"My theory includes that they probably couldn't listen to the other polished and overproduced bands anymore."When you hear the name Atomwinter, you inevitably think of black metal, but under this name there are some metalheads from Lower Saxony, who play their own version of traditional death metal. This interview was conducted a few years ago, precisely in 2013 on the occasion of the release of the debut album "Atomic Death Metal". Since then, the band from Göttingen has released three more full-length albums, most recently last year. At that time, the band was still a five-piece, as the debut album is the only one, in which the line up included two guitarists. It's also interesting to note that the line-up has remained the same in three of the today’s four positions since the interview, only the vocal position has changed since then, but twice. I spoke to guitarist Benni back then.
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How did the band Atomwinter come to be?
Atomwinter was founded 2009 by Christopher and myself, initially as a two-man side project. We just wanted to play old-school death metal and recorded our first songs with programmed drums via hard disc recording. During these sessions, we sometimes lost track of time and sat around my house all night, drinking beer and fine-tuning several riffs and vocals. At some point, however, we fancied a "real" CD with a really good sound and we recruited Stefan to play drums. So the three of us rehearsed a couple of times and in two days, we managed to get our four-track EP down. Norbert, who was still playing with Stefan and me in the hardcore band Suicide Squad at the time, helped us with the bass parts. Norbert then switched to guitar and we welcomed Martin to the line-up on bass. As we all knew each other from other bands and projects, we didn't need much time to get used to each other. In the meantime, everyone has put their other band activities on hold so that we can concentrate fully on Atomwinter. There was only one line-up change in 2010, as Stefan had to leave the band due to time constraints. He was replaced by Patrick, who immediately joined Atomwinter, enthusiastic about our sound.
Speaking of enthusiasm, how did people react to you and your sound?
Since then it's been a lot of fun to play our version of death metal with these guys, Our debut EP hit like an atomic bomb. We immediately received various gig offers in the region around Göttingen and the reviews were almost universally positive. We kept hearing how surprised people were by the raw and uncouth energy of the demo. My theory includes that they probably couldn't listen to the other polished and overproduced bands anymore. In the end, we sent "Atomic Death Metal" to various labels and magazines and the response was overwhelmingly positive. In October 2012, we signed a record deal with Black Skull Records and the collaboration with this label is going great. It doesn't get any better than that!
If there have already been gig offers for Atomwinter, it would be interesting to know how they went for the band.
Last year was really great for us. We played gigs all over Germany, together with other great bands. The reactions here were also only positive. There's simply nothing better than being on stage and blasting proper death metal into people's ears. In the future, we also want to be active live beyond the borders of Germany and preferably play a few more festival shows.
The question of musical influences remains. At first listen, the alternation of fast, rough parts and all-crushing doom rollers makes you spontaneously think of bands like Asphyx or the unfortunately long gone German Torchure.
Thanks for the comparisons! Asphyx are our absolute favourites and maybe we can pick up where Torchure left off in the early 90s. However, I have to say that we never think of specific combos when writing songs. It's probably because each of us listens to a lot of music and these influences unconsciously show up in our songs.
Speaking of songwriting, who creates the music?
There are no musical ego trips with us. Everyone has an idea or a riff from time to time, but the songs are then worked out together in the rehearsal room. This is not always easy, as opinions on what a proper Atomwinter song should sound like sometimes differ, but in the end we always come to a common denominator. We realise ourselves that we are getting better and better at playing together. Only the writing of lyrics is the sole responsibility of our singer Christopher, as he simply has a good knack for it.
If he was born to write lyrics, then it's interesting to hear what he has to say.
Just like the music, Christopher's lyrics are deeply rooted in the 90s. They are little anecdotes about war, violence, death and destruction. Generally speaking, the lyrics are intended to reinforce the effect of the music. We don't think much of statements concerning politics, religion or society or stuff like that.
Now that we've talked so much about the music of Atomwinter, it's time to talk about the listening habits of the band members.
Each of us listens to a lot of different music. There's everything from 70s hard rock to thrash metal to progressive stuff like Opeth. At parties, however, we go back to the tried and tested stuff: Asphyx, Grave, Bolt Thrower, Gorefest and so on, it's just the best way to bang, party and drink beer.
When the band celebrates together, it's easy to assume that Atomwinter are more than just a community of convenience.
As already mentioned, we all know each other from other bands and projects. But Atomwinter has brought us even closer together, because we've had to go through ups and downs together. With us, everyone can fully rely on each other and it's not uncommon for us to meet up for a few beers outside of the band.
Morbid Angel have caused controversial discussions in the scene with their latest output.
We play the kind of death metal we like to listen to ourselves. An important factor is that we have parts in our songs that we sometimes miss in other (old-school) bands. Everyone knows the feeling: You stand in front of the stage and listen to a really great death metal band. You're headbanging like crazy, but suddenly there's a change of beat or some crazy break that throws you off balance. However, we're not above pushing a certain part to the limit. Atomwinter are just trying to perfect their atomic death metal, and it works without trigger drums and tech-death influences.
Atomwinter can also look back on a healthy scene in their home town of Göttingen.
The underground in our area is very active. People here really work their arses off to put on concerts or parties. The "Schlachtnacht" at the Göttinger Juze is a very good example of this. This event takes place twice a year and is always very well attended. In addition to several smaller events this year, there will also be an extreme metal open air for the first time in June, there will be great regional and supraregional death/black metal bands to admire.
What are your thoughts about the current old-school death metal revival, a band like Atomwinter certainly benefits from it.
The real old-school bands were and are still active and present. Of course there's a large selection of new bands at the moment, but not everything that says old-school on the label is old-school. There are always some core bands that are advertised as death metal and then come out with a flat, overproduced release. I also think that there will always be some freaks who appreciate our interpretation of death metal.
The last words belong to you...
First of all we want to thank our fans! They are "Atomwinter buddies" from the very beginning and we can fully rely on them.Not forgetting the people who support us on tour and the bands we've had the honour of playing with. We are also looking forward to working with Black Skull Records and are excited to see what the atomic future will bring. Thank you also for the opportunity to introduce Atomwinter to your readers in this interview.
