Here is the lowdown from Thomas Greulich aka Thomas Burger, from what Deathscream.net have pegged as Germany’s rising stars: PREMORTAL BREATH. Their debut CD “They” is great. Enjoy as Thomas gives us this Exclusive Interview!
1. Being from America, I got to ask you — what is the translation for, “Logischdenker”, the name of the recording studio where “THEY” was recorded? How is it to mix and master in the same studio that you have recorded? Was the band happy with that? Many studios are better for certain instruments and not for others? I, personally, hear an even deal; an even mix. Are you guys happy with how the Debut LP came out? Is Premortal Breath looking forward to a second album… I mean, are there ideas that were borne out of the experience with this first one, “THEY”?Being a typical “straight forward” guy from Germany the answers would be: think logical, good, yes, yes, yes. But hell yeah already the first questions shows a lots of interest from your side and not only a five words question. And this is what makes fun to us as we love to tell our whole story. Logischdenker seems to be another German word where no translation into English exists. Like Kummerspeck( mix between sorrow and bacon that literally means that when you´re sad and eat a lot you´ll get fat and that fat is Kummerspeck ) and Ohrfeigengesicht (mix between slap in the face and face that literally means a stupid asshole who deserves a punch in the face). So Logischdenker is a mix of “logisch” like logical and “Denker” like thinker. So keen thinker or reasoned would be the best fit. And yes Bastian Knochel, owner of the Logischdenker recording studios is a keen thinker as from our point of view he did a really great job in total. Like you maybe could read in the internet we financed our album via crowd funding. So we had money, sure, but nevertheless we had to keep an eye on the total budget. Bastian made us an offer we couldn´t refuse. Recording, mixing and mastering for a real fair price. We recorded one song as a sample in his studio and let him do his job. After he finished mixing and mastering for that song and demonstrated the results to us we were totally convinced and decided to work with him and finish the complete album. And yes, we are really happy with the LP that came out. Of course there will be a second Premortal Breath album!!! We´re already working on some new songs as well as we have some really great existing songs that unfortunately couldn´t make it on “THEY” due to the budget. We´ll keep all fans updated on social media.
2. Why is the album titled “THEY” and the song of the same word, written in lower case letters, as “They”??
Why is a banana curved? We wanted the album title on the front cover in upper case letters to jump in the eyes of the listeners and tell them: here we are, here THEY come. And to be honest we had no idea that someone will compare the writing of the album title and the song title.
3. I was careful, in my review of the album, not to write about Premortal Breath being a “Metal” (or, for that matter, a Hard Rock) band. The band are too original to get pigeonholed like that. Yet, do you see that it is possible that the name of the band might predispose some to think so, “on first glance”??
We wanted to start a fresh sounding metal band and we have different influences in our songs. The name Premortal Breath sounds like the name of a metal band, yes, and maybe it is the best draw. In the most cases we attract fans of metal music but also some hard rock listeners find themselves in our fan base, Some reviewers even suppose we haven´t found ourselves and our style that we want to play. Absolutely wrong. We just play what we like and what develops in our rehearsals. So if a song is more hard rock but all of us in the band like it then we will keep it, play it and record it. If the reviewers doesn´t like it? Screw them! We won´t change Premortal Breath just because a hand full of editors would like us to.
4. I hear a sound that may go down very well in America. Would you guys welcome the opportunity to tour here? (We may be able to make that happen!)
Fuck yeah ! Or “geile Scheiße” ! was the first thought on this question. Of course we want to get over borders and want to play outside of Germany and the USA would be a dream. But you should know currently we all have our full time jobs to earn our money and we have families with children. So we can´t say that easily: Yeah, we will resign our jobs and come over. Such things needs to be planned very carefully and a long time in advance.
But the answer would still be YES. We would absolutely welcome this opportunity.
5. I hear many diverse styles and influences. Could you name some bands that inspire the band, and that Premortal Breath look up to?
For sure we were heavily influenced in our youth by legends like DIO, Judas Priest, Manowar, Metallica, Motörhead, Iron Maiden and many more. These days we look up to bands like Disturbed, Mastodon, Trivium, In Flames, Avenged Sevenfold and also many more.
6. How are the audiences reacting to Premortal Breath? Do they dig the originality and uniqueness as much as deathscream’s editor certainly does?
Nyeeeeer. Sometimes we play on metal festivals where is a mix of different styles like death metal, black metal, hardcore etc. Fans of the let´s say brutal metal fraction doesn´t like us that much. For only hard rock festivals we´re too heavy. So we fit best into classical heavy metal events. And we have some real great fans since the beginning of Premortal Breath and on every gig the numbers grow. They do like our originality and our uniqueness very much. That´s why they like us, why they buy our album, why they visit our gigs and that is exactly why we like what we do and won´t change a thing.
7. Kreator, Sodom and Destruction certainly upped the ante on heaviness in your country in the last 30 years. Other bands like Scorpions, Accept, UDO have much staying power. Then there is Rammstein. I name all these bands to point out that Premortal Breath may be leading a new vanguard; one that doesn’t have to blow the doors off the speaker cabinets yet still ring loud and clear. Who are your peers? Who are rival bands (both in Germany and other parts of Europe)? Can you name some other outfits that you share the stage with that also may have that incredible sense of melody in the music, that your band does? Your press kit mentions acts like Scathing Irony, Metal Roots, Alienshake, SicknD, Sceptor, Emerald, Hatchery, Ivory Night, etc. Can you talk about these bands a little bit?
First of all we do not have any rival bands which does not mean that we see us as number one but more that we love to share the stages with every other band. No matter if we are supporting act, opener or headliner. The party with the crowd and the other band counts. Most of the mentioned bands are bands from the underground scene in Germany as well. Emerald, Ivory Night and Messenger are more famous here in Germany and I guess all of them have a deal with a record label. Metal Roots is a pretty cool band covering songs of lots of heavy metal idols. When they enter the stage there is party in the hall. Unique and original for example are our friends of Alienshake who plays ( yeah what? ) a kind of funk rock. Really awesome and talented guys who loves what they do. Also the guys from Awaiting Dawn who are more in the progressive rock/metal genre. This is music in perfection. The guys study music and that is exactly what you can hear. Damn it I have to visit a gig again.
8. Does Premortal Breath see their music being put onto vinyl in the future? It always seemed cool to have vinyl out, as a cool rock ‘n’ roll thing. There is a resurgence, just of late, with 180G vinyl and retail outlets like Barnes & Noble (a big book chain) selling them, in the States.
We thought about a limited amount of vinyl albums. But first of all we have to earn some money with our CD versions and our T-shirts. So get your Premortal Breath album on iTunes, Deezer, Amazon, PlayStore whatsoever and support us!
9. Premortal Breath? Tell me about how the name came about… a little background to the band’s monicker, please ??
There is not really a large history behind. In 2008 a hard rock band called Constellation Chaos was formed which was renamed to Messiah which was renamed to Rotor Slot which was renamed to SEVEN which was renamed to Premortal Breath after we decided to play metal in 2010. That name sounded like a typically metal band and as we had our first gigs with this name we deiced to keep and to never change it again.
10. Do you think that with a knack for melody, as Premortal Breath has, that writing a song in the future that might chart — as a hit — is something that may be “in the cards”!?!
Absolutely. Even songs on the current release are played in our fans cars and stereos at home all the day. Every one of us has his own favorite and “hit”. But the brand new songs that are currently in development are fucking hot. So there will be at least one HIT on the next album.
DeathScream Exclusive Interview: Premortal Breath
January 8, 2015
Here is the lowdown from Thomas Greulich aka Thomas Burger, from what Deathscream.net have pegged as Germany’s rising stars: PREMORTAL BREATH. Their debut CD “They” is great. Enjoy as Thomas gives us this Exclusive Interview!
1. Being from America, I got to ask you — what is the translation for, “Logischdenker”, the name of the recording studio where “THEY” was recorded? How is it to mix and master in the same studio that you have recorded? Was the band happy with that? Many studios are better for certain instruments and not for others? I, personally, hear an even deal; an even mix. Are you guys happy with how the Debut LP came out? Is Premortal Breath looking forward to a second album… I mean, are there ideas that were borne out of the experience with this first one, “THEY”?Being a typical “straight forward” guy from Germany the answers would be: think logical, good, yes, yes, yes. But hell yeah already the first questions shows a lots of interest from your side and not only a five words question. And this is what makes fun to us as we love to tell our whole story. Logischdenker seems to be another German word where no translation into English exists. Like Kummerspeck( mix between sorrow and bacon that literally means that when you´re sad and eat a lot you´ll get fat and that fat is Kummerspeck ) and Ohrfeigengesicht (mix between slap in the face and face that literally means a stupid asshole who deserves a punch in the face). So Logischdenker is a mix of “logisch” like logical and “Denker” like thinker. So keen thinker or reasoned would be the best fit. And yes Bastian Knochel, owner of the Logischdenker recording studios is a keen thinker as from our point of view he did a really great job in total. Like you maybe could read in the internet we financed our album via crowd funding. So we had money, sure, but nevertheless we had to keep an eye on the total budget. Bastian made us an offer we couldn´t refuse. Recording, mixing and mastering for a real fair price. We recorded one song as a sample in his studio and let him do his job. After he finished mixing and mastering for that song and demonstrated the results to us we were totally convinced and decided to work with him and finish the complete album. And yes, we are really happy with the LP that came out. Of course there will be a second Premortal Breath album!!! We´re already working on some new songs as well as we have some really great existing songs that unfortunately couldn´t make it on “THEY” due to the budget. We´ll keep all fans updated on social media.
2. Why is the album titled “THEY” and the song of the same word, written in lower case letters, as “They”??
Why is a banana curved? We wanted the album title on the front cover in upper case letters to jump in the eyes of the listeners and tell them: here we are, here THEY come. And to be honest we had no idea that someone will compare the writing of the album title and the song title.
3. I was careful, in my review of the album, not to write about Premortal Breath being a “Metal” (or, for that matter, a Hard Rock) band. The band are too original to get pigeonholed like that. Yet, do you see that it is possible that the name of the band might predispose some to think so, “on first glance”??
We wanted to start a fresh sounding metal band and we have different influences in our songs. The name Premortal Breath sounds like the name of a metal band, yes, and maybe it is the best draw. In the most cases we attract fans of metal music but also some hard rock listeners find themselves in our fan base, Some reviewers even suppose we haven´t found ourselves and our style that we want to play. Absolutely wrong. We just play what we like and what develops in our rehearsals. So if a song is more hard rock but all of us in the band like it then we will keep it, play it and record it. If the reviewers doesn´t like it? Screw them! We won´t change Premortal Breath just because a hand full of editors would like us to.
4. I hear a sound that may go down very well in America. Would you guys welcome the opportunity to tour here? (We may be able to make that happen!)
Fuck yeah ! Or “geile Scheiße” ! was the first thought on this question. Of course we want to get over borders and want to play outside of Germany and the USA would be a dream. But you should know currently we all have our full time jobs to earn our money and we have families with children. So we can´t say that easily: Yeah, we will resign our jobs and come over. Such things needs to be planned very carefully and a long time in advance.
But the answer would still be YES. We would absolutely welcome this opportunity.
5. I hear many diverse styles and influences. Could you name some bands that inspire the band, and that Premortal Breath look up to?
For sure we were heavily influenced in our youth by legends like DIO, Judas Priest, Manowar, Metallica, Motörhead, Iron Maiden and many more. These days we look up to bands like Disturbed, Mastodon, Trivium, In Flames, Avenged Sevenfold and also many more.
6. How are the audiences reacting to Premortal Breath? Do they dig the originality and uniqueness as much as deathscream’s editor certainly does?
Nyeeeeer. Sometimes we play on metal festivals where is a mix of different styles like death metal, black metal, hardcore etc. Fans of the let´s say brutal metal fraction doesn´t like us that much. For only hard rock festivals we´re too heavy. So we fit best into classical heavy metal events. And we have some real great fans since the beginning of Premortal Breath and on every gig the numbers grow. They do like our originality and our uniqueness very much. That´s why they like us, why they buy our album, why they visit our gigs and that is exactly why we like what we do and won´t change a thing.
7. Kreator, Sodom and Destruction certainly upped the ante on heaviness in your country in the last 30 years. Other bands like Scorpions, Accept, UDO have much staying power. Then there is Rammstein. I name all these bands to point out that Premortal Breath may be leading a new vanguard; one that doesn’t have to blow the doors off the speaker cabinets yet still ring loud and clear. Who are your peers? Who are rival bands (both in Germany and other parts of Europe)? Can you name some other outfits that you share the stage with that also may have that incredible sense of melody in the music, that your band does? Your press kit mentions acts like Scathing Irony, Metal Roots, Alienshake, SicknD, Sceptor, Emerald, Hatchery, Ivory Night, etc. Can you talk about these bands a little bit?
First of all we do not have any rival bands which does not mean that we see us as number one but more that we love to share the stages with every other band. No matter if we are supporting act, opener or headliner. The party with the crowd and the other band counts. Most of the mentioned bands are bands from the underground scene in Germany as well. Emerald, Ivory Night and Messenger are more famous here in Germany and I guess all of them have a deal with a record label. Metal Roots is a pretty cool band covering songs of lots of heavy metal idols. When they enter the stage there is party in the hall. Unique and original for example are our friends of Alienshake who plays ( yeah what? ) a kind of funk rock. Really awesome and talented guys who loves what they do. Also the guys from Awaiting Dawn who are more in the progressive rock/metal genre. This is music in perfection. The guys study music and that is exactly what you can hear. Damn it I have to visit a gig again.
8. Does Premortal Breath see their music being put onto vinyl in the future? It always seemed cool to have vinyl out, as a cool rock ‘n’ roll thing. There is a resurgence, just of late, with 180G vinyl and retail outlets like Barnes & Noble (a big book chain) selling them, in the States.
We thought about a limited amount of vinyl albums. But first of all we have to earn some money with our CD versions and our T-shirts. So get your Premortal Breath album on iTunes, Deezer, Amazon, PlayStore whatsoever and support us!
9. Premortal Breath? Tell me about how the name came about… a little background to the band’s monicker, please ??
There is not really a large history behind. In 2008 a hard rock band called Constellation Chaos was formed which was renamed to Messiah which was renamed to Rotor Slot which was renamed to SEVEN which was renamed to Premortal Breath after we decided to play metal in 2010. That name sounded like a typically metal band and as we had our first gigs with this name we deiced to keep and to never change it again.
10. Do you think that with a knack for melody, as Premortal Breath has, that writing a song in the future that might chart — as a hit — is something that may be “in the cards”!?!
Absolutely. Even songs on the current release are played in our fans cars and stereos at home all the day. Every one of us has his own favorite and “hit”. But the brand new songs that are currently in development are fucking hot. So there will be at least one HIT on the next album.