IS IT GOOD? IT'S RULE "We just wanted to do old school metal, go back to the roots of what we grew
up on," says drummer Greg Beadle (left). |
It's a Wednesday afternoon in Boston, and what feels like the most brutal thunderstorm of the summer is rolling into town. Torrential rain has brought traffic around Charlestown to a standstill, while endless gray clouds hover ominously. Dusk has arrived a few hours early, and three-fourths of the rock band Rule huddle around a small table at the Tavern at the End of the World. With every loud, crashing boom of the weather outside, there's a quiet nod to the heavy-metal gods. If you want symbolism, you've come to the right place.
The gentlemen of Rule have been collectively applying their heavy-metal thunder around Boston for less than a year, but their pedigree is as sharp as the lightning strikes over Cambridge Street. They've all played in successful bands around town, from Bang Camaro to Township to Dirty Truckers to Damn Personals, but now, as Rule, they've reclaimed their roots with a throwback sound that recalls youth spent listening to Iron Maiden, Manowar, Anthrax, and Pantera. All pretty unfashionable in 2012.
"It's cool that it's not fashionable," says drummer Greg Beadle. "That allows guys like us to just make the music we want to. The last band I was in, Township, we wore our influences on our sleeve. You could hear Thin Lizzy. But outside of that small community, it was hard to get younger kids into it. With metal, it still feels dangerous. Young kids will always go to metal; it's still something that's cool."
Beadle brings up an interesting point, leaning on metal for being cool while still relatively unfashionable. As Rule prepare to release their relentless debut homonymous EP tomorrow night (August 3) at T.T. the Bear's, the subject of youth is constantly brought up. Rule are not a "young band" — all members are in their 30s — but our interview is constantly sidetracked by personal reflections of staying up late watching Headbangers Ball on MTV, seeing Metallica live in the '80s, or hearing Slayer for the first time."It's still the scariest thing I've heard in my life," says bassist Jim Zavadoski of that last one.
Rule incorporate all those components, and talk shifts back to around 1990, a year that saw the release of Megadeth's Rust in Peace, Pantera's Cowboys from Hell, and Judas Priest's Painkiller, not to mention new records from Deicide, Napalm Death, and Testament. That year also gave us better-selling efforts from Skid Row, Poison, and Winger. Nevermind wouldn't arrive for until late '91. So metal and hard rock were king, even in their varied forms.
"We all listened to this stuff in high school," adds Zavadoski. "We're all from that generation, growing up listening to Anthrax and Iron Maiden. If you take it too seriously, then you end up in a Czech prison." Adds Beadle: "We just wanted to do old-school metal, go back to the roots of what we grew up on. We knew how to do it, and hopefully it sounds honest."
