rozhovor_2016-09-06_Sodom_en - HELLMAGAZINE

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ROZHOVORY

Band SODOM since they established at 1981, MTF at Zvolenská Slatina was the first experience at Slovak Republic for SODOM. Interview with guitarist of SODOM – Mr. Bernmann about they feelings and experiences from Slovakia, about their new album Decision Day and many other things at authentic rewrite of phone-call interview is coming next in text.

Hello Mr. B., my name is Monika and I am from Slovakia.

Hi, Hello. Ah, from Slovakia right? Yes, that´s right. OK, Nice to meet you.

Last time you were with Tom & Makka. You came to Slovakia for More Than Fest. I was there as well so, thank you very much; you came here for power of trash metal, how about your feelings about More Than Fest and about your first experience in Slovakia?

When we started this weekend, I said to Tom; “hey Tom did you ever played before in Slovakia?” “I don’t, so this is really the first time that I come to Slovakia.” And Tom your thinking; Tommy said –“no you are right, this is the really first time we´re going to that end”. And we asked ourselves, why? In the past we´ve never get any offers I guess that we never come. That is the pity. Yeah, and we enjoyed the time very much; we flew to Budapest and then we go by the van we come to I don’t know how to spell. We have a great time; it was a nice festival, we had really great weather, we were very happy, it was a hot during the day and when we enter the stage swelling it´s getting dark, it was a little colder, it was perfect, there was a good sound, there was good equipment, there were good people; very friendly people working there, the fans were great, so we had a really successful weekend. It was great.

This is very nice to hear for me.

I feel the same, you were great. Thanks

And tell me; is there a difference between the fans today and those from golden 80´s?

I believe, in the 80´s, I guess that was really a little wilder, because at this time, I guess there were only young people listening. Nowadays, when you are going to festival, there also….this makes me very happy. There are also very young people; I see from the stage last weekend. I can see children at the first row, really the children, not much but you know. Yeah! There are also coming young people to the shows but of course, people with my age for example I guess it stop that maybe it is….., I don’t know, it is a long time ago so it is what I remember, maybe at this time I was also more revolution, I have the feeling that everything was a little wilder and maybe a little more aggressive but today the fans, I guess the heart of the fans doesn’t changed. So I am so proud about the fans you can play everywhere around the world; and the people if you going to Japan, or if you are going to another place, so you meet really a fresh metal fans, if they heart that is always the same kind of people and yeah, this is cool so and I don’t think that the situation changed so much, maybe in the past that was more exiting because it was new in the 80´s, yeah. There was some kind of fire in that people of 80´s and now more cold men or something like that but I am very happy that you enjoy this is the first for us

Let me say, the fire, the fire is still alive in the fans.

Ah, yeah. Maybe, it is, I was also younger, so maybe I see this from different point of view today, I don’t know but I guess, everybody can see the fire, it is in fans still alive, it is still burning you know.

Excellent, excellent; can we speak a bit about your new album this Decision day?

Sure. Ah, I think that Decision day have something to do, if I can say so, with the D day in 1944.

People could think that there is something like your sense about the political situation in the EU now. What do you think about it?

Decision day is not a concept album. So you know, there is a title for example like Caligula; this has really nothing to do with the political situation, or for the title of Blood lion, where Thomas is singing about this hunting, hunting in Africa when they shoot lions for a lot of money and this stuff but of course, Tom lost like, he likes to write about political themes and these are things, that are in his head; so Tom alone, he is responsible for the lyric, and always Tom likes to write about war because it is something that is impressing him very much and he wants to talk about the circumstance nowadays in this world about maybe bad and good things that happen but now for example, when you see the shit that now happens in the US that´s idiot from Tramps´, it´s a joke that someone like he maybe will become the most powerful man in the world, so I cannot understand what´s going on in the peoples´ mind and this are things that Thomas is writing about, so Decision days is not a concept album about the second world war about this D day in France.

Ohm, thank you very much. And may I ask you, there is a possibility that everybody in the world will hear your new album. What is the message for the world? What you want to tell the people through this master piece?

I want to tell to all the world (ha-ha), no I want to tell to the fresh metal fans that I want to say. Thank you, very big thank you to all of the SODOM fans of all over the world, they keep spirit alive so they support us for so many, many years, I can’t believe it, how long could that exist and the fans still love us, they still come to help us by coming to the shows, they are buying CD´s and I really, this is my biggest wish to play as long as possible to meet this wonderful people to play shows to talk to the people, get some drinks together enjoying the time, and yeah, playing the fresh metal as long as possible. That is my biggest wish. Oh yeah, I understand you. From my personal I can tell you that most of the people there, when I asked them, why are you here for, what band? Most of them told me „SODOM“ SODOM“...ha-ha. You know it was.

I am so proud, I am so fucking proud of this; really this is very important for us.

We can see that for the fans, as well, this is very powerful combination and as well many fans of, let’s say of Motorhead likes the cover of Decision Day. Tell me about it?

Ha-ha-ha, yeah, so this is a very long time ago that last year when Tom has idea to ask Joe for the cover. We were not really happy with the last two CD covers and, so we thinking about a new concept, especially on the CD, yes, you cannot make so many details, like when I see the Epitome of torcher, there is a tank, there is a skull here and there and you know you need a microscope to see all this. So we want, the Knapfandheim in the Santa, so finally Tom has the idea to ask Joe for the cover, for the art work and Joe he knew SODOM very well and, he likes the idea to work for us very much and so he started last year with the first drawing and he show to us and then we change little here little there and yeah, we all love the Motorheads´, you know, so that was also an honour for us to work with Joe and I guess that he also he likes and he knows the SODOM for very long time and it was also the pleasure I guess also for him as for all of us, we enjoy this relationship very much.

Ohm, I like the cover as well, excellent thought - the idea.

Yeah, yeah

And how about, are there any ideas for the next album, maybe a date or anything?

For the next?

Next after Decision Day. Are there any ideas or something you want to, you know?

No, no, now it´ s too early but most people ask me; what are your plans for the future? So really, SODOM was the band always, we come to the rehearsal room, with the bottle of beer, we say hello we´re making some music; I love to make music I love ideas; I destroyed my ideas after so many years. (Ha-ha). I love to make loud music, to hang around with Thomas and Makka, have some beer making music and so we never talk about what are we going to make next no, we meet and we are making music and then we do this what we like and what we love, maybe sometimes we have a cover songs, maybe or maybe not, I don’t know; really we don’t talk about this and also never, never before the CD we said; oh now we must to make that, we must sound like this or we must sound like that, no, we just meet playing, enjoying ourselves and yeah, and (ha-ha) what we love....it´s just the secret, very easy.

I would like to ask you about the, you now there was some inter face changes, few of them through the time. Do you think that you three now as you play, the chemic between you this is the right or what you mean?

Yeah, so I believe that we can work together so I play with SODOM now for many years and I know Makka our drummer, I know him since many years, I know Makka when he was only 16 years old, so I was, I has a rehearsals room with a band in Dortmund, my home city, and Makka is also from Dortmund; so he is living more or less in the neighbourhood, and I know him since he was a child more or less, so this was very easy after Bobby our old drummer, after he left the band, I did not thought about any other drummers like I guess I said to Tom, let’s call Makka, he will be the right one for us. Tom knows k also and he agrees and so it was very quick and very easy to get Makka into the band. For us it is very important that we have a good chemistry into the band, we are all from the same area, we have a same kind of humour, it is very important and because we spend so much time together on tour like the last weekend in Slovakia, this is three days traveling, show days, so we came back on Sunday night and, you know you spend so much time that you cannot spend that time when you don’t like each other, you know.

Ah, yeah I understand, you have to be something like brothers...ha-ha.

It´s not, honestly, it´s not always like brothers, at the moment yes it is so fucking happy that we are, our CD we invested so much work...and know in the moment we are all very happy and it is also very good for the band chemistry you know when you successful, when you see that the people they like your work, they like your ideas and this is the biggest success for the band. That people like what you are doing.

And this is crazy and this is amazing, so that in this time we have a very good relationship. I guess on the last weekend you can see that, we-all of us, Tom, Maka and me, we enjoy playing together, we enjoy having a good time, that fans and yeah, and so after all this long time after this many years we still love to go on stage together and play.

It must be amazing feeling when you stand up and you see the fans, to see you and hear what you say and they like, oh my God, and can I ask you if you listen something else, other bands?

Other bands? Yeah…I don’t know if it is inspiration, sure, so most of the time I am listening to for example...I still love old Slayer, old Metallica, Megadeth, but also I have decent influences of eh, I like very much Faith morning or for example, you know Criminal Of Glory - fans of Criminal Of Glory from the 80´s?

So, I don’t have only this fresh roots, yeah I also have a melodically roots, like Faith morning, for example or in the past I was ...when I was younger I grow up with ....band like a Queen for example, you know, so and have a background so it has little more maybe that only fresh metal and sometimes I guess you can hear this in the ....really brutal and very fast fresh rives but on the other side with melodic parts, melodic influences, I guess this makes ...for me more interesting; if you mix little bit melody to our music.

Ohm, well from me this is all but just one more thing, what would like to say, message to Slovakian fans?

(Ha-ha-ha), this is very easy, first of all, I like to say thank you so much, we were very very happy to play the last weekend first time in Slovakia, we were very happy how many people know us and how this people how they welcomed us in Slovakia on stage. We are very happy to see this, how many people like the band and we hope that we come next time and we don’t need so many years (ha-ha) to come back, so we enjoyed the time in Slovakia it is a very hope to nice to say how to say it was very comfortable...the whole environment, the hotel was fine, the people were friendly, the venue was cool, so we enjoyed the time in Slovakia very much and we will love to come back as soon as possible.

Mr. B, my pleasure to hear this, really, from the deep in my heart thank you very much for all the fans of SODOM from Slovakia and we will let them know all you tell me just now and once again personal thank you very much for More Than Fest. I was there also first time in my life ...it was amazing, amazing, congratulation.

I thank you so much, I guess you must believe this, I guess when you see me playing on stage last weekend; you can see that everybody was smiling and having fun. So this was really the special night for us to come after we visited so many countries, of course the special night for us to play the first time in Slovakia. That was cool and we wish to come back soon. Thank you so much to all fans.

We wish you to come as soon as again and once more thank you very much; all the best for you from Slovakia fans.

Thank you very much, hopes to meet you soon, thank you.

Added: Monika Ziková & Viktor Uhliarik

Added: 06.09.2016

Photo: Pavel Šimo