This time around we feature the collection of Thomas Clifford, lead vocalist for the Swedish blackened death band Throne of Heresy.
The first record I ever bought with my own money was…
The first vinyl I remember buying was Fear of the Dark back in 1992. I owned Europe’s Final Countdown on cassette as well, but Iron Maiden was the first band I remember going after myself.
The record that made me want to make music was…
Probably No Prayer for the Dying. I had it on a crappy copied cassette and listened to it like crazy as a kid. I’m probably one of very few who got into Iron Maiden through “Holy Smoke,” a track that doesn’t get a lot of love. But when I was a kid I thought that melodic intro was awesome. And Bruce’s voice is raw on this album, in a great way.
The record I’ve played more than any other is…
Hard to say. Piece of Mind probably. It ought to be a Maiden album at least.
The record that always make me feel good is…
A lot of albums have this effect. It’s why I listen to music after all. But generally Iron Maiden albums, Bruce’s solo stuff, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath is on that list.
The record I turn to when I’m feeling down is…
Depends. Fields of the Nephilim and Sisters of Mercy can be good companions. But generally I try not to wallow in down-ness since it’s mostly an unproductive state for me. So I put on some Edge of Sanity or other death metal and get pissed off instead, which is a much better state of mind for getting things done.
The record with my favorite cover art is…
This is a hard one, there are so many different ones that are great. Entombed has Clandestine which is great (the new “remake” might be even better), Bruce Dickinson has The Chemical Wedding which really fits the music. And then there’s stuff like Tempel’s The Moon Lit our Path. Of course I really am partial to the art of our new album Decameron as well. It was made by artist Mattias Frisk and he perfectly captured the bleak hopelessness of the Black Death. Just beautifully executed.
The strangest LP I own is…
It’s a tie between an old “audio book” version of “War of the Worlds” and Monty Python’s “The album of the soundtrack of the trailer of the film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. Actually, it’s not even a contest.
The rarest LP I own is…
Not sure. I don’t care too much about it but I do have a bootleg version of Iron Maiden’s Soundhouse Tapes which is still pretty rare even though it’s a bootleg. And I have the second pressing of Jethro Tull’s Thick as a Brick in near mint condition, which was an awesome gift from my wife.
The last LP I bought was…
I got a copy of the limited Death in Gothenburg compilation which was released recently. It’s a great collection of early tracks by some of the bands from Gothenburg that were part of the early Swedish death metal scene.
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Throne of Heresy’s latest album, Decameron, releases on November 3, 3017. You can download a pre-order copy right here.
http://www.facebook.com/throneofheresy
https://throneofheresy.bandcamp.com/
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