ATTAXE - Southern California Thrash

1985 - The beginning

2007-06-16T08:45:00.000-07:00

I met drummer Jim Houle sometime in 1983 through bassist Mark Stavis and we played in a few bands together including "Rude Awakening" with Mark on bass and Bob Matthews on vocals (recorded a 2 song demo of "Pick Up Your Guns" and "Executioner") and another band "Samhain" (not the Danzig one) with Mike Berger on vocals and Steve Chill on bass at first, then Mark again (we recorded a 4 song demo of "Twisted Mind", "Trust", "Say You'll Stay" and "Afraid Of The Dark"). After a brief period of inactivity and a demo recording session in my garage of "Asylum", "Fear The Fire" and "Ride of the Valkyrie" in late 1984 Jim, Mark and I joined one of the many incarnations of the O.C. band "Knightmare II" which would include guitarist Mike Bonaventura (a version of "Executioner" with different lyrics written by "the Rod" was recorded and released on a compilation album "California's Best Metal"). (Some memorable gigs were being kicked out of "The Troubador" and a gig that "almost" happened at the infamous "Safari Sam's" in Huntington Beach - the singer for the opening "band" wrapped newspaper around his foot, lit it on fire and ran around screaming "there's a fire on my foot!! there's a fire on my foot!!" THAT was hilarious. There was no way we could follow that!)

Jim, Mike and I had very similar interests in music including Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and UFO, and thrash/speed metal bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer, however "Knightmare II" was going in more of a "Twisted Sister" direction, which we weren't really into.

In late 1985 "Knightmare II" fell apart and we all left with the intention to form a band with these "British Metal/Thrash Metal" styles in mind. Around this time Mark joined the Navy so Mike, Jim and I jammed in Mike's garage while looking for a bassist. We were playing covers and a few of the songs me and Jim had written in 1984 before "Knightmare II" including "Asylum" and "Fear The Fire".

The name "ATTAXE" was suggested to me sort of as a joke by my cousin Phil Merwin (Dirt Clod Fight) and I sketched out a logo design using the double sword idea. When I offered it as a name for our new band everyone thought it would be a good band name so we went with it. Not much more thought was really put into it at that time. We just needed a name and that was it.

I was referred by a friend to Gary Sebourn who I had gone to Brea-Olinda High School with but I didn't know he was playing bass. He immediately fit the bill with an aggressive "Steve Harris" playing style (not to mention his "madman" look - he reminded me in some ways of Cliff Burton). It was mid-March because I remember that "Master of Puppets" had just been released (3/4/86) and Gary hadn't heard it yet so we gathered at my house to give it a listen.

We placed an ad in "The Recycler" for a vocalist and after several auditions Mike White was hired and we moved into a rehearsal space located at the corner of Gilbert & Commonwealth in Fullerton, CA (now a lawnmower repair shop). After only a couple of months we decided to find our own rehearsal studio so my Dad helped us find an industrial space in Brea, CA which we spent the summer soundproofing. This would be our home for many years and became known as the "Unit G" studio which we shared with several bands including "Comatose" (Brian Kelly, Jim O'brien, Ron McGinnis, Barry Martin), "Armed & Dangerous" (Darren Porter, Greg Yarber, Larry Taylor, Brian Nussel, Dennis Campton), "Roadhouse" (Steve Houle, Joey Smith), "Cheap Wine" (Steve Houle), "Closing Speed" (Jim Mulligan), Aversion (Chris Fuhrer) and a few others I can't remember.

Our setlist included several covers at this time. Some of the covers were "Rapid Fire" by Judas Priest, "Iron Maiden" and "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden and later we did "Whiplash", "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Creeping Death" by Metallica as well as "Ton Of Bricks" by Metal Church.

Our early style was heavily influenced by Iron Maiden's 2 guitar harmony sound and by local band "Leatherwolf" who had gone one farther with a 3 guitar harmony sound. Mike White's vocal style was a little like Rob Halford's, so the Judas Priest influence showed as well.

12.06.86

2007-06-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Big John's Billiards, Fullerton, CA
The first ATTAXE show.

Big John's was a pool hall located on Orangethorpe Avenue next to the railroad tracks - lots of pool tables and a bar, with a tiny stage at one end.

This first ATTAXE flyer was drawn by John Hoyt who also drew the first ATTAXE logo based on my original concept, and also produced the first ATTAXE T-shirts.

01.10.87

2007-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Big John's Billiards, Fullerton, CA

02.12.87

2007-06-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Jezebel's, Anaheim, CA
KNAC Radio Metal Show

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Gary Sebourn – Bass
Mike White - Vocals

Setlist:

SDI (Death From Above)
Fortune Hunters
Bloodbath
Sound The Alarm
Sands of Time
Sea Rovers
Asylum
Die By The Sword
Primal Screamer
Fear The Fire
Whiplash (Metallica cover)

This was a special "KNAC Night" metal show (KNAC radio personality Tawn Mastery makes the band introductions) and was one of our first shows at Jezebel's. Our "Iron Maiden" influence shows in our songs at this time, but the opener "SDI" was the beginning of heavier things to come. There's a lot of rambling between songs, and some silly props used, but we were having so much fun it didn't matter at the time I guess.

It's interesting to note that we were on stage for nearly an hour counting the extremely long intro which, if I remember correctly, was an excerpt from the bomb scene in the Stanley Kubrick movie "Dr. Strangelove" which we only used this one time. I think this is probably the longest time on stage we ever had! After this show we started using the music of "Mars" from Gustov Holst's "The Planets" as an intro, which was much shorter and more effective.

Song background: "Asylum" & "Fear the Fire" were the original songs Jim and I had when the band was formed. "Fortune Hunters", "Sea Rovers", "Sound the Alarm" and "Sands of Time" were written fairly quickly - some may have been written before Mike White joined the band. "SDI" was me and Mike B.: I wrote the intro, verse and chorus and Mike wrote the middle break with the awesome solo. I wrote the lyrics to all of these (some of which seem a little silly now). "Bloodbath" & "Die by the Sword" were Gary's songs and his lyrics. "Primal Screamer" was the first true band collaboration - Mike White wrote the lyrics to this one.

++ Thanks to Gary Sebourn for sending me this video. Cheers!

03.14.87

2007-06-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

Country Hills Rec Center, Brea, CA
Wendi's 18th Birthday Party

This was one of the many parties we played to large crowds - our local fan base was growing quickly.

05.87

2007-06-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Jezebel's, Anaheim, CA
Opening for Armored Saint and Malice

I don't know the exact date of this show but I'm pretty sure it was near the end of May 1987 (Armored Saint and Malice played at De Anza Theater in Riverside at the end of May, and at The Stone in S.F. on June 2, 1987).

Armored Saint were one of our idols and opening for them was an honor as well as a big step up for us. It was maybe our second time playing Jezebel's so it was a big opportunity. (It was from the success of this show that we were offered the opening spot on the Anthrax/Metal Church/Testament show in July.)

I remember the guys in Armored Saint were very cool - they stopped for this photo right after their sound check and before we went on stage. I recall seeing Dave Prichard watching our set and he gave us some kind words afterward.

Pictured left to right: Dave Prichard (R.I.P.), Gonzo (back), Mike Bonaventura (front), Todd May, Jim Houle, Joey Vera and Gary Sebourn.
Thanks to Mike B. for the photo.

07.04.87

2007-06-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

"July 4th Demo"
16 Track Studio Recording
Recorded at Trianon Studios, Long Beach, CA
Produced by ATTAXE, Engineered & Mixed by Greg Anderson.

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Gary Sebourn – Bass
Mike White - Vocals

Song list:

PLAY - Justice of the Peace
PLAY - SDI (Death From Above)
PLAY - Preach Violence

Our first "real studio recording"! I remember going in and recording this quickly on July 4 and mixing July 5th - picking up tape copies and driving straight out to Corona for the Anthrax gig that afternoon. We only had 2 copies at that time - one of which I still have. We made a few copies for friends and promoters, but this demo was never distributed so most ATTAXE fans have never heard it. (Also, within six months of this recording we changed vocalists, making this demo unusable for promotional purposes.)

Looking at the photo of the studio brings back memories of the look of utter disbelief on the face of engineer Greg Anderson when he first heard us rip through our songs - we were the first "speed metal" band he had recorded and, honestly, he didn't know what to do with us! We just played the songs with a few solo overdubs and that was it.

Some song background: "Preach Violence" was written entirely by Gary Sebourn - we added our solos, etc., but this was Gary's song 100%. I wrote lyrics to "Justice" & "SDI" - the latter about the idea of technological warfare. I always thought the solo Mike wrote and played on this one was one of his best.

07.05.87

2007-06-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Corona Beer Gardens, Corona, CA
Opening slot for ANTHRAX/TESTAMENT/METAL CHURCH

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Gary Sebourn – Bass
Mike White - Vocals

Setlist:

Asylum
Fortune Hunters
Justice of the Peace
Eleventh Hour
Die By The Sword
SDI (Death From Above)
Preach Violence (not played)

Thanks to Gary Sebourn for sending me a copy of the video footage from this show. We were young and a bit rough around the edges, but damn was this fun! Lot's of great memories.

Our setlist was cut short due to time - there were 5 or 6 bands on the bill including ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT and METAL CHURCH. I remember someone threw a cup of water out to the crowd and the wind caught it and it landed right inside one of the floor monitors essentially destroying it. The ANTHRAX road crew was furious at us and was going to demand payment, but they couldn't tell for sure that we did it or if it came from the crowd so they let it go.

10.30.87

2007-06-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

De Anza Theater, Riverside, CA
Opening for Lizzy Borden

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Gary Sebourn – Bass
Mike White - Vocals

Setlist:

Let’s Play Dead
Justice of the Peace
Submit or Die
Witch Hunt
Eye for an Eye
SDI (Death From Above)
Preach Violence

De Anza Theater was an old movie theater that had become a prime Inland Empire venue for bands. We opened for Lizzy Borden (note the giant TV screen props on the stage behind us) and was one of the bigger shows we had been playing at the time. This show followed our hugely successful opening slot at the July 5th ANTHRAX/METAL CHURCH/TESTAMENT show which vocalist Mike White refers to at one point in this show. Looking back on it this was a pretty good show, although the tempos are bit “rushed” – I remember it being fun and it looks like we’re having fun.

The setlist included some early versions of songs that became staples in the set into the 1990’s, and remained a part of the setlist through several vocalist changes. With only the 3 songs from the demo, there were 4 new songs in the setlist since the last show in July - we had pretty much abandoned the older "Iron Maiden"-type stuff and were headed toward a faster, heavier style.

Song background:

The lyrics to "Let's Play Dead" were written by Mike White about the rash of teen "suicide pacts" that had been going on at that time.(Four teenagers in Bergenfield, New Jersey, killed themselves in 1987 in a suicide pact that involved carbon monoxide poisoning. Their suicides received extensive media coverage, and a few days later, two more teens killed themselves in a similar manner in Chicago. A third teen killed himself a week later by carbon monoxide poisoning; investigators found a clipping in his room about the Bergenfield suicides. Suicides by teens using carbon monoxide were also reported the same week in Illinois, Nebraska, and Washington.)

"Submit or Die" was Mike B.'s lyrics with parts of the song contributed by everyone. "Justice of the Peace", "Witch Hunt" and "Eye for an Eye" were my lyrics. "Preach Violence" was Gary's song.

This was the last show with Mike White as vocalist.

02.88

2007-06-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Unit G" EP Demo
Self-recorded on 4 track
at Unit G Studio, Brea, CA

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Rob Perkins - Vocals
Gary Seaborn – Bass

Song list:

(PLAY) Let’s Play Dead
(PLAY) Submit or Die!
(PLAY) SDI (Death From Above) Remake
(PLAY) Eye for an Eye

++ Special Thanks to "Carcass" John Fossum for the scan of the original cassette artwork.

Looking back almost 20 years now, it’s hard to remember the exact details, but in 1988 we made a vocalist change. Here’s what I remember about that:

At some point we became less enthused about the style of Mike White’s vocals - we wanted a heavier sound. We had heard the demo from a friend (Brian Kelly) in the band “Cold Blood” and when we learned their vocalist Rob Perkins was looking for a band we decided to make a change. This was a tough decision because we really got along well with Mike – it was simply a vocal style issue.

We had already been recording new material at our own rehearsal studio on 4 track, so when Rob joined the band we immediately started rehearsing and recording a new demo. All of these songs were already written and had been performed in 1987 with Mike White (see De Anza video). Basically, Rob learned the songs – made some minor stylistic changes and we recorded it. We remade SDI because we didn't think we captured the true essence of the song previously.

The quality of the recording is pretty poor in my opinion (hey, it’s just a 4 track recorded by 5 metal heads!) But it’s a record of how we sounded in 1988. In the long run the decision to replace Mike with Rob really didn’t achieve what we were after, but it did move us in a different direction.

Here is the text from the cassette insert:

"ATTAXE IS:

ROBBIE PERKINS (VOCALS)
TODD MAY (GUITARS)
MIKE BONAVENTURA (GUITARS)
GARY SEBOURN (BASS)
JIM HOULE (DRUMS)

RECORDED AT THE ATTAXE STUDIO (FIRESTARTER PRODUCTIONS) IN FEBRUARY OF 1988.

PRODUCED AND ENGINEERED BY ATTAXE.

PHOTO TAKEN BY ANGELA MILLER.

LOGO BY HARRISON HOULE.

COVER ARTWORK BY MIKE BERGER.

OUR CREW: JOE SMITH, SCOTT BLAUFUS, BRIAN TOMSON, MARK MILLER.

SPECIAL THANKS TO: MR. AND MRS. MAY, MIKE BERGER, HARRISON HOULE, MICHAEL WHYTE (FOR INSPIRATION ON LET’S PLAY DEAD), MONKEY MAN AT 7-11 (FOR NOT CARDING US), IN-N-OUT BURGER, BILL’S BURGER, COORS LIGHT, BUDWEISER, MICKEY’S, CLOSING SPEED, BRYANT MARKOVICH, JOE SCHULTZ AT POSITIVE ATTRACTIONS, HUSTLER, ALLEN WRENCH, SEAN SMITH, STEVE HOULE, JACK CHEESE, TACO BELL, RICHARD C. AT WILD RAGS, ZED’S RECORDS, NIKE, LEVIS, ALL OF OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, CHUCK ROAST, FOSTER’S LAGER (IN OIL CANS), ANGELA MILLER, ANTHRAX, METAL CHURCH, ARMORED SAINT, DEATH ANGEL, BRIAN KELLY AND COMATOSE, ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO COME TO THE SHOWS AND THRASH, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, YOU FOR BUYING THIS TAPE AND GIVING US YOUR SUPPORT."

Coincidently, it was also during this time that we first became acquainted with Tim Cason while he was recording with his band "Steel Fury" at the studio next door to ours.

The photos below are from the "photo shoot" which was taken by Angela Miller in the parking lot of our rehearsal studio. It was very hard to get one shot where no one was laughing (mostly me).

Pictured left to right in the first photo: Mike Bonaventura, Rob Perkins, Todd May, Gary Sebourn, Jim Houle.

05.1988

2007-06-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

Fender's Ballroom, Long Beach, CA
Legendary dump.

I think this was the first gig with Robbie as vocalist.

06.04.88

2007-06-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Joshua's Parlour, Westminster, CA
Opening for Meliah Rage.

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars (Lead vocal on Whiplash)
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Rob Perkins - Vocals (except on Whiplash)
Gary Sebourn – Bass

Setlist:

Lets' Play Dead (partial)
Justice of the Peace
Eye for an Eye
Bearing The Cross
SDI (Death From Above)
On Earth As It Is In Hell
Preach Violence
Submit or Die!
Whiplash (Metallica cover)

This is the only known live video with this band lineup.

I had forgotten about the song "On Earth As It Is In Hell" - it was one of the few songs written while Rob Perkins was in the band. Many riffs from this song were later cannibalized and would show up in "Living In Fear", "False Authority" and "Beckon Forever".

08.05.88

2007-06-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Celebrity Theatre, Anaheim, CA
Opening for Testament, Death Angel & Vio-lence.

A candid backstage shot at Celebrity Theatre left to right: Rob Perkins, Darren Porter (Armed & Dangerous), Mike Bonaventura, Scott Blaufuss (Jim's drum tech), Jim Houle.

08.18.88

2007-06-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

The Rock Zone, Houston, TX

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Rob Perkins - Vocals
Gary Sebourn – Bass

Setlist:

In the summer of 1988 we joined Tim Cason's band "Steel Fury" for some shows in Texas and Oklahoma - a "mini-tour" which we nicknamed the "Bleeding Never Stops" tour after the slogan on the back of our t-shirts designed by Mike Berger. We crashed at John Fossum's house in Houston for a few days, then headed north to Oklahoma staying in the cheapest motels we could find, always piling into just 1 room. I remember running very low on cash in Houston and buying $1 Big Macs for several meals.

++ Special thanks to Carcass John Fossum for some of these photos.

The Texas "Bleeding Never Stops" tour on eastbound I-10 somewhere near Blythe, CA left to right: Todd May, Joey Smith, Scott Blaufuss, Jim Houle, Rob Perkins, Mike Bonaventura and Gary Sebourn.

It was while in Texas that Tim Cason got the name "Skelly" - actually "Skelly Hobo" because he was skinny and poor! (I think the name came from “Biscuit” Brian one of the guitarists in Steel Fury.)

Skelly with Steel Fury in Houston. His trademark "low mic" had not yet been developed.

Typical pre-show warm-up.

This was also the site of the infamous(?) "chair mosh"!

08.25.88

2007-06-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hard Roxx, Lawton, OK

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars
Rob Perkins - Vocals
Gary Sebourn – Bass

Setlist:

The club was on the strip near Fort Sill army base and was where Pantera played frequently in their early days. This gig was significant because we were paid $500 to play here and we sold out of our our "tour" merchandise. I don't recall ever getting paid more than this to play anywhere.

This was the last performance with Gary on bass as he moved to Missouri.

Autumn 1988

2007-06-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Jeff Manino joins ATTAXE.

We placed an ad in "The Recycler" for a new bassist to replace Gary Sebourn. After a few months of searching (I remember bassists were few and far between at this time) Jeff Manino answered the ad, auditioned and joined ATTAXE. Jeff was a good bassist, though his style was quite reserved. We immediately started working to learn the the songs and start gigging again, however I don't recall any gigs with Jeff while Rob was vocalist. Writing was very slow at this time - lots of riffs were happening but not a lot of lyric ideas to form songs. The songs that would become "Cost of Life" and "Passive" were written but lyrics never fully developed.

1989

2007-06-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Skelly joins ATTAXE

The year began with more of this "dead" period for the band - no gigs, writing was not happening. Jeff had learned all the songs and Rob was writing some new lyrics but it was going very slow. (I think the future of the band was unclear - evidenced by the fact that we didn't take any new band photos once Jeff joined.)

We had always been big fans of Skelly's band "Steel Fury". Mike had kept in contact with Skelly after our Texas trip and found out that Skelly's band had since broken up and he had moved back to Florida. At some point it happened that Mike convinced Skelly he should join our band so we told Rob he was out (a bad scene), Skelly flew in to LAX and we picked him up at the airport. As fate would have it Tim "Skelly" Cason joined ATTAXE as vocalist nearly a year after our first meeting. Our sound immediately took on a heavier style and Skelly's lyric writing was what we had always been looking for (at least for me it was). Skelly had some lyrics which he adapted to become "Cost of Life" very quickly - and "Passive" came along soon after. The band really began to gel again.

The first photo shoot with Skelly & Jeff - taken in the empty pool in the back of the house that Jim rented on Heim Street in Orange. These were never used because the background was too cluttered and they didn't photocopy well. (This was long before we used any kind of computer software/digital imaging.)

A second photo shoot was done on the roof of our rehearsal studio (photographer was Darren Porter) which yielded the photo used in the "Displaced Demo" liner notes as well as this first promo 8x10 which was sent with presskits. Pictured left to right: Todd May, Tim "Skelly" Cason, Jim Houle, Jeff Manino, Mike Bonaventura.

06.01.89

2007-06-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

"Displaced" EP Demo
12 Track Digital Studio Recording
Recorded at Homeboy Studios in Van Nuys, CA
Produced by ATTAXE, Engineered & Mixed by Tim Young.

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars (Lead vocal/bass on "Crabs!")
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Lead Vocals (except "Crabs!")
Jim Houle – Drums
Jeff Manino - Bass (except "Crabs!)
Todd May – Guitars

Songs:

Cost of Life
Passive
Displaced
Crabs!

ATTAXE-Displaced EP (1989) by Attaxe

Homeboy Studio was this cool little studio with an Akai 12-track digital tape machine in a converted garage in Van Nuys at the home of Tim "Punchmaster T" Young. We recorded over Memorial Day weekend and the first weekend in June. I remember that Tim's roommate was drummer "Bobby Rock" (credited as "Charles" on the liner notes?). He helped Jim with some drum tuning things and hung around listening to our session.

(Digital recording was still somewhat "new" technology then and we had some tracking problems with the AKAI machine and had to abort the recording of at least one song, maybe more. "Bearing The Cross" was one of them as it was certainly written before all of the others and may have been the first song attempted in the session. It would eventually be recorded on the next demo)

The lyrics/liner notes were hand-lettered by "Johnny Ray" Fossum.

Song background:

The music for "Cost of Life" had been written in 1988 - I remember playing it for sound checks in Texas. Skelly wrote the lyrics based on a bad experience in Texas after our "mini tour" but before he joined ATTAXE. "Passive" had also been mostly written in 1988 and Rob Perkins had written some lyrics to it which were abandoned - Skelly wrote a completely different melody and lyrics and it became one of my favorites of his lyric writing. "Displaced" was mostly Mike (from what I remember) - I think he wrote the lyrics too. "Crabs!" was something Mike used to mess around with as a joke. Because we had to abort some of the other songs we decided on the last day in the studio he should record it - so Jim and Mike worked out a basic arrangement and recorded it live. Mike sang the vocal and played both guitar and bass. Everything was done in one take. This one was always requested - I think we played it live a couple times.

06.17.89

2007-06-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Celebrity Theatre, Anaheim, CA
Opening slot for Danzig. SOLD OUT!

As far as I can tell, this was our first show with the new band lineup, and was Jeff's first gig - quite a big audience for a first gig.

Waiting for soundcheck - pictured left to right: Jeff Manino, Tim "Skelly"Cason, Jim Houle, Todd May, Mike Bonaventura.

5 minutes to showtime.

Lineup was Danzig, Attaxe, Immortal Axe, No Mercy. This was an amazing experience. The show was sold out and the place was packed and sweaty, even for the opening bands. If I remember right this barrier was in pieces by the end of the night.

08.11.89

2007-06-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

Meadowlark Country Club, Huntington Beach, CA

08.31.89

2007-06-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

CHEXX, Santa Fe Springs, CA
Thanks to "Carcass" John Fossum for the flyer.

09.03.89

2007-06-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

VIO-LENCE gig at the Stone - meeting "Eva".

Mike had kept in contact with Phil Demmel of VIO-LENCE and Phil invited us to their show at The Stone in San Francisco. Grog drove Mike, Jim and I up over Labor Day weekend and we hung out in Chinatown and went to the VIO-LENCE gig. That night at The Stone we met "Eva" who subsequently became our "manager" for a short time. I recall the after party was at Greg Christian's (Testament) house in San Leandro. It was during this trip that we made plans for our own shows in the bay area.

09.09.89

2007-06-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

Manhattans, Stanton, CA

09.29.89

2007-06-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

Country Club, Reseda, CA
This was the last live performance with Jeff Manino on bass.

10.01.89

2007-06-05T14:31:00.001-07:00

Skelly had been a bassist/vocalist in his old band and he had been writing and playing bass in our rehearsals. He was not as comfortable on stage being just a vocalist and suggested that he take over on bass, which we knew he was very capable of. He was an excellent bass player and, although it wasn't our original intention when he joined the band as vocalist, we decided it just made sense to have Skelly take over the role of bassist from Jeff. We had always been a 5 piece band up to that point, but looking back it made us a much tighter unit to be a 4 piece, and Skelly's aggressive bass playing style added something to our sound that took us to a different level. I recall that he made the transition very easily - rehearsing the set 4 or 5 times before playing our first show as a 4 piece at the The Marquee (formerly Joshua's parlor) in Westminster.

At the same time things were motion with our new "manager" Eva in the Bay area and shows were being planned. We needed new press kits, so some new photos were taken, again on the roof of the rehearsal studio, and shot by Jim's brother Steve Houle. These were never used because of background quality issues - and too much wind.

10.17.89

2007-06-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

The Marquee, Westminster, CA

This was the first performance as a four piece with Skelly on bass and vocals.

We had booked this show with no promotion - no flyers were made. Very few people, besides some close friends, attended this performance. For us it was just a live rehearsal, but the Marquee didn't know it!

10.30.89

2007-06-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

A 2nd photo shoot happened spontaneously before rehearsal one day. The only "planned" thing about it was that we needed a "tight group" shot to be easily cropped, so we again used the kneeling pose. Jim's brother Steve Houle took the photo outside of our rehearsal studio - in front of the junk yard next door.
Here is the promo 8x10 of the new line-up sent with press kits. Pictured left to right: Jim Houle, Todd May, Tim "Skelly" Cason, Mike Bonaventura.

11.22.89

2007-06-05T14:09:00.000-07:00

Niles Station, Fremont, CA

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Bass / Lead Vocal
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

Setlist:

Passive
Bearing the Cross
Let’s Play Dead
Eye for an Eye
Submit or Die
SDI
Lethal Deception
Cost of Life

This was the first in a string of 3 shows in the Bay Area over the Thanksgiving weekend – our first time playing there. I remember this was only a few weeks after the Loma Prieta earthquake and one day we rode the BART from Hayward into San Francisco (I think the Bay Bridge was still closed so BART was the only way to get from Oakland to SF) and we could see the collapsed freeway that had crushed motorists – I’ll never forget seeing that.

This was a good set and we played well, but the show was not promoted at all and we played to about 10 or 15 people – very discouraging. Watching it, though, I think the band was in top form and we had fun as always. The camera operator was not very good – there are cuts in every song, lots of shaky angles and focus problems. As annoying and disappointing as this is, I still enjoy watching this one.

11.25.89

2007-06-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Morty’s, San Francisco, CA

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Bass / Lead Vocal
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

Song: Passive (Partial)

This was the second gig on our “Bay Area Barrage”. Honestly, I didn’t have any clue what this place was so when we arrived and saw the sign “Family Style Italian Restaurant” I was a little let down. But the gig turned out to be a cool place to play and I have since found out what a historical gem this place was – so I’m glad we played here. Across the street from “The Stone” in the seedy red light district – lot’s of kooky sights here! We had a blast at this one!

The video clip is unfortunately cut short midway through our first song “Passive” due to someone inadvertantly recording over the show – word of advice: never leave the tape in the camcorder while the band and crew are messing around killing time and playing jokes with the video camera - Oops.

11.26.89

2007-06-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

The Omni, Oakland, CA

VIDEO - SOUNDCHECK

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Bass / Lead Vocal
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

Located at 4799 Shattuck Avenue in Oakland - just a couple miles from the collapsed freeway debris. This was the third gig on our “Bay Area Barrage”. Only a soundcheck exists on video which has a partial run through of "False Authority" without vocals, a complete version of "Cost of Life" and the intro section to "Bearing The Cross".

12.08.89

2007-06-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Celebrity Theater, Anaheim, CA
Opening for King Diamond.

Our first "local" gig as a foursome with Skelly on bass and vocals. This was the last time we played "Celebrity Theater" and was one of the last "big opening shows" we played.

++ Special thanks to Carcass John Fossum for the live photos.

01.12.90

2007-06-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

Displaced PROMO Video

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Bass / Lead Vocal
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

** Jeff Manino played bass on the studio recording of the "Displaced EP Demo", however he does not appear in the video.

Song List: (Same as Displaced EP Demo)

Technical note: The only copy of this I can find has a couple video glitches and the audio is trashed on "Passive". When I find a better copy I'll fix this.

(PLAY) Cost of Life
(PLAY) Passive Religion / Displaced / Crabs!

I had a friend who was a budding videogapher/director who offered to do a video project to promote the band and the Displaced EP demo. We setup a special show at a soundstage in La Puente, CA, invited all our friends and fans and Trent set up several cameras to capture some live footage for the video. We just played our normal setlist and had a great time with it. Later we did some close-ups back at our rehearsal studio syncing to the previously recorded songs. Trent did all of the camera work on this and I did the editing which took a long time of pouring over hours of video to find the “good” stuff and try to make it match somehow. Not many people have ever seen this as it was never distributed beyond a few promoters. The clips between songs were added after the video had been completed and it’s clear that some footage was from the Bay Area road trip.

03.02.90

2007-05-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hollywood Live, Hollywood, CA

This was our first foray into Hollywood. We had a pretty decent following in Orange County, so the next natural step was Hollywood. There were very few "thrash" bands playing in L.A./Hollywood at this time.

Hollywood Live was a club that was hosted in the old Hollywood Masonic Temple building on Hollywood Boulevard across the street from the Chinese Theater. It was a cool place to play. It's now the home of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

04.05.90

2007-05-31T22:45:00.000-07:00

Gazzarri's, Hollywood, CA
One of the many "party bus from the O.C." gigs - ticket gets you on the bus and into the show (kegs on the bus, too. A pretty good deal.)

05.18.90

2007-05-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

The Greendoor, Montclair, CA

05.19.90

2007-05-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

The Anti-Club, Hollywood, CA
with Harum Scarum. We were trying to play more all ages shows at this time.

05.25.90

2007-05-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

Spanky's, Riverside
An old pizza place that started hosting thrash bands - complete with a salad bar in the mosh pit. Another all ages venue at the time.

06.02.90

2007-05-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Scream, Pomona, CA
Played with our friend Brian Kelly's band Comatose who shared our rehearsal studio for a few years. Another all ages gig.

06.12.90

2007-05-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hollywood Live, Hollywood, CA
Opening slot for Oliver Magnum with Gammacide and Last Rites.

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars (Lead vocal on Crabs!)
Tim "Skelly" Cason - Bass/Vocals (except Crabs!)
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

Setlist:

Lethal Deception
Bearing The Cross
False Authority
Living In Fear
Crabs! (Vocal by Mike B.)

This was a very short opening-slot set - we basically just played the songs from the latest demo which was still being mixed at the time. In honor of Mike's birthday we played "Crabs!", one of the few live performances of this song.

A soundboard recording exists from this show and was used along with video of "Living In Fear" shot by Jerry Allen for his premiere issue of "Tales From The Pit".

06.16.90

2007-05-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

Venice Beach Pier, CA
VIDEO

We did a video segment that was included on issue #1 of the video mag "Tales From The Pit". This was some good times!
Jerry Allen did an video "interview" with us underneath the Venice Beach Pier synced to a live soundboard recording of "Living In Fear" shot at Hollywood Live on June 12, 1990, which was edited together with some of the footage from the "Displaced Promo Video".
According to Jerry "we used the live audio because the studio recording of "Living In Fear" had not been completed yet".
Here is a recent review from Jerry Allen: "Attaxe (this line up) was definitely our favorite unsigned band from back in the day. Although a SOCAL band, they sounded more like Bay Area Thrash in the same league as Vio-lence and Testament. These guys should have been huge in our opinion. We still play their Lethal Deception demo to this day. Skelly was definitely one of the best frontmen we've seen. Too bad this band didn't do more. The video we filmed was for Tales From The Pit #1. It was recorded shortly before the band's "Lethal Deception" demo came out. The audio is from a live Hollywood metal show and is a mono board recording. Even with it's limitations, the live audio shows what a vicious band they were out of the studio. I prefer this live version of "Living in Fear" over the polished demo version. It's way more raw and ripping. Would love to see a reunion."
Check out many more of Jerry's videos on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/TalesfromthePit

07.01.90

2007-05-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

Lethal Deception EP Demo
24 Track Studio Recording
Recorded at Selah Studios in Westminster, CA
Produced by ATTAXE, Engineered & Mixed by Dave Gehlahr

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Bass / Lead Vocal
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

Songs:

Living In Fear
False Authority
Lethal Deception
Bearing The Cross

ATTAXE-Lethal Deception EP (1990) by Attaxe

The spoken part at the beginning of "Lethal Deception" was our Austrian friend Sabi (Eva's ex-husband) speaking the chorus lyric in German.

Selah Studio was in the owner/engineer's house at that time. He was a very nice guy and a good sound engineer but apparently ultra christian. (His family was a bit freaked out by us!)

"Living in Fear" was primarily written by Mike from what I recall. "False Authority" was more of a group collaboration, though the bulk was also written by Mike. "Lethal Deception" was written in the summer of 1989. The main verse riff was actually a re-working of the middle part of our old song "Witch Hunt". I wrote the bass intro with Skelly's style in mind. Skelly had written the lyrics about communisim and the Berlin Wall which foreshadowed it's eventual fall in autumn 1989. "Bearing The Cross" had been around for awhile (it was written in 1988) and was one of the songs aborted during the "Displaced" sessions. Skelly added the "megaphone chant" lyrics to the middle part.

08.02.90

2007-05-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

Chexx, Santa Fe Springs, CA

12.05.90

2007-05-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

Goodies Nightclub, Fullerton, CA

03.09.91

2007-05-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Goodies Nightclub, Fullerton, CA
Post Operation Desert Storm.

04.13.91

2007-05-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Goodies Nightclub, Fullerton, CA

05.10.91

2007-05-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Jezebel’s, Anaheim, CA

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Bass / Lead Vocal
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

Setlist:

Mars Intro
Poetic Coersion
Bearing The Cross
Passive Religion
Criminal Dementia
False Authority
Judicial Overkill
Lethal Deception
Living In Fear
Crabs!

Technical note: The camera operator only captured the last half of "Crabs!" - apparently they had turned the camera off before we came out again for one more.
For various reasons we had avoided playing Jezebels for a long time. This was our first time back there since 1988, and was Skelly's first time ever.
The video really captures the energy-level at the time - the band had really become a tight unit and we were writing a lot of new material including "Poetic Coersion", "Judicial Overkill" and "Criminal Dementia" which sort of a departure from the "always fast" setlist and was the only lyric contribution I had made since "Bearing The Cross" in 1988. Also, the encores of "Living In Fear" and "Crabs!" were spontaneous - good times!

To me, this era was the pinnacle of evolution for ATTAXE. (Ironically, this was also the poorest economic period in my life!)

06.01.91

2007-05-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

The Waters Club, San Pedro, CA
Another all ages gig.

06.28.91

2007-05-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Goodies Nightclub, Fullerton, CA

This flyer had headlines of the day.

08.01.91

2007-05-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Robert Ortiz

We found this brilliant artist named Robert Ortiz who drew some amazing stuff and asked him to draw something for us. I was blown away at what he came up with.

08.10.91

2007-05-27T17:00:00.000-07:00

Jezebel's, Anaheim, CA

LIVE VIDEO

Mike Bonaventura – Guitars (Lead Vocal on Living In Fear)
Tim “Skelly” Cason – Bass / Lead Vocal
Jim Houle – Drums
Todd May – Guitars

Setlist:

"Mars" Intro
Lethal Deception
Poetic Justice
Beckon Forever
Criminal Dementia
Bearing The Cross
Living In Fear (Mike B. Lead Vocal)
Dereliction of Duty
Passive

08.25.91

2007-05-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

Coconut Teaszer, West Hollywood, CA

At the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights. I liked playing this place. This flyer featured the Robert Ortiz artwork for the first time.

08.28.91

2007-05-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

Raji's, Hollywood, CA

Another historical gem of a dive bar - I vaguely remember this place as a tiny, smelly, cramped hole in the wall with not much more than a stage and a concession stand - the show was otherwise not memorable.

Here's some historical info about the place I found, though:

"Raji's was a rock and roll nightclub in central Hollywood, in the 1980s and early 1990s: one of the great affectionate sweaty smoke filled 'dives' of rock, which featured among others performances by bands such as Guns N' Roses, Redd Kross, Jane's Addiction, The Dream Syndicate, Tex and the Horseheads, The Miracle Workers, Social Distortion, the Mentors, The Nymphs, and Los Lobos, as well as out-of-town acts like Nirvana, The Pink Fairies, Pussy Galore and Kyuss. Top-draw local acts like The Muffs, the Red Aunts, The Lazy Cowgirls, TrashCan School, Oiler, Butt Trumpet, the Sacred Hearts and many others found enthusiastic crowds as well.

The space had previously been a Greek restaurant called The King's Palace, which had hosted punk rock shows booked by Brendan Mullen briefly in 1979 after the closing of The Masque.
Some say Raji's started to decline after 1991, when the Pakistani owners of the building decided to take over the booking and operation of the club. The building was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, but still continued to book acts until the middle of the year when the Los Angeles MTA demolished the building to make way for a subway station.

A bar called Raji's exists a few blocks away from the club's former location, run by the same Pakistani family which ran the club in its last two years." From wiki-pedia

08.31.91

2007-05-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

Country Club, Reseda, CA

10.11.91

2007-05-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

Jezebel's, Anaheim, CA

10.14.91

2007-05-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

FM Station, North Hollywood, CA

This was the first appearance of the "Banned Together" logo. The pay-to-play racket had made it tough for thrash bands to get gigs in the L.A. area, so a group of bands joined together to book shows together. We played with "Last Rites" a lot at this time.

10.18.91

2007-05-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Fame Cafe, Hollywood, CA

About halfway through our setlist one of the light cans fell from the lighting rig over me and hit my head, right shoulder, then bounced across the stage. It didn't hurt (no skull damage) and we just kept playing. That was a weird night.

11.03.91

2007-05-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Coconut Teaszer, Hollywood, CA

04.04.92

2007-05-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

Jezebel's, Anaheim, CA

This was our last gig with Skelly. Those that were there that night know the details - I won't include them here. It was a bad night for the band and for the next couple months I didn't know what we were going to do. By the summer of 1992 I had decided to leave the band. I was literally broke and had a business opportunity that was too good to pass up at the time. I remember feeling so burned out on playing that I did not touch a guitar for more than a year after leaving the band.

Although this was my last gig playing with ATTAXE, the band continued on without me for a couple of years so the story would not be complete without including the details.

Our recording of "False Authority" was finally released late in 1992 on a compilation album put out by PMRC records called "Banned In L.A./Mosh On Fire".

Mike and Jim brought in Swen Raulfs on vocals and Jason on bass and played 2 shows (flyers below). A record deal was in the works with Dr. Dream/PMRC records, but never materialized. ATTAXE officially folded in 1995.