While things are on the rise again now when we’re closing in on the autumn, this summer was pretty quiet when it came to new and interesting releases. One band that caught my attention was the German newcomer Lunar Shadows who put out a promising EP all on their own. A couple of spins was enough for me, the pure metal sound was right up my alley. I didn’ t hesitate and contacted the band’s main man Max “Savage” Birbaum who acted very professionally and put a lot of effort into answering my questions.

Max, judging from a thread on the Sacred Metal Board, you have had some music coming for a while. Already in 2011 you posted a link to a song called “Heart For Battle”, but I don’t think it was published under the Lunar Shadow-monicker. Tell us how things progressed from this early effort to what became Lunar Shadow!

– “Heart for Battle” was actually released under the name Lunar Shadow, though during a time, when there existed no solid line-up. I played all instruments on this track, the vocals were recorded by a guy called Izzy, but this didn’t work out in the end and Lunar Shadow sank down into oblivion again. Only a few weeks ago I decided to delete this song from YouTube, because it did not feel right anymore. It was an old song, early ‘trademarks’ were already visible, I guess, but the vocal performance wasn’t convincing and the lyrical concept dull. As you said, it was an early effort, but I do not count it as a part of Lunar Shadow. Lunar Shadow starts right here, right now, with this EP. I wrote different songs during all these years, I improved as a guitarist, as a songwriter, while on the other hand my dislike for my surroundings and own existence were increasing. My own philosophy sharpening, a gaze behind the veil. Music or art in general is partly formed by personal experiences. There is loss. Despair. Joy. Pride, anger, love that is lost, confusion. My music is a piece of parchment, that is always filled with a sudden emotion, anger being my pen, melancholy my ink. When I sit down to write a new piece, before even one tune is written, I already know, what emotion or mood it should transport in the end. I will give you an example. I mentioned love lost. Loss is a terrible feeling, it shatters your mind. I had to deal with something like that recently. It is hard enough for me anyways, to get me through another day and at that special occasion I felt even more empty and weary. But I managed to grab my guitar. And I started to play. Some hours later, I had long forgotten time, I had finished a complete song. It is an instrumental, called “Never To Return”. I can hardly play it, because there is a lot of my heart’s blood in it, literally. But, and this is the important point, I felt better. Not much, but I felt cleansed. It is a very sad song though. And that is the reason, that there is no more personal connection to ‘Heart for Battle”. It was a different me, that wrote this song. It was an I, that is now irrelevant and does not exist anymore. Begone! I don’t want phantoms of old!

I have the impression that you might have worked on these tunes alone for a while, but struggled to find the right musicians to work with. As it seems the band was formed last year, how did you finally find the right people?

– That is correct. Three of four songs on the EP were already written in mid/early 2013.It was a very hard task, to find proper band members. For different reasons. One is, that I live in a very rural area of Germany. In fact, I live in a lonely house that is three kilometres in the woods with no neighbours. Your surroundings form your inner being. That is why I cherish stillness and quiet above most other things. It is a good place to live, but when it comes to music, it is a true moloch. There is no classic heavy metal scene here. There simply is none. Most bands play metalcore or death/thrash metal. If you live for example in the Ruhrgebiet-area, it is much easier to find proper musicians. That was one problem. Another one is, that I am a very difficult person. I have certain views concerning the, let’s call it social hierarchy inside the band, that not all people agree with. It is most important, that you get along as a band, all members. Simple. If you can find and achieve that, good. If you get along and your colleagues can also play properly on their instruments? Even better. Right now I have established both points. I first met Sven, our bass player. Do not ask me where or when. I really don’t remember. It must have been Keep it True or Metal Assault, I am not quite sure. We got along well, listened to the same bands. He was playing with Meltingaze at that point, a proggy death-band and wanted to do some classic heavy metal. Through Sven I met his twin-brother Kay, who was a guitarist. He played in a band called Raging Fire along with our first drummer. Soon Raging Fire disbanded and Kay joined Lunar Shadow. We replaced the drummer with Jörn, a friend of Sven and Kay, who plays in a band called Rotovathor. Our first singer was Francesco of prog-metal band Chronoseptic. A very talented singer, by the way, but there were some issues, things did not work well. Finally we found Alex, our recent singer. He is also in a stoner band called Senex, a good friend of mine, Kai, with whom we recorded our EP gave us that hint. Lunar Shadow were complete. And our downfall would begin.

Which position in the band was the hardest one to fill? The singer as always?

– I have to say yes. The EP was actually completely recorded in July 2014. Except for the vocals. As I said, we had to change the singer, then found Alex, he had to learn the songs, which also devours time and time and time. When someone asked me, what kind of singer I would like to have for Lunar Shadow, I always answered Carl Albert. That was the vocal style, I imagined for these songs. But find someone like that, it is impossible. Don’t you find this strange? Where have all these singers gone? Back then, almost every US metal band would have an exceptional, outstanding singer. They seem to be extinct now, only a few exceptions. I think a lot about that. But nevertheless, I instantly liked Alex’ voice, he has this warm, almost Dio-nesk timbre and it turned out, that he was our last, missing piece and I am glad to have him.

Did you spend a lot of time looking for the right name for the band? Was it challenging finding something that reflected the type of music you are looking to perform?

– My first band was called “Sentinel”, named after the infamous Judas Priest-song. I still like this name, to be honest, but that was a different period in my life and I felt the need of a different name. Lunar Shadow is the name of a spaceship in Star Wars. I wished, I could give you a more mythic explanation, that one night the moon, standing in its full, silver majesty bent down from the heavens, kissed me on my lips and whispered: “Call yonder band after my resemblance, it shall bring you luck, I bless you, child!”. But I can’t. I am an aesthete. Especially with words. Do not understimate the meaning and essential beauty of them. There are certain words, that touch my inner sense of elegancy. Lunar Shadow was one of them. Or let’s take “Savage”, my nickname. I love that word, it has a certain symmetry in it, that I like. Also there are words,that I properly hate, like ‘Berlin’, a terrible word, with a terrible sound. I cannot explain this. Names of heavy metal bands are always unique and seldom make a deeper sense. Judas Priest. Would you like to visit a Metal Church? I think I wouldn’t. What do Saxons have to do with proper metal? I like Shadows, they are like separated parts of yourself, following you, they fall and spread, they hide your evil intents and devour light and space. And Lunar. The moon is beautiful, some sort of primordial, wild beauty. And it is part of In Flames’ “Lunar Strain” album, which means a lot to me. Reasons enough, to choose this name.

Do you consider Lunar Shadow your own band, as an outlet for your own ideas and influences only? Or will you look for input and contribution from the other members in the future?

– Lunar Shadow is my band. It is my own construct, it is the way I want heavy metal to be like. I write the songs and all the lyrics. This is an important point, I mentioned this earlier. Not all people can handle this position of mine. I am deeply thankful, that my recent bandmates can. All of them can show me their ideas. I do not prohibit this in any way. I will listen to everything, that is shown to me. If I will use it, is another thing. Maybe, but to be honest, probably not. Sven once said: “Why should we others contribute to Lunar Shadows’ songwriting, when the songs that Max is writing are already that good?” I do not want to sound arrogant, for I am not. But this is the only, and I mean the only way, this band works. I will not change my songs. I will not change my vision and my ideas. It is simply a question of different patterns. In many bands, there are several songwriters, art is created in a collective and this often works perfectly. I cannot do that. That’s all. On the other hand I want to make one thing entirely clear. Though I consider Lunar Shadow to be my band, this is not a project with guest-musicians. We are a band and, most importantly, the others are my friends. Without them, I am nothing. I may be the head, but they are the legs, on which this band tramples its foes, they are the hand, that smites you.

You have been confirmed as the opening act for Harder Than Steel in September. As far as I know, you have not performed live so far. Will this really be your debut gig? Wouldn’t it be safer to do a few smaller club gigs first?

– It feels kind of surreal to play there. Last year almost the complete band went to the first edition of Harder than Steel-Festival as fans, to actually play there now along with Jag Panzer or our friends of Iron Kobra is strange. As far as I can say, while I am typing this, Harder Than Steel will be our debut gig, yes. Surely it would be safer and rational to play some smaller gigs before that. But Lunar Shadow is a very irrational band. So to hell with that, we are solid musicians and will be properly prepared. We are rehearsing hard and will play a little, private warm up-show in early September in our rehearsal room in front of ~70 people. I am not very eager to play live. This again is a question of different models- let’s take a band like Evil Invaders. I think they are one of the better young bands these days and they are touring their asses off. Four weeks tour through all Europe, two weeks relaxing and then again a three week tour, something like that. I respect that. I really do, but it is simply a model, that would not work for me personally. I don’t like to travel and my band roommate on such a tour would probably find me hanging from the ceiling in my hotel room on day four. I would certainly lose my little rest of sanity. The Atlantean Kodex-model would work better for me, that means playing not that many, but selected shows that are interesting and promising.

What will your live set look like for this festival? Will you add some new material or maybe a cover song to the tracks from the EP?

– Our live set will contain of course all four songs of the EP. Right now we are rehearsing new tracks, that will be featured on our debut and which we will be played there for the first time. “And Silence Screamed” and “They That Walk the Night” are classic twin-guitar monsters, the first one with a Robert E. Howard inspired setting, based on his stories “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” and “The Skull of Silence”, the second one with a very dark, morbid touch, imagine ‘Nightcrawler’ from Judas Priest. Furthermore we will add one or two other new songs to our set, namely “Crystal Avenger” or “Frozen Goddess”. The last one would be interesting, for I think it sounds a bit like Dissection. And yes, we will play a cover song too, but I will not reveal that one.

Turning the attention to the EP, when were the four songs written? As you do all the songwriting yourself, do you sit down to write, or do you collect ideas over time, then piece them together when you find the time and motivation?

– As I already said, three songs were already written in 2013, only ‘Triumphator’ is anno 2014. I do not write songs in a rush normally. I write down a certain melody with Guitar Pro, add parts, a bridge maybe, an acoustic interlude and shut the program down. I will then listen to it again the next day, for I need a certain distance. If I still like it, I continue. Sometimes it happens, that I’ve got an old song, which as a whole I don’t like anymore but certain parts are too precious to just disband them. Then I try to integrate them into another song, if the tempo is the same. But this rarely happens. My Guitar Pro folders are stuffed. I have written, I just counted it, 42 complete songs in 5 years and have hundreds of unfinished ideas and melodies. Sometimes I have to laugh at what I find there. There are blues songs in the vein of Mark Knopfler, whom I adore. There is a concert for piano with a whole orchestra, I even wrote a bad Flamenco named ‘Spanish Rain’. The next steps then are very methodic. I send a finished song to my bandmates, they learn it and we play it that way. No spontaneous outbursts in the rehearsing room or something like that. Right now I am working on two songs, that are almost finished. “The Kraken” is our longest song yet, already eight minutes long. I am very proud of some of the melodies in this one, it sounds a bit like Solstice. And what could be better?

Did you check out the possibilities to get someone to release the EP before you put it out yourselves? Have you been approached by labels either to rerelease “Triumphator” or for future projects already?

– I did not. We wanted to release this EP by ourselves from the start and then watch what would happen. Keep the reins in our own claws. We have been approached by Stormspell, we will probably be part of the “Trend Killes” series, but there is no contract or anything. It’s a difficult question anyways. At this part of Lunar Shadow’s existence, is there a need for a label already? With one EP released? I am not quite sure. Right now our plan is, to release our debut by ourselves again. But if some label is interested, I will certainly listen to them. There are certain labels within Germany and some outside, which I would prefer, sure. I will not reveal names, that doesn’t matter anyways. A label could probably do more promotion, than we are capable of at this moment. It would also be easier to purchase our music and other things, but as always- conditions have to be right and I need to feel, that a real passion for heavy metal exists. Time will tell.

I really like the dark coverart by Adam Burke. Was it made specifically for this release? What did you give him to work with? Full songs, or lyrics maybe?

– I like it a lot too. Adam is a marvelously talented artist (scoundrel). It was made for this EP, yes. My dear friend Kevin of Diabolic Night gave me the hint to contact Adam. He had done the new artwork for Diabolic Night, which by the way is fucking killer too, as always, so I wrote him. He is a very companionable person and it was an honour to work with him. I did not give him a song or lyrics then, I never even had that idea, to be honest. I had the idea for the artwork already in my head, every stupid little detail. So, the sun was drowning in its own fire, the dogs of Tindalos roamed the woods and I gripped a pen. And created the worst sketch for an artwork that has ever been done. Believe me. It was terrible. No perspective, a barbarian, that looked like Conan with Down syndrome, the only thing I managed to do properly was this wench with big boobs. I told Adam my ideas, we have this cove by the sea, there is a barbarian, looking down, standing in shallow water, sword in hand. There is this girl clinging to him, he is surrounded by cliffs. And I sent Adam the cover of Tyrant’s “Mean Machine” album, because I wanted the colours to be like that. And what can I say? Each single day I sat in front of my laptop, waiting for the first sketches. And they came. First in lead pencil, then coloured. This man is a wizard, a true wizard of old, the prophet of Portland. He instantly understood what I wanted this cover to be like and he realized it, there were almost no corrections needed. I remember, that I once told him, that the girl needs even bigger tits, but otherwise…I repeat myself, a great artist. By Set! Thank you, Adam.

Not only have you put some resources into the cover art, the booklet has the lyrics and the CD itself is a factory pressed silver CD. You obviously think presentation is important even in this digital age?

– Uncompromising death to CD-Rs! We did invest not a small amount of money into this CD. The artwork, the pressing. We could have used a simple cover and just copy the CDs at home two-hundred times. But I will never do that. It is a question of presentation, yes, but not only. To do it like we did is simply convictions of mine. I will never release inferior products. My music is dear and important to me and I want it to be dear and important to others too. That, to me, is also a matter of respect towards our fans. I would never buy a CD-R. So, why then release something like that? You would not bestow the woman you love with a ring out of a gumball machine, would you? Well, I probably would, because I’d find that hilarious, but if you release a good, high quality product, people will appreciate that, I am convinced. Same with our shirts, that are to be released soon. I don’t like a simple white or black shirt with the band’s logo on it and that’s it. Our shirts will be unique, with special designs, symbols, only created for this purpose and special gimmicks.

Do you view these four tracks as part of your history now, or can you already say that they will also be used, rerecorded perhaps, for a release in the future?

– These songs will not be rerecorded. I don’t like that. All the spirit is lost. I am just thinking of the terrible re-recordings of Cloven Hoof. Or a once great band from the US…There is a plenty amount of new songs waiting for you all, beware. Shadows are spreading.

Could you please share some details about the recording of the EP? Apart from the line-up there is nothing to be found in the booklet. Was it recorded over a short, or a longer period? Did you use a professional studio or record at home?

– We did record the EP with Kai, a good friend of mine. We already know each other from our schooldays and he has some recording equipment. I really hate technics. I don’t know, how my guitar works, and it does not interest me. I often even can’t handle my own amp. So it was relieving, to have someone who is competent with engineering. He would bring his equipment to our rehearsal room and we recorded all the instruments, guitars and bass there. Our drummer recorded the whole drums separately with a friend of his in one single session. All instruments were recorded in June/July 2014. And then came the last days of May. No, then came this long period, where we had no proper singer. Finally, in March 2015, after almost eight months, in which our recorded EP lay bare, Alex added the vocals and we were finished. The final mix was done by a friend of Kai. Tobias did a great job there, he really pushed our recordings to the limit and he is mainly responsible for the final sound of the EP.

Regardless of what the circumstances were, I think you have achieved a more than decent sound. Are you looking for the same type of sound for future project, or would you change things if you got a small budget from a label?

– I certainly would and hopefully will change some things in the future. I wasn’t that happy with the way, the recording of the drums was done. Jörn was under extreme time pressure, because of this there are still details that could have been done better, if he’d had more time. I have a certain sound in my head. Like always. Everything is already planned. I already have a title for our debut. I have the cover. And the sound…well. This remains a little secret. But you know, there is this band from England,that has done the best comeback in years in 2013. I love the sound on their albums…

What adds to your identity is the amount of guitar leads scattered out in the songs. It certainly sets you a bit apart from the rest. Where does this come from? Is it inspiration from certain bands, or just something that you personally like in metal bands?

– Both. My love for those twin-guitars origins, not as one could maybe think, in obvious stuff like Iron Maiden. It is old In Flames, that infected me with this. Well, this early/mid- nineties Gothenburg stuff like In Flames or At the Gates is basically nothing else than Maiden on speed, tuned down and with more extreme vocals. But “The Jester Race” is still my favourite album of all time. I can listen to this anytime, never get tired of this. Just listen to “Artifacts of the Black Rain”. Majesty. A superb guitar sound, warm but somehow still distant, like from another world. “Lord Hypnos” is a good example too. It is such a shame, what happened to this band. Tons of bands, that I love have turned into something bad, but In Flames really had an remarkable downfall. All records after 97’s “Whoracle” I almost deem as a personal insult. It is irrelevant, to talk about them any further. It is just something, that I like. Strong melodies, two guitars. There is a long history with that in rock music, I am just thinking of my beloved Blue Öyster Cult. Maiden, of course. But there are also new bands, that are able to create melodies, that tear right through your brain. I am just thinking of Dark Forest, the true Knights of Old, Albions finest at the moment. Wonderful band. Christian Horton is a genius, one of the few guitarists these days, that can write solos, that I want to listen to again and again and again. I must say, I’d really love to play with them one day.

As far as I know you are also an author, having written a trilogy called “Sturmwind”. I guess these books are only available in German, but what can you tell us about the content? Is this something you want to pursue in the future?

– True. I have written and published three books, starting back in 2010 when I was 21. They are only available in German. I sometimes had the idea inside my head to get them translated, but I abolished that. It would cost me loads of money, that I would never see again and they are not that remarkable, that I would say “The world needs to read Max Birbaum!” The first two books are part of a trilogy, the “Sturmwind-Trilogie”, which one could translate (that was at least the plan) as “Tempest-Trilogy”. Epic fantasy, I wanted to pay heed and tribute to some of my literary idols. I created a strange world, called Anxardia in the vein of Tolkien or Robert E. Howard. The first book is called “Sonnensturm” (“Storm of Suns”). The first chapter is by the way inspired by Manowars “Defender”. The main protagonist is called Trey Skyrim. If have to say something concerning this “Skyrim” these days all the time. It is true, I admit, that I borrowed this name from the old Elder Scrolls-games, simply because I liked the sound, we talked about words already. But I’ve started to write this book in 2008 and I did not know to that point, that in 2011 there would be a hugely successful, prominent video game called “Skyrim” too. So in hindsight the naming of my main protagonist was a little bit unfortunate. But nevermind. Trey is raised by his uncle and aunt, they get killed by evil bastards from the east, he swears revenge and begins a long journey, on which he finds new friends, foes, there are lots of adventures to withstand, terrible monsters, old wizards, libraries with ancient tomes, strange cities, magic swords and of course gloves of metal. Very classic stuff. I won’t win a Nobel prize with that, but I am rather proud of it. I guess it is fun to read. The second part is called “Der eiserne Schatten” (“The Iron Shadow”). The protagonists move south, there are huge battles, an enchanted ship, blue oceans, a passage dedicated to Lovecraft with a mad artist called Tristan von Ash and the magician chick Alexa is having a very sensual affair with corsair-tigress Salomé. Put Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn and Tolkiens Silmarillion + Lord of the Rings in a blender, add some of my own ideas and you get a sometimes readable story. It is funny. When I released the first book in 2010, I did not know, what would happen. If it would sell at all, how it would be accepted by potential readers. And then suddenly things literally exploded. I was selling hundreds and hundreds of ebooks. In five years now, I have, all in all, sold over 10.000 ebook copies. There were two months in a row, when Amazon paid me 4000 Euros as royalties. Imagine, I was 21 years old back then. What do you think in such a moment? I thought, that this whole, goddamn world belonged to me! I am a god unstoppable, a professional author! Surprise. Things then changed. After the first part could be counted as a success, I was eager to write the second part. I thought to myself: “All readers of the first part basically have to buy the second one, because they’ll want to know, how the story continues and some new readers atop of it!”. “Sonnensturm” also has a terrible cliffhanger at the end. But no. When “Der eiserne Schatten” was finished, sales weren’t that high any longer. I sold some thousand ebooks, yes, but it was a disappointment. There were also way less reactions to my second release. It’s hard to predict such things, I guess. Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas. I felt empty. Burned out. And did not write for a longer period. I by the way never started the final part of this trilogy and honestly, I don’t think that I will ever write it. I do not write anymore. I have some drafts, but all started and unfinished. I only write poems from time to time still. They are in English, by the way. Wanna read one? Yes? Fine, here you go.

Fade to Flames

When long ago my life was written

On sun-dried parchment, locked away

Into a tower in the distance

On a hill man called existance

My spirit longed to go astray

Young was I and yearned for all

A man could ask, before me lay

The vales and woods, love and lust

The luxurious joy and fading dust

Of many words yet to say

But somewhere on the roads I wandered

The years oppressed me, bent my back

The songs I used to sing aloud

Became more vague, the seed of doubt

Began my thoughts to rack

I sat down on a boulder then

The pouring rain bedewed my cloak

I realized I was mistaking

And while I sat, from cold wind shaking

I saw a trail of smoke

In a dale deep down below

A little town defied the weather

Out of the windows poured warm light

Scared away the claws of night

And spirits of the nether

The Inn was full of festive folk

To every restless heart a bait

Their voices sounded peregrine

Sour was the crimson wine

But in a corner sat a maid

She smiled at me and I smiled back

Though in her eyes a dim reflection

The ambiance didn’t seem to bother

Her and unlike all the others

Her gaze held sad dejection

Of distant lands, our thoughts and dreams

We jested and our mugs we’d fill

With wine, which now like nectar sweet

Our blood and innermost would heat

And at ourselves we both smiled still

At dawn we left and did not part

We took the road that crossed the hills

Upon my heart and being she had

Left her everlasting stains

I knew I’d never leave her side

Leave her side or fade to flames.

Sad and melancholic, with a strange, romantic touch. That’s all I can write obviously. As I mentioned, I felt sick and disillusioned to that time. So, when I started to write my third book “Ein Loch in der Welt” (“A Hole in the World”), I started to spit bile. A very vile book, provocative, hard, maybe even disturbing. One of my contemporary favourite authors is Michel Houellebecq, so this book was some kind of wanna-be-Houellebecq. I could say something about the content or my intentions, but I do not talk about this book. And no, I will not write songs about my own writings. I may be narcissistic, but not that narcissistic.

Do you feel you can make real use of your writing skills when you are doing lyrics for Lunar Shadow, or is it a completely different task?

– That depends. Heavy metal lyrics don’t have to be deep at all costs. Stuff like “Kobra Khan” or “Triumphator” are not very groundbreaking. But that’s okay. It works with those songs. Though on our debut, there will be songs with a stronger philosophical aspiration. And there will be songs in which I try to deal with certain experiences. In such cases it surely helps, when you have at least a small idea about rhetorics, the right words, good metaphors. It is a way to express yourself, that I enjoy a lot.

Reading the lyrics on the EP, I guess you can get an idea of what kind of themes the lyrics will focus on also in the future? Is there some kind of lyrical concept for Lunar Shadow,that you will stick to?

– It is extremely important to me, that I have no lyrical limitations in Lunar Shadow. Let’s take Attic. Great band, great people. But they have only a small circle of topics, that they can sing about. Occultism, nuns, Satan, Bill Murray on the Belfry. Not a bad thing, they also seem to be content with that, but I want more. I want the possibility to write about whatever I want and I mean whatever I want. My bandmates already know my strange, twisted mind, so when I walked into our rehearsal room some months ago and saidL “Here, I wrote a song about a gigantic Kraken!” they looked at each other, grinned a little bit, but okay. So there is going to be a song about a Kraken. I want it all. Songs about monsters, songs about fighting and winning, witches rising from their graves, a snake magician, an ancient Roman emperor, Love, that is lost, Tolkien, a magic city, loneliness, fire and air, desperation, flying motorcycles. Our debut will have sort of a lyrical concept, yes. The songs are not in any way connected, neither are they, when put together, telling a story. But every song, each in its own, different way, is about the same subject. With music, it is the same as with my writing. The part, that I cherish the most about it, is the possibility, to do whatever I like. Write about whatever I like. Shatter people emotionally. Thrill them, make them sad. Let it loose, make them think.

It seems heavy metal is a big part of your life, and judging from your Facebook-page you are a big fan of many different kinds of metal. I understand that you have a special relationship to Judas Priest though. Did this the fact that you are a huge fan, make it more difficult creating the song “Metalian”?

– Music is the most important thing in my life, without it, I could not be. It helps me, to keep my little rest of sanity. When I was younger, I still had this certain attitude “You cannot listen to Band A, while also listening to Band B”, there was this stupid kind of fear, to lose face in front of your surroundings or friends. It is nonsense, of course. I grew older. And it is very liberating, to just do what you want. Listen to whatever you like. It is true, I certainly have some strange combinations, when it comes to music. My favourite band of all time is Creedence Clearwater Revival. “Who’ll Stop The Rain” is probably the most important song of my life, I first heard it, when I was ten and it changed everything. From that moment on, I was in love with music, I started to play guitar a little bit later because of this also. I love Simon & Garfunkel, those two voices, very clever lyrics but also Burzum. My number two album is “Storm of the Light’s Bane”, my number three “Into Glory Ride”. I listen to Possessed, but I also like Ratt or Dokken. There will always be people, who find this almost insulting, but I have learned to not give a fuck at all. Talking about the often mentioned “brotherhood” between Metal fans, complete bullshit in my opinion. There is no genre of music, that is more intolerant or elitist. And it is hypocritical of me to critizise this, for I am often intolerant and elitist too. If someone tells me, that his favourite bands are Korpiklaani and Sabaton, I will not punch him in the face, but I certainly won’t take him serious or call him a “metal fan”. I could talk for hours about this single topic, but I am getting tired. You see, when I was 12, I bought myself a CD called “Painkiller”. After the drum intro, I was already abashed. I did not even know, that one could do stuff like this with a drumkit. And then, even after 14 years, my memory is crystal-clear, the second verse. Halford is singing “Land is devastated, mankind on its knees, a saviour comes from off the skies, in answer to their pleas”. Then there is thunder in the background and Glenn’s guitar is screaming “Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh”. I had goosebumps everywhere, on my whole arms. I will never forget this. Up to this day, Judas Priest is the most important band in heavy metal to me. Glenn Tipton is my huge musical idol, Halford my favourite singer. I’ve got the “Defenders Of The Faith” and “Painkiller” artworks tattooed on my arm. So one could say, that I had a lot of fun writing the lyrics for “Metalian”. It is just a tribute. Nothing more. All things must come to an end.

Verbicum pythonicum, mysticium salamandrae.

I thank you.

Death to Life.

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