First of all, let’s talk about your newest album which, I believe, is already released when our readers will read these lines.

--- Yeah, our new album "As Blood Rains From The Sky... We Walk The Path Of Endless Fire" came out on 24th of january in Europe and will be released in North America on 11th of april. We are totally satisfied with the result of the album, everybody in the band thinks that this is the best record FLESHCRAWL ever did so far, also the production is really killer and sounds better than the previous album productions. We spent much more time in the songwriting and the lyrics than ever before. The albums has a lot of variety in tempo and riffing. I mean you find everything there from grind parts, blast beats, slow parts to groovy mid-tempo stuff. We had a damn good feeling when putting together these new songs and the album and I think people can hear it. This album is pure and raw old school death metal in the swedish vein of the early 90s. So everybody who is into that kind of music should check it out, it will definitely kick your asses!

You have changed your recording label to Metal Blade, right? Whose decision was that? Was it Brian who offered you a deal or it was the band who wanted to find a better contract and finally got it from this US label?

--- Well, we left Black Mark in fall 1998 after the contract expired, but we also didn't want to extend the Black Mark contract because we were damn fuckin' unhappy with the work of Black Mark. So we were looking around for new labels and received the best offer from Invasion Records. So we signed to them in fall 1998. At the beginning everything was looking killer until early 1999 when we wanted to fix all the payments and confirmations for the studio. So we tried to call Invasion, but we couldn't reach anybody anymore neither by phone, fax nor by email - somehow the office seemed to have disappeared or something. After 4 months of not knowing what's going on we had to make a decision and went to a lawyer to get us out of that contract. After that, we were unsigned again and met up with the people of the Metal Blade office Europe (who we know for years already) and told them about our situation and stuff. They offered us their help very spontaneously and agreed to pay our recordings for the new album even before any deal was signed. After we returned from our recording sessions from Sweden, we received the Metal Blade contract and signed it in october 1999.

Ok, and what about "Bloodred Massacre"? In my opinion, it had a very strong black metal feeling to it, don’t you think so? Also, the CD’s title sounds a bit similar to it’s predecessor, i.e. "Bloodsoul" Why did you decide to put the word "blood" into both albums’ names?

--- No way, "Bloodred Massacre" has no connection to black metal or something. It is pure death metal, maybe some parts and guitar riffs sound pretty high or something, but that's how the songs were written and came together naturally. The topic "blood" is maybe something like a trademark of FLESHCRAWL - it simply can be used very good in lyrics. Moreover I think death metal lyrics have to have aggressive and brutal themes, otherwise something would be wrong or weird.

Where did the new album’s recording session take place? Was it Abyss Studio and Peter Tagtgren again?

--- The new album was recorded in the Fredman Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden. Originally, we wanted to go to Peter's Abyss Studio again, but he called us up 3 weeks before the recording time should start and cancelled our already confirmed time because he needed it for himself immediately to start doing a new PAIN album. We haven't been very happy about this how you can imagine! But we wanted to record our new material before the summer was over and therefore we tried to find another studio very fast. The Fredman Studios had vacancies for july 1999, so we reserved it right away.

By the way, are you pleased with Peter’s work on "Bloodred Massacre" and "Bloodsoul"? Furthermore, he contributed some vocals to "Bloodsoul" Was it you who asked him to add his vocal lines to that song?

--- Sure, we are still pleased with the production of our old albums cause they still sound killer. Of course, there are little things soundwise which we would change nowadays, but that's normal - you can always improve an album after you listen to it some months / years later. Yes, we asked Peter to do this vocal contributions and he liked it a lot.

Your lineup (at least, the one in 1998) seems to be rather strange for a death metal band. How is it, to play drums and sing simultaneously? Also, who takes care of bass while performing live?

--- Well, in the meantime, we have a 'normal' line-up again. I am only playing drums and don't sing anymore. And we have a new bass player called Tobias Schick. He is a real member now and also contributed a lot of song ideas to the new album.

What FLESHCRAWL song is most important for you and why?

--- From the new album: the title track "As Blood Rains From The Sky" and "Under The Banner Of Death".

Have you ever thought of writing few verses in German? I bet, it will sound nearly stunning in conjunction with your music!

--- No, we never thought about writing any german lyrics. I cannot imagine that this would fit to our music or something. I think everything is killer right now and we also do not want to do any experiments with german lyrics.

What is your view on contemporary metal scene as well as the whole genre’s development throughout years?

--- I think the scene is doing much better again compared to some years ago. People and fans seem to be more interested in shows and bands again, so this proves to me that the scene is alive more than ever before. Moreover, death metal has conquered and gained to many fans in the past to just die now - it's gotta stay alive!

What bands would you predict a bright future and why? Are there any non-metal acts you adore?

--- That's hard to say, man. There surely will be a couple of bands who will have success, but who knows who that's gonna be? I also listen to other styles in music like pop and rock and stuff like this, but I don't really adore somebody from these genre's.

FLESHCRAWL still stays extremely brutal band; your lyrics are violence, atrocity and depravity, while your image is that of the dark side. However, let me wonder what kind of persons are you when it comes to the real life? F.ex., what makes you laugh to death (brrr, sorry for the pun!)?

--- Well, we are pretty normal people. Of course, we also laugh and do shit from time to time. Just hanging around, booze and stuff like that. We have fun, so it's alright!

Do you know anything regarding Russia? What is your attitude to the country of mine as well as it’s people? Any Russian bands you’ve heard lately?

--- Unfortunately, I don't know much about Russia. We really would like to have the chance to play some good shows in your country, but this is very hard to achieve.

Seems like that’s all for now. As always, your final words...

--- Everybody who is really into extreme death metal from the old school should check out or new album "As Blood Rains From The Sky... We Walk The Path Of Endless Fire" cause it beams you back to the early 90s and hits you right in the face!

FLESHCRAWL contact -
Email: kill@fleshcrawl.de