Si le nom d’HELLWITCH ne signifie rien pour 99% d’entre vous, Sachez tout de même que ce groupe fut ; en son temps une référence du death métal underground. Alors que le genre en était à ses balbutiements des groupes comme HELLWITCH, DEATH ou MORBID ANGEL en dictaient déjà les règles en Floride. Suite à des contrats hasardeux, HELLWITCH apparaît aujourd’hui comme un laissé pour compte du death métal. Pourtant, après un split en 1998, HELLWITCH est de retour avec son death distordu qui annonçait déjà l’arrivée de groupes tels IMMOLATION. Petite conversation avec Pat, le guitariste chanteur, qui n’a décidément pas la langue dans sa poche…

VS : At first, I hope you won't be disapointed if I'm asking you to introduce the band to our youngest readers
Pat : Hello to all the jr. demons out there in Satan-o-land! I'm Crazeee Pat the fuckin' Witch from HELL! We've been milling about the death metal scene since '84 and now we have arrived on the most PERFECT line up EVER!!! Joe "WITCH" Schnessel on Drums, J.P. Brown on guitar, Craig Shattuck on bass and me Patrick Ranieri on guitar and vokills!

VS : You've started playing death metal at same time then famous band and actually you've jammed with some well known band. How do you explain the fact HELLWITCH's name isn't more popular around the world ?
Pat : We just got ignored alot, thats about it. I never really had close friendships with bigger underground labels or distros or people who had connections. Only the "smaller" labels/distros, etc. were our close supporters. You see, in the music scene, it's NOT what you play, it's WHO you know/are friends with!! I never kissed the right people's asses! haha!

VS : Come on it can’t be the only one reason… HELLWITCH was very famous in the underground around late 80’s. The band’s name was in every zines… What has happened ?
Pat : Well, that (not kissing the right asses) and I think my songs used to be too.....well... they didn't 'flow' well enough, I guess. Or at least thats what some critics have told me. Also, I slowed down on sending out free stuff to 'zines during the 90's. In the 80's I used to write to every 'zine I could find and send them free promo stuff. That was expensive and a waste of time in many cases. Have I made bad choices?? A couple, NOT signing with New Renaissance Records in '87 when they offered us a deal and signing with Lethal Records in '91 (That fucker, Michael Piesch, is the KING of all RIP OFFS! I really regret getting involved with that shithead!) And of course, not kissing ass with label people, that was a mistake.

VS : You’ve recorded only one full album and a couple of 7”eps in 15 years. Does it mean you didn’t compose since “Terraasymmetry”’s release ? What about all this material you have wrote since this time ? Can we expect a new release soon ?
Pat : No, it doesn't. I think you're a bit confused on this one. We released the Anthropophagi demo in '94 that contained 4 new songs and sold over 1,000 worldwide. In '96-'98 we wrote 4 more new songs. Some new titles are "Final Approach", "Epitome Of Disgrace" and "Mythologicalies (Enlightened Paganus)" . These 3 plus some other new ones will come out on a new recording that we will do in March '05. The new release will be shopped to labels. This ,of course, is the plan but I can't say for sure it will all happen. We'll see!

VS : Well, when I say “release”, I think about albums or, at least, eps… It seems HELLWITCH hasn’t been lucky with its record deal : first Wild Rags, then Lethal records… Tell us what has exactly happened ? What kindda advice would you give to youngs band
Pat : In short both labels ripped us off! Wild Fag at least sent us copies of the LP/cassette/CD for us to sell and make $$. He even had shirts made that we sold on tour! BUT, when it came time for our royalty check, he said, we only sold 2,000 copies! hahaha! During the first year of "Syzygial Miscreancy"'s release, he was claiming each month that sales were progressing well, first 2,000, then 5, 000, then 9,000. THEN, when it came time to pay us, he said most units were "returned" by the stores and he owed us nothing! whatever! RIP OFF LIAR! Lethal was the worst EVER!!! That asshole fucker put out "Terraasymmetry" and then NEVER contacted us again. We never got ONE copy of the CD even!! I had to buy some from Japan to sell for people that prepaid me for them! Basically, Michael Piesch needs to DIE! I am currenlty offering $500 for photos of his beaten, bloodied body!!! I'm serious, I have Paypal $$ funds and will send the $$ immediately to whoever beats the shit out of this guy and proves it to me! I know he was in that band "Werewolf" in the mid 90's, they looked pretty third rate and unoriginal. I've seen photos of him, so I know what he looks like. He's dead if I can make it happen! The best advice I can give to new bands in regard to signing with any record label.
1) Find a label that is nearby to where you live, then if things go awry, you can kick their ass and get your $$!
2) All labels lie and rip off bands, just try to find the one that rips you off the least. Avoid Roadrunner! they are the kings of the big rip offs! I've heard this first hand from Malevolent Creation/Deicide and others.
3) Talk to bands on the label you are considering working with and see how they've been treated, this is a good indication of your outcome.

VS : Why did HELLWITCH has split up in 1998 ? Was it a line-up problem ? Is there a particular reason for your return after 7 years ?
Pat : We split in '98 after a Halloween show with Deicide. We were not rehearsing much at that point because our drummer lived 3-4 hours away in Orlando. It just became too much of a distance for us to keep things going. Besides that, we all could not handle the drummer's behaviour. No particular reason for the reformation, just luck.

VS : Some well known musicians have played in your band like Frank Watkins (OBITUARY). Why did he leave HELLWITCH ? Did you have other famous fellow band ?
Pat : Frank left because he said Joe "Witch" was a poor drummer and didn't like Joe's personality. At that point, I needed a drummer more than a bassist, so Frank left and I stuck with Joe. It was a tough choice, but it was the correct one I feel as Joe is GOD! Alex Marquez (ex-MALEVOLENT CREATION, ex-DEMOLITION HAMMER) was supposed to join in '97, but he never once showed up for practice! haha! Lee Harrison (MONSTROSITY) was our drummer in early '89. Thats about it.

VS : You seem furious after record labels, is that really a money thing or is it just because they didn’t give to your band a good opportunity, a second chance after you said “no” to New Renaissance records ?
Pat : None of these is the reason. Simply, they did not do what they agreed to do. They were not men of their word. I was raised to be a man of my word and those who are not, I have no respect for. Yes, I"m sure there are HONEST labels with passionate owners, but of course, they are the SMALL labels that have good intentions, but not much $$ spend on their bands. I'm not sure who will release our next full length recording

VS : I see... that's an honor question... Don't you think it's be little unappropriate nowadays ? (even if I'm a man of my word for sure). I mean if business was the big thing for labels, they would better produce another kind of music, don't you think ?
Pat : Honor is always appropriate no matter what it's related to. You're either a man of your word, or a piece of shit!

VS : let's go back to this upcoming recording you're gonna release in 2005. Tell us more about it ? What can we expect ? How is the HELLWITCH's vibe nowadays ? Still old school death metal I suppose and what about the actual line-up ?
Pat : It will be 4-5 new songs to shop to labels with. It will be our most flowing, catchy stuff yet. Not as dischordant as our earlier stuff. The "vibe" these days is GREAT! The best feeling ever! The 4 of us are 110% into the band and we all love the newest songs more than any songs any of us have ever played! Not really old school, not new sounding either. It's weird and unusual with many repeating chorus's and catchy repeating riffs. Line up is me g/v, Craig Shattuck-b, J.P. Brown-g, Joe "Witch" Schnessel-d.

VS : Less dischordant than in the past ? Does it mean you made concessions to turn as a kindda easy listening death metal ? ha ha ! I haven’t got any problem with catchy thrashing riffs but don’t you think the strange HELLWITCH’s dissonance was THE band’s
Pat : EXACTLY pal!!! We're trying for sort of a Neil Sedaka/Tom Jones death metal vibe. Ya know? I think we'll be huge with this new direction. Yes, having oddball riffs/time signatures is definitely a HELLWITCH trademark. But that is only one part of our overall identity, of course. We still have all those elements, just to a lesser degree. It's NOT normal music by any means. For instance, we have one new part that is 25 different notes!!! This is ONE riff only!!! You can imagine how off the wall it is!!!

VS : Wow! And you really expect a deal wih such freaky stuff ? Ha ha ha… Fortunatly I think that’s good to know you guys are still the same maniacs… Don’t you ever feel like DM veterants ? (cause I do…)
Pat : Well, it's only one part in one song. Other than that, we don't have such confusing stuff. I think we'll be safe with that one part. haha! Yes, we are death metal veterans! PROUD death metal veterans! There are even some books out now about the origins of death metal that can be found in MAJOR bookstores around the world. I've heard of 3 so far that we are mentioned in as pioneers of death/thrash music. wow!

VS : I guess you personnaly knows most Floridian’s death metal bands and I know you’ve opened for DEATH ages ago… What kind of memories do you keep of this event ? And by the way what’s your best and your worst memories in HELLWITCH’s career ?
Pat : Unfortunately, I don't recall those particular shows too well, sorry. I just remember that we played with Death 3X in 1989 and once in 1990. At one of the '89 shows, we did 2 Death covers and Rick Rozz and CHuck were very impressed and Rick said we played it better than they did! hahaha! And Rick said it was "crazy" that we played Archangel! He said that was cool that we picked such an obscure song to cover. Best memories?? hmmmm.... there are too many, but a couple that stand out would be when we played with GBH/AGNOSTIC FRONT in Miami in '86 and the punk crowd of 300 went crazy and ripped out hundreds of bolted down chairs in the theater (the show was in an old movie theater!) and destroyed the place! I was shocked! Another good time was when we played in Houston, TX. with EXHORDER and RIGOR MORTIS. the crowd was crazy and kept knocking over my mic stand while stage diving.
And recording ''Syzygial Miscreancy'' with Scotty Burns was a great memory. He was such a great/cool/smart guy who loved our music, it was a real joy to watch him record us!! There are alot of other better memories, but I can't think of too many right now. Worst memories?? Thats easy. Getting RIPPED OFF by Michael Piesch of Lethal Records!! thats the worst thing ever!!! Never even got a single copy of our CD that he released! total lying rip off! He was such a nice guy via telephone, but as you know, a shithead of a person. Another bad time was when our warehouse was burglarized in '91 and my Marshall amp was stolen ( I later got it back though, at least it was a happy ending.) and Joe's cymbals were stolen. that totally depressed/pissed me off.

VS : Do you know why all those old disbanded bands are back together ? Is that a trend or what ? Don't you think some legends should stay dead ? David Vincent back in MORBID ANGEL's line-up can you believe that ? Any opinion about this ?
Pat : I don't know why, maybe they just needed a break from it. Yes, shitty bands should stay broken up! I'm glad Dave Vincent is back, I hope he and Trey can get along this time. David was a BIG part of their songwriting/arrangements/business doings!! Trey obviously cannot carry the band with only his compositions, thats for sure!

VS : What kind of stuff are you listening nowadays ?
Pat : Lately, I'm into Dimension Zero, Dew Scented, some older Vomitory, and of course, the GODs, DEFLESHED!!!! Fuckin' yea! Also some old shit is now in heavy rotation like Insanity, Demilich, Possessed demo, Death demos and DEVASTATION from Chicago is SUPER GOD!!! Erv B. is the KING of the soloists!

VS : What can we wish to HELLWITCH for this upcoming new year ?
Pat : You can wish us good luck!

VS : Then good luck guys... Now I'm affraid it's time for the last words of this talk buddy...
Pat : Yes, my girlfriend of 6 years died last week and I"m pretty fucked up right now, but I will carry on!!! HELLWITCH is the only thing keeping me sane right now! Write to me, I answer! (patvideo@netzero.net ) We still have demos/CD's/NEW shirts/LP's/live DVD's for sale! Plenty of HELLWITCH stuff to rot your mind and steal your soul! AND of course, don't forget my 11,000 title dvd/vhs concert video list! Guaranteed to please all tastes! Thanks Thierry for the cool interview, we appreciate the support, Now fuck off! haha!