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:	post by Arrik_ at 2005-07-14 00:22:55

Like moths to the flame, bands that change themselves to fit the times are almost invariably destroyed. Evolution is not without exception a positive occurrence, especially when driven by greed rather than artistry. Or, to place a finer point on it: spinelessness rather than self-confidence.

Legendary Newton thrash metallers Candy Striper Death Orgy – who perform this evening with MOD at The Bomb Shelter in Manchester – understand the path of perseverance and remaining true better than most. The band has been keeping the torch of New England heavy metal burning for close to 20 years now while lesser bands chased trends holding up matches.

For CSDO ringleader Eric Paone, “Death to False Metal” is more than a slogan on hipster T-shirts.

“I’ve had people saying for years, ‘Oh, when are you going to grow up and mellow out,’ ” the 34-year-old vocalist/guitarist said. “But I’m not going to write an acoustic song so I can fit someone else’s definition of ‘growth.’ If I ever want to write an acoustic song, I’ll do it. But no one should hold their breath waiting for it. In a lot of ways, I’m angrier now than ever before.

“I came out of the womb listening to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, and I’ve been banging my head to Metallica since 1983,” Paone added. “I don’t do nice.”

Now with heavy metal music experiencing its first bona fide resurgence since the late ’80s, CSDO is poised to finally break through later this summer with its upcoming slab of high-energy classic thrash, “Nitromethane.”

“Nitromethane is the fuel drag racers use,” Paone explained. “It seems to fit our music. We try to come at our songs fast and furious. We hope people feel that sort of power when we play.”

The band sees the upcoming record as a souped-up version of what it has been banging away at for the better part of the last two decades.

“It’s the same old death and destruction,” Paone laughed. “The music hasn’t changed that much. Playing out for so many years, we’ve nurtured the sound and gotten really comfortable with it, but the basics haven’t been altered much. We’re actually really proud of that.”

Candy Striper first began in 1987 while Paone was still in high school. After a couple false starts, the band got serious in 1988, debuting at the Salem Rock Wars with a set so brutally blistering the organizers tried to pull the plug halfway through.

The powers that be may have hated CSDO, but the kids loved them.

Before long, the band was drawing crowds of more than 1,000 to its shows as one of the mainstays of an East Coast thrash scene that also included Formacide, Wargasm, Subjugated and Nuclear Assault.

Everything changed in the ’90s, however, with the sudden explosion of grunge.

“A lot of metal bands suddenly started changing into alternative bands to try to get signed,” Paone said. “ ‘All aboard the gravy train!’ Nobody wanted to stand up for metal. Bands used to go to each other’s shows and help each other out. But in the ’90s everyone got greedy and started looking out for Number 1. The scene fell apart.”

Still, Paone doesn’t have any regrets about when he came into the scene.

“We came in on the tail end of big thing,” he said. “If we had showed up a year earlier, we probably would have been signed to a crappy label and gotten screwed.

“It doesn’t matter,” Paone continued. “We always played for the people in the pit, no one else. Those people are always there, whether the metal is huge or hibernating. We were happy to stick around and keep the scene alive.”

Sort of like Yoda, Paone always knew metal would return triumphant one day.

“It was too powerful to stay underground forever,” he explained. “This is an exciting time. All these older bands like Testament and Meliah Rage are coming back now. More and more kids are getting into metal at the same time older people in their 30s and even 40s are coming back to it. It’s all just building again. Hopefully, it will all turn out better than last time.”

However, instead of all the subgenres currently floating around – metalcore, power metal, etc. – he’d like to see more diversity and less categorization.

“Too many metal bands sound the same these days,” Paone said. “There’s this trend that’s sort of based on playing 10 million blast beats, ripping off some Slayer and Metallica riffs, then going into white noise. They build up to one highlight and the rest of the song blows. It’s all style, no substance. That’s the one thing that could kill this new scene.”

It’s also what creates the need for a tough band with songwriting prowess like CSDO, Paone conceded.

“It’s true,” he said. “I’m not grunting my brain out like I’m being stabbed. We don’t have any gimmicks or fancy, tight clothes. We prefer to just get onstage and let the music do the talking. I always like this music because it made you lose it and forget all your problems. I don’t want to ruin that by being dishonest and making us into a fashionable band.”

In return, the band only seeks honesty from its fans as well, part and parcel of a relationship Paone sees as necessarily equitable.

“The coolest part for me has always been to see people in the audience feeling our songs the same way I feel watching the bands I love,” Paone said. “I still go off in the pit. That energy shared between band and fan builds on itself and creates a bigger experience for everyone.”

As for being New Hampshire-based, Paone said it doesn’t bother him one bit.

“I actually like how quiet it is around here,” he said, before adding with his trademark cackle, “Of course, once we start playing it gets not so quiet in a real hurry.”

For more information, visit www.csdo.net or e-mail csdoband@aol.com.

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