Twisted Tower Dire is giving the final touch to their new album "The Isle of the Hydra" the follow up to the succesful "The Curse of Twisted Tower". We talked to vocalist Tony Taylor to know something about their music and their participation in the Wacken Festival.

Other than some "fine tuning" all the new songs are ready and they are KILLER!

To us Epic Metal is music that is true to the roots of Heavy Metal, it is written with classic imagery and theme. Our songs are bits of history and mythology combined with our unending imaginations.In other words we write from our souls not to write some crap for the radio or some commercial use.

Rich Walker and The Miskatonic Foundation have been no less than superb in all aspects of our dealings. They are true warriors of Metal and support us not only with recording money but musically and idealogically. We are friends first, which makes all of the difference.

We will record some parts live but inevitably there will be some overdubs. All of the negative response to "The Curse of Twisted Tower" was due to the sound quality of the recording. This album will show the world that T.T.D. can rank up there with the big boys. This is the album that will catapult us into another level.

Although we get a lot of requests for older material our writing just keeps getting better and better. We share an understanding now of our sound and is less experimental more straight forward balls out music. We will record "Beyond the Gate" from the demo as a bonus track for the vinyl version plus another surprise.

As I mentioned earlier Rich Walker is an awesome dude. Totally metal and someone I know would be there for me in a fight which is how I examine those around me. He has a vision for his label and we will do all we can to support him. Solstice as a whole have got to be the coolest fuckers on the planet. We toured with them last summer with Slough Feg and it was a great experiemce to finally get away from phoney mother fuckers and be with TRUE METALHEADS!!!! These guys are for real!!!

Near Dark Productions (after 2 years in the process) is releasing the picture disc with an old TTD song with Janet singing. It will be a cool collectable for the die-hards.

We were asked to do this song, not one we normally would have picked but we try to accommodate when people ask nicely. As far as tributes go it is getting a little passe at this point but as long as people are supporting metal I am behind it 100%.

If you call yourself a METALHEAD and don't go to Wacken at least once in your life you will forever miss the greatest festival in the world. Wacken is a mecca of pure Metal and Mayhem! You will discover a lot about yourself from the experience. The people at the festival were unreal and the support we received was inspirational. The band that really impressed me the most was Labyrinth. Live in concert this band is over the top! They come across much heavier and they sound better than on the CD where they are so over-produced. Their vocalist Rob Tyrant was screaming his balls off! A killer performance!!

I really love the songs, the feel, everything about this album. With the exception of the sound quality. A lot is lost in the mix, and anyone who sees us live can attest the songs are awesome live and we just didn't properly capture that on the disc. It is definitely a must-have if you are a fan of "real" Metal it is grass roots, fist in your face.

I just want to thank you Federico and others like you who carry the torch of Heavy Metal. We all must support the True and Just and destroy all the poseur bullshit that is trying to infect our realm. Prepare yourselves for "The Isle of Hydra" to be released Spring 2001!!

Interviewed by Federico Marongiu

TWISTED TOWER DIRE / COLD MOURNING Split 10" - (1996)

TRIUMPHING TRUE METAL - demo (1997)

THE CURSE OF TWISTED TOWER - CD (1999)

THE ISLE OF THE HYDRA - CD (2001)

Tony Taylor - vocals

Dave Boyd - guitar

Jim Murad - bass

Marc Stauffer - percussion