WARRIOR SOUL
T
By Mike Gitter
"Warrior Soul is the first hard
rock music in a long time that has a mind
to it." says frontman Kory Clarke.
Rock's in a suffering, pitiful state. It's
become a struggle between style over
substance, ignorance over intellect. New
York's Warrior Soul aims to change all
that...or at least get a few people think-
ing. Cut to Guns n Roses staggering and
slobbering over the American Music
Awards. Cut to Skid Row's Sebastian Bach
wearing a T-shirt declaring "AIDS Kills
Fags Dead." Clarke and Co. are deter-
mined to turn the tide.
"I want us to be the band that delivers
us from four years of repetitive sounds and
ideas in American rock music. A shot in the
arm to the American rock business, a shot
in the arm of conscience. It's become a
matter of 'follow-the-leader' one-off bands
after some band hits with a strong vibe.
"Someone like Sebastian Bach and that
entire generation doesn't have a lot going.
on upstairs. That's a generation that's.
been living on fast food and sequels to bad
horror movies for far too long. They're
beginning to resemble what they watch in
their attitude towards death and what's go-
ing on. Rock and roll is becoming almost
anti-life. They've been singing about sex
for so long now, what's next? Bestiality?
The snuff film school of rock?"
Warrior Soul is Kory's latest brainchild.
Hailing from Detroit Rock City, he's been
playing drums since age eight. He first
gigged with an obscure, circa '80 bunch.
known as the Attitudes and later with
L-Seven. When hardcore came along, he
wanted no part of it. He is also the Kory
Clarke of "Kory Clarke's Dude Ranch"
fame from the Meatmen's Blud Sausage
Ep: "That came out of Tesco Vee not liking
my hairstyle or the clothes I wore. One
minute the Attitudes were cool in his Touch
And Go mag and the next we were fags.
What do you expect from someone who ad-
vocates fag bashing, and hating blacks
and cripples?
"The most disgusting people I ever met
during that period were the Necros. Their
outlook, the way they treated people, was
disgusting. I felt like it gave my movement
a bad name. They tortured people who
simply wanted to be different. I have no
tears for Barry Henseller's failing career.
He can't sing and can't write-but he sure
can eat. Irresponsible children. I hold them
all in utter contempt."
Eventually, he formed a band called the
Trial, moved to LA, got disillusioned and
moved back East to New (Continued on page 33)
0
X
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by Mike Gitter
"There are a bunch of faces, intangible faces in
the clouds. On the desert, there are these statue-like
figures that represent something solid, something to
reach for. It's up to you to distinguish what is real and
what is illusionary. Testament's 21-year-old guitarist
Alex Skolnick says of the theme emblazoned on the
cover of their latest Lp, Practice What You Preach. "It's
from a dream of Jim Martin from Faith No More-his
girlfriend painted it. There's supposed to be a strange
humming sound all around, too. I don't know what
that's supposed to signify.
"No, I don't think a lot of heavy metal requires any
amount of human thought. Testament does. I've been
to parties, parking lots and concerts where there's
music playing, but nobody seems to be listening. Peo-
ple seem more into their beer or scamming girls than
listening to the music and putting any thought into
the musicianship or the lyrics. Testament's the sort
of band that requires you to apply human thought."
Typical story. For the founders of Testament-
guitarist Eric Peterson, drummer Louie Clemente and
bassist Greg Christian-all still under the age of 24,
music was a way of reinventing themselves. "Most
of us were real outcasts at school," says Greg. "I used
to be the kid that sat at the back of the classroom
and drew on my folder. I never had a lot of friends.
I guess I was something of a recluse."
"I remember wearing my black jacket every day
regardless of the weather-it was like a security
blanket," Eric says. "I guess a lot of musicians are
like that. High school is a really tough place. A lot of
kids commit suicide at that age.
run away, try drugs. Except for
Alex, none of us have real high
school diplomas, we all ended up
going to continuation schools."
"Before I even started playing
drums," recalls Louie, "I used to
put on records, stand in front of
the mirror and pretend I was
whoever was on the record. One
day, I had Aerosmith cranked way
up on the stereo, pretending I was
Steven Tyler and all of a sudden
I turn around and there's my dad
with some girl he'd brought home
It
was totally embarrassing."
A Bit of History...
San Francisco Bay Area circa
1984. Spurned on by the influ
ence, the from-the-gut power of
recently transplanted L.A. na-
tives, Metallica, plus "violent
metal stalwarts Exodus, a tight-
knit scene of so-called "thrash"
bands-Mordred. Possessed,
Death Angel, Blind Illusion and
Anvil Chorus among others-
become the new rage, acceler
TESTAMENT
ΧΟ Ο
ating matters to punkish speeds
with metal's technical vir-
tuosity well intact. From
this (Continued on page 94)
Time and Something I Can Never Have are frustra
tion distilled into tangible form.
X
X
NINE
INCH
NAILS see a lot of people over-analyzing, asking if I've had a really
by Steve Martin
Nine Inch Nails is the clammy
warmth of psychosexual angst
set against the detached cold
of coarse rhythmic aggression
Nine Inch Nails is an entranc
ing juxtaposition of imagery
and energy built on a found-
ation of intermingled repulsion
and desire. Nine Inch Nails is
a guy from Cleveland named
Trent Reznor
Nine Inch Nails debut.
Pretty Hate Machine, is the
fruit of two years labor-a-
wonderfully overbearing
monstrosity that belies
Reznor's humble manner. The
opening track. "Head Like a
Hole pairs wailing derision of
the petty bourgeois with
screeching guitar distortion;
Sin" and "Down in It" walk
a tightrope of submission and
degradation; "The Only
"It's a personal thing Reznor says of Pretty Hate Machine.
tormented sex life, personal life. I haven't, not incredibly. I
guess I've not always been the happiest person. The last few
years have been a little darker than the rest. The premise of
this record is a personal statement of what was in my head at
the time. It's a sincere statement.
I guess it has always been that way. Not that I'm Mr. Gloom
or that I never smile. There's just a side of me that's come out
recently, or that I've accepted, that was the main inspiration
for these songs. It's what I've found I could express the best.
Pretty Hate Machine's ten tracks offer a variegated range of
emotion, a human element that distinguishes Nine Inch Nails
from its industrial/electronic peers.
"It was approached that way. Reznor explains. "I didn't want
to come across as an industrial, snarling. Satan singing entity
That's not what Nine Inch Nails is. I try to juxtapose some sort
of life or sincerity onto a tougher musical edge that normally
wouldn't fit together. You wouldn't hear Ministry going through
what I go through. It's not intended to be in the Skinny Puppy
vein snarling and griping that the world sucks. It's not about
politics or grandiose statements. It's more introspective. Internal
decay and collapse happened to be my motivation at the time
Written, arranged and programmed exclusively by Reznor,
Pretty Hate Machine was a one-sided endeavor until its produc
tion stage, when Trent made room for collaboration with co-
producers John Fryer (Love and Rockets, Continued on next page
81