Lords of the Trident
an interview with vocalist Fang Von Wrathenstein
by Teri Barr
October 2016
Lords of the Trident: The most METAL band on earth!
photo by Mary Sweeney Photography
My assignment? A pre-Halloween show Q & A with Ty Christian, better known as Fang VonWrathenstein, lead singer of the Madison-based band Lords of the Trident.
What I learned? The band has been in Max Ink twice before, and has only had to endure two line-up changes.
But, the goal has never changed: world domination.
Too serious?
Consider, it is October, and this is not a group taking itself too seriously.
Still, this band is no joke. Made up of talented musicians, Lords of the Trident has also been signed to a label in Europe, and is creating a monthly column for Guitar World Magazine called, “Music of the Arcane.”
It’s just a few of the steps on the way to world domination.
Hope you enjoy reading about the rest.
Maximum Ink: You were a young barbarian when your parents urged you to learn the war cries of your people. Was this your first foray into music?
Fang Von Wrathenstein: We also trained on various instruments - the bone xylophone, the skull trumpet. My mother even had an accordion made from flexible bison hide that she would play from time to time. But they always knew my true passion was in the vocalizations of our various war calls. That’s how I began to train my voice in the power of true META. Later, when the time came to record our first album, I started to get into the production-side of music, learning all I could about the various microphone techniques and equalization strategies. Thankfully, a number of strong mortal warriors helped, otherwise our albums would’ve sounded much worse than they do.
MI: Lords of the Trident has an epic history. Can you share some highlights?
FVW: The LORDS originally came together eons ago, and we were once one of the most famous live acts in Medieval Europe. Unfortunately, our PR manager at the time suggested giving out a “free rat with every ticket purchased” for our 1342 European tour (posthumously known as the “black plague” tour), which turned into a publicity nightmare. We decided to take a short 750-year hiatus to let the fervor die down, and resurfaced around 2008 after working on our debut album, Death or Sandwich. The full tale of our origin is a long one and full of twists and turns. Those who are interested in reading the Homer-esque epic can find the entire text on our website: Lords of the Trident - The most METAL band on earth!
Lords of the Trident - The most METAL band on earth!
Welcome to the homepage of the most METAL band on earth - the LORDS OF THE TRIDENT! Don your strongest armor bef…
MI: It seems your barbarian group never sleeps. Is there time for new music between battles?
FVW: Yes, we definitely don’t like to sit on our laurels. In fact, I don’t even know what laurels are, nor do I think we have them. It seems like we’re working on new music practically all the time. Usually one of the guitarists will come up with an idea or a few riffs, and they’ll meet and hash the idea out into something with a bit more substance. Then, I’ll take a listen and decide what I feel it sounds like - the din of battle, the thunderous hooves of war-horses, or perhaps the screams of men running to their doom - and create the lyrics based off of it. Around the same time, we’ll have the rhythm section work out their parts, and then play it together as a band. We’re currently working on the next album, and we’ve made some good progress!
MI: The band is not a cover band. But you recently broke your own law of the land and had good results?
FVW: For our last Kickstarter, we offered a “make LORDS play anything you want” reward for a large sum. Our initial intent was to play these songs live, but we received a number of pledges from Seattle, Alaska, New Mexico, etc. We were worried that we wouldn’t be touring ALASKA any time soon, so we decided to record the songs instead. A Beyonce cover was one of those requests, and not only did we do a metal cover of it, but we also did a shot-for-shot remake of the music video which will be featured on a new MTV series in the next few months! We’ve done a few LORDS-style covers in the past, including songs from The Police and Michael Jackson, but I’m not sure if we’ll be recording any more cover songs in the future. We’ll have to poll the guys and see what they think!
MI: I’ve heard the band thinks a lot—about worldwide domination?
FVW: Total and complete worldwide domination, and over all other genres and artists. We will sit on thrones made of broken guitars on top of a mountain made from melted CDs and declare ourselves the kings of all METAL!
That, and getting paid at some point would be nice as well.
MI: Domination and payment would mean you’ve made it?
FVW: Very much so, although we will still not rest. Once people are gathering their CD collections and burning them in their backyards, save for their LORDS disks, we’ll know we’re getting there. Once we’re playing open air LORDS-fests with a million plus in attendance, we’ll know we’re almost there. And once a lady voluntarily gets a LORDS tattoo somewhere near her nether-regions, we’ll know we’ve made it.
MI: Anything undocumented about the Lords?
FVW: The Baron has a sweet tooth for Jelly Belly jelly beans. He LITERALLY cannot stop eating them if you place them in front of him. I’m the same way for Sour Patch Kids, although I usually have to stop once my tongue starts bleeding. Asian Metal REALLY likes cats, and will stop playing to pet any cats in sight. Dr. Vitus masquerades as a paramedic in his free time - partially for the money, and partially so he can learn the latest experimental medical techniques. Pontifex Mortis takes really pretty landscape pictures - you can see them at BrentGoesOutside.com
Note from the Lords: We have shows coming up, including Max Ink Halloween on October 29th at The Frequency in Madison. Those unwashed masses unfamiliar with their LORDS can check us out online at LordsOfTheTrident.com. You can listen to and purchase our music literally anywhere that music is sold online, or grab a physical copy at our online store. We also have a large number of music videos on our YouTube, so make sure to subscribe to our channel! And as my barbarian grandma always said, “You can’t stay metal if you’re listening to Nickelback.” Buy some LORDS CDs and test your might!
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Lords of the Trident
CD: Frostburn Record Label: Killer Metal