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Godsmack, once an Ozzfest underdog that stood out, can now stand alone. With their third album, Faceless, on shelves, the Boston quartet has been back on tour for another round of summer roars and metal riffs after having been dubbed Billboard's Rock Artist of the Year, garnering Grammy nominations, and installing a new man behind the drum kit.
With Sully Erna fronting, Tony Rombola on guitar, Robbie Merrill on bass, and now Shannon Larkin (one-time Amen drummer) pickin' up the sticks after the departure of Tommy Stewart, Godsmack's latest is armed with the #1 single and Grammy-nominated “I Stand Alone,” originally featured on the soundtrack to last year's The Scorpion King. Grinding with the same hard hitting rock instrumentals and Erna's growling vocals, though Faceless isn't a broad progression from the band's previous releases, it's sweeping up arenas just fine.
Talking with Virginmegamagazine.com while on the road in Albuquerque, NM, Rombola gives the latest on how Godsmack has grown into its own.
First of all, since you were named Billboard's Rock Artist of the Year back in 2001, who do you consider the best rock band of all time?
Rombola: Led Zeppelin! I just got the new DVD so I've been watching that a lot. I don't really like any of the new music that much. I'll hear a song once and awhile that I like, but I really like the older stuff. Led Zeppelin for sure, without a doubt!
What's it like to be an ex-carpenter who now has Grammy nominations under your belt?
Rombola: It's cool and it's an honor to be recognized. But in all honesty, I'm a day-to-day guy. I just worry about playing guitar that day and I'm all about the music. I love playing guitar. I don't know what to think. We went to the Grammys and it was pretty exciting but I don't pay attention to that stuff. I've never watched the Grammys in my life and I just did it because I was supposed to do it. This is a different life. I didn't know much about it when I got into it. I was just into playing guitar and being in a band and there are a lot of things I love and hate about it.
This album is titled Faceless, but considering all the fame you've achieved do you still feel unrecognizable?
Rombola: I don't get recognized. Sully's more identifiable because he's been on MTV a lot more and he's got a friggin' tattoo on his face. I don't go on MTV, I don't have tattoos, really, and I don't dress up. It's like jeans and t-shirts for me and I'm just a regular guy.
How does Sully feel about being so easily recognized?
Rombola: He loves it! Oh, he loves every minute of it.
How's the dynamic with Shannon Larkin now drumming?
Rombola: Sully didn't have to play the drums on this record so that changed things quite a bit. He didn't have to play drums so he was better able to work on lyrics more and focus on producing.
He used to do a drum-off with Tommy (Stewart) during concerts. Is he continuing that aspect of your live show with Shannon?
Rombola: We still do it but it's different now. We've kind of expanded on it but I can't give it all away. You have to come see us to find out!
What about Faceless was a departure from your previous two albums?
Rombola: Well, we have an acoustic song on there and that's something we've never done. It was just a song I had that Sully put a melody to, and we thought it sounded cool. So that was definitely a different thing for us to do but we're not performing it yet. We're waiting for it to be a single sometime soon. But I'd say “Changes” is the all around favorite song for me because it's a dynamic song and I had a really great guitar solo in it. I love the way the song's written and it has a lot of different guitars recorded on it. I like the whole record but that song sticks out most to me and I'm really proud of it.
You guys lived in a house in Florida during recording and now you're living on the road. That's a lot of time together. So what about the members of Godsmack would surprise people?
Rombola: I play golf. Shannon is a big reader and people might not think that. Robbie loves hockey and Sully loves to box. We all have our things we do to keep sane.
Finally, what would you say you want your growing fanbase to get from this album and tour?
Rombola: Rombola: Energy! I'd just say energy, because loud music usually has a lot of energy and we'd like for people to feel that. I just think we've come into our own. We've been around a few times now. We've done some big tours and we've grown a lot. I think we've built our fanbase up because we've gotten better at everything we do. We're better songwriters and better live performers and we just keep getting better at what we're doing because we do it all the time.