Years Of Fire was formed in the spring of 2005 by former Chimaira guitarist Jason Hager. Since the bands inception it has had only one goal in mind, that is to create 100% heavy metal and devastate the current “aggressive” music scene with its brutality. Years Of Fire has gone through tumultuous peeks and valleys spanning a revolving door of members, labels folding, and the unthinkable death of its former lead vocalist Kent Young. Through it all Years Of Fire have remained and finally look to inject its bone crushing brand of metal into Cleveland and beyond. We were fortunate enough to nail down guitarist Jason Hager to talk about the delay of the new album, kicking the metal scene in the ass, and Avenged Sevenfold being the most wanted metal impostor band.
S*KM: This may be a difficult subject, but how hard has it been since your former vocalist, Kent Young passed away only a few weeks after exiting the band?
YOF: It’s been really hard, yet inspiring at the same time. We posted a brand new song with our new singer and the next morning I got a call that Kent died. For the first five minutes I was completely numb and in shock, then I totaly broke down and started crying. Aside from Kent being our frontman he was our friend. He was like a brother… We mutually parted ways only a few weeks earlier because he just wasn’t able to do it living 2 1/2 hours away, it was just too hard for him to put in the time we needed to him to. There was no hard feelings and had he not passed away I knew he would’ve moved on to great things. Being a dad it was also really hard for me to know he left behind a 2 year old son. But both Ben and I know Kent would still want this band to go as far as it can… especially with all the shit that was thrown at us since we started. If we threw in the towel he would’ve called us a bunch of pussies.
S*KM: The band has undergone several line-up changes, but appears to have stabilized for the near future. What kept the bands revolving door spinning in the early going?
YOF: In a perfect world everyone who was there from the beginning would be there till the very end, but that rarely happens. Our first singer Chris Wood damaged his vocal chords really bad and if he would’ve kept doing this he would’ve ended up needing surgery, so we all decided it was in his best interest to step down. Cole and Brian just wanted something entirely different musically and instead of having a constant power struggle they decided to leave and start a new band playing the style of music they really wanted to. Everyone is still great friends and we’re all happier now cause everyone is playing the music they wanna be playing.
S*KM: As of March 26th you were still waiting for the green light to begin recording your album. What has been delaying the process and have things since gotten underway?
YOF: Your guess is as good as ours honestly. We have no idea what the hold up is. I can’t go into details right now… partially cause we’re so in the dark about everything, but all I do know is that one way or another we will have a CD out world wide soon.
S*KM: What can people expect to hear on the new album?
YOF: Well… We’ve pretty much gone through everything shitty a band can go through; member changes, labels flopping under us, a death and countless little things and not only did we survive.. we came out stronger than ever. So you’ll definitely hear every ounce of anger and frustration we’ve gone through. This will be the most pissed off record we could ever possibly write, and then we’ll have to step it up and out-do it on every record following.. and love it or hate it, at least know that every note, every beat and every word is 110% honest. There will be absolutely nothing pretty about it.
S*KM: You guys have said your mission was to “kick the metal scene in the ass” and “show everyone that metal isn’t about fashion… it’s about aggression and attitude.” What is the driving force behind YOF’s aggression and have you fully kicked the scene in its ass yet?
YOF: Our driving force is complete selfishness! We’re not writing music to cater to other people, we’re writing music we want to hear and that’s what it’s about. It’s not about trends, fashion statements or scene points. I ALWAYS make it perfectly clear that I absolutely hate everything about these tight pants, douche bag makeup wearing, half-rate glam rockers. I’d like to play warped tour just so I can unload a flamethrower into the damn crowd and back stage! As far as if we kicked the scene in the ass yet.. I guess you’d have to ask our fans. We get emails from kids left and right saying how they wished there were more bands like us, and all we’re doing is playing music we want regardless that certain pioneering metal labels have said we’re too heavy… that’s the gayest thing I’ve ever heard. We took their advice and did the exact opposite, we wrote heavier shit. Record labels are so out of touch with what kids want it’s rediculous. I read interviews with bands like Slayer, Metallica, Pantera, etc. about how it was like when they first started out and the way they were treated - I’m not saying we’re gonna be the next slayer or anything - But reading what they said it’s like “damn we’re got A LOT in common with our mindset and the reaction we’re getting.”
S*KM: If you could make a “Wanted” poster for one metal impostor band out there, which would it be?
YOF: It’s hard to limit it to just one so I’ll say Avenged Sevenfold. They’re sellouts through and through, and I HATE that term so if I’m using it I fully believe it.
S*KM: Do you think this eyeliner skinny jeans metal epidemic will be this generation’s version of Nu Metal?
YOF: I’ve never wanted a trend to go away faster than this emo/screamo, tight pants wearing shit. At least in nu-metal the guys looked like guys and the girls didn’t look like a fat version of Pat Benatar.
S*KM: It’s time for a Years Of Fire public service announcement to all the anthem chorus writing, metal wannabes. What are the bands metal rules to live by?
YOF: There are no rules… period!
S*KM: Let’s imagine there is a secret metal tournament held in an obscure location in Sweden and Years Of Fire was unable to compete, who would the band send in its place?
YOF: Five of the most brutal vikings we can find.
S*KM: Along with starting YOF you were also an original founding member of Chimaira, however exited the band after the release of “Pass Out Of Existence” to focus on your family. Since music projects as successful as Chimaira don’t come around everyday, what was it like leaving just as the band started to take off?
YOF: It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do… But it was the right thing to do. I was about to have my first child and I didn’t want to miss out on his first word, first steps, etc. and with that going on there was a lot of strain on my marriage and to me family comes first, no questions asked. But my son is 6 now, the wife is… well… let’s just say gone (hahaha). My son lives with me and I look at him and see me when I was his age. He loves music, loves art, but unlike me at that age he’s got a dad that not only supports his interests, he encourages him and is knee deep in it all himself. My son loves coming to our shows when he can and I love having him there. I get to have the one person I love more than anything there while doing what I love to do more than anything. The only way it could be more perfect is if it were playing in front of 50,000 people and having a whole backstage full of girls waiting for me to do whatever my sick warped mind could think to them…. haha. Which he wouldn’t be a part of. I may be a pig, but I’m a good dad…haha.
S*KM: Before Years Of Fire were there ever talks of you rejoining Chimaira?
YOF: No. Once I quit it is was for good. I love those guys to death but we’ve both moved on. Plus they’re one of my favorite bands and now I can enjoy them on a fan level that you can’t do when you’re in the band. Everytime I listen to them I’m more and more proud of them and proud to have been a part of it.
S*KM: What is YOF’s official TV channel of choice?
YOF: Whew, that’s a tough one. I can only really speak for me but I’m so busy that I don’t really have time to watch TV. I’m not one of those anti-television people or anything, I just don’t have time… I wish I did. So in my house my son pretty much controls the TV….haha. I’d say what’s on 90% of the time is Nickelodeon, the other 10% he’s watching the Family Guy DVD’s.. which I’m not too sure is the best thing for a 6 year old…haha. I’m a huge Sponge Bob fan myself, which I’m sure metal fans hearing that are taking away all my metal points right now…haha.
S*KM: What summer blockbuster movie is on the bands must see list?
YOF: Me personally I’m looking forward to seeing Kung Fu Panda..haha, and I’m totally serious. I’m a big kid at heart and love cartoons and animated movies and now that I have a kid I have someone to go see the movies with and not look like an idiot…haha.
S*KM: After all Years Of Fire has been through, what can we expect from the band down the road?
YOF: Well… We’ve been through this much and are still here so it’s gonna take a lot to defeat us. We’re a band of five guys on the same page with the same drive and goals. We’re stronger than ever. I haven’t had this much faith in a band since I was in Chimaira. Jim Lamarca (Chimaira) is managing us and he’s a good guy who has the ability to talk to anyone and is not afraid to put his foot down when he needs to. I went through a lot with him early on with Chimaira and he knows what it takes to do this and what bands need. I trust a guy who’s in the trenches WAY more than some guy in a suit who thinks he knows the music business. If there’s something we want and it’s not a realistic goal, he’ll tell us. If he thinks we should strive for more, he’ll tell us. I like working with Jim cause we came up together in this and we came up on the same ethic… “Set your sights on what you want and don’t let anyone get in your way or tell you no. Don’t settle for less and if you want it bad enough you WILL make it happen.” I’m sick of dealing with people who have this “oh we gotta take what we can get” attitude… FUCK THAT! We’re worth more than settling and we want to have the world at our feet and aren’t gonna stop till it happens.
You can expect that we’re gonna keep going on and push this to it’s fullest. We’ll never play pretty music… even though I’m sure we might try some new things here and there. We will ALWAYS be “Years Of Fire” and will always musically kick the living shit out of our fans.
You can sample the brutality for yourself at www.myspace.com/yearsoffire and catch them live next on Friday, July 11, at the Jigsaw Saloon in Parma, Ohio.
FUCKING METAL! You guys need to get that album out NOW! YOF is some downright good heavy shit. No one can come close to matching your sound.