Power From Hell: How Onslaught Evolved From UK82 Beginnings To A Blazing Thrash Legacy
Dick (bass) and Roger (vocals) live in Bristol 1983
Coming from Bristol, England, Onslaught burst onto the scene in the mid-1980s. From roots in the UK82 scene, which included a demo sent to Riot City Records, they evolved to a faster, heavier, and more aggressive sound at the perfect time. Onslaught were one of the first bands in the U.K. to take influence from the thrash sound coming out of the US from bands like Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth and incorporate it into their own style. And they were one of the very few British bands to incorporate those influences successfully.
Onslaught were a band for the heshers and headbangers who religiously read Metal Forces as well as the punks and thrashers who were devotees of Maximum RockNRoll. Their "Power From Hell" album from 1985, released in the U.K. by COR Records and with a US press by Pusmort, is a classic that still looms large and is considered a defining release within the genre today. And deservedly so, as it has held up immensely well.
Former singer Paul "Mo" Mahoney explains how it all happened in exquisite detail in the following interview.
Stick 'em up: Mo live at Dynamo Festival in Holland 1986
NI: Were you friendly with the members of Onslaught before joining the band? How did you first get to know them?
Mo: No, I'd never met or heard of them before I went to the audition. They all lived on one side of the city of Bristol, and I lived way over the other side, though it turned out that we went to pretty much the same gigs beforehand. I had started a band called Deleted with a few mates in my local area, but we never played any gigs or recorded anything. But I always fancied being in a band,a record shop called Revolver in Bristol city centre use to display ads for bands. And one day I saw asking for a frontman into Discharge, etc., so I contacted them and set up an audition. Apparently it was only me and another lad who tried for it. The other lad was Roger Davies who then went on to become their vocalist. He looked the part and he was local to them. I, on the other hand, loved the sound they were making, so I still went to watch them practise every week. I eventually started to get involved by taking photos and recording them and trying to set up a few gigs, a kind of unofficial manager. I also set up loads of interviews for fanzines to get their name about and sent out or sold tapes of their practise sessions.
NI: Prior to you joining, what had they already released for material? Was Onslaught already featured on the "Daffodils To The Daffodils Here's The Daffodils" compilation on Pax Records?
Mo: Before I even knew them, I think they had two demos done with the original singer, and I think a track was used on a cassette only compilation release on Dick's (Subhumans) Bluurg label.
I had sent a tape to Marcus Featherby of Pax Records to try to get a support slot with the Mau Maus and that led to Onslaught being offered 2 tracks for the "Daffodils" comp. At this time Roger Davies was now the vocalist, and this was to become their first vinyl release.
"Daffodils To The Daffodils Here's The Daffodils" comp LP on Pax Records 1984
NI: There's a 7" EP that was recorded at the time and never came out at the time. Can you please talk about this release, what songs were on it, and why it wasn't released? Was there artwork done for it or just recordings?
Mo: The tracks on the EP were:
"Protest, But Who Said You'll Survive"
"Visions Of The Future"
"Treading The Path Towards Death"
"An Innocent Man"
A new studio had opened up near where most of the band lived called Foxhole, and I think they were looking to start a record label. But, at the same time, Onslaught were fast getting a reputation for being a good live band and attracted the interest on Bristol's COR Record Label. Despite artwork being done for the EP and all the recording done, no contract was signed (that I know of) with Foxhole, and the band managed to get a deal with COR to release an LP. It's worth bearing in mind that Roger left/was fired (he wasn't turning up to practises) not long after the EP was recorded, and I stepped in at the last minute to do a gig. And also the bassist (Dick) had left, and Jase Stallard had taken over. In a matter of months the sound had got heavier due to influences from Slayer, Metallica and Exciter. Due to all this change the Ep no longer represented the band anymore.
NI: Was this the EP that was submitted to Riot City Records but turned down?
Mo: No, I think it was an earlier demo with the first singer that was sent to Riot City. Rumours suggest that they thought they already had enough hardcore bands on the label or maybe they were already winding down the label due to poor sales. Again, I think the EP would of only been released on the Foxhole label. I don't think it was ever sent to any other labels because, as mentioned, it no longer represented the band anymore.
Intended cover art for the unreleased EP from 1984
NI: What year did you end up joining, and how did you become their vocalist? What happened to the previous vocalist, Roger?
Mo: Well, after my failed audition in late 1983, I decided to get involved with them in someway because I loved the sound they were making. We were all obviously big Discharge fans, and it was great to get a piece of that noise every week. I think I eventually became the vocalist by default in early 1984. Whenever Roger failed to turn up for practice, one of us 'hangers on' used to step up and do the vocals just so the band could practice a bit. One week I had a really bad cold which made my voice as rough as fuck. It would seem this was the kind of vocal that they were looking for instead of my usual singing voice. We had a gig coming up with the Subhumans, so it was decided Roger was out and I was in. I think Roger just lost interest and I was told recently that he got really nervous before gigs and use to have quite a few beers beforehand, which I had no idea about.
NI: When you joined the band, were any of the songs on "Power From Hell" already written?
Mo: No, only "Thermonuclear Devastation" survived from the early days. We were all developing as players really fast, so the "Power From Hell" songs had moved on from the previous basic stuff. Strange that we kept "Thermo" as it was a pretty basic song, though it might of felt like a newer song once I changed the vocal delivery to make the song a bit longer.
NI: As the "Power From Hell" material was a departure from the earlier Discharge influenced sound, what bands were the main influences for the LP?
Mo: Metallica, Exciter, Anthrax and, predominantly, Slayer though, unbeknown to me, the rest of the band were quite into Motörhead and Iron Maiden. I was still into Antisect, GBH and Subhumans stuff until I heard Slayer's "Haunting The Chapel" 12" which was a game changer for many people. We were often compared to Venom, but none of us particularly liked them or indeed listened to them, so any comparison was just a coincidence.
Mo at The Station in Gateshead 1985 (photo: Will Binks)
NI: Do you recall how Onslaught came into contact with Tim Bennett of COR Records?
Mo: We pretty much supported any major punk band that played Bristol, and I imagine Tim Bennett was at most of them. But I had no idea that Onslaught were going to release anything on his label until I was told that we were going to record an album at AVM Studio in Stoke on Trent (the same one used by Discharge/GBH) and that we were trying to get Mike Stone (of Clay records) to produce it. Unfortunately we couldn't get him, so we used the house engineer and told him to make it sound as heavy as possible. We didn't really have any studio experience, so we left it to him, hence the rather murky dungeon sound we got… We didn't like it, thought it sounded better played at 45 rpm.
NI: You've mentioned previously that you thought Tim from COR Records was expecting something different than "Power From Hell" when he asked Onslaught to do a record. Can you elaborate on this?
Mo: Yes, we were developing our sound and our influences in a very short space of time. The last time Tim might of seen us play live we were still doing the Discharge type songs, but by the time it came to record the album we had changed a lot. We had moved into what became thrash metal without actually realising it, and the lyrics became your typical devil, death Satan heavy metal affair as the title "Power From Hell" suggests. I have no idea what he thought of our new direction or, indeed, our artwork for the album. I guess that with all the money spent on studio time then he had no choice but to release it.
NI: Were you satisfied with how "Power From Hell" came out? How was the reception from both the punk and metal audiences?
Mo: No, not at all. Despite moving away from the Discharge sound, we still wanted the Discharge production, loads of power that smacked you in the face. "Power From Hell" was too murky, not enough top end frequencies. Just for a laugh we played it at 45 rpm, and we preferred that, though strangely it would seem that the murky underground sound appealed to a lot of people and it did make us sound all the more powerful when we played live. Initially we did a small U.K. tour for the album. The punks liked us up North, but we had played there previously twice before and had always gone down well. We were still relatively unknown, so the other gigs were quite empty, though when we played at the Royal Standard in London it was the first time we got a response from a metal audience. It seemed to me at the time that a lot of punks were into the likes of Slayer and Metallica anyways, so I think their musical tastes were changing as much as ours were. And I think a lot of younger kids getting into metal were after that harder, faster sound. It soon turned out that we were in the right place at the right time. By the time we had enough publicity to pull an audience, we had a healthy dose of both metal and punk fans who had something new in the U.K. to go mental to.
Left: Pusmort (US, 1985, no insert) pressing under license from Children Of The Revolution Records (U.K., 1985)
Right: Combat (US, 1987) pressing under license from Under One Flag (U.K., 1987)
NI: Did you feel accepted by the metal crowd, and did you ever get accused of selling out or quitting punk from the hardline punks?
Mo: I'm not sure we made a big enough mark in punk for anyone to notice that we had moved to a more metal sound. I'm not even sure if the metal crowd was a whole new audience who had previously not been involved in metal! It was a young crowd for most part, and thrash, speed, death metal was mainly coming from America. So little chance of a U.K. crowd getting to see that kind of band and with a well timed interview in Metal Forces magazine, we suddenly became the new metal band to see. Of course, being in the eye of the storm, we knew nothing about how we were being perceived or the whole storm brewing up around us... Well, not until we supported Exciter in London and the place went mental during our soundcheck.
NI: Besides yourselves, Broken Bones, English Dogs, Sacrilege and others were infusing metal influences into their sound. What were your impressions on this shift in the scene? Which bands did you rate the highest, and did Onslaught feel a particular connection with any of them?
Mo: Despite having supported Broken Bones and GBH in the past, once "Power From Hell" was released we didn't feel a connection with any of the bands mentioned or punk really. The Power From Hell tour took in a couple of punk venues and a few metal venues, but after that it was pretty much metal orientated. We were playing with Exciter, Anthrax, Girlschool and metal festivals in Europe. I think there was a distinction between a punk/metal band and a thrash metal band. We were very much in the latter. I personally liked early English Dogs until they changed the singer, and I liked the bass playing in Broken Bones but can't say I listened to Sacrilege. I don't think any of us listened to much U.K. stuff, though I did become involved in metal tapetrading for a while but, alas, all the good stuff was coming from America.
NI: Did you play often with other Bristol bands such as Vice Squad, Chaos U.K., Disorder, Lunatic Fringe, etc.? Where did Onslaught fit in with the scene?
Mo: Never played with Vice Squad, but there is a connection that I've only learnt about recently. Dave Bateman (RIP), Vice Squad's guitarist, taught Nige Rockett (Onslaught guitarist) how to play guitar, and Steve Grice (Onslaught drums) is good friends with the original members of Vice Squad. Indeed, Roger Davies, our previous singer used to go out with Beki Bondage.
We played quite a bit with Disorder, Chaos U.K. and Lunatic Fringe, but we were just another band that acted as support to any touring band. Bristol gigs usually had four or five bands playing, so it was usually one or two of these bands that would be on the bill.
I think Disorder, Chaos U.K., Lunatic Fringe and Amebix were all mates and quite possibly shared a squat or two near Bristol city centre, whereas Onslaught were based on the outskirts of Bristol and weren't really part of the squat gigs that were often set up by the other bands. Though I would often go to these gigs because I loved them, I don't think it was part of Onslaught's overall make up.
Onslaught "Power From Hell" Pusmort green vinyl pressing photos from the collection of Fabian/Denim Demon Jimmy.
NI: After "Power From Hell," you switched to bass for "The Force" LP released in 1986 and Onslaught added a second guitarist (bassist Jase Stallard moving over). Why did the band make this switch, and do you think it improved the sound?
Mo: We were always after a bigger, wider sound and a second guitarist seemed the obvious way to develop that. It was remembered that I once had a go on bass because I knew how to do a Broken Bones song (we use to play covers when Roger failed to turn up for practise) and Jase is a multi-instrumentalist anyway (he played drums in a previous band). We couldn't actually find another guitarist, so we just changed things around internally. I actually played bass and vocals on the "Power From Hell" tour, so by the time we came around to writing new material everything was in place. It did improve the sound immensely, and we could now throw in lead-breaks without losing the guitar sound and have different rhythms and intros etc. We were writing "The Force" material with this line up so, at one time, I was singing "The Force" material…Luckily, Sy Keeler turned up.
NI: Where did vocalist Sy Keeler come from? Had he been in any previous bands?
Mo: I'm not entirely sure if his arrival had been pre-planned, but I was told he saw us during our "Power From Hell" tour and he thought he could do better. I was told we were going to try a new vocalist, and he turned up at practise one day and pretty much blew us away! He took the band up to a whole new level, far from my feeling being hurt. I was both delighted and relieved. I couldn't do a good scream without nearly passing out, and I was becoming more interested in playing bass anyway, so I would of accepted anyone taking the frontman place. But he was truly amazing. Bearing in mind our background in punk, none of us have actually performed with someone who could actually sing, and his background was purely imbedded in metal so he had a good understanding and what we wanted. I don't think he had been in any previous bands.
NI: As "The Force" LP showed Onslaught leaving behind pretty much all previous punk influences, did you feel fully embraced by the metal scene by this time?
Mo: Absolutely, we were on a metal label and being mentioned in Kerrang and Metal Forces magazines and even punk zines that had caught on to the new metal sound were giving us a mention. The only sad thing is that we never did a proper "Force" tour, but we did do some high profile support slots with Exciter and Anthrax and did a handful of European dates with Motörhead as well as some metal festivals in Europe.
NI: How did a deal with Under One Flag/Music For Nations come up for the release of "The Force" LP? Was it odd going from a DIY level punk label to a larger independent metal label in only a year? Did this lead to friction with the punk scene?
Mo: This was probably down to Metal Forces magazine singing our praises for the "Power From Hell" album. We couldn't of asked for better publicity really, and obviously any label would be on the lookout for the next big thing. And, for a small period of time, we were it. It didn't feel odd mainly because we'd never done anything like this before. So I guess we just assumed that this was how it happened for some bands. We never questioned it. It all seemed quite natural and, as I said before, things seemed to happen pretty fast for us. I don't think the punk scene had much interest in us to be fair, though I still get people (mainly punks) saying that "Power From Hell" was the best album, so I guess a lot of punks brought it or heard it
Jase at The Station in Gateshead 1985 • Photos by Will Binks
NI: What led to your departure from Onslaught? Do you have anything that you would have changed in your time in Onslaught in hindsight?
Mo: I got bored with it all. I stopped enjoying it, and I was getting info on the band second hand. One of our roadies informed me that we might be supporting Motörhead soon. When I chatted to Jase about it, he said he knew three weeks ago. And I was told about an interview with Kerrang that had already happened. So I started feeling it wasn't a band anymore. Regrets? Well, I did write some lyrics for "Power From Hell," and they were used. I was credited and I remember Nige really liking them, but I regret not continuing with contributing more. But as for the whole experience of being in a band, no regrets there. It's a great feeling to play live, all the more so if people appreciate you.
NI: Have you followed the band's material since you left, and what are your thoughts on it? What do you think of their reformed line up?
Mo: Yes, a bit. "In Search Of Sanity" was an excellent album, but they got rid of the main man in Sy Keeler and Jase had been sacked by then, so it wasn't really the Onslaught that I knew.
Their comeback album "Killing Peace" was the best thing they done, great songs, superb production and Sy Keeler back in the fold. I actually went to their first few secret comeback gigs, and it was great to hear the old material even though I preferred the newer stuff but after that I lost interest in them, I'm not even sure if they're still playing to be honest.
NI: What bands did you go on to play in after Onslaught?
Mo: I did play bass in a three piece rock instrumental band which was great fun with an outstanding guitarist and drummer. We had a professional manager who had worked with some major rock bands in the '70s and we were lined up to record an album with Sinead a O’Connor’s record producer and we even played Glastonbury Festival, but it all fell through and fizzled out in the end. After that I kind of lost interest in performing and became a sound engineer.
NI: Are you still in touch with any current or former members of Onslaught?
Mo: I was in touch with Steve and Jase while we set up the Sanity Days thing. It also included Alan Jordan who played guitar on the "Killing Peace" album and Steve Grimmett who sang on the "In Search Of Sanity" album. It was basically me singing some "Power From Hell" songs and then Steve would come on and they'd do "In Search Of Sanity" songs. I only did one metal festival, but the rest of them went on to play some highly successful gigs and also release an album. There is a clip of us doing "Thermo" on YouTube.
NI: Final comments?
Mo: Yeah, start a band, join a band, go see a band coz one day you’ll be 50 years old, and all you’ll remember of your youth is that you looked at your phone.
Mo and Jase at Dynamo Festival in Holland 1986
All band photos from the collection of Paul Mahoney and credited where possible.
"Daffodils To The Daffodils Here's The Daffodils" compilation photos from the collection of Chris Lawrence.
Onslaught "Power From Hell" Pusmort green vinyl pressing photos from the collection of Fabian/Denim Demon Jimmy.
