Interview with OLYMP
!!!HEAVY METAL FROM GERMANY!!!
We had a conversation with Sebastian ''Butschi'' (Vocals / Guitars). Enjoy!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
The last time we talked was almost 3 and a half years ago. Now you are going to release your first full length studio album "Olymp". Tell us a few things about this project.
Hi Steve, thank you for interviewing us again! Well, for us it was quite a big project since we did the recording, mixing and mastering by ourselves. From the first records on, the drums back in the beginning of 2022, it took us over a year to finalize the album. This long producing time was mainly due to me finding time to do the mixing in my free time. But we're convinced that the result was worth the waiting. We tried to capture a raw and natural sound without sounding cheap or unprofessional and I think we achieved this. Just some fucking raw heavy metal!
The cover artwork of ''Olymp'' has a great atmosphere! Tell us a few things about it.
Thank you, I'll forward the praise to the artist, Giulia Kaiser-Schmidt, a good friend of us. The first ideas for the artwork came when we started recording the album. I came up with a first sketch which only contained Cerberus and the gate to Hades. We discussed the sketch and I think it was Armin who came up with the idea to put the gate to Hades in the background but letting it look huge by a long line of people waiting to enter Hades. Furthermore we wanted to have some sidekicks to the songs or us as a band. For example you can find our favorite beer on the artwork, you see Icarus and Atlantis, the city of gods, and more. So we did another sketch with explaining the main ideas but we never thought that Giulia would come up with such an awesome artwork. Of course we knew that Giulia is a great artist but I think you can really see that she particular enjoyed drawing this artwork.
What about the lyrics of the new album?
Six out of eight songs deal with an ancient Greek theme. We just love the tales of Greek mythology as they often contain lessons about humans, focusing on the more darker feelings such as greed or wrath. We typically write the music together in our rehearsal room and I write the lyrics afterwards. For me, music always creates a unique feeling which I try to underline with the lyrics. Let me take our song hero as an example. The main two instrumental riffs just sound heroic to me and what would be more heroic than the twelve labors of Heracles? You can guess what the lyrics of hero are about ;-)
Are you going to release it on CD independently? How many copies will you press and are you in search of a record label?
Yes, we're releasing the album independently. We've pressed 300 CDs and 200 vinyls. As start we think that this quantity is sufficient but in case we have to repress we're lucky by having a vinyl and CD manufactory directly in Augsburg called Duophonic. For now we're satisfied with being completely independent. However, if an interesting record label comes up we wouldn't directly say no. Time will tell...
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
No, we're way to serious for funny stories! Haha, just kidding. But honestly, I can't really think of something particular funny or weird. But worth mentioning is our show at the Beerbängers festival in Brackenheim. We were opening the night for Axetasy and Fusion Bomb and the whole place went crazy from the first minute on. The audience was rather small, maybe 60 persons, but they really banged their brains out of their skulls. And the evening had some sort of a funny or weird ending, at least in retrospect: After the bands played one of the bands were loading the car in front of the venue. They've put the bass box in the trunk and some guy closed the trunk without checking if the bass box fits. Unfortunately the bass box was too high and so the back window in the trunk door burst into thousands of small pieces. What a mess... Even worse: after they've fixed the window with some cardboard and tape, the car moved two meters before it suddenly broke down completely. These poor guys, things couldn't get worse... But the Beerbängers took care of them and organized a place to sleep.
The last 3 years we have faced many dark, strange & new situations with our everyday life (covid, lock-down etc.) worldwide. Did this situation affect you, positively or negatively?
Yes, it did absolutely. Shortly before the lock-down things accelerated: we had some concerts, a lot of good feedback and Olymp just felt right. Than the lock-down came which was a major throwback. We didn't even rehearse during the first half year of the lock-down. But the worst was that we couldn't play any gig for about two years! However, we're very grateful that things became normal again and it learned us to treasure the freedom we have.
What shall we expect from OLYMP in the near future?
Olymp will rise and reach the top of the Olympus of the metal gods! And yeah, on our way climbing this high mountain we destroy many venues and release a mind-blowing second album ;-)
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Again, thank you very much for interviewing us. Keep the metal spirit alive! And to all the readers out there: Thanks for supporting us and underground metal in general, stay heavy and go to concerts!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
PS. Many thanks to Markus (https://www.facebook.com/MetalMessage.Global) for this interview (Cheers mate!)
OLYMP CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/OlympMetal/
https://www.instagram.com/olympheavymetal/
https://olympmetal.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3PnOKWQbtnhP6qP7s2JmKa