Will Carroll Talks Death Angel, Nefarious, and Supporting Underground Metal on The Zach Moonshine Show
- Bleeding Priest
- 6 hours ago
- 19 min read
Listen to the YouTube show for the full experience, what follows is a slightly shortened version of the conversation between Will and Zach.
Touring Europe with Two Bands
Zach: Hell yeah, motherfuckers—Death Angel right there. Guess who I've got on the line with me right now. Dude, what's going on? How you doing?
Will: Good, man. I just got home from Death Angel rehearsal like twenty minutes ago.
Zach: Hell yeah! I know you guys are busy as hell, and you especially have all kinds of stuff going on. Tell us what's going on in the world of Will Carroll.
Will: Death Angel leaves for Europe. Some of the guys leave on Sunday and I leave on Monday. We have a four-week summer festival run in Europe with a couple of headlining shows and a couple of other random shows with Voivod and Biohazard.
Then I stay out there and meet up with Nefarious, and we do another three weeks in Europe. So I'll be out there for a total of seven weeks with two different bands. It's going to be a busy summer.
Zach: Hell yeah, dude. We just blasted some Nefarious a little bit ago. That record was badass.
Will: Thanks, man. It was pretty cool how it all came together. We had some singer issues, but now that's worked out and we have a solid lineup. We're going to be touring as much as we can for the rest of this year and next year before we record another album.
A New Singer for Nefarious
Zach: I was going to ask—I noticed there was a singer switch-up. What happened?
Will: On the album we had Katon from Hirax, and he did a great job on the record. He sounds great, but basically he ghosted us.
After we recorded the album and were getting ready to put it out, we started having communication issues with him. We had our debut show coming up and couldn't get ahold of him. We didn't even know if he was going to show up.
But he did the gig. He showed up, sounded great, and people loved it. We were excited about moving forward.
Then we didn't hear from him again for over a month. He just stopped talking to us.
We had to make a decision, so we let him go and brought in Sean Rivera from the Bay Area. He's doing a killer job. We've done a handful of shows with him now. He's singing the Katon stuff great, but he also puts his own little flair on it. I'm excited about recording new stuff with him and moving forward.
Zach: That's unfortunate. Have you talked to Katon since then?
Will: Nope. None of us have. We still don't know why he lost interest. Clearly he didn't want to be in the band anymore, but we don't know why. I have no idea what triggered it.
We can't just sit around wondering why he left the band. We had to move forward, and now we're here.
Zach: Yeah, that's totally understandable. You have to do what you have to do. It's just really weird.
Will: I know he's busy with Hirax, and they had just released a new album right before ours came out. He had a lot of touring to do with them, and we all understand that.
It just would have been nice to get a reason why, or at least a heads-up that he wasn't into it anymore. That's what we all assume—that he just wasn't into it anymore. Communication is important.
Zach: Absolutely. Well, I'm glad things are moving forward.
Will: Yeah. We just did a little three-day mini tour. We played near Sacramento, then Berkeley, then Reno. It was a good way to break our new singer in. He did a great job, it was hella fun, and now we're excited about playing Europe for the first time.
Re-Releasing the Nefarious Debut
Will: We're already working on new material, and our new singer has actually re-recorded the whole first album. We're going to re-release it on CD with his vocals.
The band is going to put it out ourselves—not through my label. Me and Dave Hecht have Hectic/Bleeding Priest Records, and we already put out two vinyl versions. We're not going to do a third vinyl pressing, so the new version with Sean Rivera singing will only be on CD and probably digital as well.
Zach: I think that's cool. I know some fans get butt hurt whenever somebody redoes something, but what does it hurt? If you like the original, keep that one. Now you've got another version too.
Will: Exactly. I don't think any of us foresaw releasing this first album three different times.
The first vinyl version we released through Hectic/Bleeding Priest Records was missing two songs that were on the CD. A lot of people were upset about that.
The reason we left it off was because the engineer insisted we not put too many songs on the vinyl so it would sound good. If you put too many songs on one side of a record, it starts sounding crappy.
So we listened to him and released the abbreviated version. Then everybody saw the CD had two extra songs, so we re-released the vinyl with that track included.
Now there's going to be a third version on CD with Sean Rivera singing.
Zach: That album's got legs.
Will: That's true. But if those guys want to release it a fourth time, I'm going to slap them.
Working on Nefarious Album #2
Zach: You guys are already working on new music too.
Will: Yeah. It's going to be a little while before another record comes out, but we're already laying the foundation for new material.
Doug Piercy has a lot of stuff—old ideas and new ideas—so there's no shortage of material.
I imagine putting together the second album is going to come pretty quickly. It'll feel natural.
Celebrating The Evil Divide
Zach: So with Death Angel, you're heading over to Europe and you're going to be playing Act III in its entirety, right?
Will: Not on this run. This run is just going to be a regular Death Angel set—stuff from every album and all eras.
Actually, we're highlighting The Evil Divide because it's celebrating its tenth anniversary right now. We're doing four or five songs from that album in the set, along with stuff from The Ultra-Violence and most of the other albums.
So yeah, it's a normal Death Angel set.
July 22nd -Wroclaw PL - Zakelete Rewiry
w/ Biohazard & Cro Mags
July 23rd- Schierenhoh13 DE - Hornerkirchen
Headbangers Open Air
July 24th -Hohenems AT - Event Center
Speedfest
July 26th - Budapest HU- Babra Negra
w/ Biohazard
July 27th - Ghimbav ROM
Rockstadt Extreme Fest
July 28th - Serbia Novi Sad Skcns Fabrika
with Biohazard
July 29th - Bratislava SK - Randal
Headlining Show
July 31st - Zagreb HR - Vintage Industrial Bar
Headlining Show
Aug 1st - Cervia IT - Rock Planet
Headlining Show
Aug 2nd - Zürich CH - Komplex Club
Headlining Show
Aug 5th - Leer DE - Zollhaus
w/ Testament
Aug 6th - Jaromer -CZECH
Brutal Assault
Aug 7th - Cologne DE - Essigfabrik
w/ Testament
Aug 8th - Derby UK
Bloodstock Open Air
Aug 9th - Kortrijk BE
Alcatraz Festival
Aug 11th - Karlsruhe DE - Substage
w/ Testament
Aug 12th - Obertraubling DE - Airport Eventhall
w/Testament
Aug 13th - Carhaix - FRA
Motocultor
Aug 16th - Eindhove NL
Dynamo Metal Fest
Then we go back to Europe in December with Vio-lence, and that's going to be another Act III full-album show.
Zach: That's what I was thinking of. I saw a post on Blabbermouth talking about it.
Will: Yeah. That'll probably be the last of the Act III shows. We've done two American tours and now this European leg.
I'm not saying we'll never do it again, but after that December run I think we're going to move on to other things.
We've already got some exciting stuff planned for next year. We're booking tours for next summer already, and we've got some big announcements coming. I'm not sure if Act III fits into all of that, but maybe. Who knows?
Why Act III Is His Favorite
Zach: Man, I've got to say, Act III was one of my favorite Death Angel records growing up. It was one of those albums that really stuck with me.
Will: Oh yeah, man. It's absolutely my favorite.
The songs are so well crafted. You can tell they put a lot of time and care into every one of them. There's a little bit of everything happening on that album.
The album before it, Frolic Through the Park, is all over the place. It's a crazy musical experience.
With Act III, they kind of harnessed all of that and made it make sense.
I just love that album. The production is great. Max Norman did an incredible job. The drums sound awesome.
It's been a joy playing those songs live.
It's also been a real challenge because those songs are super complex. A lot of the material is outside my comfort zone, so I had to do a lot of practicing for these tours.
Every night it requires my full concentration.
But it's a lot of fun.
Playing A Room With a View
Zach: And A Room With a View, man... that's such a great song. One of those power ballads thrash bands were doing back then.
Will: It's a total ballad, absolutely.
I love playing that song live because it's fun watching the crowd's reaction.
This version of Death Angel has never played that song live before, and I don't think the band had played it since the original Act III tour. Maybe they did it briefly after they reunited in the early 2000s, but it's been a hell of a long time.
People flip out when we get to it.
Since we play the album in order, everyone who's familiar with Act III knows it's coming. You can hear people yelling before we even start it because they know what's next.
Then we kick into it and people just love that song.
It's a lot of fun.
I don't have much experience playing ballads. I think I've only played one in maybe two other bands.
So it's kind of neat to shift gears and calm things down for five minutes.
I'm not going to say it's a break, though, because there are still some pretty complex little parts in that song. I have to stay completely focused the whole time.
Even though it's laid back, it's still a really involved song.
I enjoy it.
Zach: I always liked it when those kinds of songs showed up on a heavy record. It added to the dynamics and made the heavier songs sound even heavier.
Will: Oh yeah.
There's no shortage of dynamics on Act III.
Building Hectic/Bleeding Priest Records
Zach: So tell us about the label, man. What's going on with that?
Will: My partner Dave Hecht and I had been talking about doing something involving the Bay Area metal scene. We weren't sure if it was going to be a fanzine or a website, but we'd been talking about it for a couple of years.
Then last year we decided to get serious about it, and Dave came up with the idea of doing a record label.
He came up with the idea of making it two halves of the label. He's Hectic, I'm Bleeding Priest, so we teamed them up as Hectic/Bleeding Priest Records.
We're having a lot of fun with it.
We've put out, I think, five releases now. We did Nefarious, we did Trencher from Oakland, we did a black metal band from San Francisco called Hellhunter, which I play drums in, and we just released two more records.
The Story Behind Deth Provider
Will: We have Deth Provider, which is kind of a death metal all-star lineup. I play drums on every song.
We've got members from Exhumed—Matt Harvey sings and plays guitar on a couple of songs. Dave Gorsuch from Insanity is on it. A couple of guys from the local death metal band Molten are on a bunch of tracks. Andre from Deathgrave sings on it, and the lead guitarist from Ripped to Shreds plays on a song or two. Sonny from Necrot also plays on it and does a couple of leads.
It turned out great.
It's the first true death metal recording I've ever drummed on.
I've had bands in the past that toyed with death metal and had death metal moments, but never a full-on death metal record.
I jumped at the chance because death metal is my favorite type of metal, and I finally got the opportunity to play it.
It was a lot of fun to make, and I'm really stoked with how it turned out.
Another one of our latest releases is the new Frolic album, Legacy of Cybernetica. That turned out great too, and we're stoked. They just had their record release show about a week ago and sold a bunch of records there.
Selling Records the Old-School Way
Will: We're keeping busy with the label.
When I go on tour with Death Angel, I bring a ton of records with me and do it the old-school, door-to-door salesman way.
I go to record stores in every city we play and sell my wares.
Most of the time—probably ninety percent of the time—the stores take what I have. I'll bring two or three copies of each release, and they'll give me cash right there.
It's great.
I love doing it.
Some people trip out on it because they're like, "Wow, you're on tour playing drums, and every day you're running around town selling records."
It's a lot of effort, but I love it.
I enjoy going to record stores. I like meeting the owners, becoming friends with them, and just being part of that whole record store scene.
I feel comfortable in it. It's where I want to be.
Whenever they buy records from me, I always give some love back and buy a record or two from their store.
It's a hell of a lot of fun, and I'm good at it.
I move records, baby.
We just finished an eight-week U.S. tour, and halfway through I had to have Dave ship me another huge batch of records because I'd sold through what I brought.
Zach: And doing it the old-school way too. That's how it's done.
Will: A lot of the store owners are impressed.
They're like, "You came all the way over here just to sell a couple of records?"
Damn right.
Upcoming Releases
Zach: Man, that's awesome.
Will: Our next release is coming in October. It's going to be a live album by Blind Illusion.
They played a show with Exodus and Death Angel at the UC Theatre in Berkeley last year—the 40th anniversary concert for Bonded by Blood.
They recorded their set and sent it to us, asking if we thought it was release-worthy.
We thought it sounded killer.
It's coming out in October. I should know the exact date, but it's escaping me right now.
We're already getting a bunch of pre-orders, so that one should do really well.
When I head to Europe, I'm going to bring as many records as I can.
It's hard flying overseas with vinyl because it's heavy and it can break, so I won't be able to bring nearly as much as I did on the U.S. tour.
But I'm going to target some of the dedicated metal record stores over there and get our releases into those shops.
It's a lot of fun.
I love being part of this label, putting out records, and spreading the word about Bay Area metal, Bay Area thrash, and death metal.
Working with Frolic
Zach: You mentioned Frolic, which is cool because they reached out to me a while back for some PR help, and then this week Dave contacted me about the label, which is what led to this interview.
It's funny how everything circles back around. It's a small world.
Will: Totally.
Frolic has been plugging away in the Bay Area scene for years.
They became a local favorite because they were always opening for bigger bands and constantly gigging.
I've got to give them props for their work ethic.
They're always busy.
Their name is always out there.
That's exactly why we wanted to put their record out.
They're always playing live, there's always a social media presence, and people are constantly reminded that Frolic is here.
That's what a record label wants to see. It was a no-brainer.
I think the album rips. It sounds awesome.
Zach: They've been getting some really good reviews too.
Will: I'm happy for them.
I hope they get a nationwide tour and break out beyond California.
They deserve to be heard everywhere.
What's Next After Europe?
Zach: So what's coming up next for you? What do you have lined up?
Will: Like I said, I'm doing that four-week run with Death Angel and then the three-week run with Nefarious.
After that I come home and die.
(laughs)
No, I go home and chill for a little bit, but I'll still be working on the label and getting records out there.
Dave and I are working on a series where we'll be re-releasing old demos from the late '80s and early '90s and putting them on vinyl for the first time.
It's going to be called the Legacy Series.
Bringing Classic Bay Area Demos Back to Life
Will: The first one we're doing is Ulysses Siren.
They were a legendary thrash band from San Francisco. Their heyday was around '86, '87, '88, and during that time they put out two of the most crushing thrash metal demos I've ever heard.
To this day, the songwriting, the performances—everything still stands the test of time.
When I play those demos for people, they're like, "Holy shit... whatever happened to this band?"
People in the Bay Area know who they are, but outside of here they're still pretty underground.
I actually drummed for them in the mid-2000s after they reunited. We played Headbangers Open Air in Germany, which is funny because Death Angel is playing that festival again in a couple of weeks.
The band eventually fell apart again, and John Torres passed away years ago, so there's no chance they'll ever come back.
Those demos deserve to be heard, and they deserve to be on vinyl.
That's what we're going to do.
Another band we're hoping to release is Wrekking Machine.
Their heyday was the late '80s and early '90s, and they were probably the biggest unsigned thrash band in San Francisco during that era.
They also put out two incredible demos, so hopefully we'll have those on vinyl by the end of the year.
Always Staying Busy
Will: Even though I'm not touring in October and November, I'm still going to be busy with the label.
I'll be working on new Nefarious material.
Kenneth Dutton, the main guy behind Deth Provider, already has songs written for a second album, so I imagine we'll be demoing those.
I'll probably do some local gigs with Hellhunter, and then before you know it, Death Angel heads back to Europe in December.
We'll do our Christmas shows at the end of the year, and by New Year's Eve I'll feel complete.
It's been a really busy year, and I'm already excited about 2027.
Keeping Bay Area Metal Alive
Zach: I think it's really cool that you're bringing all that old material back to light, especially for people who've never even heard it before.
Will: It needs to be done.
There's no shortage of kick-ass demos from the late '80s and early '90s Bay Area thrash scene.
Every local band seemed to put out really high-quality cassette demos back then.
We've got plenty to choose from for this Legacy Series.
I imagine we'll end up putting out quite a few of these old demos on vinyl, and I hope people enjoy them as much as we do.
Where Fans Can Find Everything
Zach: For people who want to keep up with everything, where's the best place to go?
Will: Go to Hectic.com. That's where you can order the records, hats, and T-shirts for the label.
We also have SanFran666co.com.
Dave and I do that together. We've got Bay Area show reviews, tour blogs, local band updates—lots of content.
I just finished my Death Angel tour blog. I think I ended up doing five parts.
During the tour I'd write an update every couple of weeks, send it to Dave, and he'd post it on the site.
It's funny stories from the road, things that happened on tour, and whatever else I thought people might enjoy reading.
Our label is also one hundred percent Bay Area metal.
We only release Bay Area bands.
On the last Death Angel tour, a lot of people handed me demos and asked if we'd release their records.
As good as some of the music was, I had to tell them we're staying focused on the Bay Area.
Maybe one day we'll branch out, but for now we just want to show our love for this scene.
Advice for Bands Looking to Release Vinyl
Zach: What advice would you give bands that aren't from the Bay Area but want to release vinyl?
Will: A lot of bands do it themselves now.
If you've got a tour or a lot of local shows coming up, that's the perfect time to press vinyl.
It's expensive, but if you're out there playing, you'll move records.
Metalheads love vinyl.
It's ridiculous how much vinyl people buy.
With Death Angel, we have to restock records almost every week when we're on tour because we keep selling out.
So if a band really wants their music on vinyl, I'd say just do it yourself.
If you keep touring and playing shows, you'll sell those records.
Why Every Metal Band Should Bring Vinyl on Tour
Zach: Yeah, the turnaround is there if you're playing enough shows.
Will: It blows my mind when I DJ at the DNA Lounge and I see touring bands come through without vinyl.
I'm like, "What were you thinking?"
You're going through all the effort and expense of touring, and you didn't bring vinyl?
That's a guaranteed seller.
Metal fans love records.
It doesn't make sense to tour without them.
Zach: You've got to have merch, period.
At the Tennessee Metal Devastation Music Festival, the bands that come loaded with shirts, patches, CDs, and vinyl sell a ton of it.
That's just what metal fans do.
Will: Exactly.
Metal is a touring game.
If you're in a metal band, touring is how you build your audience.
Singles and videos aren't enough for most metal bands.
You've got to get out there.
And you've got to have merch.
Especially vinyl.
Why Metal Doesn't Need Mainstream Approval
Zach: It's crazy how the mainstream media still tries to pretend metal and hard rock aren't as big as they really are. You look at these festivals you guys are playing, and there are hundreds of thousands of people there.
Will: Yeah, that's fine.
I kind of have a love-hate relationship with it.
Back in the '80s, when metal was all over MTV and in the public eye, it was awesome. Growing up during that era, metal almost felt like the norm. It was everywhere.
Now it's totally underground again, and I like that too.
Mainstream media can turn its back on metal all it wants. That's fine. We're still here, and we're going to survive with or without them.
It'll never be like it was in the '80s. You could turn on MTV at two in the afternoon and there'd be a metal video playing.
That'll never happen again.
When Metallica Became Too Popular
Will: There was a downside to metal becoming so huge.
I got into Metallica during Ride the Lightning. Then I went back and got Kill 'Em All. Then Master of Puppets came out.
After Master of Puppets, I started noticing the jocks at school wearing Metallica shirts.
The same people who would've made fun of me a week earlier were suddenly into Metallica because they saw a video on MTV.
I'm not blaming Metallica. They deserved everything they achieved.
But it kind of took the magic away.
I remember my older brother feeling the same way when 1984 came out. Van Halen suddenly became everyone's favorite band, even people who weren't rock fans before.
Today it's different.
Only the real metalheads are listening to metal.
That's how it should be.
Zach: I remember the same thing with The Black Album. All of a sudden everybody who used to make fun of us had Metallica shirts.
I even turned down a chance to see them on that tour because I was listening to Slayer and heavier stuff.
Looking back, I think, "You idiot... you should've gone."
Will: I did see that tour.
It was incredible.
It was at the Cow Palace, and it's still one of the best shows I've ever seen there.
Even though I had moved into death metal by then, watching that performance made it completely obvious why Metallica were becoming the biggest metal band in the world.
They deserved it.
The Night Judas Priest Outplayed Slayer
Will: I finally saw Slayer on the South of Heaven tour when they opened for Judas Priest on the Ram It Down tour.
My friends and I all thought Slayer was going to blow Judas Priest off the stage.
That's saying a lot because Judas Priest is my favorite heavy metal band.
KISS is my favorite band overall, but Judas Priest is my favorite metal band.
I'm a total Priest fanatic.
Slayer came out and they were incredible.
Then Judas Priest took the stage… and completely dominated.
They didn't blow Slayer away, because Slayer was amazing, but Priest somehow played even better.
Nobody expected that.
Halford was at his absolute peak on that tour.
They were playing everything faster than the albums.
When they played Sinner, it was the greatest version I'd ever heard—even better than Unleashed in the East.
Walking out of that show just cemented it for me.
Priest for life.
Zach: That's why I've always respected Judas Priest. They always seemed willing to rise to the challenge.
Will: Exactly.
They were playing like their careers depended on it.
After Turbo, they had something to prove.
Putting Slayer in the opening slot looked like a crazy decision on paper.
But they were absolutely up for the challenge.
Halford's Incredible Comeback
Zach: What about when Rob Halford went solo?
Will: Dude…
That first Halford album is as good as—if not better than—some Judas Priest records.
That's how much I love it.
The Fight albums were cool.
The 2wo project was interesting.
But when he came back with that first Halford record…
Holy hell.
What a comeback.
I saw him on that first solo tour, and it was incredible.
He played songs from throughout his career, including deeper Priest cuts like Riding on the Wind and Beyond the Realms of Death.
It was fantastic.
The Band That Started Everything
Zach: What originally got you into metal?
Will: One hundred percent KISS.
They're the reason I got into rock and roll, which eventually led me into heavy metal.
I was about five years old when one of my siblings brought home Alive II.
First I heard the music.
Then I opened the gatefold.
That completely blew my mind.
I've been a die-hard KISS fan ever since.
I love almost every era of the band.
Lick It Up is actually my favorite KISS album.
People always focus on the makeup era, but I love the non-makeup years too.
From there I got into Van Halen, AC/DC, Mötley Crüe, Ratt, W.A.S.P., Scorpions, all those bands.
Then Metallica became the gateway into heavier music.
From there it was Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Overkill, Testament, and eventually the entire Bay Area scene.
That's how I discovered Exodus, Vio-lence, Forbidden, Blind Illusion, Mordred, and so many others.
Then I fell in love with European thrash.
Kreator, Coroner, Destruction, Voivod...well Voivod’s Canadian.
Once I discovered Noise Records, that was it.
That label became my world.
Still Inspired by the Greats
Will: I saw Kreator with Mercyful Fate a couple of years ago.
What a show.
Kreator still has that brutality, but now they've added this incredible stage production.
The giant demon behind the drums…
All the props…
I love that.
The same goes for Testament.
Those bands make it feel like a true heavy metal event.
And Mercyful Fate…
I saw them three times on that reunion run.
Their new song, The Jackal of Salzburg, absolutely blew me away.
If the next album sounds like that song, I'm incredibly excited.
I also think In the Shadows is one of the greatest comeback albums ever made.
It never got the appreciation it deserved.
I still remember buying that CD the day it came out and listening to it at Ted Aguilar's house before I could even make it home.
I'll never forget that day.
Final Thoughts
Zach: Is there anything else you'd like everybody to know?
Will: Just keep an eye out for Hectic/Bleeding Priest Records releases.
I just spent eight weeks touring the U.S. putting our records into independent record stores, so there's a good chance you can find one near you.
Check out SanFran666co.com and Hectic.com if you want to keep up with what we're doing or pick up some records.
Zach: Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us.
Will: Thanks for having me.
