FLESHCRAWL – Interview with Bastian

I would like to start with a “Thank You” for taking the time to answering my questions. I'm sure after a release you and your fellow band members are overwhelmed with interviews. I would also say that “Made of Flesh” is simply awesome! O.K. on with the Questions.

How long from start to finish, did it take for FLESHCRAWL do write and record Made of Flesh?

The songwriting process took something like 8 months whereas we spent 3 weeks for recording the album.

I noticed that everyone helped in writing either the music or the Lyrics of the release. Has everyone always been part of the creation part of the songs?

Well, basically the roles are assigned pretty good and steady. Most of the music is and was written by Mike and Tobs (in the past also Stefan contributed stuff) however we also involved our new guitarist Oliver into the songwriting right from the beginning he came into the band. Lyricalwise, I am writing all the lyrics on my own ever since I can think or let's say at least starting with album number 2 which was “Impurity”. On our debut “Descend into the absurd” also Stefan wrote a lot of the lyrics.

Where do most of the lyrics come from? Do they come from reading books, watching Horror movies, or just pop into your heads?

I would say some ideas pop up in my head, then I try to build stuff around and therefore use my dictionary, as it is my biggest inspiration. I am not reading much, I am also not watching horror movies, so this cannot be my inspiration then. Basically, I have the song title and the music finished and then I start to build the vocal lines for the song. As soon as I have the vocal lines, I make sure to fit in some aggressive, morbid and brutal words and phrases.

Name some of the bands who you like doing shows with?

Bolt Thrower, Six Feet Under, Kataklysm, Dawn of Dreams, Apophis. That's the bands that we enjoyed touring/gigging with the most.

Who would you like to do a tour with?

Well, we toured with most of the bigger bands in the past, but my favorite tour would definitely be together with Obituary as they are still my fave old school death metal band around (around again to be correct!) in my eyes.

What do the guys in FLESHCRAWL like to do when not on the road?

Well, we all have jobs to make our money from. We usually hang around sometimes, write new stuff, spend time with our girlfriends etc. So, nothing crazy basically.

What was some of the bands you listened to while growing up?

Ozzy, Judas, Maiden, Slayer and so on. The usual classical stuff, dude!

Even though you're all from Germany, You adopted the Swedish sound. Was that something you all wanted when FLESHCRAWL was formed?

When we started the band in 1987 we sounded pretty much sound like a thrash band for the first 2 or 3 years. After that we realized that this was not extreme for our own band to be. So we decided to bring the band into more extreme and heavier directions. We liked the old-school Swedish stuff right from the beginning when it came up. We were really excited about the music and the way that such down-tuned and distorted guitars can rip. So, somehow it became our favorite style in extreme metal and it turned out that Fleshcrawl really had to dedicate itself to this kind of music.

I want to tell you that I love the lyrics you wrote, Does it take you long to come up with them or do the jump out at you while your at your favorite restaurant?

It takes me quite a while until I have them like I want the lyrics to be. This is based on the fact that the lyrics have to fit totally to the vocal lines of the songs and I sometimes have to fight hard until the stuff I wanna write and express fits into lines that usually don't fit that. So, I have to try around, to fix, to cut, to search for other words and so on. My dictionary helps me a lot in that.

The artwork on the Cd cover is great. Who came up with concept for it?

Well, the band decided to name the album “Made of Flesh”, I wrote the lyrics for that song and then we went to our graphic artist (Uwe Jarling) who is a very big friend of ours for years. We told him what we are looking for, gave him the album title and the lyrics to that song and finally left him alone with all the work. So, we didn't give him any direction or instructions how to do it. Everything visible on the cover artwork is totally constructed in his mind – a damn good job he did on that!

I noticed in the pictures that Sven is wearing a DEATH ANGEL t-shirt. What do you think of some of the 80's Thrash bands (EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL, DARK ANGEL) coming back from the dead?

Cool to have them back. Some of those bands also were part of our youth; we listened to and liked them. I never could understand why they stopped the bands years ago, but hey, doesn't matter: Back from the Dead!

I would have to say that every release you guy put out, you seem to progress and get better in every aspect, either it be musically, lyrically, or in aggression. How do you do it?

It is our intention and total will to do it! We are working very hard for that in the rehearsal room and are only satisfied with the best of our ideas. Another reason I think is the fact that we love this kind of music. As long as we have fun doing it, we are well inspired to go on!

How do you explain to people that don't know your music, what they are in store for if they buy your Cd's

brutal, intense and heavy old-school fuckin' death metal in the early Swedish vein that rips and devastates. Definitely the kind of ass-kick they were looking for the whole day!!!

What is the goal that FLESHCRAWL has set with your newest blistering release?