Krabathor

Krabathor may not be the most known band around, but they for sure belongs to the better bands in the genre. Killing Death Metal where brutality stays in focus, exactly the kind we like! Here's a short interview with the band.

Interview by Tony & John
Conducted during February 2001

"Unfortunately Dead" is the band's fifth album. Some changes happened in Krabathor, you now have a new bassist/vocalist; Paul Speckmann from Master (his most known band I guess). He might be new in Krabathor but he has been in the Death/Thrash Metal scene for a while now. How did you get in touch with him?
We have been touring with Malevolent Creation, Master and Krabathor. We have been jaming together on the sound checks and we have decided to do something together. We have done a project called Martyr. After this project we have had personals problems and he have decided to joined us.

I guess all our readers know about his past bands so we don't have to talk about them and can focuse on Krabathor instead. Is he a real Krabathor member or is he just helping you guys out? I guess it can be difficult for him to be a fulltime member because he lives in the USA. Or has he moved to the Czech republic?
He is a full time member of the band because he has moved over here to Czech republic. You are right it would be too hard to practice when he was in USA. This way is better.

What happened to Bruno? He was in Krabathor for a long time. Wasn't it difficult to part ways with him?
We have had personal problems and he decided to left the band. He have started with a new band. We have been long time together but you know it was like a submarine. Of course it was difficult to take in a new member but he is with us since a long time now, and we dont have any problems anymore.

You are also dealing with a new label; System Shock. Why did you leave Morbid Records? What do you think about them re-releasing your two first albums as a double CD? I think it's great for us in western Europe because the original versions were impossible to find here.

We have changed label because we would like to try something new and of course we have got better offer from System Shock. The double CD from Morbid records was a great idea because the original versions have just been released in Czech republic and Slovakia and of course it was hard to find them in foreign countries.

So I guess you are satisfied with the way the last album turned out. I mean, in my ears it sounds great. Is there anything you aren't pleased with? You musicians always find something in your music that could have been done better...
You know I'm satisfied too. I like all CD's we have done because there is piece of our work, feeling, creativity and meaning about different things.We have done best work in time we have created and recorded this CD.

Krabathor is a band that tours a lot. You have played many great concerts. Do you have any plans to come up to Scandinavia? Many people here would like to experience Krabathor's brutality live. Are there any festivals that you will play at in the near future?
We would like to go there. We have some friends in Denmark and maybe we will play some shows there, and it isn't far away from Sweden. Actually we have been playing there on tour with Master and Malevolent Creation and we liked it. We have got some contacts in Sweden and we will work on it. We would like to go to Norway and Finland too, but no offers from there.

What kind of music do you listen to nowdays? Are there any good bands you think are worth more attention than they are getting? What do you think about the czech Metal scene?
Czech scene is pretty cool and pretty big. Here is a lot of great bands and a lot of people which one are supporting scene and music here. If I tell you truth I'm listening to the old bands. Heavy metal bands or thrash/death bands...etc. I'm listening lead guitarists as well. We have been touring with band Vehement from Chicago, they are playing music of today, it is new death metal and it is cool. I like it.

How important are the lyrics for you? What do you think about "possitive" Death Metal lyrics? Many people think that the lyrics are as important as the music... Comment this please.

The lyrics are important for us. We are using the things around us and we want to tell something with our music and lyrics. We don't like to sing about some unreal things.

It's strange that you are not one of the most known Death Metal bands, I mean you have been around since the eighties and your music rules pretty much. Do you think it has something to do with you being a band from eastern Europe?
You know you have to work on the band. You have to spend a lot of time on promotion, to do mail ...etc. I remeber how many tapes and promo stuff I have sent for promotion. That is big help for band. You have to stay in the minds of people. Of course it is good that people know you because when you are doing a show you have the chance that you will get people which know your music.

What will happen with the band in the nearest future? I know it's too soon to ask but do you have any new songs ready? How many albums do you have to record for System Shock?
We will do three CD's for System Shock. Now we are playing some shows and tour Europe. We start touring in march with Vader, all over Europe. France, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Spain...etc. In the end of the year we would like to go to USA and Mexico again and we would like to work on Central and South America too.