Desaster – חיילי הת'ראש של השטן

Germany's Desaster have been spewing their brand of blackened thrash metal since 1988. in that time they released 6 studio albums, all harking back to the glory days of such giants as Venom, Bathory and Hellhammer. With a new release out recently – the aptly named "666 – Satan's Soldiers Syndicate", we took the time to catch up with the band's drummer, Tormentor.

Hey there! Your latest creation, Satan's Soldiers Syndicate, has gotten some excellent feedbacks from the Metal community. Could you tell us a bit about this release?

Hails my friend! Yeah, "SSS" really received some nice feedbacks and it’s good to see that people still are into our music! The album was recorded in May this year in the Netherlands. The recording- studio is called "harrows" where bands like Asphyx, Pentacle, Occult, Melechesh etc. recorded their albums! Killer place and the engeneer Harri was really a great guy! The coverartwork was done by mr. Kris Verwimp from Belgium… a lot of people said that it’s also a good tattoo!

How do you think Satan's Soldiers Syndicate differs from your earlier releases?

No, I think "SSS" startet where "Angelwhore" ended, but with a better sound! Ok, maybe the previous album was a bit "too much" in some songs, but we liked to write such songs as well… "SSS" is more straight forward…. a fist in your face. Aggressive, brutal, dark and violent!

You have some interesting guest performers in the latest release, perhaps the most interesting to me is our own Ashmedi from half-Israeli band Melechesh. How did you get to work together?

We are all big Melechesh fans in the band, so I asked him to play a fukkin’ solo on our new album. He’s a real great guy and a really good musician!

Amongst the other performers, one could also find more "famous" personas such as Absu's Proscriptor and Primordial's Nemtheanga. So, again, how did Desaster get to work with them?

We all asked them and it worked well. Absu are fukkin’ gods and Primordial as well… we know the bands now for years, so time was arrived to ask to join us!

What were the reasons of you guys changing labels?

After "Divine Blasphemies" we thought it was time to change. Iron Pegasus did a great work and we still are in touch with him. He is also still doing all or most of our vinyl releases. But he is limited in things like promoting the band outside of Germany very well. So Metal Blade asked us and we signed the contract!

What were the reasons for the departure of your previous vocalist, Okkulto, in 2001?

There were many I guess. Some private some musically wise… but this is history now and with Sataniac we found a great guy who fits in Desaster with his style to sing and in the private way as well.

As a matter of fact, only your guitarist, infernal, remains from the original Desaster line-up that originated back to 1988. what were the rest of the band members doing back then, and when did the current band take form?

Odin joined the band in 1992 and did nothing before. I am in the band since 1996 I guess and had only a Thrash (more or less) band which was more a kind of "let us meet in the rehearsal room and play some noise beside drinking…" band. They turned more and more into hardcore so I was happy when Infernal asked me to join Desaster! Sataniac had his own band called Divine Genocide and released 2 great demos…

Desaster has always persevered in keeping it true and old-school throughout its years of existence. What were your motivations for keeping the beast running?

Metal, metal, metal! That’s all! We are possessed by Metal… that’s why we are still alive! It’s also the friendship and feeling. Of course some things changed a bit through the years! We don’t want to play every weekend and in every small shithole… but Metal is our life and at the moment a life without Desaster isn’t possible!

What period of time do you think was the best one in Desaster's career and why?

I think all the years were great! I am in the band since 1996 and I loved every second! We did a lot and there was nothing really bad! Of course some important gigs and great gigs like Wacken 01 (maybe our biggest gig ever), Fuck the commerce 01, Brazil, Serbia and a lot of gigs outside Germany were really great! But all in all every gig is fantastic!

How do you perceive the development the band has made throughout its years? What were its accomplishments?

I think the most important thing is that we are still fans who love to play music! We are no musicians… We all never had really a music teacher… and to have fun is more important instead of rehearsing every day… you know what I mean?! The band is important, but to live your life as well! Of course you getting better on your instruments through the years and your know-how is getting better… but we still keep all more "fan-basic" and do not see it as a buisness…

Desaster has always had somewhat of a "true Metal image". Do you think that holds any importance to you as a band?

METAL is important! This is not a image we have! Our life is metal! And I hope many maniacs outthere have the same feeling and attitude! Metal isn’t only the music… it’s passion, feeling, power and friendship!

The great majority of Desaster's work can be found on vinyls. Do you think that the 'Desaster experience' is better accessed on LPs?

Absolutely… we love Vinyl and all our releases, accept the Demos and the Split with Sabbat is released on or only on vinyl! We are all vinyl hunters and I think our music comes much better on the black gold instead on cd!

What sorts of ideas does Desaster try to convey through its music?

Feel the metalized blood pounding in your veins! Nothing more! You know, we do our music in first row for us and not for somebody else! So there yre only our musically ideas and interests that are important for us. We put them together into a song, but we are not one of this bands who want to prescribe something or somebody! Fukk that! Be your own master and believe in the power of Heavy Metal!

What was the writing process behind the Heavy Metal hymn "Metallized Blood" from "Hellfires Dominion"? How did you get to work with that group of vocalists?

Long time ago! haha… yes, we recorded the album in Velbert (hometown of the cult metal bands Living Death and Violent Force), so the idea was near to ask Toto and Lemmie to sing in a song for us! Atomic Steiff (ex-Violent Force, ex- Living Death, ex- Sodom, ex- Sacred Chao, now again Holy Moses) helped us a lot to find Toto and brought him to the recording studio! That was killer! Also to have Wannes and Lemmie there was a pleasure for us!

What bands inspired the work of Desaster?

I think more or less all kind of bands we listen to have a small influence in our bands but the main influence comes from Slayer, Kreator, Sodom, Venom, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Razor, Unleashed, Dark Throne, Immortal, Black Sabbath Dark Angel… so most of the 80’s bands of course!

What do you think about the current Metal scene in Germany?

We never felt like a part of any so called "scene"! We do our own thing, but of course we have many friends and bands we like and there are some cool bands around at the moment. Like the old bands Sodom, Destruction, Holy Moses, Kreator and smaller bands like Delirious, Metal Inquisitor, Fatal Embrace, Zarathustra, Nocturnal, Witchburner, Steelpreacher, Compulsive Slaughter, Eure Erben (ex Darkness), Lay Down Rotten, Infernal Death and many more… the Metal scene is still alive and ready to fight back (again)…

Did you get to listen to some new Metal releases that impressed you?

Yes, of course! At the moment I am on a Death Metal trip again… and I love the latest releases of Evocation, Dismember, Deathevokation, Nominon, Lay Down Rotten, Hail of Bullets and so on, but also the lastest albums of Holy Moses, Nightingale, Sodom, Nifelheim, Pagan Rites and so on are fukkin killer!

Do you have an interesting story for us from one of Desaster's previous live performances?

All our live gigs are interesting! The best thing is to check it out by yourself! Most of the time all live gigs ended in a desasterous drunkness or total chaos…

What are the plans for the near future of Desaster? Where do you see the band in another 10 years from now?

In 2009 we’ll have our 20th anniversary and than we’ll see what’s going on… at the moment we have organised some single gigs in Europe at weekends, maybe Brazil tour in 2008 and some other open airs… Also some split- releases are planned!

Do you have any last words for the Israeli "Metalist" readers?

Hails to all headbangers out there! Stay as you are and hails the cult of Heavy Metal forever and in eternity!