Hey Metal Freaks,

This is Jim from Morbid Saint, I just wanted to say hello and let you know that I will be here from time to time.
If anyone has any questions about Morbid Saint I will try to answer them for you. It's great to see that some of you still enjoy our music after all this time.

Stay Heavy!!!!!!!

Jim

Let me be the first to say welcome!

I'll admit I don't listen to Spectrum of Death as much as I ought to, but I'll be damned if I won't take the opportunity to kiss the arse of one of the creators of one of the most brutal and plain nasty thrash albums ever created!

Damn, I still haven't heard your album, but I want to. I don't think I will be disappointed.

It's just cool to see someone like you from an older 80s band still paying so much attention to the fans. That's what metal is all about, I think. This sort of unity.

Jim, your note was posted in the reviews section yesterday:

http://www.metal-archives.com/board/vie ... start=1960

As one of the "old heads," it's good to hear from some of the artists whose music I enjoy. Welcome!

Nice to see you here. I love the Spectrum of Death album.

I remember when I heard Spectrum of Death earlier this year, in March I think. I was still getting into some of more obscure thrash and Spectrum of Death just hit me like a freight train! Lock up your children and Assasin are two of the best songs ever made

"Spectrum of Death" slays. I just picked up the reissue on Power Play Records when it came out, and the album's even nastier than before. Good to have you on the board, man.

Hello Jim!

I actually wrote in this forum yesterday that Spectrum Of Death will be re-issued Really like the new artwork. And the album itself is completely amazing, one of the best thrash metal albums ever. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy Destruction System as much as SoD, because the production is not as good as the previous album. The riffs and vocals are a little buried under the loud bass. But the songs are still great

One question: Will Morbid Saint ever tour again, and if you will, would you come to Sweden?


You wont be man! And Youtube is your friend! Thanks to that site, I have discovered some of the best, yet less famous thrash metal bands ever.

Thanks ogmetal for posting that link here,

You guys are the reason I am posting here.
Your kind words are greatly appreciated.

Thanks Again!!!!!!!!

Jim

mjaeltbrand,

Thank you and I do agree that Destruction was not what we had hoped. That was the reason it did not get released when we recorded it.
As far as a tour goes, I would love to play all these songs live again for the people that never got a chance to see us.
I really don't know if that will ever happen but we will see what the future brings.

Thanks!!!!!!!!

Jim

It would really be great if you did. I was not even born when Spectrum of Death was released haha. The disadvantage with being born in 1991 is that some of the best bands from the 80's split-up and that I never had the chance to see them. An example would also be Cirith Ungol. Fantastic band that deserved better.

It's fantastic to see that you still have the spirit in you, after all these years.

Wow, I was just saying how awesome it would be if you would come post on the forums and here you are! This is what I truly honor as being a great thing, someone like yourself coming here and posting with the fans; definitely something I highly respect. Thank you!

Morbid Saint's Spectrum of Death is by far, one of the greatest thrash albums out there! Horns to you!

BOW DOWN TO YOUR MASTER!

Spectrum Of Death is one of those albums for us here, that a good number of people enjoy. When people look for recommendations on more brutal and faster thrash metal, they usually use Spectrum Of Death as a prime example of the sound they crave.

Not to mention, 'Assassins" is one of those tracks that's loved across the board and it's hard to deny its sheer brutality and overall catchiness.

As mentioned, it's a great honor to have you here among the fans, and I hope to god you guys reform and tour a bit, make a new album or whatever.

hey there,

Morbid Saint is definitely some great stuff. Welcome to the forums!

According to the band page here, Morbid Saint is from Wisconsin, a place not usually known for metal. How did you meet the other members of Morbid Saint? I live in an area where there is pretty much no metal.

Also, how did you learn to play guitar? I want to be able to play thrash, but I don't think I'm fast enough. Another thing, did you learn any scales or music theory stuff?

How did you come up with the riffs and solos?

(I hope that doesn't sound too much like an interview)

It sure is interesting to see more and more musicians from groups here on MA join the forums and speak with potential fans.

This guy basically nailed it. Spectrum Of Death is one of the few albums that no band will ever be able to top for a long time to come and its been quite a long time!

Legend! Hail!

Welcome Jim, fantastic to see you posting here and staying in contact with the fans after all this time, I have been listen to thrash for a very long time and funny enough of late I have been on a power trip of brutal thrash, especially the main three releases, Spectrum Of Death, Darkness Decends and Epedemic Of Violence, never to be conquered! The shear power of these albums could rip your fucking face off! Just like to say thank you, and well done for giving us a slice of thrash history that in my eyes will not be surpassed. Can not forget about Destruction System, also an excellent release, just shadowed by its predecessor. If it ever happens, it would be one hell of a sight for any true metal fan to see you guys on the stage again. Well Done - Raise the Saint

Hey Jim

As a fellow fan, and who praises Morbid Saint a lot, I would just like to say thank you for the music you gave us throughout the years. As an added note, since I DJ in a college radio station, and also hosting a Metal show every Sunday night, we try to play obscure Metal along the Death Metal and Thrash Metal scene, especially in the yester years that was buried with the fame of the big 4, and other German, Bay Area, and South America bands. One of those obscure Thrash bands that we play is Morbid Saint, and Assassin slays every time we play it. Although we don't play it a lot because sometimes we just want to play a lot of music in 2 hours, it doesnt get the air time it deserves.

if your interested heres the link:

http://whfr.fm/apps/search/search.php?k ... mit=search

Again, Thank You for the music, and keep thrashing Jim.

It’s going to be hard not to answer this one without it sounding like an interview, LMFAO but that’s why I’m here.
Wisconsin is not the thrash capitol of the world but there are people everywhere that enjoy just about every kind of music.
We were all in different bands way back before Morbid and all of us played heavy music for that time. (Priest, Maiden, Sabbath, etc)
Jay and I met through Mike Chappa and we started partying and jammin together.
We started out with a different drummer at the beginning but lost him to another band, that’s when we met Lee.
Lee was only 14 when he joined the band but we knew he was something special from the start. To this day I have never seen anyone else move as fast as he could way back then. Lee’s drumming had a major impact on us as far as song writing went. It’s pretty easy to come up with a riff when the drummer is basically drumming riffs for drum parts. You can hear a ton of this on Assassin where the guitar and drum parts are almost the same.
As far as my playing goes, I never took lessons but did learn stuff from anywhere I could. You have to remember that things back than were much different than they are now. There was no internet, Mp3’s or even Cd’s back then, so I think in a way it was harder but better for me. Believe it or not, I got a book on how to play guitar from the library that I still have today that I feel is still an incredible book for the beginning guitarist.
Yes I did learn theory and a ton of scales all of which is in that same book, don’t ask me the name of the book it is very old and doesn’t have a cover.
Coming up with riffs and solos has always been pretty easy for me, I some times have a hard time ending a song because I have so many ideas. Assassin was one of those times when we had to say enough is enough and use riffs for another song.
Solos are just plain fun to play, it’s like you finally get a chance to let your fingers do what they want. Jay and I traded solos but we both wanted to play all of them, we both really like playing fast. We play much faster today than we did back then but our styles have changed somewhat. We still play very much the same way, just more refined I guess.
Playing fast is not really that hard it just takes endurance and you will only get that from practice. I started out playing simple riffs and just kept playing them faster.
You don’t need to play something very technical you just need to get your fingers use to moving fast, always start slow and work your way up.
When you can play fast, you also need to be able to play fast with your band and still be tight. Morbid Saint practiced four hours a day six times a week for almost the entire time we were together. With that amount of practice it was very easy for us to play together as fast as we all wanted to.
Lee would always try to make us keep up with him just for fun, but Jay and I could last much longer than he could.
Sorry for rambling on so much but talking about the band and all that we went through back then is very enjoyable for me and I hope you enjoy listening.

Thanks again!!!!!!!

Jim

Jim, there are two thrash albums I worship beyond all others: Nocturnal Breed's Fields of Rot, and Spectrum of Death. It is simply amazing, and I just wanted to let you know.

I do have a few questions, though. First, is there ever a chance for an actual release of Destruction System? I know you just said that you guys weren't really happy with the result, but from what I've heard of it, it still seems to be a very worthy album. Maybe a re-recording is in order? I know many metalheads would be overjoyed for such a release.

On a less serious note, which artwork for Spectrum of Death do you guys prefer? I know some people prefer the original demon portrait, but I'm rather partial towards the pile of skulls on the Power Play reissue. Just curious what you think.

Thanks so much,
Assassin is my favorite MS song and am glad you are playing it so people today can enjoy it also.
I can just imagine what people that have never heard it before say after they hear you play it.

Thanks!!!!!!!

Jim

I've (supposedly) contacted Pat Lind's account on Youtube. As you may know Spectrum of Death's original CD pressing goes for some very high amounts on eBay. Pat told me that he wouldn't mind selling me a copy of it for less than $50. Can you verify this?

Thank you very much,

We did talk some years back about trying to release DS on our own but the masters are gone. Everything back then was on tape and we don’t know where they are, which really sucks
.
The only way would be to re-record it all and that would be awesome if it could happen.
We actually had five more songs for that album and but never got recorded, although I do have copies of them being played at practice.

The artwork on SoD has always been something that we hated, it was a last minute decision to use it and we just didn’t have the means to have another one made.
Back then the art work had to be painted by hand and that’s what the guy came up with,
if it was now it would be much different.

I like the Power Play cover much better but the original will always be a big part of that album for us. I just always hated the whole Iron Maiden rip-off thing.

Thanks!!!!!!!

Jim

I had no way of using most internet resources on guitar playing until last night when I finally got a faster Internet connection as some sort of gift. I have a guitar teacher, but he knows no metal, so I kinda feel as though I'm not learning what I want to learn. That and I don't have much time to practice usually.

Another question (sorry for all the questions): Do/did you ever worry about playing stuff that sounded like things people had already done before? Did you ever come up with a great riff that you discarded because you thought it sounded too much like someone else's riff?

I don't mind the rambling (as you call it); I enjoy hearing about bands I like.

Edit: Oh yeah, who were some of the influences for Morbid Saint? Anything we might not expect? The reviews compare you guys to Kreator, Destruction, etc. a lot, but had you guys heard all those bands when you made Spectrum of Death?

Welcome bro! Spectrum of Death is one of the most violent thrash metal outputs and I love it!

Damien song rules!

I actually played it to my friend (who's into metal but isn't exactly familiar with many underground thrash releases) a few weeks ago and I think he said something along the lines of "sounds like Satan raping the guys of Slayer except that the riffs are better", haha.

Anyway, there's not much I can say that hasn't been said already. Spectrum of Death is one of the few albums that I really worship. It's a god. I've only got Spectrum of Death on vinyl so I haven't heard Destruction System in its entirety, but from what I've heard, it DESTROYS most albums out there.

Are you still in contact with the other guys from the band? Do you or do they still actively follow the current (thrash) metal scene? If you do, what do you think of all these "thrash revival" bands who try to sound like they came from the 80's instead of even trying to be original?

I haven't talked to Pat for awhile but I think he does still have some copies left.
I can't tell you if they are the originals though.
I myself have only one original that is unopened and would not sell it for the world.
I think Pat may have some of the Keltic copies and maybe some Power Play ones I just don't know about the original ones.

Thanks!!!!

Jim

I love that fucking cover. There's something about it that is very memorable and charming.

I think I'm gonna take in a Morbid Saint tab the next time I have a guitar lesson.

I might not be able to play it as fast, but I still think it'd be something I'd like to work on. If I do end up playing one of your songs, it'll be the first song/first tab I've ever played.

We truly have a legend among us here on MA. Morbid Saint, along with Exhorder and Dark Angel, are one of my favorite metal bands.

Cheers Jim.

I really appreciate that, man! Thank you and thanks for all the wonderful music you have made. "Sprectrum of Death" is one of my favourite albums and I always suggest it to other people.

Currently listening to Spectrum of Death at very high volumes.

One of my biggest influences, thanks for the music!

Jim,

Sir, major respect to you. I bow to thee. I love MS' Spectrum Of Death. I have a question for you.

Which bands were your major inspirations? Whose work were you guys most influenced by?

Learning anything you can from anyone will help even if it’s not the music you want to learn.
I know some younger guitarists that learned how to play from other metal guitarists and they don’t seem to have their own identity.
Learning tab for songs you like is a good way to understand and learn a certain person’s technique; www.ultimate-guitar.com is a great place to start.
It’s hard to know if a riff has been used before but if I come up with something that I know sounds real similar to anther riff I will not use it that way.
There are a ton of bands out there so the odds are pretty good that if you come up with something on your own, it may already have been used.

Yes we were aware of them all when we wrote SoD. We didn’t try to sound like any other band in particular we just played the way we felt and that’s how it came out.
We were all influenced by different types of bands but they were all pretty much just early heavy metal bands like Priest and Maiden.
I pretty much only played early priest before Morbid. To me that’s where it all started so it was only a natural progression of that music to move forward into thrash.

Thanks!!!!!!!!

Jim

Have you been working on any music projects lately, Jim? Also whats this Hallowcore four of you guys played in?

WOW,

You guys are fucking amazing, I never thought I would get this many replys. I will try to answer your questions when I see them so bare with me.
My last post pretty much sums up my influences but the band itself listened to all kinds of stuff when we were together.
I think Slayer would be the biggest inspiration though.
When Show No Mercy came out we knew we were part of something new and hoped we would have some success.
We just kept moving forward in the same direction we always had and never tried to change to fit in no matter what other bands were doing at the time.

Thanks!!!!!!

Jim

Jim, have you talked with any of the other members of Morbid Saint about a reunion of any sort, ever since you guys broke up? There's been a huge old school thrash revival that's been happening in the past several years. Would your heart still be in Morbid Saint to produce similar music? Or is it simply still a great memory of a great time?

Nothing going on right now with the music.
Hallowcore is a band Jay and I started with Pat and Gary just for fun, the name changed to Boxshaft.
Pat and Gary left the band awhile ago.
We are not together anymore but our myspace page is still up if you want to see what we look like in our old age.

Thanks!!!!!!!!

Jim

That's pretty awesome to hear (though pretty much every extreme thrash band is influenced by Slayer). I'm gonna try to buy some Slayer later on today.