Ruthless's Sammy D is on the Attack

Heavy metal was all the rage in the 80's, as for the guys in Ruthless they are back in action, after going on a brief stand still. Of course being back means shows and of course new tunes! Their new album "They Rise" is their latest release, showcasing a more updated sense and feeling to the Ruthless namesake, with a whole lot more in-store for the band the fans alike. Frontman vocalist Sammy D, talks of the new album, shows, and the band's historic timeframe.

1. First of all, who are you, and what do you do in the band?

Sammy: I'm Sammy D and I am the vocalist for the band. I am also excited to be talking to you.

2. Can you give those of us who aren’t familiar with Ruthless a brief history of the band and can you please describe your sound for those who have yet to hear your music?

Sammy: Well I'll tell ya. It's what today calls it as true metal. Back in the 80's it was just called heavy metal but today there's just so many genres, that we like to call it now, true metal. It sounds like Judas Priest, Accept, Saxon, bands like that.

3. Why did you want to go with calling yourselves Ruthless? What does the name refer too?

Sammy: Well we were a bunch of crazy guys when we started the band.  Basically it just stuck with us, we had went through a bunch of different names, using a baseball cap, coming up with different names. That name Ruthless just kept coming out, and it just stuck. It goes with our first album "Metal Without Mercy" ya know? Like no mercy so Ruthless.

4. The "They Rise" album is considered a "reunion" album, so why was the band on a hiatus or break-up status in the first place?

Sammy: We don't really call it a reunion album. Kenny and I had gotten back together,  having gotten an email from Oliver of the Keep It True Festival  and all those other festivals in Germany, asking us if we could get back together in 2008. He asked us to play his festival and the offer was good, and we got some other people back together, to play it, came back and did some more shows then didn't feel it at the time after all of that. Then Kenny and I started writing, bringing down some other guys to join in, and everything from then on just clicked. We weren't going to call the band Ruthless but something else, but after writing we thought about it and said no this is Ruthless. This band has a legacy to itself and its name and the music. Let's give the fans some unfinished business of material and everything clicked and it's a continuing of what we did before.

5. It's taken you guys almost 30 years  to release this album, why such a long gap between this album and your previous 1986 release "Discipline of Steel"?

Sammy: We split up in 1989 and went our own ways. We all formed our own bands doing other projects. So I got tired of playing and the scene out here was horrible so I stopped playing for a while. In 2001 I think it was, Kenny and I got back together to form another band. Ruthless wasn't on our minds for a while, so we thought about it, thinking if we should do it or not. Then Kenny and I decided to just do it and the line-up has never been better. Chemistry together is just awesome from being in the studio to writing and playing it's all around awesome!

6. When did you start writing for this album? How was the songwriting process different/similar to the previous Ruthless album?

Sammy: I would say in certain ways it is similar. But what happened here was that we got together just writing and the title track "They Rise" was one of the first songs we were jamming and it clicked. A lot of the material is a mixture of everyone, so it is a little different from what we did before.

7. How would you describe the overall sound of the new album? How does it compare to "Discipline of Steel"?

Sammy: A lot heavier, it has more thrashy style to it. I love that music and style. So it's still Ruthless but more updated.

8. What does "They Rise" mean to you all?

Sammy: It means the world to us. It's an album that is great and we feel we've accomplished something that was lost, but the magic was still there and it's still going and we're already writing for the next album. The pre-orders were great and current sales are great. We hope the fans are as proud of it as we are.

9. What is in the future for Ruthless? Any shows or tours on the horizon?

Sammy: We do have shows planned but nothing booked yet. We will be going out of country out to Germany to play a festival and then back to the U.S. and the rest of the world next year. We plan n playing quite a bit.

10. Anything else you want to say or would like to add on?

Sammy:  I like to say that people can look is up on our official website and social media like Instagram and Facebook. Thank you to you, let the U.S. and rest of the world know that we are back and on the attack!