Heavy Metal Singers

"We do various things to prepare to go into battle, and it involves some meditation and other practices that we feel like expressing from time to time. We've always been a very spiritual band, and we remain that way."

"That playing [on Heartwork] had that magic rarely heard anymore."

"Chris Barnes wrote plenty of entry-level slasher stuff like "Meat Hook Sodomy", but also entered truly nauseating territory with "Addicted To Vaginal Skin" and "Entrails Ripped From A Virgin’s Cunt". The personification of the victims as female made the songs even more uneasy listening, naturally enough: what was even worse was when children became lyrical targets in the song "Necropedophile". This hadn’t been done before, and the subject is still too much for most sane people. [...] Grim stuff, depending on how seriously you take it."

"I've known Barnes probably longer than anybody else in the music business in any regard from this point."

"One month in the grave, twisted and half-decayed She turned a putrid yellow, I pissed in her maggot filled asshole [...] The smell was unbearable as I unburied her I cum blood from my erection I feel it run down her throat, swallow"

"Eyes bulging from their sockets With every swing of my mallet I smash your fucking head in until brains seep in through the cracks, blood does leak Distorted beauty, catastrophe Steaming slop, splattered all over me"

"Tied tight to the bed Legs spread open Bruised flesh, lacerations Skin stained with blood I'm the only one you love I feel her heart beating my knife deep inside Her crotch is bleeding [...] Stick it in Rip the skin Carve and twist Torn flesh From behind I cut her crotch In her ass I stuck my cock Killing as I cum"

"They say I have died I still felt alive I won’t believe their lies…"

"I came from a time when I was listening to Slayer and Slayer was listening to D.R.I. and all of a sudden all the fans of Slayer saw that Jeff Hanneman had a D.R.I. sticker on his guitar or that Lombardo was wearing a D.R.I. shirt in a picture. And you know what, D.R.I. became one of my favorite bands and I went to see them every time they came to town. And then metal heads and hardcore kids, in 1986, 1987 and 1988, they all started coming together and that formed death metal. All of a sudden people started moshing at a Slayer concert because there were a bunch of D.R.I. fans there, because Slayer had enough respect to wear one of their shirts, and that’s how people started slam dancing and shit. That’s how it all crossed together, and to have this separation in music, in death metal, with all these people with their fucking noses stuck in the air about things and being elitist about things, they should take a step back and look in history and see how it all started."

"I believe [cannabis] was placed here on earth by a higher power, or another being, or an alien being, or something that has a plan for us. [...] It's scientific knowledge that our systems are built around the cannabinoidal system. We need cannabinoids ingested into our bodies to build our immune systems. It's a natural benefit to us as humans. There's alot of things out there scientifically that prove this and show that it is actually a [possible cure] to cancer as well. [...] They say that, you know, basically, uh you know, used cannabis early on, as you, early man and we developed as we uh [...] as we kind of uh [...] I'd say uh I don't know. Give me a hint here, I'm having a kind of a mind warp here Gypsy. [...] But what they say now is that before cannabis was even on this planet other mammals -- other creatures -- had this system built and we developed from those, you know, other animals [...] as man went through the centuries. So it proves that this plant was actually put here for us to find. And we are actually benefitting from it. [...] What we don't need in our systems is [...] beer -- alcohol. We don't need cigarettes. We don't need tobacco. But for some reason, these things are legal to us and shoved down our throats, advertised on the Super Bowl, and we're supposed to consume these things. And they are the [deadliest] things that we consume as human beings in our daily lives and they kill more people on the face of this planet than anything else that we use recreationally. Okay? So why are these items -- alcohol and tobacco --available to us, and we use them and eat 'em up and let them kill us? Why does that happen? That's the hypocrisy [as] to why marijuana and cannabis should be legalized and it is because it does not harm anyone physically. It has been scientifically proven that it helps us and benefits us as humans and we need it in our systems -- Period."

"With 'The Bleeding', those guys as musicians were really wanting to progress the band musically in a way. I could kind of [see] why — I think they were wanting to, in a way, prove themselves as well-skilled musicians. And I thought they always were, because it was always very interesting music, the arrangements and stuff in Cannibal Corpse on the first three albums. But I think they wanted to really hyper focus their skills and weren't able to do that. And I just was along for the ride, man. I can write to anything. It was really challenging to me. And I really liked 'The Bleeding' too. I liked what we were doing with Bob. I didn't want Bob to leave the band, and I didn't want him to be forced out of the band, and neither did . So it kind of was a strange thing with that whole situation."

"If there are [young fans that are violent], [...] I think there's something wrong with them psychologically. I think mostly, the kids are buying this music just for the sheer enjoyment, and you know, listening pleasure. I think they're probably getting more enjoyment out of the music than they are their own lives, some of these kids, so basically it's something to make them happy, not kill each other."

"I think there's many faces of horror, and you can explore the different types of horror out there."

"It actually almost got me killed at gunpoint in 1994 before a show in East L.A. Some gang members came on the bus and told me they didn't like my lyrics. One of them had just got out of San Quentin, and he had a .38 stuffed into his belt lining. He said, "We're gonna kill you if you keep writing about this stuff." I just tried to talk to him calmly and say, "Hey, I respect your opinion," but it was pretty scary. Luckily, we had a really good tour manager, who somehow got those guys off the bus."

"I really wasn't doing it to shock people. I just thought it was exciting and interesting and it went along with what I gained from listening to the music. When those guys wrote, it presented such a violent image to me, I felt like I had to match it with the lyrics. And I was able to pull from my imagination some sick qualities of mankind and put it down to paper. For example, "Entrails Ripped From a Virgin's Cunt" was based on a true story my friend told me and I just kind of twisted the story and filled in the blanks."

"I was trying to [provoke] thought in some way [with violent lyrics]. Hoping someone would see the twisted dichotomy. To be sickened by it and yet entertained by it. Like watching a horror movie."

"It just felt right to enunciate and pronounce the lyrics more clearly [on The Bleeding] because I felt the music was more clearly pronounced. [...] I think that at that point in time I wanted to prove to myself that I could still sing really heavy [...] but people could understand my lyrics more, because the lyrics [and storylines] are very important to me [...] it’s an artwork to me [...] and I want my art to be heard."

"I'm not a death metal singer that sings one style or one tone throughout an entire album or sings the same way on every album. I really take it song by song and I try to adjust my vocal approach to the nuances of the music and how it feels to me and what I want to accommodate to kind of offset those things that I hear in the music to make it more closer to what I feel its related to vocal tone wise. [...] The guttural thing started for me when I heard certain things in the riff. You know, the [syncopation]. [...] So I wanted to really bring my vocals into that. You know, so [they were] like melted together with [the music]."

"I understand when people say, "Oh he doesn't sound like he did on that album or song." Well yeah, that's how it's always been on every album. I've had a different vocal sound and that is purposeful. I wouldn't want it any other way. I don’t like to blanket a specific sound over everything. To me it sounds stupid if it sounds like you had no imagination and you had no understanding of what music is and basically just a robot, just going through the motions. That's never been what I do. I've always kind of wanted to reach out and find more out about music than myself through what I do, what I explore through this strange form of art."

"I just think that it gets really, really boring doing the same vocal approach, like as some vocalists do. Fans appreciate it, I think, but its really boring [to me] as an artist to just sit there and tread water, do the same thing, and not really feel the music in a new fresh way each time. I don't fear that. [...] I want to explore something new."

"We had to fight with him to make lines fit in the song. Barnes wrote his lyrics and didn't want help from anyone. We were okay with that, but when he was in the booth, Alex and I started saying to each other, "Man, this doesn't sound right." Then we would suggest to Barnes, "Hey, if you took out this syllable or if you took out 'uh' or 'the,' then the line would fit better." But Barnes pushed back like we were stepping all over him like it was his poetry we were ruining. [...] I'll never forget Alex telling Barnes while he was still in the booth, "Hey, Chris, I'm going to rewrite the lyrics." Barnes did not want to hear that, which was hard for him. He removed the cans [headphones] and left the studio. We'd never said those things, but it needed to be said. Otherwise, the song would have been ruined. That was the last day in the studio with Barnes."

"Half the reason that we asked Chris to leave was because a lot of the stuff he’d come up with.. If we’d left it on, the album would not have sounded as good. That’s our firm opinion, and we wouldn’t have kicked him out if we hadn’t thought that the album would have sounded as good. So when it came time, we thought ‘well we have to make sure these lyrics are killer’. Not just a killer read, so much as they just sound good with the music [...] I think a lot of the problem was that Chris didn’t practise with the band too much, that he didn’t really pay attention to the riffs, and he would just write stuff that went over the top of it instead of actually working with it. And now that the band is helping write the lyrics, I think that you can hear that they mesh better."

"I think over a period of time he saw Cannibal Corpse as being his property, and he would do things in his way, never listening to anyone else and never yielding from his viewpoint. [...] He had a way of doing things, and that had worked – until [Vile]. But, quite honestly, when we heard what Chris was doing vocally on the new record, all of us knew we had a serious problem on our hands. [...] The lyrics Chris was coming up with just didn’t seem to fit where the rest of us were taking the songs [...] He was stuck in the old ways, whereas we wanted to progress. We did try to help him out, but Barnes was so stubborn that it was very tough. I remember one of the last conversations that I had with him outside the studio... I said we wanted to be as supportive of him as possible, and he admitted that he was struggling to step up a gear. At that point, we were all committed to getting him through, and making this work. [...] The final straw, though, came when we heard what he’d done on Devoured By Vermin. This was always gonna be the opening song on the album. As such, it had to have an immediate impact, to make a statement about what was to come. But Chris hadn’t risen to the challenge. After hearing what he’d done, Alex Webster bluntly turned on him and said, ‘I’m gonna completely re-write the lyrics.’ That finished Chris. He was devastated. He’d lost control. [...] We just knew Chris had to go – that was the only thing to do. So, we phoned him when he was on the road and said, ‘Dude, you’re out.’ It was as simple as that. None of us could live with what he’d done in the studio, and we knew there was no way he’d change. The problem we had was where to go next."

"He was never writing any of these lyrics from the point of view that the characters in the songs were cool [...] or were people that he related to. I don’t wanna speak for him too much, but he’s not into any of that stuff. It’s just interesting stuff to write about. If you have a movie with evil characters, people understand that the guy who made the movie doesn’t relate to those characters. If you have a horror novel with evil characters in it – like a horror novel that features a rapist or a killer or a molester – you understand that the author doesn’t relate to those characters, and isn’t espousing that type of behaviour. Neither are we. You have horror movies, and you have horror novels. Death metal is a type of horror music, and we’re not saying that any of the characters in our songs are people that we admire."

"Apparently people don't like the truth, but I do like it; I like it because it upsets a lot of people."

"We wanna be like Status Quo and go on forever. Chuck Berry never changed. Little Richard never changed. I’d rather be like that and stick to a formula we’re happy with."

"You can’t keep guys faithful. If people want to get married and then run around, I think that’s dishonest. If you’re going to get married, get fucking married and that’s it. I never saw a chick that could stop me looking at all the others, so I didn’t."

"If you can give the kids a good time then that’s all it’s for. Forget art and all that – that’s bullshit. If you can send that shiver down a kid’s back then that’s what it’s all about. All else is bullshit."

"You can't have everything, can you? Where would you put it?"

"(when asked if he has any regrets) None. Life's too short."

"In your twenties, you think you are immortal. In your thirties, you hope you are immortal. In your forties, you just pray it doesn’t hurt too much, and by the time you reach my age, you become convinced that, well, it could be just around the corner."

"Motörhead is nothing if not democratic, but I don't think it's fair to be waving your dick around when people are minding their own business and might not want to see it."

"As the decades passed, everyone knew Lemmy from Motorhead wouldn’t really live forever. It was inevitable that the legendary rocker’s hedonistic lifestyle would catch up with him. It seemed more and more imminent as his health problem affected the touring schedule of the band especially in the last few years of his life. However, we had all hoped he would at least outlive Keith Richards. Though many might argue it was sad to see the mighty Lemmy in such a frail state towards the end of his life, the contrary can also be said. How amazing was it that a man in his late 60s lived to his last months literally partying, meeting women all over the world, gambling and playing rock music to tons of fans? Lemmy lived his life as his own, to his last days, and never regretted a thing. He was lucky in the sense that most people would have dropped dead 20 years before him with the amount of meth cigarettes and Jack Daniels he consumed. But the point was that Lemmy was a bad motherfucker till the end. He was one of rock’s most respected party animals and talented bass players. Motorhead will without a doubt continue to inspire generations of rockers to come, ensuring that Lemmy’s musical legacy will never die."

"But the only thing that's ending on Saturday night is your five-hundred-day title reign when I become the Raw Women's Champion."

"Now, Nirvana. I always liked those guys, but I never liked when they got big, I never liked the people around them. I never liked their management and never liked any of the people that worked with them. And then you mix in the drugs, and the people that brought with it. And it’s a sordid tale. And it’s not a happy ending."

"So, let me get this straight, if I take LSD and heroin, I’ll play like Jimi Hendrix? Really?! I beg to differ. I guarantee there are guitarists down at Guitar Center without a record contract that are on LSD and heroin and will never make any money playing music. They’re putting that little theory to the test every day. I don’t buy it. I don’t care what you do, but I don’t see alcohol and drugs as being anything other than a way to make whatever problems you have in your life bigger."

"Musicians tend to lose perspective. Here is a perfect example: I was on tour in Australia a little while back and prior to leaving I read this huge article on Neil Young where he is telling the interviewer how we should all convert our cars to electric and support the whole green thing. He converted one of his Cadillacs to electric and he feels everyone should do their part and follow the same standard of living to save the environment ... Who do I meet on that tour in Australia? The guy who flies Neil Young’s private jet. This guy tells me that Neil hasn’t flown commercial in more than 30 years. These artists want you and me to drive around in golf carts and sit under 2 watt bulbs while they are jet setting around the world! It’s crazy."

"You have to understand that my area of expertise is in music. For me to step outside of that area and make comments on social issues or political issues is crazy. Don't listen to me, because I honestly believe that people should look to higher sources than entertainers for their political beliefs. And whenever I hear people do that, you know, it irritates the fuck out of me, because I can't stand it, to hear some rock'n'roller or pseudo-rock'n'roller talking about how the world should run. Like, what do you know? You can't even write a good song, you think I should listen to you about who I should vote for? That's insane."

"Where I grew up was counterproductive, stifling, boring and didn’t help me at all ... We made 99 percent of our music when we moved to California and I was a much happier person."

"Even though we have been around and making records for 25 years, they hate us because we don’t play their game and we are not flying around in private jets. Why do you think they latch onto Paris Hilton and Courtney Love? You don’t need talent when you have the bucks to back it up! That is the mentality, understand that."

"Here’s to the ghost We still seem to host How he’s becoming us Here come the vultures Here come the vultures Screaming down at us"

"I once had an understanding that everything would go my way But now we’ve come too far along for me to hold on to my own beliefs."

"This heart is black like blood that has dried"

"What do animal rights advocates want? For most avowed rightists, that's easy: The complete liberation of animals from human exploitation as quickly as possible. Yet while we work diligently to achieve such a status for animals over the long term, we also have a duty to respect the "rights" of those individuals who are currently suffering to a life less miserable. To dismiss opportunities to ameliorate their pain and distress is to treat those animals as mere abstractions rather than as sentient beings inherently worthy of consideration now—a position, ironically, often held by the very exploitive institutions we seek to overturn."

"I became a vegetarian many years ago after listening to The Smiths’ ‘Meat Is Murder.’ It opened my eyes to the painful lives of animals raised for food, and I knew I wanted no part of that."

"Ronnie was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, we had some fantastic times together. Ronnie loved what he did, making music and performing on stage. He loved his fans so much. He was a kind man and would put himself out to help others. I can honestly say it's truly been an honor to play at his side for all these years. His music will live on forever."

"Ronnie was so enthusiastic, and he could play instruments which Ozzy couldn't play, so it was easy to communicate with him, and for him to communicate musically with us. That enthusiasm gives us all a kick up the bum."

"He's a great musician, and that's one of the things about him that people probably don't realize. Yes, obviously, he was one of the greatest singers of all time, but he knew music. He played trumpet, he was a bass player as well, he could play guitar, and he had a great musical mind and a great musical catalog inside of him. He had so much to draw on that musically he was very, very, very, very capable. And just great instincts. As a musician, there was never any question that he was able to stand on his own with anybody."

"I can't remember exactly when I heard Ronnie's voice, but I do know that the first time I did hear it, it was just like an electric shock, a bolt of lightning, because this voice had so much power and so much character and so much energy and so much of everything that makes a great singer. (...) If ever a man was a rock god, for me, it will always be Ronnie James Dio."

"When I see lightning — you know it always brings me down 'Cause it's free and I see that it's me Who's lost and never found."