Interview With ScreamKing

Screamking is an American Hybrid Metal Band, from Northwest Indiana. They made their debut on October 23, 2011, in South Bend, Indiana. The band opened for Canadian Metal Legends Anvil at Club Landing.

ScreamKing has shared the stage with Metal acts: Anvil, Raven, DSG (David Shankle Group), Metal Church, Ross the Boss, Sanctuary and Helstar etc…

Throughout 2012 the band spent the year writing material for their first undertaking and entered Divine Underground Studios. The Band recorded and produced their first full length album entitled “Evilibrium”. Mastered by Jon Scrip of Massive Mastering. The band released their first official music video, for the song “Deathwitch”. The album included special guest appearance by Dave Shankle, (Manowar, DSG), on the track “Into the Never”. The album cover art was designed by Ciao Caldas of Cadies Art Graphics, of Brazil.

In 2017, their second full length album, “Tyranny of the Sea”, was released. Recorded at Divine Underground Studios, written, mixed and produced by Rafael Hernandez and Joe Lawson. Mastered by Jon Scrip of Massive Mastering and featuring artwork from legendary Chicago artist Drake Mefestta.

The Bands third full length album,”Thee Indomitable Spirit”, was released on June 25th 2021.

01 THEE INDOMITABLE SPIRIT
02 REIGN OF HELLFIRE
03 CALIGULA
04 LEGACY OF HONOR
05 UNLEASHING THE DEMON
06 SENDING DOWN THE BLOOD OF THE BLOOD
07 TECUMSEH’S REVENGE
08 TRAIL OF DEATH
09 SPIRIT IN WHITE
10 KUNOICHI
11 BLOOD LUST
12 LADY BATHORY
13 SCIENCE OF VIOLENCE
14 HOUSE OF IGA

Interview

Greetings from Metalheads Forever Magazine, I’m Keith Clement, the head of the magazine, how are you today?

Hello I’m Rafael Hernandez, guitarist from Screamking. I’ doing very well and thank you very much for the interview.

“Thee Indomitable Spirit” was released in June 2021. Can you tell me about the songwriting and production behind the album?

“Thee Indomitable Spirit” was about three years in the making, we went through a few band members changes and then Covid. All the songs were written by me and Joe Lawson the singer an of course once you start recording there’s always the additional input/contributions from the individual band members. The songs themselves were written in various ways as always, sometimes I’ll give Joe full or partial songs or riffs to come up with lyrics or give him complete songs with lyrics. With all the delays we had, turned out to be a blessing, we were able to secure guest features with 5 artists as an extra bonus. Covid really changed the world and kind of put everyone on hold and the opportunity came about, and we were able to add some incredible singers and guest solo guitarist. All the songs were recorded at my personal home studio “Divine Underground Studios”.

Was there a concept put behind the album?

We didn’t start out to write a concept album, but there are a few songs that go with the album artwork, so it does seem that way. but there are also plenty of songs that have their own story to tell. We put a lot of effort into the song writing on this one and just kept writing songs. The original CD release has 14 songs, and we added an additional 3 songs to the Deluxe Digital release.

The cover-art looks amazing. Can you tell me about the work behind it and the theme of the art?

The artwork turned out to be amazing and was done by Drake Mefestta an artist from Chicago. Joe came up with the Album title and the idea for the artwork. He sent that info to Drake and that’s what he came up with. It turned out great.

You have worked with amazing guests on the album including Tim “Ripper” Owens, Harry Conklin, Ronny Munroe, James Rivera and Joe Stump, can you tell me how it was to work with legends like them and how was your experience?

It was a very professional experience; all these guys have been in the business a long time and I didn’t expect anything less than that. The title track has Joe Lawson belting out his vocals alongside Ronny Munroe and Harry Conklin. That song really takes off and just keeps going. Trail of Death featured Tim “Ripper” Owens and James Rivera and they both had some awesome vocal to contribute.

How was the touring in 2021 and what it is like in 2022?

We were still finishing up the album in 2021 and did not get to support the record. We were hoping to after that, but the world was still dealing with covid and the cancelling of shows as you know. On top of that we have had some personal issues with band members that have prevent us from supporting the album this year, but were still hoping to get out there and play these new songs.

Are you planning to get back into the Studio this year?

We do not have any plans as Screamking, but I have been working on three projects with other bands that I am in and doing some mixing and mastering for various bands. I’m laying down tracks for my death metal band Sea of Tranquillity and another Un-named death metal project that will be completed later this year. I am lucky enough to again work with Ripper Owens on a new track for a compilation album that turned out incredible. So, I have been pretty busy in the studio.

Screamking made their debut in 2011. How has the road been so far?

We only tour in our general area and the surrounding states, due to work commitments, but that has been very good until Covid hit and as you know it put everything on standby. It looks like that we are almost past that, and things are returning to normal and hope to get back out doing some shows in support of the album.

For readers who are new to Screamking, can you tell me about the band and the formation?

The band was formed in 2011, and it was just Joe, a guitarist, and a 5-song demo that he had completed, and a show lined up opening for Anvil. I knew Joe from the local music scene, so he enlisted me and my brother (Alex/Drums) to do the show. After a successful show we had some member changes and started recording” Evilibrium” in my home studio, and here we are 3 albums later.

What are the plans for 2022?

Hopefully we can get out and play some shows to support the new album and possibly start writing riffs for a 4^th album, we will see.

Would you like to share some great moments?

I think we have been lucky to share the stage with some great bands and have special guest appearances on our current cd. Those would have to be my great moments in Screamking, and also being able to play and hear your music being played is awesome.

Finally, what would be the message for the fans and readers?

I would say to please check out Screamking, buy a cd, or download us on any streaming platform, I think we offer something for no matter what type of metal you listen to, to every Metal fan. Check out our social media pages, webpage, YouTube videos and support “Metal“…