Few bands embody the raw energy and passion of classic heavy metal quite like Axe Crazy. Hailing from Poland, this powerhouse group has been delivering electrifying riffs and anthemic choruses since their formation in 2010. Inspired by the golden era of NWOBHM and armed with a love for both sci-fi and real-world storytelling, Axe Crazy has built a reputation for keeping the metal flame burning bright.

With their latest album Creatures on the Hunt making waves and new material already in the works, we caught up with the band to talk about their journey, influences, and what the future holds. Join us as we dive deep into the world of Axe Crazy!

Interview

TheNwothm: Can you introduce yourselves and tell us about your roles in Axe Crazy?

A.C: Hello, so Axe Crazy is:

Robson Bigos – Lead Guitar, background vocals

Jacek Boroń – Bass, vocals

Grzegorz Kozikowski – Drums

Adrian Bigos – Lead guitar, vocals

Stanley Cioska – Lead vocals

TheNwothm: How did the band form back in 2010? What was the inspiration behind starting Axe Crazy?

A.C: The Axe Crazy band was formed from the ashes of the Beast band. After some minor personnel changes, we decided to change the name. You could say that Axe Crazy is a natural but improved continuation of what we did before.

TheNwothm: Your name comes from Jaguar’s 1982 single. What made you choose that name, and are they a big influence on your music?

A.C: We always liked the Jaguar’s Axe Crazy single, as well as the Power Games album. Of course this music inspired us, after all it’s an important point on the NWOBHM map.

TheNwothm: How has the heavy metal scene in Poland, especially in Silesia, influenced your music and career?

A.C: We had many great heavy metal bands in Poland, such as Turbo, TSA, VooDoo, Open Fire or Lord Vader. From the typical Silesian bands, the cult KAT, Destroyers or Stos. Some of these bands are of course still active today and obviously had a big influence on our music.

TheNwothm: Poland has a strong metal fanbase—what’s your favourite part about Polish metal culture?

A.C: Yes, there are a lot of metalheads in Poland, I think that the specific thing that make us stand out is that Poles are one of the most craziest crowds at concerts, you can often see surprise in the eyes of foreign performers at this wild reaction of the audience. It’s really cool hahaha

TheNwothm: Were there any specific bands or artists that inspired your early sound and style?

A.C: It would be hard to name a few artists who influenced us at the beginning, because there were already so many of them. Let’s say it was hard rock and heavy metal music from the 70s and 80s. And over the following years the number of artists we could be inspired by of course grew and grew, but the band was constantly trying to create its own style, which is of course difficult within the classic heavy metal. Some say that everything has already been said on this topic hahaha.

TheNwothm: Many of your songs explore themes of science fiction, social issues, and heavy metal itself. What draws you to these topics?

A.C: It seems to us that science fiction or fantasy themes are very suitable for heavy metal. Besides, they have unlimited resources from which to draw, we are limited only by our imagination. But as you have noticed, we also touch on mundane topics, because sometimes everyone wants to share their thoughts or get something off their chest. And as for heavy metal – it should also be honoured in the lyrics.

TheNwothm: Your first EP Angry Machines came out in 2014. Do you remember much from writing this first songs?

A.C: Most of the material for this EP was written much earlier, between 2008 and 2010, so before Axe Crazy was born, really. Unfortunately, for many reasons, it saw the light of day in a proper form only in 2014.

TheNwothm: Ride on the Night marked your first full-length release in 2016. What were some key moments in the making of that album? Did it come together quite fast?

A.C: The work on the album went smoothly but without rushing. Some ideas were born during the recording of Angry Machines. Besides, we recorded in the same studio (MP Studio in Częstochowa), with the same sound engineer (Mariusz Piętka), so we knew what to expect. It was a great time 🙂

TheNwothm: What song to you is the most stand out song from that record?

A.C: This is a difficult question, each of us probably has our favourite songs from this album, but the common denominator would probably be both parts of Astral Tales, Guardians Of The Light or the title track.

TheNwothm: What do you all do when your kicking back and not making music?

A.C: Each of us has our own interests, such as sports, electronics, literature… and of course music – when we’re not making it, we simply listen to it to relax 🙂

TheNwothm: If you weren’t musicians, what careers do you think you’d be in?

A.C: In our case, the word career is a bit of an exaggeration, because unfortunately we don’t make a living from music. Each of us has a normal daily job, and music is a passion, a way to escape from this everyday life. We can’t imagine life without playing music, but if it were, it would probably transfer into our other interests.

TheNwothm: Your latest album, Creatures on the Hunt, was released in 2023. How does it compare to your previous work?

A.C: On the latest album Creatures On The Hunt we continue the path we have chosen before, we have not changed our style. The differences are visible in the line-up change, especially in the vocalist position, because as we know, Tomasz “Judas” Świdrak left the band shortly after recording the album Hexbreaker. This time, two vocalists stood behind the microphone – a new member of the band Stanley Cioska and guitarist Adrian.

TheNwothm: Can you tell us about some of your favourite songs on the album?

A.C: Once again, we have to say that it is hard for us to choose which songs on the album are objectively the best. Each of these songs has something specific in it that made us accept it andput it on the album. However, the ones that appear most often in the concert setlist are the title track, Destructor, Back To The Future, Chamber Of Thrilli and Straight Ahead.

TheNwothm: And what lead to the direction of the awesome album artwork?

A.C: When we already had the title of the album, a few concepts for the cover appeared, it was known that it had to be in the style of 80s horrors. Ultimately, we chose the idea of ​​five monsters that are the alter egos of the band’s musicians, i.e. us. The background was a perfect match for a photo of a big city at night.

TheNwothm: You’ve been featured on several compilation albums. How did those collaborations come about, and do you have a favourite track from them?

A.C: Yes, we appeared on compilations such as Trveheim Vol. 1, True Metal Lives III – The Hard Road To Hell, Europe Against Blodshed In Ukraine or the Polish compilation released by Musick Magazine – Budząc Umarłych Volume IX. Usually publishers write to us with such a proposal and we gladly agree, because it’s always some kind of publicity for the band. When it comes to songs, sometimes the publisher made the choice, and sometimes we did. We tried to make the chosen song fit the given release.

TheNwothm: What’s been your most memorable live performance so far?

A.C: There were a few of them, we think the most memorable ones were those at bigger festivals, like the German Trveheim in 2018, Metalheadz Open Air a year later or the Bulgarian Running Free Festival last year. We also have very fond memories of a few concerts in Poland, like a joint concert with Manilla Road in Warsaw in 2017 or with Praying Mantis in Krakow in 2019.

TheNwothm: What are your touring plans for 2025?

A.C: For now, between April and June we will visit several Polish cities: Wrocław, Katowice, Kraków and Gdańsk. In September we will visit Germany for the Hard Summer Festival and Erntedrunj Fest Open Air and then Luxembourg to play there at Eisleker Metal Fest. We hope that the calendar for this year will continue to fill up.

TheNwothm: Are you working on any new material?

A.C: Yes, we are working on new songs and we can actually say that most of the material for the new album has already been written.

TheNwothm: What are your long-term goals for Axe Crazy? Any dream collaborations or projects you’d love to pursue?

A.C: First of all, recording a new album, we hope that this will happen at the beginning of next year and of course we hope that we’ll be able to play at some big festivals, wherever they are.

TheNwothm: How can our readers buy your music and merch?

A.C: The best way is to contact us directly via social media. We are also on streaming platforms like Spotify, and of course we always have a merch stand at our concerts, so we cordially invite you to shop 🙂

TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you online?

A.C: Of course, mainly on our fanpages on Facebook and Instagram, so we invite you to follow us to stay up to date on all the band’s activities 🙂

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

A.C: Greetings to all readers and fans of NWOTHM! Support young bands! See you at concerts! Cheers!

Bandcamp: axecrazy.bandcamp.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/axecrazyband

Instagram: www.instagram.com/axecrazyband

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/AxeCrazyBand