Interview to WAHNFRIED (Germany)

1. Hello Wahnfried, pleasure to have you on Rotten Pages ´zine. How are you doing today? Let us set the scene first. Where do we find you right now? Please describe your surroundings.

Pleasure to have this interview today. Not sure whether I set the scene you expect, nothing special or sinister in my current surroundings. Currently I am in my “office”, which is the room where I usually record my music. My dog resides next to me. I am surrounded by a lot of books and records, several guitars (electric and acoustic), even a mandoline, microphones and amps. Looking out the window I am fortunate to see trees, which is a privilege when you live in downtown Essen. Essen (or the Ruhr area in general) is a place where ugliness can be in perfect symbiosis with beauty to create something special. Kind of what black metal does when it’s done right. It has the filthy concrete jungles (e.g. city centre), huge factories and industrial areas, but then there are areas where nature claims back it’s territories that have been exploited and now starts renaturation of the abandoned industrial parks. On a side note: Essen is also the hometown of the mighty Kreator!

2. How was the energy that inspired you to become formative in Wahnfried different from other energies you had felt?

The project was formed to compensate or channel the rage and anger that I felt into something constructive in order to avoid total escalation or to balance my emotional subsystem. I formed Wahnfried out of rage — not the fleeting kind that burns itself out in an hour, but the deep, bone-rooted hate that comes from watching a world rot while everyone calls it progress. I see greed dressed as ambition and obedience disguised as virtue. I see the living world stripped, fenced, and sold, while the crowd applauds its own captivity. Wahnfried is my refusal to kneel. It’s the voice I sharpened in the quiet. Born from contempt for the hollow rituals of modern life, and from love for the places that still breathe without our permission — the forests, the winds, the stars that will outlive us all. I wanted to create a vessel to hold both beauty and destruction. Wahnfried is that vessel — where I speak without restraint, where I am feral, merciless, and true.

 3. When did you first get into music, and what are your memories of what attracted you to it? Also, when did you first hear metal and what did you like about it?

I started to get into music by learning to play classical violin when I was 6 years old. I wanted to play the flute, but fortunately my parents insisted on something else. So I chose the violin. I feel within the first years of me trying to improve my skills, they severely regretted the decision for the sake of their ears. I never regretted it, as it taught me a lot about music and it’s theory and enabled me to understand music and learn other instruments on my own (e.g. guitar). I first discovered metal by scanning my older brothers record collection in the early 90s. I started off with Metallica, AC/DC, Guns ‘n Roses, later Iron Maiden, Sepultura and Motörhead. Then got sucked into the punk movement that enjoyed a revival in the mid 90s. Back then I was mostly focusing on German punk bands as the likes of Daily Terror, Hass, Normahl and Slime. It was only about 2005 when I dared my first steps into the more extreme side of metal when a friend of mine introduced me to Satyricon and Cradle of Filth. From this moment I got hooked and found my way into the world of extreme metal. And there was (and still is) a lot to discover. I guess this is what made this genre so exciting for me, to not be caught in a tight corset, but the ability to experiment with musically free spirit and “don’t care attitude”.

 4. Germany has a rich history of extreme metal, how has your country influenced your sound and style?

I wouldn’t say it has. Maybe to a minor extend. While I am aware of and respectful about the influence of the German sound, I feel that I have been more influenced by the Scandinavian, Finnish and French black metal bands. As a creating musician it’s always hard to free yourself of influences. I always wanted to create a sound of my own, but especially in the first drafts of my compositions it was hard not to copy anything that I heard and liked before. I don’t think I managed to free myself of influences, but I will continue to strive developing a sound of my own. But coming back to the German bands, I do love Lunar Aurora, Nagelfar, Imperium Dekadenz and Endstille, just to name a few. Extending to german speaking countries I’d also name everything around Kringa (Austria) and Ungfell (Switzerland). I am sure some of their influence is subconsciously somewhere hidden in my tracks as well.

 5. Explain to us what went into developing the concept, music and album cover for your debut Demo? Was their a specific goal in mind when writing these two tracks (+intro)?

The project Wahnfried was born from the massive rage I felt as described above. So the initial concept was to indict humanity for it’s hypocrisy, greed and expose it’s insignificance. This is pretty much the summary of Icarus Rex, where I foresee the fall of human kind at it’s alleged peak. It celebrates the beauty of our daring while confronting the inevitability of collapse and self-destruction. It’s about humanity’s rise and inevitable fall, framed through the myth of Icarus on a cosmic scale.

Katharsis is about the hardship of man in reaching this peak, only to realize that the triumph is hollow — the world below remains shrouded in darkness, and the struggle changes nothing. It uses the climb of an untamed mountain as a metaphor for struggle, endurance, and inner purification — but instead of ending in pure transcendence, it shifts to a vision of a world where light has faded, hope has withered, and civilization lies in ruin. The song frames catharsis not only as a cleansing release but also as the acceptance — or revelation — that destruction and emptiness are inseparable from truth.

After I finished the 2 songs, I thought about adding an intro. I listened to quite some industrial music during that time, which gave me the idea to go in that direction for the intro. The title “Suffocatio Mentis” means suffocation of the mind, which is a state I felt at that time and still do unfortunately. It’s the absurdity of human stupidity that I can hardly deal with. Their seamless effort to make their situation worse and worse without even knowing it. Intelligence and critical thinking is declining rapidly and the massive rise of false prophets like Trump (what a massive idiot) and terrorists like Putin are just two examples why humanity will fall eventually. So another intent of Wahnfried is to confront and expose stupidity wherever it hides.

The artwork, i.e. the cover photo was taken long before the concept of this demo tape was made. My sister took the photo somewhere in Berlin I guess. It was self developed and displayed in the apartment she shared with her partner, one of my best friends. I always admired that photo and the idea of making this the cover artwork of my first public musical effort was born the first time I’ve seen it. Lucky me, as I think it fits the content of the songs quite well.

 6. So you play all the instruments and sing? Also you´ve made production, mixing and mastering. Where and how were you taught? How difficult was the process?

As mentioned before, it all started by learning to master the violin. Everything else is self taught. I had a couple of friends that were into home recording. Back then I was amazed by the concept and possibilities a small home studio offers to individuals. Unfortunately I couldn’t afford own equipment back then, but learned a lot from them when it comes to DAWs, sampling and recording techniques. I also learned recording and mixing techniques during my studies at university. So I have a little bit of practical and solid theoretical backround. But man, I underestimated the effort to apply the theory in real live. It took some blood and sweat to tune the mix in a way that it sounded like I intended it to. And sadly, I don’t think I lived fully up to my own expectation. But I am happy with the result anyway. Meanwhile I released my second effort “Knochenzeit” and it already was a lot easier and sounds a lot more like I intend to. Especially the vocals were a massive challenge. There’s no way I could do a full live set of Wahnfried songs today (haha). But I am confident that with time I will also progress on that matter and feel I have already improved on “Knochenzeit”.

 7. How do you feel you have developed as musician and do you think you look at music a little differently now that you’re older?

I enjoy very intense musical phases but get bored easily. While metal is certainly and without doubt my main genre, every once in a while, I get hooked on a different particular genre (e.g. country or neofolk) or band. During those phases I dive deep into the matter being either the bands discography or a genre’s main and side players. When it’s a particular band, I mostly enjoy observing the bands evolution in retrospective. I tried to understand their sound, how it got produced and how it interacts with the lyrics. In the past, my urge to compose own music was the most intense during those phases. This eventually led to attempts to create something similar rather than creating something of my own. On the other hand, consciously widening my scope has had a very positive influence on my creativity and style as a musician. Right now, I try to find my own sound and I try to listen to as little music as possible during writing/recording periods.

8. How much of your work is the result of conscious deliberation and how much is spontaneous inspiration? How, if at all, has your approach changed over the time?

Currently it’s 100% conscious deliberation. Deliberation of the rage I feel. It took me quite some time to finish the first demo. I had a lot of ideas when it comes to the music itself. So, I recorded quite a few songs without thinking about the lyrics which turned out to be my biggest challenge. In this respect I struggled for a long time and found myself unable to live up to the standards I had set for my own writing. I forced myself to stop recording new songs before I hadn’t written lyrics for the finished songs. It was tough in the beginning but gets easier with time. There are still songs where I have no lyrics, so there’s new material to look forward to. In future I will change my approach towards writing lyrics first and music later. If you have a finished song, you can’t just put any text over it. It needs to fit the atmosphere and mood of the song. This is sometimes tricky and adjustments to the song might need to be made. It’s easier the other way around, I guess.

9. How do you conceive of a song: do you start with a riff, an abstract idea, an emotion, or a structure?

I usually start to find a base riff that sets the mood for a song. This riff is usually determined by the mood I am in. It rarely happens that I write a song in one go so I switch between songs. Sometimes I record riffs for later usage. From this “catalogue” I then pick and choose what fits together. Sometimes I am also inspired by a record that I just heard, thinking I need to write a song that sounds similar to what I just heard. In one way this is the worst approach as it quickly becomes a copy, on the other hand it can be a strong basis for something new. It depends how far you develop the inspiration.

10. Your music has been described as Black metal with elements of punk. How do you balance these both influences to create a cohesive sound?

I did describe it myself as such. I don’t compose songs with the intention to contain either punk and/or black metal elements. It just turns out that way. I guess I am not the first one showcasing that punk and black metal are a good fit together. When I was done recording the first demo and having some more songs on a list for further development, I couldn’t honestly say that I created pure or true black metal songs. That’s why I called it rather black metal punk. Punk did play a big role in my musical development and still, I listen a lot to those old records. Future records might contain elements of other styles, time will tell, but for now I feel the description is quite right. On my second demo, the punk influences are more audible, especially in the song “Fury Incarnate”. Rage/fury and punk are always going well together. I guess one can say that Wahnfried’s core will always be black metal, the attitude will always be punk!

11. If you had to highlight one important message behind your music, what would it be?

Wahnfried declares war on human delusion, glorifies the decay of modern civilization, and finds peace in the chaos where nature prevails. And eventually, it will for good. Until then: oppose tyrants—crush the idiocracy.

12. Are there some parts of the world that really impress you due to the quality of the bands coming from the same area? I mean are you involved with what happens in South America, Asia….etc???

I want to highlight Austria (esp. Linz). Particular bands would be definitely Eisenhand and Venator (for the more heavy metal place in my heart) and of course Kringa (and their side project Spectres & Teeth). Certainly I’d highlight Poland around the bands MGLA, Furia and Owls Woods Graves and last but not least the Netherlands/Gelderland area with bands like Fluisteraars, Iskandr and Wederganger (unfortunately not active anymore). But this list is by no means exhaustive. Denmark has also grown on me as interesting birthplace for black metal, in particular the band Afsky.

Unfortunately, I am not very familiar with the South American scene other than the well known protagonists. Maybe you can give me some recommendations?

 13. What is your opinion about the German death and black metal scene in general? Do you think the scene is more active than it was before?

I don’t consider myself part of a scene, so I am not very well informed about the dynamics within the same. I am quite an individualist and it’s hard for me to find like minded people or people I really care about. I find most people boring and that is also valid for people within the scene. But once you caught my interest, you have a real friend in me.

14. What ways has been the best for you in order to promote the band? What do you do to reach as many interest as possible?

I currently only use three ways to promote my music: Bandcamp, Youtube and Facebook. I like Bandcamp and I also use it to discover new music. It’s fairly easy to reach an audience, but it has limits. To extend your reach you need to use different channels, especially as independent/non-signed artist. Youtube channels like “Atmospheric Black Metal Albums” can boost your visibility. But before they publish you, they need to like your stuff, so better get ready to deal with rejection.

And then there is Facebook. I am still stuck to this platform as I suck in social media. So I maintain a page, but as you can see, it’s mostly only about announcing new music. I don’t have the right skills to create Social Media content and I am not sure if I actually want to.

Bandcamp is currently my platform of choice. It’s also the platform that brought us together. So I am happy it exists, even though it contributes to the de-mystification of the scene and fosters redundancy of musical opera. We get spammed by mediocre albums and records lose their musical and intellectual value. People don’t spend time listening to full records anymore. If they’re listening to music at all due to fatigue caused by the sheer amount of releases.

The next step is to release a physical release of my first 2 demos on tape. Let’s see whether that helps to extend my reach. I cannot deny that I don’t like seeing the followers count increasing, but eventually I don’t make music for the masses. A small group of fine-tasted people honestly appreciating my music is far more worthwhile.

15. What kind of bands you are listening to nowadays? Can you give some names? On the other hand, there can be also new bands that you can recommend to us?

All bands I mentioned in this interview are definitely recommendations. To drop a few more names, some of all-time favorites are probably Taake, Horna, Darvaza and (the old) Glaciation (now Zero Absolu). The label Dying Victims Productions has it’s home base in Essen and they keep on putting out great new heavy metal bands. Check out their catalog and you won’t get disappointed if you’re into heavy metal/hard rock. Make sure you try the first album of Hexenbrett (Erste Beschwörung).

Other new/unknown bands I can highly recommend: Müür (Grief Ascension), Iron Spell (From the Grave) and Bokkerijders (Silver Dust and Swords of Gold)

16. We have reached the end of our conversation, is there something that you want to say still?

Thanks so much for the opportunity to have this interview and the exciting chance to promote my music here in South America. All that’s left to say: Buy my tape and follow my evolution on Bandcamp. Your support is much appreciated! https://wahnfried1.bandcamp.com/album/demo