Alpha Destroyer: Born on the High Seas, Forged in Doom

Alpha Destroyer: Born on the High Seas, Forged in Doom

What do you get when you mix Portland’s underground metal roots, a Monsters of Rock Cruise, and a lineup featuring members of Crashdïet, Buckcherry, and Sleepless? You get Alpha Destroyer—a genre-bending, doom-laced powerhouse that wasn’t supposed to happen but absolutely had to.

In this candid conversation, guitarist and songwriter Eric Sexton-Dorsett takes us through the accidental birth of Alpha Destroyer, the cosmic alignment that brought bassist Kelly LeMieux and vocalist Martin Sweet into the fold, and the raw creative energy that turned a few studio tracks into a full-blown band. With their debut album Fast Lane freshly released via Necromantic Press Records, Alpha Destroyer is ready to take their sound from the studio to the stage—and maybe even to the Sunset Strip.

Part 1: Origins, Portland’s Scene, and the Birth of a New Band

Introduce yourself and tell me what you do in the band.
Yeah, I’m Eric Sexton-Dorsett. In Alpha Destroyer, I play guitar, a little bit of bass, and I write most of the music.

So you’re from Portland. What’s the local music scene like these days? I haven’t been there in forever.
Portland has a pretty cool metal scene. I’ve been around here a long time, so I tend to romanticize the old days—when everything felt new and fresh. But there’s a new kind of energy now, with a younger generation of kids who are really into metal and punk. It’s like a new wave of the scene is emerging.

That said, some things have changed. The clubs aren’t quite as successful as they used to be, and they’re struggling a bit more. But we still have a great music scene with some fantastic bands. What’s really encouraging is the growing camaraderie between bands again—people are hanging out, collaborating more. That makes it fun.

What made you decide to start another band outside of Sleepless?
Interesting question—I like how you phrased that. Honestly, I’m always writing. These days, I’m doing music pretty much full-time. Whether it’s practicing, learning new instruments (I’m playing drums now), or producing, I’m constantly immersed in it.

When I write music that doesn’t quite sound like Sleepless, I don’t shelve it—I just follow where the inspiration leads. I usually flesh out ideas in the studio with Kevin Hahn at Opal Studios. We’ll finish a song, name it, and file it away.

This project actually started when I was working with Sean Peck—he’s the vocalist from Denner/Shermann (with Hank Shermann and Michael Denner), and he’s also in Death Dealer, Cage, and The Three Tremors. He’s got this incredible multi-octave range. He sang on Transcending the Obsidian Throne from the second Sleepless album, along with Kevin. We met a few years ago and hit it off.

We joked about starting a doom band together, and I wrote the song that became The Prophet on the Alpha Destroyer album with that in mind. But Sean got more involved in the comic book world—which is actually how we met, since I’m a vintage comic book dealer. We realized who each other were and started collaborating.

Eventually, Sean got really busy, and it was hard enough just getting one song done together. I decided I wanted to turn this into a full record, so I shelved that track and started building around it. I had three songs set aside, and meanwhile I was working on other stuff—a new wave project, a Joe Lynn Turner-era Rainbow-inspired project (one of those songs, Manic Messiah, made it onto Alpha Destroyer), and a crust punk/thrash band called Yersinia. It’s kind of a cross between Anti Cimex from Sweden and Slayer.

So yeah, I’m always writing. The new band kind of happened by accident. If a band comes out of it, cool. If not, it’s just another project.

How Kelly LeMieux Joined Alpha Destroyer

Kelly LeMieux has played with Goldfinger, Buckcherry, and even worked with Dave Mustaine—he’s been involved in countless projects over the years. So when he joined Alpha Destroyer, I had to pinch myself. It was one of those “how did this happen?” moments.

Sleepless has always felt like “Eric in a nutshell,” but Alpha Destroyer came together more organically—almost by accident. It all started with the Monsters of Rock Cruise. My wife saw that the Swedish band H.E.A.T. was playing on the cruise and said, “You’re going, right?” I wasn’t planning to spend thousands on a rock cruise, but she found a way to make it affordable if I split a cabin. So I called Kevin Hahn (Sleepless guitarist and producer at Opal Studios), and he was in.

Kevin had friends on the cruise—Brandon Cook from Black ‘N Blue, a bassist from Tesla’s new band, and Kelly LeMieux. One day, Kevin mentioned Kelly was in Bigfoot, and I told him about a sighting I had as a kid. That sparked a conversation, and Kelly and I hit it off immediately. We’re both sober, and we ended up in the lounge late at night, eating fries and talking music while everyone else was passed out.

Turns out Kelly lives just three miles from me and had already done sessions at Opal Studios. Kevin suggested I ask him to play bass on some songs I’d been working on. So I did—and Kelly said yes. He played on The Prophet, Lobotomized, and one other track. He brought a “What Would Geezer Do?” approach to the bass, and once he laid down his parts, I was like, “Damn, I’m lifting weights to these songs now—and they’re not even finished!”

Around the same time, I asked my drum teacher, Ryan McPhaill, to check out the tracks. He’s a jazz and funk prodigy whose favorite band is Primus, and he was all in. He came into the studio, set up a music stand, and nailed The Prophet on the first take—so much so that Kevin hit record during soundcheck just in case it was a fluke. It wasn’t. We did one more take with a few tweaks, and it was done.

This whole project has come together in the most natural, unexpected way. It’s been the smoothest, most organic musical experience I’ve ever had.

How Martin Sweet of Crashdïet Joined Alpha Destroyer

Monsters of Rock 2024—that cruise basically created this band. I’ve been a huge Crashdïet fan for over a decade. I first discovered them while working the front desk at my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy, listening to Pandora. I had a Motley Crüe or Skid Row station on, and suddenly Crashdïet came on. I was like, “What the hell is this? Did this come out 30 years ago?” It sounded classic but fresh—and honestly, better than a lot of the old stuff. I was hooked.

My first chance to see them live was on the cruise. I said hi to Martin Sweet, grabbed a photo with him and some of the guys from H.E.A.T., and we chatted briefly. Then I kept bumping into him around the ship. We’d stop and talk for a few minutes here and there, and eventually, during a H.E.A.T. set, we ended up talking for 45 minutes straight—about growing up with music, lip-syncing to our favorite bands, and the projects we were working on. He said, “Man, I really want to hear what you’re doing.”

I’d also talked to Crashdïet’s bassist Peter London, who’s a super cool guy. I told him how much I loved the band’s melodies and backing vocals, and he said, “That’s all Martin.” That’s when I realized how prolific Martin is—he’s always writing and producing.

Later, Martin posted on Instagram that he had some downtime and was offering mixing services. We’d kept in touch a bit, so I messaged him and said, “Hey, I’ve got three songs I’d love for you to mix. They’re not finished yet, but maybe you could play a couple of leads until I find a singer?” The next morning, I woke up to an email from him saying, “These songs are killer. Would you consider having me sing on them?”

I turned to my wife and said, “You need to read this.” She was like, “What the hell?!” So we gave it a shot. The first track he sent back was Straight Into the Grind, and the chorus said it all. As soon as I heard it, I knew—this was a done deal.

He went on to record vocals for Fast Lane and Transmission, and we knew we were onto something. I kept sending him tracks, and he kept nailing them. Then he sent me something he was working on, which became Dirt in the Ground. I said, “That’s an Alpha Destroyer song now.” And it just kept rolling from there.

So yeah—Martin Sweet joined the band thanks to Monsters of Rock. It was all so weirdly organic. You meet a lot of people on that cruise, hang out, talk music. I even spent time chatting with Michael Monroe, one of my all-time heroes. He’s insanely nice—nothing like the rock star stereotype. One day, I was sitting alone in a quiet lounge on the ship, and out of nowhere, Michael and his wife sat down next to me. He pulled out a Bluetooth speaker and played me his entire new album, acting out the sax parts and everything. I was just sitting there thinking, “What is happening?” Sometimes the world is fair.

Will Alpha Destroyer Play Live?

That’s the plan. Kevin Hahn doesn’t sing live for Sleepless because the music is super complex and he’s busy running his studio full-time. We’ve got a new singer named Evan—he’ll be our live vocalist for Sleepless, while Kevin continues writing and recording vocals.

But with Alpha Destroyer, we all agreed: we need to play live. Martin Sweet said he’s in, but he just wants to sing—he played leads on at least half the album, but for live shows, he wants to focus on vocals. I told Kevin, “You’re going to have to be in the band,” and he was immediately like, “Fuck yeah!” Playing guitar is a lot easier than learning all the vocal parts, especially with Sleepless.

So the live lineup is:

• Me on guitar
• Kevin Hahn on guitar
• Ryan McPhail on drums
• Kelly LeMieux on bass
• Martin Sweet on vocals

We had lunch in Sweden a couple weeks ago and talked about making it happen. Obviously, we’ll need to work around Crashdïet and Buckcherry’s schedules, but we’re committed. We’re aiming for dates in Scandinavia, hopefully London, and a few shows in the States.

The U.S. is trickier—there’s a reason someone like Michael Monroe doesn’t tour here often. Smaller crowds, less money. But we’ll make it work. We’d love to play places like The Whisky on the Sunset Strip—that’s number one on the list.

Right now, I’m focused on distribution. That’s the biggest challenge in music today—getting records into fans’ hands. We’ve got some killer splatter vinyl editions available for pre-order at necromanticpress.com, which is my label. Once we crack the distribution nut, we’ll be ready to hit the stage.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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