4arm’s Danny Tomb: “There’s a Real Sense of Freedom Here.”

Australian-born metal band 4arm have been shredding since 2004 but haven’t been making noise internationally until recently, with their newest album, Submission for Liberty, and current tour opening for thrash metal heavyweight, Slayer.

Our Gabi Chepurny spoke with lead singer Danny Tomb about the tour, giving up and the uncommon label of being a metal band from Down Under. (Photo by Jesse Marass).

 How has the tour been going?

The tour’s been great. It’s sort of exceeded expectations for us, really. The crowds have been pretty welcoming so it’s been great.

How did you guys get picked up on this tour?

Luck, really. We kind of sent emails out and got the reply that we wanted, so it was pretty much as easy as that.

4arm has been a band since 2004. Have there been any major changes since then?

As with any band it takes time to develop as a band, especially in your writing and that sort of thing. Nothing dramatic has really changed except for us getting better at what we do.

Did you ever want to give up?

We did kind of give up at one stage but only in regards to what we were trying to achieve in Australia. We gave up on Australia completely and focused on international stuff and getting on tours like this. But giving up hasn’t really crossed our minds as this is something we’ve been wanting to pursue for a very long time.

There’s zero metal scene in Australia. How did you become a part of it?

Yeah, there’s hardly anything in Australia. It’s very small. For myself, I got into metal because I had an older sister who was listening to Whitesnake and stuff like that back when I was a little kid. And then, I think I was in grade six and a friend of mine was like, “Have you heard this?” It was Metallica, Ride the Lightning, and I was like, “No, never heard of it before.” So I listened to it and that was it. I was obsessed with metal.

How do you like the U.S.?

I love the United States. It was very easy to relocate here. I’ve been wanting to come to the United States since I was a kid, so it lived up to all of my expectations as soon as I got here. I love this country. There’s a real sense of freedom here.

Do you pull material to play at shows from your prior three albums or is there some new stuff going on?

We’re kind of playing material from the most recent album, Submission to Liberty. But we’re also playing one song from the album before that and one new song. So, a little bit of past, a little bit of future going on.

Speaking of the future, what are your plans for after this tour?

After this tour, we’re going to take Christmas off, spend it with our family’s and that sort of thing, then get started on the new album. We’re also booking stuff throughout Europe and looking to come back to the States as well.

Give us a highlight from this tour.

In Montreal, I was standing on the side of the stage during the Slayer soundcheck and Kerry King walked over and gave me his guitar. I ended up soundchecking with Slayer instead of Kerry. That was a definite highlight of not just the tour but my life, really.