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17 ноя 2025
SY KEELER's Reunion With ONSLAUGHT Is 'A Hundred Percent Permanent', Says NIGE ROCKETT
Prior to the gig, ONSLAUGHT guitarist Nige Rockett was asked by Stewart Lucas of Rockflesh if ONSLAUGHT's reunion with Keeler is "permanent". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, a hundred percent permanent, which is amazing."
Asked how the reunion with Sy happened, Nige said: "Well, Dave [Garnett], who was on the last album, 'Generation Antichrist', did an amazing job. He just had some personal issues and felt he wasn't really in a right head space touring and stuff. And basically he said he couldn't go out on long tours. So it was, like, 'Okay, what do we do?' And I think it was Jeff [Williams, ONSLAUGHT bassist] who said he'd speak to Sy and see what he's got to say. Jeff spoke to Sy, and straight in, no thinking about it, [he said], 'Yeah, I wanna come back.' And that was it."
Regarding the preparation for the Damnation Festival gig, Nige said: "We ended on very good terms when Sy left the first time back in 2019. So it wasn't a case of trying to build any bridges; it was just, 'Yeah, I'm in. I'm back.' So, it's just great to have him back. I mean, he is the singer of ONSLAUGHT. Fans recognize that and they love him. And the first rehearsal we had was incredible, just to hear Sy back singing those songs. And it was, like, 'Wow, this is ONSLAUGHT.'"
He added: "We've been putting a lot of rehearsal in over the last two months. [We've] still got a bit of work to do, but his voice is sweet. It's so good. He's been working hard at home as well. He's got everything back — all the aggression, all the high notes."
After a six-year hiatus, Keeler just hit the ground running for the band's long-awaited Australian debut on November 14 in Perth, before kicking off their freshly announced 2026 "The Force From Hell" European run.
When Sy's return was first announced in August, Nige commented: "Wow, this is truly incredible having Sy back in the ONSLAUGHT camp. He has always been seen as 'the' ONSLAUGHT vocalist and we know the fans are gonna be blown away for sure. The band are in a truly great place right now after the success of the 'Origins Of Aggression' release and this will be seen as amazing news, I'm sure."
Sy added: "Well, that came out of nowhere! 'Sy, would you consider rejoining the band?' 'Ugh! Yes, of course, I've really missed it.' So almost six years on from my last gig, I'm very excited to be embarking on the third chapter.
"[I am] looking forward to meeting old friends and, of course, making new ones, and, of course, having a few beers with my band mates.
"See you on the road very soon, metalheads!"
Continuing the explosive success of ONSLAUGHT's ongoing "Power From Hell" tour and the band's career-defining double-album "Origins Of Aggression" (released on May 22, 2025 via Reigning Phoenix Music),ONSLAUGHT is ready to turn the pit into chaos once more with its "The Force From Hell" tour. In early 2026, they'll be bringing the ultimate thrash assault to 22 cities all over the European continent — a full-on fusion of their iconic debut "Power From Hell" and the 40th-anniversary celebration of "The Force".
ONSLAUGHT commented on their upcoming tour: "So looking forward to this one following on from the great success of the 'Power From Hell' tour earlier this year: it's gonna be a full-on combination of the best of 'Power From Hell' with 'The Force' [40th anniversary] to create a totally monstrous set for those who we missed out last time... Let there be thrash — see you in the pit!"
ONSLAUGHT announced Keeler's latest departure in April 2020, explaining in a statement that "some things simply aren't sustainable year after year due to the nature of the modern-day music industry."
ONSLAUGHT replaced Keeler with Garnett, who appeared on the band's last two albums, 2020's "Generation Antichrist" and the aforementioned "Origins Of Aggression".
Five years ago, Rockett told "The Metal Command" podcast about the band's singer switch from Keeler to Garnett: "Sy's kind of struggled with tours for the last couple of years. And he's got a new job which he's [dived] head first into and he's really enjoying the kind of work he's doing. He was unable to take lots of time off, and, as I said, he wasn't really enjoying the whole touring thing like the rest of us. So we kind of made a mutual decision that he was gonna go — as sad as it is, obviously, for us, [because] he's been with us a long time, and he's a fucking great vocalist. At first, it was a kind of worry, what was gonna happen, but then we found Dave Garnett."
He continued: "I've known Dave for many years, and his vocal style in previous bands was really kind of very 'un-ONSLAUGHT,' if you like. But he said, 'I'd really love to have a crack at it. I think I can do it.' So Sy was unable to make a show back in February [2020], I think — kind of a late-notice cancelation — so we really didn't wanna pull the show, so we asked Dave to stand in and see what he can do. And he was amazing — absolutely incredible. He nailed everything. Some of the guys in the crowd, die-hard ONSLAUGHT fans, were saying they didn't even realize it wasn't Sy when they closed their eyes — it still sounded perfectly ONSLAUGHT. So that's what we did. Dave pretty much learned all the new material for the album very quickly, and our live set as well. And we put him in the studio with a very old-school producer who he knows also very well, a guy called Pete Hinton who actually produced the first two SAXON albums. Pete knows all about the band and he's very good to work with under pressure. 'Cause Dave's also gonna feel a lot of pressure during that. But Pete really got it out of him and did an absolutely fantastic job, I must say. So the transition between Sy and Dave has been really smooth and it isn't anything too drastic in the overall sound of the band. Obviously, Dave is his own character and he's not Sy, but it still sounds like ONSLAUGHT."
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