There are few bands as enduring as Germany’s Desaster, you’ve only to look through their extensive discography to see their dedication to the scene. Their raft of albums is spliced with numerous splits, EPs and live albums creating a DIY spirit with an increasing and deserved popularity created by exceptional releases. With main guy Infernal taken ill Hont has taken over interviewing duties and gives Ave Noctum a run down on what has been happening as the band has unleashed their monumental ninth full length album ‘Churches Without Saints’ (you can read the review here).
AN: Firstly congratulations on your amazing new album, you must be incredibly pleased with how it has turned out?
Hi this is Hont, unfortunately Infernal is sick and can’t get off the toilet…haha. Thank you for the kind words. Yes, we are really happy with the album. We felt during the whole song writing sessions that we are on the right way.
AN: How have things been in the Desaster camp considering that the pandemic seems to have ravaged the music scene in general?
The Corona shit was and is not pleasant for any musician. We made the best of it. We don’t rehearse to prepare for gigs (well, maybe we do a little bit, hihihi.), but because we just have fun to playing the songs, drinking beer together and talking about metal. Making music is our hobby and we do it because we love it. This happens completely independent of any sales or incoming money. But of course we miss the live performances very much. For most promoters, bookers, crew staff and bands who depend on earning money with their music, it’s an incredibly hard time. There’s no question about that.
AN: The new album is brilliant, as I said, which I reviewed for our website, what would you say has improved or changed since your last album, ‘The Oath Of An Iron Ritual’?
Thanks again. Your review is also really well written. I hope you were paid properly by metal blade for that…hihihi. The question is difficult for me to answer because an album is always a snapshot from the moment. We always try to find the right mixture of fast, epic and midtempo songs. Of course always hard and raw…hahaha. I personally like the oath a lot. But the sound should become more „back to the roots“, like the Tyrants album again.
AN: What aspects are you most pleased with on this album and why?
As I said before, I think we have found exactly the right mixture of fast and slow songs. The album seems very homogeneous and completely in flow. For us, the goal was actually already reached during the song writing. We had so much fun. Infernal has really extremely good riffs. We as a band couldn’t mess that up any more. The album perfectly conveys the mood within the band.
AN: What have you brought to the album?
Not that much at all…hahaha. Listen to Infernal’s riffs and just play what I feel.
When you have the right band chemistry, everything is so simple and just happens. I just tried to bring in my style here and there without twisting the band. After all, I’ve been a Desaster fan for a long time and I don’t want the band to change much. I’ve always liked husky’s drumming and it’s always fit the songs perfectly.
AN: How did you join the band?
It was similar to when Robert Trujillo joined Metallica. They gave me a really much money because they couldn’t find anyone else who could handle the old bastards….hahahaha. No seriously, I played with Sataniac in Divine Genocide before I also have a side project going on with Sataniac. He suggested me, and after the first test rehearsal it was clear that it would work. I am incredibly grateful to the guys for the time I had and still have with them. The band spirit is really perfect.
AN: The sound is a little different this time, was this a conscious decision to change things? If so what prompted the changes?
Oh, I have already answered this question above. Anyway, it should become more original again. More rehearsal and live feeling. That was very important to us. All of us in the band possible very natural productions. The last two albums were maybe a bit too „clean“. There should be more dirt again.
AN: To me it sounds a lot more energised, maybe even live.
When we realised that we all wanted to write new songs, it went really fast. We used every time window to work on the songs. The pandemic didn’t really slow us down so much. We also wanted to hold the live feeling that you are talking about.
AN: How did you set about recording the album given that getting together as a band might have been difficult at the moment? With that in mind who produced the album? Where did you record the album?
We recorded the album with our live mixer Janosch. It was clear to us from the beginning that we didn’t want to go into a studio – but record in our rehearsal room. The atmosphere during the recording should be as natural as possible. Besides, who knows better how we sound live than Janosch? I recorded the basics with Infernal. It was extremely important to record with him. There is simply a few percent extra power when you record together – and not isolated in a recording hole. We also recorded without a click. That shit kills the emotionality in many productions. Better a little messy – but authentic and raw!!!
AN: The album is hugely varied with typical face ripping moments such as ‘Learn to Love the Void’ and ‘Sadistic Salvation’ but a couple of the songs on the album are a little different, namely ‘Exile Is Imminent’ and the outro piece ‘Aus Asche’ (I think ‘Exile’ is possibly one of the best songs you’ve ever written personally), can you tell me something about them or any of the other songs that you particularly like? Bet you’ve been asked about these songs loads of times!!!
Haha yes the question actually comes up often and the answer to the favorite song depends on the form of the day. If I had to decide on 3 songs I would probably choose “Learn To Love The Void”, “Churches Without Saints” and “Endless Awakening”. Especially Churches I mean it’s the perfect death-doom song. It will be a totally crushing live. With Endless, everything that makes up Desaster somehow comes together: from epic to ultra-fast. Yes, Exile almost invites you to dance….hihihi. We are trying a Killing Joke-like beat over the opening riff and then headbanging off like Bolt Thrower. Many people really like the song. When we were thinking about the live-setlist, we realized how hard it will be to choose songs from the new album, because for us, they are all fucking great. Damn….
AN: I got my vinyl copy of the album recently and I must say the artwork looks even better now that I have it in front of me, who created it and what brief did you give the artist?
The artwork is by a Brazilian guy, who has also once made a shirt artwork for us. Marcos Miller. The cover design was a constant process in which we were involved regularly. We gave Marcos the title and we really wanted to have something with a church. Sataniac would have preferred a black and white cover, but it only works as it is. We love it.
AN: What is the meaning behind the album title? Is it a concept album? If not what lyrical ideas or themes have you written about?
Well, the church is symptomatic of oppression. We despise religion and extreme beliefs. Both are responsible for an incredible amount of misery in the history of mankind. In general, I have no problem with what a person believes. Only he should please keep it for himself and not penetrate other people with it. Fuck Off. It’s not a concept album, but I don’t really want to say anything about the lyrics. I find it much more interesting to make up your own mind. Sataniac is a very good lyricist, who simply has the gift to always find the right words at the right place. This has an extremely great emotional impact on the song. Badly placed words, regardless of their meaning, can ruin a song.
AN: I’ve always felt Desaster are fairly unique in the world of so called black thrash, which is what you seem to be tagged as these days, you’re a thrash act to me, what do you think makes your music unique and so identifiable as Desaster?
This is certainly due to Infernal’s way of playing the guitar. He has never had lessons and used to practice ‘Kill ´Em All’ for hours. Good that I was never there while his practicing…hihihi. This special fast picking in combination with the sound and the melodies results in the Desaster trademark sound. He also still plays the same guitar as he did at the beginning of Desaster. He is really totally underrated and for me one of the best guitarists I ever had the chance to play with. What he did during the recording of the album alone was really impressive. Of course everyone in the band contributes their part to make the band sound the way it does. The mixture is perfect. Whether you call it Black Thrash or Thrash doesn’t really matter. The main thing is raw and hard…hahaha.
AN: Looking back over the 30 years since Desaster formed what do you think has changed over this time for you and the scene generally? You still seem to have the attitude of a DIY band even though you’re on Metal Blade, a pretty big label, releasing EPs and splits, you released 2 splits last year I believe.
The band has never felt affiliated with any particular scene. Especially the black metal scene is really problematic because there are also many Nazis. Where we would be again both extreme views. We don’t want to have anything to do with that. Over all the years very good friendships have developed with many bands, bookers and fans. We are old thrash and speed freaks who play metal, drink beer and have maximum fun…..EVER !!! Yes the DIY attitude is extremely important to us. We always want to keep that. Of course Metal Blade is a big label, but also a label with extremely cool bands. They let us do our thing and make sure that you can buy our albums worldwide. That’s great. Smaller releases like our single “Black Celebration” for our 30th anniversary we just release ourselves. This DIY attitude is one of the reasons why Desaster still exists and we are always loves the shit so far.
AN: The vinyl scene is huge at the moment what do you think of labels releasing albums with a vast array of colours for the same album, I could name a few labels that seem to release an album often with more than ten different colours?
Hahaha our album comes in 9 colours I think. What a bullshit. I always try to buy black vinyl. I just can’t understand what is so interesting about coloured vinyl. But I know what you want to say. For die-hard fans of a band such a release politics of course very expensive. Whether it is right or wrong to do so we can’t judge. But obviously there is a big demand for it, because our vinyl was already sold out 2 weeks before the album was released. I have never been interested in how many vinyl colours there are of a release. I just always buy black – done. But unkind compiled boxes for me is much more problematic.
AN: Have you any plans for a 30 years of total Desaster celebration bonanza release compilation like you did with the 20 years edition even though it has technically past 30 years now or maybe even 35 years, I for one would be keen to see to something like that?
Nothing is planned for that so far, we have only released the single and a small show at home for the 30th anniversary. Somehow it didn’t feel right to put out a “bigger” release now. But for the 40th anniversary there will definitely be something…hahaha. Maybe a Rollator Special Edition.
AN: Do you still pay attention to the scene at all or are you too busy? Are there any bands that have really caught your ear our readers should look out for?
Of course, we get to see what is happening in the scene. We buy fanzines, records like every other metalhead. Metal still offers fucking great bands. But of course it’s also the case that we can’t listen to music 10 hours a day anymore. Everyone has a job and girlfriend/family. But the passion and enthusiasm has remained the same after all these years. Even if the hair is less…hihihi. Last I heard: Sijjin – Angel Of The Eastern Gate, Schizophrenia – Voices, Nekrovault – Totenzug- Festering Peregrination, Void Ceremony – Entropic Reflections Continuum- Dimensional Unrave, Enforced – Kill Grid.
AN: Are the band dabbling in any other musical projects seeing as you have had some possible free time in the last 15 to 18 months?
Jep Infernal start to play with Kratz from Metal Inquisitior in a band called Moontowers. They released a record called „Crimson Harvest“. Check it out !!! It´s great Heavy-Doom with a singer from the blues scene. That´s very special. Sataniac and I have another project. Maybe we will release something in the future.
AN: Have you any touring plans at all? At the moment the UK has some fests planned for August, Bloodstock Open Air hopefully, hanging by a thread though. Have you got any in Germany? Will you return to the UK for any gigs once club shows reopen?
We are not a touring band but only want to play selected shows. So we stay fresh and hungry. 1-2 times a month is enough for us. For us the first shows are coming up now. We are very excited about how they will go. The last show in England was at the Underworld in London. What a great evening. If we are invited we will come with pleasure and pain….hihihi
AN: What do you think the future holds for Desaster?
As long as we keep having fun we will keep doing this so long as it goes. But of course we are also getting older. Maybe we do another album as well?…who knows? Having fun is the most important thing. Otherwise, we want to continue to play single shows.
AN: Is there anything you’d like to achieve that you’ve not done so before?
Yes infinite money and world domination are of course or goals…hahaha
AN: Do you have anything to add that I’ve not covered in my questions?
No, the interview was very well prepared by you. Thank you very much for that. I hope to see you soon at a show.
(Interview Martin Harris)
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