The Seattle band Hyperstrike step into this week’s Meet The Band spotlight. Their debut album is High Risk, and there’s also a Hyperstrike video game. Vocalist Adon “BrainLord” Fanion, bassist Ben “Chop Daddy” Bennett and guitarist Ilya “Siberian Claw” Ignatov introduce us to their band.
Chad Bowar: Give us a brief history of Hyperstrike.
Chop Daddy: Hyperstrike started when I decided to brush the dust off the old Ibanez and get good at guitar again. I had writer’s block for 8 years or so and out of nowhere all these songs flew out of me. I knew I was on a roll, so I called up homeboy Ilya “Siberian Claw” Ignatov and got him on board. Originally we started as a melodeath band, but I wanted to see how melodeath sounded with powerful clean vocals on the top. The only guy I know who could really sing was Adon “BrainLord” Fanion. He was in. We cut some demos and auditioned some drummers. We eventually decided to go with Josh “Goblin Hammer” Hoffman. TLDR Chop Daddy assembled a team.
Siberian Claw: Before the Hyper sperm got to the Strike egg, Ben and I were chatting for a bit in the midst of flinging memes at one another. We got to talking about music, and were first actually talking about jamming some funk and fusion stuff. I just released a prog fusion solo thing before then, so I was a bit spent but thought “sure let’s dink around with this”. Next thing you know, Chop Daddy asks me “what do you think of this metal zone tone? What about this HM-2 tone?” Followed by a blitzkrieg of riffs and demos. The rest was hyper history.
BrainLord: At the tail end of the year 24, Chop assembled a team of elite performers, guided by his intuition for creativity, and united by the unique ability to strike.
Describe the songwriting process for High Risk.
Chop Daddy: Almost every single Hyperstrike song is written and demo’d out in six hours or less. For my songs I just smash and don’t look back. I feel like people obsess over their songs. I just try and write some catchy shit that I would like to listen to. I wish people would drop their egos and stop thinking every song they write is going to be this perfect thing that’s going to change the world. Less talk, more rock.
Siberian Claw: One of the most liberating songwriting processes I’ve taken part of. We just let the music be what it wants to be without any hang ups. You can spend years planning for something perfect, or you can accept that life is short, and capture your honest expression in its purest, most raw state.
BrainLord: This band is able to get multiple songs done in a day, sometimes an entire album’s worth in a week. This process has become so fast and efficient, that we’ve now come to know it as “striking.” While we can’t give away all of the trade secrets of this process, striking is something that anyone can do with the right spirit.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
Chop Daddy: I enjoyed recording the drums in a grandma’s house with my bros. We had some beer, cut the tracks, and watched “Women In Cages.” Good times bros.
Siberian Claw: I also think drum tracking at grandma’s house was my strongest memory. We cut all the drums basically in two days. There were plenty of laughs, tears, and beer. The house was just about to go for sale, so it was a nice send off to a place that was special to my family.
BrainLord: I can’t remember a damn thing.
What was the biggest challenge in its creation?
Chop Daddy: The hardest part of the album was the mix. I learned a lot of shit during the mix process of Vindicator’s Whispers of Death. I had to remix the album with a proper workflow. And then I mixed it again. And again. And again. Eventually we landed on the right cut. This record took me from little boy mixer to a man mixer.
Siberian Claw: This record was basically completely DIY. Chop Daddy did a lot of the spearheading and heavy lifting on the production front. It’s a challenge to take off the musician hat, and keep swapping between producer and engineer hats. Then you get into the microscopic details and it becomes harder to step back and see the full picture clearly. Regardless, we had the vision of what we wanted, and I think we achieved that vision with this record.
BrainLord: Incidentally, there were no challenges with this album. In fact, it was written and completed in world-record time.
How would you characterize its style/sound?
Chop Daddy: We have the body of melodic death metal. The head of heavy metal. The heart of punk, and the soul of slap bass.
BrainLord: ActionMetal
What lyrical topics do you cover?
Chop Daddy: If the song is about a story or an action type thing, it’s pretty straight forward. Some of the deeper songs involve concepts like the simulation theory as we do in “Savage Sword.” “Slowman” is about people thinking you are stupid for being different. “Warning Shot” is about the onset of Bipolar Mania. I trauma dump on BrainLord and he turns it into pop lyrics, it is amazing.
Siberian Claw: BrainLord has a real talent for painting a picture with words. While there are some serious themes of mental health, addiction, and heartbreak, there are also fantastical and romantic themes found in songs like “King Of The Slain” and “Shadowbound.”
BrainLord: These lyrics are about anything and everything, they are true to the soul and speak to the hearts of those who listen. You’ll find a wide range of stories, those about a fighter, those about a warrior in love, those about a man with psychomotor retardation. I believe the meaning will be revealed to you if you listen deep enough.
What inspired the video game, and how did you go about developing it?
Siberian Claw: I’ve always had an itch to make video games as a kid. I enjoyed learning how to code and video game art, be it 3D models or pixel art sprites. I always wanted to find a way to tie in a video game to a music project, and Hyperstrike was kind of a no brainer. When Van Damme and Schwarzenegger movies were coming out, so were games like Contra. I figured our band’s lore is basically an action movie, why not have a video game tie in? BrainLord is also a really talented visual artist, and helped with some of the sprites in the game.
What led you to go the independent route for the album release?
Chop Daddy: We are Hyperstrike. We can’t wait.
Siberian Claw: Are there any better ways these days?
BrainLord: That’s how it is in 2025. The year of our strike.
What are your goals and expectations for the record?
Chop Daddy: It’s hard to have expectations in a world where metal albums are dropped on a daily basis. We just want people to hear our music and have a good time enjoying it. Let’s hope people one day say “Savage Sword is my favorite song bro!!!”
Siberian Claw: This album is a chip betted on a 00. If it lands, we will gladly take it. If it doesn’t, the thrill of the spin was worth it.
BrainLord: I expect this album will set people in motion, literally and figuratively, striking together as a force of spirit in these trying times.
What has been your most memorable Hyperstrike live show?
Chop Daddy: Well, we’ve only had three. (laughs) I liked our show in Portland because the look on everyone’s face when we hit the stage was priceless. They were like, “are these guys a fucking joke or something?” And when BrainLord took off his shirt and hit those nunchucks and people walked out, it was great.
Siberian Claw: Playing our very first show, and last minute being like “I guess we are headlining.”
BrainLord: I can’t remember a damn thing
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
We are Hyperstrike from the internet. Coming to a town near you soon. Remember: If you pay us we’ll play anywhere.
What are some of your non-musical interests and hobbies?
Chop Daddy: Reading, Weightlifting, hiking, tripping, gaming, smashing.
BrainLord: Reading, writing, martial arts, archery, skateboarding, weight training.
What’s the best thing you binge-watched recently?
Chop Daddy: I’ll leave this to the other guys, I binge work on Hyperstrike, Xoth, and whoever else I’m producing.
Siberian Claw: I’ve been rewatching this old Polish-Australian show called Spellbinder. It’s pretty goofy but still holds up. It has a unique nostalgia for me since it was kind of my first exposure to fantasy and episodic TV that used to air in the forbidden lands of my origin.
What’s currently in your musical heavy rotation?
Chop Daddy: Edge of Sanity, Intestine Baalism, Dismember, Skinless, Devourment, Dissection.
Siberian Claw: I only listen to Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and Pagannini.
BrainLord: This last week mixing it up with Damage Plan, Ministry, and Nevermore.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
Chop Daddy: Chop Daddy will mix, master, edit, and produce your album. He is also a world renowned music teacher and session player. Hit him up @speedchopperbass
Siberian Claw: Play our video game, buy our merch and listen to our music. Come see us play when we are in your town! I also happen to play and teach at a world class level, so if you want to work on any kind of guitar (jazz, blues, rock, classical, bedroom nerd guitar stuff, etc.) hit me up @ilyasignatov. Also happy to play on records.
BrainLord: Adon will produce all things multimedia, or teach you music for a fee. @adonfanion
(interview published September 13, 2025)
