Article by John McCue
I have been a fan of obscure metal bands for a long time and I have to say that legendary Florida atheist rockers, PREDATOR, are the best of the bunch. With a discography of 2 decent selling albums in an age where almost no one buys cd’s or downloads anymore, their self-titled debut and their second album, Born In Blood, Predator has proven to be an unstoppable force in the realm of Heavy Metal.
Although it is no secret that the band has had some serious personnel problems, the band has announced the addition of new lead singer and frontman, Jason Rushing, a US native who declares himself agnostic, whose voice is one that can awaken the dead.
I asked founding member, guitarist Damien Lee Thorr, how he discovered Rushing, and this was his response:
“I searched everywhere. We even considered singers of other genres because in our South Florida area, there really isn’t anyone who can handle the position of being our lead singer and many, frankly, did not even want to try out for us. There were two days of auditions where people who said were coming to audition never showed up. When we did have people audition, they were absolutely terrible and we just cannot take in a lead singer that sucks because that will certainly ruin our good name. I found Jason Rushing when he was singing for a Maiden tribute band. After several conversations with him, we hit it off. After I heard his voice I immediately knew he was the right fit for us. I am glad the previous guys we had did not work out because Rushing’s voice and presence are far superior to anyone we’ve seen or heard and he helps us retain our high standards of talent. That is something we will never compromise even though too much time has been wasted in our career during the search.”
Thorr sent me some very private sound clips of Rushing’s voice and I have to admit, the band sounds better than they ever have, reminding me of a blend of Iron Maiden and Slayer, but with virtuoso level guitar playing and astonishing vocals.
Predator will no doubt be recognized among the elite heavy metal greats in the industry along with Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath.
According to guitarist Thorr, they are planning to release a live album featuring Rushing and a third studio album that has long been written but never produced, entitled “Castles in the Sky.”
When I asked Thorr about the band’s stance with atheism, he explained it as follows:
“We are not trying to convince anyone to abandon their beliefs. What we do get involved with is that the government must always be separate from what the church wants. There are way too many religious politicians who don’t respect the beliefs and cultures of others and are always attempting to sneak their religious beliefs into our laws and into our schools. The bottom line is that their religious beliefs have no foundation in reality and thus must not be allowed to influence government. Their beliefs are often inhumane, bigoted and has provoked xenophobia and all sorts of discrimination, just to name a couple out of many other problems. If we don’t stand up and oppose them, we will all be forced to live in a fascist theocracy. The government has no right to tell anyone to pray or who to fuck or not to fuck. This has to be taken very seriously and that’s why Predator gets involved and writes the songs we write.”
As a free thinking humanist, I agree with Predator and I think it is very easy to see that the band will be a grand success in the next coming years. -John McCue
Please check out Predator here:
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