Onward guitarist Toby Knapp recently checked in and revealed that as he was recording his new solo album, Transmission To Purgatory, he became very bored with the material. He boxed the album up and starting writing different music, which turned into a Waxen album entitled Die Macht Von Hassen.
Knapp has checked in with an overview of the albums that influenced him as a guitarist.
"Moribund Records are preparing to release Waxen's sixth album. The album is pretty fucked up. It's a chaotic and rough ride filled with shrieking vocals and dissonant music that reminds me of my teenage self at war with everything. I'm closing in on 51 and this makes me wonder.......what went wrong?
Well, the albums pictured below didn't help matters. However, their impact on me and 35 plus year staying power within my life is worth a look. I would be a much different person had they never crossed my path."
Venom - Possessed
Knapp: "This was the first. Initially, I thought it sounded like a punk band rehearsing in a basement. By the time I got to the words 'Look at me, Satan's child....I am possessed by all that is evil' I was completely terrified. Do I get the hell out of this music?"
Slayer - Hell Awaits
Knapp: "Answering the question above comes headfuck #2. This album rattled my 14 year old self enough to the point where I never wanted to hear it again. The riffs were just as twisted as the lyrics and I steered clear....for a few days. Down to the fiery pits of hell."
Bathory - The Return
Knapp: "I didn't think music could get more diabolical than Slayer until this gem ended up on the turntable. This was just cold and WRONG. My parents started trying some interventions when they heard this album blasting from my room. Seriously. In no time I had short hair and was enrolled in a strict Christian school. Even my guitar teacher was disturbed that a kid with a little potential would put the Deep Purple albums away and listen to this 'trash.' Maybe they were right, serious music study and Satanic music couldn't work together? So......."
Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath
Knapp: "This album soon came along and I realized that all the pages of music theory I was reluctant to learn (I only needed pentatonic scale mastery at this time) now had their place. This record pushed me to understand scales, modes and how to create harmonized guitar parts. This pushed me into neoclassical metal and soon I would move on to the Shrapnel Records catalog......which pleased my parents as most of those albums were instrumental!"
Kreator - Terrible Certainty
Knapp: "I loved the razor sharp riffs, violent arrangements and hateful vocals. When my cassette of this got fucking eaten I was so distraught I traded Metallica's Kill 'Em All to a friend for his copy of this album. That's saying something."
"I blame and thank the albums above. It's been a good life BUT they've contributed to lifelong tunnel vision and I'll be 51 soon. Perhaps I should have thought more of my advancing years or maybe I just go ahead and give what's left to music? Precarious times."
PS: "It didn't go completely wrong. The forthcoming Waxen album is my tenth release on Moribund Records. That's where the heavy metal tunnel vision paid off."
