established 1979
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Talking about the great rock n'roll swindle… Elvis is still alive and well, sipping tequilas in some nice villa just outside of Mexico. Jimi Hendrix has never released so much 'new' music since he died in 1970, all that is left for some former 'great' musicians dying for some attention is to appear in shitty Tv-reality shows and after years of disdain or simple ignorance, Saint Vitus are now being celebrated as the amazing band they've always been, over thirty years after they initially formed as Tyrant in 1979 and despite the fact that the last time they released a proper album was in 1995. Does it make sense? Does it have to?
Yes, it wasn't supposed to happen. Yes, the bitter taste left by the whole 'Die Healing' debacle was still strong in everybody's mouth after all those years: remember that after being lured to rejoin the band after a ten years absence, original singer Scott Reagers delivered his best performance, only to find out on the ill-fated European tour that followed that business-wise things were even worst than they used to be, the later collapse of their then German label being the final on the coffin, prompting the band to call it a day and swear "never again". Until 2003 that is, when Vitus reunited with their second, and most celebrated, frontman Scott 'Wino' Weinrich for two reunion shows in Berlin and Chicago. The seed had been planted a year before, when Dave Chandler performed with his punk band Debris Inc., whom line-up included Ron Holzner from Trouble on bass and Jimmy Bower from Eyehategod and Down (a self-confessed Vitus freak) on drums, at the prestigious Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany in front of 20,000 maniacs. Upon Holzner request, Chandler agreed to finish the set by a rabid version of "Born Too Late", the whole crowd went berserk to the guitar own amazement. "I was expecting this kind of reaction and it blew me away. Once I was back home, I called everybody up and suggested we'd play one of those big European festival, just so the rest of guys could witness with their own eyes the kind of fanaticism Vitus conjured there."
It was gone in a flash. One show in a sweaty club in Chicago, immortalized on the DVD, and one show at the prestigious 'With Full Force' festival nearby Leipzig later, Saint Vitus crawled back to its grave, supposedly never to return. But it was too late already. When the band initially expired its last breath in the mid-90's, nobody could care less as grunge had wiped off the face of the earth metal as we knew it, for it only to give way to that horrendous disease known as nü-metal. But what goes around comes around… So maybe is the war on Irak, 9/11, the constant crisis, the Bush administration or the New Millenium. Fuck, maybe your mom is to be blame for some reason. But whatever it is, it seemed the Children of Doom, Vitus' unholy spring, had finally caught up with them and just won't let them die. During all those years they were away, Cathedral, Electric Wizard, Reverend Bizarre, Candlemass or Solstice proved just to be some of the (many) soldiers of misfortune who've been carried the flag of doom, despite the trends or the ignorance of the mass medias. With its lyrics being more significant than ever, "Born Too Late" had become the anthem of a whole generation. And in 2009, they did rise again to reclaim their crown once more.
Although Dave Chandler says he's nowadays "more at peace" with himself, his now entirely grey long hair and trademark hairband making him look like some easy-going old hippie who've never really left Woodstock, whenever he plugs his guitar in, he's instantly back as his old self, when fueled only by self-hatred and passion he was playing to shitty squats of the Los Angeles area in the 80's he was spat on by punk crowds screaming "play faster for fuck's sake!!!". Years later, his scars are still here for everybody to see and whenever he puts his guitar strap on, steps on his wah-wah pedal and lets his eyes roll back, he's as possessed today as he was back in the mid-80's when the lyrical content of "Dying Inside" was simply depicting his miserable life. Back behind the mic is Wino: an almost mythical figure, he said the day he understood what his destiny was when he first saw Black Sabbath in the early 70's. And from The Obsessed, to his first venture with Vitus in between 1985 and 1990 though Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand or his own solo band, through the highs and the (many) lows, he never ever gave up and thus, forged his own legend. While on bass, Mark Adams is still guarding the fort as he always did, the new boy is Henry Vasquez, from Archie Bunker and Blood of the Sun fame, on drums, bringing with him a renewed sense of urgency. This line-up very first gig in June 2009 as headliners for the 'Hellfest' festival in France proved to be a trial by fire, as Wino, delayed by traffic problems and airlines fuck-ups, had yet to show up ten minutes before the band were due on stage. "I basically stepped out of a cab straight to the stage" reveals Wino. "As I was on tour with my other band, I couldn't rehearse with Vitus and I had yet to meet Henry. But there wasn't even enough time to just reflect on it and we immediately launched onto the first song. By the time it was done, I knew he was the right man for the job."
Older, for sure. Wiser, maybe. Angrier, you betcha. Thirty years of doom hasn't weakened one bit of Saint Vitus. And not only are they as vital now as they were back in the 80's, but they'll still kick your ass before bursting out in sardonic laughter while watching the world going down the drain. In the immortal words of "The War Starter": "I have taught you very well/How to create your own hell/Blind mice follow their own leaders/No one wins, all are beaten".
Olivier 'Zoltar' Badin
SAINT VITUS are
officially represented
by Rodney Pawlak / Mind Melt Media
.e-mail: rodney (at) mindmelt.com
