LH: Hello! So first of all, could you give a brief introduction to Headless Cross? What is the current line up?

Dave: Hi, the current line-up is myself on vox and guitars, Rich Goss on guitars and drummer Sal Christian. We’re currently between bassists; we’ve been auditioning a few different people and really trying to find the right person. We’re sick to death of having to change people 3 or 4 months down the line due to their agendas or bad attitude or totally impractical personal situations. It makes me laugh when people criticise us about the bands ex-members, but I look at it like this: ex members that have gone on to do what exactly?

LH: You are in the studio this month recording some new songs with producer Andy Faulkener. Tell us about the new release - what should we expect from it?

Dave: Killer heavy metal! The progression in song writing has been really satisfying. We’ve taken the sound and really moved it into the 21st century. It’s not so much a new direction as just an improvement. We rehearsed for about two months non-stop making sure the material was the best it could be. The biggest improvement in my opinion though would be the input of the other guys. The songs really came to life because we were capable of working on it together as a band.

Rich: I think a lot of people will be surprised when they hear the album, as the song writing has taken a huge leap forward since Burning Sanctuary. We’ve all had input on this album which has been great. There’s dual soloing from Dave and myself, which sounds wicked because of the contrasting styles of playing! The production will also blow people away! Andy is great and really pushes to get the best performance out of you, no matter how much time it takes.

LH: I know that you have been really pushing for a record deal lately, what is the current situation? Have you had any label interest? I did read something on your MySpace that you are releasing your debut album through new label Razor Records?

Rich: Yeah, there have been offers but we don’t want to jump at the first offer and then regret it later! Details regarding the release will be announced soon on the Headless Cross website (www.headless-cross.com) and www.myspace.com/headlesscross

Dave: I wouldn’t necessarily say we’ve been really pushing for a record deal. There are so many different types of deals. We’re looking at it from a business point of view rather than just jumping head first into the first offer because it’s a “record deal”. Our main focus since Rich joined the band was just making sure that we kick ass and having some fun again!!

LH: Rich, do you plan to continue playing in both of your bands? I know that there isn’t much happening at the moment with Warpath, have you had any luck with replacing the old band members?

Rich: We’ve tried out a lot of guitarists & bassists for Warpath, and none of them worked out. At the moment I’m extremely busy with Headless Cross and that’s my priority, and I know James (drums) is busy doing session work as well as his own projects. We both decided that we’re going to change the style of Warpath slightly, far more aggressive than before, more in the style of ‘Death’, death-thrash I guess! We’re not planning on gigging with it, just recording and releasing the CD’s, sometime this year when or if we have the time.

LH: Which bands are you mostly influenced by?

Dave: Personally speaking I’m into so many different types of music. My favourite band of all time is Judas Priest but I’m into so many bands from Marillion to Deicide and everything in between! So I don’t know. We’re lucky that everyone brings something a bit different to the table. It helps us to be quite open minded musically.

Rich: I’m well into metal bands such as Megadeth, Testament, Death, Slayer, etc but I also like a lot of classical music and flamenco guitar playing. Also a huge fan of Queen! Because of the metal bands that I’m influenced by, I’ve brought a harder rhythmic edge to the band. Also Sal brings in a lot of the more modern and extreme influences as well as having good hard rock/metal traditions. With our music we like to mix things up, which is why we aren’t afraid to do ballads, or acoustic instrumentals – something a lot of other bands aren’t doing.

LH: How would you say that your sound has progressed since Burning Sanctuary?

Rich: Well I wasn’t in the band when Burning Sanctuary was written and recorded. I think that CD was good, but I feel that Sal and I have really helped to push the music forward. The difference between the old CD and the new album is huge and people will notice that as soon as they hear the first few seconds of the new CD! Also the live aspect…the band is incredibly tight and focused now. I never saw the Burning Sanctuary line up live so I can’t really comment on that, but I know that this line up is kicking ass!

Dave: Well it’s changed a lot mainly because it’s no longer down to me to write all the material, so we’ve been able to grow artistically. It’s really refreshing for me to work with two other strong writers and we all challenge each other so the bar has definitely been raised. Also musically everyone is at the same level now so we’ve been able to write more interesting songs. I suppose it’s more technical and heavier but still really melodic. It still sounds like us though, even though we tune differently now the vibe is still the same. Just way better because we’ve been able to bring what we did then up to date and make it relevant to today as opposed to being a competent but fairly unimaginative imitation of bands from the 80’s.

LH: You have played a lot of gigs over the past few years. Which gigs have been the most memorable for you, and where do you tend to get the best crowds?

Dave: BOA, Whiplash in Ireland, opening for Onslaught in Birmingham, Full Thrash Assault :p . Opening for Randy Rampage was cool. We played a good show in Sheffield recently. All gigs are fun!

Rich: Yeah man Sheffield was great, looking forward to playing there again! Full Thrash Assault was an interesting gig for me. It was the first time I’d seen Headless Cross live, despite being told they weren’t going to show up, and hearing all about the tyrannical Mr. Silver hahah! All in all FTA was a great gig, I enjoyed watching all the other bands, they kicked ass and it was well organised! Also my first gig in Headless Cross was great, playing the Attic in Rushden.

LH: The UK Thrash scene is pretty healthy at the moment, with lots of bands popping up and quite a few people doing a lot to help the scene putting on thrash gigs, starting websites dedicated to thrash and starting labels including Resilience Records who released the “Bangers and Thrash” compilation which you have a track on. I was wondering what your opinions are on the UK thrash scene?

Rich: It’s like any scene I guess…there’s great bands and there’s shit bands. The Bangers & Thrash CD was a good idea, I found out about a few new cool bands by listening to that. As for websites, we tend to stay out of forums and don’t pay them any attention.

Dave: It’s a tag. I suppose all things need a label right? There are some cool bands about. Whether I see ourselves as a part of it …….. I guess we are but we’re not just a thrash band. The thing that turns me off would be the fact that it can bring out the lowest common denominator. For instance one band does well playing a certain way so you get like 50 bands changing to do the same thing but not as well as the guys doing it in the first place! And then there is a very small group of elitists, the self proclaimed “British Metal” messiah’s. These people are a very small minority (about six in total) and have their own co-ordinated agenda. It’s a shame they have sucked a few other people in as long term they work against the best interests of metal in the U.K. The problem with things that become exclusive is that by their very nature they exclude people! The scene in general though is excellent.

LH: You clearly put a lot of finance and effort into the packaging of your CD’s and also on the production. Some bands would argue that it should be all about the music and that the production and/or packaging shouldn’t matter at that stage. Do you believe that self-producing a demo that looks and sounds professional pays off?

Dave: It all depends on what you wish to present to the world as your music and where you see your place in the metal world. For instance do you want to be seen as just another demo band or play at a higher level? We want to compete with bigger bands, so yeah even though we don’t have anywhere near the budget of a big band we can do our absolute best to make sure that our product and anything bearing our name looks and sounds killer. Also production wise, it’s got to be killer because a good song can be made or lost on the quality of production. The main thing you have to ask yourself is “does it rock????” and if you think so then who cares. Anyway spending money on production and packaging is never to the detriment of the music.

Rich: I’d say it definitely pays off. Would you rather spend your money on a CD with great production that blasts out of your stereo, with a well designed CD booklet and killer artwork, or a ‘CD’ that someone made in their bedroom with second rate packaging? It’s hard enough to make an impact nowadays, so making sure the product is audible and looks good is a start! Also for the style of music that metal is, good production is essential, otherwise it can end up sounding muddy and loses its power.

LH: What are your plans for 2007?

Dave: Release this record, and then follow the plan that we’ve set ourselves and hope it all pays off. We’re in it for the long haul anyways.

LH: Thanks for doing the interview, are there any final words you would like to say?

Rich: There’s a Chuck Schuldiner quote that I like, and it applies to a lot of the shit that this band has had to put up with the past year from a very small minority in the UK scene…”Support Music, Not Rumours”

The debut album from Headless Cross is set to be released on 07 May 2007. Visit the band online at www.headless-cross.com or www.myspace.com/headlesscross.

Interviewed by Luci Herbert