The Hard Rocking Revelations of Wraith

The Hard Rocking Revelations of Wraith

The almighty Wraith is a hard rocking band ready to rage all across the world.  With active participants within their ranks such as Pete Way of UFO and Kim Nielsen of the late great Phantom Blue, Wraith is sure to captivate all rock and roll fans with their exhilarating anthems.  Wraith’s latest magnum opus is entitled Revelation, unleashed via Ice Rain Records / Cargo Records.  Revelation was produced and mixed by legendary Neil Kernon (Dokken, Queensryche, Shy) and mastered by Andy Sneap (Accept, Kreator, Machine Head, Megadeth).  Highwire Daze Online recently caught up with mastermind and founding member Gregg Russell to find out more about the massive rock and roll assault force known as Wraith!  Read on…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Wraith, and how long the band has been together.
Hi, I’m Gregg Russell, I’m the founding member of Wraith – the only original member – although I worked with Dieter in a prior incarnation.  We formed in 1987 with our debut single Lonely.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
We are mainly based in the UK – Nottingham. However, Kim is in L.A and Ryan is from Texas. The rock scene at the minute here is really healthy with some great local bands like Evil Scarecrow, Harken, The Widows, Hip Priests and many more….

Is there any overall story or concept behind the title Revelation?
The idea of Revelation is tied in with the artwork… the revelation that if things carry on as they are there will eventually nothing left but burned-out ruins and post-apocalyptic devastation. It’s further enforced with the lyrics in Invasion….

Select two songs from Revelation and what inspired the lyrics.
Lifeline… this is about a guy who has been badly screwed over and is on a suicidal death ride in a stolen muscle car..a very angry dude….
Invasion… this is about how we are watched everywhere and how our freedom is under threat…our favourite ripping main riff

Who produced Revelation and what was it like working with them?
The main pre-production arrangements were done by myself, Dieter and Jay.  Then full mix and production by legendary Neil Kernon.  Mastered here by Andy Sneap.

Who did the cover art for Revelation and how much input did you have on it?
The artwork is by Tristan Greatrex…we had a concept idea but wanted him to work his magic. We had a lot of input back and forward…love the art…

What was it like working with Pete Way of UFO on this album?
Pete has been a great friend and influence since the early days.  We had a great time recording the tracks he plays on at his house. It’s a fantastic honour to play alongside a legend.  Plenty of laughs along the road too…

What was it like working with Kim Nielsen of Phantom Blue and what did Kim contribute to the album?
Kim is an awesome precise player and gives a thunderous performance.  It was really hard sending tracks back and forth to the States as she has her own studio in L.A. but she pulled it off perfectly…

You’ve worked with Lemmy of Motorhead in the past. What was that experience like and how did that come about?
We were doing our first studio album in London with Pete Way and Lawrence Archer producing.  It was Easy Studios and lots of famous rockers would drop in to the bar.  Brian Robertson was in for a listen and Lemmy knew him and Pete and literally dropped in on the session… Amazing!  I met Lemmy many times over the years and had massive respect for him… a legend as we all know!!

What could one expect from a live Wraith show?
WRAITH… will be a full on visual extravaganza.  We will definitely cram as much pyro and visuals as we can get our hands on – loud as hell and full of energy!  We hope to be touring December onwards…

What is your favorite beer of choice and why?
I drink Wine myself.  I like the fact it does the job pretty quickly although we are partial to the odd special brew and Redstripe… mainly because they are strong!!!

Any chance of Wraith showing up in the States to play some shows?
There really IS a good chance as Ryan is a very well-known and respected tour manager in the States and Kim of course has loads of contacts…

What’s up next for Wraith?
We really had a massive learning curve doing REVELATION but we now have a blueprint for all our future work and are already excited about our next work hopefully recording in the states. Dieter has already got over 100 riffs.  And we have stacks of tunes now we know people like our sound… can’t wait to get on the road though!!!

Any final words of wisdom?
We had no idea how this would be received… we have always played this style, so I guess stick with what you believe and play from the soul.  METAL!!!!!

Wraith is:
Ryan Coggin – vocals
Gregg Russell – guitars
Dieter Schänzer – guitars
Jay Graham – drums
Kim Nielsen – bass

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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