An interview with Katon W. De Pena – frontman of an American thrash metal legend HIRAX.
HIRAX formed when the thrash metal scene was just being born. If you had to pinpoint one specific moment from the 80s when you felt, "Yes, we are making music history right now" what would it be?
I was in San Francisco, CA / the Bay Area at the Metallica house hanging out with Kirk Hammett when he came up to me and told me that he saw the first HIRAX album, “Raging Violence” in Holland while they was on tour in Europe. that was when I started to realize that HIRAX was making an impact on the thrash metal scene worldwide.
You come from the Los Angeles area, yet you were often associated with the Bay Area sound. From your perspective, how did the atmosphere of the L.A. metal scene differ from that of San Francisco back then?
The two cities are very similar. People don’t always realize that Metallica was originally from Los Angeles. Over the years the Bay Area and Los Angeles have come up with their own defining sounds. There is obviously a difference between the Bay Area bands - Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, Violence, etc. and legendary South California / Los anglees bands such as ourselves, Slayer, Armored Saint, Evil Dead, Suicidal Tendencies, etc. you can totally hear the difference. The main point is that the aforementioned bands mainly have one thing in common - they are all extremely heavy. I also think it is amazing that all of these bands have their own personalities and styles.
Your debut, "Raging Violence" (1985), hit with incredible speed. When recording that album, did you intentionally set out to create something faster than other releases of that era?
That was our goal… to push the boundaries of extreme thrash metal and we accomplished that with “Raging Violence.” Easily one of the most chaotic thrash metal records of all time. We are very proud of that.
In my view, HIRAX strikes a perfect balance between thrash and punk/hardcore. Which element of that mix was harder for you to master at the beginning: the precision of metal or the raw chaos of punk?
They were both easy styles for us to master because we loved both so much from a very young age. For us it was natural to bring both styles together. We were lucky in the early days of our career to play with many different styles of crossover bands before the word was even invented.
HIRAX’s lyrics often touch upon themes of struggle, injustice, and survival. How have your lyrical inspirations evolved over the years?
We have always been a band for the people and of the people. I wouldn’t really consider us a political band, but we do have very strong beliefs so a lot of our song titles and subject matter are influenced by the times that we live in and what is going on around us. That is why on every album that we record and release we always include our lyric sheets. If people really want to know what HIRAX is about, our main goal has always been to bring ALL different kinds of humans together. EVERYONE IS WELCOME to be a part of our thrash metal family!
Your album covers — like "El Rostro de la Muerte" (2009) — have an amazing, almost comic-book-style retro vibe. How important is the visual aspect to you, and how do you choose the artists you collaborate with?
For us, the album artwork is as important as the music inside. I am a huge fan of art and comic books. I have grown up on it my whole life. I want to make sure that our fans get the complete package! Something that they will all be very proud to own. They should get their money’s worth. That will always be a priority when it comes to what we do. It is nice to work with famous artists but to me the most important thing is to look for somebody with the same passion that I have. That is the main thing that I look for - passion. They have to love what they do. I still to this day keep an eye out for young, up and coming artists. I believe in creating artwork the old fashion was - with talent, skill and vision. Fuck AI generated trash! That is lazy. There are too many good artists out there!
Speaking of albums, fans had to wait a full 11 years for your latest release called "Faster than Death". What was the main reason for such a long hiatus, and at what point did you feel the material you’d gathered was 100% ready to see the light of day?
During the hiatus we were touring a lot! It is good not to force a record. However I do understand the need for new music. You have to go into the studio when you feel the music is strong enough to record. You can’t put a time limit on it. Making an album / record is similar to making food… It takes time and the right ingredients.
Two absolute icons oversaw the sound of the new record: the legendary Max Norman and your longtime collaborator Bill Metoyer. How were their roles divided in the studio, and how did their combined experience shape the final sound of the tracks?
That is a very interesting question and thanks for noticing. Sometimes things like this just happen. I feel very fortunate that we are lucky enough to work with people as legendary as Max Norman (Loudness, Y & T, Ozzy Osbourne, Annihilator, etc.) and Bill Metoyer (Slayer, Armored Saint, Sacred Reich, Evil Dead, Trouble, etc). They both have great vision when it comes to heavy metal music. They really made this record powerful, which is something we were very focused on. We recorded the old school way in a real studio with no modern bullshit…real drums, real guitars and my voice. It works very well with us because we have the material and arrangements planned / worked out ahead of time so when we get in the studio everything runs smoothly. Bill recorded with us and oversaw the process. Then Max was the cherry on top of the cake becuase he mixed the album and did an incredible job! Both of them as producers … their resume speaks for themselves.
The entire album clocks in at just under 21 minutes of relentless sonic punishment. Did you intentionally forgo any "filler" material in favor of a maximally condensed thrash attack?
That is exactly what we did. In this case and on this record specifically - Less is More. The music was written during the pandemic so you can hear the anger between the grooves of this short album.
Katon, your vocals have always stood out for their clarity and dynamic range compared to the extreme screaming of other vocalists. What is the most unusual compliment you’ve ever received from a fan or another musician regarding your voice?
I have always tried to be myself. In the early years, when I first started singing I realized I had my own unique way of doing things. So that is what I have stuck with over the years. It is nice when people mention that I have my own voice, style and identity. I have heard that a lot over in my time as a frontman. Now that I have been singing for over 40 years my voice continues to evolve which is something that I welcome and strive to get better as long as I'm on this planet. As we move forward right now we are working on the new HIRAX 7th studio album. I think the fans will be pleasantly surprised at the level we take our music to.
And what is the craziest or most absurd rumor you’ve ever heard about the band HIRAX?
That we are from the Bay Area. Eden though we love the Bay Area and always will…. we are from Southern California and always have been. Over the years we just stopped fighting it when people would say it.
We’ve already touched on the subject of comic books, but I’d like to ask one final question: if an anime film or a comic book were to be created about your band, what superpowers would the musicians of HIRAX have?
My superpower would be to make things explode with my voice. Our drummer, Matt already has his superpower - drums of thunder. Our bassist and guitarist, Allan would be a multi instrumentalist with weapons. Geremi, the guitarist, would transform himself into a gorilla… more powerful than Donkey Kong.
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