1. Hi there, Infernal! This year you celebrate 25th anniversary of „A Touch of Medieval Darkness” release. How to you recall this album after all these years?
Hello! I think that for the time it was released – mid 90s – it was quite a good album. When I listen to it I still like the songs. But I think we still didn’t found our own sound and style back then. The scene was not that original. Our vocalist was still looking at Norway. He wanted to sound in a black metal way, like the bands we liked at that time, Darkthorne and Emperor. The vocals were very high pitched. On the records issued after the debut Okkulto found his own singing style which was a mixture of typical black metal one and more oldschool . Well, as a whole I’m still proud of “A Touch of Medieval Darkness”. I like to listen to it from time to time. It was cool to re-released now on vinyl, to work on it again. I did some changes, cut out parts of the intros and outros because. At the time of the release we didn’t use computer for the recording and it was very difficult to cut something. Especially, because the guy responsible for the keyboard parts played everything live and not fitting in time. Already back then I thought that those parts were to long. That is why I made them shorter for this reissue, to better fit the entire album.
2. When we talk about inspirations, you were going against the tide back in 1995/96. Traditional black and death metal ruled the scene. What was the response for your debut record?
The response was huge. We somehow managed to fir into the black metal scene but with our own sound, elements and style. Apart from typical blasting stuff we have also added thrash metal influences. There are songs like “Devil’s Sword”, which we still play live. It’s more in an oldschool black metal style, thrashy, speed metal-like. There is also “Portal of Hellgate” that was not in a typical black metal style performed by such bands like Marduk or Immortal. We paid a lot of attention to variety and wanted to show our roots. Not only Norwegian black metal stuff but also thrash metal from such bands like Slayer, Kreator, Destruction, Sodom. I think it wall all already on the debut and we kept that trademark expanding it on the later releases. There were also some epic tunes which is also our trademark, just listen to the title track which captures that medieval atmosphere, feeling.
3. When it comes to this medieval atmosphere, what was the root of making it this way, to add that specyfic touch to this record and others after it?
That is a really good question. I still wonder why I’m so much into this kind of stuff. I think it’s because of my father. When I was a little Inferno he brought me to some medieval castles. You know, we have a region, the Rheinland, where we have a lot of old castles. I liked the atmosphere among those walls. I thing everything started at that particular time. When I was older and already had driving license I visited a lot of castles myself, not only in Germany but also in France for example. I still like the atomspehere there but in fact I don’t like the so-called medieval music. We had those medieval markets here in Germany where you can drink honey, buy clothes from that time and so on. It’s too romantic for me. Medieval times were also marked by plagues, wars, people were suppressed not only by lords and kings but also the church. That times were not that romantic like they are being shown nowadays. When I play all these tunes from Desaster albums it’s my version of medieval music, my imagination. When I’m among the castle ruins these melodies just appear in my head, I have to play them on guitar. That’s where it all comes from.
This was about showing our two sides. It was a black metal side with Okkulto and Odin weraing the war-paint on their faces. Me and Thorim represented that more oldschool vibe, style from the thrash and speed metal aestetics and we also liked a lot. Desaster was not a typical black metal band and we wanted to distinguish ourselves a bit. The session was taken at a local castle ruins, it was Sunday I think. We had to make it in a day light so there were many people there and they were like “What the hell are these guys doing here. We carried some swords with us, some torches, candles and stuff like that. Luckily no one called the police because of our bullet belts. It was a very cool session with a high quality photos. They were taken by Odin’s uncle who was a professional photographer. He did a great job.
5. Want to ask about Thorim now. As far as I remember there was no photo of him in the old issues of the material and now he appears on the back cover of the vinyl together with the rest of you.
Good that you have noticed that. Back in the time when we were recording “A Touch of Medieval Darkness” Thorim was a member of Desaster but soon he recognised that this was not his way of doing music, not even his scene. He was more into traditional heavy metal or just popular music. He did some concerts with us and was not comfortable with what happened in the audience, you know, fights, mosh, headbanging etc. It seems it was too much for a young guy. One day he came to me saying that it was great to play with us but it was not his world, he had to quit. I accepted his decision but I was a bit angry at him. We always had problems with drummers. I really liked his style of playing, he was a good drummer and everything worked in rehearsal room. I was a pity that he had to leave. So when the album came out he was only mentioned as a session drummer as he was no longer in the band and didn’t add his photo in the booklet. He said it was ok with him. I think it was very strict and harsh from my side. So when we have done the rerelease on vinyl I decided to pay him attention and credits that he deserves and put him as our drummer back then with a proper photo. He played on this album and did it very well.
6. Let’s talk about Merciless Record as that was the label that released “A Touch of Medieval Darkness”. How do you recall the cooperation with them, how it got started and why did you choose them?
I think it was the other way around – they chose us. It all started with the guys from Ungod with whom we did a split release back then. They were signed to Merciless Records which issued the split. The label asked us after that if they can release our debut as well. We were really glad that someone was interested in us and our music as we thought we were still not that good. It was an honour for us. I still remember the day when the split arrived with my post. It was the first vinyl we did. I was so proud and showed it to everybody. The album turned great as well. The only disadvantage of Merciless Records was the fact that the label was not that much professional. It was just a one man label and he was always working very slowly. We recorded “A Touch of Medieval Darkness” in 1995 already, but it was issued almost a year later. You know, when you release something you want it out as soon as possible, see the reactions on the record from the fans. It was just too slow. That was the reason why we have changed the label later.
It was my idea to give something special to the fans. Not just a typical sheet with lyrics but a separate booklet with them plus special photos that catch the special atmosphere of the album – some woods, ruins, castles. That fitted perfectly with the release. I think it was a good idea. When it comes to the re-release we wanted to do something new. People who bougth the album 25 years ago should have something special in their collection. Doing it the same way as the first press will be a betrayal of the fans who own this first version of the record. The new one also looks good. It has some special photos collage with pictures from the recording session and gigs. I really like the way the cover art looks now. The original one was too dark. It was hard to recognise what was actually on it. Now you can clearly see what the original artwork represents – the fairy man standing on his dragon boat with some sort of staff or torch in his hand. It fit to the atmosphere of the album. Also the paper used for the cover is really cool this time.
8. When we are talking about the cover art, could you tell me why you have chosen this particular one? Were there any other ideas, alternatives?
No, not really. The author of the cover was my classmate from the school days, he was a painter. We already had one of his works on our very first demo – “The Fog of Avalon”. I asked him if he had some other painting that we might use for the debut album. He showed me the one that you can see on the cover of “A Touch of Medieval Darkness” and it fitted perfectly, there was nothing more to think about. It was a pity that it turned out so dark on the album back in the days.
9. Let’s move for a moment to the recording session of the debut album. Could you recall some interesting stories connected with it, where it was and so on?
It was at the studio in our home town. The guys from the studio were normally recording a typical rock stuff, pop music and when we came there and started to play they were shocked about the way we did the things. Especially when Odin started to record his bass lines. When he put his distortion effect on the mixing guy, who was a bass player as well, started to shout that something must be out of order and the bass was not sounding the way it should have. He was surprised and shocked when Odin explained his intention and the way he wanted his bass to sound. We had to teach this guys how the black metal sounds like. It was funny.
10. Were there any particular metal albums or just albums that influenced you strongly back in 1995 during the creation of “A Touch of Medieval Darkness”?
Of course we had so many metal bands and albums in the background. I could hardly mention some special ones that inspired us but I remember that back in those days, in mid 90s, we were listening to Norwegian bands like Darkthrone, Immortal. The first records of these bands. They had a serious impact on us. There was also the old stuff like Mercyful Fate, the evil spirit of their records.
Cool, thanks! That’s good to hear that. Venom was the band that was a starting point for Desaster. When we were kids, we were watching Venom’s live video and we were impressed by all that was happening at the stare, those pyrotechnics, Cornos destroying his bass. We had to start a band like this one. It was a beginning of Desaster and that’s cool that you can hear it. We never wanted to copy Venom but listened to them a lot and I think my guitar playing is also inspired by Mantas. He is a very underrated guitarist. A lot of people say that Venom guys are not that good musicians. Ok, I think for Cronos and Abaddon it is correct but Mantas is really good guitar player and I like his style.
12. Let’s sum up with you favourite compositions from the debut album, which ones will it be and which ones do you prefer to play live the most?
We play “In a Winter Battle”, “Devil’s Sword”
and also “Portal of Hellgate” regularly. I think when you play songs that often
you don’t exactly listen to them on the album. So I prefer to listen to the
ones that we don’t play live. I really like the title track because of the
great atmosphere and one unusual “Visions in the autumn shades”. It’s cool to
listen to them at home. I’m not the guy who listen to his own stuff that much
but when I do so and it is the “A Touch of Medieval Darkness” album, I pick
these titles.
interview by: Przemysław Bukowski
