Interview with the band Axemaster

This year (2026) Axemaster will release an album after almost 10 years called: Of Beasts and Plagues. What is new with the band and whether a European tour is being prepared, we will find out from the interview.
Alan – Hi, before we get into the information about the new album, let's talk a little about Axemaster.
Joe - I started Axemaster when I was 18 years old (1984) as a band to play my original material. Over the next 8 years, we put out 5 releases, including our debut full length album on Azra International Records. In 94, unfortunately, I agreed to change the band's name and musical direction, BIG MISTAKE, I reret it. Anyway, while the band wasn't active, 2 indie labels re-released our old material on a total of 3 different CDs. In 2010 I brought Axemaster back, and have been an active band since 2014. Since then, we've put out 3 CDs (including the brand new one) and 2 additional re-releases on vinyl; 2 of the CDs of new material being on Pure Steel Records and the new one on Cosmic Fire Records. 

Alan – You could say that you have existed for 44 years if you did not have breaks in playing. Is that approximately so? Since 1982, yes?
Joe - Well, I personally NEVER took breaks, I ALWAYS played, wrote and recorded material, and played shows. While Axemaster wasn't active, I put out albums with The Awakening, Reign, Dream or Nightmare, and Inner Terror. Anyway, the first time I ever recorded my songs was in like 83, but Axemaster started as a real band in 1984.

Alan – So who is the current line-up? And who has been a member of Axemaster since its founding until now?
Joe - I'm the only original member left. I have been working with our singer Geoff McGraw for like 13-14 years, so he's an Axemaster veteran. Our other current members, Bassist Jason Kozar and drummer Adam Windisch, are relatively new to the band.

Alan – Do you think you would be a much more globally known band if there were no periods when you did not play? I personally think that 100% yes.
Joe - I'm sure we would be more known if the band had remained active this whole time. But I'm not sure as to how MUCH better known because, especially the first 10 years of the break, metal music as a whole was struggling just to survive. So Axemaster would have probably struggled to get anywhere during that time. But, like I mentioned before, during that time Unisound Records and Burning Star Records all together put out 3 CDs that were re-releases of Axemaster material from 85-93. Those REALLY helped to keep the band's name and material around and relevant during those years

Alan – If you want, can you tell us why there were so many breakups?
Joe - Damn, I would have to write a book here to fully tell about all the reasons why we either fired members or members quit. They were all for different reasons, some legitimate and understandable, and some that didn't make sense. It's always been tough to keep a stable lineup being an original band that hardly made any money, life SO OFTEN gets in the way, and, of course, some members we added turned out to be unreliable or total assholes that we had to get rid of.

Alan –  Since 2022, you have been a functioning band again. Have you started working and touring at full speed? Who took care of you as a band?
Joe - Well, we were an active band from 2014 till now except for 2020 and 21 when we lost a couple members and I majorly started writing and recording the new album. We have played quite a few shows, but most have been local or semi-local. It takes a lot of money to be able to tour, and that's money we don't have. So, since no person or place has taken care of the band to give support, we haven't been able to tour. It totally SUCKS, real life often screws everything up. It's the same way for playing Europe, we need some one or some place to advance support money to cover at least most of the expenses to be able to do either. It's a real bitch, but it is what it is, that's life sometimes!!!!!

Alan – Who writes the lyrics in the band? And who makes the music?
Joe - I write 95% of the music. The only songs I haven't written all the music for was Shallow Grave off our our last album (Geoff wrote all the riffs for that one except for the very ending part that I wrote), and Danse Macabre off the new album (Geoff wrote 2 of the main riffs for it which I altered a little, added a riff, and put everything together). Geoff writes 95% of the lyrics. We've re-recorded a couple old songs that I wrote the words for, and on the new album, I wrote the lyrics for Dealers and The Dark Side, plus I contributed a lot of words for Clinging to Life. But other than those, it's been all Geoff on the last 3 albums.

Alan – This year, 2026, an album called Of Beasts and Plagues is being released. With which label? How long did you work on it? And what does this album bring us?
Joe - We are now on Cosmic Fire Records. Our last label, Pure Steel Records, went out of business. God, if you count most of the songwriting for the new album, it took 4 damned years!!!! Mixing and editing was a nightmare because of all kinds of technical problems, had to get a whole different multi-track program because the one I originally was using became almost unusable. Honestly, a lot of people would have given up, and believe me, I thought about it, but somehow, some way, kept going and I'm so damned glad I did!!! The album brings TRUE metal in its purest form. Strong dark riffs, excellent vocals that fit with the feel of the tunes perfectly, pure power from beginning to end.

Alan – Can you break down the album for us song by song? Musically and lyrically? In short.
The Plagues Among Us.... 
Joe - That's the album intro. Very dark, then goes directly into the first full song seamlessly. Sets the mood for the album very well.
Murder of Crows 
Joe - A very dark and mid-paced song musically. More straight-forward than a lot of the songs, but the guitar riffs and the way Geoff sings it makes it sound really eerie and interesting. This may be Geoff's best ever vocal performance. 
Geoff - The 1st lines of this were the lyrics I wrote initially,  the feel of the song led me to the Plague Doctor theme. It's based on the time period and the black plague.
The Dark Side 
Joe - This one is faster, crunchier, and more thrashy, almost constant double bass. Like the vast majority of the album, it has a dark and powerful feel. It has a really cool breakdown toward the end that features bass. The words describe someone who looks down on and feels that he's better than the metal family. I take him into the world of metal to see how wrong and hippocritical he is.
Kissed with a Fist
Joe - This is a more straight-forward song that fans can headbang or tap their foot to throughout. Not as dark as the rest of the album, but still has plenty of power. Great vocal hooks throughout.
Geoff - At 1st glance this would appear to be about simple revenge, but really it's about breaking past the people and things that try to break you or keep you down.  Personal honor and inner strength are what matter, and will overcome obstacles.
Clinging to Life 
Joe - This is a little faster song except for the middle, which is one of my fave parts of the album. It's a slower part that's really doomy, dark, and crunchy, powerful as hell! The verse and prechorus may be the most interesting and technical rhythm guitar parts on the album.
Terrortory
Joe - This is actually a cover song, it was originally done by the band Halloween that we're friends with. But I "Axemasterized" it and changed a number of things in it musically. I Darkened it up some and made it truly an Axemaster song!
Geoff -  One of my all time favorite songs, I've been lucky enough to perform this with the original artists a couple of times.
Forsaken II 
Joe - A mid-paced song that vocal centered. Again, the middle part is my favorite part of the song, really powerful and Geoff's singing is PERFECT for it. Has my 2nd favorite lead solo on the album.
Geoff - The theme of this is a continuation of the song Forsaken from our album "Overture To Madness", Betrayal and loss. In the 1st song we left our hero casting off those who btrayed him and standing to face his enemies. In this song he almost wins, but falls to an unseen enemy never knowing who struck the final blow.
Dealers 
Joe - This is a faster and thrashier song. Lot's of crunch, double bass, and technical guitar work.
The lyrics are about how, if you really think about it, politicians and drug dealers do basically the same thing, just in different ways. Describes how they are so similar to each other.
Danse Macabre 
Joe - This is a quicker mid-paced song that Geoff wrote 2 of the main guitar riffs for. I changed them a little, added one more, and arranged everything. It also has a quick dual lead riff that repeats 3 times that really different and interesting.
Geoff -  I've always been facinated the "Danse Macabre", which for those who do not know is the representation of death traveling with mortals in everyday life. Death as a constant companion. These lyrics are almost a stream of conciousness representation of that concept.
Machine 
Joe - This is our favorite song! It has 3 totally different parts, and no riff section is played more than once, no "chorus", no section repeated. It gets heavier and heavier as it goes along, like chapters in a book, with the 3rd section being totally heavy thrash. Geoff's vocals in the 3rd part are awesome, sings in a heavier way than I had ever heard him sing before. This also includes what is personally my favorite lead solo I have ever recorded.
Geoff - This song is a dark fantasy. Man creates machine, machine grows beyond man, machine kills man. The 3rd verse is the 1st one I wrote, then the 2nd verse, then the 1st verse...completely backwards from what you would expect.
Dagon Rising 
Joe - Most of this is mid-paced thrash, but starts out with a finger picked clean guitar intro. The lead section I came up with is kind of different and interesting. Overall, it's kind of an eerie vocal centered song.
Geoff - Dagon Rising is the 3rd and last song in our HP Lovecraft song trilogy, the 1st was "Sanity's Requiem" , the 2nd was "Crawling Chaos". 
Shadows Cast 
Joe - Another mid-paced song that's kind of thrashy in spots, and features an arrangement that's a little different. Again, the middle section is one of my favorites from the album. The guitar at the start of it sounds almost orchestral, and the end features a very unique dual tapping lead that almost sounds like keyboards.
Geoff -  This song is a bit different for me, I intended originally to write a political theme. However it turned into a look at how individuals and groups will willingly cast blame and create distractions in order to avoid answering for mistakes. In the end it comes back around and destroys them.

Alan – Do you have any disappointed fans? Supporters? What did they say about the anticipation for the new album?
Joe - HELL NO!!!! I'm sure some were disappointed that this album took so long to come out, but I sure haven't heard any fans say that they were disappointed in the new album, QUITE THE OPPOSITE! There was a lot of anticipation, especially once I finished the production, but it took 6-8 months to find a record label to release the album that would actually do REAL promotion. During that time I heard from a lot of people who couldn't wait to hear it, they would check in occasionally to ask what was going on with the album.

Alan – Do you have any accompanying program prepared for the album? Do you mean videos, a world tour? Or something else?
Joe - Cosmic Fire recently produced 2 videos of songs from the new album that I think came out really, really good. Both are on the Cosmic Fire YouTube channel and eventually will be on the Axemaster channel as well. Our channel has A LOT of videos from 1984 to present day, official videos, live videos, and video interviews. Other than that, I usually promote the band online CONSTANTLY. But with this new album, I'm taking that to another level. I'm doing a shit load of interviews, and a MAJOR amount of promo on social media. Unfortunately, I mentioned the problem with us being able to tour. Cosmic Fire has contacted a European booking agency about getting us to Europe, but i'm sure that this album would have to sell MAJORLY for there to be even a chance at that. Wish us luck, we need all the luck possible for that to happen!

Alan - You don't have many videos in general. Are you preparing visual material?
Joe - That is not correct my friend! Go to our YouTube channel and check out all that we have there.....
https://www.youtube.com/axemasterofficial
We have the 2 recent ones that Cosmic Fire did, and once we start doing shows again, if we get any good live footage, we will definitely add it to our channel!!!!!

Alan – During your existence. Where have you played everywhere? Canada, Europe, South America, Australia?
Joe - Like I've talked about earlier, unfortunately, we haven't. Is a real shame and a major regret, we just never had the money to finance our travelling to play outside the US. We have had a number of offers, Europe, South America, and Japan, but just could never do it because we were never able to get a deal with a person/place that would cover up front expenses. IT SUCKS!!!!

Alan - Where was it most interesting for you and why?
Joe - I have had a great time anytime we have been able to travel. I always love seeing different new places and meeting new fans. HOPEFULLY this new album will do well enough to where someone will believe in us enough to help us travel. I'm praying to the metal gods that that happens. I think after all the years of work and never giving up no matter how bad things got at times, that WE DESERVE IT!!!!

Alan – Our readers are mainly from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Do you know these two countries?
Joe - Oh yeah, OF COURSE. I haven't known many people from the Czech Republic or Slovakia, but have talked to a few through the years.

Alan – And do you know any musicians or bands from these two countries?
Joe - No I don't unfortunately. I would be interested to learn about some of them though!!!!

Alan – During the existence (since the very beginning), have you experienced any interesting or funny events with the band while playing or traveling?
Joe - Oh yeah. My fave is one time we were practicing, and got a call from a guy at a big local club desperately looking for an opening band for the show that night, and we were like, what the hell, we are practicing anyway, might as well do it. To make a long story shorter, the headline band were total assholes and did different things to try and sabatage our show. Even sent their girlfriends in front of the stage to heckle us, and my girlfriend almost got in a fight with one of them. Anyway, we were understandably REALLY pissed off. But what happened was our drummer had some friends there and he told them all the different things the headline band did. His friends got mad too so when the headline band went on stage, our drummer's friends snuck backstage and pissed all over their clothes!!!! In a pair of boots, on leather jackets. THEY GOT WHAT THEY FUCKING DESERVED!!!!

Alan – What do you expect from the album Of Beasts and Plagues? Maybe to be a bandmate of Manowar and tour with them in Europe and Japan? That's just an example.
Joe - I really hope that the album and the promo for it (promo like we have never had before), takes us to a new level as a band, maybe past just cult status to be a really known band in the underground scene. OH HELL YEAH, touring Europe and Japan with Manowar would be the most awesome thing in the world! Not gonna happen, but you can surely dream it!!!!

Alan – The album has only been out for a while, so asking how you are doing doesn't make sense yet. Tell me, how satisfied are you with the album?
Joe - I'm 1,000% satisfied with the album!!!! Between what our graphics guy did and the extra insert that Cosmic Fire did, the whole package looks TOTALLY kick ass. And I could not be happier with how the songs came out: the songs themselves, the performances, and the production are all top of the line quality, OUTSTANDING to me!!! I have never been this happy with how any album I have ever done turned out, there is nothing I would change!!!!!! Every album I've ever done has had something I would have liked to change; such as a couple songs I didn't care for, or the production was lacking. BUT NOT THE CASE ON THIS ALBUM!!!! 
Yeah, it hasn't been out THAT long, but we have sold quite a few!

Alan – Thanks for the interview. I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hopefully we'll meet in Europe sometime.
Joe - Thanks for wanting to interview us!!!!! Yeah, that would be great! Us hang out and have a beer!!!
https://axemasterofficial.com