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VALIENT THORR
ROCK LEGENDS FROM VENUS
by Aysha
From the August 2006 issue of Prick Magazine.
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 Valient Thorr is (L-R) Eidan Thorr, Lucian Thorr, Valient Himself, Dr. Professor Nitewolf Strangees,
and Odinn Thorr. |
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Valient Thorr's sound may bear a resemblance to '70s arena rockers like Thin Lizzy and KISS, but you won't hear singer Valient Himself wailing about good old times. Valient Thorr's riffs can get you hooked, but if you listen closely you’re going to hear a pretty searing message about the current state of affairs. But first things first, Valient Thorr isn't exactly from anywhere we're familiar with. The band is actually from inside the planet Venus, Burlatia to be exact. So how do a bunch of Venusians find themselves influenced by bands from Earth?
“We were always around. We were around since before this Earth even started, so we've gotten lots and lots of signals from, you know, many different time streams," Himself explains.
"There were radical radio stations in the beginning when FM started. They showed and played tons of good rock 'n' roll music. We looked at all the different jobs and options that you could have on Earth and this one seemed like the best conduit for us to get our messages across."
The burly members of Valient Thorr include Valient Himself, guitarists Odinn and Eidan Thorr, bassist Dr. Professor Nitewolf Strangees, and drummer Lucian Thorr. Despite their appearances, they were scientists before they picked up their Earth musical instruments and started banging away.
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 Odinn Thorr on guitar |
 Lucian Thorr on drums |
 Dr. Professor Nitewolf Strangees
on bass |
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"Earth was a baby planet next to the dying planet Venus, and Earth was seeded after the dinosaurs were killed by the weather here," Himself explains. "Earth was seeded with all these baby Venusians, which were your ancestors."
"We were scientists who studied the effects of the different weather on Earth and the things that people did while they lived and what effects they had and which would be the best time stream to live in. Then we actually messed up and crashed and ... with the technology being so low here ... we actually don't even know if there's anyone left inside of the planet Venus [in] this time stream we live in. They may all be dead, we may have failed."
So it seems Valient Thorr is here to stay. Despite having possibly failed one mission, the band has taken on a significant one here on Earth by providing us with an objective perspective.
"Even if we aren't from here, we are viewing it from outside all the problems," says Himself. "You have to back out of those problems and see how small they are and see how you can untangle them; you can't get right in the middle of them. When you're right in the middle of some things, you only see one side of it and can't look at the whole picture. [We] try to come up with good solutions."
Some of the issues tackled on Valient Thorr's second album, Legend of the World, include capitalism and war, and more specifically those division lines we create, both physical and personal.
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 Eidan Thorr on guitar |
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 Valient Himself on vocals |
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"We were all born onto this land, we should all share this land and live on this land," Himself says. "So it's ridiculous to fight someone else because they are from somewhere else. Divisions and lines and borders are ridiculous. All the land on Earth was once hooked together. It was called Pangaea and it broke apart because of the weather.
"There are serious issues that politicians will put up in front of you such as abortion, immigration, gay marriage, and things like that [which put] division lines between us," he continues. "But what we need to be thinking about are bigger scope things such as the environmental issues and war that is killing people all the time for these silly little sacred pissing ground things.
"Basically, this is a land we've all been given and pretty soon we are all temporary," Himself goes on. "We could all just be dead if they keep messing with these silly weapons, especially our country. In this county, the United States, the one we've been living in for a long time, for them to go after people and say it's in the name of weapons of mass destruction when they have the most gigantic stockpile of weapons of mass destruction than anybody on the planet; I find it hypocritical. It makes me puke in my mouth a little bit."
For someone so outspoken about his views, his one and only tattoo of a griffin, a creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, seems very appropriate.
"I waited for a very long time to mark my Earth body, but I did it because it stood for something I cared about," he says. "It stood for wisdom and courage and speed and radicalness. I didn't want anything on my body unless I drew it. I had a guy named Josh down at Axis [Tattoo] in Corpus Christi do it for me. He was a cool cat and he's a very amazing artist."
Valient Thorr isn't afraid to get its messages across no matter how radical they may seem. And the band intends to continue spreading this message through its classic rock jams.
"Tell people to quit freakin' out, tell people to definitely start freakin' out," says Himself.
"Either one, whichever one works for them, but definitely when they're into the music. One good way to get it out there is to start headbanging again. Banging and air guitaring is a way to fully give yourself up to the music. A lot of people forgot how to do that in 1986, so remind them to keep banging."
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Valient Thorr is currently on the Warped Tour.
For more information, go to www.valientthorr.com, or www.volcoment.com.
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