REZENSION HÖRBUCH "HIGHWAY TO HELL" VON DR. MANUEL TRUMMER

Prof. Dr. Manuel Trummer unterrichtet Vergleichende Kulturwissenschaften an der Universität Regensburg und ist zudem Gitarrist der Heavy Metal / Doom Metal Band Atlantean Kodex, die ja dem geneigtem Leser bekannt sein dürfte. Trummer befasste sich bereits in seiner  Dissertation mit Transformationen und Erscheinungsformen der Traditionsfigur des Teufel in der Rockmusik und ist somit quasi inhaltlich schon seit langer Zeit bestens mit dem Thema seines Buches "Highway to hell - Das Satanische im Heavy Metal" vertraut. Dieses Buch ist der dritte Teil der "Metalbook"- Reihe des Kohlhammer-Verlags, in welcher Sachbücher zu  Themen aus dem Metal-Kosmos erscheinen (Besprechung des ersten Teils der Serie,  Dr. Hartmut Rosas Werk zum Begriff der Resonanz siehe hier).  An dieser Stelle wird allerdings die Hörbuch-Variante besprochen, welche bei CC-live erschienen ist, und es mit vier CDs auf eine Gesamtspielzeit von über fünf Stunden bringt. Besonders schön ist dabei die Gestaltung der CDs in Vinyl-Optik mit einem jeweilig andersfarbigen Label. Claus Vester ist als Sprecher zahlreicher Hörbücher bekannt; u.a. auch als deutsche Stimme von Rychard Rycroft (Master Wolkan) in "Game of Thrones". Als weitere Sprecher fungieren Alexander Wohnhaas (Sänger der Band Megaherz) und der Schauspieler und Sprecher René Oltmanns. Die immer wiederkehrenden Songtexte bzw. Songzitate werden wortgewaltig und ausdrucksstark von Ron Williams wiedergegeben, der als schillernde Figur aus Film, Funk und Fernsehen bekannt ist. 

INTERVIEW EMINENZ (ENG)

More or less by chance I got to know that Eminenz have a new album called "Diabolical Warfare", the great work was already released in December 2021. (Review see HERE).  A good reason to do an interview with guitarist Heiko.

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Hello, many greetings from Cologne to Annaberg-Buchholz. How are things in the Eminenz camp at the moment? Well, a few months after the release of the strong new album "Diabolical Warfare", what is your first conclusion about the album, also regarding the reactions of fans and press?

Yes, it's going very well at the moment. The album has been surprisingly well received by fans and fanzines. Since each band member has different musical influences, we first had to reconcile them so as not to completely abandon the style of Eminenz. We seem to have succeeded quite well.  

INTERVIEW EMINENZ

Mehr oder weniger zufällig bekam ich mit, dass Eminenz ein neues Album namens "Diabolical Warfare" am Start haben, im Dezember 2021 erschien das tolle Werk bereits. (Review siehe HIER).  Ein guter Anlass, mit Gitarrist Heiko ein Interview zu führen.

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Hallo, viele Grüße aus Köln nach Annaberg-Buchholz. Wie sieht es momentan im Eminenz-Lager aus? Nun, einige Monate nach der Veröffentlichung des starken neuen Albums „Diabolical Warfare“, wie fällt da ein erstes Fazit zum Album aus, auch was die Reaktionen von Fans und Presse betrifft?

Ja, momentan läuft es bestens. Das Album ist überraschend gut bei Fans und Fanzines angekommen. Da jedes Bandmitglied andere musikalische Einflüsse hat, mussten wir diese erst einmal unter einen Hut bringen, um nicht ganz den Stil von Eminenz zu verlassen. Dies scheint uns recht gut gelungen zu sein. 

REVIEW EMINENZ "DIABOLICAL WARFARE" (ENG)

Eminenz from Annaberg-Buchholz in Saxony have been active in the underground for ages, since 1989 to be exact. Not least their joint appearance with the then unknown Mayhem (still with Dead as singer, and if I'm not mistaken, announced as "Death Metal from Norway") in Germany also ensured a solidification of their status in black metal circles, especially in retrospect. Funnily enough, the legendary "Live in Leipzig" performance featured Manos, who later changed into a kind of comedy band, and whose part is often attributed to Eminenz. But more about that later in the interview with Eminenz here at Systematic Desensitization Zine. 

REVIEW EMINENZ "DIABOLICAL WARFARE" (GER)

Eminenz aus dem sächsischen Annaberg-Buchholz sind ja nun schon seit Ewigkeiten aktiv im Underground, genau genommen seit dem fernen Jahr 1989. Nicht zuletzt das gemeinsame Auftreten mit den damals noch unbekannten Mayhem (noch mit Dead als Sänger, und wenn ich mich nicht täusche, als "Death Metal from Norway" angekündigt) in Deutschland sorgte auch gerade im Nachhinein für eine Verfestigung ihres Status in Black Metal - Kreisen. Lustigerweise waren bei dem so legendären "Live in Leipzig"-Auftritt die später zu einer Art Comedy-Band verkommenen Manos am Start, deren Part oftmals Eminenz zugeschrieben wird. Dazu aber später mehr im Interview mit Eminenz hier beim Systematic Desensitization Zine. 

INTERVIEW WITH KJETIL MANHEIM (ORDER / EX-MAYHEM) PART II

"Euronymous was pissed as hell when I decided to leave, he was really mad."

As announced, here is the second part of the interview with Kjetil Manheim of Order (read part one HERE), in which we talked about his further musical playgrounds in the field of noise music. We also talked about the transfiguration of Norwegian black metal and the film "Lords of chaos", among other things, we talked about his farewell to Mayhem, about the former singer Dead, people's preference for stories and myths, exorcisms as well as Kjetil's love for Berlin.

Did you watch the „Lords of Chaos“- movie and if so, did you like it, didn't you like it? How about the actor who played your role?

Well, first of all, I haven't watched it. I can't see any reason I should see it. It's not a great movie if I understood it right from people, it's not an "Oscar". So, I can't see why I should have watched the movie because it has nothing to do with reality. So far as what I've heard from people who have seen the movie, it has nothing to do with me whatsoever. But of course, they have put it in the context where they got some aspects ot pieces like they have our names, but it has nothing to do with my life. I don't understand why they made that movie.

INTERVIEW WITH KJETIL MANHEIM (ORDER / EX-MAYHEM) PART I

"Being a human is a very lonesome journey."

Here is the promised interview with Kjetil Manheim, the drummer of Order, who released their new strong album "The Gospel" these days. Kjetil had a lot to say, so I divided the interview, which took almost two hours on Skype, into two parts. In the first part you can read what Kjetil has to say about the new album in musical and lyrical terms - we talked about the fragility of human life, buddhism, Aleister Crowley and organized religions, the (im)possibility of life after death but also about Emperor. In the second part we will talk about Kjetil's other musical playgrounds in the field of noise music, but also about the transfiguration of Norwegian black metal and the movie "Lords of chaos". We talked about his departure from Mayhem and former singer Dead as well as Kjetil's fondness for Berlin.

Hi Kjetil, more or less coincidentally, Norwegian weeks are upon me. A few hours ago I did an interview with Mortiis and an interview with Jørn Steen, the maker of "Saga", a movie including a wild mix of black metal, vikings, bikers and zombies, featuring Sarke and also Ted from Darkthrone, is also in the making. Has somehow unplanned so emerged....

Yeah, Maybe this is a coincidence. Or maybe something happens in Norway these days?

Haha, maybe, I don´t know…

Yeah, that movie sounds interesting.

I would say it is something like a horror comedy. Not not to be taken too serious. According to that, I want to ask, did you maybe watch the 30th anniversary Emperor livestream ?

No, I didn’t. I saw that board, which was announcing it, and I thought I was going to watch it, but I haven't yet. So, I have it still in front of me. Did you watch it?

INTERVIEW WITH MORTIIS PART I

"So maybe it's not a bad thing that they opened graves now just to make sure, that there are no vampires or undead people?"

Here's an interview with Mortiis. Since it was a more than two-hour conversation, I have divided the interview into two parts. I talked with Mortiis, who turned out to be an extremely nice guy, among other things about Emperor, Mayhem and the Norwegian black metal scene, his side projects, Ancient Rites, Moby, historical misconceptions, lack of support from the record company, vampires and opened graves in Romania and children and their excessive occupation with smartphones and digital content.

 

More or less coincidentally, I'm having "Norwegian weeks" here on my blog right now-after this interview I'm doing an interview with Manheim from Order, who was part of Mayhem's legendary "Deathcrush" release, furthermore I have an interview going on with Jørn Steen, the director of the movie "Saga", which features Sarke and Ted from Darkthrone. Did did you hear something about this movie? I think it's not a serious movie, it's more like horror comedy including a wild mix of black metal, bikers, undead people and vikings. 

What was it called? "Saga"? I know there's been made some Norwegian like horror movies about zombies in the snow, up in the mountains and some shit like that. But I think that's a different movie. So I know I haven't seen that one. Okay, I guess I should keep my eye out for it.

And in a few hours I'm doing an interview with Order, more specifically with Kjetil Manheim.

Yes, the band with personal overlaps to Cadaver, right?  

REVIEW ORDER "THE GOSPEL"

Order from Norway are at the start with their now more second album called "The Gospel". The band, which consists of such well-deserved veterans as drummer Manheim (drummed on Mayhem's legendary "Deathcrush" EP), vocalist Messiah (also ex-Mayhem), guitarist Anders Odden (Cadaver, Satyricon) and bassist Stu Manx (ex-Gluecifer), and this name-dropping is in no way necessary regarding the musical quality, however, live up to its members previous musical legacy. Order manage in a very impressive and intense way to mix old black and death metal with faster eruptive parts to a flowing melange, which in contrast to the debut "Lex Amentiae" goes noticeably deeper and also hits the listener where it hurts.