HALLOWS EVE
STEVEN CANNON
Hallows Eve started their career back in 1984 and after appearing on the Metal Massacre IV compilation things started to happen. They released three classic thrash metal albums in a row, first out was Tales of Terror in 1985 and then Death and Insanity in 1986, the third release was named Monument and it was released in 1988. The famous guitarist James Murphy (Agent Steel, Death, Cancer, Testament) was once in Hallows Eve's lineup. Nowdays Hallows Eve has recently reunited with Skullator back in the band and with a brand new vocalist Steven Cannon who I've conducted this interview with.
First of all, How did you get in contact with Hallow's Eve?
Well, to be honest, I used to see Skullator at many metal shows in the Atlanta area. I asked him about doing an interview initially, but he said Tommy Stewart was the best person to talk to about that. SO, one day I called Tommy up and we did an interview, and that pretty much started the ball rolling.
When did Hallows Eve decided to reunite?
Tommy has always wanted to put Hallows Eve back together. I actually had a chance in the early to mid 90's to be a part of Hallows Eve, back when I lived in Savannah, Georgia, but had no way to get a demo tape to the band. A guy from I think Nightfall Records told me about Tommy looking for a singer. Tommy and I talked for quite a few months about getting the band back together, but we had to find three new members as David Stuart and Stacy Anderson weren't interested in carrying on with recording plans and longterm futures for the band.
The original guitarist Skullator is back in the lineup now?
Yes, and it's about time!! You see, Skullator wrote a bit of material for the first record, but the poor guy NEVER played live with Hallows Eve! And not many people know this. Since we were going to have a majority of new members I felt it would help all of us to have someone in the band besides Tommy already familiar with the material. And I though after all these years it's time for the man to get his due!
How do you compare your singing to Stacy Andersons?
Well, it's funny you mention that, Tommy and Skullator both said it is rather haunting how much I sound like him, even when I listen to tapes of us side by side it's rather amazing. I can hit the highs like Stacy, but Stacy never had a black metal range, which is going to pop up a bit in the new material. Skullator actually stopped playing in the middle of practice one night and I asked him why he paused, he said it freaked him out, as he thought Stacy was in the room with us! One thing I have had trouble with was doing all the low end work while still being able to belt out the high notes live. I want to be able to do live everything you hear on record, but it is very tough.
For those who never heard of Hallows Eve, how would you describe your sound?
I couldn't imagine many metalheads that don't know of us, but the first record is quite fun, lots of fast, almost punkish speed and some higher pitched singing. The second record "Death And Insanity" is to me much more brutal, and it seemed to me at the time that Hallows Eve was combining speed metal, the punkish attitude from "Tales Of Terror," and the death metal attitudes that started to be more prominent. Plus, the higher toned notes were all still there!
I guess that you are an old fan of their music? Since your homepage is covering a lot of great underground old school metal.
I bought "Death And Insanity" on cassette back when I was in high school so many years ago. It was an amazing record to me, very worthy of a perfect 100 score and so far ahead of it's time in so many ways. "Tales Of Terror" I bought afterwards but wasn't as taken with it as with "Death And Insanity." Now, though, those Tales Of Terror songs are fun to sing live and I've been appreciating it more these days. And though I love the song 'Speed Freak' from "Monument," I must admit I don't really think that record was indicative of the TRUE Hallows Eve sound.
Are Hallows Eve signed by any record company right now?
Not yet, but Metal Blade has first shot at us when we get a demo completed.
Have you got any plans of recording a new album?
Right now we are working on new songs, many of which were written by Tommy many years ago. 'Technicolor Roadkill' was one such tune that has been in the Hallows Eve camp for years. 'Looking Glass' is another tune Tommy wrote. Also, I have contributed lyrics, and songs we are working on I wrote are 'Sacred Temples To Ashes,' 'Sutekh The Destroyer,' and 'Council Of Nicaea.' I am also working on some of Skullator's music for a working title of 'When There's No More Room In Hell (The Dead Shall Walk The Earth).' And even further, I have a few songs I'm writing lyrics for now, with tenative titles like 'Terror On Tybee Island' and 'Conquerors Of The Astral Plane.' So you can see we're quite busy!
And will there be a tour?
As far as touring goes, we're not quite ready, but we already did a show with Exodus which went over VERY well! Exodus members were even in the audience watching our entire set, which was an extreme honor. I still have a hard time believing I am in the band, it still seems like a dream to me, and so far the audiences have taken to my vocal performances, which I was extremely worried about. I'm still not used to the sound of my own voice, and upon hearing our first practice tape, I told Tommy that I thought I sounded horrible, and that he should probably find a better singer, because I didn't want to ruin Hallows Eve for the fans.
BUT, he has always liked my voice and believed in me and did a recording technique so I could hear what I REALLY sound like. So I guess I have to take his word! I just want the Hallows Eve fan to feel they are getting their money's worth when they come to see us play. We have already been invited to take part in festivals, like the Keep It True, and the Classic Cleveland Metal festival. Time will tell.
The Cannon goes off! - Live with Hallow's Eve.
Name five favourite albums!
Damn, why didn't you give me an easier question!? I can name quite a few albums I dig, though I have so much stuff... Recently I
have been enjoying Areknames' self titled album on Black Widow, I love the new My Dying Bride album, and Swallow The Sun has an amazing doom/death effort on Firebox records. As for classic 80's metal, some of the records I dig are WARFARE "Pure Filth," the early WARRANT stuff (Germany) like "The Enforcer" and "First Strike," PSYCHIC POSSESSOR "Toxin Diffusion" is a SICK South American thrash piece, and my alltime favorite classic album HAS to be the insanely expensive LEGEND "From The Fjords" which is supposed to be reissued on CD by Monster Records anyday now. I have a CDburn myself and it took me about a week to clean all the scratches, clicks and pops out of it.
What's your favourite Hallows Eve-album?
Without a doubt, "Death And Insanity." Surprisingly, though, our set list consists mostly of "Tales Of Terror" material, which I also dig. My favorite song from "Death And Insanity" HAS to be 'Lethal Tendencies.'
You're not only a vocalist in Hallows Eve, you are also the man behind the brilliant Vibrations of Doom, Can you plug it for our readers?
Ha ha! Well, let's see... It's now the oldest and longest STILL running internet based music publication on the planet. And of course, we have more hours of music you can listen to than any other site in the world. Besides the classic albums section, where you can listen to over 500 rare, classic and out of print metal albums from the 80's and back, we also digitize at least 4 songs from EVERY CD reviewed. Couple that with the fact that we always keep 2 issues' worth of soundfiles online, it's no joke when I say there is over 200 hours of music available online.
Have you got any funny metal story to tell?
For Hallows Eve, not really, though Tommy has the GREATEST road stories of any person I've ever heard. He was telling us about a time when Hallows Eve went to play at this "building" and when he opened the door about 20 or 30 kids in karate uniforms jumped out at him! Another time Hallows Eve was supposed to play at this rec center thing, and when they plugged in and started soundcheck, a guy came running out saying "What are you doing? This is a ballroom dancing type of event!" He then asked how much the band was supposed to be getting paid, and the guy said "If you pack up all your gear and get out of here I will also pay for your dinner!" Needless to say, that tickled Tommy to death. He said, "Man, this is great! We're getting to see the country and getting paid to do nothing!" Ain't life great!
Have you got any last words for our readers?
Yeah, I just want to say that Hallows Eve will have a homepage up soon, and we'll spread the word when it's done. We are looking to play more shows, locally in Atlanta and maybe do some one off gigs across the country. We would LOVE to go to Europe, that is, if the rest of the world doesn't hate Americans for the actions of our STUPID president. Look for news of a new album as well, and also keep checking out Vibrations Of Doom Magazine at:
I know I'm just the new guy, but thanks for giving me a chance to tell the new chapter of Hallows Eve.
By/Ruthless
(13-05-2004)
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