An Interview with Guitarist Paul Nelson

-by Dirt

From 1984 to 1988 Liege Lord released three speed/thrash metal classics:  Freedom's Rise (1984), Burn To My Touch (1987) and Master Control (1988). The debut album, released on French label Black Dragon Records, featured vocalist Andy Michaud, guitarists Tony Truglio and Pete McCarthy, bassist Matt Vinci, and drummer Frank Cortese.  Prior to the recording of the band's second album, Burn To My Touch, McCarthy was replaced by axe-slinger Paul Nelson.  With the band's growing popularity, Metal Blade Records signed them for their second and third albums.  Master Control saw the exit of vocalist Michaud and the entrance of Joe Comeau, who would later join Overkill as guitarist and backing vocalist. After 11 years of silence, Liege Lord, in an altered form, recently came out of hibernation to play the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany. Metal Dreams recently caught up with Paul Nelson to find out about the recent reunion and to find out what the future holds for the band.

For more info on Paul Nelson visit: www.paulnelsonguitar.com

Liege Lord played the Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany in August. How did the band's involvement in that event come about?

Due to the successful re-releases of both our Burn To My Touch and Master Control cds by Metal Blade Records and the opening of www.liegelord.com, the timing seemed right. Joe Comeau was contacted by Wacken, so he and I decided to give it a go.

Is this the first time Liege Lord played at the festival? Yes, and it was amazing!

Was Liege Lord vocalist Joe Comeau (ex-Overkill/current Annihilator vocalist) involved in the lineup that played Wacken?

As I mentioned, he was the frontman at Wacken 2000. Originally, he was to sing with us, then Annihilator and then play guitar for Overkill all in the same night. As it turns out, both of the other 2 bands backed out, so there was a lot less stress. That night we headlined.

Besides yourself, what was the rest of the lineup?

It was Joe, Sebastian Marino [ex-Overkill], Carl and Rob, the bass player and drummer from Ramrod.

This is Liege Lord's first performance in quite a few years, right? Prior to this, what was your last performance?

Right! Liege Lord has not performed as a band for about 10 years. Our last shows were touring the US with Anvil and Candlemass.

How long was your set and what songs did you play?

Each band was allowed 45mins. Here goes the set list:

"Fear Itself," "Eye of the Storm," "Broken Wasteland," "Transgressor," "Cast Out," "Kill the King," "Feel the Blade," with encore: "Master Control."

Did the event run smoothly? With all those bands, it's hard to believe that the festival would be problem free.

You have to realize that we were never able to perform in Germany in the past, so the fans were, to say the least, very responsive. They sang all our lyrics and air guitared every one of my guitar solos from the albums. It was a very flattering. we had no idea of the loyalty of our fans there. They remembered everything. And yes, no big problems

I understand that the fans that come to this event are like the 'denim & leather' fans from the early 80s. There's no moshing, crowd surfing or stage diving. Is this true?

You're right, nothing has changed over in Europe. It's like being in a time warp, and yes, the crowds are very organized, not like the old days of sheer craziness!!!

Liege Lord's second and third albums, Burn To My Touch and Master Control, were reissued on cd by Metal Blade Records recently. Are there any plans for a reissue of the first album, Freedom's Rise?

Actually, it is rumored that Freedom's Rise is being reissued very soon. I think that would be a very smart move on the part of the company involved.

What ever happened to Liege Lord singer Andy Michaud who sang on Freedom's Rise and Burn To My Touch?

I spoke with him recently. He's living in the Carolinas and is doing fine. He is fully aware of Liege Lord's resurgence of popularity and is very happy about it! Maybe we can get him to sing a few shows!

Liege Lord did quite a bit of touring in the late 80s. What was the club scene like at that time? Were fans hungry for new metal?

The clubs were packed with fans and there were so many different styles of metal being created week by week: speed, thrash, death, etc., mainly by club owners, so they could name the style of music in order to promote the shows.

Over the years, Liege Lord toured with the likes of Anthrax, Fates Warning, Overkill, Flotsam & Jetsam, Candlemass, Savatage, Exodus, Malice, Raven and Megadeth. Any particular memories?

All good ones. It was great at Wacken because we all hung out - great partying with Hades, Armored Saint, Flotsam, Agent Steel, Fates, and yes, even Lizzy Borden! It was like a damn Metal Blade reunion. There are stories but some are just too bizarre to mention. Hahahaha

What are your feelings about touring clubs now?

We have always loved the club circuit, and in Europe it's booming, so we're leaning towards doing shows over there, as well as in the states. We'll, see!

What are the future plans for Liege Lord?

It was great playing those songs again. That night was a very important chapter in the Liege Lord saga. Joe and I would like to continue and we have been approached to play other Metal Fests very soon - the first being in Prague City/Czech Republic. We have also had offers to record new material on several labels and are currently weighing our options.

Paul, I understand that you are involved in music, outside of Liege Lord. Can you tell us about that?

I have been very fortunate to be able to explore many other musical areas in my career. My new instrumental Look cd has just been released and is being well received by the critics, and for that I am very thankful. www.paulnelsonguitar.com has a lot more detailed info (Sound Samples etc.,) on the crazy stuff I'm involved in. Much more than I can cover here, so you are invited to check the site out anytime.