8 Foot Sativa: Metal as anything

By REBECCA BARRY

When they played the metal mecca the London Astoria, 8 Foot Sativa vocalist Justin Niessen incurred the wrath of two young women. The band had just played support for Brazilian big guns Soulfly when the concert-goers "went a bit haywire" and tore the upside-down cross - a symbol of his atheism - from around his neck.

"It just shows what power religion has on people," shrugs the man who wrote the lyrics, "Come on Satan, give us another death ... we believe in what's evil."

But the West Auckland heavy metal band are not Satanists, insists long-haired bassist Brent Fox. They just want to rock the boat. "Religion screws over a lot of people," he says. "Humanity is Satan at the end of the day. People do horrible things to each other, they do horrible things to themselves, they do horrible things to animals, horrible things to the world, and it's just sick."

The success of 8 Foot Sativa's debut album, Hate Made Me, which has sold 4000 copies here in less than a year, would suggest plenty of folk here agree with them.

They're the sort of band that might drive parents to the sort of consternation usually caused by Eminem - the group claim they've outsold the American rapper in some parts of the country. But not since 80s bands Knightshade and Push Push has a New Zealand metal outfit enjoyed such widespread popularity.

As a result, they are one of the most requested acts on radio station the Rock, recently won the Best New Act award from music TV show Squeeze and are about to sign a contract with Roadrunner Records (Soulfly, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage), who will distribute their album in Australia.

"We tend to push ourselves a lot more than anybody else," explains Niessen.

Fox agrees. A few years ago he took on a job in a recording studio to see if he could pull a few strings. It worked, and after honing their skills at parties and clubs around town, they scored a sponsorship deal from the Switched On Gardener and a deal with Intergalactic Records.

A national tour and funding from Trade New Zealand followed, which meant they could take off on a world jaunt in March, including playing at the South By Southwest music industry showcase in Austin, Texas.

"When we were coming up through the ranks of metal there was a lot of negativity and attitude in the bands," says Fox. "'Oh, you can't do it, you can't make an album, you can't afford to do that, blah blah blah'."

Niessen: "We couldn't afford it either, but somehow we managed to pull it off."

"Now there's heaps more metal bands coming through," Fox continues. "The quality is improving all the time. The scene is getting strong, man. Give it a good six months to a year and metal will be a big thing in New Zealand."

If so, 8 Foot Sativa will be leading the charge with their thrash-metal riffs (care of guitarist and sometime music teacher Gary Smith) machinegun percussion and caustic death-metal vocals.

Niessen says he hasn't the confidence for metal's traditional wailing singing style so is content to stick with "screaming and yelling".

Though, even if you can make out the words, it's hard to take the lyrics too seriously once you see the album's cover art: a gigantic marijuana plant riding a motorbike.

"We're happy cats, y'know?" says Fox. "We're laughing and giggling all the time. But deep down we're angry as all hell about the state of the world.

"When people come along to shows it's a positive, happy environment where they can get their aggression out without hurting themselves or hurting other people.

"At the end of the show, everybody's happy and laughing. There's such a good vibe, so many smiles you wouldn't believe it. It's metal euphoria."

* 8 Foot Sativa at True Colours, St James, tomorrow