DEATHRITE – since the moment I’ve heard the first bit of feedback on their demo I was a huge fan of this band from Dresden, Germany. Later I had the opportunity to tour with them, party with them, drink with them, sing along to Sepultura’s Arise with them – and of course I took the chance to ask Tony, their singer, a few questions about the band that made it into CVLT Nation’s top 6 Hardcore records of 2011 just like that with their first proper release.
Like mentioned, DEATHRITE are from Dresden, the capital of the Free State of Saxony and one of the region’s most dynamic cities. And it seems the place to be: “It’s cool, because we and all of our friends live nearly in the same district. It’s very familiar, with a very committed DIY scene, many rehearsal room shows and art events.” A few months back I was able to witness a DEATHRITE show at such a rehearsal room myself – you wouldn’t believe how many people fit into a narrow hallway if they have to.
But let’s start from scratch. DEATHRITE formed in September 2010, “we’re friends for a long time and due to the fact that I finally moved to Dresden it was time to start something new. There wasn’t any specific sound in our minds when we started, but we’re all into Punk, Metal and Grind and that results in DEATHRITE’s sound: heavy riffs, filthy and brutal.” A heaviness that obviously appears when DEATHRITE play: Bloody knuckles and foreheads are not exactly a rare picture at their shows. The explanation is quite simple of course, “there’s a lot of rage in our songs, and when we play live it’s natural that all the rage comes out.”
But where is this anger coming from? I asked Tony if his lyrics were more influenced by personal experiences or social topics. So to say, what perspective on the world manifests in DEATHRITE’s songs. And Tony offers a very clear answer to that question: “We’re living in a world full of shit reigned by hypocrites.” And listening to those songs and reading the lyrics it’s not exactly subtle that, in Tony’s words, “there’s a lot that pisses me off. Most lyrics got a social topic, but our new songs are a little bit more personal, encased by a dark story.”
Like probably for most of us, darkness is something very appealing for Tony, also when it comes down to his personal taste in music. That’s why his jacket features a huge backpatch by Dragged Into Sunlight. Tony embraces the “dark atmosphere of their record, the huge riffs and rad sounding cymbals”.
I experienced first hand how Tony and his brother Andy, guitarist of DEATHRITE, listened to the heaviest Grindcore and Deathmetal records at an earcrushing volume for hours while we drove from Switzerland to Germany. Being on tour with my own band Goldust and DEATHRITE in one van was amazing, in fact Tony just feels the same about that. As he states, DEATHRITE’s first real “tour was awesome. We had such a great time. The chemistry between the bands was incredible familiar, as if we knew each others for years. We laughed about the same stupid jokes and had the greatest ten days on the road since we started the band. We hope to get the opportunity to do this again, because it’s one of the best things to bang your head every night to one of your favourite bands.”
And what about DEATHRITE’s next steps, what can we expect of those four angry young men? The next release will probably be a split 7” with Goldust early 2012, kind of the embodiment of their mutual tour in October. “We’re excited as shit to hold this piece of plastic in our hands. And of course, we’re writing new songs for our first full length. I hope we’re finished in spring so we can hit the studio again, and of course we’ll be playing as much shows as we can.”
DEATHRITE is Tony (voc), Andy (git), Martin (b) and Beff (dr). So far they have released a demo tape on Life And Death Records and a one sided 12” on Per Koro Records. The split 7” with Goldust is going to be released on Per Koro and Cobra Records.
New Comments