IRON ANGEL – Interview with Maximilian Behr (drummer)

IRON ANGEL has existed since 1983 with various pauses. This band is another band that I first encountered in my youth, and it was in the early 90s of the last century, hehe… At that time I bought a pirate tape with the album “Hellish Crossfire”. Despite the very poor quality of the recording, their music – Heavy / Speed Metal – impressed me and as soon as I got information that they play again and they will soon release a new album in old school style, I thought about the interview…

Hello Max! What prompted you to return?

It was actually our bassist Didy Mackel who ingnited the spark for a possible reunion. He played a couple of festivals here in Germany and he saw a lot of people with Iron Angel shirts and patches and since he´s friends with Dirk since the 80s, he called him up and told him about that and during this conversation, the idea of reforming the band was born. That was 2014.

Is there still a need for your music?

Oh yes, definitely. Since so many bands out there play very sterile and emotionless Metal with too many gimmicks and less meat to it and so many people out there still worshipping the old days of Metal way more than it´s current state, it´s obvious that there is a need for music like ours.

What did you do in the meantime when IRON ANGEL was dormant?

Dirk joined Jürgen Richard Blackmore´s band in 1990, but didn´t stay with them for very long. Didy, originally from the band Mania, played in Not Fragile and Mitsch, Rob and myself played in some smaller bands around that time. For the rest of the old line-up, Mike also joined Blackmore´s band, but dropped out before Dirk did, Thorsten (who already left before the King Diamond tour in 1986) went to France to become a chef, which he did in a very successful way and what happened to Peter and Sven is already common knowlegde for Iron Angel fans.

In the modern age, Heavy Metal is not so popular. Rather, different varieties of Metalcore or Alternative Rock dominate. So, for who is your music directed? Good old Heavy Metal without modernist inclusions…

Like I said, I think there is still a need for a band like us, that pursues the old path of Heavy Metal, simply for the fact, that it is more real and less processed, amongst other reasons. I think it really gets worse, when Metal becomes one dimensional and a lot of newer bands tend to veer themselves into a corner musically and by editing a lot of human elements out, it becomes lame and boring. Our way of making music is more natural and more unbiased actually. That sort of purity makes a lot of difference.

Only Dirk Schröder remained from the original line-up? Who are the other musicians….

Didy Mackel is the bassist of the band and as a former member of Mania, he´s also one of the guys, that were around at the inception of the whole scene back in the day. The guitarists are Mitsch Meyer and Robert Altenbach. The former wrote the majority of the music for the new album, while the latter contributed one song musically and then there´s me, the drummer and main lyricist for the band.

The drummer who writes lyrics ?! It’s rare.

Well, for Iron Angel it is actually not a rare thing, since back in the day Mike Matthes, the original drummer, wrote the lyrics to their songs too, except for two or three songs. I´d like to use a certain frame, that fits the music to put a subject into. I think music and lyrics should always go hand in hand. A lot of bands really don´t care about that or their lyrics at all, but they´re definitely an important part of the song. As for me, I like to put stuff into the lyrics, that are not always that obvious to the listener, only to those, who look deeper into it. For example: “Writing´s on the wall” seems to depict a scene of a satanic ritual, yet it actually deals with a wall street broker´s greed, that ultimately caused his demise at the expense of others. The only song, that doesn´t really have that depth to it, is “Ministry of metal”. To be honest, I don´t really like subjects like that, but since it is part of what the band has always been about, we felt that we need at least one song in that lyrical style. Though Dirk didn´t wrote lyrics, I credited him in a couple of tracks as co-writer, because I used some phrases from his vocal demos and incorporated them into the lyrics of these songs.

Do younger musicians have the right to vote in new arrangements?

Of course. Everyone in Iron Angel has the same amount of rights. There are no „second row members” here in this band. You´ve got to understand, this is a real band, not just a one-man-project. Everybody contributes in one way or another and everyone is treated equally.

By the way… Great respect for Dirk Schröder for still having long hair. Many older musicians cut them off for convenience (unless they are bald and then they has no way out), hahaha… Many years ago Metalhead must have had long hair, today not necessarily…

Well, hair isn´t really a necessity to like something, but it is a sort of statement, especially noways. I feel like people are way more judgemental now than ever before and being a man with long hair can piss some people off, though I never understood why, it´s none of their business… So, long story short: It doesn´t matter how you look. If you´re into Metal and you support the bands you like, that´s all that truly matters. Still, nothing screams Metal like a long mane flowing and that´s a fact. 😉

Soon, 4th May your third (newest) album “Hellbound” will be released… What will characterize this music?

Right from the get-go, we wanted to make an album, that goes back to the original style of the band, without copying the first two albums and I think we really did it. All of our albums have their own signature are character to it and this one is no exception. It´s mostly composed of traditional Speed Metal songs with some classic Heavy Metal thrown in for good measure.

Indeed, the music for the album is classically, sharp and galloping forward, although with ke-eping a melody! The song “Waiting For A Miracle” is standing out by cool choirs…

Yes, the choirs. That was Dirk´s idea when we were in the studio. You know, Iron Angel have always had a certain diversity within their musical spectrum, even on “Hellish crossfire”. Not all of the songs there were straight forward Speed Metal, so even with this new album there´s a little bit of variety here and there.

And we go back to “Ministry of metal” – it has a great title. Where did the idea arrive for this song?

Some of the riffs in that song actually date back to the late 80s. Like I said, we felt that we had to do at least one song about metal and since this one has a very oldschool vibe to it (ac-tually a lot of the new songs have), it became apparent that it had to be this one. The lyrics came together pretty fast for this one. The demo for it was called “Sao Paolo” and Dirk was singing “Another night in Sao Paolo” on the chorus and I turned that into “This is the ministry of metal”. That is the way we work. He sings something randomly to find a vocal line and I use that vocals line to write the lyrics on top.

The album will be released by Mighty Music. Why did you just bet on this label?

They seem to be the right fit for us, because we wanted a label, that works eye-to-eye with us, that forms a team with us as a band and doesn´t try to screw us over and believe me, there are sooo many labels out there, that just make a fortune out of screwing bands over and we certainly didn´t want that. Also Mighty Music really take care of their artists and it´s a very close, yet professional atmosphere with them.

Ever since you returned you have played a lot of concerts in various parts of the world… Are the current fans different from those from the 80s of the twentieth century?

Actually their not that different at all. They wear the same things, they go nuts the same way as back then and it´s really nice to see that. Sometimes we´re kind of suprised, that so many young fans are also attracted to the band, but that´s a really great thing, since that shows, that some music truly is timeless.

How are concerts played today compared to concerts from years ago?

Our concerts are still played the way a band should perform live, which is just us without any gimmicks, like playbacks or bullshit like that and sadly, a lot of bands nowadays rely on stuff like that, treating a concert like some sort of necessity they had to do and with that mindset, they are probably in the wrong business… We enjoy playing live, always have been, always will be and the interaction with the fans is the greatest thing ever. Never forget, why you are where you are. It´s because of the fans and they deserve the best they can get.

Were there any concert boobs that they were very memorable to you?

I haven´t seen them on our shows yet and none of the other guys told me about any specific incident, so I guess not…

Does the bassist often make such behavior during concerts, that he disappears somewhere among the fans outside of the stage (he poses for photos, talks with fans) as in 2015 in Chile? After that he comes back to you with the guitar and joins the play. I got the impression that Dirk was a bit worried about this situation.

Hahaha, that´s Didy, that´s just the way he is. I mean, he kept playing, always. When you look at some of the live footage, he´s often doing some crazy moves here and there, but it´s OK, ´cause it never effects his playing and it´s great for the fans to have that additional entertainment. And believe me, Dirk wasn´t worried at all, they know each other for almost 35 years now, he knew, that nothing bad is going to happen.

Many bands employ technical crews to set up equipment at concerts. How is it in your case? These people are almost never mentioned, but they do a responsible job…

Yes, they do and I agree, they should get more recognition for what they are doing. Right now, we don´t have a set road crew, that is traveling with us. We mostly rely on the people at the venue, but who knows, that might change in the future.

What are your next concert plans?

The next shows are scheduled for May and will take place in Germany and Denmark. More shows all around the world are in the works, but nothing is concrete right now.

How do you perceive the contemporary Metal scene, not only from the Heavy Metal circle? Are there any modern bands that you like?

Hmmm, I can´t speak for the rest of the band on that, since they are mostly into newer bands, when they share a stylistic similarity to us. Overall, we´re all not too convinced with the Modern Metal scene as a whole. One of the „newer” bands I personally like a lot is Trivium.

And it is time to end our conversation. Thanks for the interview! I leave you the last words…

Thank you too, I enjoyed it. Stay heavy!

http://www.iron-angel.eu
https://www.facebook.com/IronAngel.hh

Home: Parczew (Poland). Interests / Hobbies: music, musical journalism, oriental studies, anthropology, psychology, medicine, sociology. Favourite music genres: first of all the all genres of Metal, Hardcore and Progressive Rock as well as Gothic, Ambient, Classical Music, Ethnic Music, Sacred Music, Choral Music, Soundtracks, New Age Music, Folk Music i sometimes Jazz, Electro, Experimental or Alternative Music... He co-founded magazine & webzine Born To Die'zine as Gnom.
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