Waste 'Em All

Usually the word sombre never enters a chat with Richmond, Viriginia's original thrash wild men. Beer bongs – yes. Boogie boards in the mosh? Most definitely. The benefits of smoking weed? No comment. In short, an interview with these guys is akin to one of their shows – loose and a hell of a lot of fun. Not today, however, as we have the sad duty at the time of the interview of informing frontman Tony Foresta that Slayer's Jeff Hanneman passed away only hours before.

“Holy fuck, are you fucking kidding me – that is absolutely awful – I am just so shocked right now – almost speechless,” is all Foresta can initially offer. After the news sinks in, the praise flows freely.

“Slayer are one of my all-time favourite bands and Jeff was the coolest dude in the band and wrote some of the greatest thrash riffs of all time. Angel Of Death, Raining Blood, you just don't get better than those tunes. Man, he will be sorely missed by a lot of people.”

And do you have a favourite Hanneman moment that perhaps isn't as universally praised as the ubiquitous Reign In Blood? “You know what, I've always liked that first song (Bitter Peace) off Diabolus In Musica – I know people hate that album and it's not the best thing that Slayer did – but that first tune is awesome. A real hidden gem.”

The chance for a major Slayer nerd-out cheers up Foresta, who is now happy to talk all things Municipal Waste. “Last time we were here was one of our favourite all-time tours – no lies,” says an enthusiastic Foresta. “The only thing I regret is not trying more of your beers. We actually drank some pretty shitty beers while we were over there – I liked Coopers, though. Things have changed for us since that tour – we're kind of like beer snobs now, so when we come back no more shitty beers – only the good stuff.”

Foresta is also keen to point out that seeing Municipal Waste live adds a whole new level of enjoyment for fans of the band. “Don't get me wrong, I really like what we've recorded – well except for the really early EPs we did before we knew how to record – but live we're a completely different beast. I think it's because we make sure our shows are as fun as possible. Anything can happen and we change things up every night.

Municipal Waste draw fans from both the metal and punk/hardcore scenes. This is a band that brings people together. “Our shows are like those old D.R.I. VHS tapes from the mid-'80s,” laughs Foresta. “Look in the crowd and there's metalheads, mohawks, skinheads – you name it. It's just back then the different groups beat the shit out of each other because they hated each other. Now they just beat the shit out of each other for fun,” he laughs.

As to Municipal Waste's musical allegiances, they don't only pay homage to the obvious crossover progenitors such as D.R.I., Cryptic Slaughter, Gang Green and S.O.D. – there's also a healthy respect for the Bay Area fraternity.

“As I said, Slayer are one of my all-time favourite bands and of course we respect Testament and the more technical bands as well. But when it comes down to it – even though the thrash movement was broad – a lot of the bands didn't sound like each other – thrash is thrash – it's all good.”