Interview with Fang VonWrathenstein, Lead Vocalist for LORDS OF THE TRIDENT.
Lords of the Trident hail from Wisconsin, USA. Power Metal at its loudest. They are louder then Manowar (read below). Host their own Metal festival Mad With Power Fest. Even their website claims they are the most metal band on earth!! So they have to be in THE METAL PIT!!!
THE METAL PIT: What can you tell me about the next album?
The next record is called The Offering. It’s our 10th CD release, and it’s our first concept record. It was a pretty massive endeavour to craft the story and the music and make it coherent, but I think it turned out amazingly well. The story is a tragedy about a young man, sold into slavery as a boy, who grows up to become a guardian of a city…and the city that turns against him. I’m really excited for people to hear the final product and engage with the story we’ve written.
How did covid effect your band negatively or positively if thats possible?
When COVID hit, we obviously all quarantined for quite some time, but I immediately got to work on transforming our basement practice space into a livestream studio. We were lucky – we already had a rudimentary livestream mix set up that we’d use to stream our concerts on-location to our Patreon backers, so it just took a little bit of tweaking to get that to sound amazing. Once we had more info about the spread of the virus and precautions to take, we started practicing again (distanced, masked, and sometimes in different rooms), and we were able to start streaming. A number of YouTube and streaming series were created: Drunken Quarantine Karaoke, Power Metal Opera Battles, Power Converter, Solo Shred Sessions, etc. which did really well and boosted our internet presence quite a bit. All the while we were also writing and recording the next album. Over the course of 2020, we used our livestreams to raise over $10,000 for charity, which I’m incredibly proud of. Honestly, although it was difficult to not play live, we came out of the pandemic in a MUCH better position than 99% of the bands out there. There were ABSOLUTELY some major positives that happened due to us not being able to be on the road.
Brittney Slayes of Unleash The Archers guested on a song on your last album Shadows From The Past and you have also done some youtube videos with her. How did you two get connected and any future plans to work together more?
We actually played together on their 2016 tour, and they all crashed at my house after the show. Apparently all of the other bands on the tour told Unleash the Archers about my Japanese toilet, and how they had to stay with me and had to try it. When I met them, they said, “…oh! You’re the Japanese toilet guy!” This was, obviously, before their giant success with Apex. We’ve remained friends, and have been in contact ever since! Grant, their guitar player, actually provided guest screaming vocals on The Offering.
Tell me more about your festival Mad With Power. How did that come about and your going on Mad With Power 5 in August of 2022. Do you have any bands confirmed for that as of yet?
Mad With Power Fest was actually created out of spite! It came about due to a number of promoters of other major US festivals basically straight-up lying to us. They’d tell us we were booked on a fest, then “lose” an email or “forget” to tell the other promoters. I also noticed that many of the major festivals were still relying on headliners that were in their 60s and 70s, all while ignoring the mid-tier up-and-coming bands. If fests wouldn’t give a spot for these bands to showcase their music and make new fans, the scene would eventually collapse. So I decided to try and change that, and to help differentiate our fests from the others out there, I also added two of my favorite things: arcade games and pinball. It worked perfectly! We’ve been selling out quickly every year, and we plan to move to a 2,000 capacity venue in 2023. We have most of the lineup already confirmed for 2022, and the bands that are currently confirmed are viewable on the fest’s website – MadWithPowerFest.com. We’re still working on headliners at the moment.
How would you describe the sound of Lords of the Trident?
Many have described us as U.S. Power Metal with classic metal influences. Someone once said “adventure metal”, and I like that descriptor. I’d say we’re a good mix of old school power metal, traditional metal, and melodic metal. Dio meets Dream Evil meets Unleash the Archers.
What bands or how did you get into metal music?
Some of my favorite metal bands are the classics: Dio, Maiden, Priest, etc. I also really love Dream Evil, Unleash the Archers, and Scar Symmetry. I think everyone in the band has a huge breadth of musical knowledge, so we could probably sit here all day and list bands that have influenced us, haha!
What bands would you love to tour with if possible?
I’d absolutely love to tour with Unleash the Archers again! The two other bands that I’d love to go on tour with would be Mega Colossus from North Carolina, and Seven Kingdoms from Florida. We became “band-best-friends” with these bands super fast, and the tour would just be an excuse to hang with them for a long period of time.
Your band has a Patreon. How is that going? And tell us why should a fan join your Patreon?
It’s going tremendously well! In fact, we are the #1 most-funded independent metal band on Patreon. The Patreon has been the best thing we’ve ever done. It’s helped us fund some things that otherwise would’ve been completely impossible – for example, our European and Japan tours – as well as basically funding the entire livestream setup! The Patreon is the #1 best way to support us, as the money goes directly to the band to fund our projects. And you get so much in return! Exclusive videos, exclusive merch, behind-the-scenes access, special discord roles…the list goes on and on. I would highly encourage everyone to check it out: patreon.com/LordsOfTheTrident
Your band is from Wisconsin, USA. What are some other great Wisconsin metal bands?
I would say our local favorites are probably Casket Robbery, Conniption and Droids Attack!
Why do you love playing and promoting Metal?
The community is absolutely amazing. People who are into metal are some of the kindest, nicest, most fun people that I know. The vibe at a power metal show is COMPLETELY different from the vibe at just about every other show. It’s super respectful, loving, and welcoming.
Your website states your the Most Metal Band on Earth!!! Who gave you that title? I do love the reference of Manowar telling you to turn it down!! haha.
We did, since we’ve CONQUERED (or at least been able to stand our ground) with all the other bands we’ve ever played with. Also, Manowar is far too afraid to meet us one-on-one in a cage match, so clearly we’re the winners here.
Where does the name Lords of The Trident come from?
I wish I had a better story for this, but honestly, it was a “top of my head” type of drunken brainstorming session. It seemed like the most metal name I could think of at the time! Haha.
Do you plan on touring after your next album is released or is it still a wait and see thing because of Covid?
We’re going to be as strategic about it as we possibly can. We’re planning some major tours (Japan, for instance) at the end of 2022, but at the moment, the pandemic is still raging strong in most places and people are not comfortable being in large crowds yet. That will come back eventually, but we need to continue to encourage people to get vaccinated, wear masks, and stay safe until numbers come back down. At the moment, our livestreams are pulling in great numbers of viewers, so we’ll probably stick with that until a good touring opportunity appears.
Where do you see Lords of the Trident in 5 years?
“Mankind has bowed down to Lords of the Trident as the undisputed kings of metal. Thousands of CDs of non-worthy bands have been melted down and formed into thrones for the Lords to sit upon. Offerings of cheese curds are scattered at their feet. The world is at peace, united under the banner of the NWONMB (new wave of nice metal buds).”
Thank you for taking the time to sit down and talk to me. I wish all the best for Lords of the Trident in the future.
Thank you!
***Interview by Blake Mossey***