BATTLECREEK is an old school thrash metal band from Bavaria / Germany. Founded in 2004, they have constantly refined their music and developed a high grade of technical skills. That said, the band goes into detail, in regards to how they came to be, what their band's namesake means, and how the future will turn out for them.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
The band-history started in 2004 when Chris an Phill decided to make music together. Berne, who is the twin brother of Chris, and I soon joined the band and in April 2005, we played the first official gig under the name Battlecreek. It took some time to find our own style, but in 2008 we recorded our first three track demo "Demolition". At last in 2011 we were ready to record our fist LP "Wake the Plague", which contains the three new recorded songs from the demo. After a lot of gigs and a lot of fun between 2011 and 2014 we entered the studio again to record our second CD called "Hate Injection" between August 2014 and November 2015.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Chris read something about Metallica«s Jason Newsted and that he was born in Battlecreek, Michigan. He thought it sounded great and one day in school Berne drew a band-logo. Later as the band started we decided to take this name. Our logo is almost the same which Berne had created in the early days.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We all grew up in the same area, in and around the small village Schnaitsee, which is a one hour drive away from Munich. In our direct local area, there is a good music scene with good bands, around but not really much thrash metal. But we learned a lot from this local scene and made a few good contacts. You can find the thrash metal scene if you go further to the Austrian Border or to Munich and Passau.
In the last 4 years a lot of good young thrash metal bands turned up in South-East-Bavaria. We can recommend Running Death, Antipeewee, Gumo Maniacs, our label mates from Toxic Waltz and of course the mighty Dust Bolt. Surly you had heard of them. We have known them since they started. Really nice guys.
4. How would you describe your style?
It is powerful and fast thrash metal with some different influences like speed, death, and progressive metal. If you listen to "Hate Injection" you will quickly understand what I mean. One trademark of our sound is the brilliant solo-section of Chris! He is an outstanding guitar player and songwriter. We attach great importance in the quality of our recordings. So you can hear every stroke which is important for our technical claim. As an example, we really like the last few Exodus releases and they are a big influence for us.5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
First we did a three track demo called Demolition in 2008 which brought us in the German Finals of the Wacken Metal Battle Contest. Then in 2011 we released our debut "Wake the Plague", including the new recorded three demo tracks. Wake the Plague is very fast and also complex, with a lot of parts and songlenghts about seven minutes. But it never gets boring, 2014 we hit the studio and it took about one year to finish "Hate Injection".This record is really varied. The basic sound is ass kicking thrash, with some groovy mid-tempo parts. Our singer Berne can do very evil growl too, which we use in the title track and in "NOdeng Of Darkness", which is a complete death metal inferno. In the guitar work you can hear a lot of heavy/speed metal too. You can listen to the complete LP without getting bored or skip a song. That's what we are really proud of. NO FUCKING STOPGAB-SONGS!
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
We are collecting ideas for new songs at the moment, but there is nothing ready. Maybe we will hit the studio in 2017 for a new album. At first we have to bring the Hate Injection in everyone's veins!
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
We plan to do a lot of shows in Autumn 2016, in the case of the re-release of Hate Injection. Maybe we can go for a little tour if the booking is going well.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
Last month after a long search we signed our first label contract with Violent Creek Records, a young label with the focus on thrash metal. Together with the label we plan a re-release of Hate Injection in Autumn 2016. We prepare the recordings of some bonus tracks for this re-release at the moment. We really looking forward to it. And we want to play as often as possible and do great powerful shows for the thrash crowd out there.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can Visit us on facebook.com/BattlecreekThrash/ and you absolutely should watch our music-videos "Psycho Torture" and "Kill or be Killed" on Youtube! Really funny story-clips mixed with great thrash metal. If you like mad doctors and beer-drinking Zombies you will have fun. You can buy our stuff on www.Battlecreek.de. And sure you can find us on Spotify and iTunes.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Well, music is always related to feelings and moods. We always try to give our best in songwriting and producing. So, hopefully, this is what comes to the ears of the listener; having fun with the music, play it loud and having a good time with your friends.
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