"I think this new record is definitely more metal than anything we have ever done."

We got in touch with guitarist Doug Weber to find out more about the Californian hardcore masters Terror and their new, fourth full-length album “The Damned, The Shamed”…

Alexander Boyadjiev: Good morning Doug, how are you? Where are you at the moment?

Doug Weber: I'm good. I'm in San Francisco, at home, just relaxing for a week or so, just before we go to South America.

A. B.: Ok, you guys have a new record coming out on 23 of May called "The Damned, The Shamed" on Century Media records. Can you tell us a few words about it?

D. W.: We recorded it in February with Zeuss, who did a lot of stuff with bands like Hatebreed and Shadows Fall and stuff like that and it's 12 songs and I think it's some of the best stuff we have ever done.

A. B.: You switched labels. You used to work with Trustkill records. Now you have a new label- Century Media. What was the reason behind this decision?

D. W.: We were with Trustkill for four years and we did a few records with them and we decided that it was time to do something new like a fresh start. Trustkill haven't much presence in Europe and we tour in Europe so much, so we needed a good worldwide label with good presence in Europe and all of the rest of the world.

A. B.: Right before this record, last year you did an EP, a mini CD on a smaller hardcore label Reaper Records. What made you do that? I mean, it was something like a transition between Trustkill and Century Media or it was just putting out something?

D. W.: We had some songs like left over from the last album that we never used... The guy that did Reaper, he is like a good friend of us and he just asked us if we had any songs that we didn'tВ  use, soВ  he can put them out. We said why not.

A. B.: This EP was like internationally released by different labels...

D. W.: Yeah, in every country it came out on a different label, pretty much like a small hardcore album in every country.

A. B.: You just finished your European tour a couple of days ago, I think...

D. W.: Yeah...

A. B.: How was the tour and did you test some of the new stuff live in Europe?

D. W.: Yeah, we played a couple of new songs. The tour was amazing. I t turned out the biggest tour in Europe so far and it's my favorite tour we have ever done over there, so should be good... I think we're coming back in November and our record will be out by the time we come back, so people will actually be able to play some new stuff and people will actually know it.

A. B.: You also played on new places like Russia, how was that?

D. W.: The shows in Russia were pretty crazy. The show in Moscow was one of the craziest Terror shows and even the craziest show I have ever seen.

A. B.: Have you ever experienced any problems with the name Terror?

D. W: No. People are always asking about that that, but we do not have any problems.

A. B.: What is the reason in your opinion that in such not very long period of time Terror grew up to one of the biggest hardcore bands nowadays around the world?

D. W.: I think this success is because since the day we started, we started playing shows and we've been on tour pretty much since the day we started. We definitely worked pretty hard to get where we are. We worked pretty hard for everything we have done.

A. B.: I guess you achieved a lot of things but are there any more goals to achieve for you as a a band?

D. W.: If we are to break up today I would not have any complaints. We have done more than I have ever imagined when this band started, I had no idea we would be like this... I just want to keep touring and getting as nig as we possibly can, and, you know, play for as many people and going to as many countries as we can... and may be to tour with Slayer some day.

A. B.: We know that Terror is a very hard working band like full time, touring constantly and I guess as every one else you have also been through good and bad moments. Did you have a moment in which you thought of quitting everything and just start living a normal life?

D. W.: Everyone in the band has thought of it once in a while, but, you know, this is kind of the lifestyle we chose and it's not that easy to get out of it once you get into it.

A. B.: Speaking about normal life, I know you guys, are doing the band full time, but when you are back home and have some time off, how do you spend it?

D. W.: I've been playing X-Box, sleeping a lot, going out to bars, hanging out with my friends.

A. B.: What would you do, if there wasn't Terror?

D. W.: The same shit, ha-ha-ha...

A. B.: I've seen you guys a couple of times in Europe. Actually I have seen you many times... Few years ago I saw you sharing stage with Hatebreed a couple of times when you still had Frank in the line-up and later on he quit Terror and joined Hatebreed as a second guitar player. How did you feel about that at that time? Did it bring hard times for the band or it was just an unexpected move? How do you feel about this nowadays?

D. W.: I'm really happy for Frank, you know, he's older, he's like 36 and he has a kid that's 11 or 12 years old... I think it's awesome that he's doing really, really well and, you know, making some money, and I don't feel bad at all, it's great! It was pretty easy transition when Frank left and we did a couple of tours with me playing guitar by myself and then we got Martin to play guitar, but it was an easy transition. It wasn't big deal.

A. B.: What's the future plan for Terror until the end of this 2008 year?

D. W.: Well, on Thursday we are going to South America for a couple of weeks. We are going to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Venezuela and then we have a break for a month and a half and then, in the middle of July we are doing like 2 month haedlining tour in the U.S. I'm not sure about the other bands in it. In September I'm not sure what we have, but then in November we are coming back to Europe. In between I'm not sure what is going on.

A. B.: Back to the new record, what is the difference between this record and the previous ones, if there's any difference?

D. W.: There some songs with guitar solos in them, I think it's a little bit heavier- there were songs that are really, really fast in the previous album and then there are some slow songs more like groove tuned now and there are songs... I don't know, there are some songs in which we tried a few different things. I think it's different, but I don't think it's too different to what we are, i mean, if you like Terror, you will like the record.

A. B.: How do you think it will go with the metal crowd, because you definitely know that as a hardcore band you go into this pure metal record label? How do you think? Or may be you have already experienced the metal crowd reaction...

D. W.: Yeah, we've done a lot of tours, like especially here, in The U.S. that were metal tours and we went down pretty well I think. I think this record is definitely more metal than anything we have ever done.

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