Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Mindreaper, a German band that is exploring of the melodic death metal for over two decades. Formed in 2001, the band has navigated numerous lineup changes and stylistic evolutions, yet their unwavering passion for heavy music has remained a constant throughout their journey. As they prepare to unveil their third full-length album, “Withering Shine (…into Oblivion),” set to premiere in December 2024 under Death Age Records, you can to get know how their sound has matured. In this interview with Marcel Bangert (Guitar Player & Songwriter of the Band), we’ll delve into their creative process, the evolution of their sound, and what fans can expect from their upcoming album.
Hi, to start off, I’d like to ask a rather general question – what do you dream of as a musician?
From the actual point we have reach a very healthy situation in the band. In terms of live performance, sharing all the work which is needed that a band is staying alive and the relationships in the band. We are confident to work for a long time in this actual line up. That is something not every musician can achieve. Of course, if you are talking about the big success, that’s something, everyone is dreaming sometimes. But we are standing with both feet on the ground and are realistic about thing that will not happen for sure. We don`t try to make a living from our music. We all have time-consuming jobs. Therefore, a promotion through very long tours is difficult for us, but necessary for every band these days who want to reach a wider audience. For sure we will remain probably an underground band. But the shows and albums we want to deliver will always have the claim to be as professional as possible. Maybe with some luck that will pay off some day and we will see some bigger stages and get a wider fan base. If not, we will not gonna fall and stay on our path to keep the band running as long as we can, because we do it for the love of creating and playing music and for nothing else.
Mindreaper has been around for over two decades. What have been the key moments in the band’s history that have shaped your musical identity?
Definitely tours we have done with Six Feet Under in 2016 as well as the two weeks Russia Tour as a headliner back in 2017. That weld us together than nothing ever before. Of course, the whole working process on the actual Album Withering Shine (… Into Oblivion) in the current Line Up, because everyone stands behind this thing to 100%. Especially this album is a new born style for Mindreaper.
Over the years, you’ve gone through many changes in lineup and style. What were the most significant factors that influenced this evolution? Are there elements that have always been present in your music?
I think the most important steps were at the time Christian our Bass Player came into the band and we changed from 2 to 1 guitar player. To be honest we don`t consider the band for around 20 years in the actual Line-Up. This Band was getting really serious in a professional way in the time we could play our first tour with Six Feet Under back in 2016. That was also the time Chris (our Bass Player) and I could fully establish in this band for a significant influence on the current sound. With the current album we have done our first recording with me as the main part of the songwriting. Therefore, we can say that on our band has grown an” awakening” on a professional level in the last 8 years. Another very important change was the entry of our drummer Marcel Schneider. At 2019 the Line Up for this LP was already complete and has grown over the years to successfully complete this album, which is another beginning in the history of the band, because we have changed a lot in our music in this one.
Your new album “Withering Shine (…Into Oblivion)” is set to be released in December. What message would you like to convey to listeners through this album, and what do you think sets it apart from your previous releases?
Withering Shine (…Into Oblivion) is about the inevitability of death and the pull of the great oblivion from our individual life stories into the void. This theme can be seen as a grand summary that represents the album musically and lyrically as a whole. The flash point of the title comes by the passing of close relatives of mine, who had a bunch of very old pics even of their grandparents in their possession, which goes back at the ending of the 19th century. The imagination of throwing away all that stuff caused a shattering feeling in me. It feels like to extinct the certificate of their existence. As I continued to think about these, I was disgusted by the current trend on any social media outlet at the same time. But then I created a not valid social hypothesis just for myself. In that I could imagine the actual oversharing phenomenon on all social media platforms regarding to a most possible fantastic narcissistic self-portrayal is just a crust, where a deep desire of the mankind is underlying. A desire we developed maybe since the very beginning of all our cultural development. For me it is the deep longing to preserve of our own existence or to leave something lasting of them in the world as a small part of this universe, to save our reality to fall into oblivion. Ultimately nothing can be endless as a matter of fact that in 3.5 billion years, the sun will be 40 percent brighter than it is today, and the oceans on Earth will evaporate. Hard to believe the mankind will live somewhere after that (probably they will end long before), or every other being of life here on earth. Therefore, everything withers at some point into oblivion, nevertheless what we do now. In the contemporary history of the cosmos, our visit on earth is accordingly completely irrelevant from my point of view. This mindset gives me peace in the actual trend and a constant sadness at the same time. I shared these thoughts with the band and Sebastian created the lyrics on this topic for the album title, which is also the opening song.
The previous release is more about topics which deals with social criticism in general, while the new album represents more the immediate effects of a dystopian society on the individual personal level.
Your compositions are well-produced yet still sound organic and natural. What key decisions regarding the sound during the recording process influenced the final shape of the album?
Thank you very much. Well first, we have a very laborious pre-production especially if it comes to the instrumental sections. Before we go to the studio everything is worked out in a specific time map. Even if we have changes in the timing it doesn`t came as coincidence. It is planned out to play it as tight as possible, especially for the Drums who are the backbone of every production. This is from the first sight a more modern structure to make songs. But before the studio everyone is rehearsing a lot to bring more and more his personal note to the final performance. This is where Andy Classen is beginning to become very important. Today you can make thousands of takes for a part of a song and bring everything together. But Andy prefers that you play as longs as you can do it tight in an old school way to catch the fire of the first moment. That is a lesson he has teached us. For most of the time the first takes were the best, if you are prepared very well. Another important point was that we used our long proofed and specially selected equipment. We used an Engl Blackmore Amp with a Mesa Traditional Cab for the rhythm guitars for example, which is a more rock and traditional orientated Amp. Together with an ESP with Bareknuckle Pick Ups it is a not overused combination like EMG Guitars and Peavy 5150 for example. Then for Lead Guitars we used a very different set up like a Marshall JVM 410 together with the Soldano Plug In from Neural DSP and so on. The Clean Guitars where also played with very different combinations. This way there was a lot of own frequencies for every part of the spectrum of the guitars. Christian Schoenke (Bass Player) has a long elaborately created pedalboard with a very unique sound. So, we forged the sound together. Most of the bands just record their DI and let the Studio make all the sound, but we want the have it on our own hands to make our identity clear. Andy helped us a lot here to make the right decisions, because this is the old school way of recording, he also prefers. After the mixing and recording we had the feeling that we could try someone from a more modern kind of production for the right balance. That was where we get in contact with Tue Madsen. He did a stem mastering of the song from maybe 7-8 instrumental and vocals mixdowns. This was the way we have reached the final result; we couldn’t be happier with.
You utilized the popular format of a lyric video for promoting the album. Who created it, and how did the work on this material unfold? Who came up with the various scenes, and what did you aim to convey to the audience through them?
Both lyric videos „The God I Am“ and „Withering Shine (…Into Oblivion) were done by our bass player Christian „Ens“ Schoenke. In the Case of „The God I Am“ we have mainly used the artwork for the song which was created by an artist named Esther – Verdorbenes Obst. This Video represents the inner god in us with a little performance by the vocalist Sebastian, Manuel and me in the guitar solo. The Video „Withering Shine (…Into Oblivion) shows exactly the message of the title track I have described. In this case we chose the scenes as band, but Christian has putting everything together in a really professional and satisfactory result.
What was the creative process like while working on “Withering Shine (…Into Oblivion)”? How long did it take you to compose the material for the album? Did you have any specific goals or challenges you wanted to achieve?
It all begins with riffs and melodies on the guitar I create at home. The ideas can come from everywhere. They can come during practicing guitar or warm ups before a show, or I get a melody in my head which is coming out of nowhere while jogging, driving car, or just reading a book in totally silence. I transcribe the ideas then in tabulator editor software for guitar, bass, and other instruments like keyboards. There I write down the music and set the whole arrangement of the songs. If this is finished, I used that to record demos in my own home studio. Then I send the demo files to the band. With that everyone is recording their parts for a final demo in his own home studio. If the demo recording is finished, our bass player Chris is working with a lot of passion to create a serious pre-production, where he is trying different kind of effects (delays on vocals-, snare- & bass-sounds for example), which helps a lot to see what kind of atmosphere is suiting the songs best. The whole demo production is the basis for the real recordings in the studio. This helps the producer to see what kind of song we have in our mind and how they have to sound. What we are definitely not doing anymore is to forge some songs in the rehearsal room. When we rehearse the songs, we are practicing them also on the basis of the already finished demos.
The main goal was to develop more in a melodic style than ever before and to make a step forward in the production, which is worthy of a corresponding presentation without any compromises. We just wanted to avoid making a Mirror Construction 2.0. That would have been easy if we released the next album just in a gap of 2 years, since the last album. Therefore, it took us 6 years until we were able realize our vision of a new sound satisfactorily and authentically. We always prefer quality over quantity. Of course, we have no influence on whether this will actually convince the fans afterwards. But we can at least stand behind this album without any doubts that we actually gave everything we could do to create this album.
How did your experiences with other bands influence the music of Mindreaper?
In other bands were I was active I collected some experience to compose and arrange my first song ideas for sure. But for me, this was more a kind of a compromise most of the time, if to many wants to involve creating the music. The other guys from the band have shared this experience in a similar way. So I get the trust to do all the songs in terms of the instrumental section by myself so that the style has a clear signature. This is the way how it works for us. It doesn`t have to be a rule for other bands of course.
What have been the reactions of fans to your music over the years? Do you have any favorite memories related to interacting with them?
I think we have collected our most favorite memories during our headlining show in Russia back in 2017. The people were so interested in our music as well as in our personalities. We have sold a lot of stuff and did a lot of pics with the people. Also a lot of them are remembering us and have given us a lot of praise for the new album. There is nothing better for an underground band to have won real fans, especially over such a great distance.
How do you assess the current state of the metal scene in Germany? Have you noticed any changes in listeners’ tastes and trends in recent years?
There are more quality bands than ever before here in Germany with a high amount of really good and passionate musicians. That results to a lot of underground gigs here. But unfortunately since COVID-19, more and more small or middle sized organizer can no longer carry out an event, cause of the increasing costs; due to the decreasing availability of skilled workers (a lot of people have left this kind of business). On the other hand more and more people seem to prefer to go to the bigger and established acts, instead to visit a small gig of unknown bands. Maybe the underground scene is a little bit oversaturated with too many options and a lot of people are a little bit cold from the feeling, but still buying merchandise and praising your art afterwards via social media. If you compare live gigs in Germany with other countries like Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia this other countries in Europe seem more passionate about the underground and are living more for the moment. But that is just our experience.
What message would you like your music to convey to listeners? Are there any themes that particularly interest you and that you strive to explore in your lyrics?
We like to see all the topics we bring on the table as some kind of a social hypothesis, which are build up without any moral finger-wagging. In all the lyrics of the songs we neither judge, nor do we try to teach the listener in some kind of a certain opinion. We put forward hypotheses to lead to a philosophical discussion of different views. What we don`t do is to presume to know the correct answer by ourselves.
To make it short: Think by yourself on difficult topics is the main message we want give to the listeners.
Wetzlar seems like a small town. Besides you, are there other bands there that could be recommended to a wider audience? Are there concerts held there, or do you generally have to visit other cities for that?
Wetzlar is a town in the federal state of Hessen in Germany. So, it easier to recommend bands from this we have met and played with. Orcus Patera, Verderbnis, Destince, One Last Legacy, Conspiria, Pentarium are some great bands from here who are worth to listen to.
Are there any new bands that particularly capture your attention?
Not many. Jinjer with their album King of Everything was very decent from the songwriting for me. Obscura from Germany are also very awesome as musicians. But these bands are not really new born acts. Maybe Brutus I can mention here as a non-metal act. I loved their debut album Burst and the successor Nest to death the time they were released.
On a different note, are there any albums that you’ve approached multiple times but still don’t understand their phenomenon?
Yes. Scum from Napalm Death. I can`t understand that type of music. I know how important it is for the scene, but for me this stuff just don`t make any sense and it sounds just like random noise with out of time vocals all over the place. And every record from Motörhead. An important cult band for many without any question, but their stuff left me cold and is just pure boredom to me. Sorry Lemmy.
Aside from music, what other passions and interests do the band members have? How do these passions influence your musical creativity? Is there something special outside of music that you enjoy dedicating your free time to?
There are not many passions besides the music. We have really jobs besides the band and private obligations; therefore there is not much time besides the band. Maybe a little bit jogging and bicycle driving or reading books. Books may have been an influence to some the lyrics by our singer, but all in all we are musicians 24/7 in heart and soul.
What are your plans for the future after the release of the new album? Are you planning a tour, or are you already working on new material?
We are planning some music videos to visualizing the stories about our strongest songs from this album for single releases. Besides that, we are looking forward to some offers for possible touring in 2025. If it comes to new ideas, I am always in some kind of a songwriting mood. I have collected a lot of riffs since the album was done with the recording, but they need a little bit effort the make real songs out of it. New stuff will come if the time is ready. From now on we are looking forward to promote the new album as much as we can.
Thank you for your answers, and I wish you all the best. The final words are yours! 🙂
We want to thank to all of you out there who are listening to our music, supporting us and are visiting our shows. Also, many thanks to everyone who is truly supporting every part of the underground scene all over the world. You are the ones who keep the spirit of metal alive for real.
https://mindreaper.bandcamp.com/
