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Böllverk is a band with simple music, simple ideas, and that brings that cool energy that has been missing in the metal scene for a while now. We had a conversation with Raphi, guitarist and group founder.
I always appreciate when new bands come up for interview so that we can start to uncover them. Böllverk is a really great band that bets on traditional heavy metal and we have the honor to interview them. First, tell us how you decided to start the band.
Thanks for the compliment. For me this band is a long cherished dream. Someday I asked Zahn to start a band with me. He immediately said yes! Within the last few years some bandmembers were replaced but now we are a very good team. Making my favorite music with friends … Couldn´t be better!
Böllverk means bulwark, which means something that protects from danger. What does this name represent for the band, and there is a reason behind it?
Böllverk is a name from the norse mythology. Odin used to call himself Böllverk to make sure not being recognized. It means something like troublemaker. That´s a great name. But Bulwark is also a good name for a Metalband 😉
What are your biggest influences? It need not only be in music and not only in metal.
My personal influences are Judas Priest, Saxon, Accept, Black Sabbath etc.
It really impressed me that you have a woman on vocals. Despite having renowned names such as Doro Pesch, it is very difficult to have traditional heavy metal bands with female singers. And why did you decide to have a woman who doesn’t use a high-pitched vocal and whose voice sounds so powerful and imponent?
I think it doesn´t matter if it´s a male or female singer. It has to fit in a human and musical way. And it fits perfectly. We were lucky Svenja came to us. I think her voice fits well, so we wanted her to join us.
Still about women singing heavy metal, I really liked Zahn’s voice because of her versatility and not trying to sound like a copy of Doro, even though we could notice her influence. What do you think about female vocalists and their vocal styles in metal?
Hahaha … Svenja is the female vocalist, not Zahn 😉
Like I said, I don´t care if the singer is male or female. There are just singers I like or dislike.
By the way, Svenja didn´t ever listen to a full Doro song.
I am not usually (today) the biggest listener of traditional metal anyway because I often find the mainstream bands are always playing the same songs and only changing the titles. But listening to Heading For The Crown, I was pretty surprised by how you do not sound like any metal band, besides a lot of influences from blues, country, power metal and a bunch of other stuff, besides an excellent production that allows you to hear each instrument clearly. How would you classify your music and how did you arrive in this musical genre?
Thank you. Sounding different is a big compliment for us. I´d say we´re a Heavy Metal Band. Variety is very important to me and Heavy Metal is a very diverse genre. Everything is possible: fast, slow, hard, soft. I always think of Judas Priest who united things like Blues Hard Rock with Speedmetal etc. When you record songs, I think it´s really important that you can hear each instrument very clearly. Nowadays lots of bands forget about their bassist 😉
My older brother showed me this genre. He made a CD for me with Grave Digger, Iron Maiden, Manowar and Blind Guardian. I still like these bands.
How was producing Heading For The Crown? Could you comment a bit on the behind the scenes of the album?
At the beginning there were some problems, because our drummer became sick. Nevertheless he made the records. Strong as steel hahaha … Besides that everything went well. It was fun to make a record in a professional studio. Working everyday on our songs showed a very new perspective. I feel like it made us stronger as a band.
Storytime: Before recording the guitar for „Master of Thunder“ the sun was shining. When I was done it started to thunder and lightning. We felt like Gods of weather hahaha.
I’ve noticed that your lyrics are about the rock’n’roll spirit of the past, partying and getting drunk and simple things as well. I myself, although I like complex themes and deep, meaningful lyrics, I really miss bands that sounds simple, which I could listen to while enjoying my tenth bottle of beer… and what do you think about all the bands trying to sound complex these days, with songs dealing with very deep subjects and so on? Is there still space for the simplicity?
I hope it´s possible to enjoy our music without getting drunk 😉
There´s music that is really complex, so you have to listen with headphones to enjoy it. Then there is music that´s pretty simple. Especially live simple music is so much fun. To me the answer is somewhere in between. The one does not exclude the other. Like Van Halen already said: “I want the best of both worlds!“
I still think it´s like forgotten art to keep it simple. It feels like some bands want to prove how good they are and forget that it´s about the songs and not being perfect. We do anything to make a song strong. I´m a big fan of keeping songs simple, but everyone can write and play songs they like of course. It´s also about personal preference.
We at Groundcast are a Brazilian site about music and I always ask this: Do you know any Brazilian groups?
I´m not an expert on the Brazilian metal scene but I know Angra, Nervosa (female vocals ;)), Krisiun and Sepultura of course.
I really want to express my thanks for the interview. Please leave a message for our readers. Let’s go.
I also want to thank you for this interview.
Dear Brazilian metalheads, thank you for taking the time to read this interview. I hope you give Heading For The Crown a chance
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