ANIHILATED - (Interview by Fernando Roberto from Portugal)

F.R. - Let’s start for the beginning… under which conditions did you get involved in metal? How did you get interested by Metal and when?

Mark Beuchet - Well, I was into Motorhead, Saxon, Rush from about the age of 13 years. I think it all started when I first heard Rush on the radio.

Bod - The first time I heard Slayer was in about 1983 and they blew me away. We were venturing towards a more metal sound anyway but this was the turning point for me. Things were never the same again.

Simon E Cobb - I got into metal when I was about 12 years old. I had been into punk for a couple of years and then my best friend got Iron Maiden's first LP. I thought it was really good but then I heard Motörhead… That was it really, I still liked punk but Metal was my main drive.


F.R. - Did you have other musical experiences before ANIHILATED? I mean was it the first time that you guys were involved in a band or…

Mark Beuchet - For me, I started playing guitar when I was 15. I had a punk band with some school friends called Poison. We did some gigs with Anihilated, so that’s how I got to know them.

Bod - Anihilated was my first band

Simon E Cobb - Anihilated was my first band was nearly 15 when I joined.

F.R. - How & when the band got together?

Bod - The original band started in my bedroom we used to practice there but the sound was so loud it was shaking my mum ornaments off the shelves so we had to find somewhere else after a while ha ha!

Simon E Cobb - Bod knows the real old history but in 1982 I got involved when a good friend had been asked by Bod if he knew anyone who played guitar, he said me, Bod called me up and him and Lee came and watched me play, gave me a tape, I learned all the songs and wrote a couple by the first practice session and never looked back.

F.R. - Why did you choose the band’s name ANIHILATED? Did not you aware that there was another metal acts with similar names around like ANNIHILATOR beside others less known?

Mark Beuchet - I think Anihilated came long before any other bands of a similar name......Anihilated was formed in 1981.

Bod – There were no bands with similar names back in 1981 that I had heard of. When the name was chosen, we were a punk band at the time and the cold war was in full flow. We lived very near to the USA basses which had nuclear warheads aimed at Russia so we were right in the firing line of the USA and Russia. If it all had have kicked off, we would have been totally Annihilated so that’s where the name came from. We spelt it with one N as it looked better J


Simon E Cobb – The name was chosen way back before any other band with similar names were even thought of.

F.R. - Your first “real” deal was with METALWORKS, right? Can you tell us everything about this deal? Which conditions the label gave you? How much money they paid you? I red it was a five album deal.

Mark Beuchet - To be honest we are trying to forget all about Metalworks! What happened has been well documented over the years and we are now looking to the future.

Bod – I do not wish to discuss Metalworks at all. Sorry

Simon E Cobb – Hmm well to be honest, the past is the past and many things were said in the past the whole situation is over and we are looking forward.

F.R. - Did you promote heavily your albums thru the metal Magazines at that time? “Metal Forces”, “Metal Hammer”, “Kerrang”, etc??? What would you change in the band’s career & where do you think you have failed to go further?

Mark Beuchet - Magazine advertising was always up to the record label to sort out, so we weren’t involved in that side of things, but they were not promoted as much as they should have been. I’m not sure that I would change much about out career because we did have a really good time doing what we did even if we maybe didn’t go as far as we could have.

Bod – It was a strange and exciting time, we were inventing things as we went along so there were no rules to follow as such. If we had been left alone without interference from others, we would have been a much bigger band at the time but I think all the publicity was from people that really liked us and wanted to write about us rather than having to because a label said so. None of our publicity was paid for so all of it was genuine which was just the way it should been J

Simon E Cobb – There was little in the way of promotion which was a shame.

F.R. - How many gigs did you played on the past? Did you play outside UK? Did you remember all dates and bands which you played with?

Mark Beuchet - Mmmmmm, I have no idea how many gigs we did.........the band had been going for about 4 years before I joined anyway. We only played in the UK although there was a promise of a tour abroad but like so many things promised to us at the time it never happened. During my time with the band we did quite a few gigs in London with bands like Sabbat, Dark Angel, Onslaught, Acid Reign, The English Dogs, Sacrilege and others that I can’t remember at the moment. We also played in many major cities like Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, Leicester, Milton Keynes and many other places.

Bod – We did so many gigs I cant remember them all but we always had a great time even when violence reared its ugly head we always found a positive outcome. We played with many great bands of the time and had many famous people come to watch us too. We always made good friends and were asked back to play again. The fans were always incredible and that is all that’s important as far as I am concerned, without them we are nothing J

Simon E Cobb – Crikey...we played a lot of gigs, we also played with Death Angel... loads of bands I couldn’t say how many or tell you the dates though it was a long time ago.

F.R. - Did you include some covers in your past shows? If yes, tell us the tittles.

Mark Beuchet, Bod - No, we never did any covers

Simon E Cobb – we never did covers at shows occasionally during rehearsal we might slip a hell awaits into the afternoon but never live.

F.R. - …And now, if you get a deal to play live some gigs which set list you choose??? Have you been dreamed to perform at some cult festivals such as “Keep It True”? It’s kind certain that many foreign people would love to see ANIHILATED, especially on this kind of festivals.

Mark Beuchet - That’s a good question........we may well play some gigs, and some festivals would be great. If we do it I would think that we would play a lot of new stuff with a few songs from each of the albums too. But we haven’t got as far as talking about that yet....

Bod – We have had a lot of very serious offers to play this year, most of which are abroad but we are not ready yet and we are writing a new album which is taking all our time up at the moment, We do intend to play some gigs next year but because our time is limited, we will have to be selective. But we are really looking forward to gigging again and meeting the fans.

Simon E Cobb – I would love to play a couple of festivals, I think the set would need to include a lot of “The ultimate desecration” maybe a track off of “Created in hate” and also a sample of the new material.

F.R. - So how, when and why did ANIHILATED ended up exactly? What type of response did you get when you decided to finish your band’s activities? I red somewhere that you had started to work on your third album Carnival of Souls, but than you ended.

Mark Beuchet - I was the first to leave..........I left right at the start of 1990. We had been let down badly and were kind of left in limbo, it was a strange time. The tour we were promised never happened and we were left not knowing what was going on. I really lost interest at this time and decided to leave and concentrate on doing something different. Lee left not too much later, and I know they got people in to replace us but didn’t work out.

Bod – After being on the road for 10 years and practically living in each others pockets, pressures and deadlines and broken promises from the industry took their toll and we decided to call it a day. It was very sad but we were all burnt out and needed to take a long break. We all kept in touch and have remained very close friends and that’s why we are back together again, we are like family and we have fire in our bellies once more and are ready to thrash again J

Simon E Cobb – Yeah, it was a sad ending at the time, we had felt very disappointed with certain aspects of what was going on, we had no money, no promotion etc, Mark was getting fed up of it all and decided to quit, as did Lee, Bod and I recruited new personal into the band but in all honesty they did not pull their weight and it wasn't the same, I think Bod and I were so frustrated that we found it really hard to do what we wanted to do. The third album was being written a couple of the songs were great but there was no real cohesion as there had been in Anihilated before and so we drifted away. There was some sadness from fans but our profile was so low due to a lack of publicity that most people I don't think even noticed we had gone. Only a few United Kingdom bands were being promoted at the time and us, Acid Reign, English Dogs, Sacrilege etc were all under exposed whilst other bands, who were being promoted by their labels, were getting all the headlines.

F.R. - Did you have some “old stuff” written and studio recorded than the songs used on all your releases (Demos / Cassetes / /Flexis / LP’s)???

Mark Beuchet - I think almost everything that we have recorded has now been put on CD. The re-release of the 2 albums on Marquee records will feature some previously unreleased recordings as did the “Path to Destruction” re-release. The only thing I can think of that hasn’t been released on CD is the first demo, which is really punk stuff and was recorded before I joined the band and also has a different singer (Andy).

Bod – There were a lot of old bootleg recordings around of us live and some video footage but you have to remember that video cameras were quite expensive and few and far between back then so it was rare for anyone to have them. We were on Sky TV in 1988, it was footage of us in Milton Keynes UK .We do have some footage ourselves. If anyone has any old clips, I would love to see them, any photo’s as well!

Simon E Cobb – Yeah a vast amount of which has been released on the re-release of “Path to destruction” our earliest solo vinyl effort, raw crossover metal with teeth.

F.R. - Did you stay in touch with the ex-members (Lee and Andy) over the years despise the fact that some of you moved away from other places? I mean have you been maintaining contact with the other two elements of the group since they interrupted functions? I read Lee giving up music completely, getting married and becoming a postman…right? And what about Andy, do you know if he has been involved in some musical activities since ANIHILATED broke up?

Mark Beuchet - I see Lee from time to time but I wasn’t in the band when Andy was in it so I don’t really know him too well. Yes, it’s true that Lee gave up playing completely after Anihilated. He left the band not long after me.

Bod – Andy is living in Ipswich, I still see him and say hello occasionally I think he is a postman! Lee is happily married and living the good life in Ipswich as…you’ve guessed it, a postman! We seem to have a thing about the mail J

Simon E Cobb – Andy left very early into the bands history, I rarely see him and I have no idea if he did anything afterwards I know he wanted to but his vocal talents were somewhat limited.... Lee is a good friend and I see him often, he did not feel up to the reformation that’s why I took over on bass.

F.R. - Tell us something more about the re-editions of your albums on CD, you only re-edited on the Japanese “In Crust We Thrash”, right? Are you fully satisfied with the job did, I guess you are considering the professionalism involved…Tell us everything about that deal.

Mark Beuchet - This deal came about really because the guy from the label contacted me and asked about re-releasing Path to Destruction. I was very happy with the deal and Yuki from ‘In Crust We Thrash’ did a great job and I just wish we could have deal with people like him in the past.

F.R. - Now, we’ve to talk about “Marquee records”, you had been contacted by that label which showed interest to re-edit both albums…tell us something more about it…

Mark Beuchet - We have signed a deal for the re-release of both of the albums “Created In Hate” and “The Ultimate Desecration”. It’s hard to say much about it at the moment as we are still waiting for the CD’s to be released. But hopefully they will be out really soon and Armando from Marquee is a good guy and from what he has said to us we are hopeful of a really good end product.

Bod – We are very happy that they are doing this as they take great pride in their work and are a very highly respected label. They are experts in 80’s re-releases.

F.R. - What have you (guys) been up to since ANIHILATED ‘broke up’ back in (tell me the exactly date) or so? Give us a brief resume about the band or the bands with whom you’ve been involved with after ANIHILATED…

Mark Beuchet - Ok, well, as I said earlier, I left Anihilated in 1990, I then started recording demos at home and formed a band called West Of The Garden which was short-lived, then I had a band called Delerious and finally Love Lies Bleeding. Both of those bands had Bod on drums but were very different from Anihilated. I also did a solo acoustic CD. I packed up playing completely around 1996.

Bod – I joined Mark for a while then had my own band which I played/managed for about 13 years. We played in America and had great airplay over there. That has now finished and I am really glad to be back thrashing with Anihilated

Simon E Cobb – When Anihilated broke up I formed Nightbreed with Robin Eaglestone (Cradle of Filth, Impirial Black, Criminal, among others) on bass also in the band was Rob (Kemakill) guitars and Chris (the hope) drums. The band was going well but Robin was asked to join Cradle of Filth full time and had to go. I was becoming tired of the whole music scene and gave up putting my energies into producing demos for bands and mentoring a couple but eventually I gave it all up sold all my gear and forgot music for a few years.

F.R. - Under which conditions ANIHILATED was re-activated back in 2008? Was it the result of having your albums being re-released on CD (for two labels) or did it have something to do with the fact that there was a new interest for old metal bands going on around that time specially for some German & USA labels.

Mark Beuchet - It was a combination of things..........Bod had carried on playing and we still saw each other quite often, so when his band finished was about the time that Marquee had approached us. Bod wasn’t sure what he was going to do next, so I said ‘ I suppose we’d better record another Anihilated album then’. He was really keen and so was Si when we contacted him. We knew that Lee wouldn’t be interested as he hadn’t played for so long so Si has switched from Guitar to Bass.

Bod – I suppose it was a bit of both but more to do with the fact that after all these years and despite us saying we would never reform, we just couldn’t resist getting back together for a jam, we enjoyed it so much and there was such a buzz going on between us we realised that we could still do it and we had at least one album left in us and it all took off again from there. This time we are in complete control and are doing it for the love of it and for the fans, who has been magnificent in their reaction and support on our myspace site.

Simon E Cobb – We had been back in touch for a while, and I had recovered from a serious spinal injury so I felt ready to return, I had been asked to play bass in a band with an old friend which had been a re awakening of my interest in the whole scene. The talk of reissues had begun, Bod had been in a band who had done moderately well but when they split, Mark and I hinted that a reuniuon might be fun, Bod was in, lee was not. We met up wrote a song or two, enjoyed the exoperience and so went back at it like the full on metal dogs that we are.

F.R. - What we can except from the new tracks of ANIHILATED? Will you try to recreate something similar with you have done before or will you release something new, from your heart? I mean, all of you guys are in a different state of mind now than when you was 18 years old, isn’t? Beside that, one thing that surprised me a whole lot is the fact that you didn’t stay involved in Speed/Tharsh after ANIHILATED, your music tastes changed (as you got older) & you incorporated those influences in your music, wasn’t?...and now will you return to your old “Thashing Riffs”?

Mark Beuchet - That’s another really good question!! You’re good at this aren’t you!!
I have always liked all sorts of music, not just metal and thrash. I listen to Rodrigo y Gabriella, System Of A Down, My Chemical Romance, Slayer, Rush, Jose Gonzalez, Sum 41, Biffy Clyro........as you can see all kinds of things. I don’t care what type of music it is if I like it I like it.
We are trying to keep true to our Anihilated sound and it’s working really well. There’s no point in us doing something completely different sounding from what we did before because it wouldn’t be Anihilated. If you like Anihilated you will love the new songs. The lyrics that Si is writing now are every bit as meaningful and powerful as before. Our beliefs have not changed since those days long ago.

Bod – The new stuff is definitely Old School but with a modern twist. We are not in competition with anyone. We know who we are and what our audience demands and expects from us. The new material is sympathetic to the old style but will also appeal to the new younger fans. It is all 100% Anihilated so don’t worry. I think everyone will be happy with it, and we believe it is our best yet, it sounds good on demo and I can’t wait to record it properly. Recording technology has also improved so we aim to get the best possible production too.

Simon E Cobb – OHHHHH mate…The new stuff is definitively different, it's still Anihilated, but its more aggressive, more stripped down and vital pure thrashing metal with the melodic edge we always tried to put in, maintaining our lyrical stance, we are shouting about new atrocities. I mean one of the lines from the song "scorched earth policy" is, mankind has learned nothing but another way to rape... My music tastes have widened rather than changed, I still love listening to slayer for instance. The older stuff anyways but I also like much lighter music as well, on my I-tunes as I write is Jethro Tull....looking at the next track it is Dark Angel, then some Marilyn Manson and Muse...so I like lots of different themes and genres.

F.R. - Are there plans to get other musicians involved at the new ANIHILATED new tracks? Maybe even play shows because I guess none of you has been performed so far, isn’t?

Mark Beuchet - Yes, we will have to get another guitarist as Si has changed over to playing Bass now. We hopefully have someone lined up for that.

Bod – We have a new guitarist waiting in the wings who we used to jam with back in the day, but we are writing the album ourselves first.

Simon E Cobb – Shows are a definite possibility next year and I wouldn't be surprised if a new member is unveiled at some point to fill the vacant second guitar slot.

F.R. - Have you been approached by some labels at this point to release a new CD or have you made your choice to do it yourself as a self financed CD to sell by the band’s future web? Do you have in the vaults unrealised material or even live stuff from ‘86/’88 (would definitively rules!) that could be used as bonus on your new CD?

Mark Beuchet - We haven’t decided what we are going to do with the new album as yet. It is only half written at the moment so we have plenty of time to talk about that. Unfortunately the vaults are pretty much empty now, I don’t think I would want to put old live stuff on the new album anyway. We have put it on all the re-releases already.

Bod – Yes we have some strong offers from a number of labels and distributors and we also have the option of recording it with sponsorship to finance it if we want to do it ourselves, that way we would keep complete control and could licence it to all the many dealers and networks that have contacted us asking this very question J We will sort through the possibilities later on and make a decision then.

F.R. - Who were your influences, I mean if you had to pick ten all time Metal classics to take with you in a spaceship for many years, which ones would you take?

Mark Beuchet - My influences would probably be the following bands. I will pick ones that have had an effect on me over the years and not just what I am listening to at the moment so it may seem like a weird list!
Queen, Saxon, Motorhead, Rush, The Sex Pistols, Discharge, Slayer, Metallica, Mega City Four, The Cure, ..........I could go on and on and on. I can’t possibly pick certain songs that I like, but these are the main bands who have influenced me over the years. Just to annoy Si I would like to add 10cc........I told you I had a varied taste.

Bod – Being on a tour coach for a couple weeks is enough for me let alone 10 years in a spaceship!! Ha! ha! I can’t choose but Slayers South of heaven and Reign in Blood would definitely be a factor in what ever I took

Simon E Cobb – in no particular order......Motorhead-- No Sleep til Hammersmith live Lp, Slayer-- Reign in Blood Lp, Venom-- At War with Satan Lp, Candlemass-- Tales of Creation Lp, Bathory-- Twilight of the Gods Lp, Dark Angel-- Darkness Descends Lp, Anthrax-- Among the Living Lp, Metallica-- Master of Puppets Lp, Slayer--Hell Awaits Lp, Agent Steel-- Unstoppable Force Lp.

F.R. - Do you know the older Portuguese Metal bands form the ’80 Metal decade? I’m talking about old bands like V 12, XEQUE MATE, IBÉRIA, TARANTULA, PROCYON, RAMP, etc…Tell me your opinion about them please.

Mark Beuchet - Well, I have to tell you that I had not heard of these bands before now. I didn’t know that it was such a big thing in Portugal. It seems like you had a good scene going on there, you probably had more bands playing thrash than we had in the UK.

Bod – Portugal has a great history of metal bands that it can be proud of, all have contributed to making the scene what it is today. I don’t like to judge individual bands in interviews, that is to be done over a pint of Guinness in a bar,J

Simon E Cobb – V12 sound like a cross between exodus and helloween, lot of potential there enjoyable to listen to.
Xeque Mate, Ahh now these guys sound a bit like accept I think good to see they are all good friends as well :).
Ibéria - I liked the track "Mexico" but the other tracks were not my kind of thing, very nicely done though.
Tarantula, I liked this band, reminded me of DIO without the vocals, very power metal.
Procyon - Now this is really quite good!!
Ramp - well made this, I can hear Korn influences and Sepultura a very good band.

F.R. - How do you view Heavy Metal developed? Do you follow what’s going on in the Heavy days or have you totally distanced yourself from that whole thing?

Mark Beuchet - I wouldn’t like to say I have distanced myself, but I haven’t been following what’s going on too closely. Things will always change as time goes on and there is room for all types of Metal. If you don’t like a certain band or style then you don’t have to listen to it. I know that people sometimes moan about new things but thrash was new once and I expect a lot of traditional metalers moaned about it. There is room for everyone.

Bod – I think all things have a natural progression. I am very proud to have played a part in the development of British Thrash metal and I believe that It’s the fans that decide what happens. Metal fans are the best in the world. They are loyal, passionate and know good music when they hear it and I love them all dearly for that J

Simon E Cobb – I like some of the development, I like the way that a lot of different genres are now accepted under the "metal" banner. I am not too keen on the rap metal that’s about, bands like Linkin Park etc bore me with their endless remixes. I like the way 80's thrash has returned as there was a real feeling of unity back then and there were some bands who were really different who were ignored for the major label bands, it is good to hear them roar again.

F.R. - Usual question…is there a particular event in the ANIHILATED story that I didn’t cover? Leave a message, special to all the Portuguese Metal Maniacs…

Mark Beuchet - I just want to say thanks for the really good questions here and it’s an honour to be asked by you to do this interview. And for the Portuguese Metal Maniacs, it’s good to know you’re out there, send us a message on our my space page www.myspace.com/anihilated we reply to everyone and it would be good to hear from some of you. Thanks for reading the interview and keep a look out for the new album, hopefully out late 2009.......

Bod – I would just like to say thank you to all the fans out there who have supported us over the years, As I have said earlier on in this interview, the fans are the ones who are important, without you we are nothing. We will deliver to you an album that you will approve of and hope to see you when we go out on the road again. Please keep in touch with us via www.myspace/anihilated you are magnificent!!

Simon E Cobb – There have been so many great stories around the band some funny some hilarious...Lee falling into a big hole when he went to urinate behind a tree, Lee and I escaping from a certain beating at the hands of fascist thugs because LEee said their leader looked like Freddy Mercury. I am still unable to believe that I did not actual die then and that all of this is an afterlife.....

And to all you guys in Portugal, Kick Ass some serious thrash metal. Keep those horns up and Thrash Till Deaf!!!!