dave: I would have said Wacken but we got the opportunity to play. I’ll speak for myself and say any one of the big Scandinavian festivals. Even to tour through that whole region would be amazing.
How has things been for the band since the start?
Dave: It has been quite the progression. Starting as a garage band and playing small local venues to being able to play and tour with some of the elite metal bands that we have been fans of. For me I just liked to party and scream along to my favorite bands, I never thought I would be a frontman and vocalist. The beginning was a lot of local gigs just trying to get experience and build the name. We played with some really talented bands, unfortunately most of them didn’t last. It’s tough to keep the passion going and grinding through the early days. Going through member changes, learning the business, what to do, what not to do, and all those things. We have always wanted to create music that we enjoy and put on performances that we would be proud of and also want to watch ourselves.
What would be the next plans for the band?
Dave: We really are looking forward to releasing this album. M-Theory has been great working with us to get the music into new hands and spreading the word of the release. We are ready to get back on the road as well, we are hungry to perform and shred the stage. We would like to have a busier touring run for this record and hit some new places. We will also keep writing and preparing for the next album. But for now the main focus is releasing this record and planning some tours.
Path to Immortality cover art looks fabulous, can you tell me about the album cover, what is the message behind the cover?
Dave: Par Olofsson has always done amazing work for us and is awesome to work with! The art follows the story of a demon taking over control which has progressed since the first album. On this artwork the demon is traveling through a portal to a new planet. In the portal you can see the world from “Born From The Dark”. Here he is taking over the planet with his army of the dead. This is the first time he has traveled to a new planet and is part of his “Path To Immortality” becoming the God of all.
Thanks again for putting a massive record this year, the fans are going to love this and more fans are on the way for you guys, do you like to share a message to metalheads around the world?
Dave: Thank you so much! We are huge fans of the album and stoked that it is receiving a great response. Get your hands on the limited edition splatter vinyl, they are limited to only 300 copies! Bang your fucking head and enjoy the tunes! Thank you to everyone for the support and we look forward to shredding a city near you!!!
MHF Magazine/Keith Clement
