Who's The Boss? Ex-MANOWAR Guitarist Ross The Boss

Who's The Boss? Ex-MANOWAR Guitarist Ross The Boss In New Band DEATH DEALER




By Kelley Simms


Ross "The Boss" Friedman, legendary co-founder/guitarist of MANOWAR
and ex-member of influential New York punk band the DICTATORS, has
joined forces with some other well-known metal heavyweights to create a
new supergroup called DEATH DEALER.


Joining Mr. Friedman in Death Dealer is vocalist Sean Peck (CAGE),
guitarist Stu Marshall (EMPIRES OF EDEN), bassist Mike Davis (HALFORD,
LIZZY BORDEN) and drummer Rhino (Manowar).





The band had been in secret-planning mode for a year and only just
announced the arrival of Death Dealer a few weeks ago. Through the
clattering of bats connecting with balls rattling off wire net cages at
Friedman’s batting cage he owns in Queens, he filled me in on all the
details about his new band.


“About a year ago, Sean starts contacting me and we were talking a
lot about the election and other stuff that people like to talk about,”
Friedman said. “He asked me if I’d like to play on something he had
going and I said, “Why not?” I like playing with different people and
doing other things. Then Stu calls me and is telling me that he idolized
me and grew up listening to Manowar and was a big fan of my guitar
playing. He sent me a track and I thought it was tremendous and we
started taking it from there. I asked who was in the band and he said
Rhino, and I said, ‘I’m in!,’ because I’ve always wanted to play with
Rhino. If you read the bio, they either wanted K.K. Downing or me! And
K.K. Downing is retired. The first time I heard that, I was very
flattered.”


After two releases, ROSS THE BOSS solo band is on hold. However,
they are working on material for a third release, but at the moment
Death Dealer is Friedman’s top priority. The songs that will make the
debut release, Warmaster, weren’t done piecemeal, as the songwriting was
done together as a band but the individual parts were recorded
separately. Death Dealer is ready to unleash their new material on an
unsuspecting but anxious metal community.


“The metal is more brutal than the Ross The Boss band. There’s more
of an emphasis on thrash speed and precision. It’s flat-out nasty. I
think there’s a really fine mix of songs. I’m not going to be the judge
of it, I’m going to let the public be the judge of it.”






The thing that will set Death Dealer apart from other power metal
bands is the experience and the professionalism of the musicians
involved.


“I think this band is more Big League, if you know what I mean. Sean
Peck is the best vocalist. Right now, there is not one single human
being on this planet that can sing better than him. He was great in
Cage, but he’s never had these songs, the platform and the band
chemistry like this. He’s a lean, mean, fighting machine. I’ve played
with some really great singers, but this guy is flat-out the best. He
has the highs, he’s got the lows, too, and everything in between. He’s a
man of a thousand voices. I think that the singing and the songwriting
will set us apart from everybody else. And we haven’t even scratched the
surface with our songwriting ability, just wait till our next album.”


There are a lot of these “supergroups” popping up all the time, but is Death Dealer an actual band or a musical side project?

“This is going to be a full-time touring band. I didn’t want
anything to do with a project or a one-off. We want this band to be
around for a very long time. We want to take our place in the hierarchy
of heavy metal touring bands. Which, I think we’re going to do ... I
know we’re going to do.”


The album hasn’t been released yet, but it’s done, recorded and
ready to go. The band is entertaining offers from record labels and the
expectations are pretty high.


“I’m having such a good time and I can’t believe how great it is,”
concludes Friedman. “I don’t want to super-psyche you out, but that’s
the way I’m feeling. When this record comes, everyone should grab it.
When we play live everyone should come see us. Give us a shot, give us a
chance and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed because Death Dealer
will absolutely rule.”