INTERVIEW: Messiah Force

Canadian Speed Metal titans MESSIAH FORCE released a single album in 1987. Despite being their sole output aside from two demos, this remains a total classic and I took some time to speak to the Quebec shredders after having had the pleasure of seeing and meeting them at Keep It True Festival (where the original lineup remained intact).

1. Greetings MESSIAH FORCE! Please introduce yourselves to our readers!

Jean Tremblay: My name is Jean Tremblay I’m one of the two lead guitar players of Messiah Force.

Lynn Renaud: Hi, my name is Lynn Renaud. I am the lead singer and author of all lyrics on the album “The Last Day”.

Jean-François: Hi, I’m J-F, the drummer. Been playing since 1978 with lots of bands but the 2 main projects that I work with are, of course, Messiah Force, from 1985 to 1991 with whom I recorded the LP “The Last Day” and NecronomicoN (the Canadian ones) from 1995 to 1999 with whom I recorded the LP “Pharoah of Gods”.

2. Casting your minds back to the mid 80s when you formed, how was the scene in Canada?

Jean Tremblay: The Heavy Metal scene was very active in that period . Our home town Jonquiere was a special place in Heavy Metal. Many bands were emerging at that time Voivod, Death Dealer, Voor, 13th Death etc…

3. I feel many people know the Canadian bands who were a bit more extreme such as Razor, Voivod and Exciter but you guys almost fell more into the USPM sound. Do you ever feel you were in the wrong place? Or did being from Quebec have its own advantages?

Jean Tremblay: We didn’t feel that we were in the wrong place. Quebec had its own advantages. Many major bands love to play in Quebec (such as Metallica or Iron Maiden etc…).

Lynn Renaud: For my part, I really loved to live that period in Jonquiere, Quebec. The heavy metal scene was very flourishing and we had so many friends who were musicians and so many friends who were also our fans. It was a safe place to express ourselves, each one with their own style and talents. A lot of our friends were very talented also and even if there was just a few thousands of heavy metal fans it was a very pleasant place to be.

4. Your first step was the very strong “85 Demo” which cemented the bands existence. How did this 7 track tape come to life? What inspired it and can you tell us about the recording process?

Jean Tremblay: Before Messiah Force, all members want to create our own material. We did the first demo in our friends home in a week-end, playing live without overdubs.

Jean-François: It was our first experience at taping songs, we really enjoyed it. Done with a four-track. The sound is raw and it gives it an old school sound…

5. The demo was raw, but showed a lot of promise. Did it gain much attention or interest in the underground via tape trading / fanzines / other means?

Jean Tremblay: A good friend of the band, Wayne Archibald helped to promote the demo. At that time there was no internet. Wayne had a good reputation in the Metal scene. He helped us a lot to create a buzz around Messiah Force.

Jean-François: Because of what Wayne did, we got lots of reviews in Europe and a few in California and got a few answers from record companies.

6. A mere two years later “The Last Day” was unleashed. To this day, your 1987 debut album remains your sole LP release. What changed from the demo to here and can you give us the story of writing and recording (which sounds absolutely massive, so some studio stories would be great) this cult classic?

Jean Tremblay: “The Last Day” was the continuation of the demo. We were confident and believing in our material. We knew that we had something original in our hands.

Lynn Renaud: We recorded “The Last Day” LP in a small village of 500 inhabitants. There was a very well-equipped studio with a good reputation established there. This village was located 3 hours away from home. No distractions at all. Just the five of us and the sound engineer all day long for a few months. We did not have a lot of experience in a studio. For my part, I really found that experience pretty tough because I had to sing 10 to 12 hours everyday, when it was my turn to record my tracks. But this special environment was helpful too, because I wrote the vocal lyrics and the vocal parts for the last two songs: “The Sequel” and “The Last Day” and those are my favourite songs on the album.

Jean-François: Lynn is right, it helped us, musicians as well. We learned how to be more precise in our playing and to be more “tight”. We had lots of fun because we had the studio completely to ourselves. So, sometimes, we had time to “play” with the recordings and change things around, listen to some great stuff on this massive sound coming from the speakers, we learned how to handle mixers, etc…

7. Along with it being musically lightyears ahead of its time, “The Last Day” features some sublime Sci-Fi cover art by Rick Gagnon. What is the story told in this cover, and does it match up to the records lyrics?

Jean Tremblay: We did a brain-storm together and we have given Richard all the great lines of what we want for our cover.

Lynn Renaud: It represents the song “The Last Day”. The light of the sun is going down on the mutineers of the city…. No more traces of life on this abandoned land.

Jean-François: After the brainstorming, Jean made a sketch of what we were looking for and we gave it to Rich. Rich made a real painting on a 2’ X 4’ white cardboard. He drew the buildings, sun and plane and then, applied some removable glue where you see all the stripes and ice. Then, he applied some painting and at the end, he removed the glue and that’s the white lines that you see on the painting and lighter colors in the sky…. Then, he painted the stripes in the sky and the snow/ ice. It ended-up really great.

8. Lyrically there is an almost dystopian, cynical yet heroic and hopeful feel. What inspires the lyrics on your records and do you feel they remain applicable today or were they more a sign of the times?

Lynn Renaud: This question is funny. I was writing about things I was living then. I would not write those lines in the same way today because I don’t see things the same way. But it was not a sign of the times unfortunately. Those remain the same. Only places and actors have changed.

9. The instrumentation on all of your stuff is incredibly tight. What recording methods did you use and how much rehearsal was required? It doesn’t feel heavily overdubbed, rather very smooth, so I am sure the levels of practise must have been intense as must the musical relationship between you all.

Jean Tremblay: During recording there were some overdubs but not a lot. We had a good spirit team and a very intense relationship together. We were young and we knew that Messiah Force had a special energy .

Jean-François: We tool what we learned from the recording sessions, when practicing afterward. We were more concentrated on playing tight and having better sounds… We started rehearsing with a metronome in my ears so when we were playing without it, the tempo was more regular. One day, we played the songs while timing it just to see if we were close to the lengths of the album’ songs and we were so close to it, like, 2-4 seconds apart to the real timing!… It was really satisfiying! So, afterward, playing the songs live, we were delivering them like they were supposed to…

10. Speaking of the instrumentation, you got for a twin lead guitar attack. What inspired this lightning-like sonic bombardment as a key element of your sound?

Jean Tremblay: We have done our best with the experience that we had at that time. The sound wasn’t exactly what we were expecting but at the final line, it was a different sound and as soon as the album started everybody knew that it was Messiah Force.

Jean-François: I think Jean and Bastien just went along so well that it was to be that way right from the start… plus, they are such amazing guitarists, it was a no brainer…

Bastien Deschenes: Judas Priest at the time was so important for me, like Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Helloween too, all twin guitar attack band, for me it’s the way to do it, with Jean (Tremblay), the other guitar player in the band, it’s become so natural to do it that way, our style are different but so complementary.

11. Lynn, your vocals also have a flare of their own. Powerful but with an edge to them. What singers inspired you to have this razor-like yet melodic approach?

Lynn Renaud: When I was 19 years old, I just fell in love with Pat Benatar’s voice and songs. I could imitate her almost perfectly and I could sing all her songs. She was and still is my idol along with Freddy Mercury of Queen. So now you understand everything don’t you?

12. It might be fair to say “The Last Day” is more popular now than when it came out, with it being a highly sought after collectible which is pretty hard to find (I was fortunate enough to get an original LP from you guys at Keep It True, thanks for signing it by the way). Does this growing adoration for the band warm your metallic hearts or do you wish this level of support had materialised more back in the day? And would this have effected the band going into hibernation or would that have happened anyway?

Jean Tremblay: To be honest, we didn’t expect to play in Europe after all these years. Life gave us a nice gift. After Keep It True we have realised that we were more popular in Europe than Canada / Quebec and more so than ever.

Jean-François: Hey, it was great meeting you Jørgen, thanks! It’s great seeing that our LP became a collector’s item. What amazes me, is that the music passed the test of time so well, I feel like the songs are still holding up to whatever is coming out today. You know, the story behind this lp is that we created our own record company, Haissem Records (“Haissem” being “Messiah” but reversed – Jean’s idea) and we pressed only 1000 copies. We sent a few to record companies, so, there are not a lot of them still around, really! You got lucky to get a hold of it! Back in the day, it was difficult for us to know if the band was popular or not; there was no internet and Bold Reprive Records (with whom we signed a distribution deal) was hard to get in touch with… The scene also, was changing, more “grungy”, etc… The fact that people are still looking for our music is great, it proves that we were right, believing in our music.

13. In 1991 you released one final demo entitled “No Hideaway” continuing as the band meant to go on. Were these tracks intended to become a second album or was this meant to be the finale? How do these songs hold up to the album for you guys looking back? I feel it has an almost more Thrash Metal feel to it than the Heavy/Power/Speed approach of the past. Also it lacks Lynn’s vocals. Despite these changes, it still has some killer songs that could be cool to hear with the “proper” lineup and sound. Or do you not feel these represent the vision for the band?

Jean Tremblay: With the last demo “No Hideaway” (Lynn had quit the band for health reasons) we tried to continue with a good friend of us Denis Dufour on vocals but the Metal scene had changed. The grunge music with Nirvana was the leader at that time and there was no place for us. We had tried to sign with a record company but it never happened. That’s why we stopped Messiah Force.

Jean-François: The songs were intended for an album that never materialized, unfortunately. And you’re right, they were more thrashy. We wrote them with less notes but with the instruments playing more together, playing along all together.

14. Of course there is no new music to speak of, at least publicly. But has MESSIAH FORCE got more songs written / recorded and can we ever hope to hear them? A second album would be fantastic if it got to see the light of day…

Jean Tremblay: We have a few songs in the bank but there is no concrete project for now. We have did 3 other shows after the Keep It True in our home town and we have enjoyed every minute of this late return.

15. Although there is no new release planned soon, there has been a select handful of live shows. Including the legendary comeback show at Keep It True festival. I was lucky enough to attend and it was a mind-blowing show. Additionally it is rare to see an 80s band with all the original members reunited, let alone playing in such fine harmony. Can we expect more consistent touring, or is this going to be a rare treat? Or perhaps these shows were it… But I hope not!

Jean Tremblay: For now no concrete plans. We’re enjoying what is happening right now. We will see what will be following…

Jean-François: The Keep It True festival was an enormous blast for us… We always dreamed of playing in Germany. The whole trip went so well, everything just felt into place… We had an autograph signing session that was so great, meeting people from all around the world, really… The show was great, Lynn and the musicians were on such a high adrenaline mode, it really felt great! On top of it, it is available on the Keep It True You Tube channel and everybody can listen to it with a great sound, instead of the usual phone camera with crappy sound! We rehearsed each of us, on our own, and did only two general rehearsals, alltogether. It is amazing how the show came out, really!

16. You can clearly still play some of the best Heavy Metal, but are you still fans? If so, do you check out new bands (and please mention any you find note worthy) or simply stick to the classics? Feel free to mention some influences too!

Jean Tremblay: I like all the major Heavy Metal bands, and I like all good music. My influences are Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Helloween, Metal Church etc…

Lynn Renaud: For my part, I am listening to all kinds of music. I live with my teenage daughter, so I have to endure a lot of good and not so good stuff too. I work hard at putting in her “juke box” some good stuff like Sword, Judas Priest, Fifth Angel and many more.

Jean-François: I live in Montreal, Canada and with my wife, we go see all kinds of shows… The last we went to is Mr. Bungle, with Scott Ian, Mike Patton and Dave Lombardo, my all time favorite drummer (let alone Neil Peart). It was a freaking great show! You could take a listen to a band called Anonymus, from Montreal, they’re a great act. A little bit more hardcore/ punk’ish but really heavy, still…

17. Finally, I would like to wish the band the best for whatever is next. Having a song called “The Sequel” it would be nice if the album had a sequel too… Maybe even a song that is a sequel to “The Sequel”. Anyways, creative advice aside, please give us some info on what to expect / where to find you / why young headbangers need to hear you! Hope to see you on the road again soon!

Jean Tremblay: As I said we don’t have any concrete plans for now. We can be found on Facebook or Spotify also.

Jean-François: And thank you, Jørgen, for keeping Messiah Force’s music alive!