THRUST – Headbanging And Fist Held High!
Theron Moore
April 2018
 Thrust (l-r): Joe Rezendes, Ron Cooke, Eric Claro, Ray Gervais and Angel Rodriguez |
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I discovered Thrust on the Metal Massacre 4 compilation album that I purchased at Appletree Records in Rockford, Illinois back in 1985. I was 17 years old, working fast food and not making a lotta bread, so I’d hit up record stores like Appletree that had killer import and underground record sections and buy compilation albums. More bang for the buck, so to speak.
I quickly became a fan of Metal Blade Records with the bands they were signing, who just seemed to embody what heavy metal should look and sound like to me. When you’re a kid, you just wanna rock, and Metal Blade had the roster to do it.
What struck me about Metal Massacre 4 was it featured a lot of Chicago bands, and Chi-Town was only 90 minutes away. I recognised Trouble and Zoetrope, but it’d be years later, speaking to the great Paul Speckmann (Master, Abomination etc.), that I realised that War Cry was not only a Chicago band, but a very influential one at that, and that was Paul’s group.
Every band on Metal Massacre 4 was killer, but it was Thrust that really got my attention with their song ‘Destructer’. The title alone was pure metal in and of itself, and that hooked me. The song just banged away, heavy as hell. It was no frills and no glam, and that’s what I was looking for.
In the last few years I began writing a series of books – All My Friends Are Rock Stars – that examine various Midwestern cities and their local hard rock and metal scenes from the 80s to the present day. When I had the opportunity to speak to Thrust founding member and guitarist Ron Cooke, I picked his brain about everything rock ‘n’ roll, Thrust, and Chicago’s legendary rock scene.
It was interesting talking to him about how he first got into heavy rock. “I remember, when I was a kid, I saw Kiss on The Paul Lynde Show” says Cooke. “That’s all it took for me. I saw Ace Frehley’s guitar smoking and I knew I had to get one! It was the Halloween show, really, really cool. It was Kiss at the height of who they were and what they were doing at the time. I was 16. I actually had a fake ID card I used to get into all the clubs for free. Hell, I was playing clubs at age 16 anyway, when the legal age to get in was 21. My first concert, my first big one, was Rush with April Wine.”
 Ron Cooke |
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If you didn’t grow up in the Midwest understand this: Rush was huge. When the band played the International Amphitheater in Chicago on their Moving Pictures tour, radio station WLS broadcast 15 minutes of the concert over the air. They were that popular.
“Actually, my first metal exposure was Thrust opening for Michael Schenker, Motörhead, and Judas Priest,” reveals the guitarist. “It was an amazing time indeed. That, to me, was the epitome of metal, and Thrust was right there in the middle of it. My favourite hangout back then was a place called Haymakers. That was the first true bar gig for Thrust. You could see a lot of really good bands there back in the day; Twisted Sister, Queensrÿche, Cheap Trick, even Michael Shenker. It was a great place to play and hang out and catch live music, early to mid-80s. This is where we opened for Twisted Sister and Schenker.”
When questioned about why he got into a band, Cooke replied: “I started a band in high school called White Cross. We played cover songs all over the Chicago area. There was always a club to play somewhere and the fans really ate it up. You could really see metal taking off at that point. With Thrust, I didn’t know the guys prior to starting the band. A few girls said, ‘hey, we know a couple guys that might fit with you’. So, that was the first time we met each other – at a kegger party! It was definitely a good time!”
And it wasn’t long after that, that the band started making records. “We had our live album out called Solidarnosc Rock For Poland on Erect Records,” says Cooke. “It was a split we did with a band called The Lazer Band in 1982. We sent out a cassette demo to Brian Slagel [Metal Blade Records CEO], and as soon as he heard it he signed us. He was really into it. We appeared on Metal Massacre 4 (1983) with the song ‘Destructer’, and it wasn’t long after that that we moved to Los Angeles to record what became the Fist Held High (1984) album.
“What a lot of people might not know is, Solidarnosc Rock For Poland was a live show promoted by Indiana label Erect Records at The Odeum in Villa Park, Illinois. The proceeds of the show went to the Solidarnosc trade union, founded in 1980, that numbered nearly ten million members and wasn’t controlled by the dominant Communist party at the time. Down for the cause, right?”
But it wasn’t just Thrust tearing up Chicago back in the early days. “Aside from us, and like I said before, it was really Thrust that started the metal scene in Chicago, but the other bands that came along with us were Transgresser, Trouble, Znöwhite, Paradox, War Cry and Witchslayer,” states the musician. “The show that really changed our lives in Thrust was opening for Judas Priest. And then at the Cabaret Metro we headlined with Iron Hawk as support. That was a cool show too.
“There was a lot going on back then. I was really into the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, and just started writing original music and hit the clubs right away! And a lot of those New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands were touring through Chicago, so it was pretty cool.”
And speaking of touring? “Yeah, we did tour a little in the Midwest, but we signed with Metal Blade and moved to LA pretty quick,” says Cooke. “The metal scene was huge then. We played with Slayer, Armored Saint, Lizzy Borden, Omen, a lot of the Metal Blade bands.”
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As regards Metal Blade, Cooke had this to say: “We did several records for them; Metal Massacre 4, Fist Held High, The Best Of Metal Blade Volume 1 (1986), and the Reincarnation (2015) album. It was a good run… Metal Blade was good to us.”
It’s a long way from the early 80s. Hell, it’s now 2018 for God’s sakes. “We just love playing music” declares the guitarist. “Metal was and still is in our blood. It’s all about the music and the fans that keep us going. I live in Los Angeles and Sedona, Arizona most of the time, and of course I sneak into Chicago once in a while and stay at my parent’s house. Chicago’s always been a great, fun city to hang out in.
“Thrust is now recording for Pure Steel Records and we have our new album Harvest Of Souls coming out on April 27th, 2018. Our first single, ‘Sorceress’, from that record is out now and is on iTunes. We did a video for it too, check it out. We will be doing shows everywhere when the new album comes out! We can’t wait to see everybody, so keep in touch with us at www.thrustonline.com and our Facebook page.”
But why is there such an interest in classic metal these days? Thrust, Attacker, Sentinel Beast… everyone’s enjoying a resurgence these days. “The best metal was born in the 80s and nothing can really match it these days, so people gravitate to it,” reckons Cooke. “But with all the social media now, a whole new metal fan base has started. It’s been great for us and we are extremely grateful for the fans sticking with us for so long, and all the new headbangers joining us now!”
And that’s Thrust. That’s metal.
Harvest Of Souls was released on April 27h, 2018 via Pure Steel Records.
Interview published in April 2018
