Chastain
Sicker Society 19
Remastered in 2019
The new line up includes Kate French on lead and backing vocals, electric
rhythm guitar, bass and keyboards. Dennis Lesh (formerly of Trouble and
Stygian) played drums and keyboards. David T. Chastain contributed lead,
bass, rhythm, 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, keyboards and backing
vocals. David describes the new band this way, "All I can say is that if you
were into the old Chastain material you will love this release and if you
didn't like the old Chastain you might still like this new material as it
takes some of the old and borrows from the 1990's sounds to create a
seriously heavy contemporary cd!"
David is very enthusiastic about new
vocalist Kate French. "She really is a pleasure to work with." David further
adds, "Kate has a lot of really different influences, one of them being
Leather (Chastain's first vocalist), and she really is into a lot of today's
music. She has a lot of emotion in her voice and a great blues approach to
the material that lends itself to that. Plus the fact that she can play a
lot of different instruments really helps. I think she will blow people away
when they hear her. She can sound so intense like she just stepped out of
hell and the next minute sound like a quiet Geoff Tate. Plus add the fact
that she is extremely good looking and I think we have added the perfect
vocalist."
While certain musicians, critics and fans seem reluctant to open
their arms and ears to female singers David doesn't see why, "Personally
female singers have always moved me much more than male singers. The only
singers who have sent chills up my spine have been females. I could never
understand why the fans (especially males) would rather see some male "hairy
ape" singing off pitch than a female singer who blows the guy away."
"Dennis
is real solid traditional drummer and really supplies a very strong
foundation for the tracks. He played some great things on the Trouble and
Stygian cds in the past and he will just add to his reputation on this one."
As far as the title and the inspiration of the release, David states,
"Sitting back over the last few years I have witnessed the slow crumbling of
our society on many fronts. The senseless violence and lack of respect for
life has grown to an all time low. It is hard to comprehend that as we
approach 21st century there are still numerous wars and that the so called
intelligent human species still kills one another with great frequency and
lack of remorse." He further adds, "What do you expect when you can probably
see one million people killed on more normal TV in your lifetime and not
even see one female breast!" (Normal broadcast channels)
Of course another
hot topic to find it's way on this release is religion, "Every major
conflict in this world is centered around religion, Bosnia, the Middle East,
Northern Ireland, the Russian republics, etc. I guess they must think it is
OK to kill in the name of one's god."
David goes on, "Kate likes to write
more
about personal situations concerning life and her experiences. She brings a
lot of added emotion to the material that really can touch a spot inside
you."
As far as his own playing goes David states; "I guess that will be for
others to judge but I tried to keep most of the solos quick and to the point
and concentrate on the heavy groove being laid down. A couple of tracks have
no leads whatsoever. This is definitely my most rock guitar oriented
release. I used a raw, unaffected, straight to the amp, Marshall sound.
This material will be a blast to play in concert!"
