Interview by Brian McLean
Being at the wrong place at the wrong time attempting to do what one sees as right can dramatically alter the course of life. All it takes is a brief moment in time.
For a die-hard Chicago Cub's fan named Steve Bartman, he knows all to well the outcome when things don't go according to plan.
Bartman obtained his life changing experience when he reached for a foul ball during the Cub's post-season run in 2003. Bartman’s change was to come in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.
While Bartman was attempting to snag that highly sought after foul ball souvenir, Cubs left fielder Moises Alou was reaching with an open glove for the ball at the same time.
The result was no foul ball for Bartman as well as a missed opportunity for a much needed out that would have brought the Cubs one step closer to breaking the Curse of the Goat.
Some say Bartman's actions started the Cubs downward out of control spiral that eventually prevented the Cubbies from making an appearance in the World Series. It would have been their first World Series appearance since 1945. Instead the Florida Marlins represented the National League and were crowned World Series Champions.
In a matter of moments, Bartman's life changed.
For a brief time period, he was a probably one of the most despised individuals in the Chicago area.
Eventually there was closure for the fans, mainly in the form of imploding the infamous baseball into shreds in front of Harry Caray's Restaurant in an effort to rid the Cubs of the curse.
Putting the blame on Bartman was just a convenient excuse for tagging him as a scapegoat. Ultimately it was the Cubs that could or should have controlled their World Series destiny.
For Chicago area residents Enforsaken, being at the right place at the right time is indeed a life altering experience, but for the better. Unlike the Cubs, Enforsaken are working hard to control their destiny. And it all started with their second ever show as a band when they shared the bill with Shadows Fall.
According to vocalist Steve Sagala, landing the gig that put Enforsaken on the same bill as future label mates Shadows Fall was the luck of the draw.
Sagala says some of the band members were familiar with promoters in the area and Enforsaken was giving the opportunity to be put on the same bill.
“At that time, it was huge for us because that drew our attention to Matt (Bachand) from Shadows Fall.”
Enforsaken explained to Bachand they were planning on recording the Embraced demo and Bachand expressed an interest to release and distribute it.
Sagala says that Enforsaken had to finance it and do the recording but Bachand would do the legwork of getting the Enforsaken name out by distributing the disc.
Bachand's work then assisted Enforsaken in securing a contact with Lifeless Records in Germany.
Sagala says that got the European side of things going.
Slugging the Scene
After slugging it out for several years on the local Chicago metal scene, the persistence, dedication, and diligent hard rock of “Do It Yourself” promoting paid off for Enforsaken.
Whether passing out flyers, giving away free CDs or any and everything else to get the Enforsaken name out in the public eye has allowed the five member band to separate themselves from the many other metal acts in the Chicago area.
“We try to do our own thing. We don't try to be the most extreme band on the planet and we don't try to be the coolest band on the scene. We just do what we do and that's about it.”
Sagala makes it very simple.
“We take care of business.”
Sagala also emphasized Enforsaken lends a helping hand to others in the
metal scene.
Members of Enforsaken have been there whether it was in other bands or while members of Enforsaken. All members have witnessed the Chicago scene at the lowest of the lows but now the scene appears to be on an upswing. Something that Enforsaken wants a definite part of.
Down but Not Out
Before landing the contract with Olympic Records, a member of the Century Media family, Enforsaken inked a contract with World War III Music in the summer of 2002, but things went south.
Enforsaken was ready to record their full-length debut album but at the same time WWIII Music was having some financial hardships.
Luckily for Enforsaken, the band was able to get out of their contract.
According to Sagala, the minute Enforsaken received word, via an official document letting them out of the contract with WWIII, the taking care of business side of Enforsaken cranked up.
“We immediately started putting the promo packs back out there.”
Within two weeks, Enforsaken received a response from Olympic Century Media.
According to Sagala, Olympic CM wanted Enforsaken to prove to them a little more of what Enforsaken was capable of.
Thus, Enforsaken sent additional material along with a video since no one had seen the band perform live.
Sagala says they took it all into account in a matter of a few months.
During this time, Olympic was part of the Century Media family but Sagala says it just wasn't made public or official.
Murphy's Connection
Enforsaken's full-length debut consists of ten solid songs that have a European style influence, mainly the Gothenburg style, a melodic death metal style in other words.
Sagala says European bands are influencing the American bands and scene and feels fortunate that Enforsaken has been able to be part of it over the last several years.
For true metal fans, there's a touch of greatness on The Forever Endeavor, the Enforsaken debut with the fretwork from James Murphy of Death, Obituary and Testament fame to name a few.
Murphy lent his talents on the closing track, an eight-minute epic song called “All for Nothing.”
Sagala says guitarist Steven Stell had been in contact with Murphy through the internet a couple times.
“He was really into what Enforsaken was doing and he was trying to hook some things up on the recording end but logistically with travel and such, it just would not work. He wanted to do the mastering and asked out of the blue if he could lay down a solo.”
We totally agreed, said Sagala.
Sagala continued, “When we recorded the track with the solo, we couldn't believe how awesome it was. Our jaws dropped.”
Sagala said he is amazed at the track Murphy laid down while recovering from the treatment he went through.
“He sounds better than ever and the mastering sounds great. It was great to work with James.”
Forever for the Endeavor
Once Sagala was able to hold the finished product in hand he had the feeling of total excitement.
Sagala grew up listening to Century Media bands like Grave and Sameal and to hold and see a product that would be available in retail outlets, Sagala said it was like being a kid again.
The debut was ready to roll for sometime but just needed a release date and according to Sagala, there were several factors involved.
Originally the disc was supposed to be released in September 2003 but Century Media felt like it would get lost in the shuffle along with the releases of other heavy hitters such as Arch Enemy and Nevermore just to name a few. Sagala says that Century Media really wanted to push those bands when those discs hit the streets.
In the end, it all worked out to the benefit of Enforsaken by having the release date pushed back. It gave more time for the mastering part of things.
When the disc finally was released, it was packaged with a bonus compilation disc of other bands. Oddly, one of those bands on the disc was Enforsaken and their song “Tales of Bitterness,” the same version as the one on The Forever Endeavor.
Having a disc released with a bonus is something that's not new with bands.
Sagala believes there's several reasons why Olympic elected to release The Forever Endeavor as they did.
It allows the opportunity to promote the Olympic side of Century Media, to help sales on a new band as well as just wanting to give people their money's worth.
“A lot of labels are doing that with their bands. There are a lot of re-releases and DVDs. With all the people downloading, the labels want to give the people more bang for their buck. I think the metal community has really responded big time to that, giving a lot of extra goodies for the regular price of a CD. It's really been helping sales of metal records and keeping everything strong on the retail end of things.”
The Endeavor has Begun
Enforsaken has embarked on their metal endeavor. The five-member outfit has the heart and souls as well as passion to succeed in the metal world and the talent to write songs that have the staying power. Enforsaken possesses the ability to influence the younger generation of American metal heads.
If Enforsaken was not on the bill with Shadows Fall, things may very well be different for the band.
A band can play their cards right and do whatever they need to do but Sagala believes it comes down what he calls the order of the day.
Sagala says their style of music has been around for a couple years and at the moment, it's huge but who knows in the next few years.