By Kelley Simms
MAXIMUM WRATH
Wrath
L
ocal thrash metal survivors Wrath
exemplify perseverance as the band is
proving it's still relevant after three
decades. Formed in 1982, Wrath is one of the
many bands from the ’80s thrash metal era
which unfortunately flew under the radar and
never got the mass respect they deserved.
Recently signing to revived cult label Combat
Records, Wrath will release a long-awaited
new album Rage on October 5. Produced by
former Wrath guitarist Chris Djuricic, mixed
and mastered by the legendary Bill Metoyer
(Slayer, Armored Saint, Helstar), and with
killer cover art created by Indonesian illustra-
tor Ipoet Poetra, Wrath is back better than
ever.
With the classic nucleus of vocalist Gary
Golwitzer, bassist Gary Modica and guitarist
Scott Nyquist — joined by guitarist Rob Noon
and drummer Jake Fromkin — Wrath is back
to take care of some unfinished business.
Golwitzer, Modica, and Nyquist spoke to IE
about the new album, their upcoming con-
certs, and the band's plans for the future.
Mosh: How did you come up with the title
track for the new album Rage?
Gary Golwitzer: I wrote the lyrics right after
the Las Vegas shootings. There are just so
many mass shootings going on all the time,
and my thoughts anyway, are always - there’s
a fine line [with wanting to] commit suicide,
but why do you have to kill innocent people?
The song “Rage,” the whole concept behind it,
is a guy who’s planning a mass shooting and
he’s playing with himself inside; he knows
he’s messed up, he doesn’t want to go through
with it. It’s like the devil on one side saying,
“Do it! Do it!” and the angel on the other side
saying, “No, don’t do it.” That’s what the
album cover is, the guy in the middle is in
pain, and one side is the "good guy," and the
34 illinoisentertainer.com september 2018
other side is the "bad guy" fighting with [his]
inner feelings and he’s struggling through the
whole song whether or not to do it.
Mosh: You recorded at Belle City Sound in
Racine, WI with Chris Djuricic. As Wrath’s
former guitarist and now producer, what did
he add to the sessions?
Scott Nyquist: He joined the band shortly
after I left. I left around ’92 or ’93. The whole
identity they took on after me and Gary were
gone was pretty much in [the] vein of the orig-
inal band. Chris knew the origins of the band.
He knew what we wanted, and we knew what
he was capable of doing. He’s got a pretty
good track record at his studio, so it really
worked out well. He added a lot [with his]
input.
Mosh: Some of the songs on *Rage* were writ-
ten back in the ’80s. What made you want to
reboot these old tracks?
S.N.: We went back to some early recordings
that weren’t released when we were writing
new material. By pure happenstance, we just
happened to listen at the right time, and [they]
really jumped out at us, and we wanted to
have a crack at putting these songs out and
giving them their proper due. The overall vibe
was there, this many years later, and it still felt
like our stuff.
G.G: I rewrote all the lyrics; certain parts
were changed or brought up to date. They
were just killer songs, and we didn’t want to
just throw them in the [trash] bin. They’re
good songs, so why waste them?
Mosh: Do you feel that Wrath was overlooked
back in the ’80s, especially during the period
when thrash metal was peaking?
S.N.: We definitely had our sights set on bigger
things than we achieved, which is why we’re
still doing it. But you got to remember back
then the competition was fierce. It was coming
at us from all angles. We kind of fell [through]
the cracks like a lot of bands did. We had some
level of success, but not past that point of
[reaching] the big heights. So I guess we still
feel like we have something to prove.
G.G.: I think that’s a big part of our continued
success, or whatever you want to call it. We
stuck to our guns and kept at it. We faithfully
stayed at it and not given up like a lot of bands
have done.
Mosh: “Clearing My Soul” appears on the
Combat Records compilation Combat Bullets,
Vol 1.0. Talk about this song.
S.N.: That was a song that was written proba-
bly ’92-’93. It was a different title before. That
was one of the songs that had been revisited
and twisted around with this lineup. It wasn’t
our first choice to put on the compilation; it
was the first song that was mixed for the
record. There was a deadline, and it was the
first one available. It literally just happened
that fast. Luckily, we were good to go, and we
were prepared. Since that release, it has con-
tinued to be remixed because the record was
in its earliest stage at that point. We mixed it,
we were happy with it, and we continued to
improve upon it. It’ll be slightly different on
the Rage record.
Mosh: You recently opened for Armored Saint
at Reggie's. How’d that go?
G..G.: Armored Saint at Reggie's was awe-
some! It was a packed house, and we always
do really well at Reggie's, as far as crowd
response.
S.N.: The fact that we’re very familiar with
Armored Saint as far as playing with them, I
think that was the fourth time in the last few
months - they're well aware of us, and obvi-
ously, we were of them.
G.G.: Jeff Duncan, one of the guitar players
for Armored Saint, has solos on our album. We
do a remake of “Ace of Spades” by
Motorhead, which is something we wanted to
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