40 years of Metal. Please tell us how it all started in the mid 80’s? After having guitar lessons for a view years and listening all day to KISS, Thomas and his friend Roland decided to start a band in 1983. They didn’t have to wait to long to get Sigi Burn (vocals), Manfred Stemmer (drums) and myself (Patrik on the bass) on board. We then played our first concert on March,31st in 1984 at the parish hall in Frastanz (Austria). That was a great show. Please tell us something about these 40 years in the scène. Something what happened at a live show or studio or travel to a show. Something special that happened you want to share with us? A very special situation was when we won a competition with our tape Street Warrior. We were invited to York in England to record our songs in a professional studio. Thomas and myself took our guitar and bass, booked a flight and waited for Sigi (vocals)and Rene (drum) who decided to follow us with the motorbike. But finally, they did not arrive, and we found out that Rene broke his arm. The frustration at that time was extremely high! In these 40 years a lot has changed in the Music and Heavy Metal Scène and in the world around us. How you see/watching these things? In the 80’s it was very difficult to get contact with the music scene (industry) especially when you were living on the countryside, far away from the big cities. No internet, no mobile phone! You had to buy music magazines and visit the record shop to get the latest news. But on the other hand, even in our area, there were a lot of bars where a live band could play and so the music scene was small but alive. Nowadays the scene is more online then live which is a pity. What is the country that you played live with the band that was the most far from Austria where you guys live? And what is the difference between the European Metal fans and the fans outside of the EU? The furthermost place was Athens in Greece when we played at the Up The Hammers Festival and in Madrid on the Pounding Metal Fest. So we did not play outside Europe so far. But I can tell you that Greece and Spain have amazing metal fans and I assume the rest of the world is the same! Please tell us about the new album. How was it received by press & fans? So far we do have very good feedback from the press and our fans about the power and energy in our songs. I hope it will continue like that. How was the writing process and time in the studio? How did you guys came up with/ came in contact with Mariusz Pietka? We write our songs before the studio so that they are ready when we go for recording! In the studio we do the fine-tuning and listen to Mariusz advice for some clever arrangement changes. With Mariusz we already recorded our Mortician (2011) album and we got his contact via the management of Crystal Viper. Any live shows in the near future? On Friday the 13th of October we play at the Ballonfabrik in Augsburg (D) and on the 11th of November we play in the Alte Kino in Landeck (A) Can you tell us something about the lyrics of the album? The lyrics on this album have a wide range. 40 Years of Metal is a tribute to our band and the great time we have together! With Leather and Wheels and Old Lady we do have two songs about motor biking and its scene. King of Ring is about the fighting sport. No War Symphony is a new edition of the song NO War which we record in 1987! With The Earth fight back we want to express the situation of polluting our globe and with Angels on Earth we want to tribute all the medical staff who had to work under extreme conditions during the pandemic. And finally, Death Penalty tells all people who abuse and give violence to others what might happen to them! Do you still have after all these years something on the Bucket List for the band? As mentioned before, we did not play outside Europe so far. So, this for sure is something we are looking for. When did you start playing the bass guitar and how/when you started to listen to Heavy Metal music? And what are some of your favorite bands/artists? I started playing bass in the early 80s and my first big concert was AC/DC in 1982. My favorite bands are AC/DC, Mötley Crue, Ozzy Osborne, Slayer, Metallica, … Do you have a last word or something that’s on your heart, you want to share with us? I want to express my thanks to all the metal fans, musicians, crew members and organizers that we met over the last 40 years. There are so many great memories and friendships we could built on and hopefully many more will follow! Keep on Rocking. Thank you
