Mike Carlino was, as opposed to what is claimed in a Dutch heavy metal encyclopaedia, never in Abattoir.
"Emily" is about a woman Dawn worked for.
Leila Ward Adams (February 27 1908 - February 27 1990) was Dawn's grandmother, who more or less raised her. The lyrics of "White Door" are about her.
There's some interesting stuff to be said about bass players on "Within the Veil". In fact, Blair Darby was a good live bass player but studio-wise he only played on the 1987 Détente demo. Mike Carlino played bass on the 1989 demo and most of "Within the Veil". There's another bass player on "Emily" (name not recalled by Mike), and a third bass player does "Wasted Time" (except for the fast bit, which Mike did). This third bass player was "a guy called Ken, with a mohawk, kindof cool in a way". Mike recorded the guy's auditioning, playing along with the song, and it turned out to be good. In fact, there's a fourth bassist on the album... Steve Stamato helped the band out during their winter 87/88 gig to support Slayer in Montreal (the "Reign in Blood" tour), when Blair was unavailable. He plays bass on the beginning of "Drift".
"Hard and Heavy" did a metal video magazine that included a small feature on Fear of God. It showed part of a video clip and a short interview. It took place really early in the morning; the cameras were rolling by 7:30 AM. At a certain instant, Dawn and Mike are asked how they compose their music. Dawn takes out some notebooks and Mike starts to doodle on the guitar, creating an impromptu song on the spot. They were at this time unaware that the camera was rolling, or else they wouldn't have been able to do it... This shot was used to scroll the end credits of the video magazine over. A song that never got released anywhere. Check the "Videos" section to check it out.
The "Wrathchild America" Fear of God line-up did only four shows, all in the Netherlands and Belgium (see gig list). One extra gig was planned (in Brunssum, on the 11th), but that didn't happen. It's on the back of the tour T-shirt though. During these performances, the band also played a Black Sabbath cover, "Supernaut".
During live performances in 1993, free tapes were given away. These tapes were entitled "Titans of Terror II" and featured a collection of songs from Fear of God, Chaotic and Vicious Circle. The track listing was as follows: Side A "Beyond the Veil", "Judgment Day" (Chaotic), "Demons of My Past" (Vicious Circle); Side B "Santismo", "Planet Pain" (Chaotic) and "Fist of God" (Vicious Circle).
The song "Burnt" wasn't a protest or a tribute to the Koresh sect. Rather, Dawn just had an interest in the whole Waco thing and David Koresh's god complex.
The song "Mercy (a.k.a. Chris' Song)"...the "Chris" is indeed Chris Kalandras, one of the guitarists that recorded the album.
Eileen Wornous, mentioned in the album liner notes, was a convicted murderer. Apparently she's America's only female serial killer.
The song "Santismo" is about the most evil religion in the world.
Peggy Dufrene (who plays the interrogator in "Will of Evil"), worked at Sabbats Management, which was Fear of God's management at the time. The band stayed at her house while they recorded the album.
In late 1995, Michael Carlino came back to jam with the band for an evening. He and Dawn seemed very much to have gotten over the "sour" part of their relationship.
Pavement was the only label that offered Fear of God a deal. They paid the band US$ 7500 for a one-record deal.
After her death, Dawn was cremated and her ashes were spread over the Laguna mountain range.