Axe Dragger drummer Minnesota Pete Campbell joins The Zach Moonshine Show – Heavy Metal Reloaded for a deep, no-BS conversation about riffs, brotherhood, and why real heavy metal still matters.
What started as a casual riff exchange turned into something nobody planned but nobody could stop.
“The original origins of the band was me and Bob Balch,” Pete explains. “He started sending me these riffs and I was like, yeah… these are f***ing badass. Let’s do it.”
That spark quickly escalated into a full-blown American heavy metal supergroup, pulling in Fredrik Isaksson of Dark Funeral and Candlemass, and eventually Terry Glaze, the original Pantera vocalist. Even Pete still sounds amazed when he tells it.
“Bob texted me and said, ‘Dude, I’m friends with Terry Glaze on Instagram.’ I was like, yeah okay, whatever. Next thing I know, Terry sends the demo back… and that’s the take on the record. That was it. Goosebumps instantly.”
Pete doesn’t sugarcoat it.
“The minute I heard him, I was like, oh my God… this is exactly what this needs. It was perfect. We had no choice. We had to be a band.”
Despite the lineup, the entire album was recorded remotely, something that makes the final result even more insane.
“We’ve never actually played together. Ever,” Pete says. “Bob would send me tracks, I’d do drums, then it’d go to Fredrik, then Terry. But somehow it sounds like a live f***ing band.”
And Axe Dragger is exactly that. Real. Organic. No trends. No polish-for-polish’s-sake.
“This is my favorite and the best thing I’ve ever done,” Pete states flat out. “I’ll put my stamp of approval on this motherf***er forever.”
The conversation dives deep into classic metal values, from riff-first songwriting to judging albums by their cover, just like we all used to.
“That’s the kind of record where, back in the day, you’d flip through the bins and go, ‘This has got some nasty s*** on it.’ And you’d buy it just off the cover.”
Pete also breaks down the band name, which came from a local beer near his home in Minnesota.
“There’s a brewery down the street from me that has a beer called Axe Dragger. Bob goes, ‘Dude, that rules. That’s the band name.’ And that was it.”
The episode also touches on recording philosophy, working with Ripple Music, the importance of lyrics, and why classic metal imagery still hits harder than anything AI-generated.
“It’s not AI. It’s real dudes. It represents what’s inside the record.”
Pete opens up emotionally when the discussion turns to Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Kiss, and the artists that shaped his life.
“Those guys were my superheroes,” he says. “If it wasn’t for Ozzy and Sabbath, I wouldn’t be here doing this today. This wouldn’t exist.”
Looking forward, Axe Dragger is already moving fast, with two more singles coming before the album drops March 6, 2026, and serious talks about live shows and festivals.
“I thought I was retired,” Pete admits. “I was cool being a dad. Then this happened, and I was like… yeah, I’m doing it again.”
This episode is a reminder of what heavy metal sounds like when it’s made by lifers, not algorithms. Four pros, locked in by instinct, dragging axes instead of chasing trends.
As Pete puts it best:
“You could pump your f***ing fist to every tune on this record. Studded bracelet mandatory.”
Turn it up. This is Axe Dragger, live and unfiltered.
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