In a recent interview with RadioactiveMike Z, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program “Wired In The Empire”, Sebastian Bach was asked about the first METALLICA record he ever bought. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I bought [METALLICA‘s debut album] ‘Kill ‘Em All’ when it was an import when it first came out [in 1983], when it was first released. I lived in a little town in Canada called Peterborough and there was a heavy metal section [at a local record store] with imports. And I was flipping through the albums, and this was in total glam days of MÖTLEY CRÜE and WRATCHCHILD and all these glam bands. I was flipping through, and I saw METALLICA ‘Kill ‘Em All’, and it didn’t have a picture on the front. So I picked it up, turned it around and I looked at the picture on the back of ‘Kill ‘Em All’ and I go, ‘Holy fuck. These are the ugliest [bunch of guys] I’ve ever seen in my life.’ [Laughs] ‘Look at these guys.’ I go, ‘How can this be their picture of their band?’ [Laughs] And I bought it right there because I thought they looked so terrible. I go, ‘This is the craziest shit I’ve ever seen.’
“So I bought that right when it came out, dude, and I was a real fan,” he continued. “I saw them at the concert hall Masonic Temple in Toronto on that tour, and then I bought ‘Ride The Lightning’ when it first came out — right away; the first day — so I’ve been a METALLICA fan since before they were big. When I bought that METALLICA album, ANVIL was 20 times bigger than METALLICA. So, fathom that. [Laughs]”
Bach recently returned to the stage for a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW‘s double-platinum, acclaimed album “Slave To The Grind”. The trek kicked off on September 25 in Waterloo, New York and will wrap in San Diego, California on December 17.
Back in 2018, Bach told Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF 101.1 FM radio station that he was going to ink a deal with a U.S.-based heavy metal record label that would help him make a “career-defining” new solo album.
Bach hasn’t released a full-length disc since “Give ‘Em Hell”, which came out in 2014. Like its predecessor, 2011’s “Kicking & Screaming”, the disc was released through Frontiers Music Srl, the Italian label which specializes in what’s commonly called AOR, a term that once signified a popular radio format (“album-oriented rock”) but nowadays applies to acts whose airplay is marginal.
Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarists Dave “Snake” Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger. SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.
