WITCHBURNER INTERVIEW - THE GERMAN TEUTONIC THRASH BEAST RETURNS!

WHO ARE THEY:- WITCHBURNER
WHERE ARE THEY FROM:- Fulda, Hesse, Germany
FOR FANS OF:- Early Kreator, Early Sodom, Nocturnal, early Slayer
LATEST RELEASE:- "Bloodthirsty Eyes" (High Roller Records 2013)
WEBSITE:- http://www.witchburner.de.


Witchburner have been am active teutonic Deutsch Thrash Metal force
since the mid 1990's and have weathered plenty of musical trend storms
that have battered the music scene since their formation but they have
bulldozed their way through the waves of flavour of the month bands
and styles and stayed true to their roots without ever compromising
and the band recently unleashed their 7th full length studio album
titled "Bloodthirsty Eyes" in Feburary via High Roller Records - It
was the perfect time to contact the band and get the lowdown on the
upcoming new blasphemic assault! Pino the bands latest vocalist who
made his debut on the new album answered my questions shortly before the release of the new album:-

Hails! Your new album "Bloodthirsty Eyes" is soon to be unleashed via High
Roller Records - what can the readers of Terrorizer expect from this latest
offering from Witchburner? More of the same ripping teutonic thrash?!

Hails! Pino here. Yeah in February "Bloodthirsry Eyes" will stare in your faces! 
Expect fast, dirty, intense Teutonic Thrash Metal in the typical Witchburner tradition!
 Can you please give us an insight into the tracklist for the new album and
the lyrical themes that run throughout these songs? Also what is the meaning
behind the new ablum title?
This time the songs are dealing with horror, zombie and endtime topics. I wrote all the lyrics.

Sermon of Profanity – The opening track. The lyrics are about a black ceremony of an unknown cult. 
 

Possession – It’s about the eternal cult of Heavy Metal
 

Master and Slave - It's a little sleazy song about sex and perversion in the good old Mentors style!

Path of the Sinner - This song deals with the inversion of the ideals of Christianity and our fucked up society. Behave like an asshole and become your own master!

Apocalyptic Visions - The title says it all. It's about the downfall of humanity, chaos and death.

Bloodthirsty Eyes - This story is based on Seegels idea. It's about eyeless zombies. So they
need the eyes of the living to use them as their own. 

Never Surrender - For this song the guys already had the title. They said that this song should be named "Never Surrender".
But I had the choice about the topic. So it is about a once proud but now oppressed tribe that breaks the chains of slavery and also the skulls of their oppressors. I think I watched/read too much Conan and Slaine movies/books/comics and stuff like that hehe

The Bringer of Disease - is an impure creature, a supreme rotten entity. He brings plague, pestilence, insanity and death upon mankind.

Spirits of the Dead - Again a horror story. It's about an ossuary on an old cemetary. The tortured spirits of the dead haunt this place. I got the idea for this one while watching "DellaMorte DellAmore" (this scene at the ossuary). However the lyrics have nothing to do with the movie.
 Where was the new album recorded and why did you choose that particular
studio/producer?

We want to make as much as possible by our self.
We recorded at the studio of our axeman Mächel. The mixing was again done at Andys cellar and Patrick W. Engel of Temple of Disharmony is responsible for the mastering. We like the work of Patrick so we decided to work with him.
 Who designed the killer looking artwork for the new album?  

It was done by Jowita Kaminska. She draws for Witchburner since the “Final Detonation” LP. She knows what we want. I think the two drawings (front and back tell a story together) for “Bloodthirsty Eyes” are some of the best work she has ever done for us. We like it very much!

 How did you hook up with High Roller - was it a case of them contacting you
and offering a deal or did you shop promos around to labels?

The other members and Steffen of High Roller knew each other before. We were searching for a new label and he made us a good offer.
 Do you plan to tour much in support of the new album? How active are you as
a live band in general? Can we expect any UK Witchburner shows in 2013? What
can people expect from a Witchburner live show?

No, there are no plans to tour around. We all have our jobs and our holidays are mostly used for gigs in other countries. So we play mostly at weekends. I also don’t think that a tour here in Germany makes sense.
When someone offers us a gig in the UK we will take the chance! We really like to play live, but we don’t play at the same surrounding area too often.
Our live shows are intensive, powerful and straight forward. We are playing songs from every LP. 

 You have a new vocalist on the new album Pino Hecker - how did you get in
touch with him and what led to the departure of your last vocalist "Metallic
Mayhem"? What can the readers and long time Witchburner fans expect from
Pinos vocal delivery? Why did you choose him? Did he contact you or was it
the other way around?

The members and I knew each since a while from concerts, festivals and Witchburner gigs.
As Metallic Mayhems behavior made it impossible to have him in the band any longer he had to leave. So Witchburner were searching for a new singer. Carnivore (Ex-Cruel Force) gave them the tip to ask me. Seegel called me and some days later I visited their rehearsal. I sang some songs, they liked it and I became the new vocalist. 

 Are there any notable differences between your last album "Demons" and the
new album? Or is it a case of "business as usual" and following more or less
in the same thrashing vein as it's predecessor?

One difference you will recognize directly is the vocals. My voice differs a lot of that of Metallic Mayhem.
The new songs are more aggressive and brutal. So there is more “variety” in comparison to “Demons”.

 How long has the writing process been for the new album? Did the material
come together quite fast or was it quite a steady process?
How do you feel overall about the new material compared to the last album?
 

There existed already some song ideas and structures before I joined the band. But the real writing process began parallel to the rehearsals for the live set with me. It lasted approx. one year. Some songs came very fast and some needed their time. Normaly Seegel brings the riffs and structures to rehearsal and works them out with Felix and Andy. Then I get invited to the rehearsal (I live far away from the other guys). We record the rehearsal, I take recorded songs with me and write my lyircs and work on my parts at home. Then we rehearse again and work all out togehter. The new album contains some of the strongest Witchburner songs ever and we are very proud of them!

 What is the secret to Witchburner's longevity? You have weathered a lot of
musical trend storms that have came and went within the music scene since
the band became active in the mid 1990's - how was it for you guys playing
old school style thrash metal during the years it was considered "uncool"
compared to many other music styles in the heavy music scene throughout
certain periods, the old style of thrash seemed to disappear completely back
into the underground shadows at one point
- did you guys ever get disillusioned during the "dead" years or did you
just think "fuck it - we love thrash and love playing it so fuck the trends
and posers"!?! How hard was it for you guys say in the mid-late 90's to get
gigs or media / record deal interest?

When your soul is truely possessed by Thrash Metal you will never stop to live the cult and celebrate the sound. Witchburner never cared about trends and logically never stopped to play and honor Thrash Metal. There is no secret behind the longevity of Witchburner – it is just pure passion what keeps the band alive! 

 In recent years old school thrash metal has started to enjoy a renewed
popularity with both older people and a whole new generation of metal
maniacs embracing the old style. What is your opinion on the recent surge in
peoples interest in thrash metal music both in the music media, with record
labels signing more old school thrash bands, more young kids forming thrash
bands, more older thrash metal bands who split up 20+ years ago reforming?
It can only be a good thing for bands such as Witchburner! But I am curious
to know your opinion on the recent "new old school thrash explosion" that
has taken the scene by storm in the past few years or so.

We don’t like this Thrash hype! Fortunately this hype seems to be over now. I still wonder where all this “Thrash Maniacs” came from? When Thrash became more important again it brought some real good new bands into the underground. But then it started to become a trend and countless needless bands appeared. However, beside all this crap and trendy kiddies, this wave also brought some real good bands worth to listen to with it.
For the reforming of old bands: It is cool to see some of the old hordes making records or playing live again but many of them sadly destroy what they once have been with their average new songs or disappointing shows. Better stay where you have been during all this years.

 What is your opinion on the current Germany thrash metal scene – as well as
some older classic bands reforming there have been some great new bands
emerging in recent times such as Hellish Crossfire and more recently
Tormentor - what German thrash bands can you recommend to the readers out
there?

German underground scene is really strong, may it be Thrash, Death, Doom or Heavy Metal.
Young German Thrash bands I can recommend are Witching Hour, Nocturnal Witch or Division Speed. 

 What differences for better or for worse have you seen in the current
extreme music scene compared to say the mid 1990's/ Is there anything you
miss about the old pre internet days? Or do you think it is much better now
there is social networking sites, messageboards etc..where bands can get
their music promoted?

I was born in 1984 and started with Metal at the end of the 90ies. So I can’t tell that much about the mid 90ies. But when I started listening to Metal the internet wasn’t that big and so I had no internet access. I had to discover all the bands by myself (you know reading the thank lists from albums in search of band names, talking to older Metalheads, trading taped records and demos with friends…). This was a really fascinating time for me. Nowadays the internet makes it too easy for everyone to learn all about Metal, what brings half-assed idiots to the scene. I also hate this mp3 collectors, who rather spend their money for merch, Metal “fashion” and expensive patches on ebay(because they want to look cool) than spending it for the music. But the internet has also its positive sides. It’s easier to stay in contact with people via email, for example.

 You have quite an extensive discography under your bulletbelts now - which
are some of your personal fave releases and why?
What older releases/ablums would you recommend a newcomer to your music to
check out if they got curious to know more about the bands history?
 

For the other members it is very difficult to name one single release because every record is special in its own way. They are proud of every release. I like every Witchburner record, but if you ask me as a fan, my favored albums are “Blasphemic Assault” and “Incarnation of Evil”. This are also the two releases I would recommend.

 How can people get hold of the new album? And also is it possible for people
to hear some music from the new album yet? Please plug any merch and sites
you have available! Thanks for taking the time to answer this short
interview

You can order it at the site of High Roller Records hrrecords.de our directly from our homepage witchburner.de. Just drop us some lines.
Thank you for this nice interview. Hail the cult!

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING INTERVIEW WITH GREGORY LAHM - COLUMBUS OHIO'S BLACKENED DEATHCRUST BULLDOZER!

WHO ARE THEY: STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
WHERE ARE THEY FROM: Columbus, Ohio  USA
FOR FANS OF: Trap Them, Disfear, Wolfbrigade, His Hero Is Gone, Nails
LATEST RELEASE: ‘True Predation’ (Translation Loss)
WEBSITE

I stumbled upon Struck By Lightning whilst flicking through an issue of Decibel Magazine that a friend in USA had sent me and I noticed a Translation Loss advert for new releases and the Struck By Lightning striking apocalyptic black and white album cover immediately jumped out at me (that was designed by vocalist Gregory) and got me all curious about this band who I had never heard of before so I managed to hunt down their albums with the help of a friend and was blown away by the power and intensity of this bands music, the latest album “True Predation” especially appealing to me because of it’s potent mix of death metal, crust punk and sludge influences – I sent some questions to vocalist Gregory Lahm to find out more about this band

Hi there- please give me a brief history on the band and who currently does what in the band?

-Hello. Gregory Lahm here. I founded Struck by Lightning in early 2008 shortly after leaving my former band Mouth of the Architect. The intent when SBL started was to do something more energetic and up tempo that what I was doing prior. When I started playing in bands I was doing mostly crusty hardcore punk and death metal stuff and found myself missing it very much and wanted to incorporate those elements in a new project. As far as roles in the band are concerned, I play guitar and do vocals, Thomas Owens plays bass and does back up vocals, and Mike Leach plays guitar. Our drummer of 5 years just left the band as of a few months ago and we have yet to fill the spot.

Your debut album "Serpents" was released a few years or so ago and is quite a different entity to your new album "True Predation" which showcases in my opinion much more obvious death metal and crust influences aswell as some sludge/HC - why did you decide to adopt a more crusty death approach to the new album? It works VERY effectively and I must say will definetly be in my top 10 fave albums of 2012 as I love the obvious genre blending that you are doing. What differences do you think there are between both albums? And would you agree that the newer album both musically and vocally is much more death metal sounding overall?

-I think Serpents seems a bit removed from True Predation for a number of reasons. Because it was the first record, the sound of the band was still being sculpted and was maybe less focused. Another difference is the production. I think more so than anything the production differs far more than the content of both records. Serpents has a very polished sounding production which unfortunately may have polished up some the rougher qualities that are attributed to our sound. The production on True Predation is very much representative of how we sound live. I feel like the production on this record is the most accurate studio representation I have ever been a part of. With that being said, when the songs on Serpents are played in the live setting next to songs from True Predation, the gap doesn’t seem as large. Otherwise, the goal is always to progress and evolve. I think it is important to continue to grow as a band and stripping things down a bit more and making the sound even more raw and abrasive was a conscious decision and part of the evolution of the band. I definitely think True Predation is very much representative of our death metal, crust punk, black metal, and doom/sludge influences. 

The new album was released on Translation Loss - Please tell us abit about this album in your own words and tell the readers what they can expect from it. Are you satisfied with how it turned out? The production is great, raw, powerful and crushingly heavy yet crisp and sharp - a PERFECT mix in my opinion - where was it recorded (I currently don't own it on original so don't know that info!)

- Overall I think True Predation is more refined and focused. It captures the band in an accurate light and showcases a more stripped down, raw, and brutal approach. The recording process was very painless and probably one of my favorite studio experiences to date. We recorded True Predation here in Columbus, OH at a studio called The Tone Shoppe with engineer Eric Cronstein. Cronstein captured the sound of the band perfectly and seemingly with little effort. We will definitely be working with Cronstein again on the next one as we are all extremely pleased with the end result of the experience.

How has the overall response been to the new album so far? How can people on this side of the pond get ahold of it? What formats is it currently available on and are there plans for say a vinyl release?

-As far as I know the response has been positive. Unfortunately we have not been able to do any touring on the record so we haven’t seen the response outside of our hometown. Right now the album is only available digitally and on CD through Translation Loss Records. The album can be purchased directly from the label or through a number of online distributers and what not. The vinyl release of True Predation was supposed to come out the same time as the CD, but of course we have been having issues with making that happen. We are currently talking to other interested parties to try and get the LP out asap.

Same goes for the first album- is it still available to buy direct from label or wherever?

-Serpents on CD and digitally are both available through Translation Loss and their distributors, but the Serpents double LP is only available through me via my label Soulless Creature.

The artwork for the new album is awesome looking - who designed thart/came up with the concept - it is VERY striking! 

- Thank you! I did the artwork for True Predation. I do the artwork for all the SBL merch and have always wanted to do our album art but have never had the time in the past. I will continue to do the artwork for future SBL releases as well.  

Where do you draw the lyrical inspiration from, what inspires you to put pen to paper? From the lyrics I have managed to pick out they seem very dark and quite apocalyptic. Please tell us the meaning behind the new album title.

- My lyrics are a direct result of daily life and coming to terms with the abhorrent. Themes span from complete and utter hopelessness, nihilism, misanthropy, self-loathing, depression, anxiety, fear, hate and so on. I try to voice honest personal grievances in a format vague enough that it is open to interpretation and relatable. The album title True Predation is in reference to the predatory nature in mankind and the idea that we will ultimately be the culprits in our own demise.

What bands fuel and shape the sound of SBL? What bands and musicians inspired you guys to want to pick up instruments and get into a rehearsal room and start creating such music? 

-We all listen a very vast array of music but some bands that have helped shape the sound of Struck By Lightning are: Discharge, Amebix, Neurosis, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Entombed, Anti-Cimex, Darkthrone, His Hero Is Gone, Bathory, Poison Idea, Venom, Motorhead, Etc.

How would you personally describe your sound in 5 words only?!

Blackened Deathcrust of Doom or some bullshit 

How active is Struck by Lightning live/ Do you play many shows both locally and within North America? Have you done many gigs or any touring in support of the new album or do you have touring plans lined up? Any plans to hit Euopean shores in support of the new album? Have you had the opportunity to tour on this side of the pond yet?

-The first few years Struck By Lightning was more active than currently. We toured North America several times in support of Serpents but have yet to tour in support of True Predation. We toured Japan at the end of 2011 and that is the only time we have been overseas. We would love to come tour Europe. Just waiting for the right time/opportunity I suppose. Also, I am currently back in school thus limiting my touring ability to the summer months for the next few years. We all have obligations in our personal lives that limit how much SBL can do but we try to do as much as we can in spite of those things.

What is the local scene like both venuewise and bandwise? Any local bands you care to recommend?

-There is actually a really rad array of bands and a lot going on in Columbus. Shows happen often and in diverse venues ranging from basements, to bars, and venues. Some Columbus bands I would recommend are: Nukkehammer, Prosanctus Inferi, Artillery Breath, Vile Gash, Fumes

There seems to be quite a few bands mixing death metal with HC and Punk influences thesedays (some bands are either labelling themselves as "death crust" or being called such by the music media)- have any such bands caught your attention? Are there any bands doing such a style and genre mix that you could recommend? What other bands on the current scene do you feel an affinity with both musically and in attitude/ethos?

-I have indeed noticed the recent wave of bands taking a similar approach. I think despite sharing mutual influences, Struck By Lightning stands apart. That being said, some current bands doing similar things that I really enjoy are: Miasmal, Bastard Priest, Funebrarum, Tragedy, etc.

Are any of you involved with any other bands or have you been involved with any other bands worth a mention to the readers out there?

- I have been in a slew of bands over the past 17 years. Some of my former bands include: Deliver Me, Rune, Dead Blue Sky, Mouth of the Architect, Drug Money. I also currently have a solo raw black metal/punk project called Fever Nest, and I play drums in a raw punk band called Shaver.

Gregory you also run your own label called Soulless Creature Productions - please tell us abit about this.

- I initially started Soulless Creature to release the vinyl version of Serpents. Since then I have only put out one other release and that is the Fever Nest –First Kill cassette. I am getting ready to release the newest Fever Nest cassette next month titled “The Mooneyed and Paralyzed”. I also book and promote shows in Columbus under the Soulless Creature label.

Do you have any plans for another release lined up or much new material written or is it way too early to even begin to think about writing new material or are you one of those bands that is constantly writing and coming up with new ideas, riffs etc...?? What do you think we can expect from the next batch of songs? Will they follow in same vein overall? Do you like to experiment and try new things out or do you like to stick to a similar formula of writing?

-We will be releasing an EP at some point on Translation Loss in the near future. Until then we need to regroup and get a new drummer worked in and then start writing again. You can expect more of the same and beyond as far as content goes. We will continue to push the envelope and grow as a band. I don’t have a formula to writing, I just go off what feels right and achieves the desired end result.

What are your plans for  2013?

Hopefully we can line up a tour or two for summer 2013. Stay tuned.

The last words are yours Gregory - many thanks for answering this small interview - time to plug merch,websites etc..you know the drill!

-Thanks you for the interview Kat. Check out fevernest.bandcamp.com and stay tuned for news of future shows and releases. Also check out these fine folks that help us do what we do: Emperor Custom Cabinets, Lace Music, C&C Drums, and Black Arts Toneworks!

I can't find any tracks on youtube from "True Predation" so here is a video for a song from the debut album "Serpents".

UNCOFFINED - STUDIO REPORT

Uncoffined Studio Report

 

 

 

 

Chris over at United Kingdom Extreme Metal asked me if I would do a studio diary/report for the debut Uncoffined studio recording, the Doom band that I drum and growl/scream in, so I gladly obliged. The studio report was originally posted on his site but I have reposted it for those who follow this blog to read.

 

"Formed from members of Winds of Genocide and The Obscene, North East death/doom metallers Uncoffined have just returned from Bradford where they recorded their debut offering 'Ritual Death And Funeral Rites'. UKEM asked Drummer/Vocalist Kat to document their time in the studio and to give us an insight into their recording process and general studio experience (including drunk old Yorkshire men!!!). Let the drinking and death commence.....

 

DAY 1

Finally the day we had been building up to and working towards for the best part of 2 years since the band was formed and we first started rehearsing and writing material as a 2 piece had arrived, I woke up early as I needed to get some things sorted before getting picked up to head down to Bradford on the afternoon to begin the recording process at Studio 1in12 so once I had got a few things taken care of I went back home and finished getting the horror film samples together, writing the times of where the samples were that I wanted to use etc...(typically I left sorting that out until the last minute). I had decided to use samples from a couple of my fave hammer horror films namely "The Plague Of The Zombies" and "The Devil Rides Out"...I was going to take a sample from "The Zombie Dead" too but due to rushing about I left the DVD at home next to the DVD player!

 

The rest of the band namely G.Hall(guitar), J.Sugden (lead guitar) and G. Sugden(bass) arrived at my place at about 2.30 on the Friday afternoon and once my drum stuff and personal stuff for the recording weekend was packed into the car I squeezed into the back with Glynn...I ended up being sandwiched in between his large bulk and the guitars and various bags...I suppose if we had of crashed I wouldn't have went anywhere as I was firmly wedged in between both...after some initial moaning about the lack of space I settled into the journey and enjoyed the scenic route down to Bradford, there was definitely a sense of anticipation for the weekend ahead in the car and everyone was in good spirits and really looking forward to finally recording the 5 songs that we had crafted properly in a studio.

 

We got to somewhere in North Yorkshire and decided a toilet break and a pint was needed plus a much needed stretch of legs for us cramped in the back so we went in search for a pub, the first little village we arrived in was very sleepy, so sleepy the local pub wasn't even open...but we parked up behind the pub and the others went off in various directions to relieve their bladders, me being the only girl in the band I had to wait as there was no way I was going to go and squat behind a bush so I waited until we found a pub that was open and much to my relief one was found in another sleepy village about 15-20 minutes or so later...a very idyllic scenic little place quite high up, it was so "in the middle of nowhere" that I barely got a signal on my mobile phone... there was definitely "An American Werewolf In London" vibe to the place...if it had of been dark and foggy it would have been perfect! Anyway I got my much needed toilet break and we all settled down to a pint and a chat.

 

After that break we hit the road to Bradford again aware the time was pressing on as we had arranged to meet Bri Doom the producer at the 1in12 club (which as well as housing a little studio in the basement is also a world renowned gig venue having hosted countless anarcho/crust/HC punk etc gigs since the early 80's, even bands like Neurosis as well as lots of other now classic and legendary bands played there on their very early UK visits)..we hit the outer limits of Bradford just as rush hour was approaching and it seemed to take forever until we finally arrived in BD1. We arrived at about 6pm..not too much longer after we had planned as it turned out, Bri and his faithful four legged canine companion Devo were already at the club and greeted us on the hallowed cobbles of Albion Street...I unloaded my drum stuff and went to help Bri set up the drum kit while the rest went to check into the various hotels we would all be staying at for a couple of nights.

Bri 'doing his thing'

 

After I went to my favourite local Polish shop to get some strawberry cider I started to help Bri get the drums sorted ready to start getting the sound levels. It didn't take too long until I could finally start hitting things but not long after I started to sound check the kick drum disaster struck...the headphones I was using started making this awful crackling sound and I couldn't really hear what the fuck was going on so we tried another pair of headphones and they also started to make this horrible sound and were totally unusable and as it turned out were the only other pair of headphones in the studio....Bri was not very happy as it turned out someone had been messing with the sound levels in the studio which in turn had totally blown the headphones...he was getting quite stressed and even said at one point that the whole recording might be doomed before we had even started!! But heading back to Durham without a recording really was not an option as we had already paid for two nights worth of accommodation but Bri saved the weekend and went out and got a new pair of headphones the next morning which thankfully worked for the rest of the weekend.

 

After the rest of the band had got their guitar sounds we decided to call it a night as we couldn't do anything else without a pair of headphones for me to use whilst drumming so we decided to hit the 1in12 bar for some much needed cheap alcohol and some music (the 1in12 jukebox is one of the best I have ever came across in a bar and first discovered the gems on it whilst doing the first recording at studio 1in12 with my other band Winds of Genocide a few years ago). So we got ourselves a table and we spent the rest of the night getting drunk and putting various old Slayer, Bathory, Nausea, Venom etc..tracks on the jukebox...despite the first day headphone disaster we were all in an upbeat mood and ready to get quite drunk...we met a couple of the local Bradford crust punks in the bar who looked like they had already had one cider too many!! The Sugden brothers decided to go back to their hotel just before midnight but myself and Glynn decided to try and relive our early-mid 20's by staying in the bar drinking and listening to music until the bar closed at 1am or so...after that we went off in search of our hotel which was a bit further away..it took us about 15 minutes to stumble there via a late night supermarket for food but we eventually got to the place not long before 2am! The budget hotel Glynn had booked looked like some kind of sleazy roadside 70's motel that you see in American movies...very retro looking! We had bought beers earlier so decided to drink a couple of them before going to sleep...we ended up not going to bed until after 3am both completely pissed...not really a sensible thing to do in hindsight when we had a long day of recording ahead of us starting at 10am!!

 

DAY 2

Woke up at about 8.30am not feeling too great as abit of a hangover had manifested itself (serves me right really for staying up drinking so late!) Glynn had decided to go grab some overpriced breakfast in the hotel lobby but I decided to just stay in the hotel room and get ready whilst having a can of lager for breakfast which did the trick and soon pulled me round...we got a taxi back to the centre of Bradford not long before 10 and made a stop at the supermarket near the studio for supplies (booze and food). We met up with Bri and the rest of the guys in the band around 10am and got ready to start recording, Bri had managed to pick up a new cheap pair of headphones which we all were praying (to lord Satan) would work...thankfully the horned one was looking up kindly upon us and we could commence the recording session!

Another disaster sprung up though before we could start recording, Glynn's BC Rich Warlock decided to misbehave and kept going out of tune...that had happened during the previous Winds Of Genocide recording session in 2011 too when Glynn ended up using one of Bri Doom's guitars that was lying around in the studio....luckily for us that same guitar was still in the studio so Glynn decided to use that to save time and stress...so once again Bri Doom and his trusty stickered guitar saved the day!

 

I had never drummed in a studio before, in fact this is the first band I have ever

attempted to drum in so I was feeling kinda nervous about recording in a room by myself with only headphones on to hear what the rest of the band was playing but I soon got into the swing of things and didn't really find it too difficult, it was definetly a relief to get the first few tracks down and get final takes under our belts that we were very happy with, the whole drum / initial guitar/ bass tracking went along very smoothly overall and by early afternoon we had got over half of the songs down before taking a quick lunch break in the 1in12 cafe (which serves the most delicious homecooked vegan/veggie food I have ever tasted!).

We bumped into Tony the drummer from Deviated Instinct in the cafe who was also enjoying the delicious grub on offer that day, it was nice to see him again and have a chat before heading back down into the darkest depths of the club to continue recording.

We only had two more songs to nail after lunch and we got those two songs down within an hour or so...we left what we thought would be the hardest song until last which has caused us problems during rehearsals but it turned out that this song was laid down the quickest in the studio..funny how things work out! So by middle of the afternoon we had 5 of our own songs plus a Revelation cover version "Frustrations" recorded and had final takes that we were all VERY happy and satisfied with.

Whilst the other guys continued to double track their guitars I decided to get some fresh air and take a walk to the pub around the corner which is usually full of assorted quirky locals and drunks...this day was no exception..sure enough as soon as I walked into The Castle pub I was surrounded by various quirky old men supping real ale and arguing with each other and just generally being..drunk old men! An old Yorkshire man took a fancy to me and came over and started talking to me, he looked and sounded liked he had already had a good skinful of booze as he kept kissing my hand and saying how lovely I was!!. His friend offered to buy me a drink but I politely declined his offer, finished my drink and went back to see how the others were getting on with their guitar tracking. When I got back to the studio Glynn and Jonny had made good progress and only had a couple songs left to double track...once they were finished with that Jonny did his solos which didn't seem to take too long.

 

We decided to call it a day once the solos were done as it had already been a long day by that point, I was starting to feel tired...a combination of a late night, hangover and drumming were starting to take it's tool on my body but myself and Glynn went back to the aforementioned pub for a pint whilst waiting for the 1in12 bar to open again.
 

Once we had finished up our pints we headed back to the 1in12 where there was some kind of hippie gig happening, the club and bar was becoming quite a hive of activity with all kinda of quirky looking hippie-ish arty (hipster?!) types wandering about the place and by that point I was becoming increasingly tired and not really in the mood to continue drinking as we couldn't listen to the jukebox although Glynn was starting to perk up after suffering from a hangover all day and was just getting in the mood to get drunk...We compromised and stayed at the club drinking (and in my case falling asleep) until around 11pm when it was decided to go and get some food then head back to the hotel - Glynn was planning to continue drinking and pick up some booze on the way but much to his disappointment the late night supermarket we had rolled into at 2am the previous morning was shut! I didn't care though as all I wanted was an early night so I could feel refreshed for the next days vocal recording. We watched a film in the hotel which I fell asleep during.

 

 DAY 3

After an earlyish night and a good solid sleep I woke up feeling refreshed and raring to go...so we got ready and the Sugden brothers came to meet us at the hotel as they had left their car there as for some strange reason their plusher hotel didn't have car parking facilities!. We had arranged to meet Bri around 11.30am so after another stop off for booze and food supplies at the supermarket we went to the club and waited for him to arrive.
 

Once we got into the studio it didn't take long to get the vocal recording equipment set up and the headphones were still (thankfully) working so we were soon ready to start laying down the vocals...this was going to be the fun part of the recording for myself as I had already got the hard part over and done with the previous day, so armed with 4 cans of strongbow I started growling and screaming like a woman possessed and I really did have a blast doing the vocals for this recording...it didn't seem to take too long before I had all my vocals laid down and we could commence the mixing and adding of samples to the songs...the adding of samples proved to be abit of a headache for Mr Doom who had by that point developed a sore hand (probably from checking his facebook page too much in the control room I dare say!!)..but he persevered with adding and editing the samples before and after the songs and he did a great job with that...then we sat and drank some more booze whilst he mixed the whole recording down. By early evening we were pretty much done and ready to hit the road back North with a complete recording in our hands! Bad weather was forecast but we managed to get back to County Durham at around 9.30pm without really seeing too much snow.

The weekend had been a great success and we came away from the studio with a recording that we are all VERY happy with and proud of. The recording was actually meant to be a promo demo but the owner of a label called Memento Mori in Spain heard the recording a few days after it had been finished and said that he thought the quality and length of the recording would easily qualify as a debut full length album so a pact was made with him to release this recording as a full length album which will be titled "RITUAL DEATH AND FUNERAL RITES" and will see the light (of darkness) around late summer on CD via his label and pro tape by the Irish label Underground Movement. Many thanks to Bri Doom at Studio 1in12 for doing such a great job and saving the recording session a couple of times with replacement equipment!. So we unwittingly ended up recording our debut full length album during this weekend in Bradford.
All that is left to say is hope you like the preview track that Chris at UKEM has posted up in this feature and watch out for our debut album....DARKNESS, DEATH, DOOM!!! K.Shevil Feburary Anno 2013.

 

Note: This version is not the final mastered version that will appear on the bands debut album.

Sell Music online at ReverbNation.com

Band Page: Here

MABUSE INTERVIEW - NORWEGIAN DEATH/THRASH ATTACK!!

WHO ARE THEY : MABUSE
WHERE ARE THEY FROM - Oslo, Norway
FOR FANS OF : Deathhammer, Sadus, Hellhammer, Aura Noir, Death
LATEST RELEASE :- "Stench Of Death" Demo 2012. (self released)
WEBSITES:- http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mabuse/253819114688432?sk=info


I was first introduced to this band via Fenriz after his keen ear for
new extreme talent picked up on this bands music and their debut demo
"Stench Of Death" which was released old school style on cassette tape
only, I checked out the tracks streaming online and was instantly
impressed with this young Oslo based bands aggressive and manic take
on death/thrash with totally possessed sounding vocals which rival the
vocalist in fellow Norwegians Deathhammer for being purely OTT
sounding. The band's main core is currently made up of a two piece  -
Jonas on guitar/vocals and Andreas on drums/lead guitar, vocals. It
was Jonas who I interviewed to find out more about this still rather
unknown entity.Hails Jonas! Please tell us a brief history on Mabuse and who
currently does what in the band?

In short, I (Jonas) had a bunch of riffs, but no band. It came up somehow in a conversation at 2010s Til Dovre Faller festival and Andreas said he might be able to help me out. I took it up with him a few months later, and we had a few rehearsals before we (he) recorded the demo. And that was pretty much it. I do most stuff except the drums, which Andreas handles. Although he also played two of the four lead parts of Dentist Death plus some vocal parts here and there.

Your debut demo "Stench of Death" is a fine piece of aggressive
death/thrash madness...please tell the readers about about it in your
own words, is it still available? what has the overall response been
like to it so far? Are you satisfied with how it turned out overall?

I don't know if there's much to tell about it, it just straight forward death/thrash. The style is like what some bands sounded like in '87 when thrash was well on it's way moving into death metal. The tape sold out really fast, and that took me by surprise. The feedback has been really good. I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out, but I hate the bass sound. Luckily the sound of the tape is way superior to the tracks online, so somebody should rip the tape and but it online, hehe.

I know you pressed it up old school style on cassette tapes..any
chance of it being released on CD or vinyl format? Have any labels
expressed an interest in doing that?

I'm not interested in re-releasing it, on any format really. I'm looking forward and my attention is on the next release.

Your demo recieved praise from Fenriz in Darkthrone and you guys were
made a "band of the week" - how did that make you feel? Are you guys
big fans of Darkthrone?

That was pretty cool, as it makes it easier for a broader audience to discover the music. I've discovered a bunch of really good bands through that blog. Fans of Darkthrone? For sure, both old and new. Can't wait for the new album as I really like the direction they've taken with the last 3-4 albums.

The vocals are fucking MANIC!!!! Just pure aggression and insane
sounding!!! How did you settle upon such a vocal style?!

I had never done any vocals before the recording of Stench of Death, and the ending of Crushing Death Strike is the first proper attempt I did. The week before we recorded the vocals I listened a lot to early Autopsy, as Reifert has the most awesome vocals in extreme metal and I wanted to do something in that style. But when I tried I sounded like a bloated version of late '90s Max Cavalera and it sounded like shit, so I just tried my own thing and it worked pretty good. The vocals on the demo is the part I'm most satisfied with. Andreas' vocals are awesome so I wanted him to do some stuff as well.

The band recorded the demo as a 2 piece - will you remain as a 2 piece
or do you plan to expand the line up at some point? I guess it is
rather hard to play live right now as just a 2 piece or is playing
live not a big priority for the band? Maybe you do actually have some
help with gigs and have already played live?

Playing live is definitely something I've thought about, but as we like 500 km apart and we've several bands outside of Mabuse I don't think it will happen with us two. I'd have to pull together a whole live band, and that's not easy. It might happen some day.

Have you written much new material since the demo was recorded? What
will your next release be? Another demo or maybes you will do an
album? What can we expect from the newer material, is it in the same
vein?

I've got enough material for a full length album, material that was written in the same period as the demo, so it's in the same vein. We're working on an 7" EP, but with other bands and stuff like that it takes some time. I hope we'll be done with the recording before the winter. Until then my focus is on Mion's Hill, another band I have with two of the guys from Condor. We have a demo tape out now called 'Festering Curses'. Old-school metal with influences from bands such as Hellhammer, Death Strike, Mayhems 'Deathcrush' etc.

What bands fuel and shape the sound of MABUSE?

It would be easier to name records that bands. Scream Bloody Gore, Severed Survival, Black Thrash Attack to name a few. Not that we sound like those records, but they've definitely shaped our sound, altough some people have pointed out that Mabuse sounds like Mantas 'Death by Metal'.

Please explain your band name? Why did you choose that name?

I came across the caracter Dr. Mabuse in a book I read, and it seemed like a fitting theme for death metal. There weren't any bands listed on MA who'd used the name, and that helped as I wanted an original name. Like, how many bands out there are named Tormentor?

Lyrically where do you get your inspiration from?

Dreams, other death metal records, horror movies.

Your opinion on your local scene and the scene in Norway in general?
What otheer bands from NORWAY do you feel an affinty with? What bands
from your country would you recommend the metal maniacs from across
the world who will be reading this?

The Norwegian scene is fucking awesome, there's so many good bands around. Good support too, different bands go to other bands gigs. Just to get the obvious band out of the way you have Nekromantheon, Deathhammer, Diskord, Obliteration and One Tail, One Head. Then you have bands such as Black Magic, Condor, Gouge (check them out and fry your brain), Töxic Death, Execration, Reptillian, Inculter, Gravlund, Repellent, Sküll, and the list goes on.

What is your opinion on the retro death and thrash metal boom that has
literally exploded like a fucking huge musical bomb in recent years -
why do you think old school thrash and old school death metal is
having such a resurgence in recent times?

I don't know, stuff like that usually comes and goes in waves? It seems like metal in general has been peaking since the early 2000s. I'm just glad there's lots of band playing GOOD metal.

Future plans for 2012/2013?

7" EP. Four tracks. It will be released by Duplicate Records.

Last words are yours Jonas - plug merch, websites, etc....many thanks
for answering this short interview!

Don't have any merch to push on people yet. Just check out the band I mentioned earlier and buy their stuff.

CRUCIFYRE INTERVIEW WITH YASIN HILLBORG

WHO ARE THEY: CRUCIFYRE
WHERE ARE THEY FROM: Stockholm, Sweden,
FOR FANS OF: Celtic Frost, Venom, Early Slayer, Autopsy
LATEST RELEASE:  Promo Demo 2012
WEBSITE

Crucifyre are a Swedish, Stockholm based band that is made up of veterans of the Swedish extreme metal scene – featuring ex and current members of influential bands such as Afflicted, Crematory, Morbid, Maze of Torment, General Surgery, Nasum etc…Crucifyre’s metal of death is born out of the members personal love for bands such as classic Slayer, Celtic Frost, Venom etc and transcends the typical retro Swedish death metal that is currently all the rage ( early Entombed/Nihilist etc.. clones) by mixing together the sounds of raw primitive 80′s extreme heavy metal sound with old school death/thrash. The bands debut full length album “Infernal Earthly Divine” was unleashed (sic) upon the scene in 2010 by Pulverised Records and the band recorded a promo demo full of new material which I recieved earlier this year and which showcases much more of a punkier vibe in places – I contacted drummer Yasin Hillborg for a chat after he sent me their killer Promo Demo 2012.

Hails Yasin! Please give the readers a quick background history on the band and also please introduce the current line up!
Crucifyre was formed in 2006. We are about playing the purest essence of what death-, black- and heavy metal all’s supposed to be about. The line up is Erik Tormentor on vocals. He was formerly in Maze of Torment, Serpent Obscene etc, TG and Urban, both lead guitar. TG of course was in Morbid and Urband in Crematory, Regurgitate etc, Doltz, who’s mostly been in punk and hard core bands on bass, and me, Yasse on drums. 

Your debut album "Infernal Earthly Divine" was unleashed upon the world by Pulverised Records back in 2010, I must say it was one RIPPING slab of hellish Swedeath, what are your thoughts looking back on this album a couple years down the line? Are you still satisfied with it or is there anything you would like to change now?! 

I wouldn’t agree with you that it’s typical “Swedeath”. At least not what is usually associated with the tag “Swedish Death Metal”. Crucifyre isn’t about fucking 90’s riffs! Crucifyre is all about the fucking primal merciless onslaught of Venom, Slayer, Celtic Frost and the satanic rites of Mercyful Fate and other music that I will not mention as it will only confuse the narrow mind that may read this. Infernal is a pretty close result to what we attempted to achieve. There is always something you want to change, but overall it’s pretty fucking wicked. 

Are you happy with the overall response and reviews the album got, please tell the readers a little bit about this album in your own words.

The response and reviews have been great! Infernal Earthly Divine is our debut album and it was voted 3rd best album of 2010 by the writers of Close Up Magazine, just below Watain and Kylease. That’s quite good for a debut album in my book. The record consists of, as most debut alums, of songs written in the band’s inception as well as a few tracks written just before entering the studio. I wrote all the songs and produced the album with the rest of the band co-producing. I am satisfied with the songs. The production and playing does the job. 

How did you initially hook up with Pulverised? Are you satisfied with the overall work they have done for the band? They seem like a very dedicated hard working label.

Erik had done some artwork for them previously so that was how we got in touch. I might have sent them our first demo as well. They seem dedicated to releasing new death metal bands at a rapid pace, which is a good way for new bans to get out I guess. They did a fairly good job promoting our album.

You recently recorded 5 new songs for a demo, what is the purpose of this demo? I must say the new material is sounding DEADLY! Very strong with so many deathly hooks. Where did you record the demo and how long did it take for the new material and demo recording to come together?

Actually we recorded six songs on that session. The recording wasn’t really meant to be widely spread (and it hasn’t been either). The purpose was to record new material and see how it could be developed. I am glad you like it! The session was done in our rehearsal place,
but quite properly so having mikes on each drum and so on. The basic tracking was done in a day with vocals and solos done here and there. With the pretty fucking amazing production we got at the session I kind of wish we put some more time into the recording, but hey. The songs have been written since the recording of Infernal. Except for the odd riff I’ve written all the tracks. At the moment we have more or less and album’s worth of material.  

I take it the demo is a pre production type thing for the 2nd album, when can we expect the second full length album by Crucifyre? Will you be unleashing it via Pulverised again? Do you have a title in mind for the second album? What can the readers expect from it?

Yes, I guess that’s an accurate description. I hope we will find the means and the right circumstances to record our second album soon. We have a title that will be revealed in due time. The album will have a lot of hard and raw edge with thrashing and grinding just like its predecessor, but there will also be a lot of doom-laden pieces on it. One of my all time favorite concerts was seeing Slayer the first time when they first came to Sweden in 88. (They were on their way in 87 on the Reign in Pain tour, but Dave couldn’t get a visa!). Candlemass was the support band! What a bill! Candlemass and then Slayer. That is partially a dynamic and feel that is attempted to be incorporated in the new songs – the intensity of Slayer and the weight and epic majesty of Candlemass. Add to that the atmosphere of Bathory and some chunks of Autopsy or something and hopefully you might get the picture of what we are trying to achieve with the new material. 


I am personally loving the varied tempos in the new songs, I think this new material is even stronger than the already very strong material on the debut full length. What was your thinking and aim when you set to work writing the new material, did you have specific ideas in mind that were already written or did it all just "come together"during rehearsals?.

Thank you Kat! Cool that you like the different dynamics in the tracks.  I’ll usually write a song and present it more or less finished and most of the time we’ll do the final arrangements in rehearsal. This process may vary, sometimes I’ll just have a couple of riffs and other times I’ll have an entire arrangement. I have some specific ideas that I’d like to try with the new stuff. Also I think we are more certain of what Crucifyre should be about. Not that we didn’t have a clear vision the first time around, but there might be a greater degree of consistency in the material this time round. The music that influences me most is what I’ve always listened to – the classics, the originals. I prefer listening to Black Sabbath any day than to some triggered 250 bpm Behemoth wanking. That (hopefully) doesn’t make Crucifyre’s music watered down like most music today. 

What is the songwriting process usually like for Crucifyre?

We’ll I do most of it and like I said, I’ll present new stuff to the other guys and listen to their input and usually we’ll do the arranging together. 

Pic by Soile Siirtola.


  Some of the new material has a cool punked up vibe to it ("Through the Darkness" comes instantly to mind), makes a nice contrast to the very doomy morbid slowed down sounding parts. Would you say some punk music has an influence on your songwriting?.

Well yes and probably in a much bigger way and to a larger extent than you might think. I was a punk (rocker) when I was a kid sporting a Mohawk and everything. I got into punk before I got into metal. For me it was the usual punk-metal story. I first got into Motorhead and then Metallica and thrash and then death metal and the early stuff – Sabbath, Zeppelin and classical heavy metal – Priest, Maiden etc. Through the Darkness has a definite The Damned vibe to it in my opinion. When The Damned are at their best they are one of my
favorite bands. So yeah, there are some punk influences for sure. I have some ideas for a d-beat songs as well that might end up on the next record. 

Please give the readers an insight into the general lyrical concept behind Crucifyre...I guess you are not church going christians!! hahaha! Where do you draw inspiration from when it comes to writing lyrics/ Are the lyrics usually written before or after the basic music is completed?

Lyrically, a lot of the time I get inspired by stuff I read, literature. Sometimes I’ll come up with a title and draw inspiration from the concept of the title. I also write a lot about stuff that pisses me off, but if I do I make sure to use the thematic of Crucifyre and not write some mundane fucking teenage angst lyric. The song Funeral Pyre is more or less about the world coming to an end, but it is also saying how the arrogant fuckers in charge are turning everything in to shit. Rising higher this rotten mound, soon to be reduced to ash, your world will burn as I set fire and ignite your funeral pyre. We are definitely not a Christian-, or a religious band what so ever. In fact I despise most religions. There are a lot of things with most of them that I disapprove of, but most of them also entail submission, something that is very dangerous and fucked up and is one big reason to why human beings are so fucked. The satanic and sacral themes fit our style of metal perfectly and as much as I despise religion, Satan is still a pretty potent vehicle for rebellion and for us saying: - Fuck you! I Am your enemy. I do not subscribe to your values, your way of life and your fucking bourgeois, narrow little world. The lyrics are usually written after the music, but sometimes before and sometimes simultaneously. 

Describe Crucifyre in 5 WORDS ONLY!

Fire. Blood. Metal. Magic. Soul.

You are all veterans of the Swedish death metal scene, having served time in bands such as Afflicted, Maze of Torment, Crematory, General Surgery, Morbid etc...what keeps you motivated after all these years to keep on creating death metal? Have there ever been any times where you have just felt like "retiring" from the scene?. You have all seen many changes in the extreme music scene over the years, what is your opinion on the current death metal scene for example when comparing it with the late 80s/early 90s scene?

Well to be quite frank, I was “retired” from playing death metal for many years. So yes, I guess you could say that. I got bored with how death metal “developed” in the 90s and the scene that was quite vibrant around Stockholm in the late 80s and early 90s kind of vanished and everything was divided into sub genres or black metal or whatever. It’s not really fair comparing the death metal scene of today to when it first came round. As everything was new and you were in the midst of this extreme music exploding it was extremely exiting. Getting Morbid Angel’s Altars of Madness on the day it was released after having previously heard their music through tape trading. How do you compare that with browsing the Internet? However there is a scene these days and it seems to be doing quite good. On a whole the climate for live music in Stockholm has gotten a lot better compared to the late 90s or even compared to when death metal took off.  

What things do you find for the better or for the worst in the modern extreme music/death metal scene? Which other current bands do you feel an affinity with?

Metal has been around for so long now and even the extremist genres have been going for 20 or even 30 years. And to put it simple there is and has always been good and bad music.
Unfortunately the latter kind comes in a lot larger quantities, an ever escalating downward spiral I guess. That might not be the answer you were looking for. If you like me to be more specific it’s the same elements that make out any good music, be it metal, rock ‘n’ roll, punk or whatever. The first rule being – It has to be honest. If it’s not honest, forget it! Now I am getting philosophical again. But put it this way – the more you polish it, the more you tamper with the production, the more you wank about the further you’ll get from the truth, or you’ll be caught with your trousers down. DTP! Some newer and or younger bands that more or less have their shit down are: Morbus Chron, Tormented, In Solitude, Graveyard, Nifelheim. Shit, these are all Swedish bands, but I hardly ever listen to new music so…

Why the name Crucifyre? Nice play on words from my perspective! Please elaborate on why you chose this band name. Also who designed the great band logo?

Well we went through a few names in the early stages of forming this band. One was Satan I, like the Giger piece, but a misconception or re- pronunciation thus pronouncing the name as Satan, I. I as in me and not the roman number one. One early name suggestion was Crucifier, but there are of course a dozen bands with that name. So I thought of an alternative spelling and wanted something with an Anglo and medieval feel to it. You know kind of an NWOBHM wibe to it, like Witchfynde or something, that kind of spelling. So I came up with Crucifyre. Cruci being derived from Crucifix and fire spelt fyre being the old Scottish spelling. Thus the meaning of the name changed from someone who crucifies to cross of fire or a cross that is burning. The logo was designed by Urban. He’s done a lot of logos and artwork for bands over the years. The most famous example is probably the Dark Funeral logo. Erik who’s also done a lot of stuff did the cross.  


What other bands are members of Crucifyre involved with? You seem to be a very busy bunch!

Doltz, Urban and Erik are involved in other bands. Me and TG stay faithful only to Crucifyre. 

How active are you guys as a live band? Have you only played within Sweden so far or have you managed to play elsewhere in the Nordic countries or in Europe? What can people expect from a Crucifyre live show?

We are as active as we can be. We are looking for management to help matters getting gigs. On an average we play twice a year in Stockholm. Except for Stockholm and some other towns and cities in Sweden we have played Denmark and Finland. We are looking at tour possibilities with some other killer Swedish bands. You can expect satanic auditory terror at intense volume from our live show.

Have you got many live activities planned? Any tours? Are there any places in particular you would like to reach and play outside of Sweden/Scandinavia? 

We would like to play Europe and the UK (let’s talk about that Kat!). Anywhere really where their might be a decent turn out of not so decent metalheads. 

Yasin you are involved with a film documentary called "Så Jävla Metal", please tell us about that and how it came together?.

“Så Jävla Metal” means So Damn, fucking or bloody metal in Swedish and it tells the story of the history of Swedish hard rock and heavy metal. It’s a project that took me five years to make and features more that 40 Swedish bands and artists in metal – Europe, Yngwie Malmsteen, Entombed, Candlemass, Bathory the whole lot really. It has been very well
received and will be the official selection of at least one international film festival. I can not mention it yet though as their program still is unofficial. 

What are your plans for the near future? 

We are working on our new album and will play here and there, some festivals in Sweden and possibly abroad. 

How can people contact you, hear your stuff,  buy merch etc..the last words are yours, many thanks for answering my questions!

Thank you Kat for the interview and your thoughtful questions. You can contact us through our myspace.com/crucifyre or at our facebook page. We will have some new t-shirts soon. Watch out for our second album it will devastate your soul and rape your mind as we always do.

SPEEDWOLF INTERVIEW - RIDE WITH DEATH!

WHO ARE THEY : SPEEDWOLF
WHERE ARE THEY FROM – Denver, CO, USA
FOR FANS OF : Motorhead, Zeke, Venom, Midnight
LATEST RELEASE "Ride With Death" (Hells Headbangers)
WEBSITE: http://www.facebook.com/messages/1648361996#!/speedwolf303?fref=ts

I first came across the absolutley RAGING full length album by
Speedwolf earlier last year, and it was one of those records that just
made me want to repeat it over and over again, which I did, the band
mix fast paced double kick fuelled speed metal with high octane and
energetic punked up rock 'n' roll - kinda like Motorhead and Venom
having a ruckus with Zeke in some sleazy back alley bar with early
Bathory throwing in the odd punch and kick. You get the idea. I
collared vocalist Reed to find out more about what makes this band
tick and to get the latest on the bands activities and plans.

The band have snice done another tour and there are plans for them to hit Europe this year - keep an eye on their facebook/band page for dates!


Hey Reed! Hope all is well with you - Please for those who are
unfamiliar with the musical beast know as Speedwolf give people a
brief history on the band and tell us who currently does what in the
band?

-Hey Kat.  Speedwolf is made up of four members, Richie- Drums, Kris- Guitar, Jake- Bass, and myself on vocals.  We formed in 2008, have put out multiple demos, 7"s, splits, and one full length since then.  We're currently on Hells Headbangers Records and have been touring none stop this year.

You guys have been active for a little while now, releasing a demo,
splits etc... but at the tail end of last year your raging "RIDE WITH
DEATH" album was released on Hells Headbangers ....please tell the
readers about this album in your own words and what they can expect
from it?

-Ride With Death is our debut of 12 songs that were written over a 3 year period.  We like to tell people if like the sound of simplistic old metal, then they will most likely enjoy what we do.

How has the overall response been like to the album? Are you happy
with the work the label has done to get the word out there about it
promowise? How did you hook up with the label initially?

-The response has been overwhelmingly positive thus far.  About 90% good and 10% talking shit, but thats the way heavy metal and the internet goes these days.  HHR has done a great job with releasing/distributing our stuff and providing what they can with tour support and other things like that.  We hooked up with them because we were supporting the label for years.  We went from being customers to employees, haha.

The album production is great, very sharp and all the instruments cut
through just perfectly (love the double kick sound too!) - where was
it recorded at?

-It was recorded by a friend in Denver666, Steve Goldberg.  He's known for playing guitar in Cephalic Carnage.  We did everything in a few days and capturing most of it live.  We do our best not to 'over-do-it' when it comes to recording.  Get in and get out.  Glad you enjoy what you hear.

Who designed the artwork for the album?

-We've done the majority of our artwork with a local Denver666 artist, Sam Turner.  He's worked with other bands such as 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, ZEKE, TOXIC HOLOCAUST, and more.  Total metal maniac and really good friend of the band overall.

Lyrically where do you get inspiration from?

-All the drugs I used to do, and the motorcycle that I ride daily.

You also have a new split out with Nekrofilth - please tell us about
that, were the recording sessions for it seperate from the album
recording?

-Yes, that kind of happened randomly.  Our friends in NEKROFILTH were working on a split with another band to be released by Doomentia Records out of the Czech Republic.  The other band fell through, and so they asked us to take their place.  We a few new songs written for a 2nd album and decided to get a quick live recording, that way we could hop on the 7".  We recorded everything live at a local theatre in Denver right on stage.  Come out sounding pretty good, so we sent Lukas (Doomentia) the tracks and he got it out quickly.  Most likely, our song recorded for the split will be re-recorded for our 2nd full length...

Vocally where do you draw inspiration from?

-If it isn't completely obvious.  Lemmy!  Haha, but I always looked up to other classic vocalists from rock n' roll and heavy metal.  Iggy Pop, Robin Tyner, Cronos, Quorothon, Blind Marky Felchtone, Paul Dianno, etc, etc, etc....

You guys are known for being a VERY HARD working and hard touring band
- you have done two USA tours this year alone, please tell us ab out
those tours? What places did you enjoy playing the most/feel you were
best recieved at? It must be quite tiring covering such a vast expanse
of land!! What can people expect from a Speedwolf show?

-Thank you.  We do work extremely hard to get on the road and bring our music all over the country.  Our inspiration comes from old metal bands musically, but also in their work ethic.  Bands like MOTORHEAD toured their asses off, and it did nothing buy pay off.  Our intentions are the same.  So far, we've received good responses in coastal towns within the US.  We've also done some dates in Canada, and those have been incredible.  As far as what one could expect from a SPEEDWOLF show, I would say a lot of fucking energy and volume.

Any plans to tour Europe in the near future? Have you managed to get
over to this side of the pond yet?

-We have wanted to tour Europe since we started the band.  We've sold quite a few pieces of merchandise over there, and would love to make a live appearance.  I email international booking agents on a daily basis begging them to book us over there, whether it be for a festival or entire tour.  Call the wolf and we will come!

What else have you got planned live for the remainder of 2012?

-Quite a bit actually.  We're working on flying out to Brooklyn, NY to play for Halloween in a few weeks.  Our tour with NAPALM DEATH, MUNICIPAL WASTE, and EXHUMED starts in November.  For 2013 we're planning on doing SXSW, MARYLAND DEATHFEST, and CHAOS IN TEJAS.

What is your inspiration to play such a style of music, and which
bands help fuel and shape the overall sound of Speedwolf? You guys
seem to blend speed metal with a punk rock 'n' roll - how would you
personally the describe your music and the mix of genres you seem to
blend so effortlessly but which has potent results?

-Well, we appreciate it when anyone seems to understand the sound that we're trying to achieve.  Nowadays a lot of metal listeners seem to over-analyze things and overall forget to just listen to the music.  Yes, we sound similar to MOTORHEAD and VENOM, or at least they're huge influences on what we're doing.  It's fucking obvious!  Although, in the end, we're just fans of classic/timeless metal.  Ultimately our goal is create heavy metal/rock n' roll that fans talk about 10, 15, or 20 years from now...

Describe the band in 5 words ONLY!

-Motorcycles, Speed, Hell, Loyalty, and Genuine
Who came up with the band name? What are its origins and general meaning?

-Our bassist, Jake, came up with the name randomly at practice.  The name itself doesn't have a deep meaning or purpose.  It's a simple one-word phrase that resembles a lost band from the NWOBHM-era.  Or at least, thats the way it sounded to us!

Have you started to write any new material for another album, got any
other releases or recordings in the pipeline or is it too soon after
the last albumand split to even begin thinking of new material etc..?
Will you continue your affiliation with Chase and HH?

-We currently have almost an entire 2nd album written.  Other labels have sent us offers, some intriguing and others not.  We're not looking to leave HHR by any means, although we're definitely looking to pursue touring and hard-work further with every day.  Therefore, we'll ultimately stick with whomever can support us the best through our efforts.  We can't really say when a 2nd album will be released because we haven't even recorded it yet, haha.

What are your plans for rest of 2012 and into 2013 - Do you have much
in the pipeline? I know you are confirmed for the prestigious Maryland
Deathfest, what are your thoughts on that and what are your
expectations from playing such a festival? What is your fave thing
about playing such fests?

- I think I answered most of this in another question.  We have a full plate of plans for the rest of 2012 and early 2013.  To say we're ecstatic is an understatement.  We're a very new band and did not expect this kind of response and opportunity to arise so quickly.  At the end of day, we're just nerds excited to play shows with our favorite bands.  Can't fucking wait!

What is your local scene like both bandwise and venue wise? Do you
play live locally much? Or is it just once every while? What local
bands can you recommend to the readers from across the world who are
reading this?

-We love Denver666 and boast it's gifts to world daily.  We still play locally as much as we can, but are now setting up a busy tour schedule and can't do everything we always want to around town.  As far as local bands/friends that readers should check out goes:  NO THOUGHT, DEATH OF SELF, CATHETER, GRAVETORN, BLOOD POISONING, ROSKOPP, MF RUCKUS, WARHAWK, ZEBROIDS, NEGATIVE DEGREE, LEATHER SKY.  I could go on forever, haha.

What is your overall opinion on the American extreme music scene
currently- are there any other bands out there that you feel an
affinity or bond with musically or attitude wise?

-American extreme music is a widespread mix of genre upon sub genre these days.  We identify with bands that we're overall good friends with.  People like NEKROFILTH, SUPERCHRIST, WITCHAVEN, HIGH SPIRITS, RAMMING SPEED, THE HOOKERS, MIDNIGHT, and NUNSLAUGHTER.  All are good people with the same attitude as ours when it comes to being in an underground metal band.

Are any of you guys involved with other bands or is it just Speedwolf?

-We've all got loose side projects going on these days.  I personally have two other bands that I'm working on, GRAVETORN and BLOOD POISIONING.  They're both more under the death/black metal side of things.  Jake and Kris used to do a doom band called MATAWAN.  Richie is always jamming thrash with random guys when he has time.  We're all pretty busy with work and SPEEDWOLF so it's hard to put enough time into other projects for them to really take off.

Many thanks for answering this short interview...last words are yours,
feel free to plug merch, websites, gigs, tours etc...

-  Thanks again for the interview.  Fans like yourself going out of your way to ask us a few questions is what keeps the underground alive.  Feel free to contact SPEEDWOLF here: ddcbitch@yahoo.com, and find all of our merch here: www.speedwolf.bigcartel.com.  Speed and Choppers forever....