Interview with Erik Hanson of Fallen Angels

Recently the US Thrash Metal band Fallen Angels released their new album "World In Decay." Also, recently the bands guitarist Erik Hanson sat down and took time out of his day to answer some questions for us about their third album!

Fallen Angels - World In Decay album art

Hey, Aaron here talking with Fallen Angels, do you mind introducing yourself?

We have 5 guys in the band, Brad on vocals, Matt on guitar, Erik on guitar, Carl on bass, Steve on drums. We are located out of seattle and we’re a thrash metal band. 

Your new album "World In Decay" just got released, what are you doing to celebrate that?

We are playing a CD release show on August 22nd at Louie G’s in Tacoma, WA as the homecoming show on our 

tour. Should be a blast. 

What are your plans for upcoming tours? Anything you can share without getting in to much trouble?  

We are doing a west coast run now, things are in the works but nothing I can share yet. 

Tell us a bit about the writing for the new album, how did you begin and how did it come together?

For the most part, Erik will try and write most of a song on his own.  Once that’s completed we will start jamming on the songs at practice making suggestions as we go along.  Lyrics are by Brad and Erik most of the time.

Where did some of the lyrical themes get drawn from?

Lyrical themes mainly came from life and seeing how the world is around you.  Most the lyrics are about social themes and the thought that if we can better ourselves, we can better everyone around us at the same time.  Mortis Ex Machina (latin for “Death to the Machine”) was about terminator because those movie’s kickass!

You also worked with producer Michael Rosen, who has worked with bands like Testament and Death Angel, what kind of insight did he bring to this album?

Michael brought some changes to the arrangements and lyrics, he helped polish the rough edges on some of the songs.  Obviously he has lots of experience, we kind of just went in with the mindset that whatever the song needs we should make happen.  He’s very easy going so it was a fun atmosphere we had a blast tracking and trying out a few things here and there. 

Did Rosen have a lot of say on how the album should sound or did he allow you guys to figure it  out yourselves?

I’d say over 90% of the album is what we had worked up on our own.  Into the Abyss was a lot longer with a longer guitar solo, we shortened that down.  We also cut out some parts on Fire at Eden’s Gate around the solos.  One or two riffs we had to come up with on the spot because of how the part changed.  I actually re-cut the Mortis solo at a later date because I wasn’t happy how the original turned out.

Who inspires you most? Either just as musicians or bands in whole?

My inspirations have changed a little over time. I used to just listen mainly to lots of thrash but the last 7 years or so I’ve gotten more influence from Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker, Akira Takasaki, George Lynch, Ritchie Blackmore. I tried to become a real shred type guitar player but found that wasn’t for me so I decided to step back more and let the guitar breath when it comes to solos or riffs. I like lots of melody. When I’m in a more dark/slow or heavy/thrash mood I’ll let my influences from Jeff Hanneman, Tony Iommi, Craig Locicero, Dave Mustaine shine through more. One band I never hear people mention is Holy Terror I love their two albums Terror and Submission and Mind Wars.

Who do you hope to tour with in the future? Also, who are you most proud to say you've  shared the stage with?

It would be sweet to tour with Testament, Exodus, Slayer or other bands from that era that we like. We’ve played with Havok and those guys are cool so maybe that could be a tour possibility??  For me playing with Testament in 2005 was a definite highlight because it was with the original lineup including Louie Clemente.

Last but not least, are there any secrets or anything you can share with your fans?

We are already working on our next album and we hope to do more fan interactive social media through youtube or twitter to share the development process.  Everyone should feel free to contact us and let us know what you’d like to see or hear from us!

Thank you very much for your time, check out the new Fallen Angels album "World In Decay" which is out now!

Thank you for having us.  I would just like to let everybody know that they can buy the album and other merch directly from us on our website at FallenAngelsThrashBand.com\shop