A few questions - interview with death metal band from Germany - FINAL PLAGUE.
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
'Final Plague' is a Death Metal band from Bremen (Germany). We started with a jamming session by Andreas, Olli and Thoddy in late 2019 to try out new ideas and figure out whether this will be a match. We soon figured out: it is! It took us some time during the CoViD years, but eventually Chris and Till joined and we started to create our own sound.
Our music is dedicated to Old School Death Metal (OSDM) in the style of early 90ies Swedish bands like Entombed, Dismember, Grave, and similar. It is actually a time that we have all experienced and that has really shaped us. We enrich the typical Swedish style by including modern and groovy elements from time to time, while the basis is a sick HM-2 guitar tone combined with fast blast beats, growls and screams.
The current five person lineup was completed in the beginning of 2022. 'Final Plague' is: Oliver Wittrock (Drums), Chris Voltermann (Vocals), Andreas Walde (Bass), Thorsten Krebs (Guitar) and Till Schleicher (Guitar)
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
Our EP ‚Blood‘ is completely self-produced. We wired up the rehearsal room, recorded everything and mixed it. This is not new territory for Till Schleicher - he has recorded and mixed albums for many bands in the past.
One of the most important aspects of recording to us is that our music sounds the same on the album and on stage – we think there are only few things worse than having a good mix but not being able to perform live afterwards.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
Just like the recording and mixing, we created the CD ourselves and ordered a first batch of 250 copies at a company that did the pressing for us. We currently sell the CD by ourselves – people interested can just send an email to info@finbalplague.de and we will be happy to ship a copy.
At this point in time we did not create any vinyl or cassettes. But our music is available online in every will-known streaming service and store, like Spotify, YouTube, Amazon or Apple, of course.
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
All of our songs are the output of some sort of group work. Despite the fact that this differs from song to song, a typical approach is that we start with one or bunch of cool guitar riffs and think about how they can be compiled to a song. Then we try different things, it takes a couple of weeks, and at some point we decide that the song is „ready“. Then we think about topics and write the lyrics afterwards. So it difficult to name just one author.
Our lyrics deal with different, but mostly current topics. ‚Sunshine Unit‘ for example is about how humanity is destroying our planet. By the way, sunshine unit is a unit used to measure the amount of radioactivity – and as such a euphemism that enables us humans to talk about bad things without feeling too bad. It is this irony that we try to enhance. ‚Halo Defect‘ is about media misusage and how easy it is to influence followers. Then we have lyrics about the power of sects, people that do not fit into society, and so on.
Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?
The logo was designed by Markus Vesper. We needed and wanted external help with that. The rest of our appearance is DIY. The background images as well as single and album covers are created using generative AI, which works really well for us. We used the same technology for the videos we released for our first singles on YouTube.
We have a few social media accounts, like Instagram and Facebook plus the artist accounts on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, YouTube, and so on. We manage those social media accounts ourselves. Chris is looking after Instagram and Facebook. Thorsten takes care of YouTube, Spotify, Apple and Amazon. We consider these things really important, because it is the touchpoints for potential fans! They need to see who we are and what we are like.
Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
Altogether we could create a really long list of artists we like to hear, follow and go to their concerts. A few of the most important bands from the Death Metal genre are Entombed, Dismember, Grave, Edge of Sanity, Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel or Evocation.
Inspiration is an interesting topic! Because one cannot not listen – meaning you will always be influenced by what you hear. And you will eventually create riffs that are somewhat similar to bands you like and listen to. This is why we deem it really important to finalize our songs altogether. When all five of us are in line with what we create, then different influences are mixed. I think is how our own personal note has emerged.
How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?
We recently had our fist gig, just two weeks after the release of ‘Blood’. It was planned this way. We actually first decided when to play the first gig and then looked backwards to have release dates for the EP and further back for a few singles.
Everything seems to have worked really well – on June 17th we played live at the “Zollkantine” in Bremen, together with ‘Machinefeeder’ (also from Bremen) and ‘Terrible Sickness’ (from Nienburg). It was amazing that the audience already knew our songs. That was great fun!
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
We want to create the best Swedish Death Metal outside of Sweden! *laughing*
No, honestly, we do not have a rockstar career plan. We started this whole thing for the fun of it. And that is how we will continue. We already have a couple of new songs ready and are working on more. There will be a second release probably within the next 6 to 12 months.
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
Contact: info@finalplague.de
Weblinks / Social Media:
· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finalplague_band
· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinalPlague
· YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FinalPlague
Thanx for the interview.
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