Hello David Marcelis, how are you doing?
Hi Heiko, I am well, thanks. However, these are strange times and I miss the touring life, concerts and fan interaction. I hope that everyone will abide by the COVID19 measures and that a vaccine will soon be developed so that we will be able to pick up from what is left of the cultural sector.

Please tell us something about your hometown, and how is the metal scene in your area?
I live in the river lands in the centre of the Netherlands, near the towns of Arnhem and Nijmegen. My hometown is too small to have something that you could call a metal scene. But both Arnhem and especially Nijmegen have quite a vivid metal scene. There are a number of metal bars and concert venues and major acts and festivals are hosted in the Gelredome stadium and Goffertpark. But to me the whole country is my backyard. I don’t mind driving an hour or two to see some of my favorite bands.

Some time ago the new Black Knight album was released via Pure Steel Records; “Road To Victory”. Please tell us about the writing process, time in the studio and how the press and fans receive the new album?
The album is a real band effort. The original ideas for most songs were developed by our former guitarist Machiel Kommer, others by guitarist Ruben Raadschelders and bassist Ron Heikens. These ideas were then used to really put the songs together in the rehearsal room. I wrote most of the lyrics for the album, but the lyrics to a few songs were written by previous Black Knight singers. Song writing took most of 2017 and 2018, while we also played a number of concerts in that period.
We hit the studio in January 2019. To record drums and bass we went to Captain Hook Studio and the guitars and vocals we recorded at The Flying Fish Studios. Former Black Knight guitarist Gertjan Vis produced and mixed the album, and then he became our guitarist again when Machiel left the band. The album was mastered by Jacob Hansen in Denmark.
We actually hoped to release the album earlier in 2020, but the outbreak of the COVID pandemic slowed everything down. However, because many artists and labels decided to postpone their releases until a time when mail order services and touring will be less disrupted, there were relatively few releases during June 2020. As a consequence, Road to Victory received a lot of attention in the media. We got tons of great reviews, air plays and interview requests. Our fans love the album and we really look forward to promoting the songs of the album live in the future.

Normally after releasing a new album a band is going to play gigs to promote the album and show the fans what they can achieve live. But because of Covid19 the whole world and that means all the bands cannot nearly do anything and mostly “sitting” at home or attending a normal day-job. What are your thoughts about this “crazy” times..?
Well as a performing artist obviously I hope that we can soon go back to ‘normal’ or at least to a new way of normal in which performing arts and the events business have a place. However, we make good use of the additional time on our hands by writing songs for the next Black Knight album.

David Marcelis

You did vocals for different bands in the past; Lord Volture, Fire Force, Methusalem, Conquestador etc. How did you get involved in Black Knight?
As a matter of fact I still do. Lord Volture is my personal brain child and I am preparing songs for the fourth studio album. I am also in Thorium from Belgium with whom I will release a new album early 2021. When I was asked to join Black Knight following the departure of the previous Black Knight singer Pieter Bas Borger in 2017 I felt it was an opportunity to broaden my scope. In the years 2010-2016 I had spent so much time and energy on Lord Volture that I was eager to try something different again. I knew Black Knight already for many years and was and still am very enthusiastic about their type of heavy metal. But I said from the beginning that I wanted to make an album and that this should be our highest priority. Road to Victory is the result of that of which we are all proud.

You are also the vocalist for Thorium, a great band with ex-members of the mighty Ostrogoth. Please tell us something about this band and is there any news regarding Thorium?
Yes, it is true that the guitarists and bass player of Thorium have been in Ostrogoth for a number of years. However, they formed Thorium when they felt that their new song material wasn’t going to work in Ostrogoth. The self-titled Thorium debut album was released on Empire Records in October 2018. Since then we have been touring Europe and we have been working on the next album that I mentioned to come out early next year.

Black Knight started in the 80’s what do you know about Black Knight from the beginning period of the band. Only Rudo Plooy is the only left band member from the start of the band?
The first time I’ve heard of Black Knight was in 2006 when Black Knight and my former band Methusalem shared the bill on an indoor festival. But Black Knight was founded way before that time in 1982. Our drummer Rudo Plooy has been the constant factor throughout the band’s history. Guitarist Gertjan Vis has also been in Black Knight during the time of the release of the Tales From the Darkside album in the second half of the 90s. Ron (bass guitar) joined Black Knight in 2008 or 2009, Ruben (guitars) in 2016 and I in 2017.

On the new album the band released a song from the first demo-cassette: I’m Not The Blame (1987). Re-Aranged and re-recorded for this album. Why the band decided to choose this song to be on the new album?
This song has always found its way to our live sets and through the years it kept on developing further and further. Moreover, the song has never been on a full-length album or an official release other than the 1987 demo. So we figured the re-arranged song would add value to the new album. It is kind of a light weight song between the likes of “Thousand Faces”, “My Beautiful Daughters”, “Crossing the Rubicon” and “Primal Power”, so it adds to the diversity and freshness of the album as a whole.

Black Knight

Who was responsible for the front-cover of the album. It really is a great cover-artwork?
The cover artwork was done by Mai Visualart. The concept was developed by our guitarist Ruben Raadschelders and it contains elements of all the songs on the album.

There will be also on Pure Steel a re-release of the album; Tales from the Darkside (2007) with exclusive bonustracks on it, can you tell us about it?
On 20th November Pure Steel Records will release a reissue of Black Knight’s debut album from 1998 “Tales From the Darkside” on CD. The album has been out of stock for ages. It has now been remastered to better fit with modern sound expectations and we have added 6 bonus live tracks that were recorded at different events with different line-ups between 2007-2017. The artwork has also had an overhaul by Augusto Peixoto.
If all goes well we will be touring in 2021 to promote both “Road to Victory” and “Tales From the Darkside”.

Do you have a last word to the readers of Bonavox?
Heiko, many thanks for the interview. Everybody take care of yourselves and your social surroundings. Stay safe and Keep the Metal Faith!