Godsmack vs. Coal Chamber

Circus Magazine
May 2000
By Michael Hovsepian

Godsmack

Read an article on Godsmack in just about any magazine out there and you'll see things like, 'The band's name was taken from an Alice in Chains song,' or 'Godsmack, a band heavily influenced by Alice in Chains, took their name from a track off of AIC's Dirt.'

The truth of the matter goes something like this, or so says Godsmack's singer Sully Erna, "Godsmack is a definition for instant karma."

First Sully told us that Godsmack's old drummer, Joe Darko, came to rehearsal one day with a giant cold sore on his face. The band had a photo shoot to do that day, and couldn't reschedule the photographer, so the poor guy had to appear on film with a giant cold sore on his face. Sully, being a wise-ass said, 'That's what you get for kissing other men,' and basically spent the rest of the day tearing into his drummer. But Darko took it like a trooper, acting as a complete pacifist, and leaving Sully wondering why Darko never retaliated. The next day Sully came to rehearsal with an identical cold sore on his face in the same exact spot. Guitarist Tony Rombola simply looked at sully and said, 'God just smacked you for being an asshole.' Instant karma, and the band had found their name.

Another version of the story Sully told on a different occasion states that Darko had a big zit on his nose, and Sully ridiculed him for it, and then Sully showed up with a big zit on his nose the net day for a photo shoot. Whether he had a bad memory, or forgot the facts of the day, well…you get the drift.

1994 saw the breakup of a little known band called Strip Mind. The band's drummer, Sully Erna, who had been pounding the skins since the age of four, gave up on music, for about a year. Eventually Sully called up his friend Robbie Merrill, a bass player, and the pair jammed out with Tommy Stewart on drums and a guitarist named lee Richards. Eventually Lee Richards and Tommy Stewart left the band, but Erna and Merrill still believed in what they were doing. They picked up a new guitarist named Tony Rombola and a new drummer named Joe Darko (although it was actually Sully who played drums on the album).

Godsmack borrowed $2500 from a friend insane enough to loan out that much money, and recorded their album at a studio in Boston. Only available in a local store called Newbury Comics, the album was titled All Wound Up. It started selling relatively well and eventually caught the attention of a DJ at WAAF-FM who began spinning the album on his weekly radio show. In 1997, as the band picked up more speed, Joe Darko quit and original drummer Tommy Stewart rejoined Godsmack.

After a long string of performances in the Boston club scene, Godsmack caught the attention of Paul Geary, formerly the drummer and manager of Extreme, and a good friend of Sully's. Geary signed Godsmack to his PGE Management company, and eventually Godsmack signed with Republic Records in 1998, after the company noticed the album was selling hundreds of copies through the simple little Newbury Comics outlet. All in all, it took Godsmack a little over three years to get signed.

When it came time to release the album professionally, the band simply remixed the original recordings for All Wound Up, and added the song "Whatever," which had previously only been available as a single. The album was simply titled Godsmack and hit American pop-culture with a boom.

Godsmack was pulled off the shelves of K-mart and Wal-Mart shortly after its release. Kevin Clarke, a guy who seems to be leading his own personal crusade against fun, made a complaint about the album, citing Godsmack had used naughty curse words and made references to suicide. This prompted the 'Marts' to refuse to carry the album on their shelves.

"They say we make apparent references to suicide and contain profanities, I don't deny that I say the 'F' word a couple of times. I think somebody counted and it was 8 or 9 times. OK, fair enough, if he thinks kid won't hear swear words anywhere else…

Godsmack agreed to slap a parental advisory sticker on their album, but refused to make a "clean version" of the album, which was the only the 'Marts' would agree to carry it. Shortly after the K-mart and Wal-Mart, Godsmack debacle, Kevin Clarke got Powerman 5000's album, Tonight the Stars Revolt, yanked off the K-mart and Wal-mart shelves because the band had made use of the evil, naughty 'F' Word exactly twice.

Many people have made a big deal out of the fact that Sully Erna is a practitioner of the Wicca religion. To his credit, Erna has been very open and honest about the entire situation. He is quick to point out that he is not some Satan worshipping warlock who sacrifices children and animals in the name of the dark lord. In fact, he doesn't even believe in Satan or the devil, which he is quick to point out was a Christian invention. Instead, Erna says, "Contrary to what most people wish to believe, Wicca is a very peaceful, harmonious and balanced way of thinking, an earth religion if you want. I believe it is the oldest religion, definitely pre-Christian. We believe that the earth is a mother to us all and we should honor and respect her and live a harmonious life. We don't own the earth, but we are part of it and to destroy it means to destroy ourselves."

Erna is also quick to point out that he is not trying to start some sort of trend where all his fans become Wiccans. He simply wants to open people's eyes and dispel the negative image Wicca gets.