Articles by "Ravage"
RAVAGE ANNOUNCES NEW SHOW DATES
RAVAGE, the heavy metal band from Boston, Massachusetts which formed in the mid 90's combining traditional metal, power metal, thrash metal and speed metal influences has announced a slate of new tour dates including an appearance at the Legions of Metal Festival in Chicago and the band's first ever European tour this summer.
Ravage will appear as part of a package featuring fellow Massachusetts underground thrash metalers Lich King and speed metallers Seax. The jaunt will cover at least 8 different countries and includes a stop at the Krakow Crossover Festival in Poland and concludes with an appearance at The Headbanger's Open Air Festival in Germany. This will be the band's first appearance on European soil since Ravage played at the Magic Circle Festival in Bad Arolsen Germany in 2008. This will also mark the band's first return to extended touring since Ravage toured the USA in support of "The End Of Tomorrow" album which was released on Metal Blade Records in 2009.
Singer Al Ravage has checked in with the following comment: "It is great to finally get the opportunity to visit a lot of the countries that have been so supportive to the band over the years. We are particularly thankful to get the chance to return to Germany for the first time in almost a decade to play the legendary Headbangers Open Air Festival. As far as we are concerned that is the apex of anything a traditional heavy metal band can do, so we couldn't be more excited about getting the call. It will be great to share the stage with some of our favorite classic metal bands and get the chance to share not only material from our last two albums, but some forthcoming new songs as well. It should be a hell of a time."
Confirmed dates are as follows with more to be announced....
TOUR DATES:
May 19 - Chicago, Illinois, USA - Reggies - Legions Of Metal Festival feat TKO, Bitch and Toxik
June 23 - Worcester, Massachusetts, USA - Ralph's Diner
European dates with LICH KING and SEAX:
July 3 - Rostock, Germany - Peter-Weiss-Haus
July 5 - Deinze, Belgium - Elpee
July 6 - London, England - The Dev
July 7 - Manchester, England - TBA
July 8 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Little Devil
July 11 - Paris, France - TBA
July 12 - Nantes, France - La Ferrailleur
July 14 - Olten, Switzerland - Coq D'or
July 15 - Milan, Italy - The One
July 18 - Budapest, Hungary - Blue Hell
July 21 - Krakaw, Poland - Warzstat
July 22 - Warsaw, Poland - Poglos
July 25 - Zielona Gora, Poland- Wyspa
July 26 - Brande- Hornerkirchen, Germany - Headbangers Open Air
RAVAGE'S AL EXPECTS PLENTY OF ENERGY AND HOOKS TO KEEP YOU BELIEVING!
Metal titans RAVAGE have made the recent release of re-recording their first debut album "Return Of The Spectral Rider", with current plans on working upon a bunch of material that's just been lying around, may be made into a double album soon enough. Frontman vocalist Al Ravage discloses the album's details, style, and how their band's name came about.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
I (Al Ravage) and the singer. My brother (Eli Firicano) and I formed the band and we played our first show in 1996. We've had many line-up changes since then, but we've kept at things through various successes and failures and periods of lots of activity and lots of inactivity. Guitarist Nick Izzo joined around 2001, we signed to Karthago Records in 2005, then Metal Blade Records in 2009. Now we are fully independent. We've played in Europe a couple of times, played all around the USA. We just like putting out metal music and playing whatever shows we are invited to play.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
When I was a (13 year old) kid, I wanted to start a heavy metal band and I was looking for a cool name and I thought "Ravage" was the perfect name for a heavy metal band. This was back in the early 90's when you couldn't just search for anything online. So I went to the local record stores and searched through the racks for any albums by a band called Ravage. I was surprised not to find any so I assumed there never was one and started using the name. Even though it became apparent a few years later that there had been bands called Ravage, the fans wouldn't let us change it and after the first 20 years passed it seemed pointless to change it...
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We are from the Boston Massachusetts area of the USA. We have a good, very diverse local metal scene with too many bands to name. There are classic bands that are still around like Meliah Rage. Newer bands that are becoming well-known in the national scene like Revocation, Power Glove, Lich King etc and plenty of good new and emerging bands like Seax, Sonic Pulse, Reckless Force, Dreaded Silence, Seven Spires, Black Mass, Goblet, Ice Giant etc... too many to name.
4. How would you describe your style?
We are a mix of traditional heavy metal and new wave of british heavy metal style stuff like Iron Maiden, Saxon, 70's Judas Priest with late 80's style trash influences a la Testament and early Metallica and then there is some late 90's euro style powermetal influence as well. We kind of run the gamut of anything that'd be considered traditional heavy metal and thrash.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
We are working on a bunch of songs we've had lying around forever. We hope to record a double-album soon.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
At this point we are working on recording and videos. We will be headed to Germany next summer for the Headbangers Open Air Festival and we hope to be able to put some shows together around that. We are looking for help with that.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
We want to get our best music recorded, play some good shows and just have as much fun as we can doing what we want to do.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
www.RavageTheEarth.com
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/ravage12
https://www.indiemerch.com/metalbladerecords/band/ravagehttps://open.spotify.com/album/2r71bqjWPClXP3ZHaXrpud
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
"Remember no matter where you go, there you are!" No, I mean "Remember the night rider!" No, I'd just like them to remember the tune and maybe our name so they can find it and hear it again.
Ravage - Return Of The Spectral
Traditional, no one uses that term, not no way, not no how! But in the case of Ravage they continue on as a new voice for the traditional metal genre, ignoring all previous incarnations as it were, the passing trends, instead offering a sound that is within the likes of heavy metal, thrash metal, being nothing like the others. Thus, this is their latest album to date, being entitled "Return Of The Spectral Rider". The title track comes close to opening up the album, as it's track lingers as a close second coming, being quite memorable. The material within bringing to mind the acts of the classics like Judas Priest meets Iron Maiden. That is the format that those acts used during their time and still do, and how Ravage does their own ways with the style, in similar forms somehow. Their style being slightly similar but still keeping to their own originality as a whole. The next track would have to be a set of tracks, as it would have it be, such as, "Turn The Screw", "The Wicked Way", "Wake The Dead", "Wasteland", and "Bring Down The Hellhammer". All of which appear to be quite entertaining, lots of fast paced energy, with lots of guitar driven riffs, powerful vocals, you get the feel rushed across your face and body. The music just embracing you, as you tap your feet if not bang your head, you are really taken in upon the music in question. It just has so much going for it, that there is not one way to depict it's power. Ravage just knows how to play their tune, and they do so, so willingly yet right as well. "Return Of The Spectral Rider", is just one of those albums that just gets you, it fills you up with music that just hits. It is how Ravage works and it works out well.