All hail the gods of Metal Temple!

Yes, we are totally back and busier than ever. We put out Revision in 2005, Darkness Visible in 2007, 'Till Death Do Us Part in 2008, and we have a new album coming in the spring of 2009. We also did a European tour in 2007 and have been playing around the US all this year. I'd say that is an indication we're back and serious about our business, wouldn't you?

Yes, Kenny and I are the only original members still playing in SACRED OATH. We've been together since high school, where we first formed SACRED OATH, and we're still best friends if you can believe that. He's a great drummer and so much fun to play with. Scott was my bass player in SOUNDSCAPE, which was the band I played with in the 90's. He is a fantastic musician and fits in very well with the OATH. Bill, believe it or not, was a former guitar student of mine and was the best man for the job (to fill Glen Cruciani's shoes). I'm finding on the new album that we work very well together on the rhythm tracks because I taught him how to play and he is able to anticipate and double everything I do! But no, he did not play on Darkness Visible. The original guitarist Glen Cruciani is on that CD. That whole album is the original band, for the most part. Bassist Pete Altieri had complications from cancer halfway through and had to stop recording.

Yes, we kicked off the European tour with opening night at Keep It True. That was a great night for us. What a great festival! And a great opportunity for us to introduce ourselves in Europe. We had never played over there before. Oliver had called and asked if we would be willing to co-headline KIT and of course we said yes right away. We get so many emails from fans in Germany, we really wanted to go play for them! It was overwhelming to meet so many fans that had been following our music since 1987, and truly an honor to be with them that night.

I saw LEATHERWOLF, STEEL ASSASSIN, PAGAN ALTAR, PORTRAIT and HIRAX.

The promoters record the entire show every year. When I returned to the US, I asked Tarek Maghary if he would send me the master tapes so I could hear them. I thought they were pretty good and we decided to issue a live album since we weren't going to have a new studio album until 2009. I'm very satisfied with how it sounds, considering we weren't planning to record a live album at all! That CD is pure live SACRED OATH. It's like being right there at an OATH show. There weren't many corrections to be done in the mix. Maybe a cracked note here and there. We removed Darkness Visible from the setlist because there was an equipment malfunction in the beginning of the song. That was disappointing. But, all in all, it is an effective CD.

The audience didn't seem to mind, in fact they were screaming for songs like Battle Cry all night! There was no way we could travel to Europe and not play songs off Darkness Visible. We had great feedback on that album and knew that fans would be disappointed if we held back.

I always play solos. Always. That would be pretty shitty to record solos on the albums and then not play them live!

Yes, of course. Nobody wanted to believe we were back in action. It just sort of surprised everyone. But things are changing now for the better. I think you will be able to find our albums easier now.

Well, it's funny, because back in 1987 there weren't 200 subgenres of Metal. You just played heavy music and hopefully it was unique and interesting. Now everyone wants to classify you right away. But you can hear in our music that we are old school in the sense that we value melody, and a range of emotion in our songs. It is not always one thing over and over. We have always been heavily influenced by masters like SABBATH, MAIDEN, PRIEST, RAINBOW, MERCYFUL FATE, QUEENSRYCHE, METALLICA...they saw music this way, and so do we. I have a hard time relating to bands like UNEARTH.

Yes, we broke up in 1988 after a horrible experience with our record label Mercenary Records. We were very young (I was 18) and not mature enough yet to deal with the kind of issues coming at us. So we each went our own ways and played in other bands for more than ten years. Little did we know we were honing our skills for the return of SACRED OATH! Sentinel Steel Records approached me about re-issuing A Crystal Vision and paid to have us get in the studio again to do a couple bonus tracks like The End and The Invocation. We had so much fun being together again we just kept playing through the rest of the album! When we officially reunited in 2005 we decided to release those recordings.

I'm not a big fan, especially of the guttural vocal style and the incessant anger. I'm just not THAT angry all the time, and I never felt Heavy Metal was just about anger anyway. But I do appreciate that it allows a band like us stand out now. We're definitely different from them! I wonder if the tide will turn again in our direction...

We're almost finished with a new album that we expect will be released in the spring. Fourteen songs recorded by the same lineup as the live CD. Very melodic, yet thrashing. I think it's the best SACRED OATH effort yet! We've got some really exciting songs like Paradise Lost and Hunt For The Fallen Angel. Real, pure SACRED OATH songs. I think we may call the album SACRED OATH (self-titled).

Yeah, when are we coming to Greece? I hear great things about your country. I'm hopeful we can come and play there this summer!