Information
Author: Mourning
Translation: Dope Fiend
Line Up
Clemens Thieke - Bass
Sven Martinek - Drums
Florian Kunde - Guitars, Vocals
German Strydegor are young and they've just released their second work "In The Shadow Of Remembrance", a nice mix of viking and folk with Amon Amarth as reference point, let's see what they want to tell us.
Hi guys and welcome on Aristocrazia Webzine. Let's start talking about your history: who are Strydegor? How did you choose this monicker?
Hi! We are Florian Kunde on guitar and vocals, Clemens Thieke on bass guitar and Sven Martinek on drums. We founded Strydegor in 2007 in Hagenow in Northern Germany and since then we rock the stages in and around Germany with our Melodic Death Metal. The name Strydegor was an idea of Florian and our good friend Falk. Actually there’s no real meaning but it fits perfect to us.
Before talking about the music I'd like to ask you how did you choose to keep the band alive after Slava Giebel, your guitarist, passed away? Which were your thoughts when you received this news and what do you miss about him?
We were very shocked. He was celebrating with us in our rehearsal room and wanted to go to a party not far away from our headquarters. He wasn’t drunk or something like that, but then this sad accident happened. It was a very hard time and of course we think about him every day especially when we’re together on stage or in the rehearsal room. But we knew that we have to go further with the band, as it would have been Slava’s wish to do so.
I couldn't listen to "Back On Ancient Traces" so I can talk only about "In The Shadow Of Remembrance", how is playing a genre that in the last years seems to have nothing new to say?
I wouldn’t say that there’s nothing new to say. The Pagan Metal scene expanded a lot in the last years, but actually we combine Melodic Death Metal with acoustic parts and epic guitar melodies so i would say that we contrast strongly from other bands in that scene.
Which are your sources of inspiration, both for the music and the lyrics?
There are a lot of topics to sing about and in our case we try to put situations and problems people have nowadays in the time of the Vikings and their way to manage that. And there are dozens of stories that most of the people don’t know yet. On the new record most of the lyrics are about the allegiance between brothers and how me managed the loss of our brother Slava.
How do you create a Strydegor song? How do you work in reharsal room? Who works on the music and who on the lyrics?
Most of the music is written by Florian but Clemens and Sven also have a lot of ideas and it takes time until a song is ready. Some melodies are changed or a riff is combined with a different kind of drum rhythm and a nice bass line. So everyone is included in the song writing progress. The lyrics are also written by Florian and by Clemens who engage a lot in the Viking history and northern mythology.
Will you continue the band as a trio or will you search for a second guitarist? In a live show I think this would be fundamental due to the solidity of the songs.
We have some very nice friends – thanks to Julian, Olli, Jan and Frank. They support us live as a session musician and also in rehearsals so we are able to play all the concerts and work on new songs. But we’re still searching for a fix new member so if anyone is interested just contact us on Myspace or Facebook.
I think that your album is well done especially in the calmer parts, the acoustic passages give that woodland and ancestral touch that may make a difference in the future, will you try to improve this side of your music?
Good question. We think about of writing more acoustic material for third record but there aren’t any plans or music yet. And we want to maintain to our style. But it’s a good way to create a deep and melancholic atmosphere so of course we’ll use acoustic parts in the future.
How was "In The Shadow Of Remembrance" received? Which were your aims with this album?
There are some good reviews to the records and mostly everyone we talk with likes it. The whole progress of doing that record was more a therapy for us. We just wanted to create a good record with powerful songs, in which we show the people we’re still alive and have enough power to carry on. The title "In The Shadow Of Remembrance" shows perfect where we are now and that people should never give up because there’s always a way out of problems especially when you have good friends and brothers around.
How did you get in touch with CCP Records and how did they support this release?
We did a demo record and a demo EP in 2008 and sent it to various record labels. And on of them was CCP Records. Claus Prellinger was very interested in our band and so we signed the contract over three records. They’re doing a good job to promote our records and our band and Claus Prellinger also did the whole Mixing and Mastering for the record – an das you hear, he did a very good job!
You are part of one of the most prosperous metal scenes metal in the world, which are the bands that you admire and why?
We like bands from Scandinavia especially from the Gothenburg Metal Scene or Norwegian Black Metal. But also we listen to old heroes of Heavy Metal like Motörhead, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath. Everyone in the band has his own idols but we all listen to Metal in it’s entire form.
Which are the albums that changed your life and brought you to the metal world? And which albums you need to have in a physical format?
There are a lot of Metal records which had influences in our lives. When we were teenagers we came from Hardrock, Punk, Grunge to the Metal scene. The record with the biggest influence was the "Black Album" from Metallica. A very good record. And one record you need to have in physically format obviously is our new record "In The Shadow Of Remembrance".
Artists work on their music and often you can illegally find it on the internet, what do you think about file-sharing and about who receive promo copies and shares it on the internet? I can't say that we are all innocent, you can surely find an idiot not for what he writes but for this fact.
That’s a big problem today. People listen to crappy Mp3s instead of buying a good record and listening in high quality. The artist spent so much energy and money in that project but most of the people don’t appreciate it that much. So you have to earn with the gigs and the sale of the merchandise. As long as there are people who are interested in the band, buying CDs and coming to the shows it could be an easy way to promote your band in foreign countries. You can’t stop it anyway – it was there for such a long time and will be there in the future.
How would you define the perfect Strydegor concert?
A big venue with a very good sound. A lot of crazy people having a big party to our music and nice girls in the front row of course.
Will you make a tour to support the album? Are there any dates that you want to tell us?
Unfortunately there aren’t any plans for a tour yet, because everyone of us has a job next to the band. So we’re only able to play gigs on weekends but we’ll see what the future brings.
Which is your unforgettable night and why?
A night without alcohol maybe is unforgetable, but we don’t have them so often when we’re on concerts or we just can’t remember. I don’t know.
Which are your passions outside the band?
Everyone has his own passions like fishing or other sports. Fast cars and beautiful women and good music.
Which will be your next steps?
At first we’re going to promote our record and band as much as possible. We’re playing on the Metalfest (OST) in Dessau with bands like Megadeth, Hypocrisy which is very cool and we are very happy for that. And then of course playing lots of gigs, have nice parties and live our dream with our music.
Thanks for the time spent with us, the last message for our readers is up to you.
Thank you for the interview. For the readers: Buy our stuff, listen to our music, come to our shows and support the Metal scene! Cheers!
