KETZER (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. How does the summer look like for KETZER? I’ve seen you have some festivals coming up soon.
Hola! This summer is looking pretty hot and wild. You are right, we have got some Festivals coming up like Hells Pleasure, Death Doomed the Age and Extremefest.
In the meantime we´ll get drunk on mojitos.
– KETZER is a really young band and it was formed back in 2003 if I’m not mistaken. I guess being that young back then, you may have changed as individuals and developed on a personal level but, how do you think this has affected your music? How has your musical evolution been since your early demos?
We started to play rock and punk cover songs when we were about 11-12 years old. Our first demo-cd´s featured some very wicked black heavy metal and later, when we released our third demo and our debut album, everything turned more or less „thrashier“. We are growing up together with our music.
– Compared to the demos I personally think you have evolved to a more Thrash Metal-oriented band. What do you think prompted this “evolution” or subtle different approach?
First of all, I´d like to point out that we don´t see ourselves as a thrash metal band, we never did. We are just playing the music we like – very straight and fucking fast heavy metal. People can call it whatever they want. However, there is nothing specifically that made us play the music we play today.
– Anyway, beside the overall Black/Thrash sound, I think I can find in your music some nuances to Death or even Heavy Metal. That’s the reason why I would like you to tell us what have been the most important musical influences for KETZER.
A lot ranging from early 70ies Rock to more recent Black Metal bands. Some namedropping: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Darkthrone, Venom and, of course, New Order.
– On 2009 you released your debut album, “Satan’s Boundaries Unchained”, which created quite a buzz into the extreme underground. Did you expect such success?
Yes and no. Yes, because we knew that „SBU“ had a lot of potential. But we didn´t really expect getting invited to huge open air festivals such as Party San and Rock Hard or even getting to perform in Portugal.
– Now you have just released your sophomore opus, “Endzeit Metropolis”, are you satisfied with the final outcome?
We can safely say that we are more than satisfied with the outcome. It took a lot of hard work to get everything done the way we wanted.
– On your two full-length albums (specially on the new one) I noticed certain inspirations from DESASTER and DESTROYER 666, from quite different scenes. Are you into any concrete scene? In fact in Germany Metal scene seems to be really healthy and strong but, how do you see it as an insider?
I wouldn´t say that the German metal scene seems to be „healthy and strong“. In fact, most of those people are very overweight and obviously have a drinking problem.
– In fact reminded me to DESASTER the epics parts as we can find on “A Requiem for Beauty”, which shows a good balance between melody and your usual blasting brutality. Is to get a good balance between both opposite elements something important for your music?
Finding a balance between the highest highs and lowest lows in music is indeed very important for us.
– The last track on the album, “He who Stands behind the Rows” lengths almost 9 minutes and I think it showcases all your musical and songwriting skills, and it also stands out among the other songs with different parts and the initial instrumental part. Did you have clear since the very beginning how did you want this song to sound like? Will you explore this further on future releases?
„He who stands behind the Rows“ was the first song that we finished, when we started playing new songs. Somehow, it became the „ballad“ of the new album, but there never was an intention to write a song thats standing out from the others.
Will we explore this on future releaes? The Future is wide open. It´s too soon to tell.
– All this being said (and to make things easier for all those interested); how could you describe “Endzeit Metropolis” in just 3 words?
This. Is. It.
– As with your previous effort, it seems to be a strong link between the album’s title and its cover, in fact I think it has to everything on your music so, would you mind to shed on light what did you want to express with the artwork and what are some of the ideas covered with your lyrics this time around?
We are very fascinated by the overall panorama of the typical „end of century“-metropolis: The darkness, the dust, the dirt and so on… The lyrics are about being dazed and confused in a world that is slowly coming to an end.
– Still about the cover, the one for “Satan’s Boundaries Unchained” looked quite “old school” so to speak, this one has a certain more modern vibe. Were you consciously looking for a different style?
Since our music and lyrics have evolved into a „different“ direction, the whole aesthetics have changed as well. You could say that it´s a natural process.
I don´t really feel that modern vibe. I think the artwork looks like things are slowly falling apart.
– This “Endzeit Metropolis” is your first record with Bonehead Productions, how is everything going with them so far? And what made you leave Kneel Before the Master’s Throne?
We are very content with the Iron Bonehead´s work! Together with Necroshrine Records we have found two very professional partners in crime. We just weren´t that satisfied with KBTMT Records, so it was time for a change.
– And finally, what the near-future plans are for KETZER?
Although we are very uncertain about the future of mankind and the world, we do have some plans besides getting drunk on mojitos. We have got a lot of concerts coming up (unfortunately nothing in Spain – yet!) and Kneel Before the Master´s Throne Records will re-release our debut album on Pic-LP!
– That has been everything from my side, thanks you once more. If you want to add some final words; last lines are all yours.
This is the end.
