Guitarist CRAIG LOCICERO Discusses FORBIDDEN Reunion

SPIRALARMS guitarist Craig Locicero has issued the following statement regarding the reunion of his late '80s/early '90s thrash band FORBIDDEN (formerly FORBIDDEN EVIL):

"The ball got rolling after I saw the 'Get Thrashed' documentary in San Francisco a few months back in San Francisco. It was really easy to get wrapped into the nostalgia. Memories came flooding back to me of what it was like to be at the forefront of the of thrash metal movement.

"FORBIDDEN were part of the second wave of thrash, but I was sneaking into clubs at the age of 14 and witnessed the first wave for myself.

"Steve 'Zetro' Souza [former EXODUS singer] and his family sat next to my wife and I at the screening. He kept hitting my leg and saying, 'See, Craigy, it's time for FORBIDDEN to show the world what thrash was about!'

"I felt very strongly that it had to be right. I had to actually 'feel it' when it finally came time to play some metal again.

"I've never been one to fake anything. That was the main reason that I felt the need to get away from FORBIDDEN in the first place. I felt metal was burnt and I was burnt on metal. Had to get away, turns out it was for 10 years. Well, I'm feelin' it now!

"I'll be completely honest here. I think most things that are considered metal now are not metal at all. This is only my opinion, of course. When I watch 'Headbanger's Ball' now, I can't even tell the difference between the commercial spots and the videos. To my ears and eyes, somehow the spirit has gotten completely lost. It seems as if there is more of a formula that the Hot Topic generation can be generically plugged into. A 'slapped-in-the-face-sideways ' haircut, throw-yer-guitar jump move, and a guy who screams tortured pain lyrics while the other cat whines the same four notes over and over again. Oh yeah, don't forget the IRON MAIDEN guitar harmonies. No disrespect to the Gods, MAIDEN, but even they have to be sick of it! Boring. But no more boring then what happened to metal in the early '90s. It's WAY TOO SAFE! No risk or balls involved. There's gonna be a shake up! I hope all of these bands can adjust to the industry that's about to mass-flush them. FORBIDDEN was a victim of the same cycle. I took the opportunity to use it as a growing period and learned a lot about song writing and myself.

"So here we are today. Everybody has their own life either in or out of music. I have SPIRALARMS as my main priority and I will see it through. I am extremely proud of what we do, at least it's honest. Paul's [Bostaph] jamming with TESTAMENT again, but he's always pushed really hard to get it back together for some gigs. Russ [Anderson, vocals] and Glen [Alvelais, guitar] still play music, but they have great jobs. Matt's [Camacho, bass] studying law! Tim's [Calvert, guitar] a pilot in Seattle and Steve [Jacobs, drums] lives in Ohio. So I wondered how we will pull this off.

"Well, the five Bay Area guys met a few weeks ago and agreed that it has to be done. We have to put time aside to have some fun and show everybody what we can do, even now.

"There was a reunion of sorts back in 2001 for Chuck Billy's Thrash of the Titans. At the time, I could not be a part of it because of the scheduling conflicts I had recording the MANMADEGOD record with Rick Rubin in L.A. It killed me! I wanted to be there for rehearsals and the gig itself, but it was my turn to track. I was recording guitars for the week previous and after, every day! Bummer. I gave the guys my 100% blessing to carry on for Chuck, the cause and the fans. From all the video I've seen it was a great night, but it still wasn't the real FORBIDDEN yet.

"Through the very few line-up changes we had, FORBIDDEN was always Russ's and my baby from the beginning to the ending. We wrote all of the lyrics together and I wrote the majority of the music. The lyrics gradually got better, as did the music because we'd always had great players who contributed a lot of really good ideas. Matt was there since the first record, he was the heart and soul of the energy and the fun we had. On the first two records, Paul was a huge part of the writing process as far as arrangements go. He would always bring something cool to the table, stuff that helped make us unique. Glen was a monster shredder that always blew peoples minds with the spice he was adding on the top. He really pushed me and is still is a shredder!

"There were also two other VERY important members who had great input throughout the years. Tim Calvert played and wrote from 'Twisted' to 'Green'. He was another amazing source of ideas, we made a great team. The other was Steve Jacobs, possibly the most underrated drummer ever! It was difficult to replace the guy that replaced Dave Lombardo in SLAYER, but Steve was amazing on both 'Distortion' and 'Green'. Hopefully both guys will be available to play our local show and be a part of the material they helped create. That would be the perfect scenario.

"To say I was lucky to play with all of these guys is an understatement. They made me so much better and we all grew up together."

FORBIDDEN EVIL (pre-FORBIDDEN) "near-reunion" at Thrash of the Titans on August 11, 2001 at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco, California: