DIAMOND HEAD Guitarist BRIAN TATLER On Covering METALLICA's "No Remorse" For Lightning To The Nations 2020 - "I Wanted To Share A Bit Of Love On One Of The More Less-Famous Tracks"

November 16, 2020, 3 years ago

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DIAMOND HEAD Guitarist BRIAN TATLER On Covering METALLICA's "No Remorse" For Lightning To The Nations 2020 - "I Wanted To Share A Bit Of Love On One Of The More Less-Famous Tracks"

In the clip below, Metal Express Radio’s George Dionne talks with Diamond Head guitarist Brian Tatler. Tatler discusses the band’s upcoming release Lightning To The Nations 2020, what it was like recording and self-releasing the original, and whether he thinks some fans will reject its re-recording.

On covering Metallica's "No Remorse" for the album

Tatler: "I wanted to pick a track from their debut album, Kill 'Em All, because they only covered songs from our debut album. I just thought it'd be better in the long run to revisit something from their early days, and something that sounded a little bit like Diamond Head. And I thought there was some DNA of Diamond Head in the writing for 'No Remorse'.

I settled on 'No Remorse' partly because I wanted to sort of share a bit of love on one of the more less-famous tracks rather, and also one that really suited Diamond Head. So I asked everybody to learn 'No Remorse' and when we got to rehearsal, we played it and it sounded great! It was pretty good straight away, and we were almost surprised, with how that sounded great. And of the four covers, that one sounded the best first. So I think I chose the right one, and we've managed to do a good version. I'm happy with it."

As the 40th anniversary of Diamond Head's Lightning To The Nations loomed, the album's resonance and importance have long been established. A celebration was in order. Thus in 2019, drummer Karl Wilcox devised an idea and pitched it to Adam Parsons (Siren Management): to re-record the whole album with the band's current lineup and bring the songs into the twenty-first century. The result - Lightning To The Nations 2020 - is quite simply, a scintillating shot of fresh metal vigor, with Diamond Head utilizing all their skill, experience, and revitalized energy and breathing so much new life into these freshly recorded takes, it feels like experiencing the earth shaking all over again. Lightning To The Nations 2020 is set for release via Silver Lining Music on November 27.

"Am I Evil?" is the second single to be released from the album. Founding member Brian Tatler reminisces: "'Am I Evil?' is one of the songs that Metallica covered. I got a call from Lars Ulrich on September 20th,1986 to say that Metallica were playing that evening as part of the Master Of Puppets tour, at the Birmingham Odeon which was the best venue in the Midlands to see bands. Lars invited me along, so I caught the number nine bus, picked up my backstage pass, and was shown into Metallica's dressing room. I was then introduced to James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, and Cliff Burton. Lars suggested that I get up and play 'Am I Evil?' on stage with them in the encore. I, of course, agreed and, after watching their amazing set for an hour, I went backstage again where the guitar techs strapped James' white Flying V onto me. Then Lars ran to the center-vocal mic and introduced me as, 'the guy who wrote this next song!' The five of us played 'Am I Evil?' up to the fast section then Metallica went into 'Damage, Inc.' and I scarpered off stage. It was a brilliant experience!"

Tatler continues, "It's been a really great experience to revisit and re-record 'Am I Evil?' and the Lightning To The Nations album for 2020. It's also about time that Diamond Head's biggest song finally has a video. Thank you to Andy Pilkington [Very Metal Art] for this mini epic."

Lightning To The Nations 2020 will be released on November 20,via Silver Lining Music in CD digipak, double gatefold vinyl, and digital formats as well as special D2C bundles. For pre-orders, head here.

Recorded over several sessions between various locations from France to band member home studios, Lightning To The Nations 2020's central hub was Andersen's Raw Sound Studios in London. It's where Tatler and Andrew "Abbz" Abberley did the guitars in February and March of this year. With the COVID-19 chaos striking, Andersen worked on the album between April and July, with Tatler's watchful ear inspecting final mixes and tweaks in early August before sending off to mastering at Metropolis Studios. It is, however, fair to say that the crunch, scream, and crackle of the production is yet another feather in Andersen's producer hat.

"How I hear music when I produce is that I look for a certain density and weight, because that's what I want;" says Andersen. "I want it to be like a brick house that literally lands on your face when you listen to it. And there are techniques and methods to do that. To me, that's a lot of layers. It's about emphasizing certain parts and making a dynamic shift. In 1980 you had very different recording capabilities."

Lightning To The Nations 2020 tracklisting:

"Lightning To The Nations"
"The Prince"
"Sucking My Love"
"Am I Evil?"
"Sweet And Innocent"
"It's Electric"
"Helpless"
"No Remorse"
"Immigrant Song"
"Sinner"
"Rat Bat Blue"

"It's Electric" video:

Lineup:

Brian Tatler - lead, rhythm guitars
Rasmus Bom Andersen - vocals, orchestration, additional guitars
Karl Wilcox - drums
Andrew "Abbz" Abberley - rhythm, lead guitars        
Dean Ashton - bass, organ

(Photo - Nic Gaunt)



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