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Hailzzz! Well here you will find the
answers of a person crazy with metal music, a FANATIC!, who has his feet
down on earth and he has an extremly good sense of humor. I enjoyed very
very much this interview and believe me if you start reading it you will
do the same. Sooooo, I'm proposing one simple thing, just pass this introduction
of mine and get to the point. The interview awaits!!!!!
1.TELL US A FEW THINGS
FOR THE HISTORY OF THE BAND AND WHICH IS THE CURRENT LINE UP.
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Sacred Steel was born in the
Summer of 1996. We still have the same line-up that is: Gerrit (vocals);
Jörg (guitars), Oli (guitars), Matze (drums) and Jens (bass). We have
released three albums so far via Metal Blade Records : "Reborn in Steel"
(1997), "Wargods of Metal" (1998) and "Bloodlust" (2000).
2.SOME TIME NOW HAS PASSED SINCE
THE RELEASE OF YOUR ALBUM "BLOODLUST". NOW THAT YOU CAN SEE IT A
LITTLE MORE OBJECTIVE, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY? ARE YOU SATISFIED
WITH IT?
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Well, I still think that it´s
a strong album with some of our best songs to date. Looking back I would
say that it was bad that we were in a kind of hurry to complete the songwriting.
In the end there are 2 or 3 songs on that album that I think could have
been better if we had had the time to work ´em out a bit more.
3.WHAT DID THE PRESS AND FANS
SAY ABOUT IT?
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Sacred Steel always has been
and will be a band that you either love or hate. Therefore the reactions
of the press have been the typical reactions...some reviews say that we
are "the best band on this planet" and others say that "we suck like hell".
There seems to be no opinion in between which I think is quite cool! Some
fans told me that it´s the best album we ever did and others told
me that they like "Wargods" better, you see, you can´t do it right
for everybody. You have to do what you think is the best for yourselves.
4.WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN YOUR THIRD
ALBUM TO BE A CONCEPT? IS IT MORE DIFFICULT TO WRITE A CONCEPT?
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I wanted to do something special
with the third album and I had this story in mind since our first album.
It was just time to finish that story. Yeah, it is way more difficult to
tell a whole story on one album than just small stories! It was so much
work and in the end you have to compromise so much that I will surely never
do it again!
5.HAVE YOU GOT ANY NEW SONGS
READY? WHEN ARE YOU PLANNING TO RELEASE IT? WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT
FROM IT?
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The songwriting for our new album "Slaughter
Prophecy" is in full progress now. We have finished 8 songs right now:
"Sacred Bloody Steel", "Faces Of The Antichrist", "Raise The Metal Fist",
"Slaughter Prophecy", "Invocation Of The Nameless Ones", "Beyond The Brimstone
Gate", "The Rites Of Sacrifice" and "Lay Me To My Grave". We are working
on some more songs that have titles like "Visions Of The Holy Grail","This
Earth Is Hell", "If Metal Ain´t Heavy It ain´t Heavy Metal"
etc.Some of the songs are definately typical Sacred Steel stuff but
on the other hand we have songs that could not have been on the previous
albums. It´s a good mixture that should please old and new fans as
well as ourselves.
6.DO YOU THINK THAT METAL MUSIC
SHOULD HAVE ITS LIMITS OR SHOULD IT BE OPEN TO DIFFERENT SOUNDS AND
GENRES AS WELL?
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I really don´t think that
metal should be mixed with styles that have nothing to do with metal like
rap or techno. I only like the mixture of metal and classical music ´cause
some of the classic stuff really has some power! I always say "Keep your
metal clean!", that may be narrow minded, but it´s my opinion. A
dog should not fuck with cats...
7.DO YOU LIKE PUTTING LABELS
IN MUSIC? DO YOU THINK THAT LABELS HELP PEOPLE OR CONFUSE THEM MORE
AND MAYBE MAKE THEM A LITTLE NARROW MINDED?
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What is wrong with labels? It gives
the people an idea about what the music´s all about. Of course are
there some labels that are really stupid like "Pseudopunkmetal mixed with
symphonicgrunge with a hint of gothic doom" or whatever. But labels like
"Doom" "Thrash" "Speed" "Black" "Power" or "Death" are necessary.
8.DESPITE YOUR GREAT ADMIRATION
TO AGENT STEEL WHICH OTHER BANDS YOU WOULD SAY THAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST
INFLUENCES?
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All the cool anglo-american bands of
the 80´s that never really made it big like Omen, Have Mercy, Griffin,
Rigor Mortis, Detente, Savage Grace,Helstar, Exxplorer, Flotsam and Jetsam,
Trouble, Liege Lord, Jag Panzer, Pentagram, Pagan Altar, Saint Vitus and
tons more. More well known bands are Manowar, Priest and Maiden, of course.
9.MOST OF YOUR LYRICS TALK ABOUT
YOUR LOVE FOR HEAVY METAL MUSIC? HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF CHANGING YOUR
LYRICS IN YOUR NEW ALBUM? OR WILL YOU INSIST IN A RECIPIE THAT
YOU KNOW VERY WELL?
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I prefer to have a good mixture
of lyrics about metal and short stories on our albums. On the new album
there will be about 3 or 4 songs about metal and the rest will be short
stories that range from fantasy to horror.
10.THERE IS A TRIBUTE GOING ON
FOR RUNNING WILD. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE PART? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO
SAY ABOUT TRIBUTE ALBUMS IN GENERAL? DO YOU LIKE THEM OR NOT?
MANY LABELS DO IT AS A WAY OF GAINING EASY AND MORE MONEY TO YOU
FEEL THE SAME?
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I´ve never been a big Running
Wild fan. The only album that really did it for me was "Gates to Purgatory"
back in ´85. The only german band that I would pay tribute to is
Accept and we already have paid them tribute on a compilation put out by
Nuclear Blast. I like tribute albums if the band deserves to be praised
but nowadays every shit band gets praised on a tribute album.
11.IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO GO
BACK IN TIME WHICH ERRORS THAT YOU MADE WOULD YOU CORRECT?
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I´d try to avoid my marriage.
12.SOME YEARS AGO YOU CAME FOR
A LIVE SHOW IN GREECE. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THAT EVENT? DO YOU
KNOW ANY GREEK BANDS?
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I remember that it was a really
great event for us! The greek fans have been very nice to us and we´d
definately come back any time. I know some greek bands like Rotting Christ,
Nightfall, Astarte, Order Of The Ebon Hand and Crush.
13.WHICH ARE THE BIGGEST AIMS/DREAMS
YOU WANT TO MAKE TRUE THROUGH YOUR MUSIC?
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I´ve reached all my dreams except
to earn some money with the music but that´s not important.
14.HAVE YOU LISTENED TO ANY NEW
BANDS THAT YOU FOUND INTERESTING AND WITH MANY POTENTIALS? IF YES
WHICH ONES?
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I must admit that I haven´t
heard too much new stuff lately. I´m drowning in CD´s
right now and I´m always searching for cool old stuff...I´m
sorry, I can not recommend any new bands at the moment.
15.IF YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO COMPOSE
MUSIC WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD DO IN YOUR LIFE? SOMETHING AS CREATIVE
AS THIS?
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I don´t have a clue. I don´t
think that I have any talents besides writing lyrics and singing. And I
can´t do that very good as well, ha ha...
16.WHAT MADE YOU DESPITE BEING
FANS OF THIS MUSIC TRY ALSO TO COMPOSE YOUR OWN?
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I always wanted to be a musician and
when I got my first guitar in 1982 it was obvious that I would write songs.
Then later on I found out that I prefered to sing. I just love heavy metal!
17.DO YOU READ BOOKS? WHICH
IS YOUR MOST BELOVED BOOK AND AUTHOR?
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There was a time when I read
much more. I loved to read fantasy and horror stories from Straub/Herbert/King/Poe/Lovecraft
and countless others.Nowadays I don´t have the time to read that
much but I still enjoy heroic fantasy like R.E.Howard or the "Slaine" comics.
My favourite book of all time is "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer
Bradley.
18.IF YOU COULD BE A HERO WHO
WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE?
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Slaine or Conan or King Kull.
19.WOULD YOU LIKE TO COMPOSE
THE SOUNDTRACK FOR A MOVIE? IF YES WHICH MOVIE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
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I couldn´t do that. I prefer
to listen to the soundtracks of "Braveheart" or "Conan".
20.THESE LAST LINES BELONG TO
YOU...THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW!
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Thanks a lot for the interview! We
really want to play in Greece again! METAL IS THE LAW!!!
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| NIKOS "WILLIAM_KIDD" PARASTATIDIS |