INFERNÄL MÄJESTY - KENNY HALLMAN

In 1986 Infernäl Mäjesty was formed Toronto, Canada. A year later they released their now legendary debut "None shall defy" on Roadracer Records. And they rapidly gained a large following and they became one Canada's most well-respected thrash metal bands together with Razor, Voivod and Sacrifice. But somehow things fell apart and the band didn't record that long awaited follow-up album until eleven years later.

In 1998 Infernäl Mäjesty it was finally time for Infernäl Mäjesty to release that long awaited follow-up to None Shall Defy, an album called "Unholier Than Thou". Infernäl Mäjesty are legends of the underground and I've got the opportunity to speak with Infernäl Mäjesty's founder and longtime guitarist Kenny Hallman.

First off, Why did you spell Infernäl Mäjesty with umlauts?

That was Rick Nemes' idea. We all like the look of it so we all agreed to use it. We still use it today.

Will there be any Europe tour soon? or any world tour?

We are working on that now with Metallysee right now, so we hope to be there in August - September. Right now are plans are on Canada and the USA. We have been getting a lot of offers to tour so it is just a matter of picking which ones to do.

Tell us more about your upcoming album "One who points to death".

Its killer... more along the lines of "None Shall Defy" lots of riffs and breaks. There are eight songs on it totaling 47 min. We spent a lot of time on the writing and we are all really happen with the way it turned out.

Tell us more how Infernäl Mäjesty first got signed by Roadrunner, I've heard that you didn't even send them a copy of your demo?

Yeah, You heard right. We sent out so many demos in the begining and everyone was interested in signing us, then out of the blue Roadrunner got a hold of us, I think they got a copy of the demo from a magazine, and they made us an offer. We in turn took all the deals that we were offered to Len Glickman (Our Lawyer at the time) and he went through them all and told us that the Roadrunner deal was the best one. So we sign with them.

Most people remembers Infernäl Mäjesty for your classic debut album "None shall defy" from 1987, what do you think of it today one and a half decade later?

I think it still holds up well. We still play most of those songs live. It's funny because we never expected that album to receive "Cult" status. When we were shopping for a new deal everyone wanted "None Shall Defy" part 2, I think the new CD will satisfiy those people.

What are your main influences?

We all listen to different things at that time. I know I was really into Mercyful Fate and Judas Priest at that time. Then a Girl I knew pick up "Slayer" and I was hooked.

None Shall Defy

What's the highlight of your career?

Getting signed - after no one in the begining thought we would. We were from Toronto and most bands were playing Pop Metal, us and Sacrifice were really the odd ball bands back then and everyone thought that this was a fad, as you can see they were wrong.

Why did Chris Bailey leave the band after None shall defy?

Chris had some issues in his personal life at the time, no one wanted him to leave but we couldn't let the personal stuff effect the band so we decide it was the best thing to do. Chris has been back with us now for along time so it doesn't even seem like he was gone.

Did you record any songs under the name Laced, before you became Infernäl Mäjesty?

Just Demo stuff, none of it ever was released.

When and why did you decide to reunite Infernäl Mäjesty?

Well we never really broke up. We just had problems finding the right people to play with us. It's always a struggle getting new guys. You have to find them first - teach them the songs and hope they don't turn into idiots. That really slows everything down

Of all the albums you've made, which one is your favourite?

I don't really have a favorite album as they are different in there own way. But my favorite song still is the title track from the first album "None Shall Defy" It captures everything that Infernal Majesty is and will be. You can put that song on and know exactly who it is.

Have you got any funny metal story to tell?

Oh yeah.... Lots of funny stuff has happened over the years. The one time we were out in Europe with "Cannibal Corpse" and "Dark Funeral" was hilarious. We were in Austria and Steve bought a fishing rod, and we all went to this river, Chris Bailey rolled up his pants, walked out into the river and started to fish. George had a video camera and started taping it just like it was a TV show, You had to see it...14 long haired guys in black sitting by the bank of a river with Bailey fishing, he never caught anything but you should seen the people on the bridge, they must have thought we were crazy.

Infernäl Mäjesty

Any last words to our readers?

We just want to thank the fans who have stuck by us over the years, we get lots of email from around the world and we answer everyone of them. We hope to see you all in the very near future.

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Kenny Hallman, Infernäl Mäjesty

By/ Ruthless