Interview:	LEGION OF THE DAMNED
Title:	Inner heat

Their many followers appreciate and adore them for their dangerously biting and hellishly sharp death thrash metal, which has made the powerful killer sound of these experienced Dutchmen famous worldwide.

With their new and eighth album „The Poison Chalice“, Legion Of The Damned once again provide a powerful spectacle of heaviness, brimming with animalistic fervor and legendary precision.

As singer and founding member Maurice Swinkels says, the band deliberately waited four years to release the new album.

„Between ‚Slaves of the Shadow Realm‘ and ‚Ravenous Plague‘ were also several years, so its not that very uncommon. Even without this Covid shit we would have waited four years. It's good to have a break between albums, especially since we had turbulent years in the early days of Legion Of The Damned. Of course, we didn't want to release an album during the Covid phase anyway, because it wouldn't have made any sense.“

Congrats to „Poison Chalice“ and the incredible intense, technical stunning result with all the catchy nuances - how do you rate the new album itself compared to its predecessor "Slaves Of The Shadow Realm”?

„Both albums are great in my eyes. They're both different in the way they're produced and the way they're recorded. I enjoy listening to ‚Poison Chalice‘ because it's new to us what we're doing, it's fierce and fresh! Our fire has never been so hot, we're really looking forward to playing the new tracks live.“

Legion Of The Damned have developed an very own style - but the good old „Note-DNA-trademarks“ of Occult are definitely a stable signature, or?

„In a way, yes, but you can't compare it to Occult because it's Richard's time. Of course Twan and Fabian are different guitarists. But yes, we've always played Thrash, if you listen to ‚Elegy For The Weak‘ - song: ‚Feel The Blade‘ - or for example ‚Rage To Revenge‘, the last album could have been a very badly recorded Legion album. So yes, the DNA is still there."

Your wonderful demonic vocals - do you have to make any effort at all for such a performance, or has it become a rather easy task for you over the years of practice, allowing you to deepen purely intuitively when vocalizing?

„I'm always nervous when I go into the studio for contributing my voice. I always have this feeling of 'do I still have what it takes?', especially as you get older. I've ruined my voice terribly over the years. I remember our first tour in 2006 with Legion Of The Damned where I lost my voice on the second day of the tour because I was talking loudly to someone while the live music was very loud and I tried to drown it out, haha - the next day my voice was gone but I still had to sing 18 or 19 shows. I wasn't even able to talk to the fans, so I had to write them notes. I tried pills and all kinds of medication. I've learned from that, and now I try to stay calm and rest on tour, but it's hard for me. Apart from that, I don't do anything special in that respect. Live, I try to warm up my vocal muscles.“

Your blasting combination of furious Thrash and swallowing Death is a true blow of so many skills - how many times a week you guys have to train and rehearse for such perfection?

„In the Occult period, we practiced every week for years and it also felt like a social gathering. Nowadays, with members coming from further afield, having children, working etc, it's hard to get together once a week. We usually practice a few times before a tour or concert.“

Who of you guys out of the band did the lion's share of the new song material?

„Not really at all. Everything is done in collaboration with the five of us. I'm never there when songs are written, but I give my honest opinion on what I think of it, how it is etc... and I usually listen to it as a fan because I have no idea about leads, riffs and technical stuff, haha. I just say if it's great or not. But it's all jamming together, we did this style of writing back in 2006 and it's still like this in 2023.“

How did your collaboration for the new work go in these difficult times?

„Yes, we had to plan the rehearsals because when the Covid rules came in that we weren't allowed to be together for that, we had to skip the rehearsals. I wanted to take it easy and not rush it, as soon as it got better I felt it was time to record and plan slowly, it didn't make sense before.“

How was the selection of songs for it done?

„There was no such selection. We never write more songs than we record, so basically all the songs on the album are exactly the songs we wrote and produced.“

What is the o-n-e song with the most meaning for you on the new album and why?

„For me it's the ‚I love this song‘ feeling, and that applies this time to ‚Contamination‘ and ‚Aggressive Destructor‘ for example. Both songs are angry, intense and aggressive. Whereby ‚Destructor‘ has a melodic touch. I love these tracks."

Nearly everything has changed since Covid - the world, the music business, the societies - how much have you changed, how much have your views on true art changed now?

„I think I worry a lot more about the world now, especially because I have two young children and I know what the future holds for them. I've also personally realized that you should enjoy life, because with all the shit around you, it can end in an instant.“

Anything you would like to add?

„Thanks for the interview and I would say listen to ‚Poison Chalice‘ when it comes out on June 9th - see you at the upcoming festivals!“

© Markus Eck, 17.05.2023

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