Chains Over Razors Ready to Hit the Scene with Sophomore Album

Rock and metal power trio Chains Over Razors recently released their second album, a self-titled effort. The impressive band shows the ability to assault the listener's senses with heavy riffs, draw them in with memorable melodies, and incorporate clean and harsh vocals to maximum effect, and that's all on display within the first minute of album opener "Cut the Noose"! They display all of these invaluable attributes to great effect throughout the disc, from the hook-laden first single, "Behind These Eyes" and the pit-inducing "Purge the Suffering" to the hard-hitting "The Narc" and cosmic album closer, "Lighthouse."

The album was executive produced by legendary drummer Carmine Appice, who discovered and signed Chains Over Razors. His influence pays huge dividends. The "Chains Over Razors" album shows a band with great potential that has already approved upon its debut effort in leaps and bounds. Keep an eye out for Chains Over Razors. They have every ability to make an impact on the scene in the near future.

The trio consists of brothers Mike Vapor (guitar) and drummer Andy Vapor, along with singer William Mullen.

Chains Over Razors doesn't have a bass player. How did you come to that decision?

When we starting working with Carmine Appice on our first album in 2015 we didn't have a bass player at the time and he was like, 'where are you going to put the bass?' He said, you guys are going to be a power trio. We said, 'what? Are you sure?' He's like, 'the sound is full and the tuning you're in is so low. You're going to figure out and transpose the songs to what you're doing.' We always joked like, 'are you sure we don't need bass on this next song,' and he's like, 'nope.' We continued to develop further with that, bringing out complex riffs. We just hammer away. It's very melodic but we also will hit you in the head.

The album is very dynamic. How do you decide where a clean or dirty vocal should go in a song or the difference between where you want to put a melodic riff or a harder sounding guitar?

This whole record was built around improv and spontaneity. we didn't have any real idea of where the songs were going as we were writing them. We were just recording and when a moment happened we continued to build off that. Our singer has a wide vocal range and depending on the feel you just kind of go with it. We wanted to make sure that if we went into the dirty vocal we did it sparingly so that when it's done come it's really effective to convey the meaning and feel of that part of the song. We're definitely more rock-oriented in our vocals, and we like to do big vocal harmonies.

How did Carmine Appice discover the band?

Back on our first album there was a third party that introduced us to him. Our singer at the time flew out to New York and visited him and talked to him about what we wanted to do. He heard a couple of rough tracks and our singer at that time messages me and said, 'put Carmine's number in your phone; he's going to call you. The next day I get a call and there it is, it's Carmine. I wanted to take a screen shot but I didn't' want to accidentally hang up. He said, 'I love it, it's killer, I'm in, let's do this. He was the executive producer.

What have you learned from working with Carmine?

Where do you start? The biggest thing was focusing on the hooks and arrangements and key changes to try to keep it simple, and he was very big with dynamics. It helped to have someone oversee and make sure you don't get lost in what you're doing. It helps ground you to the core level and make sure that everything sounds complete. He really allowed us to develop an idea, whether it was ours or his, and find it in our way. He respected who were as artists and propelled and enhanced that. His knowledge is priceless.

This second album, how is it a progression from your first record and what did you learn from making the first album that you brought into to this one?
We really focused in on what we wanted to write. It's really easy to write multiple ideas that could fit together. As a power trio we had to need to decide what the idea's going to be and stick with that. We made sure that whatever we wrote was capable of being performed live. If we had two different guitar ideas, we saw if we could meld both.

Let's talk about some of the songs on the album. First track "Cut the Noose" really introduces you to first time listeners. How is it a statement of intent?

When we were trying to decide the layout and progression of the album we looked at it as chapters in a book. We felt dynamically as the record was playing through where to bring the listeners up or lay it back a little bit and make it right between songs. "Noose" had all the elements of where the album could go. It knocks you right in the head. The song has a powerful meaning. It's about mental health and people who have taken their own lives and what it means.

"Behind These is the first single and one of the more melodic tunes – why choose that song as the single.

The interesting thing is it's one of the first songs we wrote for the album. We tried a few renditions before we hit it right. Carmine was like, ' that's it, beat or match that with every song after.' We knew it was a single. It's a moving tune.

What do you hope listeners take away from Chains Over Razors

I hope that they will enjoy it very much and that there's something on the album for everybody. The feedback has been outstanding. Everyone has a different favorite songs. It affects them personally. That means a lot to us.