PitViper

I called the one record store that might have it, which is an hour away but well worth the trip..out of stock. Took a chance on ebay and found what looks like split demo, 4 songs but that Black Arts track is on it. I'm the high bidder right now. We'll see what happens in a day..if I win I have no prob burning a few copies and mailing em out.

I think they did a spilt with Deathspell Omega. The last 24 hours have been spent stalking this band lol.

Looks like I lucked out with a demo pressed on ebay! Might be able to own something from these guys..hope the money goes where it rightfully belongs....but that's for another thread.

Yeah that intro is definitely odd. It sounded Gaelic or something at 1st, it just doesn't seem to compliment the actual music. When the music hits though that's another story. I love that loud, bottom end almost droney bass. I have a feeling a pressed copy of this is gonna be hard as hell to find.

I consider myself pretty well versed in metal, I've been a fan and musician for close to 30 years now but just when you think you've searched every corner and crevice of the blackend past, you stumble across something that pierces you from the 1st note, gets it's hooks in and in some cases drives you on a mad search to own it....I am now on a mad search to own a decent recording of the mighty S.V.E.S.T How this slipped through the cracks of my formative years, I have no f'ng idea..but wow, what a masterpiece!! S.V.E.S.T. - The Black Art - YouTube

LOCKED Songs | ReverbNation This is pretty much the easiest way to check it. I am most proud of PitViper and Divinity Dies.

Locked - Pit Viper - YouTube

Rob had left the band and we were using drummers from friends bands to fill in gaps. Finally we got Tim to stay with us and now we had our definitive line up. Everyone was at least 30 years old and we were all on the same page. Play locally, make great music, be an adult with a career first, do this until we can't do it anymore. At a certain point you realize. "I am not driving across the country in a van." We had gotten some invites to tour but it became nearly impossible with full time careers and 2 out of 4 us being parents. I had the pleasure to open for Rob Duke's band Generation Kill, hang out with members of M.O.D. and S.O.D., Pro-Pain, Merauder, a ton of NY/NJ Hardcore acts and most of all I made friends and had a sense of identity. It seemed for me though Greg was not open to anyone else having their hand in the song writing process and at the same time he was coming up with the same riffs over and over. Practice went from 2x a week to 1x a week and with him being a parent there were issues of gear repair and having the funds to do that. Twice on stage he blew his cab and I was beyond angry with him. The 1st time I understood accidents happen, the 2nd time was during a show that I did not want to play because I knew he wasn't up to par and that happened. That was when I thought, I'm nearing the end here. After 10 years, 1 pressed release countless friends made, finding myself and using metal as both armor in life and the very thing that helped me become a bigger man than I ever was, I thought the dignified thing to do was exit the band and lay it to rest with respect. While we were never "big" or "made it"..it was something to me and hopefully something for the people that enjoyed it. I had written all the lyrics and song titles. I do find it hard to wrap my head around the band still being called Locked with some other guy using my song titles but singing his own lyrics as this band is still in existence. Greg had reached out for me to come back and I said I would providing there was a 2nd guitarist to help him out a bit. There was....but there was also a new vocalist and we would be going behind his back to do this jam session. I declined to play unless the new vocalist knew and have not heard from anyone since. At the end of the day I like to think that no matter how small the stage was, when I was on it and my band was firing on all cylinders I was doing something that mattered. I hope there was someone else in the audience that may have been struggling with inner demons and perhaps my music influenced them to create their own music which in turn will help them destroy those demons like it did for me. This had a significant effect on my life and I just wanted to share a brief history and it's impact on me. Thanks for reading. I will post some links of this band next.

Metal and being in a band had given me courage and strength through some hard times. I do believe with 100% of my being that playing in front of a live audience and being forced to address a crowd had made me come out of my shell in life in general and be a better person overall. We began to play shows and did the local circuit here in NJ. Sometimes getting into NY and PA. Now the line up had changed a few times. We had released a 5 Song EP titled "Back to the War". Our old bass player Benny just had his fun and called it quits. It was no hard feelings and he always came out to support. Anthony had stepped in and while he was a monumental musician, he was EXTREMELY unhealthy. I'm not coming down on anyone for being who they are but as the band gained momentum I began to wonder how I guy that could barely make it up a flight up steps due to his weight, smoking and drug use was going to fare on stage? I prided myself on our live show and even though in the grand scheme of things this was local, underground metal with a NY Hardcore vibe here and there I was never so proud of anything in my life. After the release of the EP which was very well received, Anthony departed and Rick came in to play bass. Rick's entrance was great for a few reasons..1, he was just an awesome friend and we came from the same school of thrash and early death metal. 2, his friends were in a hardcore band and we began playing with them which was really cool. That band was called Low Road and their vocalist at the time was a DJ on Sirius/XM Liquid Metal named Mario. I remember the 1st time playing with Low Road, it was more of a metal show and they were a hardcore band, they opened and weren't too well received. I also remember my band "Locked" playing a killer set. I never got to talk to Mario that night and there was this feeling that I thought, he thought I was an ass. So the next week he played at a Hardcore fest I made a point to go with Rick to the fest and personally shake his hand, say hello and let him know I enjoyed his music. I did and it was a great night and I had made a new friend. A new friend that shared the same passion and played the same role in his band as I did mine. It was 2 weeks later I had gotten a call and found out Mario had passed away from complications of a cancer he had been battling. End Part 3.

So fast forward to a year or so and I had completely fallen in love with death and black metal. Corpsegrinder was my main influence as I thought his range and enunciation was just incredible. He was identifiable. I put an ad out and Greg, who would remain my guitarist and very good friend answered it. The 1st time we got together it was just us in a room. I would put vocal patterns down to what he wrote and just go. From there we recruited his friend/roomate Benny to play bass. When Greg moved in with Benny it was awesome because the house was off a main road out in the woods and we were able to play outside, party, have parties, not have to pay for rehearsal or anything else. Drummers were a merry go round. After about a year we got Rob who was an extremely talented drummer with very fast feet--and he also seemed bipolar or manic depressive or something. While Greg, Benny and myself would drink and party and play video games after a rehearsal...Rob wouldn't. I knew he felt left out so I kind of befriended him in a different way and actually formed a side project with him that I was really proud of. I kept playing guitar and bass for fun but now I was just a vocalist and wrote all the lyrics. Soon we would have a few songs down and would play live. End Part 2.

I chose Deep and Meaningful because both words describe my time in my last band. If anyone has a similar story or similar feelings about their time in a band, I'd really like to read about them. I'll start with my story first. In high school I had a Slayer and Pantera sticker on my car. The occasional Anthrax or Slayer t-shirt worn to school was about it for me and metal. There was one other guy in a class that I had to talk to metal about and he struck up conversation over me wearing a KISS shirt. At the time I hadn't really played anything that demanded some kind of study since percussion in elementary school. I did have an acoustic guitar and would mess around in my room here and there but that was it. It wasn't until I had graduated and was closer to 18 years old that my metal infection got so deep I just wanted to create my own. I started reading music classifieds and found EVERYONE needed a drummer and a bass player. I decided that as much as I was enjoying the guitar, it would be easier to get the ball rolling if I bought a bass and learned the basics. So for 80.00 I bought the biggest hunk of garbage the store had and taught myself some Maiden, some basic punk stuff, Sabbath--all the basics. I began to audition for bands and quickly realized the bands I wanted to play in..the guitarists were much more advanced at guitar than I was at bass. I was practicing with one band that at the time was called Drown In Blood. The lead guitarist was really into Dissection and Morbid Angel...he was helping me with covers and one day the vocalist/guitarist cancelled so him and I sat down and practiced playing Dead Skin Mask...with me on vocals. He said something that I never forgot: "You're really good at that" End Part 1.

Such a great place..I have seen everyone to ManOwar to S.O.D., Cannibal Corpse, GWAR...always a great time. Huge part of my late teens and 20's.

I think that album, line up and era would have been better received if they called it "The Iron Maiden Side Project Until Bruce Comes Back"..lol...people almost don't count it among the catalog. I thought it's by far their darkest almost depressing lyrics and the music definitely follows that vibe. Even the trademark, galloping triplets, upbeat Maiden sound somehow sounds cold and empty--but that's the intent. I understand Steve Harris was going through his divorce while writing that album and it really shows. I was lucky enough to meet them on that tour at a meet and greet and then they played a club here in NJ that no longer exists. Birch Hill Nite Club in Old Bridge NJ--They opened with Man On The Edge, it went into Wrathchild and then Heaven Can Wait. After that..I don't remember. Maiden in a club was absolute MAYHEM and Fear Factory opened! Crazy night. Back on topic though, I do feel X-Factor is a brilliant album, Blaze never gets his due respect and while Virtual was the weaker of the 2, it did have a few decent songs on it. There is also a Japanese B-Side for X-Factor called "I Live My Way"...f'ng awesome.

Another: Iron Maiden's X-Factor is one of the most underrated albums of all time.