Sailing the high seas a little less than a decade ago on Motörhead’s Motörboat Cruise, Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta and former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens brainstormed an idea.
Jasta had previously dipped his toes into production waters, but he wanted to lend a hand to some of his favorite heavy metal artists, and Owens was on a short list of legendary voices the Hatebreed singer hoped to work with.
Fast forward a few years, and Jasta would throw down a similar idea to Twisted Sister icon Dee Snider. Jasta had a team of musical killers at the ready to help write material for Snider, and the Hatebreed singer would produce. The resulting pair of Dee Snider solo albums garnered widespread critical acclaim and pushed the Twisted Sister frontman to metal heights he didn’t know he could reach.
Now, Jasta has lent those same services to Owens, and the singer has just released a new EP under the “Ripper” name called “Return To Death Row” — a nod to the frontman’s “Jugulator” days with Judas Priest.
“We got it together finally,” Owens said. “He said ‘Let’s put out a 6-song EP, and then next year we’ll put out a full 10-song record.’ When you do 10 songs, you can do different types of stuff. This we just wanted to make it heavy.”
Heavy indeed. “Return To Death Row” sports all the trademark “Ripper” charm, but much like the Snider albums has a slick, modern production while leaning into the singer’s influences and trademark voice. “Obviously I grew up with Priest and Dio and Metal Church,” Owens said. “But there was also Anthrax, Metallica, Slayer, Death Angel. This is kind of tapping into all of that.”
Opening track, “Die While We’re Alive” sounds a little like beefed-up, classic Metallica, and as you might expect from a Jasta-produced album, sports a hardcore, Hatebreed-style breakdown along with a fret-melting solo.
The debut single/video “Embattled” drew rave reviews and sounds like classic Anthrax on steroids. “The Night (Take It Back)” harkens to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal ala Raven and/or Diamondhead. “Silent Cage” is anthemic hard rock that wouldn’t have sounded out of place with Ripper’s rock project, A New Revenge. “Heroes Dare” is one of the EP’s most intense tunes and it’s Owens’ favorite, while the title track taps into and intensifies the Judas Priest “Jugulator” sound.
“I think the great thing is it gets the whole spectrum,” Owens said. “There’s hard rock, heavy metal, thrash. It leans into some modernness just because of the quality of it. And that’s what you want to do. A New Revenge was the same way, it was just more of a hard rock record than metal. It’s not something that’s totally stuck in the past. You want the flavor of the past and the flavor of right now, and that’s what we have with this.”
Owens chatted at length about the new EP, working with Jasta and his team, and he briefly touched on his time in Judas Priest. He also previewed the forthcoming sophomore effort from KK’s Priest, the outfit he’s in with former Priest guitarist KK Downing, in this Web Is Jericho exclusive.
What was it like working with Jamey Jasta and Nick Bellmore as producers? “This record came together really easily. They’d send me stuff, and I’d send them back ideas. There would be times they would send me some ideas, and Jamey laughed about this, he said, ‘We’d send you something in the morning or night before, and then by noon the next day our computer would ding, and we’d realize that’s probably Tim sending the song already. He’s probably done with it.’ I sent them a lot of vocals. I’m a big fan of sending a lot of vocals that go together as one piece, but you can take some out and use what you need. I would double verses and put a low version under the main part just to have it, and I might even put a harmony to it. But the choruses will definitely have three vocal parts to it.”
“It’s really the same thing I’m doing with KK’s Priest, and I just finished what I hope is the last song for (the second record). Jamey and Nick said, ‘You’re such a pro. And everything comes together so easy.’ But Nick and Jamey have it down. The demos I was working with were pretty much the real song. They produce it to change a few parts or re-do a few things, and I know they had to lay down real drums. But it was easy. I just sang it in my studio, and it went together really quick. Having those guys — it’s a great lineup and everybody is solid.”
Do you have a favorite track on the EP? “I like ‘Heroes Dare’ a lot. I also love ‘Return To Death Row,’ because it has the throwback in the middle that goes back to the original ‘Death Row’ from Judas Priest. It has the phone ring and the guy talking just like in the original one. It was cool Jamey suggested that. Coming out of the game with ‘Embattled,’ which I shot that video in Brazil, people just love that tune. But I think ‘Heroes Dare’ is my favorite.”
We’re in an era where many artists rely solely on their back catalogs and a lot won’t do new music. You remain one of the most prolific artists out there in terms of new material. Why is creating so important to you? “A big thing is it’s my job. People will ask, ‘Why don’t you stick with one band?’ I couldn’t make a living doing that. The same people that are saying that are streaming (my music) on Spotify. And you get 0.0003 cents a song. You get over 100,000 listens, and you’ve got $300 that you’ve got to split with everybody.”
”But I just love doing it, and I can sing anything anybody throws at me. I just did a second progressive metal record with Pyramid, and I wrote a lot of songs on that as well. It was so fun to write because they were originally instrumentals, and it was great because I could just tell a story. There’s no verses and choruses.”
“I’m actually getting ready to announce now, if you want me to guest on your record or project or 1, 2 or 3 songs, people can get a hold of me at [email protected]. I make music and do songs for people all over the world, and it’s every type of song from hardcore to death metal to ’80s metal to hard rock. If you work at a car dealership, you don’t sell one kind of car. If you’re a chef, you don’t just make hamburgers. You have a whole menu to make. I’m a musician, and I’m fortunate I get to do it for a living.”
You and Blaze Bayley took over for Iron Maiden and Judas Priest at difficult times commercially for heavy metal. Do you think you get credit for helping see Priest through a challenging period in the band’s career? “I don’t really care about getting credit. I was the singer, and in my opinion I sang on great records. I had a great time, and they’re great guys. It launched my career to be a musician. I don’t care about getting credit for keeping them around, because if it wasn’t me, they would’ve just got somebody else. I mean, it was Judas Priest, you know what I mean? The band doesn’t even give me credit for being the singer (laughs), so why would some other people? But that’s alright. I learned a lot and did a lot and I’m grateful for the time I spent with them.”
You mentioned finishing up the vocals for the new KK’s Priest record. Can you give us a little preview of what’s to come? “I really like it. I think It’s a little edgier. Vocally it’s definitely a little edgier and raspier. It’s got everything. Not that (KK’s Priest debut record) ‘Sermons of the Sinner’ didn’t, but this one I think has more balls behind it. Ken has really written some great songs. I can’t wait to hear them mixed and finished.”
Is the plan to take KK’s Priest on the road next year? “That’s the plan. With C*VID, it was hard to figure out touring. But the plan will be to tour the world. We have two records out now, which makes it even better. We’re obviously gonna play songs from ‘Jugulator’ and ‘Demolition’ on tour. We’ll play these KK’s Priest songs and a couple classic Judas Priest songs that Ken wants to do. Really the plan is to get the right tours and get on the road.”
Ripper’s new EP “Return To Death Row” and other assorted Ripper merchandise is available now at MartyrStore.net.
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