Metal Machine Messiah

After being ‘removed’ from Iron Maiden, it would’ve been easy for vocalist Blaze Bayley to become cynical. But with new band, Blaze, and hotly-tipped debut album ‘Silicon Messiah’ heralding his return, Jerry Ewing finds the man in positive mood.

“Nope, I had no idea at all. I was thinking about the next album after ‘Virtual XI’. Obviously it wasn’t to be.” Blaze Bayley ponders what might have been. To be honest it is hard not to feel sorry for the guy. Not that the singer seems to be upset. In fact he is remarkably chilled for someone who has just been told he’s surplus to requirements in one of Metal’s biggest bands.

Blaze has had plenty of time to shake off any anger  - he may have felt – since his 1988 ejection from Iron Maiden in place of Bruce Dickenson, the man that he himself had replaced. But today he’s a picture of dignity.

“It was nothing personal,” he says calmly. “I was a fan of the band before, I really respect them, and I’m still a fan now. I loved being in Maiden, it was a great experience for m. The thing I’ll miss the most is singing some of the classic songs. Not just ‘Sign Of The Cross’ or ‘Futureal’, but some of the others like ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ and ‘The Trooper’. That was such a great vibe. That’s what I’ll miss. But I’ve had a lot of support from fans all around the world.”

Upon receiving the loaded phone call from Maiden bassist, Steve Harris, informing him that, after two albums – 1995’s ‘ The X Factor’ and ‘98’s ‘Virtual XI’ – and two huge world tours, the band  had decided to reinstate Bruce Dickenson in his place (along with guitarist Adrian Smith) Blaze was, not unsurprisingly, gutted.

“I was really upset,” he admits. “I was low, fed up. I’ve always been in a band. And then not to be in one and have people say to you: ‘Think about what you want to do’ had me thinking: ‘God, what am I gonna do?’. I suppose it may have been the most obvious route, but I did think of putting Wolfsbane back together, but that was never just about me, it was the four of us. And everybody’s moved on and I wanted to move forward too; to take all the lessons I’d learned and make a really heavy album with strong vocals. But, yeah, the whole Maiden thing came as a big surprise. A shock.”

Blaze admits it would have been easy to slip into depression after receiving such a blow, but he took a different view of events.

“If circumstances had been different,” he says. “Like if I’d fucked everything up, or I’d been on drugs or something then maybe I would have felt like that. But once I’d decided I didn’t want to be a solo artist and I wanted to put a band together it gave me the momentum I needed.”

So instead of crawling back to Tamworth (Blaze’s home town) to lick his wounds, the bullish singer set about making plans for his return to metal, aided ironically by the man who had just sacked him.

“Steve told me to get things going again,” he reveals. “To get my own band sorted out and get back out there. It really helped.”

Maiden’s management company, Sanctuary, has also helped his endeavours.

“Sanctuary said to me it was my call what I did,” he explains. “I could walk away or stay and I thought, ‘Well why not stay?’. I’ve seen these guys in action, kicking record company arse. They don’t just sit back and take what’s thrown at them.”

And so to Blaze (the singer modestly lends his name to the band in true Eddie Van Halen style). Joining Bayley are guitarists Steven Wray and John Slater, bassist Bob Naylor and drummer Jeff Singer – all found by Blaze after a mammoth trawl through the sack of demos he wanted he was inundated with after announcing his plans to form a band. These are men, according to Bayley, whose enthusiasm and spirit rekindled the fires that burn in his own belly.

The sum of their parts has been released in the form of ‘Silicon Messiah’, an album receiving worthy praise all around. It’s a brutally effective album, full of captivating songs and complex melodies held together by an impressive performance from Bayley.

“I knew what I wanted to do at the start,” he explains. “I wanted to do something seriously heavy that didn’t sacrifice the melody or the vocals. And I wanted two guitars. There were times, in Wolfsbane, where having a second guitar would have really made a difference – we were supposed to have a rhythm guitarist but he never turned up for the audition, and then we went on tour and there just wasn’t enough room on stage.

On this album we worked closely with [producer] Andy Sneap. And by talking things through, we were able to find a way to accomplish what I wanted.”

“We looked at the writing in a different way, “ explains Bayley, in reference to his own performance. “Maiden are a band with a focus that was set down long before I, or Bruce for that matter, joined the band. So you become a part of that.

“But when you work with a producer you learn a lot. With Wolfsbane I learnt from Rick Ruben and Brendan O’Brien. And then working with Steve Harris and [Maiden engineer] Nigel Green I went to another level and began learning about my voice. The other advantage of the Maiden experience was writing songs with Steve Harris, and [Maiden guitarists] Janick Gers and Dave Murray, and seeing how Steve would get an idea, and get it to make sense and record it. That was really positive and I’ve been able to use those experiences on this album.”

Bayley is equally happy to attribute credit to Sneap’s production. The one-time Sabbat guitarist has steadily been making a name for himself as an engineer and producer with such bands as Cathedral, Machine Head, Napalm Death and Stuck Mojo.

“I liked the stuff he did with Machine Head and the Will Haven record [‘WHVN’]. I got in touch when I was doing the demo and we started talking about direction, and that was it. He’s not really known for working with vocals, so he kind of brought a fresh approach.”

Sneap has helped channel Bayley’s aggression directly into the music, which may account for the relaxed character I talk to today.

“I’d agree with that,” he smiles. “Sometimes I tend to take myself or the situation too seriously. Sometimes someone will crack a joke and I’d be like, ‘No, it’s not like that’, and they’ll say, ‘I was only joking’, and I’ll say, ‘You can’t fucking joke now, we’re trying to make a record!’.”

‘Silicon Messiah’ is as impressive an album as Maiden’s just released ‘Brave New World’, which Blaze says he rates – he also plans to go and see Maiden live. “It will feel a bit difficult, but that’s the way things go…” – though the closeness of release dates between the two discs is, he claims, coincidence.

Blaze’s German metal label SPV, may be no match for the Maiden promotion machine, but the man making a comeback to rival Longbridge is preparing to take his new troops out on the road. We’re told to expect a grand mix of Bayley-era Maiden, ‘Silicon Messiah’ and even some Wolfsbane chestnuts.

“I think that is one of my best performances,” he says as we part. He may well be right.

Thanks to Metal Hammer magazine for this interview!!!