Back in the day everything was still fresh and new, so whenever a new band appeared on the scene, it still sounded a little different to the already more established names. The number of bands simply exploded over the years, and almost everything has already been done in one way or another, so there’s not much room left anymore for fresh, unique bands that still deliver brutal music. “I think you pretty much answered this yourself already. Why do you think 1980s bands were so varied, and bands now sound more similar? Is the “market” flooded? How can metal recover from this? Or is it just harder to come up with something new, because everything has “been done”? Or is style less important, and content what drives uniqueness in bands?

If MORGOTH would’ve been one of our first extreme bands in those days maybe everything would’ve developed in a different direction, who knows…” And since all of them are rooted in Thrash Metal, it probably resulted in a pretty healthy Thrash scene. Maybe it’s because all the younger bands in Germany at the time simply looked up to the bands that had already become bigger (DESTRUCTION, SODOM, KREATOR etc.) and felt musically inspired by them. “Well, I just helped out KREATOR a little bit with merchandise and fan club activities, I never managed them… But to answer your actual question: I can only guess. Why do you think Germany led the world in their kind of speed / death hybrid, but was less participatory in death metal as a complete genre?

You were manager for Kreator and Destruction back in the day. You gotta draw a line somewhere, otherwise you would have to feature 4251166898089090 and more releases every month.” Considering the fact that there’s constantly so much new music out, it also makes it a bit easier to select releases / bands for a zine. But when I’m in the mood for some brutal Death Metal, I don’t wanna hear that combined with clean vocals, a funky bass or whatever. I have a lot of respect for bands that try to break boundaries by mixing new elements into established styles. Otherwise I could also pick up one of the colored major magazines that are being sold at shops and supermarkets every month. Even though I’m musically totally open-minded, I still prefer zines that stick to certain styles exclusively. “Good question… I wouldn’t say it’s important, it’s just a matter of your personal tastes. Is it important to be narrow-minded? Or is that a term for being open-minded and then making your mind up? Does death metal risk infiltration by imitators, poseurs, fakers, etc.? In one of your past interviews, you mention a zine as being “narrowminded” in a positive way. I ask questions that I personally would like to get answers for and hope that the readers find that of interest as well.” I do read a lot of reviews and other interviews, check out their discography, member changes etc. “Since I only interview bands that I personally really like it’s almost exclusively research. When you prepare to interview a band, how do you prepare? How much of this is research? How much of it is listening to their demos/albums? Just remember the early MANTAS / DEATH recordings… But then again killer songs could be even more killer with a fitting and crushing production of course, as long as the production really fits the band.” Since I’ve been involved in the tapetrading era myself I’m still used to poor sounding rehearsal- and live-tapes, so production definitely isn’t that important in the first place to discover great bands. But a band with a shitty xeroxed cover and a poor looking logo can of course also be killer musically. I often experience that bands that are really dedicated to what they’re doing come up with a better visual side as well, because they really know how they would like to present themselves. “First and foremost it’s of course the music that I will have to enjoy, but to me that sometimes goes hand in hand with the band’s imagery or packaging as well. What do you look for in a metal band that makes them appealing to you? How important is imagery, packaging and production? This interview for was done in October 2015 by Brett Stevens…

Wanna be deathmetal