Interview with Ed of Hail of Bullets 2008

By Bradley Smith

Your debut album Of Frost and War has hit the streets and carries an extremely morbid sound.  How did you achieve this sound and what musical elements did you envision when you first started creating Of Frost and War?

The musical elements were in place right from the beginning, we all knew how this band should sound: like a tank plodding through thick layers of blood ‘n mud. So we really tried to stress that image in the songwriting, employing very little melody and focussing on bleak, crushing riffery. We also really pushed Dan to come up with the nastiest, fattest wall of guitars imaginable, and I think he accomplished his mission very well!

The press has reacted quite positively towards Of Frost and War.  Did you expect this level of acceptance and warmth towards the album?  How have the fans reacted and how important to you is their acceptance of the album?

To be honest, yes. I mean, you know when you’re working on something if it’s good or not, at least I do. Of course I had some doubts as to whether people would accept such an old-fashioned album in 2008, but I had a lot of faith in the material itself. But more important than critical acceptance is the reaction of the fans, and that has been really overwhelming. Our MySpace is flooded with positive comments, and you can really tell we hit a nerve with a lot of people.

Marten Van Drunen chose The Eastern Front during WWII as the main topic for the lyrics.  What makes this a worthwhile topic to concentrate on?  Even though Hail of Bullets has no political agenda are you worried that some people might misinterpret your motives with these lyrics? 

It’s a great topic to build a death metal album around; it’s brutal, epic, and there’s lots of room for the gruesome imagery the music needs.

We’ve already been called communists as well as fascists by some less than intelligent individuals, but in general people are smart enough to see there’s nothing in our lyrics to justify either accusation. I realize a band made up of bald guys wearing combat clothing releasing a war album may seem dubious to some, but anyone who takes the time to actually read the lyrics will find appearances to be most deceiving in this case. Martin is a raving pacifist, and he definitely did not set out to glorify war in any way, quite the opposite.

Before forming you guys got together for a huge drinking party where you listened to and discussed your love of old school death metal.  What albums/bands did you guys listen to that night and what conclusions did you make during that drinkfest?  What alcohol did you guys drink that night?

I think we talked about better music than we actually got to hear, since we went to a local rockbar. Don’t hear much Autopsy or Entombed in those… I remember drinking a lot of beer before switching to tequila, after which there’s a bit of a blank spot in my memory, haha! We woke up the next morning with a massive hangover, but it was clear that we had formed a band, so we went outside into Theo’s garden and made our first bandphoto’s (to be found on our MySpace, they’re quite hilarious). 

On a related topic, during the early days there was a sort of Magic about old school death metal.  What do you think made the old scene so special and all the bands unique?  What do you feel are some bands to be praised above all others and why?

I was never into punk, but I guess the early death metal bands had a very “punk” attitude, as in “who cares if I can’t play, I’m gonna make some brutal music anyway”. Bands like Nihilist/Entombed, Carnage/Dismember, Autopsy, Obituary, all really raw and primitive stuff, but it blows away anything that’s considered “brutal” these days. Bands were also more concerned with doing their own thing instead of copying a successful sound, so there was a lot of diversity.

To me Entombed were the real eye-opener, once I heard Left hand Path there was no way back; I had to play death metal. I still consider that the best death metal album ever, although Autopsy’s Severed Survival and Death’s Scream Bloody Gore are also strong contenders for that spot.

Do you think that death metal these days is too concerned with playing really technical rather than evoking certain moods and atmospheres through emotion and feeling within the music?  What I mean is that a lot of bands though technically good are rather lifeless when it comes to actually “possessing” the listener.

Absolutely, and it bores me to tears. So you can blast at 270 bpm, great. Is it brutal? No. Is it a freakshow? You bet. Is it death metal? Not even close. I love Morbid Angel or Vader, bands that play really fast and technical stuff but without losing the brutality and atmosphere. But for every one of those there’s a hundred crap bands, playing crap riffs over triggered/programmed drums, hopelessly confusing speed with brutality. Do I sound like an old git already?

Dan Swano stated after recording the demo that he guaranteed that you guys would get an album deal based on it.  How did having the confidence of him feel for you?  Were you as assured that you would get a good record deal based on the demo? 

Like I said, the level of confidence in this band is quite high, but it still feels great if a guy like that has the same opinion. I remember sending him some home-made demo’s to convince him to mix our first promo, and he replied with something like “yeeeeaaahhhhh, that’s my kind of death metal!!!!!”, so that was a nice confidence boost!

When you started with Hail of Bullets did it induce a renewed sense of excitement in you or is crafting death metal easy by now and sometimes is it even a chore?  How is Hail of Bullets different for you than Gorefest?

I find it incredibly exciting to play this kind of stuff, and I’m sure all of us feel the same way. If crafting death metal becomes a chore you should stop doing it, simple as that. I guess writing for Hail Of Bullets is easier in that we don’t worry too much about originality. For instance if something sounds a bit like Bolt Thrower or Entombed it’s cool, whereas in Gorefest I’d have to fight tooth and nail to defend a part like that. And the funny thing is that we ended up with a somewhat original sound anyway, although it is of course firmly rooted in the glorious past.

Since lyrically Hail of Bullets deals with warfare I wanted your opinion this subject.  A lot of the violence we’ve faced throughout history is directly related to events that preceded it.  Basically it is a cycle of violence stemming back into history.  How do we as humans break these cycles?   Should we break them or are violence and war natural occurrences amongst our species?

The latter, I’m afraid. I think there’s a huge and terrifyingly insatiable bloodlust enclosed in our DNA, just look at how quickly and gleefully people degenerate into puppy-throwing, child-killing, women-torturing sadistic maniacs as soon as they’re thrown into a war situation. Any excuse will do, and off we go. Kill, kill, kill. Sickening, but completely inherent to human nature. Not a very positive view, I know, but you just have to watch the news to know it’s true.

I noticed in another interview according to Stephan that apparently there were some people within the Dutch metal community that seemed to have a problem with you guys forming Hail of Bullets.  Why was this?  Has their attitude changed and why do they think that their voice matters anyways?

Well, there’s always a sense of professional jealousy you have to deal with. Most people that write for magazines/webzines are also in bands, and I guess it’s hard to swallow to see a “new” band achieving everything they haven’t, and in so little time too. So there’s a strong sense of  “let’s see these guys fail”, and it stings even more that we didn’t/don’t.

And no, I don’t think their voice matters. But it does piss me off when some asshole kid rags on something I’ve poured my heart and soul into. But that’s the internet age for ‘ya.

What are your future plans for Hail of Bullets?  Will there be any touring or any new recorded material hitting the streets.

There’ll be some very selective gigging/touring this year, mainly festivals and high profile one-offs. Although we definitely intend to do another album I wouldn’t expect any new material until 2010. EP’s aren’t really marketable anymore, and before we’ve written an entire new album…

I’ll leave the Final Words for you as we begin “Advancing Once More.”

Ha, my second least favourite question as it always leaves me at a loss for words after running my mouth off extensively… how about thanks for reading and make sure to check out our new album? Yeah, lame, I know…