On the last night of a club size headlining tour Battlecross are tearing down equipment and preparing to head home to various outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. The excitement on lead singer (Kyle) Gumby Gunther’s face is palpable. Not just because they played a killer set in front of a very loyal Pittsburgh crowd, but more importantly because he gets to go home to see his son. Life long friends since kindergarten, guitar players Tony Asta and Hiran Deraniyagala, are jovial and glad handing the fans as they file out of the venue, eager to get to work on their sophomore effort to follow up the crticically acclaimed and fan adored ‘Pursuit of Honor’. Don (bass) and Mike (drums) are busily getting all the eqipment prepped to get back to the motor city for what may become one of the most important Januarys in their lives.
Metal Blade recording artists Battlecross have been afforded some amazing touring opps for good reason. They are the next big thing. There really is no debate. PMM had the great pleasure of catching them at Stage AE in Pittsburgh this summer on the Trespass America Festival. Battlecross put in one of the most vicious and brutal sets of the day, winning the crowd over and making a true impression. The band certainly remembers Pittsburgh and their awesome experience as one of the best days of their tour (and PMM can’t thank them enough for sporting our shirts throughout the tour!). We did not hesitate to make it to their headlining performance in Pittsburgh at The Smiling Moose in Southside.
Last night on December 19, 2012 Battlecross gave a performance that will forever be burned into those lucky enough to witness it. It was tight, concise, fun, brutal, passionate, and empowering. In short it was everything that we all love metal for. These guys are carrying the torch of the great ones and taking it to the next level. Drawing from their influences and expounding on them with their own flair and flourish, Hiran and Tony are amazing guitar players that have a sixth sense when it comes to how their work interacts with one another. The back and forth rhythym and lead is a second nature that requires no communication, unless these guys have acquired telepathic powers (which is entirely possible given their history). Don Slater’s bass playing punctuates the high end whilst at the same time is a blistering example of some of the most incredible low end work in metal today. Mike Kreger’s drum technique is top notch as well, and he certainly has the technical skills and fluidity to distinguish himself from the hoarde of other double bass beaters out there. And of course there is Kyle, or as many know him as, “Gumby”. Gumby’s voice has great range, from the gutteral sqwual that is required of all thrash vocalists to the melodic musings of an era gone by in metal. He commands an audience with rapt attention, fists in the air, devil horns waving in unison and chanting the words with him, the crowd is mesmerized.
For those of you who unfortunately missed a performance of a lifetime, PMM offers you our exclusive interview with Hiran before the show with some great insight into what is going on with Battlecross now, what 2013 holds in store, and some awesome bands to check out. Also, check out their performance of ‘Push, Pull, Destroy’ at The Smiling Moose in Pittsburgh:
[wpvideo JrQ2xvm2]
[wpvideo 0Y3jS9Vm]
Special thanks to All the guys in Battlecross and to Metal Blade Records
All photos property of AWeldingphoto and Pittsburgh Music Magazine
Seen these guys whilst helping run sound on a boat in detroit last fall. Although the turnout wasnt what wed hoped for, they went on anyway to provide us with an amazing show. I found the guitars melodic content very original stylisticly…loved it!