SDM: Your new band Charred Walls of the Damned is set to release its debut album. How did the idea for this project come about?
Richard: The television channel that I work for, Howard Stern’s Howard TV, did a special on my drumming career about a year and a half ago. I wrote an original song called “Frost” for the special where I played guitar, bass, and drums, and it was a lot of fun to write. The Sirius-XM Heavy Metal channel Liquid Metal put the song into rotation, and I received a lot of positive feedback about the song, which inspired me to continue writing music. I’ve played guitar for several years and I’m always writing riffs, but this inspired me to start putting everything together into full songs.
SDM: What made you want to re-enter the music scene?
Richard: Every time I go see a band in concert, it really makes me want to get back into the music scene. I have a ton of friends that play in bands, and whenever I go to their shows, hang out with them, and see them up on stage in front of a huge crowd, it really makes me want to be up there, too. I recently saw Slipknot play Madison Square Garden here in New York City and it made me so proud of them, because I remember playing with those guys in 1993 at The Runway in Des Moines in front of ten people when they were all in different death metal bands. Hanging out with Joey, Mick, Paul, and the guys after the show and talking about the old days was really inspiring, and definitely made me want to get back into the music scene.
SDM: Tell us about the writing process for this record. You also wrote guitar parts for this record?
Richard: Yes, I wrote all of the guitar parts on the demos, and I also played the bass, drums, wrote the lyrics, and sang on the songs to get an idea of what the finished product would sound like. It took me around ten months to write everything. When I went into the studio in Florida with Jason Suecof, he took the riffs and arrangements and made them so much better. He’s an incredible guitar player, so he took my simplistic guitar riffs and really spiced them up and made them sound amazing. The same with Steve DiGiorgio; on the demos, I played really simple bass along with my guitar riffs. I told Steve to go crazy in the studio and he played some of the most amazing bass stuff that I’ve ever heard. Tim “Ripper” Owens is recording his vocal parts in a couple of weeks in Florida, and I can’t wait to hear it, it’s going to be crushing! It’s such an honor to have Steve, Jason, and Tim in my band.
SDM: What made you choose the musicians you chose to guest with you on this project?
Richard: Jason and I have been talking about doing a project together for about ten years now, so he was definitely my first choice for the band. He’s an amazing songwriter, guitar player, and singer, so I love working with him. Steve is my favorite bass player and I’ve been a huge fan of his for years, especially when I heard Death’s Individual Thought Patterns. We’ve had a lot of great times together, and I knew it would be a blast having him in the studio. Same with Tim; I had a lot of fun touring with him in Iced Earth and he sounded incredible every night we played, so he was definitely a natural choice for the singer in my band.
SDM: What would you say this project sounds like?
Richard: It would be hard to categorize it into a certain type of metal because there are elements of death metal, like blast beats, and it’s super heavy, but also melodic like Iron Maiden. There are tons of guitar harmonies, and I tried to make the songs and riffs really memorable, something that will stick in your head after the first listen. It’s a mix of all of the different types of music I like. I would say that it’s a mix of all of the bands that myself, Steve, and Tim have been in, but it doesn’t sound like one particular band. I’m really excited because it sounds different than anything I’ve done before.
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