Interview SMORRAH

Interview witte Marius & Kraje of SMORRAH Thrash’n Death Metal Band from Gelsenkirchen Germany

1. Can you tell us about your childhood ? Do you remember when you first came into contact with loud music and what were your first concerts ?

Marius: Hey Frank and hello Metalheads Nijmegen! Thank you for having us! I grew up in Gelsenkirchen, Germany just as everyone in our band. A lot changed in our region and not always for the better. The extinction of the coal mines brought a lot of poverty and we fought our way through some challenges as growing children. The often very hard times have also allowed us to mature and become who we are today. I got into heavy music through my father and my brother. My father was a big Queen and AC/DC fan and my brother had records by Vader, Pantera, Sepultura and Slayer and many more when I was a little kid. Just to name a few. The first heavy concert I can remember was a Downset show at Matrix Bochum sometime in 2004. I’ve never seen everything like that before and it got me straight on.

2. Can you describe the local scene where you grew up, what bands and venues were important to you and can you share some of your greatest memories about these bands/places ?

Marius: The metalheads from Gelsenkirchen were always connected to the local scene from Essen and other cities from the ruhr area. From hearsay, for example, the Mephisto Pub in our city was the place to go for metal fans. Sodom, Kreator, Darkness, Chainsaw and many more were the bands of this time. My generation of metalheads grew up when these bands were already well known and touring around the world and we always looked up to them too. Our locations were the Nordstern Park in Gelsenkirchen, where the Rock Hard Festival takes place every year, the Cafe Nord Pub and the Turock live club in Essen. They are still our meeting places today. Many good memories! This is where you can find us jamming and partying on weekends.

3. Did anyone play in any bands before Smorrah ? If so, can you tell us something about them? Were there any releases? Can you share some good memories about those bands ?

Marius: Our guitarist Pumper and I founded our very first band back in 2003. In the beginning we played punk with German lyrics, but got into metal very quickly. Also in the band at this time were Max who now plays with Attic and Robin who was our first drummer in SMORRAH. In 2011 we parted ways until Pumper, Kim (another former bandmate), Robin and I wanted to start a new band in 2016. A short time later Kim left the new project and Kraje, who previously played with Voice of Wrath and Firestorm and now also with Old Ruins, joined the band on bass guitar. In 2017 we formed SMORRAH and in 2020 Rapha replaced Robin on drums, who had previously replaced Robin in our old band. We have all known each other since we were children and we have a special bond. Here we are now, with a long history of friendship, ready to conquer the live stages of the world.

4. How did you come up with the band name SMORRAH, do you describe your musical style?

Marius: SMORRAH is the name of a demon or ghost that sits on peoples chests at sleep ready to choke them. It’s a myth from the old cold miners in the ruhr area, especially those from our city. We think it’s the right band name for our music and origin. We don’t like categorizing our music into a genre. We think that our music is best described as Thrash’n Death Metal with a good dose of groove. But there is much more to it than that.

5. Why did you want to play this genre? Who or what inspires you to write songs. What bands have inspired you the most ?

Marius: We don’t want to play that genre. It’s just what we do best. We don’t commit ourselves to it and we will always naturally develop in the direction in which our ways will lead us. The ideas for our lyrics come from me. It’s mostly about stories that actually happened that keep me busy. Things that reveal the evil depths of human psychology. Things that are evil and sometimes fascinating at the same time. This ranges from child murderers to senseless wars to current world events. Always written from a narrative and neutral point of view. Musically, our influences always flow into the songs but we always try not to copy our favorite bands. In fact, we don’t take guitar riffs for our songs that remind us too much of our heroes. We want to do our own thing. Everyone in the band has it own taste of music but in the end we all grew up with bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Motörhead and so many more.

6. Can you also tell us about your live album “Live at Helvete”

Marius: “Live at Helvete” wasn’t planned to be released. We played the Helvete Club in Oberhausen and had the audio files and video. The pandemic has been exhausting for all of us, so we released this live recording as a thank you to our loyal fans.

7. Can you tell us about your upcoming new album recorded at Ftwctp Records / Vyrah Studios ? And can you tell us about Title of the new album the story behind the album

Marius: It will be fucking awesome! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard it just to make sure everything is fine. I’m in the process of putting the finishing touches on the design artwork concept and after that the album will go into production. The cover was drawn by Timon Kokott, who also has been at work on our previous releases. We recorded the album at Vyrah Studios and it was a great experience. The record will be released on vinyl and CD later this year. The title and everything else will be announced at a later date. You’ll have to be patient a little longer.

8. Which places to play were important to you and why ?

Kraje: Oh there were a few important gigs in the past. Most impressive was the support slot for the mighty Exhorder in the Turock, Essen on the 4th Oktober 2019. In front of about 400 people we had a very nice show and also the chance for some interesting conversations with our idols from Exhorder.Nice to see how they were talking to us, they didn’t act like the big superstars and treated us with respect. It was awesome. I also remember a sold-out show at Ground Zero at 16th November 2019. We made some good friendships on this day and of course our show at the Thrash Speed Burn on the 3th March 2023 was a big thing too. To share the stage in this cool location with cool bands was a pleasure for us.

9. What was your Weirdest show you’ve ever played and why ? feel free to mention more than one, and don’t hold back on the details ?

Kraje: There was this Concert on the 26th September 2020 and this thing was weird in a good kind of way. It was in the middle of den pandemic. Live shows weren’t allowed and everyone thought this status will hold on for a long time. The Förderverein Rockmusik Gladbeck e.V. had the idea to give metal fans a chance to see some live performances during this pandemic situation. They planed a big livestream concert with Teutonic Slaughter and SMORRAH. First of all we were exited to stand on a stage again, but everything was so surreal in a special kind of way. Was playing in front of cameras instead of metalheads the future of live music for the next years? It felt a little bit strange and not because of the organization. Everything was just fine. We had good sound, and the concept was interesting too. Every band played a package of 15 minutes and then we switched to keep the stream alive. Only a few fans had the chance to see us live on this day. They had to sit and keep distance. So don’t get me wrong it was fun to play but it felt very strange. Good to see that now real concerts are back in common.

10. What is a SMORRAH – show like? What can somebody expect when they go to one of your concerts?

Kraje: In one word ?…. Intensive! We try to transport our fire to the audience when we are playing our songs. Marius is a good actor on stage. He’s always trying to get a connection to the crowd and sometimes his face looks really scary. In very heavy parts I groove as heavy as I can over the stage, so that we have to be careful not to crash into each other. You think we can’t be dangerous live because of we have only one guitar player? Be warned, Pumper plays for two and his riffs leaves you with an open mouth. And with Rapha on the Drums there is no time to breathe when you are in the pit. We don’t have a practiced show performance our something. What happens on stage isn’t planned and that’s what makes us authentic and a SMORRAH show special. We don’t copy anyone or live in the past, like some guys that were born in 2000 and act like born in 1980. Loik!

11. Are there other types of music you would like to play with a band ?

Marius: No. My heart belongs to rock and heavy metal music. Anything I want to do within these genres of music I do with SMORRAH. Can I imagine making classic rock music or blues in the style of acts like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Thin Lizzy, Roky Erickson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Led Zeppelin or the Beatles? Absolutely yes. Rap, techno or pop? I don’t think it would work out well. I just need the crunchy guitars.

Kraje: Each of us has a different favorite genre. The only thing that matters is that we like what we create in the end. That’s the cool thing about music. There is not just black or white. Everything is possible as long as it is cool for us.

12. Which Festivals would you still like to play ,and Which festivals do you have the best memories ?

(Marius) I would like to play the Rock Hard Festival in Gelsenkirchen. I explained why at the beginning of this interview. We’re from the city and we’ve seen so many crazy things and great concerts there. I believe that sooner or later we belong on this stage.

13. How can fans and future fans locate, ,listen to and buy your music & merchandise . Is there anything else you would like your fans to know ?

Marius: We have a good and long-term cooperation with Lacky from Darkness and his Sektor12-Shop. There you can get our merchandise and also our music. Our upcoming album will be available there and in selected record stores. Of course you can also listen to our songs digitally via Spotify and other streaming platforms. Our single release from 2020 is already available there.

14. What are your plans for the future?

Marius: We want to stay healthy and have fun, finally release the new album, conquer the world and have a good time hanging out with our fans and friends at our upcoming shows. Playing in a band is awesome. We love it!

15. These were the questions, thank you for taking part in this interview and all the best to you and your band! Something to add yourself ?

Marius: Thank you for your invitation! Thanks to all metal heads in the Netherlands and around the world! Keep metal music alive and spread the word! Auf loik!