Hi and hail godfather of thrash metal, what's up? Tell us some news about INTERZONE!

Rob: Not much news right now, we are finishing up writing material for our next CD. I know this sounds cliche, but our new stuff is way heavier and thrashier than our last CD "Cydonia". We are still looking for a new guitar player, but if I have to, I will play all the guitar on the recording.

Congratulation to the goldmedal in ice-hockey. Are you into hockey? Which is your favorite team? Toronto Maple Leafs, where you do come from? My favorite canadian team are the Ottawa Senators, they rule but they`ll never win the Stanley Cup, haha but the Maple Leafs don’t win it either, haha.

Rob: Toronto is the centre of the hockey universe, so the city went crazy when we won the gold medal. It was a great game and we deserved it!!! Yes, the Leafs are my favorite team and I hate the Senators. Kevin our bassist is from Ottawa and he supports them. I have a good hockey story... I was talking to Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse and he said Janne Niinimaa from the Edmonton Oilers went to their show, and he was all dressed in black with huge black boots. Janne loves underground and black metal!!!!

You come from Toronto, right? Can you speak German? I know the guys from Cryptopsy speak German very well. Do you know Cryptopsy? Great musicians. Are you nowadays into the Toronto Metal scene? What can you tell us about the scene there? Do you go to concerts nowadays?

Rob: The only other language I know a bit of is French. unfortunately, I know no German. I would love to learn it. German is the most violent sounding language!!!Yes, Cryptopsy are awesome musicians, but their unorthodox style is too much for an old guy like me.  They are popular here. I go to shows sometimes, but there aren't many good local bands.

Ok, let`s talk about Sacrifice. Don`t you think it`s strange, that the fans want more information about Sacrifice today then in the past? How many interviews do you have to do about Sacrifice in a week?

Rob: Lately, I've been getting about 1 a week. They are always long and extremely detailed which is amazing. It always brings back good memories. I do find it strange that in the past year, people have been really into Sacrifice again.

Let`s go to the past, Rob. Tell us a little bit about the beginning of Sacrifice. Did you expect in 1985 that you will record 5 Lp`s?

Rob: I had no idea. I was just turning 18 in 1985 and just to to a demo was exciting.

The original line-up from 1985 was you, Joe Rico, Scott Watts and Gus Pynn, right? This Line up recorded 3 great Lp`s: Torment in Fire,Forward to Termination and Soldiers of Misfortune. This Line up played till 1992. After that Gus Pynn left the band. What was the reason for that? 7 years in the same line up, no problems all the times? I think this was a great result, today bands change their members like my friend Uwe his underpants, haha.( I change them!!!!, Marcus doesn't - Uwe) You were great friends, right?

Rob: Yes it was hard to get over Gus' departure from the band. We were all like brothers growing up together and a member of the family was lost. On our first long tour, Gus wasn't comfortable on the road at all which made things hard on the rest of us. Actually, on that tour our driver shit his pants at breakfast in a restaurant once, and hung his dirty, shit filled underwear in the bathroom stall. That beats both you and Uwe.

What`s up with Joe, Scott and Gus? Are you still in contact with them? Do you see them sometimes? I think they all have families and a 9 to 5 job, right? Rob: joe and i have families, we all have 9-5 jobs. gus and i haven't been in contact with in over 10yrs now unfortunately. 1986 "Torment in Fire" saw the light of day, not a killer tune like "Forward..." Or "Soldiers....".It had a bad sound and sounded like a demo. However, "Sacrifice", "Turn in your grave" or "Burned at the stake" ARE killertunes in the right vein, brutal as fuck and full speed ahead. Slayer was your biggest influence, right? At that time I was 18 years old and I read a review in gemanys Metal Hammer now Poser Metal Hammer now Poser Hammer!!) about "Torment....". They said "bad Slayer clownes" and you were the last in their soundcheck, haha. For me a reason to buy "Torment..",

haha. The last in their soundcheck at that time were the best records ever,haha Your commend please, haha.

Rob: well, that guy from metal hammer...who gives a fuck about him 17 yrs later??? i'm still here, still love metal, he's probably listening to enya now. Yes, slayer were an influence definately for "torment in fire". also bands like venom, mercyful fate, exodus, trouble. i've hated that album for years, but lately i've been listening to it a bit. "burned at the stake" and "turn in your grave" are 2 of our best songs. you can really hear our iron maiden influence at the beginning of "turn in your......" as well.   really, back then we weren't afraid to show our influences, the band was only just finishing high school and we were just trying to create really heavy underground music.

Did you get a tour to promote "Torment in Fire"?

Rob: not a real national tour, but we did a lot of shows locally here in toronto. sac. did play a few shows in the u.s. as well as quebec.

In 1988 your monster Lp "Forward to Termination" came out. Better sound, better tracks and fuckin`fast. One killertrack hunts the next. This album I hear really offten today, a real classic piece in Thrash Metal. "Terror strikes", "Flames of Armageddon","The Entity","Re-animation" or "Light of the end" are killertunes made for eternity! In germany "Forward...." came out by Roadrunner Rec. but R.R. never gave you the support for a tour in germany, a real shame.

Rob: that is one thing we really regret...not touring in europe. i don't know why it was so difficult for us to get a decent tour. "forward to termination" is a true thrash/speed classic for that generation and we didn't even get a national tour of the u.s. for that album. the only u.s shows we played were booked ourselves. we did play a lot in canada, which has always been amazing for us.

How much records have been saled from "Forward..." Did you get accounts for it from Roadrunner (Europe) or Metal Blade(America)? Did you see one penny for your work? 

Rob: I have no idea of how many, and we recieved a little bit more than a penny, but what we did get was used up by band expenses.

Before I come to "Soldiers...", please tell us a little bit about the canadian scene in 85/87. What was up with live gigs? Was it easy to play live? Did you play with the fuckers from Razor or Voi Vod?

Rob: oh yes, we did a few shows with all those fuckers. there was a great canadian metal scene back then, its a shame that no bands stepped up and took the torch from bands like us razor and voivod. im am going to see both those bands play with motorhead this weekend!!!!

Your next record was "Soldiers of Misfortune"in 1989, right? In germany only aviable as import. Why? Did you loose the Roadrunner Deal or what was the reason for it? (If yes, Roadrunner are fuckin` pussys). Why "Misfortune"? Did you see Sacrifice in the title?

Rob: we were extremely disappointed that our album was not released in europe. i suppose roadrunner were pussies! i can't give you a reason why, they just chose not to. the title was influenced by movies like "apocalypse now" ,"platoon", and "full metal jacket".

Musically "Soldiers..." was the next step to "Forward...", controlled speed but very fast, the best sound(better than Apocallypse Inside) ever, a great artwork but the Lp is very unknown. It was a pure chance that I saw "Soldiers..."in a list by Germanys Hellion-Records and it was ..... 1995 when I bought the CD. At this time I thought "Apocalypse..."was the "Forward..." follower. Why is "Soldiers..." so fuckin`unknown? What do you feel when you talk about your best but unknown Lp? It`s a shame, right?

Rob: in canada it's probably our most known CD! we worked really hard at writing those songs and we were becoming much better players too. although our first 2 lps had terrible covers, i somehow feel that they were more interesting and memorable than the great "soldiers..." graphics.

After "Soldiers...." Gus left the band and Mr. Rosenthal came in. "Apocalypse Inside" saw the light of day in 1993. Again about Roadrunner, right? Or was it Music for Nations? I got the US. pressing from Metal Blade. Bring some light into the darkness, please.

Rob: as i recall it came out on music for nations in europe and metal blade/warner in north america.

The songwriting changed to the past. More mid- paced songs than fast ones. What was the reason for it? I think Sacrifice have lost their power from the past. Only the titeltrack, "Incarcerated" and „Freedom Slave" are fast fuckers. Why this change? Boredom? No ideas

to play fast stuff? Arthrities, haha or to old, hahaha?

Rob: we were just coming up with better ideas for slow stuff. songs like "the lost" and "salvation" have some outstanding riffs and I have to say that is my favorite Sacrifice album. I think I'm  getting arthritis now though!! Dave Carlo from Razor did the production. Are you friends? How was the coorperation with Dave? What do you think about Razor? Do you know their former singer Stacey Mc Laren? Have you see him sometimes? All german fanzine makers with the real spirit in their veins would talk with the "Sheepdog".(Now there's an Inti with him in Snakepit 10, also a Sacrifice-Interview). Rob: yeah, i loved razor. dave always had lots of great riffs. stace was great, but i really like the stuff with bob reid as well. i think stace left his email address in snakepit...ask for an interview!!

Dave and Rob: Yeah, I loved RAZOR. Dave always had lots of great riffs. Stace was great, but I really like the stuff with Bob reid as well. I think Stace left his email address in Snakepit... ask for an interview!! Dave and all of RAZOR have always been totally co-operative with us and great people to drink with definately.

All the Sacrifice Covers looked really trashy(but cult!),only "Soldiers.."had a great cover.Are you satisfied with all your covers? Or didn`t you have any influence on it?

Rob: honestly, we didn't pay that much attention to our covers. for some reason people really relate with the cult quality of the first 2.

I know from Leif Jenssen ( Dew-Scented) that you were satisfied with their covertune of Apocalypse Inside on their "Ill-Natured"-Album. Have you ever heard the other two Sacrifice covertunes namely "Sacrifice"by Cannibal Corpse and "Turn in your grave" by Perus finest Mortem? If not, I send you a tape, haha. Are you proud of it when other bands play your stuff?

Rob: I am extremely proud when bands cover sacrifice. all those bands did a great tribute to us. even when i heard entombed's song "bonehouse" from their "hollowman"EP which totally rips of the song "sacrifice", i loved it. it's almost a cover version.

Have you ever lost a thought about to re-record some old Sacrifice songs with a thundering drumsound, a new fleshripping guitarsound and a mindblasting bassound, like Testament it did on "First strike still deadly"? Have you heard the album? Great work and a present to all their old fans like old bastards like me,haha. Your statement please!

Rob: testament did the old songs great...i'd love to do something like that.

In the last 2 years the german thrash scene grows again. Destruction, Kreator, Sodom or at last Dew- Scented. They all stikes back with killerreleases. What`s up in Canada? Is there a chance for a Sacrifice reunion? Let me dream a while: a tour with Sacrifice, Razor and Voi Vod woul`d be a killer.

Rob: touring for us is out of the question, but  we may play someday. 

You wrote me that you will re-print some Sacrifice shirts this year (Torment and Forward prints).Fantastic idea! But whats up with the 1st Sacrifice shirt (a red logo with a pentagram on the front). I saw this shirt on the Slaughter "Strappado" re-release?

Rob: that was our first shirt i think! a pentagram of bones with a skull in the middle. i will have torment in fire t shirts and longsleeves very shortly...if interested email me at roburbinati@hotmail.com

On a record market I saw "Torment in fire" on CD.Bootleg or official?

Rob: bootleg....unless it was used.

Did you play some of your old songs in the last years?

Rob: of course.

What`s up with a live CD?

Rob: probably not going to happen.

My favourite Sacrifice album for all time is "Forward...", next is "Soldiers...". What is your favourite album? But let me say, every album has it`s own spirit and is something special.

Rob: every album is  a little different. my favorite is apocalypse inside and next would be forward to termination.

I think in the past you did gigs with all the other great thrash bands like Exodus, Holy Terror, Sadus, Hexx, Death Angel, Dark Angel or Nasty Savage. How many gigs have you done with Sacrifice in all those years?

Rob: I don’t know exactly...probably around 150.

Is Merque Watts (backing vocals on "Cydonia" and „Apocalypse...") the brother from Scott Watts?

Rob: yes, his younger brother. he is an extremely talented blues player and he wrote some great metal in his old band dark legion.

What will the future bring for Sacrifice fans worldwide? A new album, haha, again full speed ahead, haha?

Rob: I would love to get the band back together for a few shows or recording but we live really far from each other. maybe sometime we can play a festival in europe and make up for all the lost years.

O.K. Rob, thanx for answering questions and spending time.Hope you enjoyd it a little bit.Thanx for your great music and I hope you understood my bad english,haha but my old friend (Poser Uwe) helped me a little bit to translate all the shit,haha. Sacrifice lives in our hearts further. Greetings to Canada and your family. Last words are your`s !!!! It was a great pleasure for me to speak with you. Bye and take care,Thrash on!!!! Marcus

Rob: thanks for the interview markus, your english is good! uwe says your english would be better if you took it as seriously as fucking dogs. Take care, Rob

Contact:
roburbinati@hotmail.com

Interview: Marcus