This U.K. Based Death Metal Band Consists of: Lazerus (Vocals), Steve Sharp (Lead Guitar), Dan Evans (Rhythm Guitar) and, Ban Black (Bass).
A four-piece Death Metal band from the U.K. Their sole aim? To inspire, be inspired and to bring great metal music to the world!Their years of experience and passion for metal music is echoed in each track they produce.A melting pot of decades of metal influence has coalesced into the sounds you hear.A combination of crushing riffs, driving bass and brutal vocal hooks, each song will have you banging your head and asking for more!
Hey, very happy to welcome you to the Radio Show and Podcast community. Tell us a little bit more about yourself. Introduce yourself to the community.
We are Worship The Sacrifice, we’re a UK Death metal band, newly formed but well experienced. We’ve come leaps and bounds in a short space of time and we’re here to give the people more epic metal to listen to
One thing that I’m always interested in, when I sit down and chat with artists is, what their defining moment was that they knew that they wanted to be in music… What was that moment in time for you?
Lazerus: Music has always been part of my life in every aspect and moment. Metal was the realest thing I had encountered in my life and I wanted to not only find comfort in its contents but to create metal music other could find that same comfort in too.
Steve: For me it was when I was introduced my first guitar round a friends house. I was completely obsessed with it and played for hours. A month later I got my own acoustic as that was all I could afford, playing Metallica, Arch enemy and Megadeth on an acoustic was a learning experience to say the lease.
Dan: I knew he wanted to be in music when he heard Machine Head for the first time, hearing Rob Flynn first time inspired me to be in a band.
Ben: I went to my first concert back in 2001 where I saw Megadeth at the Astoria in London and was instantly hooked. I use to try playing along to it on an old classical guitar that one of my parents had until I got an electric guitar and then a bass and have been playing both instruments ever since in a variety of bands.
Do you mix and master yourself or do you have an engineer or a producer that works with you?
Lazerus: We are fortunate enough to know an excellent engineer/producer/musician in Denmark who we use to mix our tracks for us. He has a great ear for our music and is always constructively critical and encouraging. The rapport Steve and Christopher Baklid have developed in their timing working together has contributed to the results you hear in the final mixes.
Steve: I would recommend Chris to anyone as he is massively understanding and will work with artists to get their sound how they want it. Plus he is a really funny guy with that right level of star trek geekness!
What motivates you? Not just in your music but in your normal life as well.
Lazerus: My drive comes from the need to overcome the traumas I have gone through in my life, I refuse to become a statistic or to fall in line like a sheep.
Steve: Almost mirrors Ians, I grew up with conflict and a troubled family life, I was most lost when I had to come to terms with my own feelings and coming out as gay in the metal world. I had a few close people turn against me which took me years to overcome but now, I don’t give a toss what people think of me. My band, my family and my friends support me and that is all that matters.
Dan: I want my daughter to be proud of me, having a dad that follows his dreams and inspires her. It has pushed me further to know that i am doing all i can.
Ben: I’m a pretty chilled kind of guy and just play for the love of playing, no thrills here lol.
I am personally on a mission to get good music heard by everyone. What is one thing that bothers you the most about trying to come up in the music world today and, do you prefer being underground or, is the mainstream something you strive for?
Lazerus: For now we just want to sharpen our skills, become a stronger team, perfect our crafts and continue to make great music. We are always looking for opportunities and the underground offers those far more regularly than mainstream. There are excellent underground metal rings in the U.K. and, they shouldn’t be underestimated. We’ve all played in underground scenes and the atmosphere and community is awesome.
Who, musically, is one of your bigger influences?
Lazerus: We have a huge melting pot of influence that goes into our music. Vocally there are heavy influences from Corey Taylor and Randy Blythe.
Steve: I have a strong affiliation to Michael Amott of Arch enemy, the man is a metal god.
Dan: My preferences vary from Kurt Cobain, Rob Flynn and Mitch Lucker for his vocals but blackened death metal will always come through in the riffs you hear.
Ben: Dave Mustaine is my idol but when it comes to bass players they span from people such as Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Jack Bruce and so on.
One question that I like to ask artists is, how did Covid affect your music in particular and the music scene in your area?
Lazerus: The pandemic was partly the reason we formed Worship The Sacrifice. We were/are involved in other projects pre-covid and the pandemic really affected the progress and with limited access to technology to continue working remotely, the projects stagnated. We all decided to band together because we all had the resources to continue our [passion for creating music and something like a pandemic isn’t going to stop that drive we have inside.
I, myself, personally think that there’s too much social media out there to keep up with. I understand why it’s necessary but there’s a ton of it out there. What are your feelings on social media and music today?
Lazerus: I do think it’s a necessary tool for promoting your brand and trying to connect with potential and existing fans, promoters and venues.
Steve: I tend to agree with yourself, there is an over-reliance on being as popular as possible rather than just being yourself. a lot of social media can come across as fake and that is something we are trying to not promote with our music.
Do you create music often? When can we expect another release?
Lazerus: We are a creative bunch so we’re always cooking up ideas but we have a solid 8-10 tracks we have demo tracks for which we are working on and we have been working to a schedule of one release a month with an Album release coming in the next two or three months.
I grew up in the 90’s, I listened to everyone from Dr. Dre, to Weezer, to Pink Floyd, Metallica, Cypress Hill and back again. I truly believe that the 90’s were one of the greatest era’s for original music. Which era of music is one of your favorites?
Lazerus: The 90’s were a great time for music, we all grew up through those years. For me, the 60’s and 70’s were the golden age for reggae and ska. 90’s and 2000’s is where my home is though, they’re my years.
Steve: My favourite era has to be the early 2000’s, just as I was in college and expanding my music brain. The amount of attention the metal scene got back then was incredible.
Dan: Mid 80’s to early 90’s for the rapid change in music with the introduction of nirvana but also watching that same vibe of creativity go to the early 2000’s was a huge era. The mixing of genre’s recently really makes things interesting for music atm and I’m excited to see what happens.
Ben: I leans towards the 80s as I am a huge thrash fan but in all honesty I love different eras for different reasons ie 60s-70s for Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin etc 80s-90s for the big 4, Iron Maiden, Annihilator, Carcass, Sepultura, Pantera, Dream Theatre etc and the early 2000s for the likes of Slipknot, Korn, Disturbed, Cradle of Filth, Linkin Park, Arch Enemy, A7X, Sylosis etc as it was the time first started to discover Metal in all its forms
If you could swap yourself into a different artist, who would it be?
Lazerus: I wouldn’t want to inflict the other person with having to inhabit my body and brain.
Steve: I don’t know about that but drop me into anyone with hair again, I miss windmilling to metal!
Dan: Zakk Wylde, he got to play with Ozzy Osbourne and his abilities are incredible.
What tips or advice would you give someone that’s just starting out in the music game?
Lazerus: Research what you need to do to make it. Take advise and look for guidance wherever you can. Take every opportunity no matter how small because you will grow with every minute of experience.
Steve: Be humble and respect other artists even if their musical taste is different from yours, being different isn’t a bad thing.
Dan: Just keep going and have fun with it. Never listen to people mocking you and, never give up.
Ben: Don’t stick to one thing, play with as many people with as many different musical tastes as you can as you can always learn something from each of them which can improve you as a musician. You never know, the blend of your different tastes and styles could create the next big genre in music.
I want to thank you for this Q&A, Is there anything you want to say to everyone out there? Shout outs?
Lazerus: Yeah shout out to all our supporters and day ones. Shout out to the people who have given us opportunities like this interview and follow Worship The Sacrifice for more
Dan: Thank you for every bit of support so far, it means to the world to us.
Steve: Thanks to Christopher Baklid for his mixing skills and my husband and mates for putting up with me go on about band stuff all the time.
Ben: Thank you to my band mates for giving me the opportunity to join them on this journey and to my family for their continued support.
From my end, a shout-out and, wishing nothing but success to Worship The Sacrifice. Follow via the links below.
Official Site: https://www.worshipthesacrifice.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Worshipthesacrifice
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worshipthesacrifice/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4MhzKTRlF3Lw9QeqFBx0YA?si=kYh94VrrQAeQVHPHiXMjZw&dl_branch=1
