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1. Introduce yourself, and what is the hidden symbolism behind the name?

A. G’Day! My names Danny I play drums for the Australian metal act Black Asylum. The concept behind the band name was no more than a way to relate with fans mentally and in reality, using the word “asylum” as symbolism for life’s restrictions either within ones head, or from what society has dealt them. Every metal head has been through this at some point!

2. Do you feel you are portraying a message to the masses that we can all relate to?

A. Yes definitely, we don’t sing about dragons and pixies. We sing about the true nature of people, what’s really going through their heads and how barbaric society is with its way of thinking.

3. Do you have any favourite tracks off your album?

A. 12 Gauge Judas and Beg for mercy would have to be my favourite “Brutal” tracks. I am also very proud of the track “Dawn of no Difference”, a very dramatic epic that still holds within the Black Asylum mindset. They are on our myspace page so check them out!

4. If you could switch lives with anyone for 24 hours who would it be and why?

A. The head of the label “Century Media” so I could sign us up hahahaha, either that or Jessica Alba so I could just look at myself all day…

5. What is music for you? Does it bring you some new emotions or it helps you to get ride of some negative emotions?

A. Music for me is a medium, an artist trying to portray a certain feeling or emotion that isn’t physically evident, i guess that is shown with all the different styles, genre’s and sub genre’s out there. For me, i listen to all genres depending what mood I’m in… if I’m in a fun mood ill listen to Motley crue or public enemy, if I’m really pissed off and need to get some anger out then I rip out The Haunted.

6. All bands was affected by their admirer bands. Which bands affected to your music and the band?

A. We all started off with the Traditional acts, your Metallica’s, Pantera’s and Testament’s. Then we moved onto other bands that were coming out at the time, like Soilwork, Arch Enemy, The Haunted, Lamb of god etc. We Grew our own sound from all the bits and pieces we liked from all of them, modified the music to achieve what sounded “good” to our ears and created a new breed of music in the process.

7. Why do you think the 80s has enjoyed such a huge comeback?

A. Haha short and sweet, “because everything went downhill from then onwards”.

8. So, at what point on a tour do you get fed up and say "Screw this. I want to sleep in my own bed and I want to shower in my own bath." At what point do you get to where you just can't handle it anymore, where you're done with it and it's time to go home? Do you ever get like that when you're on the road, or is the whole thing always exciting?

A. Its too exciting, Living in Australia we haven’t had the chance to do a massive 6 month plus tour. So All our travels have been short bursts, 4 or 5 days at max and on the last day we always wish we could keep touring because of the fun we’re having. Ask me this question again after we hit Europe for 8 months and I may have a different answer for you!.

9. How was your Halloween, do anything crazy or exciting?

A. We live in Australia mate, so any type of holiday is just used as an excuse to get pissed, we don’t do much else.

10. Tell me, do you believe in life after death?

A. Personally I do, but I’m honestly content with just living life the way I want to and ill see what happens on the other side when it arrives.

11. Are there any songs that you can’t live without knowing or singing?

A. Yes. Alice coopers “Poison”, Warrants “Cherry Pie” and Steppenwolf’s “Born to be wild”.

12. So, how would you describe your sound to a stranger in three words?
Aggressive, Dramatic, Metal.

13. If you were interviewing yourself, what question would you ask yourself? And what would the answer be?

Q: Do you think you guys should have more groupies, and play massive stadiums?
A: Yes.

14. Time for a little word game. What are the first thoughts that come to your mind when hearing these names....

- Alcohol: Yes.
- Idols: Till Lindeman
- Heavy Metal: Black Asylum
- Sports: Tv
- Food: Travis… (my guitarist, he really likes food..)
- Love: Mrs Right
- Success: Persistence
- Magazines: Tattoos!
- Punkrock: Small Drum kits

15. What do you think of your genre being considered "Molten Metal"? I myself haven't heard of that genre before.

A. We came up with it due to the fact were even still have trouble explaining our sound and our category within the music scene. Were not Just thrash, were not just melodic death, were not experimental. None of those genres explain our sound. We are a metal act with many flowing musical perspectives. Haha, so we simplified it to “molten metal”.

16. Is "Truths Of The Blood," a progression for the band?

A. Definitely, It was a massive learning curve just in itself with the production work. We now know what has to be done to create an album. We used the best songs we had at the time, and dived in the deep end, so now that we know how to create an album we can focus a lot more on the musical aspect and plan to make the next cd reach even higher standards.

17. Many thrash bands today are becoming more mellow with the making of each album. Many are even writing ballads since they realized bands like Testament, Pantera, Metallica and Megadeth got so big from them. Will Black Asylum ever mellow out?

A. I think we got a fair bit of mellow the stuff out with “Truths of the blood”, we didn’t want to pigeon hold ourself by playing only heavy stuff on the first cd. That’s what restricts you further down the track like you said with the other bands. So we’ve kept the door open for the future with more mellow tunes, but after saying that, the new material for the 2nd cd is already in the works, and I must say it is going to be intense.

18. What kind of live show does Black Asylum out on? Is it difficult to play your songs live?

A. We keep our show as energetic as we can, without sacrificing tight playing. We deliver the type of vibe that’s all about no bullshit. We just get on the stage, shred our set, if you like it then that’s awesome, if not then that’s your problem.

19. What you think about thrash metal listeners potential in Australia? Is there a great interest for thrash in Australia?

A. There is interest for sure! There’s just not enough support. Down here bands are doing great if they pull around 200 heads, but ill go see slayer at the hordern pavilion, thousands of thrash heads will rock up and I think to myself “where do all you people come from??” haha. Australia just needs its people to look into more what’s going on with metal internally. Not just the handful of big names that come out once every few years.

20. And finally to wrap things up, anything else you'd like to mention we haven't covered?

A. Check us out at www.myspace.com/blackasylum & www.black-asylum.com, if you dig what we do get involved! Shoot us some feedback, join the street team or grab a cd!. Have a safe end of the year.

Stay Bad Assed.
Danny H.