This is Lee Walker from www.PlanetMosh.com conducting an email interview with Rhino from the band The Angels of Babylon
LW – Hi Rhino, for all of those people who are just coming into contact The Angels of Babylon as a result of this interview, how did the band come into existence ?
Rhino – Hey Lee, first I want to thank you for this interview. I was browsing Myspace in 2008 and found David Fefolt. I heard his demos and thought he was one of the best singers I ever heard. He has that Jeff Scott Soto kind of vibe I just love. We met and he asked if I wanted to come to Pheonix Arizonawere he lives to do some studio work. While working, we decided together to put a band together. At the same time, Dave Ellefson was there in the studio and we asked him if he would like to be involved and he said yes. Later I found our guitar player Ethan Brosh on Myspace as well. I told them that I already had 13 songs written and all we had to do was record them. Dave Fefolt wrote the lyrics.
LW – Obviously both yourself and Dave Ellefson have a pretty well documented history with large bands. Do you feel that this adds extra pressure on you to try to capture the heights that those bands achieved with this project ?
Rhino – Honestly, our goal was just to make some killer epic music and keep busy doing what we all love to do. Not any pressure really but you always have those hopeful feelings that what you create will be wildly accepted and successful to a degree.
LW – In terms of yourself what bands/artists have influenced you musically ?
Rhino – Growing up my main influences were Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden even Electric Light Orchestra and Queen. Mostly bands with great singers and killer melodies.
LW – What made you decide that you wanted to be a drummer ?
Rhino – My dad is a musician and when I was very little, he would play acoustic guitar and I would bang on shoe boxes with toothbrushes until I beat holes in them. I would go into this peaceful trance. It was a God given gift and I could just naturally feel it.
LW – How did you end up playing with legendary rockers Manowar ?
Rhino – They came to my home town of Nashville Tennessee and played the local metal club. My band at the time Arch Angel was the local heroes and we warmed up for Manowar. They saw me play and asked if I wanted to join because Scott was planning to leave. Actually, Scott saw me first and ran to the bus to get the rest of the guys he said “you guys have to see this kid playing drums in here, he is burning like a mad demon from hell!”
LW – What was your most memorable experience while playing for Manowar ?
Rhino – My first gig in KasselGermany. I always thought Manowar was some what popular but I had no idea to what extent. When Joey counted off the opening song “Manowar”, the curtain opened and there was 10 thousand people in the crowd going nuts! I was shocked!
LW – Why did you decide to leave Manowar ?
Rhino – You know Lee, I really didn’t want to leave. I had some plans to write my own music and record it someday. Only to do something more than being just a drummer. I said some things to some people I trusted about my future and it was leaked to Joey. None the less, I think the guys in Manowar thought I was unhappy and asked me to leave. It wasn’t the case. Besides, for some reason they wanted Scott back and he wanted to come back.
LW – You were also involved with the band HolyHell. How did this project start ?
Rhino – Joey put that band together.
LW – Joey DeMaio produced the debut album for HolyHell. How did this collaboration happen ?
Rhino – He was managing Maria Breon the singer and they had a vision to put together a massive Gothic female fronted power band.
LW – Why did you decide to leave HolyHell ?
Rhino – I wanted to break free from a situation I thought was just too socialistic. Too much control from certain people that I didn’t personally feel had my best interests at heart.
LW – In terms of the Angels of Babylon. You recently released the critically acclaimed album “Kingdom Of Evil”. How did the album come about ?
Rhino – Like I said earlier, I had all those songs on a hard drive recording machine as demos just waiting to be recorded and released. It was several years of material I had been writing.
LW – What are your favourite songs on the album?
Rhino –Kingdom of Evil, Second Coming, Tear out my Heart.
LW – What do you have planned 2012 ? Are there any plans for tours or festival appearances ?
Rhino – We are planning to perform as much as possible.
LW – Are there any messages that you would like to pass on to your fans ?
Rhino – Hail and thank you for all you support to Angels of Babylon.
For more information on the Angels of Babylon please check out their Official Facebook Page HERE or their Official Myspace Page HERE