NASTY SAVAGE - Metal Thrashing Mad!

February 9, 2004, 20 years ago

By Martin Popoff

nasty savage feature

Florida technical metal pioneers Nasty Savage are back with a reformation album after more than a decade away from the fray. With three records and an EP forged in the heady, heavy days of Metal Blade's early daze and beyond, the band made themselves worthy of a re-look through such releases as their Abstract Reality EP and the Indulgence album.

Shockingly, the Psycho Psycho line-up is the exact one that made the band's last record, Penetration Point from 1990. And Psycho Psycho sounds like Nasty Ronnie and his TV-busting antics have never gone away. It is a record of controlled aggression, power metal of a dirty, chaotic sort, traditional metal with a flair for the progressive, but also a flair for death-fuelled mayhem. As you can see, it's still bloody difficult to nail the Nasty Savage sound.

"Well, we always said it was savage music played nasty," quips maniacal frontman Ronnie. "It's kind of our own style. My lyrics, my writing, my own thing is all from my heart. If you're doing something from your heart, I think it's a lot more true. With my lyrics, I just try to create visions, messages, things people can relate to and understand and possibly be living the same things in their lives. As far as the music goes, we're so much kind of our own style that people either love us or they hate us, because it so different and it's so unique. They really can't pinpoint who we sound like. So when you don't follow the course of everyone sounding like Slayer or Metallica, at the time when we first came out, it leaves a lot more for people to desire for someone to really appreciate. Because we really do it for ourselves. And speaking for this album, in terms of the difference from the earlier albums, maybe in the old days I was singing about dragons and fire, blood and guts, where this one is a lot more in touch with reality and people and things going on in our lives."
"Plus, 20 years have gone by," continues Ronnie. "I've had time to live life, have businesses, get screwed over, have children, be married, buy homes, move to a new house and buy cars and just deal with everyday life. I've had time to get screwed over in business or on a job, just everything. And I really think I came into my own as far as the lyrical content goes. It's right where I want it to be. And in terms of the music, I think everyone took it to the next step. The writing, even though I wrote the lyrics to all but two songs, we still categorize them as lyrics and music by Nasty Savage. So everybody has a part in the lyrics and the music and I think everybody came together with more passion this time. And I think that was important. Plus Crook'd (the band's label) paid us money to do this project. We went in there and took care of business. We knew we had to produce something and that's why I think we took it to the next level."

Please proceed to www.nastysavage.com for all your psycho psycho needs. And whatever you do, stay clear of the stage when Ronnie gets goin' and the TVs start flyin'.



Featured Video

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

Latest Reviews