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I really like thrash metal. I basically grew up listening to the big names like METALLICA, EXODUS, and SLAYER. Whenever a band in this genre appears here, I’m happy, even though I know that most of them end up being “deluxe covers” of what has already been done before. However, there are always cool things coming up in the scene, and this week we chat with SUBLIND, talking about their trajectory, the evolution of their sound over the years, thrash metal influences, and experiences shared with important names on the international scene.
First off, I’m really happy to have the opportunity to interview you. To get things started, could you tell us a bit about how you got into music and how that journey led to the formation of Sublind?
LUCA: First of all, thanks for having us! I came into contact with music at a very young age. Although there were no musicians in my family, my father used to listen to a lot of music when I was still under five years old—bands like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, and many other classics from the ’70s and ’80s. I remember those days, and I have to say: my dad had a really good taste in music!
I first got into metal when I was around 11 or 12, still in primary school, when my teacher played Rammstein’s “Mutter” during an arts and crafts lesson—it blew me away immediately.
After getting into nu metal with Korn and Slipknot, a few weeks and months later I discovered classic, old-school metal, especially thrash. When I came across Sepultura, Slayer, Testament, and dozens of other bands, I was completely hooked.
Around 2005, I met the guys I would later form Sublind with—at some small local concerts through mutual friends. That was in December of the same year. At first, we went by the name “Morrow” for a few weeks, but soon changed it.
We had no real idea which direction our metal style would take, but after 2–3 years, our passion for thrash started to really come into focus within the band. And yeah… here we are, 20 years later!
The band has been around for quite a while—founded back in 2005. What do you feel has changed in your sound since those early days?
LUCA: Oh, a lot has changed—mostly the band members, haha! Over the years, we’ve gone through quite a few internal changes, and with every new face came fresh ideas, new influences, and a slightly different flavor to our sound. In a way, we kept reinventing ourselves, refining our music step by step.
But through all the changes, one thing stayed the same: the spirit of the band. That raw energy, the love for thrash, and our passion for playing heavy, fast, honest music—that’s always been at the core of Sublind. We’ve grown, sure—but we’ve never lost sight of who we are.
I’m usually a bit skeptical of bands that try too hard to sound nostalgic—it often comes off as lacking creativity. But your music feels nostalgic and fresh at the same time. How would you describe Sublind’s sound?
KEVIN: I think Sublind’s sound has really evolved over the years, partly due to—as Luca said before—several line-up changes we’ve gone through. Each of us comes from a similar, but also a different, musical background, and I think that brings something fresh to the mix. At the same time, credit has to go to Billy Kaufmann—he did a great job on our latest EP of making an old-school sound feel modern.
LUCA: I completely agree with Kevin’s statement. But it’s also interesting to note that we all really love the classic thrash sound. Of course, thrash itself has evolved over the last 30 to 40 years, always following the spirit of the times.
It’s kind of the same with us. Just listen to our album “The Cenosillicaphobic Sessions”—it’s got that raw, gritty edge but still a tight and well-rounded sound.
And then, only a few weeks after finishing that album, we were already thinking ahead to the next recording session and asking ourselves: “What if our sound now reflected what thrash should sound like in 2025?” Let’s do that!
The band’s name is quite unique—”Sublind” is a fusion of “sublime” and “blind.” How does that name reflect the spirit of the band?
LUCA: You got it right! It’s a combination of those two words. However, I honestly can’t tell you exactly how we ended up with that name. We were just playing around, trying to create a name by merging two words, and at some point, both of them were kind of floating around—and we thought the combination just sounded cool.
There’s no deeper meaning behind it, really.
The album title “The Cenosillicaphobic Sessions” is definitely intriguing. Where did that idea come from, and what does it represent in this release?
LUCA: The title was actually floating around in the band already in 2019, four years before the release of that album. I even remember the exact day we sat down and made the decision. Fun fact: Pizza Hawaii was even on the menu that night—and no, I didn’t eat it, of course!
It wasn’t until months, even years after the predecessor “Thrashing Delirium” came out that we realized most of our lyrics—though not all—revolved around alcohol and alcoholism.
At first, we kind of idolized and celebrated drinking. But on “The Cenosillicaphobic Sessions,” we took a turn. Alcohol and beer still pop up, sure—but now it’s in a much more sarcastic, ironic tone, sometimes even with a darker edge.
That’s why the title fits so well: Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of empty beer glasses. And in our case, that empty glass also symbolizes something deeper—it shows that, metaphorically, our glasses have been getting emptier too.
We want to shift our lyrical focus to other themes in the future. But for the 2023 full-length, everything came together just right.
The album received extremely positive reviews from the press, with high ratings across several outlets. How do you deal with that kind of recognition? Does it add more pressure or serve as motivation?
KEVIN: Honestly, it just feels good. I don’t feel any pressure—just motivation. We put a ton of energy, heart, and yeah, money into it, so getting great feedback really means a lot.
LUCA: We’re really happy with the feedback—the album’s been well received all around. Motivation is always there, and luckily, pressure only hits us in short phases, and not too often. It’s all about mindset and preparation.
You’ve got a strong presence in the live scene, even opening for big names like Exodus, Exhorder and Nervosa—a Brazilian band that’s gained a lot of recognition abroad. What’s it like sharing the stage with such established acts?
LUCA: For us as a band where every member works full-time, it’s always a great statement and opportunity when we get the chance to share the stage with big international acts. It means that, for some people, you surely do a good and honest job on stage.
And honestly—it’s kind of surreal! As teenagers, we had posters and CDs of some bands on our bedroom walls, like Death Angel and Exodus, and a few years later, we’re bumping into them backstage. It’s crazy when you think about it—but also incredibly cool.
You’ve mentioned that your sound has become cleaner, heavier, and faster. What was the technical evolution process like over the years?
KEVIN: When I joined the band in 2019, I quickly realized that a lot had changed. I mean, I hadn’t seen Sublind live in a few years, so when Luca messaged me back then when they were looking for a new drummer, I figured I should refresh my memory by listening to the old “Thrashing Delirium” album a bit and then just go in for an audition. But instead, Luca sent me some new, unreleased songs to learn—and my first reaction was, “Wow, this is way heavier than I remembered.”
The tracks were songs like “Boiling in Blood” and “Cenosillicaphobia.”
Back then, I was given complete creative freedom. My predecessor, ÄNDER MILLIM, played everything very “clean,” but my influences come more from the punk scene, so I added a good dose of grit and rawness to the sound. The guys in Sublind asked me to add that touch to our sound.
LUCA: A big shoutout goes especially to our guitarist MARC and drummer KEVIN—they’ve been the driving force behind shaping and refining our sound over the past few years.
Of course, everyone else has chipped in too: our other guitarist BEN brings a more modern vibe, and MEHDI’s bass sounds way tighter, more present, and powerful than any of the previous members’.
As for me, I like to think I’ve been keeping up vocally too.
Do you think there’s still room for creativity in thrash metal? Sometimes it feels like the genre gets stuck in the shadow of the big names, with many bands trying to be the next Metallica, Pantera, or Overkill.
KEVIN: Sure there is! In my opinion, thrash metal has evolved a lot over the past few years. There are so many subgenres within thrash now—I’m not even sure you can say the same about other metal styles. While the big names cast long shadows, there’s plenty of space for creativity—and thankfully, the scene is full of bands daring to be different and keeping thrash metal vibrant and exciting.
The video for “For Those About to Riot” was shot in a local bar and has a really spontaneous energy. What was that experience like, and how important is it for you to maintain that connection with your local audience?
LUCA: The video for “FTAR” turned out exactly how we wanted it. We didn’t want it to be super polished or professional—and we definitely didn’t want some boring, generic video like “we’re a thrash metal band and here we are filming in a hangar.” Not that those videos aren’t cool, but it’s often the same and it doesn’t match with us.
We wanted something funny where we didn’t take ourselves too seriously. When we were brainstorming ideas, we laughed so hard we nearly pissed ourselves.
We actually had enough hilarious footage for two more videos, but some scenes would probably have caused a bit too much of a stir in our tiny Luxembourg!
The part with the live gig was a blast. We gathered some friends, fellow bands, and organizers to party with us back then at the legendary MK-Bar.
We’re more than happy with how it turned out, and I think people out there like it too. Our fans and friends mean a lot to us—we know where we come from and realize we wouldn’t have gotten this far without the help of many friends and former band members. So in a way, “Riot” is their video too.
Thanks so much for doing this interview with us. Here’s your space to leave a message for our readers.
LUCA: Thanks for the interview and for reading all the way through! Don’t forget to also check out underground shows to support the smaller bands. Less known doesn’t mean less good, and local bands often surprise you in the best way.
KEVIN: … and buy their CDs or T-shirts too—it might seem like a small gesture, but it’s incredibly important for everyone involved. You’re the ones keeping the scene alive!
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