HOLY GRAIL
In the studio with Eli Santana (Guitar)
By Metal Mike
In the world of neo-classical shred, HOLY GRAIL is the band to look out for. Combining the finest aspects of IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and other classic metal bands, these LA natives exploded onto the metal scene with the release of their epic, Crisis in Utopia. It’s been a long time coming, but the band is finally back in the studio getting ready to release the next slab of heavy metal history. Now teamed up with ex-BONDED BY BLOOD guitarist Alex Lee and having released the Christmas themed Season’s Bleedings EP, HOLY GRAIL is ready to take on the legendary black beast of Arghhh. I got to catch guitar wizard Eli Santana while in the studio and ask him about the band’s attack plan, teaming up with Alex Lee, and how much of an epic shred fest the new record will be.
It’s been about a year and a half since the release of Crisis In Utopia and you guys are finally back in the studio, how’s the energy in making this new album?
The energy is at an all time high because all the songs are high energy. You can’t go half speed when tracking action-packed tunes, that’s how people get hurt. We spent a lot of time in pre-production with (producer) Matt Hyde so when we started tracking we could focus on tones and execution. It was great that he had a game plan after the first day we met with him. He’s like a mix between Vince Lombardi and Phil Jackson if they had SLAYER on their resume. We are moving at a pretty fast pace, but things are sounding killer so that’s plenty to keep the energy flowing. It was also beneficial that we recorded two covers (Season’s Bleedings EP) when we got off tour to get our recording juices flowing again before we started working on the album.
You guys have also recruited Alex Lee (ex-BONDED BY BLOOD) as part of the twin axe attack of HOLY GRAIL. Has this given a new kind of edge to the band’s sound?
Alex has thankfully been a seamless transition. We weren’t really looking for someone to come in and alter our direction; we needed someone to enhance what we feel HOLY GRAIL is and will be. There’s more to Alex’s playing than just retro-thrash and I’m really excited for people to get to hear that on this record.
Awesome, have you guys entered the studio with a solid list of songs or are you guys still writing?
Musically we were pretty set with songs and arrangements when we entered the studio.
We actually already had a tentative song order for the album when started tracking. Coach Matt wouldn’t let us take the field unless we were prepared. We do still have some lyrics and guitar leads to tweak, but the meat of the album is already on the bbq.
Can we expect the same shred fest of an epic album as Crisis was?
There will definitely be no shortage of shred on this album even though that wasn’t the goal. Shred’s a big part of what this band is but we try to make it musical and not a guitar clinic. There are more dual leads on this record than Crisis though. I’d like to think it’s a perfect mix of THIN LIZZY and CACOPHONY but that’s up to the listener to decide.
And what’s the next step for HOLY GRAIL after this album?
We haven’t really been thinking too much about anything other than making the album, kind of a “not trying to run up field before you have the ball” kind of thing. We will most likely hit the road heavily promoting the hell out of the record and trying to get it into as many eardrums as possible. We are going to Australia to play the Soundwave Festival next month, which should be buckets of rad. Hopefully we got a new album in the can and we can start our victory lap down under.
