Splashed at the right point, scratchy as the speed metal tradition dictates, the Germans Vulture didn’t take long to make their intent clear.
Rightfully registered in the ‘New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal’ category, the five from Dortmund immediately stood out in wanting to take up the lashes of the past, dyeing them with the healthy madness that rightly distinguishes the first steps of a band, eager to say the his thing, to rock and surprise. And after the first two albums – so to speak – ‘running in’, it was with the third “Dealin’ Death” that Vulture placed an important piece in the ‘interest’ heading: attention replicated with the last razor born from the quintet Teutonic, that “Sentinels” which further raised the level of quality offered by Stefan Castevet and his companions.
And it is with the Vulture guitarist that we had a chat about the band and his new work; quick answers, or rather speed… as tradition dictates. Enjoy the reading!
HELLO GUYS AND WELCOME TO METALITALIA.COM. BEFORE WE START TALKING ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM “SENTINELS”, LET’S KNOW YOUR BAND A LITTLE BETTER: VULTURE WAS BORN NINE YEARS AGO IN DORTMUND; WHO GIVEN THE INITIAL IMPULSE TO CREATE THE BAND?
– I guess I was the one who launched the idea of Vulture; this after leaving my previous band. Thrash has always been my favorite genre, in which I feel absolutely at ease. I wanted to keep making that music!
‘VULTURE’: WHY IS THIS MONICKER AS SHARP AS YOUR RIFFS?
– Well, when you come from Germany and play thrash metal, there’s no way to avoid stage names (laughs, ed)!
YOU HAVE SO FAR DEMONSTED THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO RESPECT THE TRADITION OF HEAVY METAL, STILL MAKING THE PROPOSAL ATTRACTING AND NEVER EXPECTED. WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THIS WINNING FORMULA?
– Thank you! We have always tried to look to the past, thus finding the right approach for our songwriting: this allows us to let a lot of melody into our sound. However, we are 100% lovers of wild and relentless thrash metal. The combination of these worlds could be the secret you spoke of.
EXCITER, METALLICA, SLAYER, BUT ALSO MAIDEN, SATAN AND MERCYFUL FATE. WHICH WAS THE BAND THAT, MORE THAN OTHERS, INFLUENCED YOUR SOUND? WHERE DOES ALL THIS PASSION OF YOURS FOR ’80s METAL COME FROM?
– What to say? Your list seems pretty solid to me! All these bands have influenced us in some way. Slayer are by far my favorites, especially the “Haunting the Chapel” and “Hell Awaits” period. Wild song structures, super dangerous sounds but with a big dose of musicality. I really like!
BY THE WAY: A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO YOU RELEASED THE SONG “HIGH SPEED METAL”. WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR GENDER THIS WAY?
– We did it right after starting the band so as not to be associated with the black/thrash sound that was very present at the time. It seemed like an interesting idea to transform the ‘title’ into a song. Now we don’t care much what you call us – thrash, heavy, speed… all this is inside our music!
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS IS DEFINITELY THE WORK OF THE TWO GUITARS. IN THIS REGARD, HOW DO THE VARIOUS PIECES CREATED? WHAT IS THE COMPOSITION PROCESS?
– We write mainly from home: we have never been a band that meets in the rehearsal room to be creative. This way we have all the time needed for a riff or melody to develop properly before ending up in a song!
ALREADY WITH “DEALIN’ DEATH” YOU HAD REFINED YOUR PLAY; WITH THE NEW “SENTINELS” YOU HAVE – HOW TO SAY – OVERCOME YOURSELF, MANAGING TO PRESS THE ACCELERATOR EVEN MORE, WHILE KEEPING THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL. WHO ARE THE ‘SENTINELS’ AND WHAT DOES THE CHESSBOARD SHOWN ON THE COVER REPRESENT?
– Thank you! It’s nice to hear these responses! We thought it was a great title for the album: in the song itself, sentinels are guarding an ancient kingdom. Escapism in its purest form: fill that realm with whatever you want, be it the heavy metal universe or your living room! And yours!
GOING INTO THE DETAIL OF SOME OF YOUR SONGS, ONE OF THE BEST IS DEFINITELY “WHERE THERE’S A WHIP (THERE IS A WAY)”, IN WHICH THERE IS A PERFECT MIX BETWEEN THE THRASH (SLAYER) VERSES AND A MORE MELODICAL REFRAIN.
ANOTHER SPECIAL EPISODE IS THE INSTRUMENTAL “DER TOD TRAGT SCHWARZES LEDER”. HOW WAS THIS CINEMATOGRAPHIC PIECE CREATED?
– I was at a friend’s house and he had a book about crime films and their posters. “Der Tod Trägt Schwarzes Leder” is the German name of the Italian film “The police ask for help”. When I saw the German title, which literally translates to “death wears black skin”I thought: “this is the best song title ever for us!”. But I think we would never have sung in German and so it turned into an instrumental piece, with that lullaby melody! I love this aesthetic!
WE READ THAT “UNHALLOWED & FORGOTTEN” IS BASED ON THE MOVIE “BLIND DEAD”. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THIS CONNECTION?
– Yes, again the aesthetics surrounding this film are extraordinary! It has a medieval charm that, at least for me, is very heavy metal. We’ve always liked writing about horror and suspenseful things. We threw ourselves headlong into that imagery.
IN A MUSICAL AND OTHERWISE WORLD WHERE WE OFTEN TRY TO SURPRISE BY GOING BEYOND CERTAIN STANDARDS, YOU HAVE CHOSE TO GO BACK IN TIME. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS CHOICE?
– This is not the case for us! We are a band, not a movement or an era. We only play the music we would like to hear. In the end, the decade this music comes from doesn’t really matter, I guess!
CHAPTER FUTURE PLANS: WHAT’S COOKING? WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT STEPS HAVE YOU PLANNED ANY LIVE DATE IN ITALY TOO?
– We will do many concerts throughout Europe but at the moment, if I remember correctly, there are no Italian shows planned. However, I hope that this opportunity also arrives, I love Italy!
