HAIL! is the new touring band made up of some of Metal’s most highly respected contributors to the genre. Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson’s roots go back to the seed. Heralded as one of the original forefathers of the entire genre, David continues to embrace his metal heritage and champions HAIL! as a special tribute to the20bands who made this all happen in the first place. “When I started playing there were very few metal bands even in existence – Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, Saxon, Scorpions, UFO, Motorhead and not much more. This whole movement was created by a handful of super fans from around the globe who published their own fanzines and traded live tapes with each other. There was no Internet or MTV back then – there was a united group of soldiers who lived thousands of miles apart and although we would never meet, we shared a common interest and through that single thread we created a tribal community that encompasses the entire world today.”
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Andreas Kisser, the riff-roaring axeman of Brazilian heroes, Sepultura, agrees: “I grew up in Brazil so I had no direct access to the metal scenes that developed in England, Germany, New York and San Francisco. We rarely could get metal magazines or records so we depended on those influential people who circulated demos and bootlegs to expose us to so many of these early bands like Kreator, Destruction, Sodom, Possessed, Overkill, Mercyful Fate and Celtic Frost.”
Vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens (ex-Judas Priest, Beyond Fear, Yngwie Malmsteen) says “so much of my love for music comes from the excitement of those early years, it was something special and it will never happen again. I want to create that excitement in somebody and HAIL! has provided a unique opportunity to do that. In addition to playing songs from our own bands, we’re paying props to those bands that paved the way for all of us. These are the songs of our life and don’t forget, we’re fans too.”