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The Melodic Death Metallers from DELIVER THE GALAXY are making a brilliant comeback with their album Bury the Gods, which will be released in two weeks. In this interview, singer Matze and guitarist Rocky reveal what inspires them, what the truly fancy album cover is all about and what their 10-year plan looks like. Small spoiler in advance: SEK outfits are out, Sumerians are in!
Thanks again to lightinmirror.de for the fantastic pictures! You are the best!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: What makes you different from other bands in your genre?
Matze: The science fiction setting is no longer as unique as it used to be, but I think it’s the mixture of what’s currently modern. The first albums were mainly influenced by IN FLAMES, AMON AMARTH and similar bands, but bands like PARKWAY DRIVE and WHILE SHE SLEEPS have also been added. Of course, old school death metal also comes through from time to time.
Rocky: On the whole, I think we’ve found our style with the new album and that makes us unique. We can leave the big idols out of it and just write music that really sounds like DELIVER THE GALAXY.
SV: What inspires you the most?
Rocky: For me it’s always been the pre-astronautical things that have always inspired me. With the new album there was one or two initial sparks, there was the design too. We then built the rest around it and it was apparently always a concept that we followed.
Matze: It’s always a mixture of everything. Sometimes you have a theme that really inspires you, where you imagine how the aliens land on Earth like in „Independent’s Day“, and sometimes it’s personal experiences that you process. So the inspiration comes from many different directions.
SV: Bury the Gods, your new album, will be released on August 30th and it also has a mesopotamian-looking cover. What’s that all about?
Rocky: That’s right, it has a Sumerian touch. I gave the Wappenschmied [the graphic designer; editor’s note] the order to create an album cover with that in mind and he did it. I also asked Matze what he thought of the whole Sumerian theme and he thought it was good! We just can’t paint ourselves, or rather we can, but then it looks like shit [we laugh]. It just went in that direction and we’re very happy with it.
SV: How does Bury the Gods differ from your other albums?
Matze: The first difference is in the songwriting and the fact that we changed producers. That played a big part in it. We also had a line-up change on the drums, which brought new influences with it. Then, after the Covid-19 break, we started writing songs again three years after the last release and a lot has happened to each of us in those three years. Ultimately, an album like this is always a testimony to the times, so the difference to Project Earth and The Journey is automatic.
SV: August 30th is also the start of the tour with ASENBLUT. What are your personal highlights? What are you looking forward to the most?
Matze: I’m really looking forward to the Hellraiser in Leipzig! I’ve been to a lot of concerts there and had some really cool evenings where I wished I could play there myself. That will definitely be my personal highlight!
Rocky: I have to think about it a bit, because I’ve played a lot of clubs in the past with my other band OCEANS, which we’re now also traveling to. But I think my personal highlight will be getting that live routine back. In the first two shows it might still be a bit bumpy, but after that you’re completely into it and then it’s really great fun. I’m really looking forward to this routine, this life as a musician on the road.
SV: What is something that makes your performances particularly worth seeing or unique?
Matze: The technical problems! [We laugh] It’s very forward and energetic. As a singer, it’s first and foremost my job to get the audience involved and if we don’t have any technical problems, it’s easier for me.
Rocky: As you’ve seen, we’ve changed the live concept. We tormented ourselves in the SEK outfits during the The Journey period and have now taken them off, which makes it much more relaxed for us live. You’re no longer so restricted in your movements and can therefore convey a lot more energy live. It just carries over! I don’t know if that answers your question now…
SV: Well, if people have seen you live before, this visual change can be interesting…
Rocky: First and foremost, of course, the music is what scores. We have now also implemented a few new stage elements into the show. I think that’s what makes the show what it is. We are becoming more professional bit by bit and are also evaluating each show to see what we can perhaps do even better. It’s important to give people a good show, because ultimately they are paying for a show and that’s what they should get!
SV: If you look into the next 5-10 years, what are your long-term goals?
Matze: Definitely to grow and get the whole thing out there more! COVID-19 slowed us down a lot and we lost the thread a bit ourselves. Now we’re back in full swing and we want to write and release as much music as possible and get it out there so that we can grow with the band. The biggest goal for us is actually to play one or two bigger festivals.
Rocky: I think so too! We had a little excursion over the last few years when Matze played with VARG. That’s when we first saw what’s actually possible and how it’s all done. It was all new to us and now we’ve educated ourselves, so to speak. We now know where the journey is going! We also put a lot of energy into booking, which wasn’t the case before. We took the shows as they came and now we’re keen to play as many shows as possible! Our goal is clear: to grow and play bigger shows. We feel that more people need to see us and with our label deal we’ve reached the ground zero. For us it’s an official start, even though we’ve been around for so long, but the outside world doesn’t see it that way.
SV: My last question follows up on this! If you could wish for one thing for your future, what would it be?
Matze: We’ve been doing this for 14 years now and at times you always have the feeling that you’re playing against a wall. A lot of things only work through booking agencies and the like and it’s difficult to gain a foothold. We’ve been denied that so far. So my biggest wish is that one day we can take the first step to the next level.
Rocky: But look, what is our deepest wish that we always talk about? We both just want to be musicians, that’s all we want. We don’t want to go back to work! [We laugh] We want to be on tour for six months, then write a new album and be on tour again for six months. It could go on like that for me until I die!
Matze: None of us are the kind of guys who have to travel to exotic places, we’d rather use up our vacation time to go on tour together. If we are on the road more, have more gigs, then everything is ok!
Rocky: To put it in a nutshell: We want international success! We still have a lot to do for that, it’s more of a 10-year plan.
Of course, we wish the boys all the best along the way! They definitely have what it takes for a great career. If you also like galactic musical experiences, then pre-order the new album Bury The Gods! You can get that and some other merch here.
The second interview from Helmfest 2024 will continue here soon!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 