Chad Bowar: How is the tour with Exodus, Goatwhore and Arsis going so far?
John Kevill: It’s a trip so far. Life is completely different on the road. It’s been really good thus far.
Is it rough being the very first band on stage each night?
Yes, but most shows we’ve done alright with that. Most shows there will be 10 or 15 people who know who we are, but we can always get most people into it by the end of our set. We get a half hour to 45 minutes every night. We have time for 6 or 7 songs.
Since this is your first CD, everyone might not be familiar with Warbringer. Give us a short history of your band.
I was trying to get a band together, and someone introduced me to John and Andy Laux (the band’s guitarist and bass player). The three of us started writing songs and kept looking for band members. We met Adam (Carrol) and Ryan (Bates) from Ventura. Adam joined us on drums. There was a band called Zombie that ran parallel to Warbringer with Adam, Ryan and I. Then Adam left for a while and we dissolved Zombie. Then Ryan joined Warbringer on drums. Later we parted with a previous guitarist and had Adam come back, this time on guitar. That’s the lineup we have now.
How did you decide on the name Warbringer?
We’ve gotten some slagging for this. When we started we were just getting into thrash metal. The first thing we called the band was Onslaught. John, Andy and I didn’t know about them, and Adam and Ryan, who did, weren’t around yet. Ryan told us about it and we knew we obviously couldn’t use that name. So we were brainstorming, and Andy was reading a list of monsters from some game looking for cool names. Adam said war and thrash metal really go together, and we had some war themed songs, so we attached war to something else and it became Warbringer.
How did you come to the attention of Century Media?
They saw us at a Toxic Holocaust show. They said they thought we had some promise and they gave us their business card and told us to contact them. A few months later when we had the lineup change and did the EP, we were trying to get on a label. Before we contacted Century Media we tried to put something together with Metal Blade. Their office is a city away from where I live. Brian Slagel listened to it and offered us a deal. Then we talked to Century Media and they also offered us a deal. After a few months we decided on Century Media.
What has the response been so far to War Without End?
The response has been great. All the reviews I’ve seen have been good. People seem to like it a lot, which is cool.
The CD is mainly thrash, but there seem to be some other influences in there as well.
Yes. We all listen to all kinds of metal, not just thrash. We listen to death, speed, power, black, doom, whatever. So when we hear a sound that’s compatible with thrash, we’ll put it in to add some color.
How did you hook up with Bill Metoyer to produce the CD?
His name was the first one that came up, and we were immediately excited about it. We demoed a few songs with him a couple months before we started recording the record. He’s a really relaxed guy to work with, pretty laid back about things. That made it pretty easy. I think we’ll work with him again. It was really good.
Did he have any good stories about bands he’s worked with in the past?
He told us a few. He said Blackie Lawless made him remix and remaster an entire album to change one word in a chorus somewhere. He had to redo all his work.
After the Exodus tour you’re hitting the road with Nile. That will be a completely different crowd that you’re playing for now.
Yes, but we did a couple shows with pure death metal bands like Suffocation, Immolation and Skinless. We had a good response at those shows, so hopefully it will work out.
Who does most of the driving of the van when you’re on tour?
Ryan does most of the driving. He also controls the music, which means we end up listening to way too much industrial, but that’s okay.
You’re from just outside L.A. in the Ventura area. Southern California is known for their punk and hardcore scenes, but is there much of a metal scene where you are?
There’s a scene for metal in Hollywood, but there’s not really a metal scene where we are. They closed down all the venues. But you can drive 90 minutes to Hollywood for gigs.
What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?
All sorts of random things. Usually we’ll hang out and watch movies. We don’t go to the beach too often.
How did you get started in music?
For me it was because a friend of mine and I were in his garage listening to Manowar, and we got this crazy idea to sign a pact in blood that we would have a true metal band. He bailed a few months later, but I kept trying to find a band and kept doing it.
