Interview with BREED
!!!THRASH METAL FROM GERMANY!!!
We had a conversation with Sascha Rink (Guitars). Enjoy!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about BREED (Members, Starting Year etc).
BREED is:
Oliver Ross-Drums
Vince Alberti – Vocals
John Scholten -Bass
Maik Ramroth -Guitar
Sascha Rink – Guitar
Breed was formed late 2018. Maik and Sascha played in a german well known Tech Deathmetal Band “SUDDEN DEATH” for 20 years together before. As Sudden Death spilt up in 2015, we decided to start a new project, mostly just for our own pleasure, because we want to make music we grown up with. I´m talking about the American bay area scene (Exodus, Heathen, Forbidden etc.). Our goal is to make music, which could be easily have been released back in the nineties. As time goes by, we had a bunch of song, and played first shows. Covid hit the world, and we shut down our rehearsals. In 2022 we got the support slot for Heathen and Toxic, after we got plenty of good reactions, so we decided to take BREED much more serious. June 2023, we started the recordings for “History of tomorrow”. Recorded by ourselfs, mixed and mastered by Luka Matkovic of Citadela Sound Productions in Belgrad.
You have recently released your album ''History of Tomorrow''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
At this point, it´s still 3 days before release. The first reviews are coming in and we are completely stoked, how well the press is judging us.
(Metalunderground.at 4/5 Points:
Their unmistakable sound, their lyrical themes and, above all, their energetic performances show the guys from Germany how successful traditional thrash metal can still be today. They have provided a template for all those who would like to refer to the heritage of German Thrash Metal….Although their career only began in 2018, BREED have an understanding of what German-style thrash metal should sound like. The German thrash metal conglomerate has committed itself to the traditional sound and this leaves a lasting impression that the legacy of the veterans lives on through the Lower Saxony band.
Powermetal.de (9/10):
It is impossible to give a listening tip because all the songs are at the same high level. No matter whether it's the fat 'Dimension Downside' with a great solo, 'Of Hope And Despair' with its nice-nasty, sluggish beginning, or the rock-hard 'Better Hater' - you'll look in vain for a failure. The album easily stands in line with the works of the great role models such as EXODUS, HEATHEN or DEATH ANGEL and includes many of the late works of the old heroes with links. Stylistically, 'Pro Evolution Sucker' stands out a bit, here BREED sounds more like ANTHRAX or SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, it's simply impossible to stand still with this song. Oh yes: song of the year! We will start to play shows and promoting our songs in 2024, so there are only digital reactions from our audience, mainly of the 2 songs (IN YOUR FACE, DIMENSION DOWNSIDE). But also here are the reactions quite impressive, because we didn´t have a digital agency to share and promote our stuff professionally.
Label or DIY and why?
We have signed in Oct. 2023 a record deal with Doc Gator records after finishing our recordings. For us, it´s the perfect fit, because these guys share the same passion, vision and quality standard. It´s all about making things the right way, musical craftsmanship and expectation of what music quality is about.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
There are plenty of funny stories. But I insure you, recording songs to a drumfile previously recorded, which was not the right tempo is not so funny….and again 😉.
A funny story happened while recording drums to the last song of our album. We want to start recording at 10.00am, and we got a message via whatsapp from our drummer at 7.00am. …still at the pub..we record today? I don´t know how, but Oli came straight from a “liquid” night and nailed the recordings to the song History of tomorrow in three takes.
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
Hard question. We like it the oldschool way. Vinyl was and is still a completely different way of consuming music. You got a thick inlay to read, a great print of the cover etc. But you have to accept the reality. Most people mainly hear music in their car, at their pc or smartphone via streaming platforms. The pure quality of the recording is lost for sure…but it is how it is these days.
Your music style is Thrash Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
Me personally, I grow up in the 80´s/90´s. I watched Pantera at their Vulgar Display of power Tour, and it was like seeing god. Seeing Metallica at their “Justice for all” tour was mindblowing. Bands we admire and love are Exodus, Heathen, Death Angel, first 4 Metallica records, Testament, Violence, Exhorder, Pantera and for me especially mighty Forbidden. These still are my reference, while I write music. That´s my personal benchmark to get closer to…always.
Which things do you think a band should sacrifice in order to succeed? Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future for your band?
You have to sacrifice a lot of time. While we are all 40+ years old, we have our families, our jobs. It´s a tough decision, and we decided, we want to make the best music we can…but not for all costs. We can´t go on tour anymore for 4 weeks to promote our music, because we have jobs, family etc. That´s reality you have to cope with. The business has changed a lot in the last 20 years. While playing in SUDDEN DEATH back in the days, you send your CD to a promoter, if he likes your music, the press likes you, you are good to go. We played SummerBreeze Festival, we played with Napalm Death, Morgoth, Kataclysm etc. These days, you have to pay to play with these kind of bands. There is a lot of wrong decisions in the business these days.The one thing, we never sacrifice is our style of music. It´s the way we think Thrash! You could easily get more attention, if we choose to play more modern kind of metal….but we won´t do that!
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
For me playing bigger shows like summer breeze, it´s not a matter of how many people came to the show. If your audience is enjoying your music, it more than fine. After the show, you talk to people who like your music and your authenticity…that´s the importance of a show. Supporting Heathen in 2022 was a huge thing for us, because we love Heathen. And chilling backstage with these guys and do a little “Jägermeister” with them and get good feedback from these guys…that´s a perfect evening for us. Such humble guys!
What attributes do you think that a new Thrash Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
It´s all about finding your own sound. We never copy or take a famous song as a template. My thoughts always while writing music is, how would a BREED song would have sounded, if it was 1990. It´s more a vibe or a mood to get in, than how many notes you can play. Every member of the band has a role to fit, the most important thing is the song, not the individual person. As a band you only loose when you try to copy. To develop your own music and niche in your scene is always the way to. In or outside music. Do the best you can, but stay by yourself.
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Thrash Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
That´s a tough question. There is so much more behind the curtain of digital platforms. Rules to follow, algorithm to know or just to follow the unwritten rules. For me personally, I don´t want to play the social media game. We as a band, we absolutely hate to post every day some kind of shit, to be recognized or get some kind of attention in social media. We know, that´s the wrong way to promote your music these days, but we still believe, that quality of music will shine through. But it all starts with the question, what your goal is. We want to spread our music, all digital releases are strictly for free…because we want to spread the word and the music. We all are lucky to have good jobs in our lives, we don´t need the extra money. Doing some promotional work with digital fanzines is a completely different story. That´s something, we like to do.
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Germany (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
I am not sure, if there is a new underground scene. There are a lot bands in different genres. Mainly some modern stuff, I don´t like. Modern deathmetal is kind of a joke to me. Genres like djent….i don´t get it. There are bands, who can play their instruments, but it sounds not like a band to me. As a musician, you grow the more you play…and you cannot accelerate time. But a few of them are quite impressive to me. But for me personally I still tend to go back to bands like Contradiction, Headshot or Surgical Strike. But the band are mainly the some age as we are😊.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
I know a few of the bigger acts like Firewind or Suicidal Angels, which are quite impressive. I heard, that there are a lot of deathmetal bands coming from this scene…but DM is not my cup of tea anymore. If you can send me links to same Thrash Stuff, I would be admire that!
The last 3 years, worldwide in the world, we have faced many dark, strange & new situations in our everyday life (covid, lock-down etc.) Did all of this affect you positively or negatively?
In my normal job, I am a social worker and work with people with all kinds of psychological challenges. The past 3 years was a steady downward spiral in all terms for many people. Covid, war in Ukraine, global politics, enviroment etc. For me personally, it hasn´t a negative effect, because in my daily job there are plenty a important things to do to help people to find their way out. You can never change your past, but you can change every second to come. But you have to be optimistic and still believe in progress to come.
What are your future plans?
We as BREED, we want to play shows in 2024 to get in contact with the people who have the same mindset of music that we have. We hope that our release will be heard, via digital streaming or vinyl, CD or whatever. We have written 7 more songs since the recording and we are stoked to complete them and work on further songs.
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
We highly appreciate the possibility to share some thoughts about music and passion through this. Keep up your good work! You are valuable!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
PS. Many thanks to Markus (https://www.facebook.com/MetalMessage.Global) for this interview (Cheers mate!)
BREED CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/BREEDmetal
https://www.instagram.com/breed.metal/
https://breed2.bandcamp.com/music
https://breed-merch.myspreadshop.de/all
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0pRvbHtw4eu6SnrN0F0i4G