AFTERMATH LPs OUT NOW: an exclusive interview with Charlie Tsiolis
double Thrash threat out now on FOAD Records !!
AFTERMATH “When will you die? Demos 1986/1987” LP
First 100 copies via mailorder in milky clear transparent vinyl
due to a pressing plant mistake, this limited colored vinyl edition came out in transparent milky clear vinyl instead of blood red into milky white wax. It’s not an extremely relevant detail but we thought it was important to mention it and clarify.
Two of the most successful American Thrashcore demos of the ’80s for the first time on vinyl, remastered from the best quality sources existing for a never heard before audio quality. If you’re looking for mind blowing FAST Thrash a la Wehrmacht/Soothsayer with a touch of Hardcore reminescent of Attitude Adjustment and Accüsed, this is absolutely a top notch pick. This record includes the “Sentenced to death” demo 1986, “Killing the future” demo 1987 and songs from their first show ever recorded in 1986… 14 songs in total leaving you completely breathless. Tracks like “War For Freedom” and “When Will You Die” were both featured on the British ‘Metal Forces’ magazine compilation LP ‘Demolition: Scream Your Brains Out’ in 1988 Metal Forces. Here at FOAD Records’ headquarters “Killing the future” is one of our top 10 favourite cassettes in the entire Thrashcore discography of the ’80s, so we strongly recommend you this LP! Includes inner sleeve with photos, flyers, articles on 80s fanzines and lyrics. A CD version of this also compiling other demos will be available soon via AreaDeath Prod, China.
and..
AFTERMATH “When will you die? Demos 1989/1990” LP
First 100 copies via mailorder in splatter milky white/royal blue vinyl
Chapter# 2 of the AFTERMATH‘s demo re-issues on FOAD Records. This LP includes their “Words that echo fear” Demo 1989, Roadrace Demo 1990 and a handful of live tracks from 1988. The record shows the band’s natural development from blistering restless Thrashcore to a solid, controlled assault of pure THRASH with a progressive vibe, think of late ’80s Voivod, Coroner crossovered with AFTERMATH’s peculiar way to Thrash portrayed so greatly on the previous “Killing the future” Demo. Both demos landed them in all of the top metal magazines around the world, including: Kerrang, Metal Hammer, RIP, RAW and Metal Forces. “Words that Echo Fear” demo was picked by music journalist Don Kaye as on of the Ten Best Demos of the Year. In 1990, based on the huge international success of the Words that Echo Fear demo, the metal label RoadRacer Records (a subsidiary of Roadrunner Records) approached the band for a demo deal, which resulted in the four track demo featuring the songs ‘Eyes of Tomorrow’, ‘Afraid Of Time’, ‘The Act Of Unspoken Wisdom’ and ‘Reflecting Pictures”, appearing on this LP entirely remastered to the best sounding quality you can think of. Just like many other bands of the ’80s US metal scene, AFTERMATH‘s unique way to thrash is a treasure that hasn’t still been discovered by many and deserves the proper attention on a quality vinyl reissue like this. Includes inner sleeve with photos, flyers, articles on 80s fanzines and lyrics. A CD version of this also compiling other demos will be available soon via AreaDeath Prod, China.
..and if you’re looking for the true collector’s edition, check this out:
AFTERMATH “When will you die?”
DIE-HARD ThrashBag edition (only 66 copies!)
An AMAZING opportunity of getting yourself a VERY LIMITED edition, including BOTH AFTERMATH’s LPs on FOAD Records, a remake of the classic “Killing The Future” t-shirt, and an exclusive and limited “thrash bag” printed on both sides with AFTERMATH’s classic logo and grim reaper!
To celebrate the release of these fantastic vinyl reissues, Marco F.O.A.D. exchanged a few words with front man Kyriakos “Charlie” Tsiolis regarding the beginning of AFTERMATH and their current ongoings… check out this exclusive interview, and do not forget to place your orders since these editions are bound to go fast!
- AFTERMATH from the “”Demolition: Scream Your Brains Out” compilation
Marco FOAD – Charlie, as you know, we released two different Aftermath LPs: the first one (featuring your demo-tapes from 86/87) is ”total 80s thrash” and the second one (featuring demo-tapes from 89/90) is more ‘progressive-thrash’ oriented. Were you guys influenced by bands like VoiVod, Blind Illusion, Mekong Delta, etc?
Charlie: Marco you are right – the 86 demo and ”Killing the Future” were both thrash metal. I think we can say that those demos were not only thrash, but probably two of the first speed core demos ever. At that time, the band had a lot of different musical influences ranging from Slayer toD.R.I to Sabbath and even some classic rock. Of the bands you list the only band we were into or influenced by was VoiVod. VoiVod was a really original thrash band, they were like none of the other bands at that time and I think we share originality with them. By 1988, John Lovette joined the band and we started to become much more progressive in our songwriting. John was a huge Sabbath fan, the songs slowed down and became much more complicated. When you listen to the demos now, we really changed styles in a very short period of time.
Marco FOAD – In the 80s you released a bunch of great demo-tapes (”Killing the Future” for example is one of the masterpieces of thrash metal to have ever been released!) but, except for the songs included in the Metal Forces LP compilation ”Demolition: Scream Your Brains Out” you never released any vinyl LP. Why was that, since during those years releasing LPs was very common for bands?
Charlie: First of all, thank you so much for the praise on ”Killing the Future’‘. We put out that demo and then as I said John joined the band. We were offered several record deals from the Killing release, but we just didn’t feel the labels that wanted to sign the band were the right labels for us. Plus, we were pretty young kids at the time and figured we would record the ”Words that Echo Fear” demo and then the record deal we wanted would come. So by the time we released our record ”Eyes of Tomorrow’‘, the vinyl record was completely replaced by CDs. No one was releasing material on vinyl by 1989. When we put out ”Killing the Future” as a demo in 1987 – tapes were popular, I don’t think any band ever released a demo on vinyl in the 80s thrash scene back then. I am so glad that F.OA.D is releasing the demos on vinyl because nothing can replace the sound of a great turntable and a vinyl record. Music is much warmer on vinyl. It’s funny; kids today download all their music for free, which is killing the music business. The CD is going to go away in a few years, but vinyl is increasing in sales, because the sound is way cooler.
Marco FOAD – What about Aftermath today? Are you guys still playing? Any chance we will see you on stage someday?
Charlie: We just celebrated our 25th year since we formed. I can’t believe all that time has passed since we first played together. It is amazing that you are releasing our demos on vinyl. It is a great way to celebrate the milestone in the band’s history. We are excited to have our old fans listen to the demos on vinyl and also eager to have new fans get into the band. Area Death Productions is releasing 25 Years of Chaos a 4 disc box set that feature the entire musical history of the band including the demos from the 80s and 90s, the ”Eyes of Tomorrow” record remastered and live never before heard tracks. Plus live video footage of the band starting in a 1985 rehearsal, actually one of the first rehearsals we ever had, and continuing all the way to our last show as Aftermath in 1996. We also throw in some footage as Mother God Moviestar. The dvd includes an interview with myself and John Lovette and Ray Schmidt from a few months ago. We are looking forward to both your release and the Area Death box set. We hope to play Europe in the future. We haven’t played on stage together in a long time, but are eager to do so again. We appreciate all the support from you Marco and all the fans that have kept our music alive all these years.
Never thought I would see that on vinyl one day! Marco you rule bro!! And Charlie, never thought that would happen when we started the Aftermath Myspace page project together ,right?
Now you’ve got to do the Battle of the Bands again with Devastation (heard the guys are practicing this week, Erv writing new material!)