1. The band begins his wanderings in 2012 , how were the beginnings of the same How important to Satanic Warmaster had at the beginning of your band ?
Satanic Warmaster was probably the single reason we created this band. It started with founders, Martin and Thomas jamming along to certain Satanic Warmaster songs. The raw sound, and the simple compositions of both songs and individual riffs caught our interest right away. We started making our own songs, and partly serious, and partly for fun recorded them with the very bad equipment we had at our disposal. This resulted in the demo, Erasing Religion back in 2011, and the start of the band.
2. After the release in 2012 of your first demo, March to Victory comes your debut album , has something changed in the sound between the two jobs? How was the writing and recording process and the album?
The sound has changed very much, anyone who has heard the demo can confirm this. The sound is generally way more refined, with us polishing the songs way more in detail than on the demo. Added solos has also changed the general atmosphere. The writing process has also changed a lot. Usually, Thomas writes the raw composition of the song, while Martin polishes, adds various riff variations and harmonies. Furthermore, Martin has written two songs of his own: Possessed by the Arch Fiend, and Blood For Ashur.
As for the recording proces, the album was recorded rather quickly. We recorded in layers, meaning first drums, then bass, then guitars and lastly vocals and solos. Drums and bass were done in the course of a single weekend. The rythm guitars were done in 4 different layers, mostly one-takes in a single day and the vocals and solos were done in an afternoon. One of our biggest focuses was to try and not make the record too perfect. This is mostly recognizable in the solos, as they were all improvised on the spot, and recorded in first takes.
3. The sound of Satanic Assault Division has a lot of black , thrash and influence of Satanic Warmaster , as I said before, it is undeniable , what other bands and styles are recognizable in your sound?
Satanic Warmaster is probably our only direct influence, as the jamming their songs is the main reason why we started the band. However, the question if other bands is recognizable in our sound is rather difficult to answer. I guess every musician is inspired by what he listens to, so in that sense all bands the songwriters (Martin and Thomas) listen to should be recognizable. Mostly, we try to experiment with black metal, try to come up with something new however, while maintaining a natural link with our predecessors.
4. As members of other bands, how important is this new project for you with respect to the other ?
Satanic Assault Division stands as an equal compared to the other bands the members of SAD plays in. Of course, there has been various difficulties in booking concerts, if Sylvatica (Thomas' Melodic Death/folk metal band) plays the same date as a gig SAD was offered, naturally, the first booked band takes priority, sometimes economics is an issue too, if one gig pays better than the other. So far these are the only real problems that we've encountered.
5 . The titles of your songs has a strong anti-religious content , who writes the lyrics and why did you decide this issue for them ?
Nearly all lyrics have been solely written by Thomas, with Baptized in the Name of Baal being the only exception, which was written predominantly by Martin. It is true that our lyrics are extremely hostile and probably hateful towards religion, that isn't to say that they are a correct representation of our own beliefs towards the subject. The main reason why i write in this anti-religious theme is that all the extreme metal bands i grew up with, like Slayer, Mayhem, Emperor etc. all did the same. There isn't any political or religious motivation for me, even though i am an atheist, it's simply very hard for me to imagine black metal as being anything but anti-religious in its' nature.
6. Have already offered a concert as a band , how satisfied are you with these first steps as a live band ?
So far we have supported the Finnish black metal act Arch Goat in their Odense gig, our very first and biggest gig. Other than that we have been rather silent, except for various underground gigs in Denmark playing with mostly death metal bands. However, we do have various concerts lined up in the near future, but not any in Spain i'm afraid.
7. What are the five cds consider essential within the black metal and why?
Martin:
Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
Marduk - Panzer Division Marduk
Burzum - Filosofem
Mayhem - Deathcrush
The four first albums are simply because they are my personal favorite albums. Deathcrush is because you asked for the essential black metal albums, and i believe that this record is probably the single most important one. It is arguably one of the most influential in any case.
8. How did you get started in music? Why did you decide to be a musician ?
Martin: I never decided anything, i play guitar because i like it, then all these random people started inviting me to bands!
9. What can you tell us about the black metal scene in Denmark?
The black metal scene in Denmark is pretty much.. Very pagan / viking. Some of you might have heard of Angantyr, this is pretty much what most Danish Black Metal bands sound like, or at least Angantyr is the main source of their local inspiration. There is actually very few bands who play our vein of Black Metal, here i mean blast beats everywhere, almost Marduk style. Despite being a Scandinavian country, metal isn't really what we're known for, and thew few known bands we do have, are almost all Death Metal, like Panzerchrist, Illdisposed, Iniquity etc.
10. Who designed the cover of March to Victory as it relates to the content of the album?
The cover to March To Victory was designed by Michael Huhle of Blackhorned. I don't really know if it relates to the content of the album, besides it being a tad blasphemic... It looks cool! That's what matters most to me.
11. Domestic Genocide Records is responsible for the release of the album , how the opportunity arose to work with them ? Satisfied with the involvement of the seal?
To be honest, the opportunity arose when we first finished the production of the album. We simply sent out the record to all kinds of labels, and DGR was simply the company that we felt was the most viable way to go, both in terms of working relationship, trust, and of course simply because they offered us a favorable deal. So far we are satisfied! They have given us a lot since we signed with them, we have no reason to complain.
12. What next steps will the future of the band, in terms of upcoming releases , concerts, etc. . ?
We've been playing quite a few local gigs in Denmark, both in my own hometown, Sønderborg, our bands hometown, Svendborg, and in the country's capital, Copenhagen. Next thing in our plan is supporting Negura Bunget in Germany! So far, we have 2 confirmed dates, Bochum the 22th March, and Berlin the 26th March, but more will maybe be coming up. Other than that, there is of course the matter of our next album. We can't really say anything, as we won't be releasing in the foreseeable future just yet, but so far, you guys are in for a treat!
13 . Thank you very much for taking the time to Black Metal Spirit , if you want to add something for the followers of Satanic Assault Division , this is the place . I hope the questions are to your liking .
Thanks for reading! This was guitarist, Martin 'Tyfus' writing. Hope to see you all on the road.
-Hail Satan,
SAD
