 Welcome to the Metal Voiced. Alan, we got a great show today. Double the trouble here. Iron Allies. Yeah. Herman Frank and David Rees. Look at that. Nice to meet you guys. Yeah. Nice to meet you guys too. October 21st, Iron Allies, blood and blood out. Herman Frank from Victory, X-Accept, and of course, so many solo albums and so many other projects. David Rees, X-Accept, Bangalore Choir, and just you name the band. David Rees is there. Guys. Thank you, sinners. Rees. Too many to name. Yeah, that's a fact. All right, so. We've got another one on the list. Yeah, yeah. So guys, first things first. How did you guys get together to begin this band together? Go ahead, Herman. Yeah, I do. I give my best. One and a half year ago, around one and a half a year ago, it got in my mind I want to form another band because it's not that easy to find people that can take my pace. So, David's role was in my mind for a couple of years. And then I just pushed, I do love Facebook for this. I just pushed Facebook, searched for David Rees and sent in a message. Hey, David, I would like to, I'm planning on a new thing. Please give me a call. And next day, David called. So we talked on the phone and we did discuss a little bit how you are, how we are, how are you, blah, blah, blah. And then I sent him the same week, I guess, two or three backings of a couple of songs I wrote. And he sent him back two days later. All right, yeah. He's an efficient guy, that David Rees. Yeah, you know. That's why, when I mentioned, I was looking for people that can take my pace. He definitely does. So I was overwhelmed and quite surprised, sending back me two days later, three songs with backing vocals, everything, nice melodies. And I said to myself, hey, this is catchy. That's the thing I want to do. So we started talking and what's happening via video on WhatsApp or something. Because he lives in Italy, I do live up north in Germany. So we talked a lot via video. And so then we, once in a while, I sent him a new song. We went back and forward and he saw it, so it happens. As easy as that. Actually, yeah. I didn't expect it that easy. I didn't expect it that easy. 48 hours with the songs on your laptop. Yeah, I mean, it was, it was, you know, it's a risk, man. I mean, you know, I turned it on and I didn't, I know Herman's career for 40 years. I mean, and when I got the riffs, I went, hmm, and I just started scribbling down the lyric and kind of melody. Booked the studio, went in and tracked it. I mean, it was, I think three songs, yeah. And I sent them back and I got the, the first film I got back was, I think it's track freezing. And it was Herman's horns up like this and his cowboy boots on the desk. Blasting freezing or like this, you know, like 40 seconds of it. And I go, oh, I guess he likes it. Yeah, I like it a lot. That's always a good one. Yeah, I do remember. I was, I was surprised that it fitted like Ape. I never heard something that fits so, so good. And I did love this, is, is, is, is, how do you, what do you say? This timbre of this first voice and he did sing different than he did on other projects. And so it was Ape, all good. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's the riffs too, Herman. So, so David, explain to the people who haven't heard the whole album, like what it sounds like. Well, give us a description of the musical style. You know, going back to what he said in the beginning, we discussed after the couple of three tracks that I turned over to him, he said, you know, Dave, I really want to go traditional metal. I, that's who I am. I'm not going to change who I am. I'm not going to be modern metal. And I'm like, cool, cool. And Herman Franks, I mean, in my opinion, riffs speak for themselves. And the influence of obviously, there's Priest in there. There's a lot of stuff that he and I came up on, cut our teeth on, and Herman's style and my style. I mean, that, that's the only way I can kind of put it all in one basket. You know, it, you know, Herman was emphasizing, you know, melody, we've got to have melody. So feel free to do what you do, Dave. And I'll do what I do, but it's somehow it just glued together. And I'm not going to question why. Sometimes things just work out. And I was, I'm told you before on your show, you know, I was really getting tired of being in bands and I went solo and I was really, you know, a couple of guys that we all know in comments said, Rhys, you need to go back and sing heavy. That's what people expect from you. So, you know, even after the UDOT tour, I realized the truth of it, you know? And so I've been kind of slowly growing back into that, getting away from the, I don't know, I don't want to compare myself to Coverdale, but I was kind of doing a white snake trip for a few years. And I was getting bored, man. I mean, it just, there's some much of it out there and it just overdone, you know? Well, you touched upon so many things in that, just what you finished saying. I basically, all my questions, all my questions have been answered. I mean, you're touched. Nice talking to you. Have a great night. All right, guys. Full of surprises is really, you know, I got that JP feel you were talking about right there, right off the track open or, you know, what a great track to open the album with. It really sets the tone for the rest of the album. That went to Herman, Herman kind of, he wrote that track later on in the process. I think we, Herman, weren't we looking for like three or four more just to make sure we had an extra bunch to pick from? And he said, Yeah, you were right. surprises. And I mean, we're not going to lie. Both of us love Michael Shanker and it's kind of got that groove. But then when I heard it, I'm not a heavy system of a down fan, but I like the real, that vocal line. And it just popped in my head and I sang it in the phone and I sent it to Herman and he goes, you nailed it, man. You know, and actually we retract that in Northern Germany together. You know, we really didn't demo that. That was just raw. Wow. I mean, we went in and cut it. All right. You describe it now, Herman. We had David Rhys describe the album. You describe it in your own way. What your vision was. I wanted to have an album which is, which sounded really fresh. Different to this stuff I've done before. And I do love the combination of this heavy guitarist, heavy, heavy sound and a little bit of this bluesy thing what David gives to it. It's not just like screaming, have a metal, like a lot of people do. There's so much melody and so much the way he pronounced words and he's finding the melody. He starts a melody and then he builds up to the chorus. It's just, it's fantastic. It was one of the easiest thing for me to work out an album. Okay. Fit it from the start. It just fit it from the start on. And for sure I came up with a couple of tunes. We said, okay, not this time. Maybe we save it for the next album. Did you write any lyrics, Herman? Herman, did you write any lyrics or was it just Dave? No, I mean, if I have the most talented poet of the universe on my side. Wow. Man. That's a big word there, David. I'm gonna sleep great today, but I will say this, Blood In, Blood Out had another title. And I was talking, I had been watching a documentary. It's a guy who's got a podcast, I think called Blood on the Razor Wire and then all these gangs were darkened. And I started explaining it to him. He goes, blood in, blood out. And he just started singing it. So it completely changed the whole. Did you get any heat? Did you get any heat with the blood in, blood out? You know, being sort of like a common expression. No, I haven't. Other bands. You know, other bands, you know, I've had a few people say, you know, that's an album title, another well-known metal band, which I was unaware of. And so far, so good. I'm safe from that. I haven't been attacked yet. Well, it's a good thing you didn't name the album Back in Black. That's all I'm saying. Physical graffiti or something like that. I might have had a little flack with the media, but no, it was Herman's idea because it had a completely different vibe going. And Nightmares in my mind, he came up with that title because I think I had a different thing rolling without as well. And I just went, you know what? That does thing better. So he is part of it, you know, absolutely, lyrically, because he's really into that. The riff and, you know, kind of keeping that hook flying, you know what I mean? I like Martyr's Burn. Martyr's Burn. That was like a nice groove with the guitar and then the vocals got a very, sort of like an effect on the vocals. And Dave, that's got a great story there behind it too, right? That's a really compelling story. Well, it's, you know, if I've got a few seconds, that I'm also a war guy. I like to study World War II. And during the Blitzkrieg, the elitist part of England, London, they specifically said, the German army, let's not blow that system in the ring. We'll save it so when we take England, so we have, you know, the nice homes, we have London Bridge, we have Big Ben. And they were literally, from what I've read, some people would have tea parties and watched the air battles happening. You know, oh. That's crazy. And they would sit down and watch it. You know, it was dangerous, but it was kind of a weird form of entertainment. I may be wrong, but that's what I've read. And so that's where it came down. If, you know, watch, you know, pull up a chair and learn and watch the martyrs burn. These poor innocent Germans and English and Americans are all buzzing through the sky, killing each other. Well, people are skipping tea and scotch. It was like a game, you know? And so, and it had that Sabbath groove to it, which... Yeah, I like that. To Herman, it's a very nice groove there. Yeah, it's actually... I call that slow burning swing. That's what I call it. When I listen to that, it's got this slow burn, but it's got a little swing to it, too. So... Yeah, I mean, come on. It's heaven and hell. It's IOMI. It's a lot of his influences. Him and I both love Sabbaths. And so, yeah. I'm still a fan of Tony IOMI. He was one of the greatest guitar player. He was one of the biggest, the best. Herman, I mean, you know, you got songs, you're blood in, blood out, destroyer of the night, fear no evil, martyrs burn, you know, blood on the land. So I literally listened to the album. I had to stop it. I had to get up and walk away because my heart was pounding too much. It was just too aggressive. I had to come back and listen to some more songs. I just found myself getting frustrated and getting angry and getting... It's just relentless, this album. And I have to say, the last time I had this effect on an album was your album, The Devil Rides Out. So you are yourself a riffmeister, as David said. You're... Thank you so much. I mean, it's just amazing, the riffs that you've come up with over your career. I had some, there was so much. I mean, it wouldn't be, like I said, when I got... Here's the story behind the first two or three tracks. I do a lot of recording with the guy in close to my area in Italy. And he's not a metal guy. He's a great guitarist, brilliant singer. And the first track I'm singing, and he's looking at me, I'm singing next to him in the dust, the idea of a layout. And he's listening to the guitars and he can hit stop. And he looked at me and he goes, who's the guitar player? And I said... And he goes... And I thought, I didn't know what he was gonna say. And he looked at me and he said, that guy gets it. And he held up his left hand and he goes, it's right here. And I went, wow. I mean, cause he doesn't like metal. I mean, heavy, you know, he'd rather play Jim Croci songs, you know, and sit around the campfire. But he looked at me and said, wow, the guy has tone. He's got feel. And he's got melody in his riffs. And it's right here. You know, it's in the hand. So, and I knew... Yeah, that's true. And thank you so much, David. Boy, Herman, Herman, what's the set? So you guys are gonna go on tour, I'm assuming, right? You're gonna go tour this album? Yeah, but for sure we will do some shows. Okay. All right, are you gonna like, are you gonna play some of your era songs from Accept and some of Dave's era song plus the new album? What are you planning on doing? I guess we just do originals from David and myself. Okay, so in other words, from your career. I mean, a lot of people would ask for, why don't you cover a couple of Accept songs? I mean, there are a couple of, so many bands, they do this. I guess I would prefer that we just do songs from the R&D allies and maybe a couple of former Frank songs, maybe a couple of David Reeves songs, something like that. Okay. You know, it's a difficult situation for me because a lot of the media, I'm asked the same question. And, you know, why don't you just do a quick melody together because the fans will expect it. I mean, I'm kind of torn in between both. You know, I understand Herman's position and then I understand the fans position. And I'm kind of the same as Herman. I mean, we both have played those classics to death through our whole life. And our whole idea was is to be fresh and original. But I understand the fans saying, well, it would be great if you could throw a match up together, you know, four or five songs and then continue your set. You know, but we've kind of agreed that we're not gonna go down that road right now. All right, that's fair enough. Yeah. But there are gonna be... Maybe we do a quick, just a short medley. Yeah, yeah. I feel like we're making a decision now. I think we're making the decision together here. Guys, let's pick up our hats. Okay, who wants a medley? Yeah, exactly. I mean, there's so many people I'm doing. Yeah, what do you want to hear? You guys are watching right now. I mean, you know, post, great mashup would be. I mean, I saw Ellison Soto there tonight. And they did a great outro. I mean, they just released an album, so they did all their songs, and then they came out and did like a five song encore of P-Cells, Symphony, all that stuff included into Rebel Yell and a couple other covers. And I thought, well, this is kind of odd that the audience went that shit crazy when they hit those riffs from Megadeth and then they went right into something and it was like, you know, the British wave metal. And then they did a priest thing and then they jumped back into their song. So it was clever. But I kind of looked at my wife and went, hmm, and then I mentioned it to Herman and he said, no. I think you guys are making the right decision. If my vote counts, stick with the original thoughts and do it. I'm going the other way, Alan. I'm going the other way. I think you want to bring people in to the club so they can hear your new songs. You know what I mean? You need a little bit of a draw, right? Because it's new and people don't know, they're not familiar with you, right? So you got to sucker them in with one or two songs and then you could play all your new album and get them hooked onto that. That's my opinion. I got a feeling. That's my opinion. I got a feeling. I'm going to get a WhatsApp call after this interview. Thanks a lot. Hey, you know what? Herman, me and Alan, we're just big fans, right? Of both of you, that's it. We're talking as fans, right? So which song do you want to hear? Which song we should play? Oh, that's me. There's a lot of good songs. Put your money where your house is, Jimmy. Yeah. I mean, I'm going to bring out the list. I mean, do we have time now? We'll get it all later. If you were going to do a mash-up, Jimmy, and you were us, let's put yourself in our boots. If you were going to do an except mash-up as a little treat to the fans, what would you say and suggest? Because you're the metal boys, so. Look, Wressels and Wild, anything off of that album? I think that would be cool. I would love to do this. Balls to the Wall, any song from that album? I mean, David, you're going to have to sing higher there if you want to do London Leather Boys. That's always been my favorite song. So, Stalingrad, some great music, right? I mean, it's Herman's call. I mean, you know, I'm the front man, and I can sing those songs. I mean, London Leather Boys is a great live song. I've played it a blue million times. I like Wressels and Wild. That's brutal to Riff, you know, losing more than you ever had. I mean, I did that live a few times and you should have seen in Sweden. I mean, the crowd literally rushed to the front by the barricade and were reaching over screaming. Like, I can't believe you're playing that song off ball. But it also be songs, songs that you guys like from that catalog too, not only the fans, right? It's something you like. Yeah, it would have to make sense. I mean, everybody wants to hear balls or princess, a metal heart, of course. I mean, it's really, I mean, Herman and I, we're the band leaders, we're gonna probably sit down and look at each other and go, hmm, you know, listen to what people are saying and talk it over. But if he's not comfortable playing it, that's it, that's okay. It won't come off. I'm comfortable with everything. Dennis, we changed his mind. In 20 minutes, we changed his mind. I love it. Thank God. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You can be the band, Jimmy. I can play tambourine. There you go. I just say delightful. Ha, ha, ha. But you know, you guys come with a certain pedigree, I think is what we're saying overall. And Herman says here, you know, people want to see real men, they don't want to see little boys. And I asked this question to Mark Zander a couple of weeks ago with his new project. I mean, is there room in today's market for this type of music and guys with your history? Yeah, absolutely. And there's many reasons facets connected to that question. Musically, number one, it works really well between us. Business-wise, I think it's a great career move for myself and Herman. Marketing, it's a great move. I mean, Herman and I both were promoting records before this was officially to be spoken about. And I mean, right, Herman, every time. Can we get to iron allies? I mean, we both laugh and holler, you know. Every interview was, I heard a rumor, you know, and it somehow it leaked out. And then, you know, we were biting our teeth going, you know, we want to talk about our solo records right now, but everybody was really focused on this. So obviously the decision that we made and all of those facets is a healthy one. I mean, I know Mark and those guys under, I mean, they're doing the same thing. Now, there are a ton of great young metal bands out there and God bless them. I hope they have a chance to get on a stage and play. I mean, we've got a pedigree. We've got a legendary history together. We've been down that road and, you know, yeah. I mean, I'm not bragging about who we are, but it's you're right. There's a certain expectation of what we do musically. And what the fans expect from us. And I think we can deliver it, man. I mean, I think so too. This has been going on for a year and a half. We've been working on this for a long time and we started in April of 21, I think, somewhere around there. I actually went to Herman today. I was looking at all the phone recordings I did of the stuff you were sending me today. And I found some words that you maybe have forgotten about that are brutal, dude. I'm gonna, I've got them in a little file and I'm gonna say, next record. Next record are in allies too. Herman, Herman, have you actually jammed together with David and the band? Not yet. Wow. Wow, it's cause you live in different countries. That's why. I mean, we just met in the studio then. I visited him once in Italy to make sure that we're gonna do it. And I just wanted to talk to this guy, you know. And I was paid from the start on. It was a nice chemistry, a good one. And so next time, we met in the studio. And it was a perfect time. Do you remember when you asked it for the 80s? For the 80s feeling? The studio, I mean, you guys, I walked into horror studios and there's a giant board, giant speakers in the wall, you know, vocal, special vocal room, special guitar room. There's an apartment above for the bands. It was like, I stepped back 30 years and went, yeah, and the sounds that we got on that record, obviously it's proof in the pudding. And the drums are live, Jovino came in and I mean, when he wrecked 12 songs three times each in like eight hours in two days, you know, the rest of the band came in and did their thing. But it's pretty much when Herman had in his head, he dictated what we were doing. He produced the record, so. Ah, cool. Yeah. Herman kind of led us all by the nose about this is what I want. And I think everybody involved delivered. Malta, Francesco and Michael, I mean, they deserve a great shout out. I mean, they're. Yeah, we should mention that. Yeah, yeah. So Francisco Jovino is the drummer, Malte Birket. I don't even know if I'm pronouncing that. Malte Birket. He's the bassist and rhythm guitarist, it's Mike Pessin. Pessin. Pessin. Pessin. So we should mention them too. Yeah. So we got a couple of Germans, we got an American and an Italian and a Russian. Look at that. Look at that. In the band. Pretty cool. Look at that. No, I mean, you guys have been relevant, right? I mean, if it's not your solo albums or different groups, you guys are still out there doing it. It's not like we're dusting off the cobweb. So I think that's, that definitely leads to a momentum builder when it comes to iron allies. Herman, have you ever, have you ever, I just wanted to ask Herman, Herman, have you ever been asked like in some other massive band to be the guitarist because you got the chops there. I mean, I always wondered why isn't Herman in this band or that band? Have you ever had like an audition or anything? I know Dave. They do all have good guitar players. Yeah, it's not easy. Yeah. I wish a priest would have asked me, but I... There you go. There you go. Perfect one, yeah. Yeah, you haven't been perfect for a priest. They had been searching for the British guy and on the sleeve, it's his job. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he was involved in producing and stuff like that. And he's such a nice guy and talented too. So, but that might have been, I would have loved to play in priest, for sure. You were Scorpions. Everybody was. Scorpions, your little, your brother's in Germany there, right? Yeah. Matthias, you're just doing well. Yeah. Yeah. He's not bad. They're looking for a third guitarist, yeah. Well, that's the way it's going, right? Yeah, yeah. Maybe they might ask me in 10 years if somebody is going for retirement or something. I don't know. And on the other side, I really like to do my own stuff, you know. I'm a composer, I'm producing, I'm an engineer. I'm coming up with some riffs and I still like to play guitar and come up with some nice melodies. So, right now I prefer to do my own kind of music. All right. But you never know. You never know. Hey, people, if you need a decent guitar player, hey, give me a call. My race, sir. Powerball kids. Aaron Maynid might need a fourth. You never know. Yeah, I can see you standing next to the call guy. Yeah, you fit right in with me. David, David, and for you, I mean, you told me that in Badlands, just quickly, quickly. This is a crazy story. You know, you were asked to audition. I'm not sure what the story is, but when, oh my God, Ray Gillen was no longer in the band, right? Yeah. They asked you to jump in, right? Or at least to audition you. Come on down. They thought that I was the guy and Jake was the boss and Ray had, I don't know if he had passed yet or was at home with his mother's posted passing. I don't know, God bless him, but I had done a bunch of shows at Badlands and Greg chased on the basis to I think, you know, there's five bass players in my world and he's one of them, Baltus, him out there. There's just a limited amount of bass players that I really love and he's watching him play in that band. We'd open for him and Ray would always come in the dressing room and put his arms around me and say, doing a damn dude. You're nailing it. And I mean, here's Ray Gillen. You know, the guy was amazing. But Greg kept an eye on me and then they kind of fizzled out after that third album that was going on and he called me one day. I said, come down to the rehearsal studio. We want to, I told Jake about you and Jake, he's interested. So I went down there and it was basically the three of us and we waited three hours and Jake just opened the door, hair in his face, cigarette burn in his air, cranked his randles to the, I mean, your believing volume, sat on a road case, played to the set a few times. And in those days I could do high wire and pretty easily. And it went really well and Jake and I exchanged numbers and he's a vampire. I mean, the guy sleeps all day. And I mean, the guy would call me like at four o'clock in the morning. Hey man, I'm going, hello? Who's this? Jake, dude, what are you doing? I'm sleeping, you know, what's up? Oh, nothing. And he was just kind of getting in my head, you know, what I was thinking who influenced me. And I'm a big credence fan like him. He listened to those bad lines. You can hear all of his influences, right? And then one night he called me and said, I've changed my mind. I'm going to work with Mandy Lyon and I'm going to do a Prince meets death metal project called World War three. And I went, okay. That's a bit of a change. Yeah, Prince meets death metal. I didn't know what he was talking about and then he just kind of disappeared. I mean, and that's Jake. I mean, he's a brilliant player, but in and out. And it is like, he never, I think he said about it rehearsal five words and then, you know, he'd call me and just kind of mumble and then hang up. You know, it was never like, do I got the gig or what's going on? You know, it was weird. All right, Herman, in the last minutes, anything you want to tell everybody about the new album, Blood In, Blood Out that's going to be released October 21st. I guess if I would be a metal fan, I would buy it. There you go. That's it. Simple, simple. Keep it simple. You have to have a shower after, every time I listen to it, I got to go have a shower because it seems like it would rather be around. I don't know how you put it. Your heart's pounding, dude. I mean, if that works like that to you physically, that makes me happy. It comes with a bar of soap this album. That could take it a different way. You can get out of it all. Yeah, yeah. We make a bar of soap out of one of his guitars or something, I don't know. Well, hopefully you guys will come to North America, hopefully, I don't know, I guess we'll see, right? Herman, how long has it been since you've been to North America? Couple of years, eight years, nine years. Was it with your solo album? What was it, what was the last time you were there? Except. You know, actually me and Alan were probably at that show there, Stalingrad, what was it? The tour, the Stalingrad tour? Alan, when was that? For sure it was Blood of the Nation. Blood of the Nations, yeah. Yeah, at this time, at this year. Yeah, we met, Herman, he was having a cigarette outside the venue in the afternoon we went down to interview him. Well, you don't remember us, 10 years ago. I might even have a picture with him somewhere. Hey, congratulations again, guys. It's an outstanding album. And I think it's mission accomplished. From everything you described to us today, you've nailed everything, all your goals have been achieved on this wonderful masterpiece. Blood in, blood out by Iron Allies. Check your blood pressure after you listen again tonight. Absolutely. Have yourselves a nice night, fellas. Thank you. Thank you very much, Jimmy. Thank you so much. And like October 21st AFM Records, another video coming out October 20th for Destroyers of the Night, by the way. Go on YouTube. Great song, by the way. That was a great tune. That's like a real heavy, oh, that's a great song, man. It's going to be a great video. And Herman and I heard today the 20th will be released that video, so. I like the riff. I like the riff. For pre-orders? Yeah. Pre-orders are available now. There's a limited white vinyl of 300 units. I don't know how many is left. Apparently, it's doing pretty well. And black vinyl. And of course, TD did you pack. And of course, the monster in the background, the streaming platform. But yeah, we're going to do everything we can to get out on the road. We're working with an agency right now in Germany. And we're fishing right now for dates, so. All right, congratulations. Good luck. Thank you, guys. Have a nice day. Thank you, man. Thank you. Good night. Take it easy, guys. Take it easy.