Sometimes you start an interview and end up having a conversation with someone. It's is very nice when you have a talkative person, not afraid to tell his opinion without any compromises. A person calm and smily that has a deep love for whatever it rocks, as he says. So, after the release of thier second album "To Whom It May Concerns", My Darkest Hate raise the expectations to the maximum. So, the phone rang and the singer was on the other line ready and willing to speak about their cd, their past and future, their aims and for heavy metal music in general. See for yourselves what he told us...

1.WHICH ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S HISTORY TILL NOW? WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SIX YEARS TO FORM?

• Well the idea behind My Darkest Hate exists since the early 90s and it was the idea of Jorg, the lead guitarist of the band and it took some years to find the right people and he found them. The drummer Klaus from Primal Fear and the first singer and bassist and after that the second guitarist of Sacred Steel joined the band and this was the first line up of My Darkest Hate. In the beginning it was kind of a project but it developed so in 1999 they recorded their debut album "Massive Brutality" which was distributed by Jorg's one label Ironglory due to a disease their singer had to end his musical career so there were without a bassist and a vocalist and they took Oliver as their new bassist. He already played some tours with Sacred Steel as a session bassist and one day did some kind of a casting to find a singer and a common friend introduced me to the band, so it was clear that I would sing there and now we recorded our second album and it's out since October and its title is "To Whom It May Concern".

2.WHY DID JORG NAME THE BAND THIS WAY? IS IT BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE A TYPICAL/CLASSICAL DEATH METAL MONICKER?

• haha..Basically it is kind of a classical name. In Germany there is also a fashion at the moment to call a band with "MY" as the beginning word...

• Yeah!hahaha
• There is My Insanity, My Deepest Inner...hahahaha
• I think it was because Jorg wanted to focus on hate as the main theme of the lyrics. In the first cd it was about hate and war and on the second cd we tried to look into the heads of common people and there are lyrics about vengeance, about capital punishment, about religious fundamentalism and the likes it's more the soul of hate which is spoken of in the new album and I think this will always remain a topic for My Darkest Hate.

3.SO, WHICH IS YOUR DARKEST HATE?

• Hmm...It's ignorance. My darkest hate is ignorance. I hate ignorance in people and ignorance in all is form, be it fascism, racism or all the likes. You always have to care for yourself and the others...

• Yes this is true! And always be tolerant.

4.CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR LATEST RELEASE "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN". IT'S AN AMAZING OLD SCHOOL DEATH METAL ALBUM!

• Thank you, thank you, thank you!

• I can try...First of all I am happy that it pleased you. There are some differences. First of all there is a new bassist and a new singer and as my voice is a bit more extreme. I think it also had an influence on the music and I think that the second album is more agressive, more extreme and we also did a lot of work on the production. We really wanted to sound into the face, like a slap in the fce and I also think the guitars are very good in this album and the drums also. It's quite good.You know we listen to it and we find mistakes and we say "ok the next time we will be better", but we are very pleased with it and listen to it a lot and we like it and an another difference is that it's an album that all contributed in the composing of the songs. In former times it was Jorg who had everything in mind but now really all contributed. I altered the lyrics a bit, because in this album Jorg had written the lyrics, which will change in the future and everybody had the freedom to imagine his own parts and it was really a band effort.

5.TELL U SOME MORE THINGS ABOUT THE LYRICS. THEY DEAL WITH REAL LIFE, EVERY DAY SITUATIONS. SO CAN YOU BE A LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIFIC?

• Would you like me to point out a special song or just in general?

• Ok...There is a song called "God Am I" which tell us of someone who thinks he is more than he really is, he thinks he has the right to give life or take life also and the quintessence of this song is that the only thing that I believe is me. There is another song called "Eye For An Eye". I think the title speaks for itseld. It's about vengeance. Fight fire with fire if you want. That's another song from Metallica dealing with the same subject. It's in the same vein. But as I said earlier it deals with different aspects of hate in the minds and the hearts of people. It's a more intimate approach than in the first album where we spoke of horrors of war and hate in war.

• This song deals with the beginning of hate. You think of something and then it quietly builds up, builds up, it causes pain in your body, your brain and in your heart and then it blows out.

6.MOST OF YOU ALSO BELONG IN OTHER BANDS.

• Actually everyone belongs in another band.

• I sing in a quite new band it's a core band it has a more punky touch and it's called (note: sorry I don't speak German!) which is the German word for the word Unrest. the new bassist Oliver plays in a traditional heavy metal band called Malice In Wonderland and as you know Jorg and Oliver play in Sacred Steel and Klaus in Primal Fear.

• No! Until now we managed to organize it quite good. I also have the feeling that the guys from Sacred Steel and Primal Fear focus mainly on My Darkest Hate, we really have  alot of fun at the moment, it's works well, we have the feeling that we made a great album and as Sacred Steel are concerned they are actually doing a creative pause at the moment. I think that the singer got a baby with his wife and I heard that they started writing new material, but I think that the new album will take a bit longer to come out. We always try to make an album with My Darkest Hate and then the guys play some gigs with their other bands and after that they make an album with their other bands. we try to concentrate on what we are doing and as far as me and the bassist are concerned, that we belong in smaller groups, we played some gigs in the aera on punk festivals and Oli has just started playing with Malice In Wonderland, which is a new band. We'll see what the future will bring, but My Darkest Hate is a band and not a project. We work a lot and we want to play a lot and hopefully we will play a lot! haha

7.WHICH BAND OF YOURS DO YOU LIKE THE MOST? IF YOU HAD TO LEAVE ONE BAND, WHICH WOULD THAT BE?

• I think I am a death metaller. I listen to death metal and grindcore, but I like almost every sort of the metal genre. I have problems with 2  genres, black metal and power metal also. But I listen to music from the 50s from Elvis Prisley to the most extreme noise core. I like everything that rocks. If it doesn't rock I don't give a fuck! At the moment I listen to many bands from the 70s a lot of classics, but I am ankered in death metal. I started with it and it's what I feel it's closer to me. My favorite bands - I'll give you some names- are BOLT THROWER, SLAYER, NAPALM DEATH...Napalm Death is I think my favorite band...

• I like all their albums! They have started making brutal music again! Fast and aggressive!I can also point out some singers that have influenced me, like Chris Barnes in his early years. He was a great singer. John Tardy from Obituary, a great man and Barny from Napalm Death and Kam Lee from Massacre. these are some bands that I really like.

8.OK!I THINK WE ALL KNOW MORE OR LESS THE DIFFERENCES AMONG PRIMAL FEAR AND SACRED STEEL ON ONE HAND AND MY DARKEST HATE ON THE OTHER. CAN YOU TELL ME WHICH ARE THE SIMILARITIES?

• Ohh..This is difficult, because honestly I haven't listened much to their music. I know the last 2 albums they have released. Personally I prefer Primal Fear but it has nothing to do with our music. You can here some parallels on the last Sacred Steel release and My Darkest Hate, which are obvious because Jorg is writing almost every sng on 2 albums. The riffing has some similarities. Of course Sacred Steel is more melodic and the lyrics talk of other things and the drumming is also  different style. This would be a question for Jorg to answer. It is he who must decide if this is for My Darkest Hate or  if it's better for Sacred Steel.

9.DO YOU THINK THAT IT'S EASY FOR A METALHEAD TO LISTEN TO DIFFERENT GENRES? I MEAN WE OFTEN OBSERVE CONFLICTS BETWEEN POWER METALLERS AND DEATHSTERS. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO TELL THEM OR ADVICE THEM?

• As I said before ignorance is a bad thing and I think everyone who is listening to extreme music, tries with his way of life to change something and I can also understand people who listen to hardcore techno, who try to make their way and I respect this. I don't like it when people in the metal genre try to bring down one another and fight because they say these things like "black metal is the only way or death metal is the most brutal way, you are not ture enough or power metal singers are gay...". If you don't like the music, don't buy the cd. It's as easy as that! Everyone has the right to epxress his mind, his thoughts in the way he wants. And as I say if there is a guitar in it and it's quite distorted then I am happy! hahaha and I can dance to it.

10.BY THE WAY YOU MENTIONED "HE". WHY DO YOU THINK WOMEN DON'T LISTEN TO METAL THAT MUCH?

• I don't know but I think...hhmmm...for the ore brutal genres of metal I think that to most women these feelings like hate and anger are perhaps are a bit more far away than for a man. But I can't really tell. Perhaps they have some other ways to express it...

• Yes,it's a question that I ask myself too. I am not sure...for example my girlfriend could never understand how someone could like such music, but everyone has its own way. Perhaps it is also because we don't make it easy for girls and women to get into this field. It's always dark and always brutal. It's also another thing I don't like. If you look at people in a death metal concert, you have the feeling that they always have to look evil. They are standing there, they don't laugh or smile and when their favorite band comes they move their heads, so everyone can see their beautiful hair. What I love the most is to make music. I am not an evil person. I sing about evil things because I want to make people think.It's not because I think killing is cool or raping is the greatest thing in life. I just want people to think about it, but it's I guess hard for someone who comes from the outside to understand.

11.YOU ALSO APPEARED LIVE ON SEVERAL OPEN AIR FESTIVALS. CAN YOU SHARE WITH US YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS? HOW WERE THE METALHEADS TOWARDS YOU?

• Yes! We've played in the Summer Breeze Festival and it's near our hometown here in Germany in the South, which was a great thing. We had half an hour and it was a funny day, it was very hot and it was great! We had our producer as he made the live mix, which was a great sound then and we got great reviews for that, but the other festival we played appealed more to me. It was a pure extreme metal festival, it's in Germany and played bands like Sinister, Obscenity, The Crown. Witchery. We had  alot of fun backstage, we had a lot of fun on stage and we sold a lot and we got great reviews there too, even though we were one of the last extreme bands because we don't play this fast grindy deathcore, but we play traditional death metal. We are really pleased. I also have to say that we are very well received by the press. we got good reviews for our album and now we have to prove ourselves on stage. We rally want to play.

12.WHAT HAVE THE PRESS AND FANS SAID TILL NOW FOR YOUR LATEST CD? ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK?

• We are really, really very satisfied! I was the most anxious about it because I didn't know if my old My Darkest Hate fans would like my voice, but everyone liked it until now and it's not exaggerated. I am always in the internet, everyday and searching for reviews of our album in all the world and I have found 2 negative ones and lots lots of good ones and this really gives us a good feeling, that we did a good job, but as I always say we have to prove ourselves on stage. We must play!

13.WHY DID YOU USE THE SAME PRODUCER WITH PRIMAL FEAR AND SACRED STEEL? DIDN'T YOU THINK OF GOING TO A PRODUCER SPECIALIZING IN EXTREME SOUND?

• We thought of Andy Klassen who played in Holy Moses in former times because he likes the sound, but Ahim the producer is a close friend of all of us and he has also worked with bands like Pungent Stench and Obscenity and he really knows what we want, what we like and he did a great job and the studio is near our home aera here and it's always a mixture of party and work. A really cool thing! I think that after that we will stay with him for the next album. I am quite sure. He is a good man and he does a great job!

14.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO INVOLVE IN ANY WAY WITH MUSIC?

• It would be a catastrophe on me. Music is really part of my everyday life. It's one of the things I love the most. I listen to music at least 5 hours a day and I've got 2 extreme bands and I play in a folk band also, traditional Irish music. I play the pipes.

• I also love it! I love it as much as I love metal. Music is very important to me and I always find a way to epxress myself through it. It has too much importance to me.

15.WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO MAKE A VIDEO CLIP? HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?

• I think the most catchy song on My Darkst Hate is "Eye For An Eye" and I think it would be a good choice to make a video clip. Perhaps the first song after the intro "Build By Gods". It's also another song that combines all the elements from our music. It gives a general appearance of My Darkest Hate sound. How do I imagine it to be? For "Eye For An Eye" it's a heavy song, it has this feeling of a tank rolling over something, crushing everything down. I can imagine a lot for "Eye For An Eye". I would do something of visual effects of eyes appearing everywhere. Different kinds of eyes, angry eyes, sad eyes, dead eyes. I'd do something with that but I am not sure.

16.WILL YOU DO ANY LIVE SHOWS?

• We are doing live shows. We had a pause at the moment because Jorg has built a house with his wife and they are moving there and we will start playing in Germany in February and play 3-4 gigs in Italy in March I think and then we will talk with Massacre for a European tour with one bigger act and a support act. We've got 3 bands to tour Europe and I hope we'll have the opportunity to play in many countries. It's what we really want at the moment.

• We haven't talked with them yet. It's also depending on our sales. I hope there will be a possibility to play someday in Greece. Let's see how it develops. I think the first talks with Massacre will be in February.

17.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET THE CREATURE THAT CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK HIM?

• Hmmm...I must think about that!

• Hmmm...what would I ask him?!?! Ok! I'll give you a serious answer it's a classic question but I think is very important. Why are there the rich and the poor and why are there the healthy and the ill? This would be something that interests me really, what's the point about it? Perhaps I'd ask him if earth was just a joke to him. Just a thing he can laugh about sometimes because we are so stupid!hahaha
• The funny question would be, why did he allow Star Trek the next generation to stop? Or why did he allow Obituary not to play anymore? hahahaha
• I have a lot of things to ask him!

18.IF YOU COULD TRAVEL BACK IN TIME, WHICH HISTORICAL PERSON WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE?

• Hmm...Back in time? I'd like to be...A very good question! Hmm..I'd like to be...hmmm...King Richard III of England I think, because he had many beautiful women and he was very funny and he died in a very crazy way, because he was stupid! He was stupid till the end of his life, but he had I think a kind of a rock 'n' roll life.

• He was drunk and he fell down the stairs, but this didn't kill him. He fell into the pike of one of his soldiers with his eye...

• But I am happy with what I am and I don't have the desire to be someone else at the moment.

• I'd miss metal for sure and a good beer I think...

• Yes I know, but I think they didn't have the same quality like they have today. It's fresher today!hahaha
• And the guys from My Darkest Hate and my friends.

19.SUPPOSING THAT YOU ARE GIVEN THE ABILITY TO CHANGE SOMETHING IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?

• Ohh...Hmmm....What would that be?????
• I'd kill ignorance. Yes! I wouls like to show people that if they cared for each other there wouldn't be so many problems. Ignorance is the greatest enemy of mankind I think.

20.WHICH IS MAN'S BIGGEST TEMPTATION?

• I think greed is the biggest temptation. Having always more than the other has.

21.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

• Yes! If we come along, come and see our concert! Keep the spirit of true death metal alive!Power to the rock!
• I thank you, have a nice evening and I hope we meet sometime! Bye!