Hell Spawn

During our search for new bands for our HELL SPAWN compilation (which gets sealed with ROCK TRIBUN)- we discovered this band from Mexico. Because this is a country we don't hear much about, we tough it would be fun doing a little chat with these guys!

Greetings, seeing you guys are a new name for most of the people here, can you introduce the yourselves to our readers?

Hello, Nico! It's an honour to be featured in your zine, so thank you very much for that. We are Red Sands, a melodic metal band formed in Mexico City in 2012 by Daniel Novelo (guitars), me (Eric Novelo on bass) and Juan Carlos León (piano and keyboards). Some years later we found our drummer, Ángel Asiain, and just recently in 2022 we completed our lineup with the addition of Jonathan Corral on vocals. The band's musical style is a combination of memorable melodies with captivating metal riffs and arrangements, focusing all the time in creating songs you can sing to and feel emotionally connected. Sometimes we use heavy or power metal riffs, other times we prefer doom/gothic compositions (hence the "melodic metal" label). Our most notable influences are bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Iced Earth, Deep Purple, Therion, Nightwish and Opeth, among others. We released our first single, "My Beloved Ghost", in February 2023. Then, we released "The Hunt" on YouTube (December 2023) and recently in the main streaming platforms. We are named Red Sands after a song written by Daniel Novelo in early 2009 (way before the band existed), which is a metaphor of anxiety and depression. That song also inspired our logo, an hourglass with red sands covered by a snake. 

We discovered you with the song 'The Hunt" with Stu Block (ex ICED EARTH) on vocals, how did you come in contact with him and how did you know he was the perfect voice for the song?

The song is one of the first we wrote back in 2014 and the second single we've ever released. The song was written by Eric Novelo as a homage to Iced Earth's power-thrash galloping riffs, and later arranged by Daniel Novelo, who also wrote the lyrics. Back then it just needed the right voice, an intense and energetic performance according to its power metal nature. After Iced Earth 'disbanded' or was put on ice as you wish because of Jon Schaffer's assault of the US Capitol, Stu Block posted on Facebook he was available for collaborations, so we didn't hesitate to contact him as he was the IDEAL candidate to sing the song (who better than an actual Iced Earth member with such vocal range!!)

Can you tell us how this came to work?

After we reached Stu through Facebook, we sent him and his recording engineer (Justin Bender, a former member of Into Eternity and currently on Divergent Studios, Canada) the tracks for the song and a sample of the vocal lines, sung by ourselves. He liked the project, so the rest is history.

Did Stu had any input or say in the song, or did he had to sing the song as you intended?

As Stu was doing several collaborations at the time, he basically just followed instructions regarding the melodies and lyrics. However, his input was in the interpretation of such melodies, we asked him to "put his style into it", and he did an amazing job, like adding growls at the end of the first verse.

We don't know much about Mexican bands, how is it there? Is there a scene? 

Mexican metal scene is quite active these days, although it's understandable that not many people know it because we haven't had a stellar band, something like Sepultura in Brazil or Rata Blanca in Argentina. Perhaps some bands that have recognition are Brujería (a Mexican American combo), Luzbel, Transmetal, and Ágora. Recently, the hard rock band The Warning is becoming even more popular. Inside the country there is a fruitful scene with plenty of gigs and concerts every week. Red Sands has played in different places like Mexico City (our hometown), Guadalajara, Aguascalientes, State of Mexico, etc, both with national and international artists.

What are you plans in the near future? To release an album or more loose songs, like more and more bands do nowadays?

We are experiencing a period of 'rebirth', since we are band with more than 10 years of experience but only 2 songs officially released (we were waiting for the right lineup!). We will release a third single soon enough, and after that probably an EP with two more songs. The music industry is song- oriented these days, but we grew up with albums and believe that a metal band must have a record with a unifying concept. So maybe at the end of this year we will have our first LP.

Are there dreams you guys have, touring the world, ... score a record deal... enlighten us?

Too many to mention! But certainly, our biggest dream is to keep doing music for the rest of our lives. In the short term, we would love to tour the world, especially Europe and South America. Playing in Wacken, Graspop or any of the big metal festivals would be a dream come true. Thanks a lot for this interview opportunity! We would like to invite your readers to follow us in their favorite streaming platform as Red Sands, or in any social media as @redsandsmetal. Look for the snake in the hourglass and keep metal alive!

https://www.facebook.com/redsandsmetal