Pic courtesy of: Intruder " Metal fans are the best fans in the world and they will stick with the band that they love until they (or the band) is dead, hahaha.."

Hail K: I went CD shopping the other day and picked up a copy of ‘A Higher Form of Killing’ because of its nice cover. I actually thought it was a new album especially when I listened to the intro that had audioclips about terrorist acts (very contemporary, huh?), and when the songs played I marveled at the production, thinking, ‘Wow, for a new band these guys really have the 80’s sound down pat!’ So I researched ‘Intruder’ and found out you guys are the genuine article, haha! Okay, for my first question, with a lot of old bands reviving their careers (i.e. UK’s Onslaught, USA’s Destructor) and the current resurgence in thrash or similar-styled music, do you think the world will be interested in a comeback release from Intruder?
John Pieroni: First, I have to say it is so cool that we can still get new fans of AHFOK 19 years (!) after the album came out. As for the world being ready for a comeback release – hell, I don’t even know if we are ready…haha! But seriously – hey, why not? Metal fans are the best fans in the world and they will stick with the band that they love until they (or the band) is dead, hahaha. And I am sure our new fans such as yourself would like to hear some new stuff.

Hail K: Why does the band continue to keep the Intruder legend alive with occasional shows rather than just tour a bit?
John Pieroni: For the simple reason that most of the members of the band have full time jobs. Doing a tour would almost be an impossibility because of that. Also, the two guitar players (Arthur Vinnet and Greg Massick) have full time bands that take up most of their time. So when we do get together and play, it is a rarity.

Hail K: Having been a musician and recording artist, what were the most important learning curves you went through involving the music biz?
John Pieroni: First and foremost, be true to yourself. If you play music, any kind of music, whether it’s metal, jazz, blues and your heart is not into it, the fans will know you are just faking it. Second, the fans are why you are there and not the other way around. Back in the day I personally answered every piece of fan mail we received. No easy thing before the Internet! Without fans you are nothing – period. Treat every fan as special and you can’t go wrong. And getting a good manager is important. We learned that the hard way – ours got us terminated from Metal Blade!

Hail K: Since what really got me into you guys was AHFOK, we’ll focus on that album for a moment, this okay?
John Pieroni: Not a problem at all.

Hail K: It’s got a nice, almost cartoonish cover. Who are those guys dragging the bodies inside the van?
John Pieroni: We are very proud of all our covers. First a little info on the artists: ‘A Higher Form of Killing’, ‘Escape From Pain’ and ‘Psycho Savant’ were all done by Fastner and Larson. I first saw their artwork on an Overkill cover and it blew me away. Very unique art. So I got in contact with them to see if they were interested in doing some more metal covers. They were and the rest is cover history. I came up with the concepts and they ran with it. They loved working with me because I had some pretty twisted ideas for the covers. As for AHFOK the idea was that a secret government gas type weapon was released by accident and the scene on the cover is the result. The men dragging the bodies in the van are government agents. We added a lot of inside jokes on the cover such as one of the dead guys has a ‘No Nukes’ t-shirt and the movie theater is showing the movie ‘Andromeda Strain’ (which was about a virus that gets out from a government lab and kills people). Also, you’ll notice that the bottom of the Intruder logo is being eaten up by the corrosive gas.

Hail K: Why did you include a Monkees cover?
John Pieroni: We actually did that cover for years when we were playing clubs. People loved it. So we decided that it would be cool to put that on the album for fun as most of the songs dealt with serious subject matter. We weren’t sure what the reaction would be but it went over great and we continued to play it for our first couple of tours. That was the once and only time I sang lead on a song. I gladly let Jimmy (Hamilton, vocals) handle that chore! It did give him a break during the live shows when I sang.

Hail K: Was it actually easier to play good solos back in the 80’s when it was obligatory in all metal? Because on AHFOK, not just the guitars, but the overall musicianship is pretty impressive.
John Pieroni: Thanks for the compliments! You are probably right – because it was expected that metal bands would have solos, all guitar players had to be the best they could be. And it was actually a bit of a contest to outplay each other. We always thought that Arthur was a kick ass lead guitar player. I will be interested to hear what you think in the solos and playing on our last CD ‘Psycho Savant’. I think they are some of his (and ours) best.

Hail K: Are there any fond memories during the recording process?
John Pieroni: While I enjoyed recording the CD’s, it was actually a very intense time and very stressful. I much preferred the touring to the studio. We had very little time and money to record so it was always a challenge. That being said, I would not trade the experience for anything!

Hail K: James’s singing reminds me of Joey Belladonna minus the high notes, wouldn’t you agree?
John Pieroni: Definitely – and we used to hear that a lot when we toured. We were all huge Anthrax fans and to us that was a compliment. Joey kicked ass! And a very down to earth, cool guy.

	Pic courtesy of: Intruder " I wrote the lyrics to reflect the things that interested me, or things that I saw needed to be addressed. Even growing up, I always was interested in the lyrics of songs and if the album did not have a lyric sheet, I got pissed off!"

Hail K: I mentioned earlier that I found some of your themes in past albums rather contemporary, like terrorism. Do you think today’s most pressing global issues can make your music even more relevant and perhaps even lead to a new audience?
John Pieroni: I write 90% of the lyrics and I like to write songs that do not have the usual topics - drugs, sex, etc. I want people to think, react to what is happening around them. It’s kind of sad that songs like ‘Martyr’ could be written today and be relevant. I wrote that song in 1987 and 20 years later nothing has changed. Thanks to Bush and his friends, in some ways it’s even worse now!

Hail K: From where did the band learn to write songs? What I’m trying to find out here is from whom did you take your cue when it came to writing lyrics that work and putting them into songs that didn’t get boring?
John Pieroni: As I stated previously, I wrote the lyrics to reflect the things that interested me, or things that I saw needed to be addressed. Even growing up, I always was interested in the lyrics of songs and if the album did not have a lyric sheet, I got pissed off! I wanted our songs to really mean something. We did get a lot of accolades for the lyrics so I guess I succeeded. If you have boring lyrics, you might as well write instrumentals!

Hail K: Do you listen to any of the extreme genres (i.e. Black, Death, Grindcore)?
John Pieroni: I don’t listen to a lot of the extreme genres and for one reason: while I love the music I have a hard time with the vocals. I come from the 80’s metal scene where a lot of the singers could scream, and growl but they also could sing melodic. After a few songs of a ‘singing’ these days I have to turn it off.

Hail K: Now let’s go into the band’s history if you don’t mind. What spelled the end of Intruder in the early 90’s?
John Pieroni: We got a new manager during the last couple of years and she succeeded in driving a wedge between everyone in the band. Plus, Metal Blade was not really helping us like we thought they should have. So we just kind of imploded at the end. And we were all burned out. After nine years of being together, we wanted to kill each other. Guess the timing was right as bands like Nirvana and Grunge music wiped out most of the Metal bands!

Hail K: What do the guys in Intruder do outside, well, Intruder?
John Pieroni: I am a Network Administrator for a Music Performing Rights Organization. Arthur still plays music full time with his band Dead Sun. Greg has his own paint company and is currently playing in his band War Within. Jimmy has his own auto paint company. Chris (Veach, bass) works on engines. Everyone is married. Between us we have a million kids and pets.

Hail K: Care to discuss Slayer a bit?
John Pieroni: Always. They are the kings!

Hail K: Until today, go to a metal show here in the Philippines and some band is bound to perform either ‘Angel of Death’ or ‘Reign in Blood’. Back in the day when RIB was just released, how big an impact did it have on the kids who’d spin it on their vinyl’s for the first time?
John Pieroni: Reign in Blood was such a pivotal release in Metal History. I can clearly remember buying the record, coming back to the rehearsal room and putting the needle on the first song ‘Angel of Death’ and being completely blown away. We all looked at each other with a ‘What the fuck?’ look, hahaha! That record totally influenced our writing for AHFOK. On our previous CD ‘Live to Die’ we were much more of a Power Metal/Speed Metal sounding band. After listening to RIB – we were way heavier and thrashier.

Hail K: 1986 is considered the golden year of thrash, aside from Slayer, other bands were releasing their masterpieces too. When the fans were soaking up records like ‘Peace Sells’ or ‘Master of Puppets’ did they know they were experiencing something that was going to be timeless?
John Pieroni: I know for me and the rest of the guys that when we heard Slayer’s RIB or Metallica’s ‘Ride the Lightning’ we knew that these were special releases destined to change the way people play metal. I can remember exactly where and when I was when I first heard them – that’s how much of an impact they made on me and the rest of the guys.

		Pic courtesy of: Intruder "We got a new manager during the last couple of years and she succeeded in driving a wedge between everyone in the band. Plus, Metal Blade was not really helping us like we thought they should have. So we just kind of imploded at the end"

Hail K: Now that Slayer has won Grammy’s consecutively, did you ever care they would be awarded by a mainstream institution when you were a devout fan in the 80’s and 90’s?
John Pieroni: Not one bit! Slayer kicks ass and they don’t need a Grammy to tell anyone that. The good thing about it is that heavy forms of music are finally being recognized. But back then everyone would have thought they had sold out!

Hail K: Should Tom Araya shave, or at least trim, his beard?
John Pieroni: Hahahaha! Dude, that is the funniest question I have ever been asked! Hey, I am a ‘live and let live’ kind of guy so whatever he thinks is cool is cool by me. Good thing he has Slayer to support him, though I doubt he would get a corporate job with that beard and those tats!

Hail K: Did you appreciate the new sound they introduced on ‘Diabolous in Musica’ and ‘God Hates Us All’?
John Pieroni: In my eyes, Slayer is Slayer. Might be a little more polished, a little more refined but when you put on a Slayer CD you know instantly who it is. It still kicks ass.

Hail K: Okay, let’s drop Slayer now and move on to Anthrax. What’s happening with this band? Ever since the reunion fizzled out they seem to have been in life support. Do you think they’ll still have what it takes to release a new album?
John Pieroni: Strange isn’t it? When I heard that they would reform (with Joey!) at first I couldn’t believe it. I mean there was some bad blood there in that band. But it did happen. I was waiting for new Anthrax material with Joey as was anyone who was into the original lineup – then he was gone. Did he leave? Was he kicked out? Who knows? After that I lost interest, to be honest. I’ll check out the new CD when it comes out, though.

Hail K: Thanks so much for this opportunity Intruder, if I ever catch you guys in a German metal festival or playing somewhere in Europe (someday . . .) and introduce myself to the band after, would you give me free booze?
John Pieroni: Ha! Man, the drinks are on us!

*Bonus question:
Hail K: From what movie did those male/female lines before ‘Antipathy’ (track 9 on AHFOK) come from?
John Pieroni: Those were taken from the Rod Serling TV series ‘The Twilight Zone’. That show heavily influenced me when it came to song ideas. Thanks again – Time for a beer!