This story originally appeared as an online exclusive in the spring of 2010.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

For the members of Age of Evil, heavy metal has always been a huge part of life. Made up of two sets of young brothers who grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, the boys have been thrashing out and thriving as a band for the last decade and not one of them is old enough to drink legally.

“The four of us started playing together about 10 years ago,” said 19 year-old lead singer and guitarist, Jeremy Goldberg. “We used to play a lot of covers and then in 2005 and 2006, we started performing a lot of our own music.”

Goldberg’s brother Jacob is 18 and plays bass, while Jordan Ziff, also 18, takes on lead guitar duties. Drummer Garrett Ziff is the oldest at 20.

“I guess in today’s standard we’re considered young, but I don’t really think our age is that big of a deal,” said Goldberg.

He thinks it’s particularly bizarre their ages have caused such a stir in the media because a lot of bands he grew up listening to had been in their late teens and early twenties when they first formed their groups.

“It doesn’t bother me, but it is a little weird if you think about it. Look at Tommy Lee in Motley Crue or Dimebag Darrell in Pantera. They were about our age when they came out. It’s more about the music, playing a show, and having control over an audience,” said Goldberg.

He said he loves being the front man and the more he performs, the more he learns about his audiences.

“It’s different in Europe than it is in the United States in the sense that the people there just watch and listen, where kids in the U.S. go nuts and do mosh pits and stuff like that,” he said. “Fans in Europe just live and breathe metal. They go to shows during all days of the week.”

While the band was shredding their way through Europe this past summer, they recorded their sophomore album, “Get Dead,” in between tour dates. The six-song disc includes two new songs, two live tracks, and two covers, one that was inspired during a show.

“We played in London almost a year and a half ago with Girl School and we wanted to play a classic, traditional metal song the fans would appreciate, so we went with ‘Electric Eye.’ It’s not one of Judas Priest’s huge, super popular songs, but that’s kind of why we did it,” said Goldberg.

The second song they covered was a last minute decision made in the studio.

“We had no idea what we were going to do, but we knew we wanted to do another cover,” he said. “Our drummer suggested, Skid Row’s ‘Slave To the Grind.’”

Goldberg took out his cell phone, listened to the song, and ended up learning it by ear. Within a few hours, they began recording it.

“That was a lot of fun,” he said. “Sometimes some of the things you don’t think are going to work end up being pretty bad a**. We also recorded parts of ‘Still of the Night’ by Whitesnake, but we didn’t have time to finish it.”

Another song that didn’t make the cut for “Get Dead,” was an Ace of Bass song, “Beautiful Life.” It was featured in the comedy film, “A Night at the Roxbury.”

“It’s a pop song you wouldn’t think we would cover, but we put our own spin on it and it turned out really cool,” said Goldberg. “We hope we can release that soon.”

In addition to the covers and the new songs, Goldberg said it was important for them to incorporate live recordings on the album because they wanted to show their fans they can play just as well live as they can in the studio.

“We don’t want to rely on technology because then playing live isn’t as good. We want to do it ourselves,” he said. “If you can’t be a great live band there’s almost no point in playing. That’s what we’re all about.”

Age of Evil was recently able to display their talent as a live act when they opened for Hail!, a new touring band made up of some of heavy metal’s most highly respected contributors to the genre, including Andreas Kisser of Sepultura, Tim “Ripper” Owens of Judas Priest, David Ellefson of Megadeth, and Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater.

“It was a blast to open for them in New York at BB Kings (and at Showcase Live in Foxboro, Mass.),” said Goldberg. “We got to hang out with the members of the band before and after the shows and they are very down to earth, humble guys. We went up on stage with a ton of energy and I really couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

They also opened for several bands over the last year including Jon Oliva’s Pain, Soulfly, Manowar, W.A.S.P., and Arch Enemy. Goldberg said they even got the chance to open for Tesla while they were in Switzerland this past summer.

“It’s cool because we can play with those different bands and mix it up,” he said. “For me, Tesla was one of my favorite shows on the tour. You can find a few videos of that performance on YouTube. The last song we did was ‘Still of the Night’ and it was before we really had it down and we just had fun with it.”

Right now, Goldberg said they want to focus on touring more in the U.S. and Canada. They are currently beginning the recording process of their next full-length album.

“We already have most of the material written and we’re working hard on doing demos,” he said. “We’ve been meeting with producers and trying to figure out that end of it.”

He said it’s more like their first album, 2007s, “Living A Sick Dream,” and less like their newest release, “Get Dead,” because it’s not as heavy and hardcore.

“It’s still hard rock and roll with a metal edge, but there will be something for everyone on there and we’re excited about it,” her said. “We want to have our new music in peoples’ hands, so definitely keep an eye out for it.”

Until then, he is pleased with the attention “Get Dead” has been receiving.

“I went on iTunes one morning and our new EP was featured on there,” he said. “It was up for four weeks in a row. It’s cool to see that and it’s awesome to get that recognition.”