It’s funny, the words us metal guys use when talking to each other. For example, when chatting with CRAWL 2 CHAOS drummer Pete Colvin, I decide to employ the grammatically questionable and fully offensive phrase “lesser-popular” when talking about the kinds of old-school thrash bands I hear in their sound. You know, I’m thinking CYCLONE TEMPLE, not METALLICA here, because, hey, it’s the truth. Luckily, one metal dude to another knows that it’s all good.
“I don’t think you’re off at all,” says Colvin. “We’ve played a ton of shows and we’ve heard all kinds of categorizations from people when it comes to our music. I think if we remind someone of a band they like, past or present, then who am I to label it otherwise, you know?”
The New Jersey band shows their influences on their debut, Wasteland America, but it’s homage, not ripping off. And the bands they’re paying homage to are all worthy of some homage indeed.
“As far as the actual influences, ’80's metal without a doubt plays a big role. Not the glam stuff people think of when you say ’80’s (laughs). ANTHRAX, MEGADETH, METALLICA, METAL CHURCH, W.A.S.P., DIO, RHOADS, OVERKILL and so many more. Man, there are five of us to speak for here; I could name bands for a while. Really, anything that was on Combat or Megaforce back then (laughs). I'm definitely an Alice Cooper fan as well, so I feel that kinda shows a bit in ‘Suffer Kate’’s lyrics.”
Hold on there, fella. You had me at Combat and Megaforce. Which brings me back to Cyclone Temple (and, no, I’m not going to spend this whole article talking about Cyclone Temple, but even if I was, got a problem with that? Not every goddamn band features ex-members of ZNO… ah, forget it.).
The reason I’m mentioning Cyclone Temple so much is not because I am obsessed with them, or that I could even hum you one single Cyclone Temple song right now (or even name one, to be honest… ‘I For An Eye’? Am I making that up? Sounds like something they might say.) No, the reason I mention this band is because Crawl 2 Chaos, in all their blue-collar metal-guyness, have that same steely, thrash wire riff attack down, that same pummel that those, ahem, lesser-popular thrash bands utilized to great success, except with even more attention to memorable songs and hooks.
“I guess we’re pretty fortunate to have songwriters in the band with such a wide range of influences that we don't fall into that ‘every song sounds the same, but with different lyrics’ thing,” says Colvin. “We never set out to write a song in a certain style. Songs just kinda form themselves and if we're lucky enough to get a cool hook in there, it's a keeper.”
