Interview: Relentless (Usa/Poland)

Hails! Today i have this great interview with Rick Buentello from Relentless!!!

1.- Could you tell us a little bit about the history of Relentless, and at the moment are you a one man band?
- Sure, Relentless started in 1998 in Northern Virginia after I finished High School and left home when I was 17. For the first few years I wondered around playing in band after band, but could never find the right one. During that time Alternative music was going full swing, and everyone wanted to play really awful acoustic music or rap rock. The metal bands that I did find to play were always either really lame death metal, or gay power metal with too many songs about magical elves, etc.,... So I finally decided to form a band of my own which proved to be very difficult since there were very few muscians to choose from. After auditioning about a billion muscians, I managed to find a line up to go and record a one song promo in 1999. It had just one song called "Wait For The Lightning" and was only on cassette tape. After the one song promo, I made a four song EP with a slightly different line up which. Shortly after that, the band broke up, I moved to Texas and tried to form Relentless again. But I couldn't find the right people, so I started to play in other bands as a result. After about six years I moved back to Northern Virginia and got the idea to start Relentless back up. I felt that the music could have gone father then it had and that it was worth it to give it another try. I made another three song demo with the songs that you see here, this time with session musicians. It was never released over the next two years due to just crazy shit going on in my life all the time. Soon after I found a solid lineup, wrote more songs, and started to play out live. I think we were playing out once a week at least for a while. But as with all bands, people started to argue, fight, etc., and that line up dissappeared. But I've got the recordings that I made during that time that I am using for this demo, and new recordings of all 9 songs that will be used later for a full length. I think that's about it,... That pretty much brings us up to where we are now.

2.- Why do you move to Poland?
- Mainly because my fiance lives here. But I find Poland to be a really beautiful country. The language and people are beautiful, and the food, beer, and vodka are AMAZING ahaha! It's really cool to know that I can drive a few hours here or there and be in Wroclaw, Prague, Dresden, etc.,.... And Poland LOVES their metal here! So I've been getting a lot of support as of late and I think 2010 will be very interesting for Relentless.

3.- How was the recording process of your EP "Wait for the Lighting", do you have some other recordings?
- To tell you the truth, I don't remember, ahahaa.... I was passed out drunk and whatever else, in the parking lot of the studio. The next day when I heard the recordings, I liked about one of the songs really. It was never mixed I found out later. We ran out of time and money. But you will hear two of the songs from that album on the full length LP coming out later this year. Storm The Gates and Dressed to Possess to be exact. And they will sound a hell of a lot better due to mixing, better guitar playing etc.,.. I even have new arrangements for one of the songs. As for other recordings, Relentless was on various compilations in magazines such as Pit, Brave Words And Bloody Knuckles, etc.,.. back in the day. Also, I had a one song promo in the very beginning. Maybe someday I'll that out as a bonus track, ahaha...

4.- I read about a new Demo for this 2010, is ready? What can we expect of this new Demo?
- Well it's just about ready. I am still waiting for some artwork and I am fixing some vocal work on a brand new song called Extinction. So by the middle to end of January it will be available finally. It will have five songs including the four you hear on MySpace and additionally one more. So War Without End, Drunk And Wild, Lycanthropy, Extinction, and Dead But Wide Awake. The cover art will be done by Polish artist Piotr Tylek, and it will be on a CD-R since it's just a demo. There's also going to be two vinyl pressings coming up as well, with Relentless doing a cover song on one of the vinyls. So look out for that as well.



5.- Who are your most important influence to create music?
- I think number one has got to Megadeth. My first album I ever bought was Peace Sells But Who's Buying back when I was 12 or 13 years old around 1988. I didn't even know what they sounded like, I just thought the album cover looked cool. Then I heard them,.... I forgot all about Metallica after that, ha! Then I will say also Motorhead and Mercyful Fate. And I can't forget Alice Cooper. My mother had the "Killer" album on vinyl and I would listen to that and get freaked out when "Dead Babies" came on. But hell I was only 7 at the time I think, ahaha...

6.- What can you say about this song "Lycanthropy"?
- Lycanthropy is a mental illness in which someone believes they can change into a wolf, to the point where their behavior is the same way. So in this song, I wanted to write about such a person. I know it's a bit cliche maybe to write about this subject, but I don't care. The rhythm and melody remind me of when I was younger and I would sneak out of my house and run through a forest at two in the morning blitzed. Ahaha, the good ole' days. But as I started writing I got the idea to write about maybe someone who has this mental illness. So on the back of the Relentless t-shirts that I had made last year, I had the chorus line printed saying: "Should have known not to walk alone at night, when I'm waltzing underneath the pale moonlight, refracted light, eyes drink the sky, black magic might, you're time to die". It's not my most popular song that I have, but it's my personal favorite.

7.- Could you describe in 5 words the sound of Relentless?
- Sure... crazy, cyclone-like, rabid, lucid, and RELENTLESS, ha...

8.- When you play the guitar, what do you feel?
- Really good question,... I don't think I have ever been asked that. But I'll do my best. I feel like I am with an old friend that knows everything about me. And we've just drank a couple liter's of Vodka, and it's okay to say and do whatever, because there are no secrets between us. If I want to sit and watch the tide ebb and flow I can, if I want to set everything on fire, jump off a building and take the stars down with me, I can... And they won't think anything of it. I mean this in a figurative sense of course ahaha,... It's hard to really explain, but it's kind of like that.

9.- Do you play some Live shows in Poland or the States?
- Not currently. I'm still learning Polish and getting used to living here. I've only been here for about four months. But I imagine by the end of this year you will see Relentless out on the stage again here in Poland. Relentless was playing out live a lot last year, mainly around Baltimore and Philadelphia. Then the line up that I had bailed out and decided to concentrate on the album. For those whose got to see the shows, I am sure they had as great of a time as I did. There was this one show in Baltimore where the band brought a keg of beer into the club as a promotion for t-shirt sales that we had,.... I don't think I have ever been so blitzed before a show in my life. I was walking in a zig-zag pattern to the stage, ahaha. But hey, we played better when we had a few.



10.- Chris Poland or Marty Friedman?
- Marty who? You mean that guy who plays in Japanese Pop bands now, ahaha... CHRIS POLAND ALL THE WAY!!! Megadeth was fucking AWESOME with Gar and Chris. They got really lame with the later line-ups. But I liked So Far So Good So What a lot. And I have to say I like some of the tracks off of their later stuff. The new album has got some good stuff as well. The new guitarist is a bit too mechanical sounding for my taste though. But nothing compares to the first three albums.

11.- Relentless is a Great band! Do you have some offer deals with some Label?
- Thanks man. Not really I don't think many people know about Relentless to tell you the truth. Not yet anyway,... I've got offers from various metal and punk distros to press vinyl, etc., but as far as labels like Metal Blade, or Century Media, no. And who cares, I think those labels put out shit bands anyway nowadays. Maybe I'll find a cool label who's ACTUALLY independent and puts out bad ass music. It would be nice to get more capital to make even better records. But it's fun putting out your own music and learning how to do everything that is involved in the production. It's a lot easier now in this day and age.

12.- How is the process or composition?
- Process? To make an album? It's a pain in the ass, ahaha... But if you love what you are doing and you believe in it, then you don't feel a thing. This demo has taken forever and a day to make. But as I get closer to the finish line, it's that much better of a feeling of accomplishment.



13.- How can we stay underground with fashions which kill genres like Thrash Metal, Death Metal and Black Metal?
- I don't think anything can be kept underground. Because nothing in life stays the same. It happens with all music and it will happen to metal again eventually. There's a huge amount of people out there making metal music. It's cool that there's a new interest in this music. But at the same time, when you have too many bands out there doing the same thing, it becomes stale and tastless. I can't make up my mind if I liked it better when I was the only one wlaking around grocery stores with bullet belts and Mercyful Fate t-shirts, or if it's better now since there are more shows and more fans. My advice, don't worry about what other people do. Do your own thing and when the popularity dies off again, so what? The true metal manics will be headbanging until they die. Besides, we all know who the fakes are and who are the real deal.

14.- Your top 5 albums?
- Wow, this is going to be a difficult choice, but here we go (in no particular order):
1) Megadeth "Peace Sells But Who's Buying"/Megadeth "Killing Is My Business, And Business Is Good"
2) Wendy O' Williams "Coup Et' Tate"
3) Mercyful Fate "Melissa"
4) Alice Cooper "Killer"
5) Motorhead "Orgasmatron"

15.- Plans fot his 2010?
- Yeah, get this demo out, get the full length out, get t-shirts and patches made, get a new line-up, and finish work for the second Relentless album. Oh, and take over the world Relentless style. 2010 is going to be a REALLY good year for Relentless I can tell. I can't wait to play out in Poland and the rest of Europe.

16.- Anything to add or ask?
- I'd like to say thanks for the interest in this band and for the interview. I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who has been writing in the last year or so with all of the compliments and support. The demo's almost out! To those in Poland, East Germany, and Czech, if you'd like to try out for the band, send a link of your playing here: www.myspace.com/relentless13. For all those reading this who like to headbang to Relentless, see you out there center stage!

You can check this band on:
www.myspace.com/relentless13