Battlecross

Photo by Marc Nader

Regardless of what band people are in, it’s a given that they did not start out playing on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans. And, if you’re in a metal band, you sure as hell did not stand in line for hours waiting to audition for a television show to be judged and told by a panel whether or not you have the potential to make it. F**k that. If you’re going to make it, you’re just going to have to go old school and work your ass off. A lot. Just ask Michigan based band, Battlecross who have been relentlessly kicking ass ever since their album, Pursuit of Honor which was released back in 2011 with Metal Blade Records. With a slew of domestic and international shows from high profile tours and songs that have charted on Billboard, iTunes, SiriusXM just to name a few, these guys are quickly showing the world how it’s done.

The band has earned a reputation not only for delivering high-energy live performances that will melt anyone’s face off, but also for having an unwavering work ethic and bringing awesome musicianship to metal. While many might not think much of metal bands, guitarist and co-founder of Battlecross, Hiran Deraniyagala , begged to differ. “We’re not just chug. There’s theory behind the musical content. It’s not all open notes and just thrashing around.” This is obvious when you listen to their 2013 release War of Will. Even aside from the content of the music, there has been debate on what kind of metal they are. Are they more this or are they more that? “People get so uptight about the genres of music. Everyone is so worried about everything but the music,” said front man, Kyle Gunther. “Just listen to the music.”

Like so many of us, the guys in band grew up listening to all kinds of music ranging from The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Hank Sr. and whatever was playing on the radio at home. Some of them dabbled in music lessons when they were younger for a while but eventually, they began to experiment and learn on their own. Both Hiran and Kyle agreed that they have learned the most over the years by just playing with other musicians. From the time we start listening to music as kids and transition into teens, it’s likely that our musical tastes change along the way. Departing from “radio music,” bands like Cannibal Corpse and Pantera found their way into their heads and from that moment, unknowingly, things were set in motion. “Tony [Asta]and I grew up together. Back in 2003 we would just play guitar at each other’s houses. In high school we formed a band and that is when the name “Battlecross” appeared. In 2007 is when we got our original drummer, Mike [Kreger] in the band and the sound as we know it was born. That’s when I would say Battlecross was started,” Hiran explained. While this was all happening, Kyle on the other hand, was further north and involved in his Flint based band, I-Decay.

Gunther formed I-Decay around the same time as Battlecross and eventually the two bands would cross paths. They would often swap out shows with each other and got to know each by being in the scene. When Marshall Wood, the former lead singer for the band, took some time off to spend time with his newborn son, Battlecross approached Kyle and asked if he would fill in for a while until they knew what was going on. “I was just supposed to be a fill-in. I wasn’t going to quit I-Decay. ” Kyle continued to substitute with the band for a while. At some point, he had a falling out with some of the guys in his band and there were some personal issues going on with the other band members that made things challenging. “I tried to reform I-Decay and it didn’t really work well. That’s when they came to me with the job offer.” Accepting that offer and collaborating with each other has proven to be one of the best career decisions the guys have made so far.

Any time a band experiences success, you will have people asking them, “What did you do to make that happen?” It’s like we’re all waiting for some magical answer. But there really isn’t one. “We’re loyal to each other and we work hard,” Hiran confidently and quickly answered. “And we’re loyal to our fans. Being personable with them and not changing who we are as people. Even though we’ve had this little amount of success, we are still the same guys that people can just talk to. There’s no ego in the band and we don’t think we’re better than anyone else. We’ve worked from the ground up,” added Kyle. One of the things that they thought was cool happened when they recently attended Mayhem. They saw people in the crowd with Battlecross shirts on and stopped and talked to people. Fans expressed how happy they were for the band’s success and that is probably a great feeling for any band to experience.

So what’s next for these guys in terms of what they want to accomplish? World domination. Okay, maybe not quite that, but they would like become a household name and staple in the world of metal like legendary bands Lamb of God, Metallica, and Slayer. “When you think metal, we want you to think Battlecross. I want people to know who we are whether they like us or not.” Battlecross will be up and down the East coast of the U.S. and bouncing from Canada to Mexico to South America during their current Summer North America Tour. And in the midst of all the this, they will be making their way home to Michigan on August 9 at DirtFest at the Birch Run Expo Center where they will join other bands who’ve they shared the stage with such as Chimaira, It Lies Within, Nothing More, and headliner Killswitch Engage. The band has played this festival before, just not together in the same band. In addition to Kyle and Hiran, other current band members include co-founder/guitarist Tony Asta, bassist Don Slater, and drummer Alex Bent.

For more information about the band, visit their website at: http://www.battlecrossmetal.com