Sven, to tell you the truth, now that we are more familiar with each other, it’s even more harder for me to make an interview with you, my bro. How do you see all those metal contacts you have and 'painasses' like that are constantly writing back to you?
Sven: Hails and cheers, Darko! Well, contacts…most of them I appreciate for several reasons. Be it friendship, trading or simply shit-talking. I never felt any aggression when a maniac sends a letter or an e-mail. Of course there are a few rip-offs and faggots out there but I don’t write to them, maybe you?
Puke: Hello Darko! By far I don’t get into contact with so many people as Sven does but I’m always glad to hear from people who enjoyed our music, from bands we played with or from maniacs we met at festivals or somewhere else.
Reason that I picked up Eternal Pain for this intie is your brand new split LP release on Deathstrike Records with Victimizer, Betrayed & Farscape. Knowing that you are pure metal maniac, I want you to describe me the feelings you had when you held the 'black gold' in your hands?
Sven: The feeling was “AAAARRRRGGHH, HELL FUCKING YEAH!!!” because it’s not so common to present your music on vinyl these days. It’s something really special and also a personal pleasure since a long time to see our new songs banned to the unholy black gold! Deathstrike Records did a killer-job in my opinion and the other bands on this record are also great!
Puke: Yeah it was fucking great when this thing was finally in our hands! Finally a reason to fetch the good old record player from the outhouse. Particularly for me it was a kind of premiere because it is the first recording since I’m a member of “Eternal Pain”.
Who got the idea of this split LP? How much is important to you, who would be the other band for doing a split?
Sven: Originally it was the idea of Betrayed’s guitarist Flo and me. As we have a good relationship with Betrayed for a long time a split-LP was kinda natural to consider. In the add Victimizer and Farscape were interested in joining us but we couldn’t realize it on our own due to the lack of money. So after some time Flo told Daniel of Deathstrike Records the whole story and he was interested in releasing it. Other bands I would share a split with is definitely a matter of how much we know each other and the musical direction – so this would be again Betrayed, Witchburner, Church Bizarre or Nocturnal of which I think at first.
Puke: Uhhh…hard to remember! I think I only heard about it after the bands were definitely selected. It’s cool to be on a record with “Betrayed” cause we know them and played many gigs together. “Farscape” and “Victimizer” were unknown to me up to this time but the collection is really cool. So I’m proud and lucky that the disk is as it is.
I like your production a lot, it's far more aggressive and more powerful then your album 'In pain we trust...'. Also, the guitar parts are sharp enough to make every metalhead bleed under your razor. I want to know your opinion about it?
Sven: Thanks for your words. We were also pretty surprised when we listened to the result of the masterings. The production is cleaner and everything can be heard exactly but it doesn’t sound polished. You’re right, the sound of “In Pain We Trust…” was after all a bit sloppy but ok for a debut-record. Our experiences in recordings were not so great at this time.
Puke: I was already amazed by the sound when I heard the rough mix we did in our rehearsal room. But we profited from the experiences the others made during the recording of the album. The mastering turned the songs into hellish bomb.
I have reason to believe that you write 90% of the music. So, I'm interested, do the rest of the guys have that much faith in your musical ideas and do you think it's OK for one person to do most of the stuff for the band?
Sven: Actually the songs are written by the whole band. It’s me that comes over with the basic ideas (riffs and a rough structure) but the rest is organized through the other members. For example many guitarparts of “Burning Chapels” came from our (sadly) former guitarist Sebastian. The drumparts are Glenn’s baby and the structure depends on the whole band again. More details are discussed before the recordings. So I can not really say that I write 90% of the music, maybe 90% of the riffs but this isn’t a song yet. Don’t forget the lyrics that will be written only by Puke in the future. If any of the bandmembers doesn’t like an idea it will be changed or sold to hell…there’s no dictatorship as you might think.
Puke: I regret that we are living so far away from each other. The whole thing would be easier if we lived closer to one another. We could meet spontaneously in the rehearsal room to pratice new songs and things like that. But still it`s incredible that it works so well because we have to drive more than an half hour to the rehearsal room.
So Sven burns his guitar parts onto a CD and the rest of the band can independently bring in own ideas. Finally we play a new song together, discuss it, play it and correct it `til we all like it and have found the best possible result.
This is related somehow to the previous question. I've feeling that you have doubts about the future of Eternal Pain. I know that huge line-up changes from the past wounded your enthusiasm but are there some other more personal things that don't allow you to believe stronger in your bands future? What's the relation with the rest of the bandmembers?
Sven: The relation with the other bandmembers is ok but we had line-up problems for the last 2 years. This forces the remaining members to stagnate and who would be ever happy with this situation? This doesn’t mean that I’m not enjoying the stuff we play but as a musician you’re normally creative and this wasn’t the case in the last 2 years. But no surrender…there are definitely no personal reasons as you write except for the mass of time I have to waste for the university.
Puke: The first line up change (and the only one so far) I wittnessed was the separation of Sebastian because of his hand injury. Totally fucked up!!! Especially he was the only one I was close friend with before I joined in the first rehearsal. Sure I was at ETERNAL PAIN gigs but I never was in contact with the rest of the band. But our new man, Renne, makes a good job and so the terror will go on.
I see that finally you've found vocalist. So, present 'Puky' to the readers? Are you satisfied of his vocal abilities?
Sven: Well, I’m more than satisfied, his voice kills posers, Puke über alles! The vocals are pretty aggressive, he’s a very cool guy, the others think the same so there’s no reason to lament about anything. The only thing to regret is that we haven’t asked him 7 years earlier to join the band! Well, he should present himself to you personally…
Puke: Thanks Sven! So what should I say? I think you all should check out the homepage for livevideos, liverecordings and of course buy the LP. It’s the best way to get an impression.
You had a chance to share the stage with acts like Hypnos, Centinex, Exciter etc. I know that you participate on this concerts as a metalhead first and then as a musician. What do you think of those acts that have well trained coreography and text which is the same on every show? I mean don't you think that metal bands should be more spntaneous on stage, cause that present how honest and devoted to the metal are?
Sven: Good question. To avoid misunderstadings: The gig with the old gods of Centinex will be next week so I will not speculate how it turns out but it’s really an honour to share some hours and the stage with them. The gig with Exciter would have been in the coming summer but somehow the organizer has its financial problems and I doubt it will take place.
Of course Metal bands should be spontanous on stage. Take Cannibal Corpse for example: They are a great band with perfect musicians but on stage it’s always the same procedure and they sound live like on their albums. That’s boring. Now just think of Venom and you’re maybe able to understand that you don’t have to be a perfect musician to do livegigs full of energy.
Puke: OK, meanwhile the gig with Centinex and Hypnos is done so I can talk about it. But I cannot tell whether there was a trained choreography or text. But in my opinion it’s poor to think about the text between the songs in advance and only put in the name of the city. I prefer to be spontaneous and for example scream instead of making long announcements so I don’t have to mind things like that.
Every guitar player wants to develop its abilities of playing and you recently told me that you started composing new tracks that have more melody but, are still aggressive. Can you try to describe your improvements and is it hard to mixed them in your music and still not to drastcally change your style?
Sven: Yep, I recorded about 7 rough demos of new songs last summer but we couldn’t work with them so far because of the new recruited guitar player. What I tried to achieve with these new songs is taking influences from us and not some other bands. I listened to the “In Pain We Trust” album a lot again and the latest tracks and tried to summarize them by using riffs in that style again to mark those typical moments a bit more. Glenn has an own style yet and Puke’s voice is also pretty remarkable. Of course the main reason to use a riff or not is its feeling but I excluded some influences that would have been totally new.
Puke: Hmmm, the new stuff is damn fast and fucking aggressive. I like it and I’m pleased to play it (hope so) soon in the rehearsal room. Sven has done a good job and I’m anxious to find out what the others will contribute.
Besides Eternal Pain you play drums in Hellslaughter, which was created for fun at first place. Latest news are that you work on new Hellslaughter material. So,what happened after your demo 'Cunts,Fucks & Cock&Roll'? Who's that bitch Veronica Moser?
Sven: Who the fuck told you this? I never played in Hellslaughter. These are fucked up, dangerous people who are really arrogant, drug-addicted, always drunken, wasted rockstars that only exist to piss people off! But I know them a bit and as I saw their fat drummer fucking the guitarist totally drunken under a bridge he (or it?) said that the new material is a mixture of Scorpions, Motörhead, Mentors, Sodom, Misfits and obscure vomitsounds. Veronica Moser is a militant goddess for them, maybe the only woman they really worship! Visit www.veronicamoser.com to see that slut in action.
Puke: YEAH! Hellslaughter rules! But I never would want to meet some of these guys in the darkness. Because they really rape everything that`s roughly alive!
Listing your letters I found out that Exumer-'Possessed by Fire' LP is one of your favorite LPs, haha.What do you seek in one band's music, in order to become a part of your playlist?
Sven: Yeah, Exumer released a very killer record with “Possessed By Fire” which is one of the most underrated classic thrash records from Germany. Therefore our ex-guitarist and me forced the others to cover “Fallen Saint”, haha. Well, there are many reasons why a band is attracting me. Definitely there must be some headbanging feeling in it or the music must make me play airguitar, sometimes it goes deeper when someone also delivers lyrics that make me think about certain things. It all depends a lot on my personal mood. Well, I don’t have the intention to exactly describe these feelings as I would analyze it at the same time and therefore the spirit and powers wouldn’t be the same anymore! Feeling is the key.
Puke: Hard to tell. There are no criteria I would put a nail in about what I like or not. Either I like it or I don’t, that`s all that matters, doesn’t it?
In order not to be cliche and ask you of your favorite acts, I want to know your list of bands, in whom you really trusted and they let you down?
Sven: Bands that let me down? Argh…of course all bands that have started with great music, then developed into different directions and pissed off the metalheads that originally bought their early music which means supporting them. This is betrayal! Fuck off! Too many too mention…
Puke: I agree with Sven, bands who let me down are those who change their style to become popular with a bigger crowd simply to get big cash. I think the music of most bands is constantly developing. You can’t expect a band to sound exactly alike for let`s say 10 years or so. But what also drags me down are those groups who played killermusic and suddenly change completely.
You're also editor of Pitchfork 'zine which had one of the greatest debut issues amongst the underground pressings. What forced you to activate your journalist abilities? Present your 2nd issue which would be out while we are reading this intie?
Sven: Hey, haha…thanks for the compliment but I really think the first issue was pretty bad. Just a few compiled short interviews, some in german, some in english and not so up-to-date, you know? Actually I don’t sell it anymore. 100 copies were enough. The reason why we (it’s Flo of Betrayed and me who are the editors) started the zine was that there were a few bands that we liked very much but weren’t featured in mags somewhere else. So we had to do it, haha! But the second issue is finally out since Friday, January 13th, 2006 and is definitely a better one – more offending and definitely more hillbilly-like, hahaha. The interviews are pretty long and in-depth, many reviews, more concert reports, everything written in english, 64 pages, a Nunslaughter report of 9 pages…well, furthermore we featured Apocalyptic Raids, Old, Witchburner, Church Bizarre, Kill, Ram, Nocturnal Graves, Suicidal Winds, Force Of Darkness, Victimizer, Abandoned, The Stone, Crucifire, Delirium Tremens, label reports with Hells Headbangers, Pentagram Warfare and Deathstrike Records. That’s definitely more the style I will continue with than the one we had in the first issue – it shall be a full dose of underground information!!! If maniacs are interested send 5 EU (incl. p/p) and I will send out the zine immediately! A third attack is in the works yet.
Puke: There is enough bullshit in it to have a good laugh and there are enough things in it which are very interesting. Buy it!
Back to Eternal Pain.The band started in '96 and this year you'll celebrate 10 years of existence. Looking back to your history I must say you deserved a lot more. Do you have some plans to mark this ocassion in some special way, album & tour or DVD of that material you've sent me?
Sven: We deserved “more”? Well, what means “more”? We didn’t start the band because we wanted to be rich and famous assholes, it was because of hellish Metal dedication and this can not be replaced by expensive cars or fame. No, I’m very satisfied in what we have “achieved” but still hungry for more Metal terror. This 10-year anniversary should be celebrated with a livegig filled with coverversions, free beer and bands that we have long-time contact, be sure! What about you? Like to come over to Germany for this? That would be great! And fetch Milan in between!
Puke: Oh yeah! Hopefully it should be a big party with the support of the Painbangers Wetterau Fraction. 10 years are fucking long and I think we really have to work on this event. Hope that the new stuff is finished by then so we can present the shit. A few coverversions and much, much beer and it`s going to be great. A new album would be smash but at the moment it doesn’t look like this will happen too soon.
Honestly Sven, would you appreciate me more if I ordered the split LP or making the buttons for you means more to you? (readers don't know of our trade,so try to explain it,hahhaa:)))
Sven: Yeah, mighty Dark-O has printed some buttons and therefore I gave him the split-LP. It’s definitely cool to have a trade like this because you have this LP you wanted and we have our buttons we needed, so everyone must be happy with this, hehe! Actually we don’t trade the LP as we don’t have so much of it. You were the only person that had this “privilege” so far, haha! Cheers!
Puke: Yes. Thank you for the butttons, they look really cool.
Bro,with this intie we just presented the metal brotherhood,how the scene should work. Cause, I as Macedonian interviewed a German metal band for my Polish brother Matt, we united our powers here. I truly thank to you for beeing so metal inspiring maniac, all the best with Eternal Pain and here is your chance to salute the legions of hell.
Sven: Yeah, I see the point. It’s great to have these international relations. All the best for Vampir Mag and Forgotten Chapel Zine! Hails to Poland and especially to you for keeping Metal alive in Macedonia and supporting our band so much, heavy thanks on and on…! But other people that are interested in Teutonic Deathrashing Steel should also write to the below mentioned adress or contact www.deathstrike.de for that killer split LP!!!
Puke: You’re right! Metal unites! Thanks for the interview and best wishes! Greetings to all the fucking metalheads out there.
ETERNAL PAIN könnte im Namensfindungsbereich von einigen von Euch als grobe Einfallslosigkeit angesehen werden, jedoch dürften große Bedeutungsforscher genau hier den Zusammenhang zwischen Überschrift und Programm erkennen. Weshalb? Nunja, zuerst dauerte es eine halbe Ewigkeit (knapp 7 Jahre) bis die Hessener Thrash-Deather ihr Debüt-Album “In Pain We Trust - Relicts For Revenge” veröffentlichten. Danach kündigte die Band eine Live-CD an, die wiederum eineinhalb Jahre auf sich warten ließ, und vom ewig wechselnden Line-Up möchte ich erst gar nicht sprechen. Das schmerzt dann wohl doch ein bisschen, oder sehen das die Betroffenen etwa anders? Damit wir auf diese Antwort nicht auch noch 7 Jahre warten müssen, habe ich mich auch gleich mal um ein klärendes Gespräch mit den beiden Gitarristen der Band gekümmert.
Hey Sebastian, hey Sven, vorrangig gebührt Euch natürlich mein Dank, dass es mit dem Interview so hervorragend klappt. Wie schauts aus, hat Eure vor einigen Wochen erschienene Live-CDR “Live At The End Of Light Fest” schon erste Reaktionen hervorgebracht? Diese ist ja eher “nur” ein Dankeschön an Eure Fans, oder muss man sie als “Wir leben noch”-Erscheinung betiteln?
Sebastian: Gude Rene, nichts zu danken, wir freuen uns immer sehr, wenn sich andere Menschen für unsere Musik interessieren. Also die Live-CDR würde ich nicht als eine offizielle Veröffentlichung, sondern mehr als Dankeschön and Freunde und Fans der Band sehen. Wir haben das Teil bereits vor gut eineinhalb Jahren geplant, und wenn ich ehrlich bin, habe ich jetzt zum Schluss gar nicht mehr damit gerechnet, dass die CDR doch noch mal erscheinen wird. Um so überraschter waren wir natürlich, als sich der junge Mann, der die Cover machen wollte, bei mir meldete und Bescheid gab, dass die Cover fertig waren. Bestimmte Reaktionen von “außen” gab es noch nicht, da wir die CDR noch gar ncht offiziell vertreiben. Denn bisher wurden nur ein paar Exemplare an Freunde und Bekannte weiter gegeben. Aber mal sehen, was noch daraus wird - bei den nächsten Gigs werden wir die Live-CDR mit Sicherheit anbieten.
Warum hat es gerade dieser Gig geschafft, als CDR veröffentlicht zu werden? Bei 8 Jahren Bandgeschichte gab es doch sicher eine sehr große Auswahl, oder?
Sebastian: Das ist richtig, aber ich glaube, dass ich im Namen der ganzen Band sagen kann, dass das Jahr 2002 für uns und unsere Verhältnisse sehr erfolgreich verlief. Abgeschlossen wurde das Ganze dann mit dem Gig auf dem “End Of Light Fest” am 30.12.02, der dann noch mal den Höhepunkt des Jahres darstellte. Nachdem wir auch noch den Live-Mitschnitt hörten, bot es sich förmlich an, diese Aufnahmen weiterzuverwenden. Im Übrigen muss ich aber auch dazu sagen, dass wir gar nicht so viele Auftritte mitgeschnitten haben, und wenn doch, dann waren entweder wir oder der Sound nicht so ganz das, was wir uns vorstellten. Also wäre am Ende die Auswahl doch nicht so groß gewesen.
Als Rausschmeißer auf der “Live At The End Of Light Fest” erklingt kurz Sodoms “Remember The Fallen”. Wieso habt Ihr das Ding nicht zu Ende gespielt? Kommt doch eigentlich immer gut, so ein kleines Cover.
Sebastian: Ist das da wirklich noch mal als Rausschmeißer drauf? Also normalerweise gehört “Remember The Fallen” zu den Liedern, die wir als Soundcheck vor dem Gig spielen. Ich kann mich noch gut dran erinnern, dass wir das Lied bei diversen Gigs auch mal komplett gespielt haben, aber das ist schon etwas her. Du hast übrigens recht, so eine Coverversion kommt live immer ganz gut an, deshalb wird’s in Zukunft auch hin und wieder die ein oder andere Coverversion bei unseren Konzerten geben. Bisher haben wir die Coverversionen immer nur bei besonderen Anlässen, wie zum Beispiel bei unserer CD-Releasefeier gespielt, und dann auch immer gleich mehrere von verschiedenen Bands: Slayer, Misfits, Motörhead, Sodom, Running Wild, Tankard, um nur mal ein paar zu nennen.
In Vorbereitung auf dieses Interview habe ich mir die bereits existierenden Interviews, vor allem das vom Streetcleaner-Mag, auf Eurer Homepage durchgelesen. In diesem fiel mir auf, dass speziell Du, Sven, eine Betitelung wie “größere” Band ungern verwendest bzw. ablehnst. Liegt es daran, dass es für Dich keine Größeneinteilung in dieser Hinsicht gibt? Soll heißen, dass eine Band nicht an Erfolgen gemessen werden kann oder darf - gerade im Metalbereich?
Sven: Nein, wieso sollte man eine Band daran messen, wie “groß” oder “klein” sie ist? Und was ist schon Erfolg? Letztlich ist nur der individuelle Musikgeschmack ein Kriterium , ob eine Band “gut” oder “schlecht” ist. Die Bezeichnung “groß” und “klein” hat somit für mich in jeglicher Hinsicht keinen Platz. Promoter mögen das anders sehen. Es ist halt nur schade, dass genau wegen dieser Einteilung viele Nachwuchsbands drunter leiden müssen, wenn der Ottonormalhörer zu gerne die Beziehung “große Band = gute Band” in sein Denken aufnimmt. Dass es genau deshalb eine Menge unterbewerteter Bands gibt, muss ich Dir als Fanzineschreiber nicht sagen, oder?
Und ein weiterer Satz, der mir ins Auge stach: “Unseren Sänger mußten wir gerade letzte Woche wieder feuern, da er sich zum arroganten Rockstar entwickelte.” Wie äußerten sich denn die Allüren des damaligen Growlers?
Sebastian: Ja leider, aber ich denke nicht, dass so ein Interview der richtige Rahmen ist, um diese Geschichte noch mal breit zu treten. Es ist gerade im letzten Jahr zwischen dem Benny und uns einiges schief gelaufen, aber wir haben uns freundschaftlich getrennt.
Sven: Sieben Jahre gehen nicht spurlos an einem vorüber, und man hatte ja auch Spaß miteinander. Eben Genanntes sollte schon als Zusammenfassung dessen genügen, was dann mit Ihm passiert ist. Wir haben nun einen neuen Sänger und das Thema ist vom Tisch!
Inwiefern war dadurch das Auswahlverfahren für Euren jetzigen Sänger Joscha Pulkert beeinflusst, und nach welchen Kriterien habt Ihr ihn ausgewählt?
Sebastian: Unsere Kriterien bei der Suche nach einem neuen Sänger wurden davon beeinflusst, dass wir uns intern einig waren, nur einen neuen Mann oder Frau in die Band zu holen, mit dem oder der wir auch persönlich gut auskommen würden. Es sollte niemand sein, der gut singen kann, aber rein menschlich ein absoluter Tiefflieger ist, schließlich verbringt man ja einiges an Zeit miteinander. Und ich finde, dass wir mit Mr. Pulkert die beste Wahl getroffen haben, weil wir ihn auch schon vorher etwas kannten und er für uns kein “Fremder” war. Er kam dann irgendwann mal zu uns, und wir waren begeistert. Seitdem ist unser Line-Up wieder stabil.
Okay, lasst uns über Euer Debüt-Album “In Pain We Trust - Relicts For Revenge” sprechen. Es erschien zwar erst im Jahr 2003, die Bandgründung reicht jedoch bis ins Jahr 1996 zurück. Wie groß war letztlich die Erleichterung, es nach sieben Jahren doch endlich vollbracht zu haben?
Sebastian: Aber Hallo, da kannst Du dir sicher sein, dass wir ziemlich froh und erleichtert waren, als das Album endlich fertig war. Und gerade die Tatsache, dass zwischen dem Aufnahmezeitpunkt und der endgültigen Veröffentlichung auch noch mal über anderthalb Jahre lagen, hat uns einiges an nerven gekostet. Aber vielleicht soll es ja so sein. Bisher haben wir nichts geschenkt bekommen und wurden immer wieder von Verzögerungen oder sontigen Pannen gebeutelt. Aber was solls, ich denke, das endgültige Resultat ist das, was zählt, und mit der CD sind wir alle sehr zufrieden.
Sven: In der Tat. Weniger Fehler hätten wir in dem Prozess nicht machen können, so dass wir letzten Endes auch sehr viel dabei gelernt haben. Hinzu kam noch Pech, als das mit dem Mastern nicht klappte und wir das Geld für ein anderes Studio zusammenkratzen mußten. Natürlich ist man nach solchem Hin und Her dann mehr als froh, endlich das Ergebnis in den Händen halten zu können. Letztlich sind wir sehr zufrieden und wissen doch schon einiges, was man beim nächsten Mal besser oder schneller machen könnte.
Das Album ist, wie Ihr selbst sagt, in 2 Kapitel unterteilt. Kapitel I sind die früheren Werke, die eher melodisch gehalten sind, und Kapitel II setzt mehr auf Geschwindigkeit, was durch die aktuelleren Songs dargestellt wird. In welche Richtung wird das zweite Album gehen? Ein Mix aus Beiden?
Sebastian: Puh, das ist eine wirklich schwere Frage. Ich denke, dass auf der CD schon ein roter Faden zu erkennen ist, und das neue Material wird davon nicht sonderlich abweichen. Die neuen Lieder, die wir bisher gemacht haben, sind wieder recht flott und zum Teil mit ein paar melodischeren Parts versehen, aber trotzdem auch noch schön brutal. Also ich denke, dass man sie als eine Mischung aus dem alten und neuen Material bezeichnen kann.
Sven: Dem ist im Wesentlichen nix hinzuzufügen. Vielleicht noch, dass sie etwas mehr Anspruch bei der Intrumentierung zeigen, vor allem Glenn spielt sich bei “Burning Chapels” echt den Arsch ab. Die zweistimmigen, traditionelleren Gitarrenelemente finden auch wieder etwas mehr Verwendung, aber eben gepaart mit brutalem Thrash.
Wann können wir überhaupt mit der Fortsetzung rechnen? Rein rechnerisch wäre es ja eigentlich erst 2010 soweit.
Sebastian: Hey, mal mal nicht den Teufel an die Wand. Ich hoffe doch, dass es mit der nächsten CD nicht ganz so lange dauern wird. Das soll jetzt zwar nicht heißen, dass die nächste CD in konkreter Planung ist, aber wir sind uns eigentlich einig, dass wir nicht mehr so lange warten wollen, bis wir neues Material veröffentlichen. Der einzige Faktor, der eine schnelle Veröffentlichung verzögern kann, ist die finanzielle Seite. Wir haben kein Label und müssen uns um alles selbst kümmern. Wenn dann nicht genug Geld da ist, kann es etwas dauern. Aber egal, die Freiheit nehmen wir uns!
Sven: Eine kleine Fortsetzung wird unser Beitrag zu einer 4er-Split-LP sein, die Anfang 2005 über “Deathstrike Records” erscheinen soll. Da gibts drei brandneue Stücke zu hören. Außerdem schweben derzeit so viele neue Ideen durch den Proberaum, dass danach auch noch die eine oder andere Veröffentlichung befürchtet werden sollte.
Welche Bands beeinflussen Euer Spiel?
Sven: Naja, man ist ja von allem beeinflusst, was man so hört. Alle Bands aufzuzählen, käme also dem Schreiben eines Romans gleich. Wenn man unsere Musik hört, dann wird man schon erkennen, welche Bands oder Einzelmusiker für den ein oder anderen Teil Pate gestanden haben könnten. Das Spektrum ist natürlich sehr breit, was uns auch gewisse Freiheiten ermöglicht.
Für diese Ausgabe hatte ich bereits das Vergnügen, Leif von DEW SCENTED einige Fragen zu stellen. Unter anderem wollte ich von ihm wissen, weshalb sie sich für einen gewaltfreien Namen entschieden haben, was ja nun nicht Gang und Gäbe ist. Umgekehrt würde ich nun gern von Euch wissen, weshalb Euer Band name “ewig schmerzt”?
Sebastian: Eine berechtigte Frage, aber was soll ich da groß sagen. Wir hätten genauso gut “Immortal Death”, “Mortal Agony”, “Endless Fear” oder sonst wie heißen können. Als die Band gegründet wurde, also vor fast neun Jahren, waren der Sven und die anderen so um die 16 Jahre und ich kann mir bildlich vorstellen, wie sie im Proberaum saßen und sich nach vielleicht einem oder zwei Kästen Bier einen Bandnamen überlegt haben. Da kam dann nun mal “Eternal Pain” raus. Es hätte mit Sicherheit auch ein “gewaltfreier” Name dabei herauskommen können, aber vielleicht kann Dir der Sven ja auch noch was dazu erzählen.
Sven: Nö, das Szenario mit den versoffenen 16-jährigen trägt schon Wahrheit in sich, auch wenn ich mir überlegt habe, dass der Bandname auch irgendwo natürlich unsere Texte reflektiert. Er hat also doch seinen Sinn und sagt einiges darüber aus, was man musikalisch erwarten könnte. Darüber haben wir uns 1996 aber keine Gedanken gemacht, weil wir zu sehr damit beschäftigt waren, unsere Instrumente halbwegs gerade halten zu können haha...
Insgesamt, so scheint mir, habt Ihr nicht gerade viel Freizeit. Was treibt Ihr denn so hauptsächlich?
Sebastian: Es ist im Moment leider wirklich so. Abgesehen von unserem Sänger, der momentan jeden Tag in der Woche Zeit zum Proben hätte, sind wir alle ziemlich eingespannt. Ich studiere und bin nebenher in derJugendarbeit und Drogenhilfe tätig. Björn und Sven studieren auch und arbeiten nebenher, und unser Drummer macht gerade ein Praktikum für seine Diplomarbeit. Alles in allem sind wir schon sehr beschäftigt, aber die Zeit zum regelmäßigen Proben ist selbstverständlich drin.
Kam es deshalb auch schon mal vor, dass Ihr auf diverse Gigs verzichten musstet?
Sebastian: Ja, bei mir war es schon so. Ich konnte letztes Jahr nicht mit nach Belgien, um den Gig mit DESASTER zu spielen. Ich hatte an dem Tag eine wichtige Prüfung an der Fachhochschule, und wenn ich die nicht gemacht hätte, dann hätte ich ein ganzes Jahr verloren. Ich habe damals wirklich mit dem Gedanken gespielt, die Prüfung ein Jahr später zu wiederholen, aber heute und angesichts des Studienguthabengesetzes bin ich ganz froh, dass ich die Prüfung wahrgenommen habe.
Sven: Ehrlich gesagt, es plagte mich ein wenig das schlechte Gewissen nach dem Belgien-Gig ohne Sebastian. So was soll nicht mehr vorkommen, auch weil viele unserer Lieder einfach zwei Klampfen brauchen. Darüber hinaus macht es mit der kompletten Band sowieso mehr Spass.
Was wünscht Ihr Euch denn im Allgemeinen für ETERNAL PAIN? Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass ein beständiges Line-Up doch mal was wäre...
Sebastian: Also ein beständiges Line-Up haben wir im Moment. Wir sind wieder relativ fit und in der Lage, Konzertangebote anzunehmen. Ich hoffe, dass wir im nächsten Jahr wieder etwas mehr live unterwegs sind und noch mehr für unsere Musik begeistern können.
Sven: Genau das - und dass die Lust an der Sache niemals auf der Strecke bleibt. Mitunter gibt es natürlich Hürden, aber die haben wir bisher immer meistern können. Wünschenswert wäre sicher auch noch mehr Zeit für die Band.
Und das wars dann auch schon. Bleibt so wie Ihr seid, haltet mich und den Rest der Welt immer auf dem Laufenden, was Eure Aktivitäten betrifft, und schickt jetzt, wenn Ihr wollt, Grüße an die Leserschaft.
Sebastian: Also erst mal vielen Dank and Dich, Rene, dass Du uns bis jetzt so unterstützt hast. Ich hoffe, dass Abditus Vultus Nummer Zwei ein Erfolg wird (Hehe...was ist schon Erfolg? - ed.) . Außerdem gehen noch viele Grüße an alle Leute, die unsere Konzerte besuchen, unsere Cds kaufen, unsere Interviews lesen und uns sonstwie unterstützen. Stay tuned!
Sven: Jau, alles Gute für Euer Heft und beste Grüße!
Eternal Hail Sven! Please introduce your band ETERNAL PAIN for Rock Planet visitors. And if it’s not a secret, could you name the band’s new vocalist?
HELL-o Davor, why should that be a secret haha? The new vokiller is the 19 year old Joscha Pulkert but we all call him “Puky”. Pretty young, isn't he? But also the old school needs some fresh blood haha…! Well, ETERNAL PAIN is existing for quite a few years yet. We formed back in 1996 and after 7 years (and unfortunately some horrible line-up changes) we finally released our debut-album “In Pain We Trust - Relicts For Revenge” in the late Summer of 2003. In between we played a lot of gigs and wrote songs that turned faster and heavier over the years. Of course that's a really short version now. Please take a look at www.eternalpain.com for all details if you feel interested - there you'll find a full and detailed biography.
Blackskin sounded quite cool on “In Pain We Trust - Relicts for Revenge”. Why was he kicked out of the band? Why was is it so hard to find a new vocalist? In your opinion, is the new guy better than Blackskin? Are there some reactions from the fans?
Blackskin's negative behaviour towards fans and lately us was the reason for the split. Well, of course the new singer is better although it took some time to find him. We searched for about half a year and then suddenly this singer offered us to try it. A big advantage is that we're living nearly in the same area and we had known him before he joined the band, don‘t know why we haven’t asked him earlier. So concluding we have finally a vokiller with a good rhythm feeling and dedication. Also his style of singing impressed me a lot as it is more straight forward than Blackskin‘s one. We also have a better relationship to each other than to Blackskin ever and the feedback was more than positive...I’m pretty excited to hear his voice on the following recordings.
Are you ready now for new gigs? And what about some new material, when can we expect it? Is it going to be different than “In Pain We Trust - Relicts for Revenge”? Have you found a record label? Tell us something about the future of ETERNAL PAIN.
Hey, we’re always ready for gigs as long as there’s a pile of bands that understand and respect each other well. Rockstars simply piss me off! Some new tracks will be released on a 4-way-Split-LP on "Deathstrike Records" just in the beginning months of 2005. Well, the direction is still varied...you can describe it as the combining of Chapter 1 and 2 of the debut-album, maybe a bit more thrashing. We also left out the acoustic guitars, that‘s the main difference I think. Concerning labels we never really tried to get an album-deal haha...since the release of the debut-album there were a few labels interested in releasing some of our stuff and maybe we will take one of these offers, maybe not. It depends on our songwriting-continuation and - as always - time !
So your’re the founder of ETERNAL PAIN. Did you play in some bands before founding ETERNAL PAIN? And how did you come to the idea to name your band ETERNAL PAIN?
No, I never played in a band before ETERNAL PAIN. The name of the band is a product of too much alcohol consuming and back then in 1996 we simply wanted to find a simple name. Nevertheless it’s fitting our lyrical topics pretty well. Isn’t that an unspectacular name by the way ? Haha… most people are telling us that there are about thousand bands existing with this name. Well, fuck it…it’s us.
How do you write songs? Are you a dictator there :-) or do you guys make songs all together? And what about lyrics, who writes them? Are the lyrics first written or music? Tell us more about song making process. And speaking about ETERNAL PAIN songs, how would you describe your metal direction?
Timo of the german “Into The Warzone”-fanzine described our music as Teutonic Deathrash and that’s the best description I could imagine as it reflects all our musical contents. Actually I don't feel like a dictator but it's true that I write most of the riffs (before we work out the song together), answer the letters and do most of the interviews alone (Sebastian sometimes joins this...). But all in a whole we ALL contribute a lot to the band. Bjoern (Bass) is running the homepage and Glenn (Drums) handles nearly everything with the production or technical stuff at the gigs and Sebastian (Guitars) is doing a lot for the promotion and distribution. So you see that everyone is involved and somehow has a necessary "job" within the band. The lyrics are pretty hopeless and in most cases taken out of life‘s little stories…that’s how to summarize it in short.
When have you started to play guitar? As a guitar player, who are your idols (if you have one)? What are your favourite bands?
I started playing guitar at the age of 10. I don‘t have any idols but I cannot hide a certain respect for unique metal guitarists like Chuck Schuldiner, Dave Mustaine or Jon Nodtveidt. Musicalwise I listen to so many different kinds of stuff that it would be hard to name only a few bands. The list starts up with Iron Maiden and ends somewhere in the Beherit-areas, to keep it short.
Your best and worst gig?
The best gig I experienced was at our releaseparty which was a real massacre. The worst was taking place at Bernbach somewhere in 2002. Playing in Belgium was very different to any of our gigs. We just stood there on stage being tired after driving the whole day, Glenn and Blackskin were boozing haha...what a shame. Nevertheless it was a good experience playing outside Germany.
What do you do guys beside music? Do you have jobs, hobbies?
I start to study geographics now in October 2004. Looking forward to this...the main hobby is music or better said Metal, both listening and playing the whole day. A bit of fishing to get away from the every day happenings might be the only addiction left. Except for our singer everyone's studying or completing studies...
You come from Germany where thrash metal legends come from. I was lucky to see Kreator and Destruction in my town before 2 years, and before a month for the second time Destruction on Metal Camp in Slovenia, I’m a huge Destruction fan, but also a fan of all German thrash. I want to hear your opinions about German thrash metal legends: Kreator, Destruction, Sodom and Holy Moses. But also about some new guys on the scene like Dew-Scented who mix old school thrash with death like you. And about the cult underground black/thrash metal bend Desaster.
Of course, the old german Thrash-bands are often rotating here in the stereo. Holy Moses ? Sorry but I never liked them that much. New stuff like “Dew-Scented” touch my taste pretty well and yeah, “Desaster” kills totally!!! Normally I can not handle with these old bands’ new releases but the last output of “Tankard” was simply a neck- and liverbreaker, that's a one you should check out...you saw the “Destruction”/“Kreator”/“Sodom”-tour? Oh yeah, that was brilliant to see these sort of Thrash monsters all together on stage and “Sodom” was my favourite. By the way, did they play these old classics like "Witching Metal" and "Blasphemer" also in your regions? Maybe “Tankard” should have joined the package. That would have fitted better than the band that supported them here….
Unfortunatly the second part of the “Hell Comes To Your Town Tour” was only with Destruction and Kreator, so I haven’t yet seen Sodom on stage. But sure I’ll go to see them if they come somewhere here in this region and Tankard of course too. Like I said, German thrash is for me the best music. Let’s stay in Germany. There are also some not so extreme metal bands in your country like Helloween, Blind Guardian, Edguy etc. who are very popular. What do you think about them?
There are too many clones that simply do the stuff that all the classic bands have done 20 years before a thousand times better. “Running Wild” is my favourite classic HM-band from Germany as well as early “Helloween” and “Blind Guardian”. Yeah, they're popular but popularity is only a word used by the media, not such an important thing for me...it all depends on the music one likes. And if it is a fuckin' popper, he/she deserves a bloody death in hell hahaha...!!!
OK, one more question about your Metal scene, these were all about the well known guys on the German scene. Could you recommend us some not so well know bands from the underground who deserve attention like ETERNAL PAIN?
There are just too many to mention…bands I both like and try to support are “Nocturnal“, “Abandoned“, “Witchburner“, “Chant Of Blasphemy“, “Betrayed“ or our friends of “As Stormclouds Gather” (RIP)..
Are you a religious man? Your opinion about religions? And what about politics?
Religion sucks…I could not follow an imaginary leader whose existence isn’t proved. You may call them Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Jehovah, Jahwe or whatever. If you take a look at history you see that religion or mainly the institution of church is nothing more than a sea of weak or broken minds that aren’t able to follow their own knowledge or intentions, like drug-addicted cowards. Concerning politics I can say that I lost all my trust to it as all the parties and political directions failed in one way or another.
Do you know some bands from this region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia & Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia)?
Thanks to Milan of "Awaken Productions" and Darko of "Vampir"-Mag I got into some bands of Eastern Europe. “Embryotomy“, “Panmixia“, “Heretical Guilt“, “May Result“, “The Stone“ (KILLER!!!). “Sanatorium” and “The Stone” might be more from your regions, hm? I suppose your scene is really good and it's a shame that most of your stuff isn't available here in the western countries of Europe. So keep your head held up high as I experienced most of the people living there are totally underrating their own scene...
What do you think about German beer? Ist das deutsche Bier das beste der Welt oder nicht? :-) Your personal favourite beer? And your other favourite alcohol drinks?
Yes, beer is great - especially if it comes from Germany…normally I prefer “Ratskrone Export” or “Licher Pils”. But in the summer I turn to a apple-wine fanatic as it's more refreshing. WETTERAUER GOLD :)!
German people are quite soccer fanatics. Are you into soccer? If yes, what do you think about your new team coach Klinsman? I’m kinda sorry for Voeller, wasn’t his fault, I respect him a lot. And in national league, what’s your favourite team?
Sometimes we hook up with some mates to play soccer and booze a bit. I’m really not a sportsman but I always watch the german national team’s matches. Klinsman…I was a bit confused when I heard about that choice. Time will tell if it was the right selection. Maybe Klinsman is the best solution right to this point but I feel a bit sorry for Voeller as he really woke up the team spirit again. That’s a fact the german team had lost before…
I hope I’ll see you somewhere on a gig ‘cause I really like your music and would like to see you live. What are your last words for this interview and for Rock Planet visitors?
Well, playing live is surely the best way to unleash some Metal but I don't expect to play live once in your country - unfortunately. Would be cool but time and money are limited. But hey, meeting up always sounds great. Thanks to all the people who got the tape or CD yet and thanks to you for the interview, Davor. Just take a look at at www.eternalpain.com to download some music there. In a new section you can order your stuff directly there. Look out for the Split-LP on "Deathstrike Records" that will be a killer! Just write to this adress for more infos/booking/mailbombs:
[...]
Hi Sven! Who's Flo? I've seen him on some photos but I don't recall him from the band... What a strange guy and what a great jacket he has!
Heavy Hails and cheers! Yeah - Flo plays in his own band called "Betrayed" and we played some gigs together. He seems to be possessed by collecting rare patches for his Kutte....
So there won't be a picture of him next to this question. Frankly speaking it's becoming weird to see somebody with THAT jacket! It's sad not to see any metal fans decorated like that… Do you think it's going to come back?
Especially in the latest 2 years I saw a lot of younger people decorating themselves with those jackets. It's just a cool relict from the eighties but I don't think it's coming back in higher quantities - maybe there is a small revival through the "Old School"-trend now but this will die again like every hype. But yeah, I like those jackets a lot, it reflects the individual taste of a metalhead and often parts of his personality.
I didn't suppose it was different up there in your country. I live in a small town but I've been here and there and I must say I didn't see anything like this…
Argh, don't get any false impressions - those jackets are pretty rare also in Germany. It isn't like everyone wears or needs it. Most people in Germany that listen to Metal just look like they were working in a normal, boring bankjob. But I don't care so much...
You're right! A friend of mine works in the biggest of polish banks but he doesn't look like a Metal fan. But is it possible that such clerks put one metal clothes after the work to relieve the stresses?
Yes, of course. Or maybe because they only want to show the world how much they are dedicated to Metal only through clothes and stuff. That's crap. In the first way you have to like the music and find something interesting for yourself in it. Simply wearing spikes & leather because it's trendy sucks totally!
I've been listening to your latest record and I thought that you sound very german on "In pain we trust". It seems as if you took what's best in the giants of your scene and put in into your record!
Thanks for your words, they're appreciated!!! But what do you mean with "sounding german"? Haha...I suppose you mean the old melody-structures like "Helloween" had back before two decades or maybe old "Blind Guardian"-stuff. But to be honest this happened in a natural way and the songs containing those melodies are mainly from our early days where we had strong influences of old german Bands like "Running Wild" or "Exumer". I like these bands a lot so this influence is also contained in our songs, why not?
You've already answered what I meant. The funny thing is that I can't give it a name. Sometimes I think it's TANKARD, sometimes DESTRUCTION but I won't die for this!
Well, I don't need categories so much so if you can't give it a name then it's cool. I think you should describe it simply as Metal, that's enough! To be more specific it might be "Teutonomelodeathrash" hahaha....but even better is your comparison with "Tankard". This band is really one of my favourites since years but I don't think that we have such a strong musical influence from them. Maybe on songs like "Bloodred Massacre", eh? We also have a new track that's called "Burning Chapels" that reminds me on "Tankard" in the verse. Hey, maybe you're right in some points but I don’t think you can reduce it only to 2 bands...
So, shortly speaking, that's why this album is divided in two! The first part, "Relicts" contains influences by RUNNING WILD, EXUMER or HELLOWEEN. And the second one, "Revenge", has something of TANKARD spirit. That's interesting, but wouldn't it be better to make two separate materials out of it?
First of all, WE have to like it. If we would react to every opinion the listeners have we just wouldn't find the time to take a piss. Splitting the whole material into 2 CDs would have been too expensive for the band. Another reason for the 2 chapters was the line-up change in 2000 ("Relicts" contained only songs of the old line-up while our "new" guitarist Sebastian was involved in the songwriting process to some songs on the "Revenge"-chapter) and also showing a bit the musical development. It wouldn't been so good if we had simply sticked the songs together in no particular order. For us it's more a diary than a normal album I think. If there are now some people out there that like our stuff they're always invited to bang their heads with us at a gig but they should know that we did the album (our music) for ourselves in the first way, our way. If we aren't satisfied with the result they won't hear it officially.
You don't have too many Cds as for the 7 year old band. The strangest is "Rehearsal/Live Tapes". There must have been so many songs! It's impossible you created 4 songs a year…
It's possible ! We are really lazy guys if it comes to writing new songs. I think we could have had more songs if there weren't so many line-up changes in the past. You know, always integrating new members in our songs doesn't help the band so much to concentrate on new material. But there are also 5 - 6 unreleased titles, we'll see what we will do with them. Just the other day we finished also 2 new songs - but their sound should be a surprise. Before "In pain we trust" came out we had the songs of the record in live- and rehearsalversions throughout the years and gave it to people that were interested in so they were even a bit known before the album came out. But at the moment I don't have the intention to give away any rehearsaltapes anymore...
Unless there was the mysterious demo "The Sky Burns Red" in the meantime... No, I guess it was after "Rehearsal/Live Tapes". Anyway, I'm interested why it isn't in the materials about you…
Uh, we wanted to do this demotape back in 1999 but soon after we recorded the instrumental tracks our former singer "Blackskin" left the band and the demo was laid on ice until today. Also the equipment for the recording was crushed when thunder & lightning hit the house of our drummer....haha, that's the truth although it's sounding pretty rumouring, eh ? So we only have the instrumental tracks to this and I don't think anyone will need it now when we have the songs ready on the CD and several live-/rehearsaltapes.
So who's behind the mic now? I was absolutely sure it's still Blackskin for it's written in your bio...
Blackskin left the band 2 months after the release of "In Pain We Trust..." due to some personal reasons on our as well as on his side. We haven't found a new micropuker yet so we'll play a gig with a session-singer next week. Maybe this will work in the future again 'cause he's a really cool person but we haven't talked about this with him so well. We'll see and I don't think we'll quit. The band went through harder times than these...I would even imagine the band as a rehearsal-project not playing any live-gigs anymore although I always liked to play live. But the strange situation is that it's pretty hard finding a good singer in our regions around Frankfurt.
Then You released "Awaiting The Storms" twice the same year. Did it sell so fast that you decided to re-release it?
To make some things clear: "Awaiting the storms" was a Promotape with some rough mixed versions of some album tracks. It was limited to only 90 copies and about 30 of them went away to friends and penpals. The rest of the amount was given to zines. In most cases the reactions were really great so we made a demoversion of it on CDR in 200 copies. These were more traded than sold because trading rules! None of the tapes or the CDRs are available anymore from the band but I heard that "Deathstrike Recs." has some of them in stocks. Just contact this person or german distro "Westwall"...it's a good release to get into our songs if you don't want to spend more money for the CD.
And then was the debut "In Pain We Trust - Relicts...". Was there anyone willing to release it? I can't find it anywhere and the debut is official material, isn't it?
Yes, you're right. I would say that "In pain we trust" is the only official release of ETERNAL PAIN. It's available from the band for 10 EU excl. p/p and I don't think that's too much for a total playing time of a whole hour in good sound and pretty varied songs. It also gives the perfect overview to what we were doing in the last 7 years. Just write to the adress mentioned below or write an E-Mail to order@eternalpain.com. Yeah, the CD isn't available in big mailorders but it's not our intention to do this as well as getting the CD released by a label. Our music is mostly for underground-fanatics and people that get the latest big mailorder-catalogue wouldn't recognize it there. They should better order the horrible new "Metallica"-stuff there haha. It was more important for us to get this thing done by ourselves like we did the songs, the gigs, the propaganda and so on also by ourselves in these years. So there wasn't any label we have contacted. But for future releases we will maybe do to get the things handled a bit more quicker I think. We'll see...
Are you trying to say that you're not interested in fame and fortune? That you prefer ETERNAL PAIN to stay underground until the end? Are You afraid you wouldn't be able to compete with the major league bands or maybe any of you is going to gone crazy because of that?
Well, I see the things how they really are. It's nearly impossible to make a lot of money with Metal these days without acting gay, changing your music to a more commercial style or a sell-out. There are also so many bands existing that it's pretty hard getting a deal or more promotion. And honestly speaking that's not my intention and I better prefer the freedom of making the music that we like. Fame and fortune is a kind of medicine for people that have to fight their mental weakness I think. Or better said: It would be cool to sell a million albums as long as we don't have to change our musical intentions as well as our personalities. Yeah, that's it!
Are you afraid you wouldn't be able to compete with the major league bands or maybe any of you is going to gone crazy because of that?
No, it's simply no intention of us to compete with ANY band. That's an attitude formed of stinking shit - we want to have fun with other bands and no competition. But I guess I got your point and I suppose ETERNAL PAIN not to be original or commercial enough to reach the higher levels of those so-called "major league" bands. Hey man, money doesn't make the music better nor do higher stages mean more poularity. People should understand that we don't make noise for the music industry. We only do it for ourselves and a few supporters, friends and underground-maniacs because Metal and music is a major part of our life! The CD was only made to have the songs ready in "good" condition and because people were often asking at our gigs for a possible release.
The last one about your history: Some Milan released a limited tapeversion of one gig. It's called "End Of Light Fest 2002". Wasn't there anyone in your country to release it that you had to search for help in Serbia?
The tape you're talking about is the cassette-version of "In pain we trust" including an extra-livetrack ("Moshpit Warrior"). Milan never released a real livetape of us. Just before a year go I contacted him for the conditions to be part of his "Awaken"- Compilation and he liked the material and asked if he could release it on tape. I don't know if someone in Germany would have released the tape - just before Milan mentioned it we weren't so much thinking about a tapeversion because we had a lot of money to spend for the CD. Milan managed this..."Thank you" once again if you're reading this. Tapes are definitely the most simple source for manias, better than cheap CDR-stuff, you know?
This time I don't fully understand what you meant in the end. Sven, you live near Frankfurt. Did it happen that ETERNAL PAIN played with COURAGOUS or TANKARD?
No, unfortunately we didn't play with "Tankard". They're even not playing so much gigs in or around Frankfurt. We also didn't play with "Couragous". To say the truth friendship of smaller bands from this region isn't the best. A lot depends on clubs and how the bands have the right connections to them. It seems like everyone tries to play in bigger clubs with more known & famous bands and I don't want to be part of this circus although I can't deny that a gig with "Tankard" would be really, really great. They were one of the first Metal-bands I started listening to and nearly everyone in the band likes their music. So it would be cool to play with them without paying entrance and getting loads of free beer hahaha....
If you say that friendship between bands isn't great, then how do you find common language with, let's say, BETRAYED? It was kind of the same here in Poland, but all got regular…
Oh sorry, don't get me totally wrong. Of course there are some bands in this region we have good contact with, just like "Epicedium", "Betrayed" or "Chaos Engine" but that's just a small amount among the other mass of bands. These bands are for sure not only interested in money and fame and don't have any rockstar-attitudes. There are loads of other bands that are invading the club-scene here, only believe in their own advantage, act like they were the most evil shitheads in the world and at the same time shout out that fucking trendphrase "Support the Underground". That ain't my cup of whiskey...
So, do you quarrel who's going to play with who?
No, definetely not. That would be a child's behaviour. Our songs don't sound better or worse if we play with bigger or smaller bands. We even had the case that at "bigger" shows we had a worse sound than in a pub. Of course we could reach more people as a support of a big headliner but for what ? For fame, fortune, money or popularity ? Haha....that's imagination.
I know you supported Desaster - any reflections? That was May last year. Was there Mystica among the bands?
Uh, the gig with the Metal tyrants of "Desaster" was our first experience playing outside Germany and it wasn't the best haha....bad tasting drinks and about 17 hours to drive for me while the others were singing in the car! But I enjoyed the "Desaster"-gig very much, pure violent assault as always. Anyway, we used to stand on stage like playing our first gig I think - that wasn't so good. Unfortunately our other guitarist Sebastian wasn't able to play with us due to some private reasons so this was also a big problem. Our music works better with two guitars because of the harmonies and such stuff, you know ? It's also pretty strange standing on stage without a serious & steady bandmember. I don't want to do this anymore...Conclusion: The gig gave us at least more experience how to do things definetely NOT, that's for sure hahaha....but what do you exactly mean with "mystica" among the bands?
I just wanted to know if the Belgian MYSTICA played with you. So, if I understand correctly, you prefer small club gigs rather than BIG shows?
Sorry, I never heard about "Mystica". Sounds good ? Well, they were not on the billing...Yes, I personally prefer clubshows because general experiences told me that there you have a better atmosphere. I don't know the opinion of the other bandmembers.
You keep talking that you have some new songs, so when are these lazy guys from ETERNAL PAIN going to give us some new music?
Haha....good question. I don't know...there are plans for a 4-way-Split-LP for the end of 2004 with 3 new songs of us and I hope that it will happen a bit more quicker than the CD-release. We have many ideas for new tracks but I don't know in which way we will or want to release them. Maybe a Mini-CD but that ain't a promise....
I guess this is the end! I'm sorry Sven that there were not so many questions and thanks for fast answers! I wish you an increase in sold copies!
Hmm....maybe haha, we'll see. Thanks a lot for your support and giving us the chance to inform some Metal-insaniacs about us. You're welcome to check out our sound. Cheeerz!!!