Martin Missy

Interview with Martin Missy (Protector)
Questions compiled by Cornelius of Encomium 'zine, 

Sorin Necrotrooper and Georgius

(Martin Missy in Rostock, 2017 picture by Thomas 'Thor' Wittlich)

Hail Martin, you are very welcome to Archangel’s Lantern! Our congratulations for the excellent old school Protector album “Summon the Hordes”. Tell us the details of the recording of your vocals. What should we know about the current lyrics and cover art of “Summon the Hordes”? 

- My three bandcolleagues Calle, Micke and Matte recorded their instruments with Harris Johns in Berlin. Because I don’t fly, and the trip from Stockholm to Berlin by car would have been too long, I recorded my vocals at the Wolfden Studio in Stockholm. Harris came up to Stockholm for the recording. The day after some friends of mine recorded the background vocals.

The lyrics are mainly about the same things, that I use to write about: Movie-inspired lyrics (Stillwell Avenue), Life on the road / Metal lifestyle (Steel Caravan / Unity, Anthems and Pandemonium / Summon the Hordes), a dedication to Celtic Frost (The Celtic Hammer), strange / bizarre themes (Two Ton Behemoth), “fun-lyrics” (Glove of Love) and history (Three Legions). Our bassplayer Matte wrote the lyrics to “Realm of Crime” and “Meaningless Eradication”, which have a political / social critic content.

The cover is inspired by the cover of our “comeback demo” from 2011, “The Return of Thrash and Madness”. The artist Andrej Bartulovic has given it a more professional look.

According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, you played in groups such as Spitfire, Golgotha and Inzest. Can you tell us more about them? 

- Spitfire was my first band. That must have been around 1984 / 1985. It was a classic Heavy Rock band. We never recorded any demo or played live though, and I can’t recall writing any lyrics for them either.

Golgotha was a project that I had together with my friend Peter Laske (who also was in Death Attack and Heritage) and two other guys. This was in 1985, if I remember it correctly. We were inspired a lot by S.O.D. We rehearsed only a couple of times. We never played live, but we recorded a two track rehearsal (the name of the songs were “Kill the Nuns” and “Teutonic Tales”).

In 1986 I joined the band Inzest. Ace (guitar) and Peter Schulz (drums) had been playing together with Peter Laske and Michael Hasse in Death Attack. Now they had started a new band. It was a Speed Metal band, and the guys wanted me to sing like Paul Baloff. The instruments of the others were so loud though, that I had to scream, rather than sing, to make myself heard. It was good that I sounded like I did though, because when Michael Hasse heard one of our rehearsalroom recordings, he asked me if I wanted to join Protector...

How did you value the good old days of the 80s in Germany, especially in Wolfsburg? Could you recommend us some newcomer thrash/death metal bands from Wolfsburg and Stockholm?

- It was an exciting time of course. There were so many bands and new genres all the time. Even in Wolfsburg, which has just about 120.000 inhabitants, there was a quite vital Metalscene back then. We had a couple of bands that were playing live in youth clubs all over the city. The biggest band from Wolfsburg is of course “Heavens Gate”. I liked their “pre-band” Steeltower (one of the first, if not THE first Metalband in Wolfsburg) as well. There were two things that were not so good with Wolfsburg: There were not so many places were Metalfans could meet and listen to their favourite tunes (most often that happened like once a week in a youth club) and that we usually had to travel to Hannover or Hamburg (or other German cities) if we wanted to see a big Metal band.

I’m not so well informed about new bands from Wolfsburg and Stockholm, but I can mention “Cryptic Brood” (Wolfsburg) and my old band Phidion (Stockholm), although Phidion is not exactly a new band anymore (formed in 2003).

(Protector bandpic taken in Wolfsburg in the summer of 1987)

I have the same date of birthday as Michael Hasse (R.I.P.). Would you be so kind to share some memorable story/or stories about him?

- Michael was my best friend back in the 80s when I was a part of Protector. One evening, when we were drunk, we even became blood brothers. He did my first tattoo (the Alpha/Omega/Golgotha sign) just with a needle and some ink. He used to have the Sodom fanclub back at the time of “Obsessed by Cruelty”, so he knew Tom, Witchhunter and Blackfire quite well. When we played our first show in Germany (Braunschweig in 1987), he managed to get Sodom to play the headliner for the show. We had organized the concert by ourselves, and didn’t know what to expect. In the end around 500-600 headbangers showed up! It was an amazing night.

(Michael Hasse (R.I.P.) and Martin Missy, backstage in Amsterdam, 1988)

What is the situation with Zombie Lakes currently?

- We had great fun recording our two albums, but as far as I know that chapter is closed now.

Which are your all-time favourite players and coaches from VfL Wolfsburg and Nationalelf? Do you have favourite football team in Sweden?

- Favourite VfL-coach: Felix Magath. 

Favourite VfL-players: Siggi Reich, Roy Präger, Edin Dzeko and Grafite. 

Favourite Nationalelf coaches: Sepp Herberger and Franz Beckenbauer. 

Favourite Nationalelf players: Fritz Walter, Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Pierre Littbarski, Lothar Matthäus, Miroslav Klose and Toni Kroos. 

My favourite football teams in Sweden are Öster Växjö and Brommapojkarna.

Name us please your Top 5 Motörhead albums and Top 10 fave bands and their albums.

- Oh, this is difficult. There are so many. But I’ll give it a try: 

Top 5 Motörhead albums: Iron Fist, Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades and Another Perfect Day. 

Top 10 favourite bands and one album each from them: 

Motörhead – Iron Fist 

AC/DC – Highway to Hell 

Slayer – Reign in Blood 

Celtic Frost – Morbid Tales 

Accept – Restless and Wild 

Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden 

Manowar – Battle Hymns 

Sodom – In the Sign of Evil 

Razor – Evil Invaders

Nifelheim – Servants of Darkness 

...but there are, of course, probably at least 50 more bands / albums I could mention.

(2007, after the gig with The Protectors, Stockholm)

For September/October you’ve booked some European shows. What kind of setlist can the diehard Protector fans expect on those thrash rituals? Do you vary the live set per each show or you’re going to play the same set of songs each night?

- We will play songs from the 80s and 90s, and of course there will also be three new songs (one from each new album) as well. In Germany we are planning to play 1 or 2 songs more from the latest album, because we have played the old songs there so often now. In the other countries it will be more of the “oldschool-setlist” mentioned above.

The reanimated Protector (2013): 

Carl-Gustav Karlsson, Michael Carlsson, Martin Missy, Mathias Johansson

All of the sudden, the show in Košice (Slovakia) was cancelled and replaced by Ostrava (Czech Republic). I’ve planned to visit that show, thus really curious to know what’s happened with it? Will you going to postpone that cancelled Košice show for 2020?

- The organizer of the gig in Košice contacted us about a week ago and said that he couldn’t do the show, because he has to go on a business trip from work around the time of the concert. Fortunately, we were able to find an organizer who was willing to do a show on the same date with us in Ostrava instead. For the moment, there are no plans for a show in Košice in the future.

Danke schön/tack så mycket Martin! At the end, please send a message to the Carpathian hordes of Protector.

- Thank you for doing this interview with me. Stay Metal everyone! I hope to see you soon live somewhere.

Protector (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/Protector.666not777

Robin Joelsson (OF FIRE)

Interview with Robin Joelsson (OF FIRE)

Hail Robin and OF FIRE! I congratulate you for your excellent third LP called “Dräparen”, which was released through the Spanish Art Gates Records. What is the reaction to “Dräparen” from the underground media and death metal fans so far? How went your common work with Master Tomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studios?

- Hi! Thank you very much man. It's been quite good, we are really humbled by the reception so far. It seems that the people who heard it actually really likes our new album. Art Gates has treated us well too. The work went smoother than ever with the recording, we had no song finished this time just riffs and ideas, so we arranged the songs along the way and recorded it live in the studio. It turned out great working this way and Tomas was very happy with this way of working as well. Tomas Skogsberg lives and has his studio just outside Norrtälje these days so that made the process more easy.

If I’m not mistaken, your band started as Spasm in 2012 then you changed the name to OF FIRE, which is a great choice, in my opinion. Is there any common relation with legendary Dismember’s track “Of Fire” from their “Death Metal” album?

- Yes that is correct, there were 12 other bands with the name Spasm so we needed to change it. I was happy ‘cause I never really liked that name. We were struggling to find another name actually, and then Jonathan mentioned OF FIRE. I liked it a lot because of the song and what it meant for us as teenagers, we played it over and over on a boombox while drinking beer in our local park and it has moulded us into who we are some way along the way. Jonatan liked the sound of the name. Him and I grew up together although we have completely different personalities we have most times completed each other in a good way, he being more introvert and sensitive and me more extrovert and more spontaneous.

With guitarist Jonathan you played together in a death metal horde, Depraved. Tell us more about your previous band Depraved.

- Well it was more of a melodic death metal band with even some clean vocals, this was back in 2003 When we were 18 or so. Depraved was:

Me on vocals and guitar

Tobias Rydsheim on bass

Jonatan Thunell on guitar (second demo) 

Anders Berndtsson on guitar 

Jonas Holmström on drums

The band started to get some serious attention after recording two demos (Glimpse of Death 2003) and (Pieces of You 2004), for example we went on a bus arranged by Sweden rock magazine, they played the demos for 17 hours straight in the speakers and people couldn't get enough of it, and the venues we played where soon packed so time was right for Depraved but we didn't really understand it then, Jonatan moved away studying music, i was using  lots of drugs and Anders (who is the original guitarist in OF FIRE) went to Norway for work. Tobias (mastermind of Wormwood) started another punkband and Jonas drank a lot. So we split in 2005, we did try to reunite a couple of times but the spark was no longer there. A few bands later me Jonatan and Anders found each other again in 2012 forming what is now OF FIRE. A bit more adult and less chaotic minds but the same love for music as always.

What should we know about the OF FIRE lyrics? Which are the sources you get inspiration from? How goes the songwriting-process in OF FIRE?

 - Well its most about nature, and the world I call Mother Earth. We have only one earth and there is nothing more or less, no aliens, no other planet and no religion. We have this and this is the only thing that we all know is true. There are true monsters in the deep, but the biggest monster is mankind. It’s not the typical death metal themes but my passion is in nature so I write about that. I've lived life the hard way and I don't find the darkness as a mesmerizing or a cool thing. I was born and bred from it. Nature is true and will never stabbed me in the back sort of speak. The music is mostly written by Jonatan and some songs by me, simply cause Jonatan is a genius. Rasmus wrote two songs on "Death do us all" (The Burden) and (the Shrine) but every song starts with some riffs and we put it together in the rehearsal place. We usually rearrange them several times and then I write the lyrics, it’s all about the feeling of the song and the pictures that comes in our heads when we play them. 

I’ve mentioned in my Hungarian review at Kronos Mortus e-zine that during the listening of “Dräparen”, I’ve found influences of old Entombed, Dismember and Desultory in your music, what makes me happy as I’m an old fan of all of them. By the way, what are your favourite albums from these bands and name us your top 10 all-time LPs.

- It's hard for me to give you the answers you want because I don't listen so much to deathmetal anymore but I still like all Dismember records, my favourite is "Death Metal" of course. My Entombed favourite is ”Uprising”, I really love the rock’n'roll death feeling on that album, especially the last song "In the Flesh". I haven't listened to Desultory for a long time, I can't even remember when so I will have to pass on that one cause of that and get back to you later hehe. 

About the 10 albums I’m going to choose my favourite albums despite genres in no particular order: 

1. Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind 

2. Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks 

3. Morbid Angel - Gates to Annihilation 

4. Autopsy - Severed Survival 

5. Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss 

6. Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come 

7. Metallica - Kill ’em All 

8. Sepultura - Roots 

9. Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power 

10. Black Sabbath - Black Babbath 

And about a 1000 more records but I think I speak truly about this.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get any information about the cover artwork of “Dräparen”. Who created and what symbolizes it?

- The Artwork was made by extremely talented Russian guy Kirill Semenov, Dräparen is an old forgotten name for the Wolf Witch is translated to the slayer. The theme of the album is about old Swedish stories and folklores around the starving and cold days in Sweden around 1700s-1800s when the Wolf ruled the Great taiga. People were starving and blamed it on the Wolf and still are today. So Kirill being Russian understand the whole thing cause of taiga forest unites us, he was the perfect guy for this cover.

I like a lot your killer voice Robin. When did you start to growl? Which are your favourite singers? 

- Thank you very much, hmm sometime around 2000ish I was in High-school. I actually still see myself as a guitarist, but the band I had no singer so I was supposed to do it until we get a proper singer. But we couldn't find a singer so I laid down the Guitar to focus on vocals entirely and has continued that way since then. I mean good guitarists are not hard to find. I also played drums in a black metal band before that called "Satyg". But anyways, my favourite singer will have to be Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth, Bloodbath), Peter Dolving (The Haunted, Mary Beats Jane) and actually a guy I know Alexander Högbom (Demonical, October Tide, ex- Centinex).

What is the current situation with your live performances? Any upcoming shows to be mentioned here? I saw, you played in Romania and Russia a few years ago. How were those concerts? (I really hope to see you in Slovakia or Hungary live in the near future.)

- We are working on it, this fall will be dedicated to promote the album and play shows in Sweden. We'll go on tour in spring 2020 and hopefully some festivals during next summer. Actually we did tour both Slovakia and Hungary back in 2015 for our first album "Carnage fever" we brought our brothers in Wormwood along as well. But hopefully both Slovakia and Hungary will have us in 2020 again!

You are from Norrtälje. Would you be so kind to recommend to the readers some interesting places from your town, local foods and drinks?

- Hah good question! Well Norrtälje is an old town located by the sea it was a city of Vikings back in time and in the early 1700s the Russians invaded and burned down most of the town. I guess they paid back for 100 years of Vikings from here raiding Russia at first. But now it’s quite beautiful small town with lots of history to see like statues of Vikings and stuff. We have the great archipelago right here so a trip with a boat out among the thousands of small Islands is highly recommended in the summer. There are some restaurants that serve local foods as well like local fish, Swedish meatballs and local beer as well. But please visit Norrtälje in the summer time (June-August) in the winter time the town is almost dead because snow and cold.

Tack så mycket/thank you very much Robin, wish you all the best with your band. At the end, please send your ultimate thoughts OF FIRE.

- Tack själv and thank you for having me! Support the underground, buy our album Dräparen!

Important links: 

OF FIRE (Facebook): facebook.com/Offireofficial/

Youtube channel: youtube.com/user/OfFireOfficial

Art Gates Records: facebook.com/ArtGatesRecords/

YouTube : youtube.com/user/ArtGatesRecords

Carl-Gustav Karlsson

Interview with Carl-Gustav Karlsson (Protector) 

Questions compiled by Cornelius of Encomium 'zine 
and Georgius of Archangel's Lantern

Hail brother Carl-Gustav, hope you are doing fine! First of all, we would like to congratulate you with the release of the awesome new material of Protector, called “Summon the Hordes”. It’s just brilliant! How went the common work with the legendary producer Harris Jones? What are your favourite tracks out of it?

- Hello Georgius. Thank you so much for having the interest in Protector and me as well. The support you give and your dedication to music. We are so thrilled over the new album and are very satisfied with the new record. We recorded the album both in Germany and Sweden. We recorded drums, guitars and bass guitar at the Phonostudio Johannisthal, Berlin. And Martin’s vocals were recorded at Wolfden Studio, Stockholm with Jocke Rydbjer and Harris Johns. After that back to Germany for mixing and mastering, everything went so smooth and Harris Johns is nice to work with in every way. He is very responsive and listen to our demands and ideas. I think it’s very important to have a conversation and an idea how you want to sound before you went into the studio. Favorite track is “Two Ton Behemoth”.

Who came up with the idea of recording it such way? I mean it sounds as it was recorded back in the 80s, especially I like how the drum-sound turned out. Pretty unusual sound production in general for a record out in 2019, isn’t it? 

- It was our guitar player Mike that cracked the idea to record it with Harris Johns. We discussed how other bands have sound true to their discography and how the different studios were important for progress. The sound came out naturally and without too much compressing and the great mixing with Harris Johns it turns out this way. We really loved Tomas Skogsberg’s production and will surely record there once again, but it’s also important to adjust the sound a little bit and have some variation for our fans. It was also a small dream to us all to make a recording with both Tomas Skogsberg and now Harris Johns. Harris Johns have recorded amazing records Kreator, Sodom, Coroner and Protector’s “A Shedding of Skin” earlier, so we have loved his production. I am glad you notice the old school sound. I think there are not so much people that appreciate that kind of sound nowadays. So yes, there are surely some that don’t really like it. There is no record that I have found in 2019 that sounds that dynamic and live as well. The drums are recorded without triggers and I am really satisfied with the tuning and everything.

What are the responses to “Summon the Hordes” from the press and the fans so far? Did you receive any numbers/statistics regarding the album’s selling from High Roller Records yet? 

- The response from magazines and reviews have been fantastic, so it seems the most of them like our songs and the harsh sound anyway. We have no statistics yet, so we don’t know how much albums we have sold. 

Your drumming is pretty fast and at the same time precise as well. So it would be great to know the names of the drummers who influenced you back in the time and the ones who still impress you with their skills these days? What kind of gear (drums, cymbals, pedals, electronics) you are about to use live, in the studio and at rehearsals?

- Thank you for the nice feedback. I try to practice as much I can, and progress goes slowly, but I try to get as much time as I can behind my kit and practice pads. Back in the days it was Pete Sandoval of Morbid Angel and Ole Öhman and Tobias Kjellgren of Dissection that influenced me most at that time. There were no YouTube channels and therefore you must learn everything by yourself. I have made lots of mistakes and have also learned wrong techniques and struggling was also present with some technical issues. Nowadays I have started learning via YouTube and trying to do exercises after Ukrainian musician Eugene Ryabchenko (Castrum), Austria’s Marthyn Jovanović and Italy’s James Payne. They are the top drummers for extreme music and have nice videos out there. Since I don’t play hyper speed black our death metal anymore, maybe it’s strange influences, but I try to be updated. The gear I use both in rehearsal space and sometimes live are Tama Artstar Esprit kit from ’97, which I’ve also recorded “Summon the Hordes” with; cymbals: Meinl MB20 14”, 16”, 18”, 20” and Sabian AAX 22” metal ride and Sabian AAX 14” hi-hats; Pedals: Trick Drums Pro 1-V. I have a low budget digital drumset at home Millenium MPS-600 with a Roland TD-8 module that works fine to practice on.

What are your experiences from Protector’s latest live performances? Protector will be going to play in Hungary this year, more precisely on the 1st of October. Have you ever been to Hungary? Do you like Hungarian metal hordes? If so, list us your faves, please. 

- It’s always a fantastic experience to play live with Protector. The fans are so nice and we often have a really nice time. Last time we played was at our release party here in Sweden. It was intense and went awesome. Warfect a great thrash metal band from Uddevalla did a guest show and the after party was nice. We are so looking forward to play in Hungary in October and it will be the first time I visit Hungary, so I am really thrilled. I would love some sightseeing, but there will be no time unfortunately. Hungarian metal is great. There are lots of great bands.  I have had the opportunity to tour with Sear Bliss in 2002, then I played with Grief of Emerald. My favorite bands are Tormentor, Sear Bliss, Stress, Omen, Mörbid Carnage.

You are living in Strömstad, which is well-known about its glorious underground scene, especially due to the bands coming from the end of the 80s and early 90s. What bands are you going to recommend us nowadays? 

- Well I mostly like extreme metal. I have a new favourite black metal band called Whoredom Rife from Norway that is on uprising. They really sound like black metal in the middle of the 90s: https://youtu.be/IrKuluuPTaU. A thrash metal bad called Warfect that lives 8 miles from here: https://youtu.be/AIRwjkwBRgc. And a death/doom metal band called Runemagick: https://youtu.be/UBmb3D3nLH0. This is what spinning just now at my record player.

Earlier you played in MÄBE? Tell us your memories from those years? Do you keep in contact with Mattias “Mäbe” Johansson? How do you like his new stuff? 

- Mäbe is one of my best friends and I have nice and good memories of playing with Mäbe. We have done lots of nice stuff together. We had a hell of a time on a rock boat from Gothenburg to Kiel in Germany. I cannot tell you a specific moment, because there are too many, but we have lots of humor and funny moments, laughing, talking music and have great time in general. We have another thrash band together called Sarcastic that we always try to get time to rehearse with, but there is always something that come in between. We try to have contact now and then, but he is also busy making music and he is also playing records here at a local pub. I hope to have chance to visit him this summer. The new material of Mäbe is very good. If you could understand Swedish language, the lyrics are incredibly deep and he has written them with great thought, he ties in some local people in the lyrics that have passed a worse fate, old stories and some of his own. He is very poetic by himself and the music is captured by a dark concept. I like the music. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to understand for outsiders. 

As far as I know, your nice city is near the Norwegian border. What kind of places, drinks and foods would you recommend to us?  

- Strömstad is a town that lives on tourism. We have Norwegians visiting us for shopping cigarettes, candy and alcohol. There are lots of people on weekends and now in summer time there are people everywhere. We have some historical Stonehenge places you must see and have a very famous island called Kosteröarna. In Norway about 2 miles from here you should go to see the Fredriksten fortress in Halden. This is where the Swedish king Carl XII (Charles XII) was killed – in 1718 – during the war between Sweden and Norway. At that time a province of Denmark. Here is also a new Norwegian black metal festival called Imperium that will take place this weekend: facebook.com/events/2261984214022448. Strömstad is not so big, so you will find some nice local pubs and some are specialized on seafood. We have no rock pub or any concerts yet, but sometimes there are some small local metal gigs nearby in Halden, Norway or in Grebbestad and Uddevalla.

In our first conversation you told us that you’ve been invited by Jon Andreas Nödtveidt to play drums at his rehearsal place. Did you just jam with him or played some covers? 

- I was twelve years old at that time, so my drumming was horrible, heheh. I remember that he tried some riff ideas, but you could just call it jamming. Anyway, it gave me so incredible inspiration at that time, I practiced drums, so my hands and fingers were full of blisters after the drumsticks. I remember practicing whole days.

At the end, please feel free to add any latest news from the Protector camp as well as to send your greetings to the Protector legions of the Carpathian region. 

- We are just now rehearsing for the upcoming tour in September/October. I hope you Hungarian metalheads have time and interest and would come and see us play in Budapest. We shall deliver an awesome show that will take you back to 80s/90s and present of Protector’s history. More info at the event page: facebook.com/events/367354930513207 or at our Facebook: facebook.com/Protector.666not777. 

“Summon the Hordes” tour:
27/9 Kassel (DE)
28/9 Prague (CZ)
1/10 Budapest (HU)
4/10 Warszawa (PL)
5/10 Wolfsburg (DE)

Thank you so much for the support! Cheers, Carl Karlsson and Protector.

Erik Sprooten

Interview with Erik Sprooten

(Ancient Rites, Inquisitor, Plusminus)

Hail Erik, we are very glad to talk with you again here at Archangel’s Lantern. I must say, “Stigmata Me, I’m in Misery” is just a brilliant masterpiece of old school Thrash metal. Are you satisfied with how the album turned out? (In my humble opinion Inquisitor sounds stronger than ever)

- Hail Georgius, thanks for your kind words. Oh yeah, we are very much satisfied with the new album. We stuck to our guns even after almost twenty years, which is remarkable in itself, but we also managed to make some progress as well musically. Alex Wesdijk wrote all the lyrics, and some of his  lyrics are a bit more personal compared to our older lyrics. The new album definitely has an old school vibe and it sounds 100% like Inquisitor and it's great to have this album recorded in the original line-up too. We recorded our second album at the Toneshed Studio in The Netherlands, which is run by Erwin Hermsen, who is a former guitarist of Mangled and he did a fantastic job! I  recorded my guitar solos at home and sent the audio files of those to Erwin. “Stigmata Me, I'm In Misery” sounds like what people were used from us, but we also managed to include musical ideas which we couldn't have done or wouldn't have come up with in the 90's. For instance, the beginning of “Holy Man's Gallows Pole”, is something which we probably wouldn't have done in 1995 and I also wouldn't and couldn't have played slide guitar back then, but slide guitar playing by me can be heard in “Hammering Rusty Nails” now. The end solo of "I am Sick, I must Die" was in it's early incarnation just a nice guitar solo in D-minor, but later I changed it to what it has become now. Alex Bakker (bass player) showed us in the rehearsal room what he played underneath that D-minor solo, which was a very great bass line so I changed the guitar solo to compliment his bass playing. I rewrote it by adding a few unison bends followed by some fretboard tapping. The very end of “Northern Goliath – Death A Black Rose” was a great idea of our singer Alex Wesdijk. Our drummer Wim is highly involved in structuring the songs, and is always thinking how to improve his drumming and drumfills. Each member in the band contributed to the music and everyone had made progress throughout the years and widened his musical space. We do what we like to do without restricting ourselves regardless of any trend, criticism, image or whatsoever and we will continue to do so. 

Hey Erik, it has been a while, tell me the latest news about Inquisitor. (Anita vH)

- We finally have a new album out for some months now, and we are promoting it the best way we can, but we also started working on new songs again for a possible new album. We still have some new music in us to unleash upon mankind and there are quite some new really interesting ideas. Some ideas may be leftovers but some of those are great and will be used. We certainly do want to make another album, there is absolutely no doubt about that. Although we hardly have any budget, there are plans to make a video clip. In this digital and visual age it's important to have a video clip.

Saw you had a few gigs with Pestilence, Dead End and Dead Head. How were these? Any abroad gigs planned? (Anita vH)

- Those gigs were arranged via Hammerheart Records, and they were absolutely great. One was on a Sunday in Maastricht, in the South of The Netherlands and the other one was on a Friday in Drachten, which is in the North of The Netherlands. I personally felt that the gig in Drachten was the best in my opinion. The sound on stage was good, and I think that we performed damn well. However Alex Bakker, our bass player, felt that he had the perfect monitor mix on stage in Maastricht. Anyway, it was great to do these gigs as support for Dead Head and Pestilence. For us it was a great opportunity to open for Pestilence and Dead Head. Behind the scenes we are trying to get gigs abroad, and it seems that we will do a gig in Belgium next year! And we are looking forward to play with Pestilence again in December. 

“Laguz” has been your last album after 9 years from “Rubicon”. Will there be a new album soon? (Paco, Spain)

- I don't expect a new album very soon unfortunately, but there may be a chance that some of our older albums will be re-released. Most of the older album have been out of print for a very long time and  need a proper re-release in my opinion. Some have never been released on vinyl but there are bootleg versions circulating. For a new album we definitely need some budget, and that is hard to get nowadays. Because of this, we most likely need to change the way how we will write & record a new album. We probably can't do that the way we used to do. But we'll see what happens...

How were the Ancient Rites shows in Roeselare and Rotterdam this year and in Athens in 2017? Share us please your memories from these concerts.

- Although the schedule was delayed, we did get a great response from the Greek audience, and it was about 18 years ago since we last played in Greece, so some fans were kinda hungry to see us again but there were also new fans. And of course it was nice to visit some ancient areas  in Athens the day before the gig. We don't always have time or get the chance to visit beautiful spots in the area where we play live.

In Rotterdam we played in a venue called “Baroeg” in The Netherlands where we have played a lot, and I mean A LOT. This particular gig on the 31st of May was great, even a bit beyond my own expectations. So I felt very satisfied after the gig in Rotterdam.

Roeselare was also very good! The audience was fucking great, and it's always a pleasure to play in our own territory. Roeselare has always been good to us, also in the past. The venue (De Verlichte Geest) reminded me a bit of the kind of venues we used to play in the 90's. 

Recently we did a live show on Malta, which was a nice experience. We also spent a little time with the whole band near a historical place on the island close to our hotel, which was extremely satisfying.

Are you going to do any European tours (you might include some dates for Valencia, Spain – I believe you never done any shows somewhere here)? (Paco, Spain)

- Due to obligations, mainly work-related, extensive tours are not possible for us anymore but we can do weekend shows. Promoters can contact me directly for that.

I’m a faithful follower of the underground scene since the early 90s. Currently, several bands inside it are the scene, but... How do you see now the underground scene in general? Any bands are there that you like specially? (Paco, Spain)

- The underground scene is still vibrant and in some ways it still works the same way as it did in the 90's but internet has changed a lot of it and metal has seen an increase of substyles too throughout the years. I still go to underground metal concerts but not as much as I used to do. It's not always possible for several reasons, but I like to go to more underground concerts than I do now. I certainly like to have a good time and maybe discover new bands at those concerts. Nowadays via Facebook I get a lot like requests from people who want me to like their band and sometimes, some of those underground bands are interesting which is great. I remember liking a thrash band from South America called Maze of Terror, Cruentator from Italy and more recently Ancestor, a thrash metal band from China. I still like bands from the old underground days like for instance Sathanas, and Hellwitch.

How it’s going with your cover band, Plusminus? Did you play any live shows lately? What is your current line-up?

- Plusminus is doing fine. The line-up hasn't changed since December 2006, so we have a pretty stable line-up (Arie Kampman – vocals, Erik Sprooten – guitar, Peter Jung – guitar, Alex Bakker – bass guitar, Chiel Lozeman - drums). Meanwhile, we are working on “new” cover tunes to add to our set list. We just keep going and it's always fun to play together. In February we did a special but bittersweet performance at the “Celebration of  Life” of a good friend of ours who passed away a few days before. He performed TNT from AC/DC a few times with us since he was diagnosed with a terrible disease. On a Saturday exactly between the Inquisitor shows with Pestilence, Plusminus played a nice show not that far away from our area. Next year we will play again close to Belgium.

It’s a little bit hard question, but what do you think about an idea to play some massive shows together with following bands: Ancient Rites/Inquisitor/Sammath? 

- I'm certainly in for it. I'm pretty sure that I can handle playing guitar for Ancient Rites and Inquisitor on one evening. For Wim it may be tough but I'm sure he can handle it but after two shows on the same evening, he might be totally wrecked but certainly satisfied, but I guess he can answer that question much better.

(my Ancient Rites and Inquisitor-treasures with dedications- GF) 

What is/are your favorite cartoon(s) from your old band-mate of Ancient Rites, Gunther’s work?

- I can't name a particular cartoon from Gunther which might be my favorite but I always enjoy his cartoons every Friday on Facebook. It's great that he does this 'cause he certainly has talent for this. I also love to see another comic by him of Van Roy & Sid.

Dank je wel/thank you very very much, Erik, please send some thoughts from the medieval inquisitor chamber to the readers.

- Georgius and also Anita & Paco  Thanks a lot for this interview. Your support is highly appreciated!

(Questions compiled by Anita vH, Georgius and Paco)

Important links: 

Ancient Rites: facebook.com/ancientrites/

Inquisitor: facebook.com/InquisitorXtremeThrash/

Plusminus: facebook.com/plusminusrocks/?ref=br_rs 

Erik Sprooten artist-page: facebook.com/Erik-Sprooten-623899868029148/

Tobias Fongelius (Voodus)

Interview with Tobias Fongelius (Voodus)

Hail my old friend/brother Tobbe, it has been a while since our last conversation, hope you are doing fine! Thanks so much for sending me the pre-listening stuff of the debut full-length Voodus-album, called “Into the Wild”, congratulations, excellent work! Tell to the readers please, when and where it will be released officially? Share all the important information about the circumstances of the recording process, lyrical-conception, guest-songwriters and cover-art.

- Hail! It´s great to hear from you again! Hope that everything works out fine with you.

Thank you very mutch! We are extremely proud of the album. It ended up being exactly as good as we wanted it to be! The album will be released by Shadow Records November 26. It will come in all formats! Double LP, CD, Tape and Digital!

The recording session was very intense. We had only 10 days to “make it happen”. And Ingo, our drummer, did get sick or something so we had to call for a stand in. Jocke Wallgren from Amon Amarth was just back from his world tour and he had a lot of time off, so he came down to the studio. He listened to the songs for about 5-6 hours. Then, like the fucking machine he is, he just went in to the recording room an fucking nailed the whole album! I think it took him about 2 days to record everything, and he had never heard the songs before! I am still stunned by his professionalism! The result of this drum-mess in the beginning of the recording did catch up on us in the end of the recording. Me and Erik had only 5 days to record all our guitars! And if you have in mind that every single guitar track must be recorded with 4 ( 2+2 ) guitars + a lead + solo! Man! Thats very tight with time! We worked like 12-13 hours everyday. We didnt have any time to do song or bass in Necromorbus because of this. So the bass is recorded in Armageddon Studio (Anders Backelin from Lord Belials studio). And the vocals in Studio Fabriken in Gothenburg.

Just like you mention we have two guestwriters on the album! A friend and magical inspiration of mine “Idlu Lili Regulus” did write the lyrics to “Communion amid the graves” and the fantastic Johannes Kvarnbrink (ex-Ofermod, Mortuus, Head of the Demon etc) did write the lyrics to our longest opus this far! The Terrain of Moloch, the last track of the album.

Let’s talk a little bit about Voodus: “Serpent Seducer Saviour” EP, which has been released through Swedish Shadow Records (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) in Summer, 2017. Enlighten us about the lyrics and songwriting processes. 

- I guess that the lyrics speaks for themselves.. But we can speak a bit about the songwriting process! It´s quite easy for me and Erik to write together nowadays. We know each other so so well after all this years! I have a riff, Erik has a riff and then it´s just to go with the flow! I use to do the fundamental melodies, bridges and paths in our songs. And Erik lay his magic upon all this riffs, and then we have Voodus! It´s not always like this thou. Erik has for example written every single riff in the song The Golden, except for one passage, on our new album!

How was your Scandinavian tour with legendary Mayhem last year? Hope, we can see some live Voodus-video very soon from these hellish performances.

- It was a fucking blast! I mean wake up on the hotel and knew that tonight we will standing on the stage with fucking MAYHEM!!!!!! And tomorrow! And the day after that! Haha! All my respect to Mayhem. They are the real deal, I promise you. They give 666% every fucking night! It´s very inspiring to see and to be a part of! We did get along really good with the whole band, so we hold our thumbs for more rituals together!

I have listened to your debut material “NightQueen” EP under Voodus name a lot of times (my personal favourite tracks are “Mors Ianua Vitae” and “The Burning Light of Daath”). How were the reactions from the black metal fans after this release?

- Mutch better if you compare the reactions from our Jormundgand-era! We felt in a early phase that we were on the right track with this recreation of the band! 

There’s a little change in the Voodus line-up. Desekrator debuted on bass at the Belsepub gig along with Grá the 1/6 in Gothenburg. How was this live-performance?

- Yeah! That was a great show!!! And Grá is a great band! As you said Desekrator did his first live performance with us that evening. He is a powerful individual who fits perfect in our band. We have done one more change in the line-up lately! We have a new drummer. Marcus Fors (ex-Vornth, Death Reich, XUL, Vulcanic etc etc) has now joined us instead of Ingo. He is a great drummer and contribute with a great deal of fierce fire and aggression to the bands energy!

Are you playing at your live-shows a few Jormundgand-tracks or just Voodus-songs?

- Just Voodus. Jormundgand is dead to us.

What is the situation with covering other, legendary bands? Do you plan to play live some covers or record them? I’m really curious, how it would sound a Dissection-cover for example by Voodus.

- We do never play covers, and we will probably never do. But yes, I can see what you mean! Dissection is absolutely a band that would have been great to pay our tribute to. But they have already done the songs 100% to the max, so the only thing you can do by trying to cover Dissection, is to disgrace yourself. I have never heard a good cover on Dissection this far at least.

Which bands/albums are you listening to currently? Could you maybe recommend some interesting bands from Sweden?

- Hmm… I do not listen to so much Swedish bands nowadays. I think that the German and the Greek scene is more interesting with bands like Ascension, The Ruins Of Beverast, Katharsis, Acrimonious, Thy Darkened Shade etc. etc. 

But you asked for Swedish bands! So I have to say Valkyrja, they are coming out with a new album very soon and i have heard a little bit from this beast to be unleashed! And man! That album will kick some serious fucking ass! Then we have the absolute amazing Funeral Mist and the new “Hekatomb” album! Mortuus is another band that I found very inspiring. Mephorash is recording a new album as well. I think it will be a fucking killer! And of course Voodus!

After the official release of Voodus: “Into the Wild” will you plan to play in Europe? It would be awesome to meet and see you live.

- Yes! We have the hooks out for a lot of festivals and promoters around Europe. We just have to wait and see I guess!

What landscapes, museums and places do you recommend to visit in Sweden?

- Västkusten (the Westcoast) or the far north if you want to visit the nature. The Westcoast of Sweden is loaded with pure magic! You can almost feel the breath of the old when you standing on a windy shore at this wild landscape! With lots of runes and petroglyphs carved in the rocks around the area, it contribute to this whole “sacred” feeling. If you want to visit museums then you have a great deal to choose between! But I guess that Stockholm is the city to visit if you want to learn more about our national history and our nations more palmy days!

Tack så mycket/Thanks a lot, brother, it was great feeling to talk you again. Hail and Total Support from us to Voodus!  In the end send some thoughts from the “Communion Amid the Graves”.

- It is a monumental song, with a wide spectre. It´s one of the most intense tracks on the album. The lyrical theme is based on an ancient ritual of Hekate. And the song should be played with respect and devotion to HER in your mind!

Io Io Hekate!

Io Io Hekate!

Io Io Hekate!

Important links:

Voodus: 

facebook.com/voodus666/

Bandcamp: https://voodus.bandcamp.com/

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/voodus


Shadow Records: 

Website: hadowrecords.se/

Facebook: facebook.com/shadowrecords.se/

Cornelius (Castrum, Encomium)

Interview with Cornelius (Castrum, Encomium-zine, ex-Chamos, ex-Vulvulator)

done by Sorin Necrotrooper, 13.VIII.2018 

The last interview ever 
for Sadistik Witchfukk webzine (2012-2018)

Hello, Cornelius! As this is your first interview for Sadistik Witchfukk, introduce yourself to the readers of the zine!

- Hail to all the dedicated readers of Sadistik Witchfukk and thank you, Sorin, for your interest. Since 1994 I play guitar for the Transcarpathian Death Metal horde Castrum, since 1998 I am the editor of Encomium ‘zine, organized a hell of a bunch of gigs for the “underground” masses in Uzhgorod.

How did you got into metal? Can you describe your "rock/metal" journey until you formed Castrum? And if you can describe the metal scene at that time in your country?

- I was eleven when I got my first cassettes with bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Krokus, Magnum and stuff like that. I’ve been trading tapes and records with my school-mates at that time and shortly after I discovered the genres of Thrash & Death Metal, such bands as Destruction, Kreator, Sodom, Testament, Slayer, Exodus, Sadus, Death, Obituary, Deicide and Morbid Angel just to name a few. But the real impel to form my own band was caused by the Swedish Death Metal movement around 1991-1992. We’ve massively dived in with my friends into the first releases by Entombed, Dismember, Grave, Unleashed, etc. It was magical back then. The metal scene was pretty variegated at that time as being a deathrasher I hung out with fans of glam rock, heavy metal or other less extreme subgenres of rock & metal, but it was just amazing. If there was a gig with any kind of local rock/metal act, not mentioning the possibility to go and watch the show of some band from abroad, most probably everybody was there, huge crowd and family-like atmospheres. It was also a good reason to meet other metal fans (from other regions) and do some trades of tapes, posters, magazines, etc.

 In 1994 Castrum came into being. Can you summarize your biography so far?

- Yeah, sure. Castrum was founded in 1994. The early days marked three demo releases on the band’s account: “Burial of the Affection”, “Flames by Impiety” & “Pleasure in the Deeds of Horror”, all of them came out in 1996. In 1999 the band signed a deal with Ukrainian underground label Metal Force Records. The first result of this alliance was an MC release of the above mentioned demos unleashed under the banner of “The Leading Spirit of Medieval Tortures”, which was followed by the band’s debut album “Hatenourisher” in the fall of 2000. Shortly after this tape release the band signed a deal with Canadian Bloodbucket Productions. Thus three full-length CDs were successfully spread into the underground masses, namely “Hatenourisher” in 2001, “Mysterious Yet Unwearied” in 2002 and “Phenomenonsense” in 2006. After a few member changes the line-up of Castrum finally became stable in 2012. It consists of the relentless forces of Cornelius (vocals/guitar), Victor (bass) & Eugene (drums). To celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary a compilation CD titled as “MediEvaluation” was released in 2014 by the band’s long-time label Bloodbucket Productions! The band’s fourth full-length album is still in process. It is going to be the fiercest and most sophisticated one! So watch out!!!

You also did a demo under the name Chamos, with the same line-up as Castrum, back in 1997, called "Hellish Reveries". Do you see it as a separate release from Castrum? 

Will it ever be re-released?

- It was a separate release by all means. I was pretty productive back then and I’ve got some riffs that I didn’t imagine in the repertory of Castrum, so we started this side-project. We did that 2-song demo in 1997 and that’s it. Will it be ever released officially I can’t say it as of yet, but never say never, right? So time shall tell us… 

Back to Castrum. I know that you recorded a follow-up to "Phenomenonsense", but it never saw the light of the day. Can you enlighten us about it and if any progress in this direction has been done lately? Will it include the Possessed cover ("Death Metal"-ed)?

- Yes, all the instruments have been recorded quite a while for our 4th studio album, we’ve recorded 11 songs in total, I even did some raw pre-production mixes, but unfortunately I couldn’t proceed with the recordings of the vocals parts thence. Somehow I always felt not ready to do it, my bad, I know. The Possessed cover was something exceptional, we did it pretty fast, even if I am not happy with how my vocals turned out there, but I really wanted to make it happen. That song is available exclusively on the “Seven Burning Churches” a tribute to Possessed CD. 

As far as I remember, Castrum was about to play in Bucharest, Romania, in 2011, as an opening-act for the Impaled Nazarene concert. However, the ImpNaz tour was cancelled and Castrum didn't got to play. How were you chosen to be one of those opening bands and why you did not got to play or to postpone it? Have you received any other offers to play here?

- Right, that gig was announced exactly for 1st of February, 2010. We’ve been on tour with our Polish friends from Underdark and I clearly remember that we did our first show in Lviv and we were on our way to Debrecen (Hungary) when I received an sms from the promoter that Impaled Nazarene had to cancel their appearance, so the whole event was just cancelled immediately. Due to Coro of Axa Valaha Productions we’ve got the opportunity, but it didn’t happen in the end. I knew Coro for a long time, we’ve been in contact from time to time, so I suppose it just felt right to bring us once there, he is a hard worker and true supporter of the underground movement. We’ve got other invites as well, but somehow I always had to refuse them, sometimes because of bad timing and other times just because of my health issues.

According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, you also played guitar in Vulvulator and drums in ЙYЙ. Can you tell us about these collaborations?

- Yes, that’s right. I was a member of Vulvulator from 2006 to 2008. Played all the guitars & bass parts for the debut full-length “Obscenario” (2007) and for the “IV Way Split” (2008). Those were funny times, but had to quit, because the evolving musical path wasn’t mine any more. ЙYЙ was a band formed by local guys in 2016, they had 2 songs written, but they didn’t have a drummer at the time. I’ve been always fond of playing drums, so I offered them to try out myself in that position. In a short period of time we’ve completed around dozen songs and the same year the band had its only live show with me. Again, had to quit, due to the same old story, the music they wanted to play further wasn’t my cup of tea. Now they’re functioning as a studio project.

Apart of your metal activities, I know that you released an ambient album called "The Mindscape Seeker" under the name Kornel Kontros. Can you enlighten us about it? How was the feedback so far?

- You are very-well informed. I have a piano at home since ever, so I was always sitting and trying out myself creating different harmonies, moods, melodies and stuff like that. The time has come to record all those little pieces in 2015 when I finally borrowed a synthesizer for that purpose. The feedback I received was always positive and mostly from people close to me, and it is totally OK with me, as this release was meant personal. Its follow-up is in progress as well; it will be more medieval-like with the use of acoustic guitars in front. 

Do you plan to perform it live?

- Good question. I really have plans in my mind to make those pieces happen to played live too, but still searching for the right musicians.

 I can't help but realize that your instrumental material seems to be connected with the "Tears of Eternal Expiation" intro. Do you have any other tracks written in this style that will see the light of the day? Or, perhaps a follow-up to "The Mindscape Seeker"?

- Definitely good comparison. As you’ve already noticed I did quite a few instrumental tracks for the Castrum releases so far, but the ones which were selected for “The Mindscape Seeker” kind of didn’t fit with the new approach Castrum musically stands for, so I better published them under my name. The new tracks will be atmospheric- and ambient-like too, but with a touch of medievalism.

You also run the fanzine Encomium, which has become a webzine for some years. Can you tell us about it and if there will ever be any printed issues in the future? How was the reaction for the printed zine of the 4th issue?

- Encomium is one of the oldest English-written ‘zines out of the Ukraine. Totally dedicated to the extreme forms of underground music. The first 3 issues (1/98, 2/99 & 3/2001) were pro-printed on A4 format pages. After 2001 it turned to a webzine, but in August of 2017 the 4th printed issue has finally seen the light of the day. The reactions to it were just positive so far. You can expect the fifth printed issue to be released soon, so watch out! 

I know you organized some concerts in your hometown Uzhgorod/Ungvár such as Napalm Death (in 2009), the open-air festival UzhGoreRot, and also Total Cover Party, among others. Can you tell us how the Napalm Death concert actually happened? Will there be any upcoming editions of those festivals? Or any upcoming concerts in general?

- The Napalm Death show happened due to Obscure Promotion from the Czech Republic. They’ve contacted me regarding a possible show in Uzhgorod and I’ve agreed right away to make it happen for our small city! Until last year I was managing to organize all the mentioned events and series of the Death Metal Assault concerts, but as my health got worse I decided to stop all my activities until I fix it. So no festival or concert plans at all actually. 

One cannot overlook the situation in Eastern Ukraine. How did that affect the metal activity in your region?

- Our region is still quite poor, even if we are the closest of the cities to the European Union and the prices are much like in the EU, the wages over here just horrible, hard to make for living. Most of the citizens just surviving or go abroad to work and get better conditions for living there. It limits the possibilities for any normal behaved metal activities as well, just in terms of organizing a show, you mostly bump into minuses rather than pluses. So you can’t make it forever. The same goes for the local bands, they simply can’t survive and fade out quickly. 

  Castrum's current line-up. L-R: Cornelius(guitar/vocals), Eugene(drums), Viktor(bass). 2014

You also mixed/produced several albums of some local bands and Domhring's "Vicar of Satan" (Hungarian black metal band fronted by our mutual friend Georgius - ed). Can you tell us about this activity? Are you still doing it? If so, any releases we shall hear for ourselves?

- Oh, I did plenty of such work in the past. Mainly for local bands, as you noticed. Besides the Domhring material I also mixed demos & albums for Vulvulator, Rise of Cadia, The Symbioz, GAZ-66 Intrusion, etc. Now I stopped doing this, but still fond of the whole procedure. So sometime maybe I will return to this hobby again.

You also re-designed Archangel's Lantern logo (our mutual friend Georgius' webzine). Have you done any art that was used by other bands or that is simply available somewhere else?

- I was mostly doing poster designs in the past for my events and for others too. I always liked the graphical way of manipulation, learned a few tricks, but nothing special. I designed the old Castrum logo, by the way.

What are your hobbies?

- We already touched most of them above. My hobbies connected with music, but when not, I like to swim, play football or table tennis, walk the nature.

What albums do you deem as influential (those who changed your vision towards metal and music in general)?

- Oh, there’s really plenty of them. But if focus to a few, then I would definitely mention albums with Destruction, Death, Dissection, Hypocrisy, Sodom, Kreator, Morbid Angel, Dismember, Vader, Grave, Kataklysm, that list is just endless, ha-ha… Too many good and influential albums to mention, you know.

And about your local cuisine: what foods and drinks can you recommend us?

- Well, the Transcarpathian cuisine is strongly influenced by the Hungarian, which I adore very much. I really like “gulyásleves”, which is a Hungarian soup, made of beef, vegetables, ground paprika and other spices. Also “lecsó”, it is also a Hungarian thick vegetable stew. But my top favorite is “Bécsi szelet” that is “Wiener schnitzel” as in Austrian, is a type of schnitzel made of a thin, breaded, pan-fried veal cutlet. As for the drinks, even if I do not drink alcohol at all, I would definitely recommend some sorts of local wine and our local specialty, which is cognac. 

Our interview is drawing to an end. Please tell us your future plans, and some words for the readers!

- Well, thank you so much Sorin for this in-depth interview and opportunity to be included at the webzine of Sadistik Witchfukk. Really great combination of questions, liked to answer them from the start till the end. Plan number one is to get fixed my health asap. Then to finally record my vocal parts for the 4th album of Castrum. Afterwards, I will be definitely interested to have some journeys in the form of tours. I hope the readers enjoyed our conversation and found out something to check out or simply listen to. Keep supporting your local scene, listen to the music you love, buy records, visit shows and have fun! 

                                          Castrum live in Uzhgorod/Ungvár, anno 2016

Important links: 

Castrum's official website: http://www.castrum.com.ua/ 

Bandcamp: https://castrum.bandcamp.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/castrum 

Myspace: https://myspace.com/castrum 

ReverbNation: https://www.reverbnation.com/castrum 

VKontakte: https://vk.com/castrum 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/castrumofficial 

Encomium-website: http://castrum.com.ua/encomium/ 

Encomium (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/encomium.zine

DMA (Death Metal Assault): https://www.facebook.com/deathmetalassault/

UzhGoreRot Festival: https://www.facebook.com/uzhgorerot/ 

Original source of this interview:  
http://sadistik-witchfukk.blogspot.com/2018/08/cornelius-interviewcastrum-ex-chamos-ex.html