DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Helldown
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find Helldown sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
So you're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Matt: I think it would have to be Metallica’s Ride The Lightning, it has everything on that album for me. Fade To Black is one of my favourite songs but it also has fast aggressive stuff like Fight Fire With Fire, and I just need music like that in my life.
Ross: Honestly, it would have to be something extremely 80’s for me. I can just imagine being on a deserted island working hard to survive with the huge sound of Def Leppard’s Hysteria blasting in the background getting you amped up.
Lewis: Hemispheres by Rush. When does an album with only 4 songs have any right to be so good? I feel I don’t have nearly as many songs as the other guys though, so I’d grab 2112 by Rush too. That gives me 10 songs total, which is a full album’s worth right?
Ben: I'd have to choose Burn my Eyes by Machine Head, I don't think there's a song on that album I don't like, I just love how raw and unfiltered it is, pure metal.
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
M: Again it would have to be Ride The Lightning, that artwork has always jumped out at me with that electric blue.
R: Iron Maiden’s Powerslave! The greatest band of all time would be on the wall. I may have not chosen them to listen to on the island, but I know them well enough I could probably just imagine them in my head.
L: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. It’s just so timelessly iconic!
B: I'd choose Power trip's Nightmare Logic, it's really cool artwork and I always notice something new each time I look at it, and with little to do on a desert island I can't really think of a better way to spend my time.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
M: Has to be rum and coke, does that count as two drinks??
R: We are on an island, right? There is one right answer and all others are the wrong answer. It’s the perfect excuse to act like a pirate surely? Who would pass that opportunity up … Rum!
L: Guinness, it’s great and fills you right up! (when poured well of course)
B: I'd go with an ice cold San Miguel, nothing better than a cold beer on the beach.
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
M: Deciding this I probably would’ve ended up going down with the ship, “one can simply not pick just one band top” … But It would have to be my cut up slayer top I also use to train in.
R: Most likely my Crimson Idol WASP tee when I saw them on the re-idolised tour. My favourite album of all time and would just need the reference to imagine it playing in my head.
L: I’m not really biased towards any band merch I have, but the first band tee I ever bought was a Trivium one; I’d most likely salvage that one for nostalgia’s sake.
B: It'd have to be my toxic holocaust tee I bought when we supported them for a show on their chemistry of consciousness tour, they were with Exhumed and we were the opening act, such an amazing night.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
M: Id like to make a joke but honestly we all get on really well with each other, obviously we have some heated arguments but it’s always band related stuff like song writing. So, I wouldnt mind being stuck on an island with the guys. Just realised there’s no woman there……shit!
R: Unlike Matt, I’d prefer to be on my own in my re-enactment of piracy! Dancing around a bonfire like a looney … Perfect, as I then don’t have to suffer the smell of my band mates …
L: The Queen. Or any head of state. The whole world would be intensely searching for them and we likely would be rescued before too long. And being back in civilisation would be better than being trapped forever with the rest of the barbarians in this band… Just kidding, I love you guys really and would obviously choose you lot.
B: Well obviously I'd rather be stranded with my girlfriend instead of 3 sweaty guys, but also I wouldn't mind being on my own so much, I can lose my mind in peace.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
M: It has to be a time a saw Metallica in Birmingham with my girlfriend at the time. She got amazing tickets, so we got very close to the band and Robert Trujillo walked around off stage during a song to get close to the crowd and I managed to touch him on the shoulder … But being that close to my all-time favourite band and my guitar hero James Hetfield was amazing.
R: Most likely would be a David Lee Roth concert as the DLR Band with the ultimate line-up of Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan and Greg Bissonette as it’s a band I have never seen before and always wanted to, it would easily get me through a day!
L: I love far too many live albums but I’d probably go with Rush – R30. They were at their absolute prime. Never managed to go see them on this tour but I wish I had.
B: It'd have to be my first trivium show, it was their sin and the sentence tour and they were supported by venom prison, the mighty power trip and code orange, my life changed after that show.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
M: Has to be Alestorm right? I mean one of those guys must have a ship hanging around somewhere.
R: Who would want to leave when I'm on the island? Jack Black … That way we can just sing Tenacious D tracks all day while trying to escape!
L: Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. He’s a qualified pilot, he could fly out in a small plane surely. Plus hanging out with him would be a bonus.
B: I'd choose Neil Fallon of Clutch. He's one of the coolest guys in existence and I'd be able to relax knowing he's on the case.
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
M: Sorry ross, I love you but we got to eat.
R: I feel the oldest should be a man and offer himself up so the young ones can survive … so Matt.
L: Sorry Matt, all that working out means you’re the best protein source!!
B: That'd be my brother Matt, he works out a lot so has a lot of beef on him, he'd keep us going for a while, sorry Matt!
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
M: James Hetfield - that dude got me to pick up the guitar in the first place and start a band, genuinely changed my life.
R: Nicko Mcbrian was the one who got me interested in Drumming. Without drums I probably wouldn’t be into Metal … So, he is the one who started it all off for me.
L: Geddy Lee. Rush is my favourite band of all time and he’s just simply one of the nicest and coolest people in all of music, and an absolute professional of a musician. I would absolutely be a bass player today due to him if a friend of mine’s band hadn’t needed a guitarist instead when I was 16. I am still determined to start a Rush tribute band at some point.
B: Without doubt I'd choose Matt Heafy of Trivium, the guy is an absolute legend and consummate professional, if I could be half the musician he is I'd be happy.
