Interview with ACID FORCE
!!!THRASH METAL FROM SLOVAKIA!!!
We had a conversation with Erik (Guitars). Enjoy!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about ACID FORCE (Members, Starting Year etc).
First of all, cheers to all the FDOM fans! Erik from Acid Force here. The band Acid Force originally started as a side project alongside other bands of the members. The goal was just to mess around a bit with some more straightforward thrash. Also, the members wanted to try playing different instruments than in their main bands. This happened in the year 2014. As time went on, the other main bands became less and less active and eventually died. All this lead to a point where Acid Force became a main active band and remained one ever since. There were several personnel changes over the years. The most interesting was the change of our drummer. We had one important gig at the time and our former drummer got drunk the night before and was nowhere to be found before the gig. We couldn’t find him anywhere and started panicking a bit. Then we remembered our good friend Federico who played some sick drums in another band and gave him a call as we knew that he is fond of some of our songs. We explained the situation to him and his response was just: „Say no more, just come get me at my house.“ We had to shorten our setlist a bit but it all worked out well and the drumming was even better than our original drummer. He remained with the band ever since. We also had a change on guitar post before the release of first album Atrocity For The Lust. Most recently, we have a new frontman and also a bass player on the album World Targets In Megadeaths. So the current line up is following: Andrej Petro (guitar, vocals); Erik Leško (guitar); Federico Petrík (drums); Juraj Ondrejmiška (bass).
You have recently released your album ''World Targets in Megadeaths''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
When you compare this new album with the previous one, you can feel more a of a heavy metal influences on it. We were not sure how our fanbase will accept this. We were worried that it will not work for some of our true pizza thrasher fans, hah. This new influence came naturally and we were not even planning on going this direction. The ideas just came to us by itself and we did not want to discard them just because it’s not so pure thrash genre. There is even a drastic change of vocals due to different singer. Overall, the people like it better than I expected. The critics from the press described it mostly in a same way, which I feel about the record too.
How did your cooperation with Jawbreaker Records occur & what do you prefer the most Label or DIY and why?
During the recording of World Targets In Megadeaths, we were looking for a way how to release the physical copies into the world. Our former label (Support Underground) stopped it’s activity during covid and never recovered. We were left without a label and we were discussing different options. Then our frontman Andrej came up with this Swedish label and told us that he actually got drunk with the label boss GG Sundin at one festival. Then our bassist Juraj visited Sweden for a weekend to meet a friend and by coincidence he was in the same city as some metal market was taking place at the moment. GG and Juraj met there too and talked about our problem. He was not promising much as his capacities are quite full, but he gave us a contact to send him our demo. After he has heard it, we agreed on our cooperation. Regarding the label and DIY approach, I think the choice depends on what you exactly need for your band. Each one has it’s own perks and you have to choose what works better for your individual plan. Also there are different deals with the labels. We are not limited by our label in any way and are free to do what we want.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
We tried different approaches during the vocal recording on the new album. One of them was to get the singer drunk. We did this the first thing in the morning and he kinda crossed a line. After a song or two he started to throw up all over the studio and eventually blacked out. Meanwhile he was asleep, we decided to record the acoustics for the instrumental Beyond The Concrete Fields to use the studio time. When he finally woke up and was trying to find out where he is, we were just listening to the raw recordings and he was just like – what is happening, this sounds beautiful, haha. It was a funny sight. Recording guitar with the microphones set up and him laying in the background dead with a bucket next to his head.
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
This depends on the situation. When I’m at work or in a car, I use the digital format for practical reasons. When it comes to collecting, vinyl is my favourite. You get all the artworks in the biggest sizes and get to explore the booklets and everything with the best experience. Also there is this ritual of putting down the needle and you can listen to it without any outside distractions.
Your music style is Thrash Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
The influences change all the time as we get older on our musical journey. I guess each member has their own favorite bands. Also we listen to a lot of non-metal stuff as well. But it’s mostly older music. At the beginning of the band when we were just kids, we were fascinated by all the obvious 80s thrash bands. From the newer stuff we loved Lost Society before they took the infamous modern turn. Now we have a wider spectrum of the influences and sometimes it happens that the ideas are not so pure thrash metal ones. We try to accept every idea in the band if we can find a way to make it work, regardless if it’s pure thrash or not.
Which things do you think a band should sacrifice in order to succeed? Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future for your band?
I guess if you really want to succeed on a world level, you need to make it an absolute priority and base your lifestyle around it. This is not managable for the most of the people. Also this does not give you an absolute guarantee of success. You will also need a fair amount of originality to be able to give people something new and develop your own style. I think that it also needs to be stated that you should be careful what you wish for. There is a possibility that the success you are trying to chase your whole life might not be as great as you imagined and you can become a slave to the music industry. Regarding our band, all of us make some small sacrifices all the time. Sometimes you don’t have the time available for other things in life because you have to give it to the band. Also, there was a fair amount of money spent on the recordings, video recordings etc. We just try to have a good time on this ride without any unrealistic expectations and we try to stay true to ourselves.
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
I guess that every show has a potential to be classified as ideal for us. The important thing is if we are able to get a feedback from the audience and get the emotions running. It also helps if everything is working without a flaw technical wise. Simplified: good sound, engaged audience and good energy is important. And it’s safe to say that we had gigs like this in the past.
What attributes do you think that a new Thrash Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
That is the question, haha! When I find out I will give you the answer! I think that the band should not force things and focus on the natural strengths of the members and sometimes the chemistry just clicks and creates something worthwhile.
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Thrash Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
I think that Thrash Metal has quite a good following on digital platforms and there are numerous channels which can help you get your music heard. This genre is also quite popular among musicians and there is a lot of thrash bands out there producing new stuff all the time and you need to stand out from all of them. As the music is easier to get in this age, there is a competition like never before. Also it is important not to use any shady shortcuts like paying for fake promotion etc. Again, stay true to yourself and focus on creating something worthwhile.
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Slovakia (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
When I was younger, there was a big metal scene in our home city Banská Bystrica. There were a lot of clubs with gigs every weekend. Friends were always there and it was a good time. Now all of them are closed and the live scene kinda died over there. Right now we mostly play in Czech Republic and we also consider this as our local scene as we used to be one country not so long ago. There is a lot of metal bands and we are all friends with each other and often play gigs together. Although the more popular bands are the ones singing in native language.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
We had one tour with Chronosphere in the past! Great dudes. We admired their courage when they toured Europe in a small car from the 90s and had a trailer with all their gear attached to it. No AC and they only could do a 90km/h on a highway, haha. We also shared stage with bands like Rotting Christ or Septic Flash in the past.
The last 3 years, worldwide in the world, we have faced many dark, strange & new situations in our everyday life (covid, lock-down etc.) Did all of this affect you positively or negatively?
Our frontman Teo (singer and bassist) left just before the lockdowns hit so we were kind of not active during this time. We couldn’t play gigs at this time and we focused on writing new material and looking for new member. I guess it worked well for us in the end and now we can use this time as an excuse on our inactivity.
What are your future plans?
Our plan is to play some badass gigs with the new material and spread it among people. Also we would like to focus too on writing some new and interesting music. That‘s what is all about in the end.
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Thank you for your interest too, much appreciated! For those who managed to get to the end of this, go watch our new video on YT for the song Fast Friday. It was the most expensive videoclip we did and even I think it’s good, haha. Shine on and keep the head banging!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
ACID FORCE CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/acidforcethrash
https://www.instagram.com/acidforcethrash/
https://acidforce.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7EIMvBGC0CLawzAojAJANk