It shouldn’t be a shock to know that Stray From The Path guitarist Thomas Williams admires the music of Rage Against The Machine. The similarities between the two outfits have been front and center over the years, from the politically and socially activist lyrical content, to the familiar hybrid of rap and metal and more.
As part of a recently published feature for Metal Hammer, Williams spoke of the impact the music of the aforementioned multi-platinum rap metal pioneers has had him on. For him, it all started with hearing “Bulls On Parade“, the lead single from the band’s 3x multi-platinum sophomore album, “Evil Empire“.
He spoke of hearing the band ignited his passion for heavier music:
“I was pretty young and heavy into sports at that point – I liked music, but it was never like my fucking everything… until I heard Rage Against The Machine. It changed my fuckin’ life! I fell in love instantly and listened to Evil Empire nonstop, then got the self-titled album and didn’t listen to anything else – I was obsessed.
You get really into a lot of stuff when you’re young – when I was a kid I was super into Korn too, but that never really lasted for me, and a lot of questionable stuff like Mudvayne that really doesn’t hold up. Only Rage and Deftones really hold up for me now and Rage are still a massive inspiration, setting an example for how other bands should do it.”
He continued:
“Stray From The Path are very fortunate; I think our band is fuckin’ great, we have one of the best drummers on the planet and one of the best vocalists too. We’re a fuckin’ good band and there aren’t many bands that can touch us, but I know a lot of bands that are fuckin’ good that can’t the time of day so I know how lucky we are. Rage taught me that you have this platform you’re lucky to have and you need to make the best of it. I’m not saying we’re some superheroes that are here saving the day – we just talk about shit that matters to us.
There are people that hate us for it, people that love us for it but that never swayed us. When we put out ‘Goodnight Alt-Right‘ we fuckin’ got targeted by thousands of people around the globe who were mad at us. We still put out Badge & A Bullet parts 1 and 2, now part 3 and people still fuckin’ come after us for it.
All I know is, I’ve heard stories about Rage Against The Machine working it so that a dollar of every ticket they sell goes towards a cause they care about. 20, 30, 40 thousand dollars a night going to local charities in each city they play. That is inspiring to me.
How could you not look up to a band like that? They’re the pinnacle. I look up to all of the guys in that band, but especially Tom Morello and the way he plays. He takes all these pedals and tries to make weird shit, it’s so great. But I saw them live for the first time a few weeks back and being in that room affirmed for me that the one person that stands out most in that band is Zack De La Rocha.
Back when I first heard them, I was listening to guys like Corey Taylor and Chino Moreno, but absolutely nobody sounds like Zack. Nobody spits bars like Zack – and as I’ve got older I’ve realized his lyrics are amazing, dropping references you need textbooks to understand. It’s an education.”
You can find more from Williams over at Metal Hammer, while you can hear more from Stray From The Path tomorrow, September 09th, when their new album “Euthanasia” is released.
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