It's really a honor for FORGOTTEN STEEL to start this new section with EXECUTIONER ... 80ies metal maniacs will know this great thrashers from their 2 releases on NEW RENAISSANCE Rec. ("In the name of Metal" 1986 + "Break the Silence" 1987 - both are a must to have! Just as their new CD "The Storm after the Calm").
So now let's pay attention to EXECUTIONERs drummer, the fantastic one and only DAN SCANNELL, who answered the questions:
(Bandcontact and Website-address: See links on the bottom of this page!!)

1) Which year you got infected with the METAL-virus and what was the release?
Dan Scannell: Probably about '78 or "79 after hearing "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest and "Swords and Tequila" by Riot. I was already into Led Zep, Deep Purple, Sabbath, etc but was looking for something new and heavier.

5) Please give us a discography of all bands you played with and all your releases and about how many copies each title were sold!
Dan: I had an early version of Executioner with some local friends but it never went anywhere. Their idea of metal was Led Zep and Cream, meanwhile i was starting to listen to Venom, Motorhead, Maiden, etc. The 2nd version of Executioner released two albums on New Renissance Records
"In the Name of Metal"1986 sold around 10,000 copies as far as we know.
"Break the Silence"1987 probably about 7or 8 thousand.
"Break the Silence" suffered due to problems between our label and Important Distribution. Because of that it was not released on CD. (Combat-Important had Heathen's "Breaking the Silence" coming out at the same time and wanted the name of our album changed to avoid confusion. Unfortunatly the album was already pressed and ready to go.)

6) Looking back: Which of your releases do you like the most and why?
Dan: My favorite is the lastest one, "The Storm After the Calm". It is faster, heavier and better produced than the preceding releases. We had more time to work on it and get it right. It better represents what Executioner was and where we were heading at the time.

7) And which the least/why?
Dan: "Break the Silence". While it was a great Thrash album it was rushed by the label. Also Seth Putnam(now with Anal Cunt) had just joined on bass. We never had the time to get everything down right.

8) Did your band record songs that have never been released? Please give us the song-titles and a short description!
Dan: We have a few on Demo (somewhere) but they were usually reworked or had parts incorporated into other songs. The two most notable are "Battlelands" and "Final Destruction"both only released on the cassette version of "In the Name of Metal". I assume they did this to get people to by the LP and cassette.

9) What was the highlight of your carreer?
Dan: Probably the "Break the Silence"U.S. tour .The biggest show was in L.A. opening for Voi Vod, Kreator and Nuclear Assault to a crowd of well over a thousand people.

Photo: "Storm after the calm" CD backcover

10) Tell us a funny story around your band from the past! Dan: While in Pittsburg,Pa.on the "Break the Silence " tour our bass player Seth Putnam(who had been previously diagnosed with Mono before the tour) wanted to go to the hospital for a checkup. So myself along with guitarist Marc Johnson and Dream Death bassist Ted Williams proceded to drop Seth at the hospital. The doctor said it would be a few hours to run tests (Seth initially failed to mention all the tests had already been run in Boston). Me, Marc and Ted went out for lunch and stopped by several local pubs in Pittburgh returning to the hospital several hours later as we were told to do. As it turns out Seth was released 10 minutes after we dropped him off!! He was bullshit!! He thought we fucked him on purpose. If you know Seth (or know of him) he's not the happiest camper to begin with.When we saw him sitting on the steps to the hospital with that look on his face we new we were in trouble!! To this day he thinks we fucked him and left him there. It's funny now but at the time it almost ended the tour.

11) Are you a metal-collector?
If yes:
11.1) How big is your collection (LPs, CDs, Demos)?
Dan: I generally buy what i like everything from Rush to Nunslaughter. I probably have a couple hundred CD's and another couple hundred LP's and cassettes. I'm not sure how rare and valuable some of it is. Two of the rarest have to be the Anal Cunt 88 song EP and a Vaginal Jesus 7 inch (the first one with Seth Putnam) I think only a few hundred of these were made. I have a comp. album from music for nations "Hell Comes to your House"1984 featuring Metallica, Anthrax , Hellion, Manowar and more thats pretty cool. I prefer CD's to vinyl. Vinyl was a pain in the ass to take care of and keep sounding good. My record player has been broken for a while. I'll have to watch the yard sales for a good used one.

12) What indescribable great question have you never been asked? And what would your answer have been?
Dan: After a 16 hour shift and a few cold ones thats a tough one. I'll have to get back to you on this.

13) What is the current status of the band and what is planed next?
Dan: Currently Executioner is disbanded although we all remain good friends. I am married with 2 kids and busy working as an Engineer for CSX railroad (Boston and Albany line), Marc Johnson is a high school English Teacher and has written and produced 3 independent feature films, 3rd bassist Tommy Flynn is a Master Plumber, second bassist Seth Putnam...well we know what he's up to, and last we heard original bassist Ari Vainio was in law school.

Any last words?
Dan: Thanks for your time and the chance to do this interview. For your readers who like Old School Thrash or our first two albums pick up "The Storm After the Calm" you won't be disappointed. Fast and Heavy Thrash!! We released this ourselves because we were not interested in dealing with record labels at this point. Limited to 500 copies. This CD is already becoming collectible judging by some of the prices on EBAY. At this point there are a few left. In Europe or Germany buy it here through Forgottensteel!! In the U.S. or elsewhere go to http://www.executionermetal.com Executioner's official site, bio, pics, links, info on buying the cd etc... Thanks again Roman........CHEERS!!!!!

Discography
In the name of Metal LP 1986	Break the Silence LP 1987	The Storm after the calm CD 2000