Impaler was formed in the early 80’s in St Paul, Minnesota, a cold, desolate tundra of black ice and purple rain, by one Bill Lindsey, who I will tell you right now, is one of my all time rock n’ roll heroes. And not just cuz he drank blood and wrote the line, “I don’t want no intellectual, I need something wet and sexual” either, although those are both very good reasons. No, I am D.T.K. with Mr. L because, via a live Impaler tape circa 1984, he introduced the Teen Sleaze to the Stooges. See, unlike a lot of shock-flash bands from the 80’s, who mighta LOOKED like punk n’ roll mutants from planet Motherfucker, but often sounded like boring ol’ horse galloping Iron Maiden rip-offs or screechy thrash metal Frankenshredders, Impaler had IMPECCABLE taste in the rock and the roll. There is no doubt that a whole lot of who they were was a direct result of Alice Cooper, but it was GOOD Alice Cooper that rocked ‘em - ya know, “Killer”, “Love it to Death”, “Billion Dollar Babies” - AND they were just as influenced by those other Dee-troit Rock City proto-punk legends, the Stooges and the MC5.
Hell, they went on about it in every interview. Now, I know that every band cites the Murder City 3 as direct influences on their raggedy old nth generation sleaze band these days, and that’s beautiful, but it’s EASY, now. In 1984, you actually had to be HIP, had to have GOOD TASTE in REAL rock n’ roll, to dig the Stooges. I swear to Christ this is true, man, just ask anybody that was around.   I was 15 at the time, and I HAD, of course, heard of Iggy and the Stooges, and had, of course, heard “I Wanna Be Your Dog” a few times here and there. But on said live tape, Bill said, “This next song is by Iggy. Iggy and the Stooges. That motherfucker was bad before there WAS bad!” and then Impaler launched into a NASTY, raw, metal-tinged, kill for thrills rendition of “Search and Destroy”, and I tell you, brothers and sisters, I had never heard such holy fucking rock and roll before. Ok, so maybe it woulda been cooler coming from the source (maybe), but when you hear the line “I’m a streetwalkin’ cheetah with a heartful of napalm” and you are 15 years old, well, let’s just say it’s a pretty overwhelming influence. And sure, I was probably already fucked by rock anyway, but Impaler pointed me in exactly the right direction, at exactly the right time. Just about every record I bought and worshipped over the next cuppla years was a direct result of Bill Lindsey’s deranged, shock rock rendition of “Search and Destroy”.
	But this ain’t about Iggy (not anymore than usual, anyway), it’s about Impaler, and their first, enthralling, amazing EP, “Rise of the Mutants”. We (we being myself and this gangly cat I ran with in high school, Luke) interviewed Lindsey in our first fanzine, Frightmare, back in ‘85, and although I remember our interview bring REALLY stupid, I also remember Bill being warm and funny, a stark contrast to the berserk creature in spikes and tin-foil, eating raw meat on the cover of “Rise”. This record has one of the greatest cover images EVER. It looks like the work of a mental patient, maybe several of them. Your fears are not quelled when you meet the rest of the band on the back cover, either. The drummer’s name is “Meaty Bob Johnson”, and in his picture, he’s screaming, and holding the head of a bloody blonde. In his other hand, he appears to be holding a two-sided crucifix. Why? Perhaps he’s gonna “nail” the blonde with it. Court Hawley (what a name!), the bass player, is wrapped in black spandex, and posing in front of somebody’s gravestone. Guitarist (“ALL guitars”, it says here) Michael James Torok holds his exploding axe aloft.  Together, they are Impaler, shock rock mutants ridin’ the Meatwagon to Hell City USA, baby. There is NO WAY that any self-respecting teenage Sleazegrinder could have EVER let a record like this slip by ‘em.
“Rise of the Mutants” was released by Combat records, home of Sweet Pain, TKO, and a few dozen thrash metal bands, in 1985. By that time, Impaler were already a known quantity in metal circles because of a widely circulated round of demos (the “Vicious Demos”, as they were known) live tapes, and a carpet-bombing homegrown media campaign that infected even the smallest circulation Xerox metalzines of the day. Wherever there were metal kids in ‘84-85, believe me, there was an Impaler tape blaring. Not that Impaler’s sound was even all that METAL, at that point – they were more of a metallic punk band at that point, like the Dead Boys-meets-Poison Idea-meets Venom, maybe- but the spikes, leather, blood, and subject matter (death, pussy, the devil) were all close enuff for rock n’ roll.   With a the “Eep!” of an amp switching on, “Rise” kicks in with “Shock Rock”, Impaler’s self-aggrandizing ode to themselves. It rides on a wall of ear-smashing fuzz (production values were for pussies back then, man) and a Plasmatics riff (“Tight Black Pants”, I think), and thrashes around like Jason in Friday the 13th after somebody shoots him with a spear, or something. It’s bloody and ugly and just sounds like fuckin’ TROUBLE, Jack. Bills yelps, “Want it, need it, crave it every day, I’ll have it! I demand it! Loud, I say! Shock Rock!” in a voice that’s somewhere between Dave Mustaine’s snarl and, uh, Johnny Thunders’ snarl. It’s bracing stuff, but it’s practically sedate next to it’s follow-up, “Crack that Whip”, a sub-sonic wall of acid-metal guitar, a propulsive, sleaze-punk beat, and a berserk vocal performance from Lindsey, where he professes his love for S&M sex.
The flipside is more metal-tinged, but no less manic, as theme song “Impaler” lays on the glam-doom slabbage like St. Vitus fighting off a knife wielding New York Dolls (or voice versa, whichever image pleases you more), and closer “Heaven’s Force” throws a little 70’s thunderboogie and devil imagery into the mix. And OK, Impaler wrote themselves in on the side of 'Good' in Heaven's Force, for some crazy reason, but it's still an evil SONG. And sure, the whole record sounds like absolute HELL (it’s been remixed and re-mastered since then, so you might never even hear the original, but believe me, it’s pure mud) but it hardly matters, since it just BLEEDS sleazy rock n’ roll from every filthy groove. A damned and demented classick, this one.
“Rise” was released at the height of the PMRC record-banning hysteria, and made their vaunted “obscene” list, along with WASP and 2 Live Crew, which helped Impaler’s sales enormously. A year later, they followed up with their first full-length, the more metallized “If We Had Brains We’d Be Dangerous” (Combat, 1986). “Brains” was produced by Husker Du mainman Bob Mould (!) and contained their cover of “Search and Destroy”. It was also much more of a straight-ahead metal record, which only cemented Impaler’s stature as the Shock Metal’s reigning mutant kings. In 1988, they even recorded at Prince’s Paisley Park studios (the album, “Wake Up Screaming” was eventually released in 1990, on Channel 83 records), which, even you have to admit, is pretty fuckin’ shocking.
Like most Flash Metal bands, Impaler went underground once grunge kicked in, and have existed in various forms (although always with Lindsey at the helm) ever since, playing metal festivals and horror conventions, and releasing albums every few years, including "Undead Things" (1996, Vlad), "It Won't Die" ('98), "One Nation Underground" ('01), and "Old School Ghouls" ('02). Since 1998, they have been signed to Root of All Evil records, and have amped-up the goredevil image to ever more gruesome heights, as evidenced on their recent DVD release, "20 Years Undead", which collects 2 decades worth of live footage. And since they really are the cursed undead, I suppose they will continue to operate until the end of time.
As for me, I am still knocked out by the buzzsaw wreck n’ roll of “Rise of the Mutants” after all these bloody years. I think that might be where Impaler’s Flash Metal Suicide kicks in – after you’ve posed with raw meat in yr mouth on the cover of your first record, and after you’ve ALREADY written a song called “Shock Rock”, exactly where are you supposed to go from there? Sometimes ya just get it TOO right, man. At any rate, the songs on “Rise” still rock as wildly as they ever did, and I betcha Bill Lindsey is STILL hipping fledgling Teen Sleazegrinders to the power and glory of the Stooges and the MC5. When he’s not showering them in buckets of blood and chicken livers, that is. Bio By: Sleazegrinder

 

CURRENT MEMBERS:

Bill Lindsey - Vocals Bradley J. - Guitar Tom Croxton - Drums (The Unholy, Acheron, Eden in Ruins) Commander Court Hawley - Bass Kyle Skogquist - Guitar

FORMER MEMBERS:

Erik Allyn - Bass
Michael James Torok - Guitar (Torok)
Meaty Bob Johnson - drums
John Stradinger - guitar
Erin Ryan - drums

NO COVER ART

Demo #1 (1983)

1.)Impaler

2.)Assassin

3.)City In Chains

4.)Witchqueen

5.)Island Of The Damned

NO COVER ART

Demo #2 (1983)

1.)Vicious Dreams

2.)Heaven's Force

3.)Shock Rock

NO COVER ART

Demo #3 (1984)

1.)Shock Rock

2.)Live Hard Die Fast

3.)Impaler

4.)Crack That Whip

5.)Breathin' Down Your Back

6.)Zero DeFX/Heaven's Force

Notes: The version of the song "Impaler" on this demo has different music from the original. The four songs on "Rise Of The Mutants" are from this demo.

NO COVER ART

Demo '84 (1984)

1.)Vicious Dreams

2.)Heaven's Force

3.)Shock Rock (Live)

4.)Hit With An Axe (Live)

Notes: The two live tracks are from a show recorded on 7/23/84.

Rise Of The Mutants (EP 1985)

1.)Shock Rock

2.)Crack The Whip

3.)Impaler

4.)Heaven's Force

Notes: Re-released in 2000 on Root Of All Evil Records with "If We Had Brains...We'd Be Dangerous" on the same CD (the name of this compilation is "The Gruesome Years"), along with a 1987 demo as bonus tracks.

NO COVER ART

Demo '85 (1985)

1.)City In Chains

2.)Speed Thrills

3.)Bloodbath

4.)Metal Messiah

If We Had Brains...We'd Be Dangerous (1986)

1.)Blood Bath

2.)Puppet Master

3.)City In Chains

4.)Wateland

5.)Search And Destroy (Iggy Pop cover)

6.)Assassin

7.)Speed Thrills

8.)Witch Queen

9.)Dancin' On The Edge

10.)Metal Messiah

Notes: Was re-released with "Rise Of The Mutants and bonus tracks on "The Gruesome Years" compilation.

Wake Up Screaming (1990)

1.)Call Of The Wild

2.)Breathing Down Your Back

3.)Abomination

4.)Monkey See, Monkey Do

5.)Island Of The Damned

6.)Push & Shove

7.)Who Runs The Asylum?

8.)Vicious Dreams

9.)Kick Out The Jams

Notes: "Kick Out The Jams" is an MC5 cover.

NO COVER ART

Daddy Raw (Demo 1992)

1.)So Fine

2.)Come To Me

3.)All Worked Up

Undead Things (1996)

1.)Dying To Meet You

2.)Stomp Me Down

3.)Tall, Dark And Gruesome

4.)Superhuman

5.)King Of The Freaks

6.)Pet Cemetary

7.)Undead Things

8.)Sci-Fi Classic

9.)Angel's Kiss

10.)Psycoblaster

11.)Unnatural Rites

12.)Someday I'll Rule The World

It Won't Die (1998)

1.)Goblin Queen

2.)Viva Santo (Santo VS. The World)

3.)It Won't Die

4.)Monster Maker

5.)Graverobbers From Outer Space

6.)King Cadaver

7.)Meat Wagon

8.)Alice And Ozzy

9.)Black Leather Monster

10.)Shock Rock 2000

11.)Welcome To My Darkside

12.)Insidious Seduction

13.)Too Young To Die

14.)Meet Your Maker

Notes: Tracks 11 & 12 are from the "Meatwagon" demo. Tracks 13 & 14 are from an unreleased 1992 demo.

Black Leather Monster (Split EP 1999)

1.)Black Leather Monster (Impaler)

2.)Shock Rock 2000 (Live) (Impaler)

3.)Black Widow (Ripsnorter)

4.)Earth A.D./Devil Luck (Ripsnorter)

The Gruesome Years (Compilation 2000)

1.)Shock Rock

2.)Crack The Whip

3.)Impaler

4.)Heaven's Force

5.)Blood Bath

6.)Puppet Master

7.)City In Chains

8.)Wateland

9.)Search And Destroy (Iggy Pop cover)

10.)Assassin

11.)Speed Thrills

12.)Witch Quuen

13.)Dancin' On The Edge

14.)Metal Messiah

15.)Vicious Dreams

16.)Island Of The Damned

17.)Who Runs The Asylum

18.)Breathing Down Your Back

Notes: Tracks 1-4 are the "Rise Of The Mutants" EP, tracks 5-14 are the "If We Had Brains...We'd Be Dangerous" album, tracks 15-18 are a 1987 demo.

One Nation Underground (2000)

1.)I Walk Again

2.)Cage Match Tradgedy

3.)Under The Dirt

4.)Beautiful Monstrosity

5.)Revenge Of The Lizard Man

6.)Dead As A Doornail

7.)Girl Of My Screams

8.)Mad Caps And Lunatics

9.)Call Of The Wild

10.)No Pulse, No Breath

11.)Scream Machine

12.)One Nation Underground

13.)Embalmed

14.)Teenage Frankenstein

15.)Heaven's Force

Old School Ghouls (2002)

1.)The Worms

2.)Legend Of The 13 Grave

3.)Decayed

4.)My Mephisto

5.)Dead Tired

6.)Dead Babies

7.)Mutated Genetic Monster

8.)Master Disaster

9.)Blood Of The Vampire

10.)Psycho Therapy

11.)Superhuman (2002)

12.)666 Dreary Lane

13.)Worms (Reprise)

The Mutants Rise Again (EP 2002)

1.)Decayed

2.)My Mephisto

3.)Dead Babies

4.)Blood Of The Vampire

Notes: Limited to 666 copies on marbled orange 7" vinyl.

666 Dreary Lane/When There's No More Room In Hell (Split Album 2003)

1.)666 Dreary Lane - Impaler

2.)Undead Things (Live) - Impaler

3.)When Theres No More Room In Hell - Ripsnorter

4.)Rest In Pieces - Ripsnorter

Notes: Split 7" with Ripsnorter, available in orange, green & purple vinyl each with a different cover. Each color is limited to 666 copies.

Habeas Corpus (2005)

1.)Angel Of Misery

2.)Follow Me (Will-O-Wisp)

3.)Supernatural Superstar

4.)Bride Of Impaler

5.)The Last Ride

6.)Hatbox Ghost

7.)Black River Falls

8.)Angel In White

9.)Lost On Monster Island

10.)Sonic Reducer

11.)World Insane