Sean Peck of Cage
Interviewed by Dave Fonseca on 12/16/2007
Transcribed by Dave Fonseca
DF: First off, I'd like to know how you guys spent your time in the four years between Darker Than Black and Hell Destroyer. Was this a “break” for everyone in the band?
SP: I was in the middle of a real estate boom and had to make money while the getting was good! I was running my brokerage with Juan Garcia from Agent Steel working for me which definitely cut into productivity time. The main reason though that it took so long was the meticulous care we put into making this an album for the ages. We really wanted to set a new standard by which all concept CDs would be judged. The fan response and critical acclaim has made it all worth it.
DF: Bands are often hesitant to use the term “concept album” when referring to their work. However, I'd say it's a pretty accurate descriptor for Hell Destroyer. How long was this concept in development?
SP: Well first we came up with the title and then I began penning the tale based on Revelations. I wanted to completely cover the end of the world and the ultimate battle between Heaven and Hell like it had never been done before. Our combination of music, lyrics, text, images and interludes has created a multi dimensional metal escape that details a horrific vision of power, conspiracy, prophecy and struggle. People have really praised the story and we will launch www.HELLDESTROYER.com in a couple of months to further detail the story and extra images that were drawn but not used.
DF: Those who have been waiting for new material from Cage since Darker than Black definitely got their money's worth. This is one of the longest albums I've ever heard. Were these songs accumulated over the last four years, or did they all come together at once.
SP: No. It took awhile to write these songs, pre-produce them, make adjustments, and record them. It was about three years to write and one to record. It is about two albums worth of songs. We tested a lot of them out live too to make sure the crowd rocked hard enough to them.
DF: Your music is described by most critics as being distinctly American Power Metal. How does it feel being a part of a tradition that includes bands like Jag Panzer, Iced Earth, Savatage, Fates Warning ... etc?
SP: I love it. Those are some of my faves along with Crimson Glory, Priest, W.A.S.P., Lizzy Borden and Metal Church. We have a lot of influences and have evolved into a power metal band -- whereas I just call it heavy metal. We seem to be one of the few left who can walk that line between classic vibe and modern influences. That has really been our strength. Now young kids and their parents come to the shows and eat it up! We have played with all those bands you mentioned as well as Priest and Maiden so those goals have been achieved.
DF: Your vocals are a definitely a focal point on Hell Destroyer. I've always been fascinated by power metal vocalists and how they practice their craft. I was wondering how singing went from being just a seed in your brain to a full time profession. How much work does it take and how long has a performance like the one we hear on Hell Destroyer been in the making?
SP: Well I love talking about myself, HA! My singing on this Hell Destoyer CD was far beyond anything I could do on the Darker than Black CD. I have really reached a new level of power lately and the tracking of Hell Destoyer really added to my evolution. A tremendous amount of work went into the tracks as I used all the different voices I have in my arsenal. None of the vocals on the record were altered in any way. Only reverb and delay was used. It was cool to work with producer Richard Carr again as this is a guy who has tracked Halford and Dickenson and played guitar in Dickinson's band on the Chemical Wedding tour. I used extreme falsettos that can be heard in the chorus of “Bohemian Grove” that I would challenge any human to try to duplicate. Rick really pushed me as I did Six Feet Under type guttural voices layered on top of a UDOish voice like in “Rise of the Beast.” I also incorporated powerful Ripper type vocals and my standard Peck voice to constantly give a different attack and stylistic approach on each tune to make it different and fresh from song to song.
DF: Hell Destroyer approaches religion from a perspective that most metal fans aren't used to hearing. Obviously Cage isn't a band that isn't afraid to make it clear where they stand on religion, but does it bother you to be labeled as “Christian Metal.”
SP: No it doesn’t bother me, but we are not labeled that very often. It is hard to avoid talking about religion and Christianity when the story is based upon Revelations from the Bible. I have always been fascinated with religion and religious prophecy and conspiracy and I took the opportunity to weave it all together along with some sci-fi and fantasy elements. I also wanted to portray imagery that made God’s forces more vicious and bad ass looking than the Devil’s forces and Marc Sasso did a killer job of that on the cover and Forrest Butler did some sick shit on the interior of our “heavy metal graphic novel”
DF: Does your faith ever get in the way of your musical careers? Are there any bands you won't play with? I imagine it may be hard to navigate through the metal scene while having strong religious beliefs.
SP: No. Like I said we are in it for the power of metal first and not trying to deliver a message more a feeling. I am in this for the feeling that metal gave me as a fan and now a performer. The Hell Destroyer album is meant to transport the listener away and entertain an escape for 80 minutes while banging your head -- of course. I don’t write political songs for that same reason. I would have no problem playing with other bands that try to be super satanic, but to me it is a joke watching them try to be more evil than the next band. It is for a lack of imagination that most bands succumb to that imagery. Cage has always been a leader in the idea department like our tribute song to King Diamond.
DF: “King Diamond,” is one of the most interesting songs on Hell Destroyer, as it evokes the name of the metal legend and kind of presents a little history of his “career of evil.” How did that song come about. Was it pretty fun to write?
SP: Well it was one of the first songs we wrote and obviously it did not fit into the concept story. The guys were pretty skeptical at first but now they realize just how cool it ended up being as we have gotten a lot of love from it. The chorus is killer and we always get everyone to sing along with it. I think the King should cover it. I plan on asking him to guest vocal on the next CD. We heard that he loved the song and was honored by it, so that is cool.
DF: I'm wondering how you guys made it through the recent wild-fires in San Diego, and how the local metal scene was affected by the disaster.
SP: The metal heads here actually started the fires! Ha! This was the second big one in a few years and it is crazy how hard they are to stop. My friend is a firefighter who was on the front line and while he was battling a 100 foot high wall of fire holding a hose, he thought he was hallucinating as wisps of flame kept zooming by his feet. He looked closer and they were rabbits that were on fire running past him! There were few casualties and if you have insurance you are cool. I live by the beach so it never came close to me. But, cant we figure out a way to put out fires? The metal scene in San Diego has always been strong and is now exceptionally raging because the kids are totally into the shit now. When we play with local death metal or screamo bands we make them look completely one dimensional and the kids are blown away with the Cage heavy metal delivery. We are playing at such a high level now as far as our live show goes. The song selection now and the four vocals we have on the front line really has us crushing all in our path. Don’t take my word for it come see for yourself!!
DF: Finally, for those who have never heard Cage before and don't really know what you are about, what is one song they could listen to?
SP: “Hell Destroyer.” That song sums it up, or maybe “Kill the Devil.” Thanks for the time and please all of you reading this tell a friend about us and contact us at www.cageheavymetal.com or www.myspace.com/cageheavymetal