SACRED REICH Frontman Says First Rehearsal In 10 Years Went 'Surprisingly Well'

The original lineup of SACRED REICH — Phil Rind (bass, vocals),Wiley Arnett (lead guitar),Jason Rainey (rhythm guitar) and Greg Hall (drums) — will reunite for several shows in Europe this summer, including an appearance at the Wacken Open Air festival on August 4. The band has also lined up two "warm-up" dates in Arizona.

"Our first rehearsal the other day went surprisingly well, considering it's been ten years since we've jammed together," Rind told BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "We did 11 songs that came together nicely, but the other five will need a little work. We're concentrating on the first three records and will be doing more material off of 'Ignorance' than we've done in at least 15 years. I can't even remember the last time 'R.I.P.' was in our set list. 'Ignorance' sure has a lot of parts!

"It's funny, we went and saw HEAVEN AND HELL, MEGADETH and MACHINE HEAD the other night, and it struck me, I don't want to hear new HEAVEN AND HELL songs, I want 'Mob Rules' and 'Neon Knights'! Same with MEGADETH. So we're going to take that approach to our set.

"So that's it. We're working away trying to knock the cobwebs off. It's been great to get back together, see everyone and jam again. We're looking forward to these shows and it's going to be a blast."

Metal Blade Records will release a three-disc deluxe reissue of SACRED REICH's "Ignorance" and "Surf Nicaragua" on June 15 (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and June 18 (rest of Europe). Two CDs will be included in the package (both remastered!) as well as a bonus DVD. The package includes liner notes by Rind and Malcom Dome (Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Total Rock Radio) and an extensive booklet with loads of previously unpublished photos.

Phil Rind previously told BLABBERMOUTH.NET about the reissues/box set, "Paul Stottler is completing new artwork, and we pretty much have everything put together. It will be 'Ignorance' and 'Surf Nicaragua' with some extra tracks. We recorded 'Rapid Fire', my favorite JUDAS PRIEST song off 'British Steel', with Rob Halford singing. That was kick ass! It's never been released. We've got some other covers and our original demo, 'Draining You of Life'. So it will be two discs and a DVD. The DVD will have a video for 'Ignorance' (for your information, Don King and Dana Wells were cameramen!) with an interview done in 1987. Also included will be the Dynamo Open Air show from 1989 when we were on tour in Europe with FORBIDDEN. That was one of the most memorable shows we've ever done. It was the first big outdoor show we ever did. It was a special day. We've also put in a little film our friend Eric Braverman did called 'Just Say Sacred'. He was out on the road with us for some California shows when we were toured with SEPULTURA, NAPALM DEATH and SICK OF IT ALL. It's got some funny fan stuff on there. It makes me laugh. Right now it will be released in Europe only, probably in May or June. We're wrestling with old record company to try to get the U.S. rights back to our stuff. Isn't that a bitch?! Hopefully it will work out and we can put the record out in the U.S. as well. We hope so. The whole reason we were going to do a reissue is because we think it's bullshit that if you want to get a SACRED REICH record that's been out of print, it can cost upwards of thirty dollars on eBay for a used copy. I think it's a rip-off and if people still want to get the records we'd like to make them available for less money."

For more information on the reissues, click here.