I, for one, have never been disappointed with South American bands and, more specifically, the Chilean scene has been providing us with plenty of excellent bands for years. What is even better, the Chilean bands are very keen on creating music deeply rooted in the 80s. If you ask me,

I will tell you these bands are just “stuck” in the golden era of metal and MAYHEMIC is a good example.

True, we talked to MAYHEMIC a couple of issues back but their latest compilation album: “The Darkest Age” as well as their future plans seem like a good reason we talk again with this exceptional band.

1.Hello and how are you? I want to say that this “The Darkest Age” compilation album is a good idea, indeed. You know, to gather up all the stuff and release it as one. And most of these songs aren’t easy to find (well, maybe except for the “Mortuary Feast of Skeletons” ep). Would you agree with me?

Doom: Yes, I think that it was a great opportunity to show all our music to people outside of Chile, specially our “No-Life” demo from 2018, that was only have two limited editions on tape released in Chile and a limited CD-R version in our country as well. I also think that is a good way to end this first years of our career before the release of our first full-length album, it’s like a resume of the first phase of the band.

2.“The Darkest Age” is a good “wrapping up” of your music up till present times. You know, some sort of a summary of what MAYHEMIC has achieved so far. Tell me, how do you see these five years of your band`s activity, in hindsight?

Noctumbra: It has been years of hard work, achievements, and some frustrations. You know, covid brought problems to all of us, and as a band, we faced it just after we lost two members, added to coordination difficulties, we lost practically two years. That aside, Mayhmic's activity flows like his music, fast and cutting off heads.

Doom: I think these years have been quite productive after all, except for the time of COVID obviously. But in this time, we have learned a lot and improved as musicians and as a band. I think that the learning we had with the former members of the band has allowed us to find ourselves more solid and stronger than ever looking to go further and further.

3.“The Darkest Age” stands for your fascination with early KREATOR (I am talking here about their first two albums). So, well, how much do you like KREATOR, huh? It then comes as no surprise that the said compilation features “Dying Victims” by KREATOR, huh? Must have been hard to decide which song to pick out of so many, I am sure of it!

Noctumbra: Kreator has been my favorite band since I became a metal fan, and of course, their early days blow my mind. In the beginning, together with Apocalyptor (former member) we started the band just as a kind of "tribute" to the stage of Kreator from the "Tormentor" demo to “Pleasure to Kil”, and under that framework the first songs were composed. Of course, since we saw in the band as a serious project, we do not allow to limit ourselves to being a "tribute", but the influences are always there (and more than surely, they will always be). Regarding the cover, it's just like you say, I would have loved to play all the songs hahahahaha.

 4.Man, I will tell you that I find one thing totally amazing, I mean the fact that these days young bands like MAYHEMIC are able to play the music which is so heavily rooted in the 80s. To be honest with y`all, I wish KREATOR would keep playing like this too, no joke. Sadly, their music has lost its “vibe” so to say a long time ago. Does it imply that each and every band that want to become “commercially successful” need to lost their initial “character” – like KREATOR for instance, what do you think?

Noctumbra: This industry is very unpredictable at times, and considering how the industry has changed over the years, I wouldn't dare say that losing the initial identity of a band is necessary to get far, although I don't give a shit anyway because Mayhemic is going to keep playing the fastest, grotesques and insane shit there can be.

Doom: In my opinion it depends on various factors, it is true that there are styles that work better in the "general" public, and so it has been throughout history, for a while to be popular you had to play Glam, then Thrash, Nu metal and currently this more modern and melodic metal. But I also think that one of the greatest virtues of metal is that the underground scene has always been and will always be strong, thanks to that this type of more classic and extreme acts will always have a place among the fans. In any case, as Noctumbra said, MAYHEMIC will remain faithful to its roots, because what matters to us is to play the music that we like and not the one that others may or may not like.

5.How did you get interested in Teutonic metal? What is so special in this type of music and in KREATOR in particular that you, in result, decided to follow what was given to us on “Endless Pain” and “Pleasure to Kill” by Mile and his friends?

Noctumbra: At age 13 I heard Kreator for the first time (Extreme Aggression and Pleasure to Kill). It's one of those things that can't be explained, but as soon as I heard it, I knew that was what I wanted to hear forever and how I wanted my music to be one day. My obsession was such that what I did was basically try to find and listen to any shit that looked alike, and from there was born my attachment to the classic material of bands like Sodom, Destruction, Necronomicon, and even others outside of Germany like Sepultura and Vulcano. Obviously, the most representative banner is raised by the Germans. I imagine that many young bands follow this path because in general, the songs are not so difficult to play and are very natural when composing them, in my case, the initiative is only because I am obsessed with that material.

6.Is this KREATOR`s energy that’s so alluring or what?

Noctumbra: It’s Ventor’s fault hahaha

 7.Ok, enough of “The Darkest Age” - let’s talk about your forthcoming full-length (?) album, which is to be out this year. Please elaborate on this topic a little. Is it coming to be a real full-length or maybe something shorter, like an MLP? Which label is going to release this stuff?

Doom: Our next material will be Mayhemic's first full-length which will be released this year. It will be titled "TOBA" and will feature eight new songs in the vein of our previous material "The Last Judgement / Volcanic Blast) of 2021, but faster, more varied, dark and explosive than everything before. The album will be released by Sepulchral Voice Records of Germany, which is giving us tremendous support to make this album possible.

8.Ok, to create music is one thing, but to play it live is another. Where do you guys plan to play live this year? Any chance we can see you guys in Europe or Poland?

Doom: Our plan this year is to play as much as possible in Chile and travel the next year. The plan is in fact to make a European tour in 2024, we do not know yet if we will pass through Poland, but it would be great to do it

9.According to Metal Archives, you guys are busy with other bands too. So, do you have any free time for other things at all (beside music, of course?)

Noctumbra: I don't usually have a lot of free time. I am a professional Software Developer by day and a professional beer drinker by night (by day too).

Doom: The only band I'm in besides Mayhemic it’s one called Deviants, Noctumbra and Magelis are in the band too, but it’s more like a studio project, so it doesn’t really takes me a lot of time. Beside music I am studying psychology, that takes the biggest part of my time. I really like cinema and comic books as well, so I always find an space for that too. I also design flyers and cassette’s layouts as extra work.

I would say your music is getting more and more popular, so any chance “The Darkest Age” will be re-released on vinyl? Any palpable interest from the labels in this matter, huh?

Doom: Not only is it possible, but it will come out relatively soon. Sepulchral Voice Records will be releasing this year the vinyl edition of "The Darkest Age" featuring the original art of "The Final Judgement / Volcanic Blast" by Bastián Velasquez of the band Deathsvn.

10.The Chilean scene is so rich in bands…and awesome music; what is the reason, if I may ask, for your country to have so many excellent groups? And one more thing, Chilean music is so deeply rooted in the 80s. Damn, it all sounds like it was composed and performed 30 years ago. How’s it possible, tell me man?

Noctumbra: We're in a shitty country, we live angry, and we make angry music accordingly. It's good that you like bands here, the truth is that there is a lot of movement, as well as great bands, going to live underground shows is always fun because of that, and many of our favorite bands in the world are right here!!!! The truth is that there is everything, you have thrash bands influenced by that eighties sound that we like so much, and others influenced by more modern sounds.

For years, tape-trading, beside live shows, has been considered to be the best way to promote band`s music, yet, these days thanks to the internet, access to music is more than easy. But there is a downside to it as well since there have been plenty of garbage bands who use the internet to become visible/present. If you ask me it is irritating that there are so many bands who are not ready to release their full-length albums yet they do, coz, lo and behold, it’s become so easy to record and release albums. Resultingly, plenty of shitty, worthless music is spawned. So, what do you think? Is the internet a good thing when it comes to promotion or just the very opposite? This easiness of access, in fact, kills music, hey?

Doom: I think that the internet itself is neither good or bad in that sense, it is just one more tool. It is also a double-edged sword, in case your work is crap, it is normal for the internet to let you know or ignore you. Perhaps the biggest problem of promoting through the internet is the oversupply that this generates, but I do not think it is killing music, on the contrary, very good bands have been able to become better known thanks to the internet and that is a positive point.

11.Thanks a lot for your answers. Anything to add for your die-hard fans? Take care.

Doom: Thank you for your support! Keep in touch because they are big news coming this year!! METAL!!!!

Noctumbra: THHRRRRRRRAAAAAAAARASHHHHHHHHHHH

Interview conducted NecronosferatuS

Dear ladies and lads; well, looking for a suitable interview candidate for our Oldschool Metal Maniac`s 25^thissue didn’t take too long, indeed. First of all,

DESTROYER 666 have recently released their latest album – totally amazing “Never Surrender” and second, they are about to start another European tour quite soon.

Since these Aussie wolves will be playing three shows here in Poland,

So, I guess you`ll find this chat with Keith Bemrose aka K.K. Warslut really interesting.

Hi KK. Seems like this year is going to be a good one for DESTROYER 666. You have recently released a new brand album…damn, this stuff is a slab of awesome speed metal! I love it!!!

KK - Cheers mate, glad to hear ya like it.

You guys are preparing to embark on a new tour and you are coming to Poland…that’s excellent news, I must say. What other countries are you guys planning to visit?

KK - Any we are allowed to.

Here in Poland, there are plenty of ardent D666 fans, and I am sure they`ll be very happy to learn you guys have planned three live shows in our country. Trust me man, I know of some guys who`ll come see you at each and every of these three shows.

KK - The Polaks are some of the best folk in Europe. I love Poland and the Polish metalheads. If I could Id move there but ya language is too deranged.

The last time I saw you live was at Black Silesia Fest. How did you like that fest btw? Some of D666 members had some issues getting to the venue, right?

KK - Yeah was fine, enjoyed it a lot. Yeah some usual problems with understaffed airlines fucking things up.

Well, let’s talk about your latest album – “Never Surrender”, shall we. These songs were recorded at Moontower Studios. Well, if you ask me I will tell you that, in my view, three-piece bands are best when it comes to writing music, for instance: BATHORY, SODOM, KREATOR, DESTRUCTION, CELTIC FROST, EXCITER, am I right? Why did not Roland participate in the recording session by the way?

KK - Ro had left the band by then. So ya know, ya play the cards ya dealt.We wanted to record precisely at a time when everyone was told to stay home and hide under thier bed from the invisible enemy,not travel,not see people etc ...we thought this would be good for the band morale.

Bez (guitar) joined D666 during some of your latest live shows. Is he a full-time member or a live musician? Can you please tell us some more about how he joined your horde?

KK - Yeah he joined just previous to Steelfest. Ive known him for about 10 years. Hes from Iran. Or possibly Portugal.

I would say that D666 have changed a lot since “Wildfire”. In my opinion, your music used to be more “black metal oriented” in the past, so to say; now, damn, it’s just total speed metal with plenty of devilishness in it. Let me guess, your true nature prevailed, huh? It seems that composing/playing this sort of music comes very naturally to you, I reckon. In other words, you play/write the very same kind of music that you have been listening to all your life, right?

KK - I see your view...but from my perpective ,its always been leaning more towards Thrash and Speed than Black. It was only the Defiance album which broke that pattern. But ya know, thats just me, and we all know this one important fact ,no one knows more about a band than the fan of a band. So maybe Im wrong.
Your second point rings true I think..its said things occur in cycles and we end up where we started but hopefully the wiser for it. So yeah I feel like Im in a band now that harkens back to my formative years.

What stuff do you listen to these days? Do you listen to KAT occasionally? I think you have always had a soft spot for KAT`s music. Alas, Roman Kostrzewski died on February 10, 2022. We will forever be missing this guy, that’s for sure. Some people seem simply irreplaceable. Like Lemmy and MOTORHEAD or KAT and Roman. The grim reaper is indeed merciless…

KK - Listened to Kat a lot the last coupla days. Listening to lotsa French heavy metal from the 80s. Some old Italian stuff.A Swedish Heavy Metal Biker band called Crank.

I have noticed that “The Wolf” has often been present in your layout. What does this animal mean to you?

KK - It means many things on many different levels, But for brevitys sake, lets say for now it means Fuck the world.

Are you interested in any global affairs? Are you interested in politics and so on? To what extent are you (guys) affected by what is going on these days in the world?

KK - Politics is usually infintley dull and somewhat predictable. Im more interested in the globalist parastical class and their schemes to have us all live in a digital gulag eating bugs, masturbating in VR goggles and every fucking move we make being tracked traced and evalauated and penalized for some bullshit like the fucking sun.

The “Never Surrender” lyrics are very powerful. This sort of attitude conveyed by the album lyrics makes us strong and free in our fucked-up times. Yet, some people ignore this and become “cogs in the machine” so to say. This renders them incapable of independent thinking. I am not surprised by your lyrics and the overall vibe, so to say, since what has been going on in the world in the recent years is totally annoying. Does the world need to start burning so people can realize how bad it is?

KK - if they aint woke up by now, then they probably never will, but ya can get some good persective from the gallows Im sure, so who knows, theres hope yet theyll see things a bit clearer one day.

In my view, the current trends in modern cinema are totally fucked up. Plenty of gay stuff, black actors in traditionally white roles (Disney`s “Lord of the Rings”); or “The Witcher” featuring black elves. What the fuck, there have never been black elves…and not because the authors were racist or something like that. Same for “Elisabeth I” and black actors playing historical characters…This shit is getting really eerie and totally unnecessary, in my opinion. Or “Sandman” and some LGBTQ representation. Soon, kids will perceive being heterosexual as something unusual. Man, what is going on? What is your view on this matter?

KK - I dont know these shows you mentioned, but it sounds a lot like classic Extreme Left tactics to rewrite history. Happend in Russia,China.
Whats goin on? Its a controlled demolition. there can be no Great Reset with our first shutting it all down. Think about how you reset your computer. Gotta shut it down first.

It seems that playing live shows and extensive touring require being in good shape. You look very fit man, you are certainly doing awesome. Tell me something pal: how important is working out for you? How often do you go to the gym? What does regular physical activity mean to you?

KK - Been weight training since 96 , Shrapnel got me started on it. Previous to that i was just doin cardio, lotsa swimming ,circuit work, walking, some jogging. Trainings very important to me. Anyone who trains will tell you that. I wouldve destroyed myself long ago without that discipline that comes from training.
I dont go to a gym and havent been to one regularly for 6 years now. I train at home. Which saves me the commute, the terrible music and the morons. But, it also of course has its down side re: lack of machines and free weights. But ya can do a hell of a lot with some dumbells, resistance cables and body weight.

If you could travel back in time, what would you like to see, change or correct? What place and time would you like to visit?

KK - In my life? hmm..ive certainly made my share of mistakes along the trail, but best not to spend too much time contemplating the impossible. But often we do get the chance to apologize to those we have wronged or offended for no good reason. And ya dont need time travel for it either.
Place and time? jesus ,so many...Id love to see modern mans first interactions with Neanderthals. 450 - 1000 AD Britannia would be of interest to me.

Well, time to wrap up, I guess. Thanks a lot for your answers. See you at your live shows in Poland. Anything to add for your ardent, die-hard fans? Take care.

KK - I stand sincerely honoured and humbled by the support of the Polaks. No remorse,No regrets and Never Surrender

 NecronosferatuS

Well, the very fact that PROTECTOR has always been very popular among their ardent fans here in Poland is simply undeniable. Thus, it comes as no surprise that it was awesome news when PROTECTOR`ians resumed their music activities 12 years ago, I will tell you time flies by, indeed. And they have released a number of awesome albums since their resurrection which can easily be considered as good as their classic stuff – “Golem” or “Urm the Mad”. Their full length “Excessive Outburst of Depravity” from 2022 is a good example of what good music is all about and that was the very reason why I decided to ask Martin Missy to have a little chat. Ladies and gentlemen – enjoy.

Hello Martin, how are you and how was your new year`s party? Hope this is going to be a good year for PROTECTOR, what do you think?

- Everything is ok here. My family and me spent Christmas and New Years Eve at my sister’s place in Germany. During this visit I also had the opportunity to go to a Sodom / Darkness show in Andernach. I think this will be a good year for Protector, although we will take it easy in the first half of 2023 (our guitarist and Drummer became fathers last year and need some time off with their kids). In September we will play one gig in Sweden and two gigs in Germany. And in November we'll play in Poland (Gdansk and Katowice).

Yes, undeniably, “Excessive Outburst of Depravity” has been out for some time, but this is the latest stuff authored by PROTECTOR. So, let us chat about this album a little as this full-length recording is one of PROTECTOR`s most interesting, in my view. A truly massive, awesome piece of music – these songs have literally bulldozed me into the ground!

- Thank you! I also think that we did a really good album this time. Personally, I think it is the best Protector album since the resurrection of the band in 2011.

“Reanimated Homunculus” was out back in 2013. I will tell you I am still surprised how good this album turned out to be; and bearing in mind PROTECTOR took a very long break in their career, right? Although you returned with a brand-new line-up yet the sound and style of yours is totally similar to the one we know from the “Golem/Urm the Mad” times. Man, I would say that all the stuff created after you reactivated PROTECTOR appears to be some sort of “lost recordings” from the “GOLEM” era. Dude, simply it is hard to believe this was recorded just in 2013. I would say you are one of the very few who can do it right, congratulations.

- Yes, I am also very pleased with all the albums we have recorded since 2013. I am incredible fortunate that I can play in a band together with three musicians that love old school Metal, and who can write songs that sound much like our albums from the 80s.

The album was recorded at Studio Humbucker in Stockholm and the session was split in two parts. Patrick W. Engel took care of the mastering. You have cooperated with this guy before, correct? Can you please elaborate on this session a little bit?

- Well actually it was just one session. Calle started with recording the drums, then Micke recorded the guitar and Matte the bass. After that I entered the studio and did the vocals. The sound engineer Robert Persson then sent the files to Patrick W. Engel who mixed and mastered everything. On our previous three albums he had done the mastering only, but this time we let him manage the mixing part as well. And I think the result became really cool and old-school.

Let us talk about the album`s lyrics. As I can see you are interested in war themes. Which time period is your favourite? The reason I am asking is that, for instance, the song named “Last Stand Hill” deals with the Battle of the little Bighorn that took place in June, 1876 and involved George Custer as well as Crazy Horse and Dakota Indians. Another song that has attracted my attention is “Referat IV B 4” – a very depressing journey to the past extermination camps of the Second World War. Yes, history seems a good source of inspiration yet can be scary at times too, don’t you think? Have you ever been to any former death camps like the one in Auschwitz, for example? I will tell you when you enter the death zone you can feel all the fear and pain….

- Yes, I usually get inspired to lyrics by books, movies and documentaries. History is one of my favourite topics. I had planned to write lyrics about the Holocaust for quite some time. When we played in Poland in 2019 we also went to Auschwitz. I had of course seen many pictures and documentaries about the camp, but when I actually were there, it filled me with both sadness (for all the people that lost their lives there) and anger (against all the persons that were involved in executing this insanity). In the lyrics to "Referat IV B 4" I wrote about all the Germans that organized the "Endlösung" from an office in Berlin. In my eyes they were as guilty as the guards of the camps, that sent the victims into the gas chambers.

“Open Skies and Endless Seas” and “Perpetual Blood Oath” are the homage paid to your Nordic brothers from PROTECTOR, huh?

- " Open Skies..." is about Vikings, correct. That was also a topic I had wanted to write some lyrics about for quite a while. "Perpetual Blood Oath" is my attempt to write some MANOWAR kind of lyrics.

What are your inspirations when you write lyrics? Some movies or books perhaps? Any favourite ones?

- It's especially movies and books that inspire me. The lyrics to "Crosses in Carelia" (from the "Cursed and Coronated" Album) for instance are inspired by the finish book (and movie) "The unknown soldier" by Väinö Linna. "Holiday in Hell" (from the "Reanimated Homunculus" Album) is inspired by the American movie "Deliverance" from 1972. "Stillwell Avenue" (from the "Summon the Hordes" Album) is inspired by the American movie "The Warriors" from 1979. The list goes on and on... :-)

You have been cooperating with High Roller for 10 years now. Can you please tell us a bit more about this cooperation? Are you happy with Steffen and his label?

- Absolutely! High Roller Records has the absolute perfect size for PROTECTOR. It' s neither too big nor too small. The whole staff there is doing a great job, and it is very easy to have contact with them.

In 2019, you took part in a mini-tour together with (reactivated) IMPERATOR and HELL-BORN. How did you like the gig in Warsaw, if I may ask?

- It was awesome! The polish fans were incredible. I still have goosebumps when I think about the loud "PROTECTOR, PROTECTOR" chants between the songs. I'm really looking forward to return to Poland this autumn.

Many fans think that cult bands like PROTECTOR for instance, are busy with music only. Well, it seems that this assumption is not 100% correct, and the movie about ANVIL has shown us exactly what non-music lives of the band members look like. So, please tell us what you guys do or what you are busy with when you don’t play music. I suspect you work and your jobs limit your ability to play live, huh?

- We all have regular jobs. Micke is a car mechanic, Calle is driving a garage truck, Matte is working in a fish factory and I am employed at a hospital in Stockholm. Micke, Calle and me also have families. These are the reasons why we usually only play live about 5-7 times a year.

Well, and talking about live shows, how about 2023 in this context? Hope you won’t forget your ardent fans here in Poland, huh?

- We will return to Poland this year. In November we will be playing one show in Gdansk and one in Katowice (not in the Spodek this time though, hehehe).

And I will tell you there are plenty of awesome fests here in Poland that you should include in your live show schedule! Like Black Silesia in Byczyna, Summer Dying Loud in Łodz, Mystic Fest in Gdańsk and so on. Martin, tell me if there is any chance to see you guys at any of these fests this year, huh?

- I am not sure if the two gigs I mentioned are part of a festival, or if they are regular club shows. We will see.

I need to ask you about your line-up. Most of PROTECTOR`s members are Swedish. So, let me ask about BATHORY… as I can see - now and then, there pop up some BATHORY tee shirts, BATHORY`s debut album that you are holding in your hands…Well, BATHORY seems pretty important to you, right?

- Of course, BATHORY is an awesome band. They were one of the first to play really aggressive and brutal Metal. They were not a big influence to us in the 80s (that were bands like POSSESSED, SLAYER and SODOM) but we all love BATHORY albums, at least the early ones.

Most fans are into BATHORY`s first four albums; as well as, perhaps, “Hammerheart” and “Twilight of the Gods”. What is your opinion about BATHORY`s later albums like “Requiem”, “Octagon”, “Blood on Ice”, “Destroyer of The Worlds”?

- I have to admit that I am not such a big fan of the later albums. I like the brutality and aggression of the first albums more.

Have you ever met Quorthon personally? If yes, what kind of guy was he?

- No, unfortunately I never met him. I have a friend here in Stockholm who used to see him at the football matches of AIK Solna, but also, he never spoke with him.

Your first BATHORY`s album ever? And how did you like what you heard on BATHORY`s debut album?

- Our DRUMMER Michael had BATHORY`s debut album, so it was at his place I heard it for the first time. I liked the album right away and I was really proud when I found out that the band was from Sweden.

Paradoxically, the COVID times benefited bands in a sense they could focus more on writing music rather than playing live. Well, indeed, your “Excessive Outburst of Depravity” was released not a long time ago, but please tell me whether you guys are currently working on any new songs? What’s cooking, in other words?

- We have two songs that weren't finished in time to end up on "Excessive Outburst of Depravity". And Matte and me have written one more song each. Matte is picking up the guitar from time to time to write new riffs. We will see when we'll have enough songs ready for a new album.

Well, time to wrap up, I think. Thanks a lot for your time. Anything to add for our Polish fans of PROTECTOR? The floor is all yours. Hope to see you playing live in Poland this year!!! Regards. Leszek

- I would like to thank all our Polish fans for their support. Together with Germany and the Czech Republic, Poland is the country with the biggest PROTECTOR-stronghold in the world. And Thank you for doing the Interview with me, Leszek! Stay Metal everyone!

NecronosferatuS

Ladies and gentleman, this is FAUST. Well, after this year`s Brutal Assault edition, I decided to have a little chat with them, a truly enjoyable band from Czech Republic as they`re surely are. Read on.

Well, I won’t deny this year`s Brutal Assault edition was the first time when I heard your music. That was a good show, no doubt! So, let’s start the interview, shall we?

 

Kryštof: Thank you! Let’s dive right into this, kurwa!

 

You guys formed FAÜST in 2020…but your music oozes of old, archaic 80s vibe, all right. Why did you choose this primordial kind of old school metal?

 

Kryštof: Well we formed the band already in 2014 under a different name though. First we were called “Coldblooded Fish” and had two different members than we have now. And back then we all loved thrash metal in all forms, so we wanted to be part of it too. Then in 2018 we released our full length album called “Malvarma” under the shortened name “CBF”, but 2 years later, we finally realized that the name isn’t working, so we decided to change it and with it we also started to play more dirty, blackened/rock’n’roll-ish/punk-ish thrash metal.

 

 

Well, before the internet era, there were many bands who shared the same name. Like SLAYER, NECROPHAGIA, NIGHTMARE, HOLY DEATH to name but a few. Kind of uncommon these days, huh? So, the question is why you chose this quite popular band name since there must be at least 8 other FAUST`s out there? So why FAÜST? Was this Johann Wolfgang von Goethe`s tragic play of any importance to you when picking the very name?

 

Kryštof: We picked this name because me, Jenda and Honza were born in a maternity hospital, which is 2 blocks away from a building in Prague that is called a “Faust’s House” which is tied to a Prague legend very similar to the Goethe’s play. And yeah of course we looked at metal-archives and found that there are like 14 other bands called Faust, but no one had the umlaut above the U in the name, so we are distinguished at least by that haha.

 

Rudolf II, count of Habsburg (who ruled Czechia in 1576-1611) wasn’t too fond of the Roman Catholic Church. He, at some point, renounced Roman Catholicism and perhaps that’s why he opted to be surrounded by enlightened people at his court including astronomers, astrologists, magicians and alchemists. He was also interested in sorcery…and there were more persons like him in your (Czechia`s) history. Is this person inspirational in any way to you guys?

 

Kryštof: Not yet, but he might be in the future. This definitely seems like something I would be interested in making lyrics about.

 

 

You hail from the city of Prague, which is considered the world`s capital of occultism by many people. Does it have any meaning to you?

 

Kryštof: The history of occultism here is very interesting, but I haven’t given it much interest so far.

 

Devil and metal music are a truly explosive blend, aint it? This sort of music is really charming and can possess its listeners really easily. And this is why I can sense this devilish element in your speed/thrash music, huh?

 

Kryštof: I don’t think it needs to be connected with the devil so be charming and easy to catch the eye of the listener, but it definitely still works well with it. More the music sounds evil, the more devilish it can get. People can take it any way they want and if they want to praise the devil with it, then by all means, go for it.

 

 

As I can see you like CELTIC FROST, BATHORY and DARKTHRONE. You have their tee shirts, you play their cover songs live (like Into the Crypts of Rays by CELTIC FROST at Brutal Assault). How much are you guys inspired by these bands? What bands/albums do you listen to on a daily basis?

 

Kryštof: We all listen to something a bit different, for example Jenda (bass player) enjoys listening to grindcore/noise/crust and many more, I listen to heavy metal/thrash/punk and whatever I find interesting. On a daily basis right now at the moment I listen to a band DOOL which I found on Brutal Assault and I love their gothic rock/metal vibe.

 

 

Ok, this year your “Tinnitus Inquisition” was out through Witches Brew from Germany. Can you please elaborate on how this album was composed, rehearsed and recorded? How many days did it take you to get it recorded and mixed? What studio did you use?

 

Kryštof: The writing for the album started in the early 2021 mainly with the joining of Teodor to the band and we still were finishing up some lyrics to 2 songs when we were already in the studio in the first week of August 2021. Rehearsing the songs was sometimes a bit difficult, cause in our rehearsal room we can’t hear every little detail everyone plays, so we had to play one song the whole day so get it right. Which gets annoying even after the second time you play it in a row. But in the end it’s always worth it. Anyway the studio we picked was Hellsound Studio, which we already recorded in our previous album “Malvarma”, that came out under the CBF name. And I believe it took only 4 days to record and then maybe about a month for the mix and master, which was done by the same guy from the studio Honza Kapák (Bohemyst, Gride, ex-Master’s Hammer)

 

 

At this year`s Brutal Assault fest, there were plenty of good bands to watch. Which ones did you like most?

 

Kryštof: I personally enjoyed Mercyful Fate, D.R.I., Pentagram, Dool, God Mother and Hentai Corporation the most.

 

Where and when is FAÜST going to play live in order to promote “Tinnitus Inquisition”? Poland perhaps?

 

Kryštof: We actually just finished our little tour which took place in Warsaw - Poland, Dresden - Germany, Budapest - Hungary, Bratislava - Slovakia and Kovanice - Czechia, so we are getting back into our normal lives right as we speak, but we will be touring around Czech on the weekends until the end of the year. You can see our upcoming shows on our facebook page for sure!

 

Ok, time to wrap up, I guess. Thanks a lot for your time. Good luck with your shows and I do hope fans will enjoy and appreciate your Tinnitus Inquisition.

 

 

Kryštof: Thank you so much, we wish you well in your life and thanks to anyone who finished reading this! Cheers & Beers!!

 

Regards

Necronosferatus

 

What I am holding in my “eternally yearning for metal music” hands right now is Italy`s BARBARIAN`s brand new album (“Viperface”).This is a full-length release with plenty of devilishness in it. Man, this stuff messed me up a lot so it comes as no surprise I decided to chat with BARBARIAN`s frontman – Borys Catelani. Ok, lets don’t waste our precious time no more. Ladies and gentlemen – this is BARBARIAN!

I guess that we all agree that Dave Ingram is a legend and his harsh vocal style set the tone for hundreds of other death metal singers.

With Dave’s return Benediction came back stronger than ever and amazed everyone with an outstanding “Scriptures”. And how Dave feels about the band nowadays ? Let’s see…

“Scriptures” sounds like a missing album from the very beginning of Benediction. Although it’s a great album I was wondering- was it hard to “travel back in time” and somehow revisit the older times?

 

The ‘Old School’ sound is exactly what we do. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Why would we want to change that which we’re disciplined at? We won’t, and even when we did diverge from our standard it did not stray too far. For now we are embracing the OSDM we have always loved and will continue to write the same groove-laden metal in the future

 

 

As I said- I’ve seen you live twice, previously I’ve also seen Benediction with Dave Hunt. And all the gigs were amazing- haven’t you thought about recording a live album?

 

These days, live albums are not-so-cheap shots at making money for the label. Best way to experience the band live is to GO AND SEE THEM. Sure, not everyone can get to a gig, but in the modern age there’s live streaming and YouTube. You may be surprised at some of the high quality videos available out there. I’m not a fan of modern live albums, as they lack the ‘classic’ feel of the past (Black Sabbath’s “Live Evil”, Ozzy’s “Talk Of The Devil” for two examples) but I wouldn’t be averse to trying. 

 

 

After two iconic albums - “The Grand Leveller” (Benediction’s best in my opinion) and “Transcend the Rubicon'' you've taken a bit different direction with “The Dreams You Dread” - everything went slower, gloomier and it was a noticeable change within band’s style. Why was that?

 

 

As I said earlier, yes we strayed from our usual path, but we didn’t go too far away from it. Give the album another listen with that in mind. It’s still Benediction, just on a slightly different facet. And still OSDM, in my opinion.

 

 

 

Let’s talk about your episode in Bolt Thrower. You joined the band, when they already had a legendary status. How did you get there? Was it hard to jump into one of the biggest bands in death metal history?

 

I was asked to join some months after leaving Benediction, in 1998. The members of Bolt Thrower and myself were good friends so it was a logical choice and an easy assimilation. It is part of my life that I will also carry with me forever, with the memories of my tenure being such wonderful times.

 

 

I think that Down Among The Dead Man is a criminally underrated band. In one of the songs there are guests vocals recorded by your son Oliver. Haven’t you thought of creating a band with him one day?

 

 

Nowadays my son isn’t into much metal, especially the older death stuff. He sometimes likes some older rock tracks, and has his tastes elsewhere. The fact that he likes music is important to me, and I am happy with whichever genre lights his flame. As for DATDM we will hopefully begin work on a new album next year. Both myself and Rogga have many projects on the go so there is no rush at this time.

 

 

 

You’re obviously a science-fiction fan, with all those Dr Who inspirations and a couple of Star Wars-related jokes on stage of Mystic Festival. What in this genre is so special for you? What would you pick as the greatest sci-fi book ever written?

 

 

Science Fiction, just like music, is an escape. So why not combine the two (as I did in Down Among The Dead Men, along with songs in several other projects of mine, including the “Scriptures” album!) I absolutely LOVE Doctor Who - I’m sure my tattoos are testament to that - and I’m somewhat of a Star Trek and Star Wars fan also. The “Hello There!” moment onstage is to see if the audience all shout “GENERAL KENOBI!!” back at me. It hasn’t happened yet…maybe one day. The greatest Sci-Fi book ever written? That’s a tough one! I’d have to go with a list of a few…and then I’d be missing some out! But try these:

 

1. The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

2. 2001, A Space Odyssey - Sir Arthur C. Clarke

3. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick

4. Make Room, Make Room! - Harry Harrisson

5. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells

 

It might be a trivial question, but why did you decide to move to Denmark?

 

Back in 1995 when Benediction were touring with Death around Europe, we played a show in Copenhagen. I was introduced to a woman who became my girlfriend. We had a long distance relationship for 3 years, and then I decided to move to Denmark full time. It was the best thing I have ever done, as Denmark is a wonderful place to live. A very relaxed lifestyle…and the best beer in the world.

 

 

You recorded some guest vocals for 1914’s last album. Obviously, the situation for the guys there right now is not easy - do you think what war in Ukraine will end anytime soon? What outcome might we expect?

 

 

 

I stand with Ukraine on this, personally. Benediction have tried to keep politics out of the music all these years, so I won’t go too far into it, but my heart goes out to the Ukrainian people. The outcome will be bleak, whatever it is. Things in the world have changed.

 

 

Thanks for the interview. Last word goes to you- is there anything you’d like to tell our readers?

 

Thank you for the support all these years, myself and the band are in awe of the fans out there! THANK YOU!! Stay true to the scene and the scene will stay true to you. Thanks for the interview, it has been awesome!

 

Here’s a list of current albums on my turntable:

1. Voivod - Nothingface

2. Stoner - Totally…

3. Crypta - Echoes of the Soul

4. Brant Bjork and the Bros - Somera Sol

5. David Bowie - Hunky Dory

 

 

 

Interview Wojciech Michalak 

Foto Necronosferatus

 

 

SACRIVERSUM COMES BACK TO THE STAGE  

Polish SACRIVERSUM, death/thrash metal formation from Łódź is back! On the thirtieth anniversary of the band's founding, which suspended their activities in 2005, a re-edition of their debut album "The Shadow of the Golden Fire" will be released on CD. Its premiere will be combined with a reactivation concert. The event will take place on October 22 (Saturday) 2022 in Klubopiwiarnia "Warkot" at ul. Narutowicza 7/9 in Łódź.

The album will be released by Thrashing Madness Prod., while the promoter will be Old Shool Metal Maniac Mag. As the co-founder, vocalist and bassist of Sacriversum, Remigiusz "Remo" Mielczarek, says, the intention to re-release the debut album gave a strong impulse to reactivate the band. - When Leszek, the boss of Thrashing Madness, called me with a proposal to re-release this album, the topic of reactivating the band immediately appeared, exactly on the thirtieth anniversary of its founding - Remo explains.

After releasing the demo "Dreams of Destiny" (Carnage Rec.) in 1992 and then the first album "The Shadow of the Golden Fire" (Baron Rec.) two years later, SACRIVERSUM began to undergo a period of intense stylistic and composition changes. Each of the following four albums was recorded with two vocal lines: the death metal growling was combined with a female, clear voice. This is how many bands played then, and the decade of the nineties was considered the time of the popularity of gothic metal. - We were looking for greater possibilities of expression then, composing with more keys and developing double vocal lines. In fact, many bands went that way: for example The Gathering, Theater of Tragedy, Orphanage, Within Temptation or our native Sirrah - says Remo. - Therefore, it has become inevitable to separate our fans into two groups: supporters of old death / thrash style and those who prefered a new, slightly less aggressive face of the band. Now there is the idea of ​​reactivating SACRIVERSUM back to the roots of the formation. - Before the pandemic, we intended to revive a band close to the late period - Remo explains. - Today, however, we want to recall the spirit of the early years. At the reactivation concert, we will only play songs from the demo and the first album. There will be no female vocals, we will be reminded in our home city of Lodz to old homies who remember our first days. On the thirtieth anniversary of the uprising, it is mainly of a sentimental dimension. Krzysztof "Baran" Baranowicz, keyboardist, co-composer of the repertoire from the debut album, returned to the band. Other musicians from that period could not be gathered. - The drummer, Michał "Ślepy" Ślebocki, unfortunately, is no longer alive. The guitarist Herszt could not take part in the reactivation for important reasons. Fortunately, we have a worthy replacement for both of them! - Remo rejoices. Krystian "MacKozer" Kozerawski, the guitarist of SACRIVERSUM in the last years of the band, whose compositions can be heard on the albums "Mozartia" and "Sigma Draconis", will play the guitar. A young, very talented musician from Łódź, Janek Traciński, will play the drums.

On Saturday, October 22, 2022, the band invites everyone - older and younger - fans of the band to the SACRIVERSUM reactivation concert, combined with the release (for the first time on a Polish CD) of their debut album. The invited special guests will also appear and their names are going to be reveil continously.

Sacriversum c/o : Remo Mielczarek, tel. 517 443 912, Adres poczty elektronicznej jest chroniony przed robotami spamującymi. W przeglądarce musi być włączona obsługa JavaScript, żeby go zobaczyć.

1. Before we go to the essence of this interview, let me ask you how SACRIVERSUM came into being - what was your starting point to create your own band? How did you meet each other?

- Those were beautiful times. Exactly thirty years ago, in 1992. We were young, strong, still had long hair and could swing our right wrists quickly, buahahahahaha! Imagine three students terribly excited by the desire to play in a metal band. Herszt and Slepy had such a local formation called DEAD EVIL, which began to fall apart. For me, the short, only three-month apprenticeship period at PANDEMONIUM ended. After another fat party with TV sets being blown through hotel windows, I decided that it was not for me. To this day, I don't understand why, hahaha! Anyway, Szymon came back to PANDS, and I got to grips with Herszt and Blind, who told me to play bass and also assigned the function of a guttural. We wanted to play death thrash metal because they both were more like thrash, and I was definitely death, though. The stylistic gathering at the very source already became a determinant of SACRIVERSUM's activities: in this band, people with sometimes even extreme musical preferences, who added something to the overall style, always use to met later. The three of us also started to combine with the atmosphere, because playing everything in the speed version, although very pleasant, also turned out to be monotonous. In contrast, we wanted to slow down a bit sometimes. The first demo of "Dreams of Destiny" was recorded by the three of us, but soon the keyboard player Baran joined us - an extremely musical man, bluesman and rocker, but with great respect for metal issues.

1. Your beginnings fall on the period when death metal celebrated its triumphs, but your music, although it did not protect itself from significant influences of this genre, does not quite fit into this convention, if only because of the use of keyboard instruments, which in that time few bands performing death metal used, and if it happened, like in Nocturnus, it was treated as a complement to the whole, musical background, not how did you have an instrument on an equal footing with others?

- Indeed, for us, the adoption of the keyboard player came not only from the need for originality or to be a bit different from everyone else - but also from the natural desire to seek other means of expression. It was not a struggle for originality by force, but the conviction that the keyboard instrument would broaden our range of musical influence. Our music, quite varied in tempo, where fast fragments intertwined with slowdowns, left a lot of space for the keys as an instrument straight from other musical worlds. Baran entered this space very boldly, not worrying at all that it is not appropriate to use a keyboard in metal music, but unceremoniously throw in his classic or blues inserts there, haha! To this day, he has been left with this courage, and we liked the fact that we are not some "headless riders", but our friend expands the offer we have for the audience with his view of music... A risky action, but very attractive to the musicians themselves. And giving a lot of satisfaction. But it is also known that NOCTURNUS used the keys in a completely different way, being the originality accepted by the fans at the time - for the atmosphere. Such open genre bands such as OPETH or KATATONIA only later began to experiment with the style. We were definitely one of the first such weirdos.

1. In your music, especially on "The Shadow of the Golden Fire" I hear a lot of Therion influences, especially from the first three albums, is that a coincidence? Or did this band have any influence on your work? What then inspired you to play such music?

- Of course, also the early THERION, although you will probably be surprised that more certainly "Of Darkness ..." and "Beyond Sanctorum" than the next "... Ho Drakon ...", where there are more pronounced doom and goth influences. Such raw, death, Swedish music, as presented on their first albums back then: ENTOMBED, GRAVE, DISMEMBER, UNLEASHED, TIAMAT, THERION or - apart from Sweden - ASPHYX or AUTOPSY, inspired me a lot at that time. And the guys had of course their: METALLICA, SLAYER, then PANTERA later on. Somewhere, all these fascinations, mixed together, can be heard on our first recordings. I always say that if everyone in a team has the opportunity to show their temperament and passion, only beneficial effects can come out of it.

1. Let's go back for a moment to your first demo "Dreams of Destiny" recorded in Studio-8 in Gdansk within 2 days - how do you recall this session, can you tell us something more about it?

- Well, it was a real opportunity for us at the time. As a bass player of PANDEMONIUM I played, among others, a concert in Gdynia, where I met Wojtek Kita, a very nice man, a music promoter under the Warrior Prod. banner. I do not know what is happening with him today, but then he helped many bands, from the Łódź underground and not only ... Thanks to a two-day, quick session in Krzysiek Maszota's studio in Obłuże, district of Gdynia, we managed to record this demo for a small amount of money. It was only four intro songs, but I remember we were so excited to have a demo that we were simply burned! After all, we had our repertoire ready in a few weeks, and then everything happened very quickly. We "released" this cassette ourselves, with a photocopied insert - and of course Mariusz Kmiołek also received such a copy, asking for a review in Thrashem'All Magazine. A moment later, Mariusz offered us to re-release this material, this time under the flag of Carnage Rec. As if we would then fucking touch the hell itself, hahahahahah! In the first year of operation, we already had a chance to stand close to the most important teams in the country: VADER, ARMAGEDON, PANDEMONIUM, BETRAYER, CHRIST AGONY... I remember how much excited we went with Slepy to Hala Mirowska in Warsaw to pick up our "original copies" in the shop from Mariusz and Krzysiek from PASCAL. As fans and readers of zines, we quickly became interview heroes in almost every such underground magazine. The touring has also started. Another world simply, hehehe...

1. Before Carnage Rec. released "Dreams of Destiny", you released this material on your own in a limited edition of 100 cassettes - how did you get to the label of Mariusz Kmiołek, was anyone else besides Carnage interested in releasing Sacriversum?

- Well, there were a few of these proposals. Please forgive me, but I don't remember the exact names of the people who contacted us about this at the time. We chose Mariusz's offer for an obvious reason: Carnage, after the release of "Morbid Reich" of VADER or "Devilri" of PANDEMONIUM, was already a cult label in the Polish underground, widely recognized as a top. On the other hand, there was, of course, Metal Mind Production, but everyone knew that the bands that interacted with them were not treated fairly. Such matters have been passed on from word of mouth to mouth from the moment KAT took legal action against the MMP. In those years (we're talking about 1992), Carnage offered the only publishing offer of a comparable quality - and we were excited about the fact that we got it at all. I do not regret it to this day, Mariusz Kmiołek always fulfilled all arrangements in relation to SACRIVERSUM. Relationships were fair. Another thing is that soon there were bands talking out loud about their problems with Carnage Rec., but I have to emphasize once again that we did not experience such problems. Maybe because we didn't have too high expectations towards the label then and we agreed on the conditions of releasing the material, which I would boldly call today as mediocre. But these conditions were respected. That's how I remember it today. When assessing your own past and experiences, it is worth having the necessary dose of humility.

1. How was "Dreams of Destiny" received in the underground then? Have you been involved in tape trading? Did you exchange your recordings with other bands then?

- As a band of the so-called underground, we certainly did not advance to the top league, in which the above-mentioned Carnage "locomotives" played, as well as the MMP bands, and KAT - which, as a precursor of the entire metal scene in Poland, first had its own separate audience, and secondly after parting ways with Metal Mind, he himself dealt with publishing his own albums, selecting only distributors. We've played some concerts, but I can't talk about any audience’s madness at the "DoD" stage. This first, own circulation, of course, was basically all intended for exchanges and gifts. Our situation was improved only by the release in 1994 of the first full-minute cassette, "The Shadow of the Golden Fire" by Baron Rec. I owe this fact to Szymon from TENEBRIS, who somehow then quit playing bass in PANDEMONIUM, focusing on developing his own way creative. I remember the enthusiasm with which Szymon talked about the opportunity for them to meet Janusz Baron from Piekary Śląskie and enter the publishing deal with him. Let us remember that we are talking about the years when the provisions of the Copyright Act were not yet in force in Poland. "Publishers" such as Baron traveled to Germany, brought CDs from there - for example, Madonna, Michael Jackson - and then, by the thousands, beat "licensed" tapes in the rooms filled with tape recorders at night, throwing them onto the domestic market. Everywhere, to music stores, kiosks, even disco stalls. They earned massive amount of money, they didn't know what to do with them. And they sponsored recording sessions with local bands, probably a bit like money laundering. Janusz focused on helping and supporting metal bands. We slipped into it following TENEBRIS's footsteps, and with us the next ones: TARANIS, MORDOR, MASTIPHAL, HOLY DEATH (you know something about that, hahaha!), MORTAL SLAUGHTER and others ... Then even such big names as PANDEMONIUM and VADER found better conditions with the Baron Rec. than with other publishers, for example Peter of VADER released "Sothis" there, an EP, immediately on cassette and CD, if I remember correctly. It was an underground paradise. Happiness lasted until the copyright law came into force. Baron collapsed overnight, as did several of his colleagues in business. However, we also took advantage of the possibility of a really good concert promotion, because Janusz paid us to play during Dziubiński's MMP Rec. events - twice, in Chorzów and Warsaw, Poland - as a support for TIAMAT and SENTENCED. At that time, it was an epochal event for a medium-sized underground band like ours. Johan Edlund was at the stage of promoting "Wildhoney", AMORPHIS was to play this tour (which earlier, probably in Germany, was forced to leave the bus by the other two bands - probably because their rapping vocal, Patsi, was considered then to be not very true, hahaha!). And we, who play twice for a thousand-strong audience, all chanting our name, both in the Premiere Club in Chorzów (now defunct) and in Warsaw's club called Stodoła. I will not forget it for the rest of my life. Because although ten years later, as a band from the MMP catalog, at different times and with a different line-up, we played again before TIAMAT supporting their concerts in Poland, the atmosphere of both events cannot be compared at all. From this first mini-tour, I have such a funny memory that after the transfer from Silesia to Warsaw, at the Stodoła club, and before the concert, we sat down with SENTENCED for a beer nearby - and we talked about who knew what words in their languages. It is known that Taneli Jarva was developing his IMPALED NAZARENE in parallel at that time. Well, we said to them: "Listen, we only know three words in Finnish: Suomi Finland and Perkele." They burst out laughing, because we accidentally combined the two most pathetic words, meaning the holy motherland, with the greatest blasphemy. Something like: "Republic, fucking, Poland". I am not sure if the title of the third Impaled album came from this conversation, or if we happened to come across their own idea of ​​such a word cluster, which they had earlier. These concerts were in the winter of early 1995 (January) and their album was officially released, according to today's sources, a few months earlier (October 94). It is difficult for me to determine if they managed to give it the title at the last minute after drinking with us.

1. Two years after the release of your first demo, your second material "The Shadow of the Golden Fire" was released. It was originally released by Baron Rec., It is much better produced and arranged stuff and you can see that you have made a lot of progress in your music and that these two years were a very busy period for you ...

- Musically, it was just like you say. For us, then students dependent on their parents, there were no obstacles such as work or kids. We could basically spend all our time playing, and we did it with enthusiasm. Instead of exploring scientific reading, we only did some basic things for classes, leaving everything for the duration of the examination session. We played, everyone alone at home and then in the rehearsal room, all day long. Hence the good pace of creating the material for "The Shadow ..." and a veeery cool atmosphere of excitement, which can be heard in this music also today. Baran, who then appeared in the band, had many other musical obligations (he is still a sought-after blues and rock keyboard player, he was still playing with someone somewhere then) - but it did not change any percent of his involvement in SACRIVERSUM. He always came to the rehearsal and our every concert, even if he was barely rolling the pavement and the keyboards followed him, buahahahahahahaahahaha! We all had it, because I forgot to say that we had a very social and bottle-like atmosphere inside the band then. Such there, the beginnings of rock and roll in Poland. We were known in the underground for partying behind the scenes, although it was always very cheerful, without any aggression or material losses. We were levellers, but polite ones.

1. The cassette edition of "The Shadow of the Golden Fire" by Baron Rec. is not the only one that was released on the market at that time?

- This is a story from a bit later times. Because for many years we were looking forward to releasing this material on CD. It became possible only after concluding a publishing contract with the German label Serenades Rec. But first of all: when more rumours about us has been heard after releasing "The Shadow…" on cassette and concerts with Tiamat, the second album - "Soteria" - we already recorded for Morbid Noizz Prod. It was also a time of profound personal and stylistic changes in the band, and the adoption of a woman as a vocal. But the Germans liked Soteria very much, so they bought a license to publish it outside Poland, for other markets. Their range was not very great, but after we broke off relations with Paweł Kamiński, the boss of Morbid Noizz, we signed a contract with these Germans to release three albums. Licensed "Soteria" was the first of them, and then it was time for "Beckettia" (released with great problems due to the financial failure of the label) and "The Shadow ..." - because our German partners decided that if you had to fulfill the contract and there is no money for the next recording session, you can re-edit old stuff. Ordnung muss sein. And this is the genesis of the creation of "The Shadow of the Golden Fire - Early Days", which is our first full –minute recording enriched with material from the demo "Dreams of Destiny", plus two versions of songs from this tape recorded again during the session of "The Shadow…". It was in 2001, the re-edition album was released in the West in CD format - but not in Poland, where this version was difficult to access. Today we make up for it, because thanks to Old School Metal Maniac and Thrashing Madness Prod. it has just re-launched, for the first time on the domestic market. It all is a bit confusing, but I'm glad that thanks to this situation, however, SACRIVERSUM got a very strong impulse to get up, exactly 30 years after the band was founded. And yet 17 years ago (2005) we suspended our activities.

1. The year 1994 is a time when the Internet was only slowly beginning to develop, so it was not a significant promotional tool as it is now; concerts were the best way to promote a young band back then - what was it like for you back then? Did you play concerts often then?

- Yes, but it wasn't that we suddenly had to drop everything, because there were a tremendous amount of proposals. As I mentioned, around 1995 we started to think about changing the stylistic concept. But we must have looked a bit, unknowingly, at TIAMAT and its evolution. The changes took place gradually. Baran and Herszt were gone, then Slepy as well. I was left alone from the founding group, and other musicians used to come and go to the band. Everyone is an equally important link for me today, everyone added something from each other and pushed this band further. But the transformation of the style into more doom / gothic did not make our task easier in terms of position stability on the stage. Fans, the more radical ones, started to turn away from us. New arrivals were coming along with the release of "Soteria" - but the split in the audience group had become a fact. Years passed, things were different, since 2002 we and MacKozer (who today participates in the band's reactivation) also played in ARTROSIS, thanks to which SACRIVERSUM also got a bit of a kick up, signed another contract, this time with MMP. But three years later the momentum faded, personal matters led to the suspension of the team. Fortunately, today we meet again and - as part of the fight against the late midlife crisis - we are experiencing a second youth.

1. Which of your concerts stuck in your memory in a special way? I know that in your concert history there have been performances of incl. alongside Tiamat, Napalm Death, then it seemed like an extraordinary ennoblement for you, right?

- Yes, the band was lucky to participate exceptionally pleasant concert events. These early performances supporting TIAMAT, as I wrote about here, were revolutionary, but there was also a lot of interesting going on after that. In fact, in 2001 we played in Poznań's Eskulap Club before NAPALM DEATH, then BEHEMOTH, SCEPTIC, HORRORSCOPE, ANIMA DAMNATA and AD PATRES also performed. But we didn't get very warmly received, maybe because „napalm” fans don't really feel much love for metal goth genre, haha! More was happening behind really underground stages, but I don't have too many specific memories of these concerts, because they are drowning in hectoliters of drunk drugs, haha! We had a good time at events in Remont Club, Warsaw (Vox Mortis Festival), or at the legendary Smash Fest 2002, including GRAVE or BLOOD RED THRONE, where the wind blew the stage and torn tents. There was a lot of gigs, we came back from all over the place full of extraordinary experiences. Sometimes you can find archival reports on the Internet, much more reliable today than my lame memories of today.

1. The first half of the 90’s in Poland saw several major underground festivals such as S'thrash'ydło, Shark Attack, Thrash Camp, Drrrama - did you go to these events?

- Well, no. We did not make it. All these cult festivals you mentioned prospered well in the late eighties and in the years when we started publishing our first materials or performing more widely (i.e. from 92) we were dealing with the decline of these events. They started to collapse one by one, which I regret to this day. As a fan, I also didn't manage to participate in any of them. At that time, you heard a lot about the trouble that aggressive crew members - for example the famous Szczecin - stirred up at these events or before them, commuting by trains. After that, the organizers for sure got into trouble because of this. The change of the political system also did its job, the economic changes entering our homeland did not always allow the organizers to bear the costs of the project (in comunism this funding probably came from various "cultural institutions", and in the new times you had to provide it yourself, without having sufficient funds to do so. ). But these festivals played a vital role in the development of the scene, not only in Poland. Many years later, when I met the boys from SAMAEL, they told me what extremes it was for them when the two brothers (Vorph and Xytras) traveled to Ciechanów by train. From Switzerland to S'thrahydło, to the castle. They traveled by the Polish railway from the border, through Silesia. As they saw those smoking chimneys and mines, while they are rather unbelievers, on the way they said, “Mon Dieu!”. Hahahahaha! Well, let's make an appointment, it was an ecological massacre, then the Swiss, seeing this view through the window, could really be shocked. But to this day, they say in interviews that these visits to Poland and the insane reactions of our fans for "Into the Pentagram" made them feel strongly about their further activity, believed in themselves and realized that their further action makes sense. That was the strength back then, and the bands shared information from mouth to mouth all over Europe about the reaction of Polish maniacs at local concerts. It came from those first underground festivals. And SACRIVERSUM, however, was a bit late for this time, because the performances at early national festivals included bands older than us and those considered at the time to be at the forefront of the Polish scene. It's a pity these festivals are not dwelling yet. Today I am in good contact with the guys who organized S'thrash’ydlo just because my brother-in-law lives with his family in Ciechanów, and I am a frequent guest there. Organizing such events today is extremely expensive - and in the absence of strong sponsors, simply unprofitable. Nobody will risk private financial resources, because attendance is always an unknown and the cost is always to pay. The costs are immediately payable before the first band even hits the stage. This is the main reason why we no longer have these legendary names on the map of Polish festivals. Fortunately, there are more. For many years, I have had the honor to collaborate on subsequent editions of the ever more beautifully developing metal event: Summer Dying Loud in Aleksandrów Łódzki. This fest was possible thanks to the financial help of the City, and the director and originator of SDL, Tomasz Barszcz, always takes a few steps forward at each subsequent edition of this event. This is already one of the best metal festivals in the country and will soon be one of the best metal festivals in Europe. I cordially invite everyone to come to Aleksandrów every first weekend of September.

1. This year's re-release of your first two materials in the CD version coincided with your reactivation and the concert scheduled for the premiere. Why did you wait so long with both? What can I wish at the end of this SACRIVERSUM interview? Thank you very much for the interview, if you want to say something to your fans, go ahead ...

- We wanted to reactivate the band several times before. I say "we", mainly bearing in mind MacKozer, who always said that as long as Remo is alive, SACRIVERSUM will exist, hehe ... However, personnel issues have always stood in the way. Years later, and seventeen of them have passed since the band was suspended, the line-up was always burdened with problems. There was always someone missing. Recently, just before the pandemic, we made an attempt to reactivate the band in a line-up close to the last years. But the virus, and with it the necessity to suspend rehearsals, have ruined our work again. I was already sure that if fate wanted it so, it would be fine. And then suddenly Leszek Wojnicz appeared, that is you, hahaha! And there was a proposal to re-release the first album by Thrashing Madness / Old School Metal Maniac. It coincided with the 30th anniversary of SACRIVERSUM, to be exact, so I took it as a sign again - and decided to take that train so it wouldn't leave this time too. Maybe this is the last chance for us to get this band back on its feet. We don't get younger… I knew right away that MacKozer had to play the guitar after reactivation, because for many years he was the only man who somehow kept this "flame" so that it would not die out until the end. However, it was also necessary to address the old comrades who contributed to our first album. Slepy, original drummer, unfortunately is no longer alive. Herszt, the guitarist, for various personal reasons could not join us, but, so to speak, gave us his blessing and full support. As expected, I was not disappointed at Baran, although Krzysztof Baranowicz is one of the musicians who are very busy and in demand. But he never refused to help me when I turned to him, and it has happened now. He remembered the old sounds quickly. We only needed a drummer to be happy and the elite of Łódź drummers helped us a lot in this matter. We asked a few if they would join. I asked for help, among others to Gerard Klawe, but his duties at Farben Lehre unfortunately tied his hands. However, Żeruś is our brother, so he quickly offered us Janek Traciński, one of the young drummers in Łódź, fully aware that he was putting a diamond in our hands. During the first rehearsal, our shoes fell off as soon as we heard what Janek was doing behind the drums. It took me four hours of playing to get my right wrist back to the speed it used to be thirty years ago, hahaha! But now we are full of optimism, because the so-called fresh blood was essential in the band, especially when it comes to the drum, i.e. the drive. Now all the pieces of our puzzle are finally completed and in place. Thus, we return to the early, root face of the band. We invite everyone to the reactivation concert, 22/10/2022 at Klubopiwiarnia Warkot Club in Łódź, Poland, Narutowicza Rd. 7/9. Follow the event on FB. All the details are there. It will be a concert for the group of our first fans, or rather buddies and friends from those years, even before the "gothic" face of the band appeared. For today, we are not planning to return to this face, because the wildness and power of the old songs now played during rehearsals make us realize how much potential they still have in them. We got really into the early stuff and we'll play it all at the show, I think: complete songs from "The Shadow ..." and certainly some of the earlier stuff. Okay, maybe at least one track from later albums, so that the exception would prove the rule, haha! Anyway, we apologize the fans of the late SACRIVERSUM: maybe someday, in the future, we will broaden the concert repertoire. However, we do not plan to return the woman singer to the line-up, at least not permanently. Thank you very much to you, Lech, for the opportunity to talk and for this whole reviving idea - we would like to cordially invite everyone to our reactivation. This is a very important moment, so we would like to have with us those who grew up musically with us in those years. And the younger ones, whenever they feel like it, are very welcome. We haven't gotten old enough yet not to burn fire on the stage haha! What to wish us? Only persistence. Today there are different times and completely different priorities: health, work, kids, fighting with living problems. But we are not going to give up once the machine has been restarted. What do we wish you!

American Heathen has never achieved such fame as their friends from Exodus or Testament.The fact of being under the radar does not mean, however, some loss in quality - quite the opposite.The band presented have always presented a high level and constantly tried to explore new areas within thrash metal genre. During Mystic Festival I was lucky enough to speak for a while with band’s singer- David White.

Hi! It’s nice to have you in Oldschool Metal Maniac Magazine. Let’s start with more recent times. There’s a ten years of difference between “The Evolution Of Chaos” and “Empire of The Blind”. That’s a lot- what caused it?

I’d say it’s mostly because of Exodus and Slayer. Gary Holt was filling in for Jeff Hanneman.

After Jeff passed away Gary joined Slayer as a full time guitarist. Kragen Lum had to temporary replace him in Exodus. With those shifts it was a bit difficult for us, especially that in the meantime we’ve signed a record deal with Nuclear Blast.

The fact that Lee (Altus) and Kragen were gone slowed done our writing process. Consequently- during that time Kragen was writing all the time and he wrote almost all of the record.

And that was good, because we knew that the clock was ticking and we had to release the record as soon as possible. We ran over Kragen’s material and decided to do it. But I agree, it took a lot of time.

You’re pretty close personally with Exodus. Do you think that it’s affecting Heathen directly? I mean the time aspect is pretty obvious, but do you think that Heathen is gaining some extra popularity because people recognize “Exodus guys” playing there?

There are good sides and bad sides of it. Lee is in Exodus for a full time and that makes us slowing down a bit. Even when we were putting together “The Evolution of Chaos” it caused some delays and we had to do 2005 tour with no record.

But we did it anyway - we were about to finish the material and we were aware of the fact, that some labels were constantly looking at us. When we went with Kragen to studio, Lee was touring a lot. And it was tough for him - he had to come home, go to the studio etc.

Luckily, the studio was very kind for us - they understood our situation and allowed us to take our time. But it was hard. When Gary joined Slayer it opened some opportunities for Kragen, but it made us having two guitarists less available. After “The Evolution of Chaos” we did three tours with Exodus, and it was good because we could play for their crowed.

We shared the bus with them etc. It was advantageous. Now we’re headlining the tour, and we took Toxik with us. But it’s only sixteen shows.

Than we’ll come back again in July to do a lot of shows with Exodus and Testament. So answering to your question - sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, but we take it as it is and we’re trying to get some positives from it. And I don’t have to have a tour all the time - if I’m not playing I can stay home with my family or focus on the job that I love -teaching.

This time with Toxik, later Exodus and Testament - every time you are in Europe you are a part of some super-strong line-up. Is it intentional? Are you picky when it comes to choosing the bands that you want to play with?

Sure! Of course - sometimes we’re lucky, like with 1991 tour we did with Sepultura.

At first it was supposed to be Heathen, Metal Church and Sepultura, but Metal Church received an invitation to do tour with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper, so they took that and the band that replaced them in our tour was Sacred Reich.

After that we always wanted to have good tour and good shows. We also want to play with the people we like. When we did a tour with Overkill I didn’t know them that well. But that was a good tour and a lot of fun.Besides, Destruction also took part in that tour, and they’re our good friends. It’s strategic for us to always do a good tour.

Before COVID hit we were going to do a tour with Potential Threat - they’re good, they’re great friends and they’ve never been there, so we wanted to give them a shot. Unfortunately, pandemic happened. Right now Jim (DeMaria), our drummer also plays in Toxik so we wanted to help them, especially that they started in similar years as we do.

And they’re amazing, so I’m excited for that tour. We care about our fans and we want them to enjoy the tour. We aim for our fans thinking “wow that was great” after every gig of the tour.

Are there any plans for the new record? It’s been two years already.

Yeah, sure! Right now we all live in a different parts of country - Jim is in New York, I’m in Florida, Kragen is in the south and Jason is in LA. During the pandemic it was hard to get together, but everyone was working on stuff.

After all the tours we’re going to go into studio in October.

We have some material already that we need to put together. We hope to have a record next year. Sure, I said it last time and finally it was ten years. But the plan is to have it next year and to go with it to festivals.

I was wondering about Recovered compilation from 2004. It’s pretty unusual - there are some older songs, some covers. What was idea behing it?

After “Victims of Deception” we were thinking about doing an EP with one or two covers, but we were unsure about budget. We showed label our idea of doing “Kill The King” and our unfinished ideas of “Hellbound” and “Eye of The Storm”.

Later we went to the studio to do more songs - we did “The Holy War” and “Death on Two Legs”. We wanted to put something out. It was just after Lee was gone to play with Die Krupps.

We finished that and put everything on tape in 1993. We were sitting in the studio and listening it - we got the project started. Engineer played one of the songs and the tape started to slow down. He opened the machine and entire tape was black. You know, tapes were old and started to fall apart. They were baked.

We had to try to put it on digital format. Luckily we made it and finished all the recordings. We decided to release it ourselves, which was a huge thing for us. Sure, we were thinking to re-release it and add some songs, kinda like Metallica did with Garage Inc.

It’s good to do some covers, to face your inspirations. “Death on Two Legs” was my favorite- it was amazing to record our version of Queen song!

Let’s go a bit into your past - what are your memories from your time in Blind Illusion?

When Blind Illusion started it was me and Alvin Petty (artist who did the cover art to “Victims Of Deception”). He played the guitars and I was playing the drums.

Mark Biedermann was my neighbor and we were like three musketeers. But later Mark moved out of town, so we mostly hanged out during the weekends.

I took my drums to Alvin’s house and we wanted to make a band. Mark saw it and asked to join the band and got a bass guitar. Mark got really good and played also the guitar and started a band. Alvin left and we found another drummer.

At one party when we were jamming and listening Boston I started singing and the guys told me that I was really good. The next day Mark called me and asked to join the band.

I agreed and joined. I was playing with Chris Olsen by that time in some small band and took him with me, so we have established first serious line up- it was Mark, Chris, Bret (Hern) and me. I loved that band - we did demo with Chris, which was recently released on vinyl and CD. It contained four or five songs. We also recorded ten songs live - everything we had to pick which ones we’ll put on demo. I didn’t even remembered it.

Mark sent it to me recently and I forgot all songs. Anyway, we did that demo and it got into Rampage Radio. It was “WOW” for us, you know, we were in the radio! Unfortunately, back at those time nobody was booking metal or rock bands in Bay Area - everything was dominated by the new wave. We couldn’t get a gig.

We played parties and we had hundreds of people, but we wanted to take things to the next level. It was frustrating that we couldn’t. Some people left the band. After that one of the radio stations started a thing called “Metal Monday”. After that three clubs started doing that shows. I called Mark and we started doing it seriously.

Exodus blasted also in the area - we went to school with those guys. Exodus also played a lot at the parties, so when “Metal Monday” happened they were ready.

And they were force to be reckoned with. It started buzzing with Bay Area, especially that a bit later Metallica appeared and we all know the story. When Blind Illusion started I was seventeen and I was there until I was twenty three.

That six years seems like a lifetime. But at some point I was no longer happy, couldn’t get along with Mark. I went later on to some gig and met Lee’s girlfriend and I told here that I was about to go for an audition for some band.

She told me that Lee’s band was looking for a singer. I went to jam with them and it happened. Mark and me are close friends now Mark has a great band and I’m super happy for them.

Why your time in Defiance lasted only three years?

The whole metal scene died in Bay Area back then. It was just frustrating. Doug Harrington (with whom I have a close friendship later) was a man with whom he did not get along. Nothing happened musically, nothing was going on.

And if I don't feel joy, it's a waste of time. I had to leave. Anyway, Jim also left then. You know, we wrote new material that didn't sound like Defiance - they went more into Machine Head direction.

But I didn't feel happy there, avoided rehearsals, and just got tired. I have a lot of fun with Heathen, even if we don’t rehearse a lot. I also have other projects, sometimes playing drums here and there. I even have a reggae band! I get a lot of joy from it.

It’s hard to imagine you playing reggae.

You know, I grew up listening to different kinds of music. I’m influenced by Bob Marley, his philosophy and state of mind. I’m a bit of a hippy. I like good energy.

Last word goes to you - is there anything you’d like to tell our readers?

I just want to thank for support. Keep metal together, support your local bands and metal in general.

We do it for you.

Wojciech Michalak 

 It was quite a surprise for me, when Awakening Records decided to re-release Bezerker from Australia.

But what a pleasant one - band unknown to me (and I guess that to many other readers as well) turned out to be a pure, hidden gem of technical thrash.

I didn’t want to waste any time and contacted their bass player, Keith Stevens immediately.

Below you can read what I’ve learned from him