Heads For The Dead. Interview with Ralf

Interview by Olga Schneider

First of all, I wanted to mention that we're endlessly glad to do an interview with you again! It's always killer to work with some familiar faces again and again while Metal world is so big!

Hey, glad to be back at INSIDE THE DARKNESS Magazine! Returning to the same magazine means we have done something right or shall we say evil never dies, it’s up to you! Thanx for having us!

1. So let's talk about Heads for the Dead a bit more in details this time. The band was founded in 2018 while your main project, Revel in Flesh, had been existing for a really long time and keeping developing, actively releasing some new stuff the whole time etc. How did you get the idea of a new project and what was its goal for that time?

Well, I don’t like the word “project” because it always sounds like you’re doing something with half - heart and that’s definitely not the way I am working. HEADS FOR THE DEAD basically came to birth after we have done the split 7"EP with Wombbath from Sweden. I had a lot of communication with Jonny back then about DEATH METAL, horror movies etc.! It was around 2015 and in the same year he visited my place before leaving off to Summer Breeze festival. After a few beers we gave birth to the idea to creating some music together, especially something different, something more extreme. Rooted in old school Death / Grind / Doom but mixed with a more movie soundtrack like approach to it. HEADS FOR THE DEAD was born and the material which was written durning 2015/2016 later became the debut album “Serpent’s curse”. Transcending Obscurity Records picked us up and in the meantime we have done 3 albums and one MLP. The best thing it still feels really inspired, the Metal is flowing and there is headroom for more to come!

2. Was Heads for the Dead supposed to be something completely different from Revel in Flesh?

Yes exactly! REVEL IN FLESH already has a sort of clearly defined formula of music. The same goes for WOMBBATH. The idea was to breath some fresh air and to do something that allows an evolution in several directions. When you take the artworks from HEADS FOR THE DEAD you don’t know from the first view if it’s DEATH, BLACk, GRIND or DOOM. It opens up some imagination to the consumer!

3. Or it was just about getting some new experience with some different people, but you didn't care that much about any concept difference that much and would just let it flow?

Good argument as well! I learned a lot when working with other songwriters, getting more experience, going new ways and also trying out new things. It’s also more comfortable to do proper decisions when you only have 2 main persons in a band which follow the same ideas. We have a good atmosphere that pushes the creative process, too.

4. Heads for the Dead is actually a mix of members of bands that are Death Metal titans worldwide. Why did you choose these people to work on this project?

I do NOT like the word titans, super group or whatever. The label has chosen such stuff to do some sort of marketing. We respect this since the market is loaded and the label needs words to raise attention. For us it’s about the art.To me all people involved belong to our list of respected and dedicated underground networkers. Matt Moliti plays as well in US band SENTIENT HORROR. He has a massive talent and his leads/solos really raised the bars in the quality of the songmaterial. Jon Rudin who plays drums on the 3rd HEADS FOR THE DEAD album is one of Jonny’s friends from the UK. He already helped out in Wombbath, Just before Dawn etc.!

5. Your last album "The Great Conjuration" is an epitome of the best Old School Death Metal traditions, and moreover, this sound is so much different from the previous one, Serpent's Curse, that was released in 2018 and was actually more about some mix of Black and Death Metal. A bit more darkly melancholic and cold so to say. What was the reason for you to change the sound so drastically?

I do not see it that drastically! What comes to my mind is that Jonny has progressed as songwriter a lot. This whole combination of extreme Metal elements and horror movie like soundscapes, samples, references is more melting together. “The great conjuration” was already written and mainly recorded between late 2020 and early 2021. It was slumbering on harddisk for a while before we’ve taken final touches to it in early 2022. The involvement of Matt Moliti as the solo guitarist on wider scale than before really opened some new gateways, too. He added a sort of “classical Metal” twist with his solos, too. The album is again more a melting pot, but with a more extreme and heavy sounding basics. The production is more DEATH METAL, but with an in - depth view this album is filled with small details worth to be discovered with each new round. To me it’s a lot more than just “another” Old School (Swedish) Death Metal record. The Roky Erickson coversong is the living proof. Furthermore we changed the patterns of colours in the layout. This purple / yellow setting adds some freshness to it. Before we had a lot of black/red in the arts/settings. Last but not least working with horror / make up actress Cory Coyley for the photos on the main artwork was a new step. I think we managed to play some so far unknown new cards, which is crucial if you wanna see progress!

6. Can we consider the previous LP some kind of experiment field, like an attempt for all of you to learn each others, how it would feel to work all together and what would come out from that all?

Hm, never thought about it that way! “Serpent’s curse”, the debut album was for sure about finding a sort of common direction. “Into the red” got a bit more darker, more Black Metal in it’s general vibe, although it carries on the torch of the debut album, too. Recording the vocals, doing the lyrics during the height of the pandemic added a sort of gloom and doom aura, too. “Slash ‘n’ roll” was an easy MLP with a clear mission: Giving a soundtrack to our fave “slasher” movies and paying tribute to the “Death ‘n’ Roll” era of mighty ENTOMBED. Doing the covers of RAMONES and MISFITS was a hell of fun, too. “The great conjuration” is a turning back to the more DEATH METAL oriented setting with some well embedded experiments. Sound and productionwise it’s also more an “in the face” and BRUTAL release without loosing the atmosphere to it.

7. Since you're permanently working on something new, can you already give us some hints what we have to expect from your next creations? What destination are you gonna develop in? Or do you think about taking some break from Heads for the Dead at the moment to concentrate on some new stuff for Revel in Flesh?

Just recorded the vocals for a new upcoming HEADS FOR THE DEAD Mlp a few days ago. It will be again slightly different, but still filled with Horror and some previously not known elements, too. Lyrically it deals a lot with the religious aspects in horror movies.With REVEL IN FLESH we still stuck in the songwriting process for album No.6. It’s still a long way, but I am sure that 2023 will finally bring some Deathkultish audio madness again! Standing still = no option, Ha! Ha! The wheel keeps turning.

8. By the way, about the new stuff for Revel in Flesh :D You're actively working on it at the moment, and it seems like you never stop working on any new stuff at all! Do you prioritize working with any of your projects somehow, or are they absolutely equal for you?

When I spent time on something than I like to raech out for the best possible result. REVEL IN FLESH consumes a lot of time, especially since it’s a live playing band. The other bands are still in a sort “studio only” state/mood. We are doing REVEL IN FLESH for 10 years by now, it’s a name with a sort of standing within the German underground scenery, BUT nevertheless I try to do the best for HEADS or whatever, too. Giving 100% of what you can offer at the moment of doing or leaving it! Each band involves different characters, so it’s natural that the results, way of workings etc. differ from time to time.

9. What are your main sources of this endless power to work on so much stuff at the same time without any breaks?

There’s a saying like “You have to forge the iron as long as it is hot”. I really enjoy the process of being productive; I only live once and wasting good time with just sitting on the couch would be not the right way. Sometimes life offers you the possibility to grow, to try out, to progress or to fail, Ha! If you do not try you do not win. Standing still is not an solution, so simply DO IT!!!

10. As we can see, all kinds of horror stuff, such as movies, books etc are the foundation of your creativity. But if we talk about the modern reality which is actually some kind of horror in real life at some aspects? Do you prefer to escape it? Or do you consider all this horror stuff first of all as a hypertrophied form of reality?

Watching the daily news is currently more brutal than some fictional horror movie or literature. Most of all you can not escape from it, but you need to create a sort of shelter for yourself to keep your state of mind as clear as you can. Music is a way to make the world a better place, even if you do music with a brutal aspect to it, Ha! There’s nothing wrong in espcaping from reality for a while as long as you can handle it and to match the bullshit of daily life. To me DEATH METAL lyrics etc. are not about preaching people what to do. The lyrics have to fit the atmopshere of the music and if you’re doing really well then you form a sort of fitting trinity of lyrics, music and artwork.

11. What in your opinion is the destiny of Death Metal for the next 10 years?

10 years is a long - period in our fast living times! It’s like everywhere in the Metal genre. It’s nearly impossible to newer bands to reach the reputation or standings of the genre creating groups from the late 80ies and early 90ies. To me DEATH METAL needs to transform some sort of engergy and (raw) power. For me it’s more about passion than musicial show off, that’s why I prefer more the “old school” thing with a remarkable riff, a melody, some groove and “I wanna headbang” vibe instead of a blastbeat overdose! DEATH METAL is an established Metal subgenre and it will never disappear because there will be always new fans discovering it and there will be always old maniacs still celebrating the classical stuff and maybe showing some support to newcomers, too! DEATH METAL is meant to stay!!!

12. Our traditional question to finish this interview. What would you like to say to our crew and readers?

Support music that is done with heart & passion! Thanx for this nice chat; I enjoyed it a lot! We are currently already working on a new HEADS FOR THE DEAD MLP, which will be our goal for 2023. A new REVEL IN FLESH album is also in progress and the debut album our band ROTPIT is also in the pipeline! Keep an eye one! Raise the volume and remember DEATH METAL makes everything better :-) Cheerz, Ralf :-)