Hails, my friend, I`m fine, thank you! At the moment I`m listening to Open Fire “Lwy Ognia”, I`ll turn over to Mefisto´s “The Truth”, the self-titled Lucifer´s Friend album and Attomica´s debut in the course of this interview, I guess…
Could you briefly introduce your band
? When was it created ? I think you've released 2 demos and one LP so
far, is that right ? Did you play gigs yet ?
Well, we're HELLISH CROSSFIRE and we're playing ripping Thrash Metal inspired
by the ancient gods. Ok, there are some reminiscences to old Death, Speed
and maybe even Black Metal hordes every now and then in our sound, but
our main influence is early Thrash the evil, raw and fast as fuck way
!
In early 2002 HELLISH CROSSFIRE was formed by Iron Tyrant (that back then
played the drums), Sick, our former vocalist The Bone and myself.
Until now we`ve put out the "Unholy Tyranny" rehearsal tape
in 2003, already in 2005 we put out a raw mix of some songs on a promotion
tape for our debut album "Slaves Of The Burning Pentagram" that
was unleashed in winter 2006 through Sweden's I Hate RECORDS. We've played
some gigs yet (with groups such as i.e. Metal Inquisitor, our comrades
of Old, Primordial, Paria, Devil Lee Rot, Secrets Of The Moon, Axis Of
Advance, Dark Storm etc.), nevertheless we feel that we could step a bit
more often on stage. I mean, HELLISH CROSSFIRE is definitely a live band,
but we don't want to play for any reasons, furthermore we prefer few but
much more intense gigs – too much routine kills the ancient Metal
spirit, hehe ! There are several bad examples for this thesis of mine
in nowadays scene around, but I won't mention any names here. However,
generally speaking we would like to play live more often which we hope
will be realised when more people got aware of the release of our debut
LP…
Your band name is taken from the first
title album of Iron Angel, I guess it's not done by chance….
No, of course not, hehe! Well, actually it was either our singer Iron
Tyrant's or our former vocalist The Bone's idea to call our band HELLISH
CROSSFIRE. Of course we're all die-hard Iron Angel-fans and we especially
worship this special debut album with that cult sound, those cult songs
and those cult lyrics, but surely we're not a “rip-off-band”.
We got much more influences than “just” Iron Angel, it was
only that “HELLISH CROSSFIRE” sounded fine, fitted to our
sound, it was some kind of tribute to old German Speed / Thrash Metal
and finally it is a band name (that`s what I suppose, at least) nobody
has come up with before.
"Slaves Of The Burning Pentagram"
was your second demo tape and has been released through I Hate Records
few months ago on vinyl format, you added "Eternal Tyranny"
and "Claw Of The Reaper" that are new tunes, is that right ?
Actually we only put a rough mix version on our promo tape that was put
out in 2005. The recordings were originally intended to be put out in
MLP format through the Dutch underground label Steelfire Invasion (R.I.P.),
but unfortunately Iron Mic, the label owner, had to cancel it, so he intended
to hand our recordings over to Daniel Cichos of Deathstrike Records. However,
I've been in touch with Peter of I Hate Records for years already back
then (due to his fine band Terrorama and my fanzine “Blood Of The
Ancient”), he liked our music and wanted to put something out from
us. So I decided to let I Hate do this release, but Peter wanted to release
out a whole full-length instead. So we once again visited Rape Of Harmonies
Studios in order to record the aforementioned two tracks. On these two
tunes our producer Patrick W. Engel did a good job coming close to the
sound of the original recordings so that “Slaves Of The Burning
Pentagram” finally turned out to be a homogenous work of ultimate
rawness !
Puh, what did we “expect” with that release ? I mean, our main aim is to play the music we like, the sound that comes from our blackened hearts, and nothing else. As far as this goes, we succeeded, hehe… We received great response so far but mostly from people we`ve been in touch with before already. And this is the point te maniacs love it, we simply don't care about the others ! We're not longing for a “growing fan-base” neither do we care about record sales or bullshit like this. I think we managed to come up with a traditional, honest album that represents us and our beliefs to 100 %. Being raised up with traditional 80s` German Thrash Metal, this influence becomes part of our sound in a very natural way. But on the other hand there are several other inspirational sources to discover on “Slaves…”: Judging from other people's opinions, there are elements in our sound reminding to different artists such as i.e. Possessed, old Slayer, Celtic Frost / Hellhammer, Dark Angel, Pentagram (Chile), Mutilator, Whiplash or even Sarcófago. So I think our basics are located in old German Thrash like i.e. old Sodom, Kreator, Violent Force, Vectom, Living Death etc., but there`s more to discover…
Patrick
Engel from Anael mixed and mastered your release, how does it come he
had the job and does it mean he's also involved in song writing of HELLISH
CROSSFIRE's materials ? Is he the 5th ghost member ?
Well, we knew each other long before, we met at concerts, partied together
from time to time, and despite the fact that he's working together with
many so-called “Metal”core acts these days, he's totally into
old school stuff from the 80s as well. So we agreed on co-operating, we
had a great time in studio with Patrick being someone that managed to
make something special out of this recording without telling us what to
play or how to play this or that. But that doesn't mean that he's involved
in the song writing process of HELLISH CROSSFIRE, no way ! He only contributed
some Tom G. Warrior-alike vocals on `Hallowed In Fire`, that`s all. All
songs you can hear on “Slaves…” were exclusively written
by the drunken guys of HELLISH CROSSFIRE, hehe !
By the way, I'm also playing the guitar in ANAEL, so there's definitely
a “connection” between all of us. About two years ago I was
asked to join, and due to the fact that I liked their music already before
(and having made two interviews with them), I also knew those guys from
shows where we met from time to time. So it was only natural for me to
join. So these are the “connections”, but there's no ominous
“5th ghost member” in HELLISH CROSSFIRE, hehe !
In the early days of our band our vocalist once told me that he'd try to sound like a mixture between Jeff Becerra and Cronos, and I think you can hear his main influences. However, there've of course been comparisons with Mille before, but sometimes Tyrant`s voice often reminds me of Razor's Sheepdog in a certain way. It's a bit of everything, and generally speaking, I think that he found his very own way. I mean, you can hear the influences, but there's a charismatic, unique character in his voice that speaks for itself.
May I say that the cover of "Salves
Of The Burning Pentagram" really sucks. I mean I feel like this cover
has done by a 12 year old kid and doesn't reflect the quality of the music
that is on your vinyl. Why didn't you choose something that would have
reminded much better the old days than this crappy drawing ?
The cover always divides the people that get aware of it : some say it's
looking fine, others say it's much too “comic-style” and,
as you say, “childish”. However, I think it looks ok, it was
some of the very first works of the artist, and I think he did a good
job. I mean, we didn`t like to have a too “professional” artwork
(yeap at least we can admit that-ed). However, I think that this cover
still reminds of ancient 80s` underground recordings. It's something special
that has not done too often before, but in the end it’s a matter
of taste… Even some of the band members of HELLISH CROSSFIRE aren`t
totally satisfied with it. I mean, you have to consider that it took us
many months to put our debut LP out, but the preparation time for this
release was a bit too short so that some things were done a bit too quickly.
However, that`s it, I understand your opinion, but it's up to everybody
to decide for him-/herself if he/she likes it or not. Anyway, upcoming
artworks will look more dedicated and traditional than this one, I bet
you…!
For my review I compare "Slave
Of Burning Pentagram" with the following 3 albums "Terrible
Certainty", "Power And Pain" and "Upcoming Terror",
do you think that these 3 releases sum up the content of your vinyl ?
Yeah, of course Whiplash, Assassin and Kreator have been influences of
us to some extent. I have to agree that especially "Eternal Tyranny"
sounds like a song from "Power And Pain", and riffs- and speed-wise
there are definitely hints to "Upcoming Terror", but concerning
your Kreator comparison, I have to say that albums like "Endless
Pain" and "Pleasure To Kill" influenced us much more than
"Terrible Certainty". Especially the last mentioned album stands
for a more “controlled” Kreator era, but I think we're a bit
more savage, straight and direct. Anyway, otherwise we're of course honoured
when albums like the ones you mentioned are written in reviews to describe
our music as these are eternal masterpieces, so thanks for this praise
!
I noticed the song structures of your
album aren't that much complex, I'd say you play simple and fast Thrash
Metal but it really kicks ass. You never use technical interludes as Kreator
did, or reach the progressive ideas such as in Realm or Toxik nor their
impressing solos. So how do you compose a tune ? By the way, are you into
technical bands like Toxik, Atheist, Pestilence and so on ? Which technical
bands impressed you ?
I really worship killer acts such as Toxik, Coroner, Atheist (the Ravage
demos are absolutely KILLER!), Pestilence, Cynic, Realm etc., but on the
one hand we're not as musically skilled as those musicians, on the other
hand we're not too much into jazzy song structures. I mean, we want to
go out on stage for the sake to kill, bang our heads, drink and have a
good time. We're not one of those bands that stand on one place during
the whole concert staring at our instruments, we got more energy left
to put into a bloody, sweaty Heavy Metal show ! That's why we also don't
mind if we're sometimes a bit out of tune or play some weird notes on
stage – damn, it´s LIVE and that is what Metal is all about
! Nowadays nearly every better known band sounds on stage exactly as on
their records, which makes absolutely no sense, I think. I'd rather stay
at home listening to their studio works, there's no surprise at concerts,
everything is too predictable (you're so damn right here man ! –ed)
. HELLISH CROSSFIRE sound live much rawer and more aggressive than on
our LP. I even think the production of “Slaves…” is
a bit too clear, we're much dirtier, hehe ! Anyway, let's turn over to
your questions : the more technical stuff you add to your sound the more
complicated, the less aggressive and straight your music gets, and we
don't want that for HELLISH CROSSFIRE. Damn, we want to sound even more
barbaric, and the new songs are way more brutal, but on the other hand
also a bit more technical, but the technicality this time is there to
lead to a much more merciless sound finally. That's what we understand
of a “healthy dose of complexity”, we don't want to soften
our music. As long as we're still playing raw and aggressive as fuck Thrash
Metal everything's ok, otherwise we should ask ourselves to change our
band name and start playing Jazz music…
How do we compose songs ? – Well, I try to avoid the term “compose”
as people such as van Beethoven, Schostakowitsch, Mussorgskij, Mozart,
Grieg, Berg, Wagner, Chopin, Debussy, Händel, Brahms, Bach etcetc.
deserve much more to be called “composers”. So let´s
talk about our “song writing process”: At first I come up
with some riffs, mainly I already got a finished structure of every tune
in my head. Then we work out the song altogether, with adding the drum
parts first, alternating this or that, changing this riff, dropping that
part etc. After this the bass as well as the vocal lines are added, that's
the way we write our songs. When the finished song stands the test of
time (which means that it still invokes the same feelings in us even after
playing it for hundreds of times) we think about recording it. Of course
this is not the fastest way to create music, but it has the effect that
we can still stand behind the tracks on “Slaves…” for
100 %, playing those tunes is still a great pleasure, and that`s the way
it has to be !
Due to change of rehearsal room and other obstacles we didn't have the opportunity to rehearse too often back in the past. But meanwhile we managed to create three new songs, and for a proper second album we intend to record an old song of us called "…Of Slaying Grounds" as well. A very raw version of this tune can also be found on our first “Unholy Tyranny” rehearsal, by the way. I Hate Records offered us a contract for a second full-length, which seems like they must have been satisfied with our debut LP and its sales, I guess…?! We plan to continue co-operation with those Swedish drunkards, but we don't hurry on just in order to have enough songs together for the next full record. We take the time our song writing needs, we want tracks that we can totally stand behind even after years – at least we're all still very satisfied with the tunes on “Slaves…”, so I think we achieved our goal… Originally we intended to put out some 7”s or split releases first, but Peter and Ola of I Hate preferred another album, so we will go for that instead.
How do the new tracks sound then ? – Well, not much changed, we're still playing raw and aggressive as fuck Thrash Metal in the ancient vein. Two tunes are very much into the vein of “Slaves…”, another one is kind of complicated song-writing-wise, featuring a slower middle-part with a “slower”, even 70s-Doom-alike guitar solo. Sounds like it wouldn't fit together, but I think it sounds logical. Last but not least we again got one new track that is divided into two parts (just like `Desecrate / Glorify The Sin` on “Slaves…”), which means we got an instrumental introduction before the actual song. This time a fast riff meets a Maiden-inspired break that is quite tough in terms of timing and drumming. Sounds more like some kind of Heavy song melted together with a raw Thrash attack… That's what we got so far. There are still many ideas in my head, but we're very selective when it comes to song writing. I guess 80 % of my ideas are not realised because some of them remind of other bands / albums / songs, others are not aggressive and dark enough, or others are simply not good enough. So the song writing process of HELLISH CROSSFIRE takes a long time, so I don't know when you can expect a follow-up to “Slaves…” – first we'll release the CD version of our debut, that's for sure !
No, not really. I think it's a good thing if you make something special out of it and when it fits to the song itself, and I have to say that Desaster succeeded with that. But I don't see any reason why to invite some famous musicians just in order to have some big names on our release. I mean, if you got some good comrades that once used to play in old 80s groups, then it can be a nice “gimmick”, but I think it's foolish just for the sake of pure name-dropping. We don't need that, but we're free for ideas like that. I mean, having somebody like i.e. Uwe ??????? Of mighty Poison singing one of our songs would be killer nevertheless… We'd be honoured, but we wouldn't walk around telling everybody that this “famous” guy sung on one of our songs…We don't need this kind of publicity, hehe !
Chris, you also play in Anael, this
German old school Black Metal combo, could you explain us how you join
them ? The latest release from this band was "On The Wings Of Mercury"
that was released in 2005, so what's the fresh news from ANAEL now ?
Yeah, above I already told you about the circumstances I joined this horde
: I knew Primeumathon and Seraphackh for many years before, did one interview
for German “Ablaze” mag with them (the issue this article
was planned to appear in was never released) and one for my “Blood
Of The Ancient” zine. Primeumathon and Seraphackh are the two main
men behind Anael, and when they once again suffered of line-up-problems,
they asked me whether I'd like to join. I said “yes”, also
due to the fact that I really worshipped their old recordings such as
“Necromantic Rituals”, their first album. Back then they got
this old school Black Metal, Samael-alike sound, but on “On Wings
Of Mercury” they created something unique, reminding me personally
of i.e. (still) Samael mixed with influences of different bands such as
i.e. Absu, old Rotting Christ, Varathron and the likes. So the music got
more technical. And right now we're about to writing songs for our third
album which will surprise the listeners once again as the material is
not as complicated as on “On Wings Of Mercury”, but much more
atmospheric instead, adding more acoustic passages, unusual chords, less
breaks, but more epic elements instead. There are many different influences
in the song writing, and not everything is inspired by pure Metal, believe
me, hehe… Anyway, we quit the work with Barbarian Wrath for now
and are seeking for another label. But just like HELLISH CROSSFIRE, we're
not hurrying too much, we take the time to write songs that satisfy ourselves,
then we can record them and look for a new label. Too often nowadays groups
tend to come up with records over and over again and you simply get rid
of it because the bands should have spent more time in their rehearsal
rooms instead of abolishing ????? our ears with their shitty, mediocre
stuff that no one cares about…
How do you see the 80's German Thrash
? I know that you're fan of the German trinity Sodom, Kreator, Destruction,
aren't you ? Excepted these famous bands which are the others less known
German combos from the 80's you're found of ? German combos had something
unique back in the 80's few of the European bands could compete with,
what was this magical element according to you ?
Yeah, of course we`re fans of ancient Sodom, Kreator and Destruction,
but if you speak about the 2007 version of these groups, you can leave
me out. The once so infamously great trinity of German Thrash nowadays
produces superfluous music for the hungry masses out there, some stupid
sheep that follow their leaders, whether they produce musical bullshit
or not… Anyway, I really worshipped the early recordings of German
Thrash bands from the 80s, but I started to turn away from them when they
began to sound more “varied”, being inspired by strange influences
etc. The 80s scene had a bunch of really awesome acts, especially in the
German Ruhr area, that had this violently, revolutionary identity and
message, which was simply honest and pure. There were no fake thoughts
about record sales or something like this, that became part of the game
a few years later. I worship those early “virgin” days, the
bands, the music, the releases put out back then! And I also know this
glorious time will never come back unfortunately… With HELLISH CROSSFIRE
we try to keep a slight idea of this spirit alive nowadays…
Except of Sodom, Kreator and Destruction we worship killer acts such as
i.e. Violent Force, Living Death, Necronomicon, Minotaur, Warrant, Carrion,
Darkness, Assassin, Chainsaw, Exumer, Protector, Poison, Iron Angel, Vendetta,
Deathrow / Samhain, old Tankard and Vectom.
Puh, it's hard to say what was this magical element of German combos back
in the 80s. Let's try to think about a courageous theory of mine : perhaps
it was the fact that living in this country displayed the whole atmosphere
of the Cold War, being divided in two different parts, being alienated
from each other, feeling an atmosphere of nuclear threat and stuff like
this. Together with a life in a desolate industry village of the working
class like i.e. Essen where people only live for going to work, coming
home, sitting in front of the TV drinking their beers, makes you kind
of desperate as well. And then frustrated young guys meet in youth centres,
talk about their favourite bands and decide to make some music together.
I guess this is the best breeding ground for some cult bands, isn`t it
? (your theory seems logical at least-ed) The spontaneous energy, the
aggressive feeling made you forget about some musical mistakes. Nowadays
the situation's changed totally, everything's gonna be united in one huge
“multicultural scene”. However, I'm not part of that and I
don't plan to join it, so I try to have a good time and play some soulful
music with brothers in mind. We cannot re-invoke the 80s, but we can re-invoke
the spirit, at least for the length of a live show…
Isn't it the same as in every country ? (I guess yeas but it especially astonished me in German as they're numerous !!-ed) I don't know what evil demons destroy the brains of Germany's nowadays' youth, but you're right, many people over here follow the latest trends, sucking the cocks of the bosses of the music industry. By mentioning that I relate this statement even to some bands that offer more traditional music but are slaves to money as well. Extreme underground Metal has nothing to do with commercialism and stardom, only the MUSIC counts !!!
But I guess over here in Germany it's not better or worse than in any other (Western) country in this big, fucking world…
Chris, you're also the editor of a fucking Metal fanzine,
"Blood Of The Ancient", that's yet been printed through 10 issues.
When did you start this zine and why did you decide to support bands through
a paper fanzine ?
I started this zine in about 2001 / 2002, I'm not
sure about the exact year… Back when I played in my first “real”
band (a Doom / Death group) I also put out a fanzine featuring interviews
with acts such as Desaster (in about 1998 / 1999), which was always a
dream of mine but had to be cancelled before due to notorious lack of
money. Back then I started to earn a bit of money and put out two issues
of this first fanzine after I got in touch with the editors of “Ablaze”
zine where I wrote for some years and learnt much about how to do some
appealing interviews. During the, let's call it, “process of decay”
of “Ablaze” I started my own fanzine “Blood Of The Ancient”,
in need for some kind of “outlet” of what I couldn't write
about in “Ablaze” zine. You know, I just wanted to make a
sincere statement of what bands I personally consider as worth to support,
as a way to speak to some maniacs out there that share the same ideas.
I did never want and I did never make any profit with my zine, I paid
much money, I invested a lot of time into it, but I think it was for a
good purpose, and I still believe it was a great time doing this zine
! Right now I decided to make a break as I got enough to do with my two
bands, writing for another mag and, last but not least, I also got my
day-job left… Anyway, I got enough stuff for an issue #11, but I
don`t have the time to work on it right now… But who knows, perhaps
there`ll be a new issue this year…?!?
Yeah, that's sad but true. When I started my zine it was easy to sell the copies, but with every new issue it got more and more difficult. More and more people are lost to the machines, more and more people are staring at screens instead of living… That's the REAL suppression, it's not the physical suppression of fucking dictators in this world, this is what I would summarise as attempt to create a world-wide legion of zombies. However, when most people like to join this legion, it's up to them, you can count me out here as well, hehe! I'm still of flesh and bloo…er…alchohol, so… I NEVER read any internet fanzines, FUCK THEM ! Ok, I think voicesfromthedarkside.com still makes a good job, but that's all ! That's another reason why HELLISH CROSSFIRE still don't have any website. Nowadays it seems like newcomers have to create an appealing homepage first, afterwards they may think about matters of secondary interest, such as…music…
The same goes out to our beloved demo tapes. I only receive cassettes to review very seldom, but when I get tapes, I'm still very happy about this. Anyway, of course I'm still very much into tape-trading music with other maniacs from around the globe, so my cassette collection grows and grows nevertheless…
How are the sells of your zine by the
way ? Do you think being German help you to get more recognition over
the world as your country is famous for its Thrash Metal scene ?
The sales are way too low, and that was one of the reasons for this small
break I already told you about. The number of potential readers seem to
decrease with every issue released, and it definitely doesn't help being
German, believe me ! Mainly I used to trade with comrades from all over
the world I knew already before (hail to you !), but there were not too
many new readers. I mean, everybody knows each other in this “small”
world-wide scene and you tend to trade with those guys then. However,
even if I stopped advertising for my zine, there are still some requests
from maniacs every now and then, so please notice this here : don't send
me any money anymore, all issues of “Blood Of The Ancient”
are sold out meanwhile, sorry for this ! But fear the return, hehe…!
Among
all the bands you interviewed, according to you which bands was the most
difficult to get for an interview and which one impressed you the most
both for their answers and their kindness ?
Puh, that's a difficult one. I really enjoyed doing interviews with Jeff
Becerra (former Possessed), Sadistic Intent, While Heaven Wept, Pentacle,
Leif of Candlemass, Katon W. De Pena of Hirax, Paul Di Anno, Cirith Ungol,
Victor Griffin (former Pentagram), Atomic Steif, The Chasm, Sacrifice,
Motörhead, Death Ss, Incantation, Liege Lord, Primordial, King Fowley
of Deceased, Vulcano, Dorsal Atlantica, Paul Speckmann, Protector, Mike
Browning, Black Widow (UK), Master (Russia), Slayer, Darkness, Dave Evans,
Onslaught, Exciter, Dave Chandler (former Saint Vitus), Sabina of Holy
Moses, Insanity etcetc. That's a small selection of the interviews I really
enjoyed and that come to my mind right now. It's always great to do interviews
with people such as Alan Nemtheanga of Primordial as he's a very gentle
and interesting, challenging interview partner. After having done numerous
of interviews I prefer more outstanding stuff, stuff you would never expect.
I hail the extensive and intense as hell answers of Wannes Gubbels of
Pentacle as well as Non-Metal acts such as i.e. Amplifier that came up
with some very extraordinary answers. I write for another big German mag
as well and according to this I also had the chance to do two interviews
with Mr. Lemmy Kilmister. Well, the first one was damn difficult and bad
– he wasn't too much into talking, he seemed to be annoyed ?????
And eventually the article turned out to be one of my worst, honestly
said. But then I met Mr. Kilmister again and – voilà –
he was absolutely gentle and everything went well. This was one hell of
a great experience for me, sitting around with Lemmy, smoking a cigarette,
drinking a beer and talking about his small “Rock N` Roll adventures”,
hehe !
Sometimes it's difficult to get an interview with the Motörhead guys,
I can tell you, hehe… And it's been impossible to get in touch with
either Kam Lee or Chris Reifert???? (at least speaking with him about
his early days of Death insanity), I can tell you ! Furthermore I'm still
waiting for the answers of a certain Mr. Martin van Drunen… Furthermore
it's strange that often bigger “stars” are much more down
to earth, reply faster and seem to have more fun answering questions than
some small underground bands that need months to write an uninspired,
bad interview.
Anyway, it's not always easy to get in touch with some musicians, and
I won't complain about this because journalists sometimes can be very
irritating, hehe ! Especially all those fucking, amateurish webzines forced
some bands to avoid interviews with stupid people writing for those hilarious
“publications”…
Mostly I got those contacts through the internet – I'm ashamed, hehe ! No, I`m not one of those guys that surf through the internet all day and night long. I know what I'm searching for, I get in touch with people I know that got good contacts and that's all… Furthermore my Hungarian comrade Dávid László that also contributes articles to “Blood Of The Ancient” knows very well how to get in touch with former legends, and I even wonder about how he manages to get in touch with certain guys, hehe !
Hm, if I've reached “my goal”? I don't know what “my goal” is exactly, but I think I managed to come up with some interesting issues back in the past, at least the collection of bands is something I'd personally die for, and finally some of my absolute wishes to interview certain persons became true, so I think I succeeded somehow. Of course I don't speak about sales right now, hehe… There are still some wishes left, but many musicians I would like to do interviews with are dead meanwhile. But there are other artists left, I mean, I did never interviews with someone of the Schenker family, Bobby Liebling, Kam Lee, Ronnie James Dio Chris Reifert, Necrovore, Slaughter, Saxon, Venom, Budgie, Atomic Rooster etc etc…and last but not least I'd probably die for a Black Sabbath intie!!!
Will you keep on printing paper fanzine
in future ? If so, what bands are scheduled for a 11th issues ?
Yeah, when I continue with “Blood Of The Ancient” after this
small break I'll continue with copied paper fanzines, I will NEVER have
a fucking online zine running only.
There's enough stuff for issue #11 already finished, at least I got interviews
with Abattoir / Bloodlust, Adorior, Battleroar, Black Widow / Agony Bag
/ Pesky Gee!, Blood Thirsty Demons, Dark Legions, Deathrow/Samhain, Death
Ss, Defender, Estuary, Evil Dead, Exhorder, Exorcist (Poland and USA),
Fallen Angel, Flesh, Gammacide, Holocaustia, Holy Moses, Manilla Road,
Massacre, Mortem (Peru), Mortuary Drape, Motörhead, Necrodeath, Old,
Old Funeral, Primordial, Rademassaker, Rotting Christ, R.U.Dead?, S.D.I.,
Sacred Reich, Sacred Steel, Sathanas, Schizo, Slayer, Spiritus Mortis,
Suffocation, Tankard, Torture, Trouble, Vader, Vicious Rumours, Voivod,
Vulcano and Witchfynde waiting to be published. But we'll see, perhaps
this year there'll be a new issue, who knows ? The interviews I do for
“BOTA” are timeless, so it doesn't matter if I put it out
a few months later…
As your fanzine is a paper one, I'd
like to know your view on e zine and e-reviews ? Do you enjoy reading
them and which one are relevant to you ?
As said, www.voicesfromthedarkside.de offers good interviews with fine
bands, but I don't care about the rest, honestly said. Every day I receive
spam mails over and over again, telling me to check out this or that site,
and I'm simply tired and SICK of this ! FUCK OFF ! There's a small bunch
of good webzines, all the rest is made by amateurish fuckers that know
nothing about real music, electronic freaks trapped inside an electronic
fuckers` world, that's what they are ! Like mp3s, downloading etc. slowly
kills music and identity, the same goes out to webzines and the likes…
Hail the good, old paper zine !!!
Last weeks ? – I think we have to go further back than that… However, I really liked the last / current releases of i.e. Wolf, Necrovation, Repugnant, Rose Tattoo, Motörhead, Attacker, Burning Saviours, Solitude Aeturnus, Melechesh, Porcupine Tree, Axehammer, Twisted Tower Dire, Death Breath, The Hidden Hand, Zemial, Isole, The Gates Of Slumber and the likes. But, honestly said, I don't care too much about new releases as I receive many new stuff in my function as journalist. When I'm looking for records I mostly buy older stuff, lately I've more been into old 70s / late 60s stuff such as i.e. Coven, Lucifer´S Friend, Icecross, Atomic Rooster, Genesis, Warpig, Budgie, King Crimson and Writing On The Wall.
What do I wait for when buying a new album ? Well, at first I expect good songs, real emotions, sweat, blood and tears ! It doesn't matter is the sound is good or bad, if the song writing is simple of technical, the only thing that matters is that the music pours out of the creators' hearts and souls ! When I feel dedication, honesty and sincerity I even consider clearly produced, modern stuff ok. – But it's a shame that most modern stuff doesn't have got an own face, it's just commercial music created by business men for the huge masses out there… But anyway, as mentioned above, there are still some great acts worth to support out there, so worship those worth to be worshipped and spit in the faces of those that are condemned to suffer in eternal fire…!
I`ve never read any reviews in “Terrorizer” zine because you cannot buy it too easily over here in Germany. But I've read (too many) “Rock Hard” reviews, that's for sure. Anyway, that's just another money-making publication, you have to understand their “weird” “opinions” and stuff like this. But it's always good for a great laugh, that's why I'm buying it from time to time. Hehe, I sometimes read “Legacy” reviews, but more often I write them ! Yeah, that's the certain “bigger mag” I mentioned above I'm writing for these days. Some years ago I decided to join them because after all those English-written interviews in “Blood Of The Ancient” I felt I had to do something in my mother tongue again because I think I can express this way better (as you may recognise when reading these lines here, hehe – congratulations !). Ok, I have to confess that there are many shitty bands in “Legacy” mag, but somehow I became some sort of “Doom / traditional / raw Metal specialist” there and I got in touch with bands I`ve always been dying for to do some interviews with (as i.e. Motörhead, Rose Tattoo, Slayer etc.). So it's a convenient situation, I like the work as long as there's journalistic freedom. The space for the interviews is at least not as limited as in other, comparable mags these days…
Thanks a lot for your answers, a last
beer to end this interview ?
A last beer, that's the ultimate tip now – it's now 2 o' clock and
I'll go down searching for another beer and worship one of the bands mentioned
in question no. 1 again. Damn, a bit of Razor would be cool right now…
Anyway, thank you very much for your support !!! I really liked your last
issue featuring interviews with cult acts such as i.e. Sacrifice, Vulcano,
Hobbs Angel Of Death and Nifelheim !!! Really awesome – readers,
please continue supporting “Franang” zine, one of the most
sincere publications nowadays ! Fuck off webzines, hail the paper cult
! And by the way, check out our debut LP “Slaves Of The Burning
Pentagram” if you are dedicated to the ancient Thrash cult, otherwise
please fuck off!
On Speed I die,
For Thrash I cry,
In Black I rule,
Slaughtering the fool !
Contact (UGLY internet): wachter0@t-online.de
IRON INCUBUS