Yes, Morbidzine.com is here with one of the Thrash Metal masters of the UK and the world. Back in 1983, two punks started a legend — delivering ferocious, wild albums to the scene. Today, Onslaught is one of the greatest Thrash Metal bands ever, and they proved it once again with their excellent comeback album, Killing Peace, in 2007. There's no need to say more — here's guitarist Nige Rockett, the founder and leader of the band, answering our questions. A cheerful and in-depth interview...
MORBIDZINE: Hi Nige. How’s it going? First of all, thank you for your time and congratulations on your killer comeback with Killing Peace. We loved the album! What have you been up to since its release? How have critics responded in England? Did it meet your expectations?
NIGE ROCKETT: Hi My Friend, Everything Is Going Great And Thanks For The Comments.... We Have Be Playing As Many Shows As Possible To Promote 'Killing Peace' Its Been Cool.... The Reviews For The Album Exceeded All Expectations, They Have Been Great And The Press In The Uk Was Amazing, We Could Not Have Dreamed For Better.....
MORBIDZINE: It seems like many Thrash productions have shifted towards Northern Europe. You and a few others are the last conquistadors of Thrash Metal. Unfortunately, some people claim “Thrash Metal is dead.” What are your thoughts?
NIGE ROCKETT: No, No Way... Thrash Metal Is Far From Dead, Especially In Europe And In America Its Becoming Real Popular Once More..Also In South America And Japan It Has Never Gone Away.. The Future For Thrash Is Very Good Believe Me... A Whole New Generation Of Metal-Heads Are Discovering Just How Cool It Is...
MORBIDZINE: Let’s go back to the beginning. You and Steve, both punks, founded the band in 1983. Can you tell us about those early years? What led you to form a Thrash band?
NIGE ROCKETT: We Were Both Into Real Hardcore Punk Like 'Discharge' Etc And Also 'Motorhead', So We Were Influenced From Both Sides Metal And Punk, Which Gave Us A Good Foundation For Creating Something New In The Uk In 83.. Things Took Off Real Well, We Were Playing To Mixed Audiences And Getting Insane Responses, It Was A Cool Fuckin Time...
MORBIDZINE: Your roots are clearly Punk-based. Onslaught has always had that Punk/Thrash blend. England is also the homeland of Punk. What were those early days like? And what do you think about today’s punk scene?
NIGE ROCKETT: It's Not Somethýng I Really Analyse, Punk Is A Very Small Scene In The Uk In 2008, You Very Rarely See True Punks About Anymore.. In The Early Days It Was A Very Violent Scene, Lots Of Gang Fighting At Concerts And On The Streets After Shows, But It Was Fun.
MORBIDZINE: What do you think about iconic punk bands like Sex Pistols, Crass, The Exploited, Discharge, Charged GBH, and from the US — Ramones, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, etc.? Which of these influenced Onslaught the most?
NIGE ROCKETT: The Uk Bands Were Easily The Best.. The Pistols Are One Of My Favourite All Time Bands And Also Discharge And The Exploited.. I Always Found The American Punk Bands A Little Tame By Comparison...
MORBIDZINE: When and where was your first gig? How did the audience react?
NIGE ROCKETT: We Played At A Small Bar In Bristol For Our First Show, We Played Around 4 Or 5 Songs And The Fighting Started And We Had To Stop The Gig... The Police Arrived And Broke It All Up But We Weren't Allowed To Continue Playing....
MORBIDZINE: Like many bands, you probably faced challenges — financial, production-related, or otherwise. Can you tell us about the difficulties you had in those early days?
NIGE ROCKETT: Money Was Always A Problem But We Always Knew Someone Who Would Do Us A Favour... It Was Cool That People Wanted To Help Us Get On... We Always Had Help Recording Demos And Shit And We Would Always Get Help With Gigs.. We Were Very Lucky..
MORBIDZINE: Which bands do you generally listen to? Can you name a few that had a big impact on your sound?
NIGE ROCKETT: I Still Listen To All The Early Thrash Stuff, Because It Stands The Test Of Time And Its Still The Best Form Of Metal Music Ever To Be Created..... As I Mentioned Earlier Discharge And Motorhead Were Our 2 Biggest Influences...
MORBIDZINE: You released three masterpiece albums in the 1980s. Let’s talk about In Search of Sanity (1989) — with killer riffs, highlights like “Blood Upon the Ice,” “Shellshock,” and a cover of “Let There Be Rock.” Some fans consider it legendary. What do you think?
NIGE ROCKETT: Personally I Thought 'The Force' Was The Best All Round Album Of The First 3.. Sanity Was The Biggest Selling And Had Some Great Songs On It, Its A Tough Call, I'm Too Close To Giva An Honest Opinion.... Haha
MORBIDZINE: Onslaught’s early sound had a dark and satanic atmosphere — especially in Power from Hell. Some even say you helped shape early Black Metal. What do you think about that scene and your countrymen Venom?
NIGE ROCKETT: Its So Cool To Hear Bands Saying We Inspired Their Beginnings, Its A Real Honor.. Thrash / Black / Death Metal Are All Very Closely Connected So Naturally These Are My Favourite Styles.. The Black Metal Scene Reminds Me Very Much Of The Punk Movement When It Began, Very Intense And Very Powerful... And That Can Only Be Good... We Played Some Shows With Venom Last Year, It Was Awesome And The First Time We Had Shared A Stage Together...
MORBIDZINE: Power From Hell had a song called "Death Metal" — released the same year as Possessed’s Seven Churches, which also had a track by that name. Have the bands been compared?
NIGE ROCKETT: Yeah, I Guess We Have Been Compared In The Past, But I Don’t Really See Too Much Similarity, Only On The Fact Of Who Created The Term ’Death Metal’…..
MORBIDZINE: The Force (1986) is often considered your most defining work. Do you think it represented the true sound of Onslaught?
NIGE ROCKETT: Yeah Definitely, At The Time ‘The Force‘ Was Our Definitive Album , But With ‘Killing Peace’ I Feel We Have Re-Defined The Onslaught In The Year 2007... This Was Exactly Our Intention…
MORBIDZINE: With The Force, you changed the lineup — Sy Keeler came in on vocals, and you added a second guitarist. Why were these changes made?
NIGE ROCKETT: Onslaught Needed 2 Guitars Live, There Was Not Enough Power With 1 Guitar, It Was Ok For Studio, But When We Were On Stage It Had To Be 2 Guitars, This Was The Reason For Change… Also When We Heard Sy Sing, We Said ‘Fuck, You Gotta Be Our Singer Man…’ He Was Awesome…
MORBIDZINE: Why did Sy Keeler leave after that album?
NIGE ROCKETT: Sy Keeler Was Fired By The Record Label, It Was A Big Big Mistake On Their Part… They Wanted Us To Make A More Mainstream Sounding Record…
MORBIDZINE: Many 80s Thrash bands either disappeared or changed direction. Yet Onslaught, Sodom, and a few others stayed true. What makes you different from the others?
NIGE ROCKETT: For Us..? Not Too Much.. We’re Making 100% Pure Thrash Metal Music, But With A More Modern Sound…..Thrash Metal Is Returning In Style All Over The World, The Crowds Are Getting Real Crazy Again… And Its Fuckin Great
MORBIDZINE: Many Thrash bands reunited in the 2000s — including Sacred Reich, Artillery, and Possessed. Would you call this the second wave of Thrash Metal?
NIGE ROCKETT: Oh Yeah Without A Doubt, Its Back And Getting Stronger Every Day…
MORBIDZINE: What do you think of other British Thrash bands like Xentrix, Acid Reign, Sabbat, Slammer, Hellbastard?
NIGE ROCKETT: Not Really No, Obviously We Have Close Links To Sabbat Because Of Andy Sneap And We Did A Short Uk Tour With Venom Which Was Cool.. But We Spend More Time Out Of England Than In It..
MORBIDZINE: In In Search of Sanity, Steve Grimmett from Grim Reaper joined as vocalist. Were you worried whether his NWOBHM background would suit Onslaught?
NIGE ROCKETT: The Album Was All Complete Before Steve Grimmett Joined The Band, We Were Actually About To Start Mixing The Album When The Label Fired Sy…. Steve Has A Great Voice But It Wasn’t Truly Suited To Onslaught, Even Tho He Did A Fantastic Job On ‘In Search Of Sanity’.
MORBIDZINE: What are your future plans? Any new album on the horizon?
NIGE ROCKETT: We Still Have Lots Of Shows To Play In Support Of ‘Killing Peace’ So We Will Tour For Most Of 2008... But We Will Be Writing New Songs For The Next Album While We Are Rehearsing And Out On The Road… The New Album Will Be Much In The Same Vein As ‘The Force & Killing Peace’, But We Will Take It To The Next Level For Onslaught In Terms Of Aggression And Heaviness.. We Are Gonna Make A Real Angry Record…
MORBIDZINE: In Turkey, mad Thrash fans are waiting for you! Would you consider playing here?
NIGE ROCKETT: Fuck, Yeah…!!!! We Would Love To Come And Play In Turkey We Are Just Waiting For The Call…
MORBIDZINE: What do you think about new forms of metal like Nu Metal and Industrial Metal, especially in the USA? We personally think they’ve corrupted metal…
NIGE ROCKETT: I Have No Time For These Forms Of Metal, I Think Its Very Commercial And Very Weak… There Is Nothing Exciting About These Genres At All…
MORBIDZINE: Lastly, do you have a message for fans?
NIGE ROCKETT: We Would Just Like To Say A Massive Hello To All Our Fans In Turkey, The Support We Have Received From Your Country Has Been Awesome….We Really Hope To Come And Play A Killer Show For You All Sometime In The Very Near Future….. Thrash Till The Death..!!!!!!!!!!!
MORBIDZINE: Nige, thank you so much for accepting this interview and spending your time with us once again at Morbidzine. We’re looking forward to your new albums and shows. We hope to see you in Turkey one day. Cheers!