POSSESSED : 被隐藏的疯狂

Dave Reynolds | Metal Forces, Issue 16 (1986)

翻译 | dyingflames

There are many of you who just couldn’t wait for the debut Possessed album, Seven Churches, to appear in the stores. There was a buzz about this band that had filtered its way through the metal underground system, saying that San Francisco’s Possessed were about to take the thrash world by storm. And when the album did make it out, via Combat in the United States and Roadrunner in Europe, then all the reports about this quartet proved to be true. Possessed instantly became the new gods of thrash, and even an old sceptic like myself was bowled over by them.

很多人都已经迫不及待的想在商店看到POSSESSED的首张专辑，《Seven Churches》。在地下金属网络的传播下，他们已经有了非常好的口碑，有传言旧金山的POSSESSED将如暴风般席卷整个敲击世界。当美国的Combat和欧洲的Roadrunner将其发布的时候，所有曾经报道的都已成为现实。POSSESSED成为敲击的新神，即便是像我这样死板的怀疑论者都被他们征服。

It would be pointless to try hoodwinking you into believing that I’ve always been a thrash fan at heart. No, my musical tastes are more in tune with the flash direction than thrash, but I am interested in thrash when it’s played well, so that means I get a kick outta Metallica, Living Death, Iron Angel and a host of others. Well, Possessed are the heroes of this piece and they certainly can play thrash metal well.

我没必要骗你说我是个忠诚的敲击乐迷。是的，我的音乐品味就是觉得有调子的东西比敲击好听，但我对牛逼的敲击非常感兴趣，这就意味着我对METALLICA、LIVING DEATH、IRON ANGEL什么的完全没兴趣，POSSESSED才是这个领域的英雄，他们才是能够玩好敲击金属的人。

“It was Venom and Exodus who first got us into thrash metal,” says Possessed guitarist Larry LaLonde. “They’re the only bands for us. We’re really good friends with Exodus, as you know.”

"一开始是VENOM和EXODUS把我们带入敲击金属中，"POSSESSED的吉他手Larry LaLonde说到。“对我们来说他们就是唯一的乐队，就像你知道的，我们和EXODUS一直是非常好的朋友。”

The quartet, completed by Jeff Becerra (vocals / bass), Mike Torrao (guitar) and Mike Sus (drums), first came to the attention of many people thanks to the band’s contribution to the Metal Massacre VI compilation album, with the infamous ‘Swing The Axe’. They then landed a contract with New York’s Combat Records, and also a spot on theMetal Forces compiled Speed Kills album as a taster for the Seven Churches album. The main thing that struck me about the album is that the band actually achieve something musically, and it’s not just noise like, say, Sodom. The musicianship is a strong point in Possessed’s favour. “Yeah, I think so too,” says Larry. “We just wanted to make a record without just making pure noise and we tried to get the production (by Randy Burns) just how we wanted it.”

乐队的阵容还包括了主唱兼贝斯手Jeff Becerra、吉他手Mike Torrao和鼓手Mike Sus，POSSESSED最早是因为参与在《Metal Massacre VI》合辑中被人们所知晓的，收录了著名歌曲“Swing The Axe”。然后便与纽约的Combat唱片公司签订了合同，《Seven Churches》这张专辑最让我吃惊的就是乐队真正的实现了音乐性，不仅仅是像SODOM那样的噪音。这种音乐才华是POSSESSED让我喜欢重要原因。“是的，我也这样觉得，”Larry说到。“我们只是想做张不是纯粹噪音的专辑，并且在Randy Burns的帮助下得到了我们心中所追求的。”

Possessed (l-r): Mike Torrao, Jeff Becerra (bottom), Mike Sus and 
Larry LaLonde

Can you fulfill the potential shown on the album in a live situation? “Yeah, I think we can, even if we aren’t able to use our own equipment we’ll still be able to get that sound.”

你能够在现场环境下表现出专辑中的效果吗？“哈哈，我觉得我们可以，即便是无法使用我们自己的设备，我们还是还原那种音色。”

Is there a problem getting gigs? I’ve been hearing stories of thrash bands being banned from playing in clubs. “No, not really. I haven’t really heard that much. Some clubs have banned shows, but those are the small clubs that don’t usually deal with metal bands and can’t take in the number of people that metal bands attract.”

在演出的过程中遇到过什么样的问题？我最近听说敲击乐队被禁止在俱乐部中演出。“实际上并不是这样的，我没有听说过那样的说法。确实有一些俱乐部禁止演出，但那些是因为它们那样的小地方没法塞得下金属演出那么多人。”

Are there any plans for Possessed to tour in the near future? “Yeah, as soon as we can get some dates set up. We’ll be just doing some small tours here and there.”

POSSESSED近期会不会有巡演？“有的，一旦我们确认好了其中部分的时间，马上就会有一些小范围的巡演。”

What about Europe? You’ve obviously heard how well Exodus were received? “Oh yeah, it looks like we’ll be over in Europe – especially Germany – in the summer. We really wanna come over there but it’s difficult at the moment because me and Jeff are still at school, so we’re gonna have to wait a while.”

欧洲会包括在内吗？你们显然已经知道了EXODUS在这儿是多么受欢迎！“哈哈是的，看上去我们会在欧洲演出，特别是德国，在今年夏天。我们非常想过来演出，但是目前来说还有点问题，因为我和Jeff还在上学，所以我们不得不等一段时间。”

I’m sure once Possessed do make it over to Europe everyone is gonna go nuts over ’em, just like they did when Slayer and Exodus came over last year. But does it bother the band that a lot of people who buy the record really take the Satanic imagery seriously? “Not really. I don’t think they take it seriously at all, they see that it’s just part of the show and they all come and have a good time.”

我敢保证一旦POSSESSED来欧洲，你们的现场会被所有人挤爆，就像去年SLAYER和EXODUS干的那样。但是那些买了专辑然后将撒旦严肃对待的人会不会让乐队感到担心？“并不会，我不觉得他们完全的严肃对待了，那只会是演出的一部分，他们会享受这个精彩的晚上。”

Well I hope so, but I’m still not convinced, especially after reading some of the Penbanger ads in this very magazine. I think 1986 will see a serious backlash against bands who sing about Satan, whether for real or just show. The Americans are a sensitive nation when it comes to messin’ with evil, possibly all to do with their God fearing pilgrim roots. Remember when the comic book capers of Kiss first made a name for themselves? They were branded as being Knights in Satan’s Service and Gene Simmons was accused of actually being the Devil incarnate. Or how about in the 60s, when John Lennon was misquoted in a magazine when talking about religion and ruined a tour of America for The Beatles? And now with the possibility of this P.M.R.C.) bill coming into effect we’ll have to see what happens in 1986.

是的，我也希望如此。但我仍然觉得，特别是看到了一些Penbanger(加拿大极端金属杂志/博客)的报道后，1986年将会迎来一个针对歌颂撒旦的乐队的打击，不论是现实世界的还是演出的。美国人在面对撒旦言论的时候非常敏感，可能是因为他们的祖辈们都是信徒有关。还记得当漫画恶作剧之吻首先给他们自己取的名字吗？他们声称自己是效忠撒旦的骑士，吉恩·西蒙斯随后被控诉是恶魔的化身。或者是那些六十年代的时候披头士因为被杂志断章取义了他们关于宗教的言论，整个美国巡演都被毁了。现在又有PMRC(家长音乐资源中心，见注释①)法案通过的可能，1986年可能会变得非常糟糕。

In the meantime, Satanic imagery or not, Possessed plan on furthering their undoubted potential in 1986. “I’m not exactly sure as to when we’ll be doing another album,” says Larry. “But we should be recording an EP or something in February because we’ve been working on some new songs recently.”

在此期间，不论是否具有撒旦意向，POSSESSED都将努力推进1986年的计划。“我不太确定我们何时会开始制作另一张专辑，”Larry说，“但我们准备在二月录制一张EP或者别的什么因为我们最近在写一些新歌。”

Something that should, hopefully, see the band seriously threaten the big league ’cos they’ve got the youth on their side, and what they may lack in experience they more than compensate for in their ability to play excellent heavy metal with the required dosage of enthusiasm that only deserves to see them do well.

某些方面来说，我已经可以看到乐队严重威胁到了大联盟，因为他们这边聚集了非常多的年轻人。但是他们在经验上的缺乏，也许能够被富有激情的精彩金属乐水准弥补，相信他们能够做的很好。

As far as the show itself is concerned it’s just a “straight ahead show, no bombs or anything”, but who knows? Once they develop into an act that merits heavy financial backing then, well, they could have maybe something on the lines of Venom. The only difference being that people tend to laugh at the tongue-in-cheek element of the Cronos charade (don’t get me wrong, I like Venom, being what you might call an original fan of theirs), but it’ll be an entirely different story with Possessed. Wait and see.

就演出本身而言，它只是“没有炸弹或者别的威胁的单纯简单的演出”，但谁又知道呢？他们一旦发展成了需要雄厚资金来实现一些作为的话，也就是和VENOM一样的了。唯一区别就是笑起来和VENOM的吉他手Cronos(见注释②)不同，(别误解我，我喜爱Venom，那种你可能认为是他们的最早乐迷)，但对于POSSESSED来说就是另一个故事了。等着瞧吧。

Interview taken from Metal Forces, Issue 16 (1986)

采访翻译自Metal Forces第16期

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①P.M.R.C.，即Parents Music Resource Center，由1985年组建的美国委员会提出的对于音乐上的家长控制方案，对于涉及暴力、毒品、性的专辑的封面上贴上咨询家长(Parental Advisory)的标签以控制孩子对他们的接触。

②Cronos笑起来舌头都可以甩到脸上，非常夸张。

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