Rockpages.gr spoke to former Manowar guitarist and current Death Dealer axman Ross The Boss about his career, the best Manowar album he was on, his biggest career mistake, and if he’d play with Manowar again.

When asked what his biggest career mistake was Ross replied, “The biggest mistake in my career… Hmmm… Well, I’ve made a couple let me tell you that! (thinking) When I produced Anthrax… I produced Anthrax and got them signed in Megaforce. And John [Zazula] just told me: ‘it was because of you that I signed Anthrax.’ Of course, Metallica was in the picture and they were going to ask me to produce them too, and the fact is that something happened… I don’t know… I never wound up doing it. Looking back on it, I should have pushed that… I should have been on Metallica like ants on honey! Bees on honey! That’s probably my biggest mistake.”

On if he’d play with former band Manowar again Ross said, “Well, I say it to everybody that I consider it an honor to play with my friends. And I consider Manowar my friends. I don’t have a good relationship with Joey [DeMaio, Manowar bassist] at the moment, but it’s not impossible. The only one who can do that it’s him, Joey. If he says ‘fuck all that, life is too short’… what happens if someone dies? Then it’s over. I never say never to anything.”

Death Dealer has released a video for the powerful ballad "22 Gone", off of their album Conquered Lands, which was released in November 2020 via Steel Cartel Records. This song deals with the soldier suicide epidemic in the United States and the shocking statistic that on average, 22 service men commit suicide every day.  

Singer Sean Peck who penned the lyrics talks about it: “When I was researching the song, I was blown away by this shocking number of tragic losses that happen each day. This video brings attention to it in a very powerful way. Even though it was a ballad, this song was a surprise hit with the critics and our fans so we decided to give it the video treatment. We put it out via YouTube, since we only release a limited amount of content to the streaming services. We are focusing on exclusive music content to our supporters that buy the physical product and only those that bought the record have heard this track.”

Ross The Boss commented on the track calling it, “Without a doubt, the most depressing song in heavy metal history!”  

Stu Marshall said, “I feel passionately about our combat agencies and respect the fact these people put their lives on the line every day for our liberties and freedoms. Australian and American troops have stood shoulder to shoulder for decades and this song resonates the sadness of soldier suicide and why we need to support our troops in every way we can. '22 Gone' represents some of Sean's best lyric writing in my opinion.”

Check out the official video:

The all-star heavy metal roster of Death Dealer features Ross The Boss (ex-Manowar), vocalist Sean Peck (Cage, The Three Tremors, Denner/Shermann), guitarist Stu Marshall (Dungeon, Night Legion), drummer Steve Bolognese: (Ross The Boss Band, Into Eternity), and bassist Mike Lepond (Symphony-X, Ross The Boss Band).

Order Conquered Lands here.

Tracklisting:

"Sorcerer Supreme"
"Every Nation"
"Beauty And The Blood"
"Running With The Wolves"
"The Heretic Has Returned"
"Conquered Lands"
"Hail To The King"
"Slay Or Be Slain"
"Faith Under Fire"
"22 Gone"
"Born To Bear The Crown"

"The Heretic Has Returned":

"Every Nation" lyric video:

“Running With The Wolves” video:

"Sorcerer Supreme" lyric video: