In talks with Destruction

Sep 10 • International News, Interviews, News • 3563 Views • No Comments on In talks with Destruction

With a few days left to the biggest heavy metal festival India witnesses Bangalore Open Air we caught with frontman of the German Thrash metallers Destruction who are headlining this year’s festival. We spoke to Schmier about their first visit to India and what can the fans expect from the Teutonic Thrash metal giants

Destruction

Metalbase India: Hello from all the readers at Metalbase. It’s great that Destruction is summing down to play for BOA, Something we are pretty stoked about.
Schmier: Finally, It’s been quite some time that we have been planning to play in India and everyone’s exited that it is finally happening.

MBI: After being German Thrash metal pioneers for around 30 years Destruction has finally announced its visit to India. How did it all fall into picture?
Schmier: We’ve been talking to different promoters over the last year, but it eventually never happened. So when we saw the opportunity to play at BOA, We kept the time slots open and negotiated with the promoters, as we have been very busy this summer and we have a couple of tours coming up, But it was important that this time it happened. Now that we have all set and our flights booked we are very happy that this is happening.

MBI: Destruction is considered to be one of the Big 4 Teutonic Thrash metal bands besides Kreator, Sodom and Tankard. What does the band have to share to the readers for this huge glory?
Schmier: I think the German style has always been a little more rough and a little more brutal than other styles, say the bay area or from New York city. If you look back the first couple of albums from the German scene have been very heavy and very pure and I think that’s what made German thrash metal very famous. And all the 4 bands that you mentioned still play that style, And all bands have their own direction for example Kreator or Sodom is very different from Tankard or Destruction, all the bands try to achieve their own sound, and that’s what gives them their own identity.

MBI: Although there have been many changes to the lineup, how does it feel to be playing in a band that you started 30 years back.
Schmier: Yes we have seen a lot of ups and downs, but the core of the band is me and Mike. Though it doesn’t look that long if you look back. I have a lot of memories from the starting of the band and through the ups and down, there have been some quite crazy feelings. It sounds unreal that it’s been that long. 30 years seems forever in the music life, But for us we still enjoy and love what we do so it doesn’t seem that long. And I guess that is the thing about Destruction why we still don’t sound like an old band, as this is very energetic and very fresh kind of metal and we are happy that we can still provide that.

MBI: We sure are very excited to see you play live in India, So what has been the most remarkable concert or tour for destruction?
Schmier: That’s very difficult, because we have had the luck to play all the big festivals in the world. Sometimes it’s not the biggest ones that are the best, but yeah the big ones do leave an impression. We’ve played festivals like Rock in Rio, Waken several times, Rock al Parque in Columbia so these festivals do leave a mark on you but it’s hard to choose the best.

Bangalore Open Air

MBI: Destruction writes about anti religion, politics, injustice and other subjects that reflect the dark and deep elements. What has been the prime inspiration behind the lyrical themes?
Schmier: If you watch the world of today there is inspiration everywhere. All the conflicts out there between religious fanatics, all the problems between the east and the west. It seems humanity doesn’t learn from history, we’ve made so many mistakes, shed so much blood. Though we have been able to have peace in central Europe for a long time now, the rest of the world is still fighting. It’s sad to see that humans just don’t learn, and I have an opportunity to send a message in the form of lyrics. Especially to the fans that stay in different parts of the world it’s interesting to see how a band from Europe sees the world. Although I don’t see myself just as European I see myself as a world citizen.

MBI: Before signing to Nuclear Blast Records the band was doing Self-Releases. How was the scene back then?
Schmier: When the band kind of divided in the 90’s heavy metal was dying in Europe. SO it was some difficult years for everybody back then. Heavy metal was dividing into different genres and especially the grunge wave from America made it very difficult for heavy metal bands to still release albums. I was not with the band during that time as I was with a band named ‘Headhunter’. I still remember that in the 90’s some guy from a label said ‘go cut your hair and play more modern music and I will sign you.’ And I said fuck off.

MBI: What significant advances has the band experienced after joining hands with nuclear blast records?
Schmier: I’ve worked with a lot of records over the years and I can say that nuclear blast has a lot of metal fans working for metal, if you know what I mean. They understand the scene, they understand the music and they treat their bands really good. Destruction left nuclear blast for some years from 2005 to 2010, and I was very glad that we came back.

Destruction Live

MBI: Of all the records the band has produced till date which one is the most remarkable?
Schmier: I guess from the firs records ‘Infernal Overkill’ was quite remarkable as it was our big breakthrough, and we still consider it as our classics. I just did an interview with a big American magazine discussing about infernal overkill and the history behind the record, so there is still a lot of attention on that record although it will be the 30th anniversary of infernal overkill next year. And I believe ‘Antichrist’ was tour most remarkable album after our comeback. SO those 2 albums definitely stick out from our legacy.

MBI: So is the band working on any new material?
Schmier: Yes of course. We have already started writing in between tours and I think we are going to record demos right after we come back from India and I think we are going to enter the studios and end of the year or January. We are planning to release it in summer 2015.

MBI: Awesome news there for the bands, coming back to the show in India, any Indian bands that you listen to.
Schmier: I’ve heard bits and pieces over the internet, so I am looking forward to see them live. And I feel its great that Indian bands are not following any styles and trying to create their own style and I guess that will earn them recognition worldwide. Hopefully it’s a great start for the Indian bands

MBI: So how excited is the band to catch up with the Indian metalheads.
Schmier: For us reaching new shores and playing in a country that we’ve never played before, I guess it’s the most interesting thing as a musician. We have toured around the world so many times and we have seen so many new places, so summing to India is very exciting for us as we’ve never been here before.

MBI: What message do you have for the fans in India.
Schmier: Firstly I can’t thank for all the support for all these years, I hear people have been waiting a long time for destruction to perform in India and I can assure you it will be a great concert with the best of the 30 years of destruction. We are going to kick some serious ass. See you in India.

For Bangalore Open Air tickets CLICK HERE