Many words come to mind when listening to the music created by Edge of Attack: melodic, symphonic, bombastic, fast-paced, thrash, power metal, thunderous…but what does it all mean? It means that Edge of Attack is at the edge of arrival coming to arouse your senses with everything they’ve got. They mix and match styles, genres, sounds, inspirations, and most of all, kick-ass metal that at one moment makes you bang your head, and sit back and get absorbed by the majesty of it all the next. Edge of Attack is definitely one band to keep your eyes on in 2013.
Let us know your name and give us a little background of Edge of Attack for our readers.
My name is Jurekk Whipple. I’m the lead guitarist of Edge of Attack. We formed a couple of years ago with a different lineup. It didn’t work out and eventually we ended up with me and Trevor, our drummer. We started writing this new style of stuff, and I was thinking. I realized that was not going to work. I knew that Roxanne could sing, so I pulled her over one day to see if she wanted to record something and they have worked. A week later she got the job offer. Then my sister, she just kind of lives upstairs, and she plays bass, so she just kind of jumped right on in. And Dallas, I’m pretty sure we stole him from another band.
Nice. Their loss, our gain. Is this the first band you’ve played with?
Yes. It is the only band I’ve played with.
What would you classify your music genre as?
That’s a really hard question because we use so many different styles in one song. We have heavier songs, like “The Damned.” We also have less heavy ones, like “The Haunting.” It’s hard to say.
Do you feel that it speaks to a greater audience than traditional metal?
Yeah. It does. We were trying to get everything that we had as an influence and put it into our music and do something that hasn’t been done before.
Who are your influences?
For me personally, for rhythm guitar, Dave Mustaine from Megadeth. That’s probably the biggest one. For leads, my favorite guitar players have always been Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen; George Lynch is a big one too. That’s pretty much what you’ll hear in my playing. Those are the people I would listen to when I was learning how to play guitar.
Those are great mentors. Your debut album comes out next month. That must be very exciting. Can you give us some highlights about the album and what people should expect from it?
For me, the highlights are always the choruses. I’ve always been a fan of choruses that are amazingly epic, and amazingly catchy. We try to put that into every chorus so they get stuck in your head by the end of the song. For me, my personal favorite is “Set the World Aflame.” It’s the last song on the album. It’s beyond epic. It’s almost too epic to handle.
Almost too epic to handle. I like that! Very bombastic.
Yes. It’s very fast tempo and melodic.
Is there a story that the album is trying to convey?
We approach lyrics in that each one has its own story. Even amongst the band, they are different stories. We try to write the broad enough so that everyone can have their own story to it and relate to it in their own way.
Which song do you think is more accessible for a general audience and which song do you think would cater to a more niche audience?
Songs like “In Hell” and “Forever” kind of cater to a whole where everyone can relate to those; whereas songs like “Demon of the Northern Seas” are more of a story as opposed to metaphorical mumbo jumbo.
Download “Forever” here.
(laughs) You said “Demon of the Northern Seas” is more niche. Can you tell us more about that one because it might be a little difficult for audiences to grasp?
It’s not difficult to grasp. There really is no room for interpretation because it is just a story about pirates going off and killing this magical sea monster. It has a very pirate feel to it. We were sitting there in the studio and I had this pirate jig that I was fiddling with. I asked Dallas in which song he thought it would work, and he said, “No, that’s got to be its own song.” So as I was writing the rhythm guitar and all the music, he was sitting on my bed and writing the lyrics to it. It was done in a day. Ivan Giannini from Italy is also guest singing on that song. He is crazy. He is just insane. (laughs)
I did get the pirate feel on the songs. It reminded me of a band called Alestorm. Are you familiar with them?
I love Alestorm. Edge of Attack can be taken as having a pirate theme. We like pirates, but we try not to go too overboard with it.
Is that where the artwork came from?
The artwork is from “Demon of the Northern Seas.”
Okay. After this debut, what’s next?
We’re going on tour. I know for sure we’re doing Canada first. We aren’t too sure where were going from there. We want to go down to South America and Europe. Because the album got delayed almost a year will probably put out a four song EP a couple of months after the album comes out.
Will you be coming to expand into the U.S. at all?
We will try. We have to go where we are wanted. I know we have a good amount of fans in the U.S., but it’s hard to drive five or six days without anything in between. We probably will go up to the U.S., but with somebody else. We will probably be on somebody else’s tour for that one.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL1diclz8tM&feature=player_embedded]
That makes sense. I hope you come by my city someday soon. I watched the video. I noticed that it was rather simple. What made you decide to go with a simple and edgy style?
For “Forever” we wanted to just have a performance video with just us playing, to get the music across. The new one that’s coming out, “In Hell,” is very very crazy. It was directed by Karen Michelle Meola. She has done lots and lots of videos, and she’s great. It is super crazy. You have to see it like 12 times to see half the things that are in it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBRj84u-i50&feature=youtu.be]
I will have to check it out!
I know it’s coming up here soon. I’m not totally sure when it comes out though.
You have any role in the video production at all?
No. We gave Karen the “Do whatever you want to do.” If I was directing the video, I would want freedom. We gave her complete freedom. I have complete faith that she can make something awesome.
Leave it to the Masters. Where can a fan find more about Edge of Attack?
On our website, www.edgeofattack.com or on our Facebook.
Do you update that frequently or do you have somebody else going updating it for you?
We update it ourselves. We also read all of our messages that people send us. So if you wanted to send us a “you guys are awesome” or a “you guys suck,” yeah, we will read it. (laughs)
(laughs) Before I ask my last question, do you have any message for your fans?
Thank you for all of your support. I hope you pick up the album and watch the music video for “In Hell.”
Excellent. Tell us about your dream tour. Who would you give your right eye to tour with and why?
I’d love to do Dragonforce, because we’ve become friends with them over the years by stalking them on their tour buses (laughs). Megadeth would be another one. How many bands on the bill? For bands on the bill? Megadeth headlining, Dragonforce next, then…
BANG! Alestorm would work, or maybe Stratovarius. We want to keep the power metal going, by mixing the thrash and the power metal. We’ll go on tour with anybody as long as they’re nice guys.
That’s a great policy. If they are douchey, you don’t want to do it
Yeah. I’ve gathered that even if the genres are extremely different, as long as they’re metal, people have a good time.
~Alice Roques, Co-founder and Managing Editor
Check out Edge of Attack on any of their links above or below:
Edge of Attack on Reverbnation
Purchase their debut album here
