MUSIC INTERVIEW- NWOBHM ACT RAVEN DISCUSS "METAL CITY", TOURING AND NWOBHM

PHOTO CREDIT: PRESS

NWOBHM legends Raven recently released their latest album "Metal City". This February, the band were due to embark on a European tour with Kill Ritual, Crystal Viper and Wolf, but the pandemic put a halt to that. I spoke with frontman John Gallagher about the new album, the postponed dates, and what it was like to come through during the NWOBHM era.

Good Morning, how have you and the band been during this pandemic?

Hi! We are hanging in as they say...working on a number of upcoming projects.. I’ve been steadily writing new material as well as putting out my “ bass noodles” every day on Facebook!

Raven released their most recent album "Metal City" last year, how has the overall response to it been? The album felt like a throwback to old school basics, was that your intentions going into making the album?

The reaction has been pretty amazing actually.. the best reviews we have had in forever... but more importantly the fans really “ get” it. We didn’t plan on a “ back to basics” album and this really isn’t that - other than the energy that’s obviously present. We just wrote a lot of good songs with the intention of having a 10 song kick-ass album from start to finish... as we had a lot of songs we basically “ pre sequenced” the album as we went... picking a killer opener then going through the songs and seeing what worked! The entire process took a lot longer than originally envisioned but in the end, the effort paid off!

You may have been asked this several times already, What is Metal City in reference to?

It’s our hometown of Newcastle Upon Tyne. it’s always been a great music city and a lot of metal for sure... it also points at how metalheads make their own “ Metal city” whenever we all get together! It was an obvious title track as it’s so anthemic and then we had the whole comic book cover concept which works so well.

I feel like the album had several influences from bands in the NWOBHM era, did you have any when planning on making Metal City? lol! You have to remember we formed the band in 1974.... and when the initial wave of NWOBHM bands came out-and we were one of them. They were all totally different from each other. To this day I still haven’t heard at least 60% of the NWOBHM bands as we were too busy writing & playing our own stuff! I’ve seen reviews where “ oh they sound like such and such on this song”. If that’s the case it’s just pure coincidence.... after all without being arrogant.. we did actually invent at least some of what you’d call those influences!

This was drummer Mike Heller’s first record with you, He seems a demon behind the kit. What do you think he has brought to Raven, and what influence has he made on the band as a whole?

He’s been a shot of adrenaline for sure. He came into the band at exactly the right time.. although Mark and I had already written the songs, his input and energy kicked everything up a level or three... inspiring us to raise our game too.

How did you meet Mike Heller?

In 2017, our previous drummer Joe .. who had been with us for literally 30 years.. had a heart attack two days before we were due to do a string of US dates and a Euro tour. We got a few fill-in guys so we could play the shows and Mike did three of the four US shows. We’d played the first date in Chicago then flew to New Jersey.. met Mike and chatted about the songs for 30 min... then played the gig. He was literally phenomenal and all three of us were looking at each other... the chemistry was there! We did two more shows then went off to Europe but told Mike we’d be in touch as soon as we returned. We offered him the job and he was “ in”...He loves the freedom that we give for him to contribute and to just play and go nuts!!

Raven has been around for 40 plus year now, what is the key to longevity, and how do you remain motivated in making new records?

Quite simply, we love what we do... and we are getting better at it! I also think we really appreciate the position we are in. We are humbled and very lucky to able to do what we do... That’s never far from our minds. We have an obligation to ourselves.. and to our fans to keep this train a-rolling.. to challenge ourselves to do better on every album and to give 110% at every show.. we feel like we are just getting started!!!

You came through with a lot of talented British acts like Motorhead, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and Saxon, what impact did they have on your development? And how different is the British metal scene now in comparison to the ’80s?

The amazing thing is, all of those bands were so very different.. and we were very different from them too.. so you could appreciate them but everyone was in their own lane so to speak. I loved the way we all have that in your face attitude .. and that bred healthy competition! I’m not sure of the British

“ scene” I’m sure there are some young guns trying to get it together but all I’ve seen is a glut of cover bands and “ tribute” bands... which the pubs and clubs love as it’s an easy sell... a creative hell, however.

You were due to go on tour in February with crystal Viper, Kill Ritual and Wolf, what can you tell us about the bands?

It’s a great line up! Kill Ritual are a great heavy band who have opened for us a few years ago... We are mates with Crystal Viper's manager.. a classic Euro band... and Wolf put their own twist in the NWOBHM and kick ass!

The tour has unfortunately been cancelled due to the current climate. When things are given the go-ahead (fingers crossed). Where would you like to go and perform? lol! EVERYWHERE!!! We are gonna be two years behind so there’s a lot of catch up to do... Europe... the States... Central & South America... Japan, Australia.... and wherever else we can rock! The industry and the demographic continues to change,

How do you adapt the raven sound to that, and what advice would you give any young metalheads hoping to emulate Raven in the music industry today? We just stay true to ourselves.. We play what gets us going and hopefully, people want to come along for the ride...so we don’t try to change just to fit a demographic... that’s advertising executive music lol. All I can say is be in it for the right reasons -the love of the music and playing live... anything else is gravy but if you go into this looking for only fame and fortune you will be sorely disappointed!

And finally, What is next for Raven?

We are writing for the next album... which is a constant process! Also planning another “ party killers” style covers album... and I’m working on getting the rights back to our early albums - once that’s sorted we can look at box sets etc... which’s gonna be fun! Then Euro dates in February!!! Words by Anselm Anderson

For further reading on Raven, Click here to read our exclusive interview with the band in 2019, during their tour of Japan. https://anselmanderson.blogspot.com/2019/03/raven-interview.html

"Metal City"