RITUAL STEEL – Interview with Sascha Maurer

“The silence stopped when we appeared with hunger in our eyes. The angels hid behind the clouds from our infernal cries. We stood as one and screamed aloud, our chests bloated by steam: We're burning to march on FOR VICTORY”

There was already quite loud around this German outfit in the underground circles, as guys kicked some major asses with their debut 7″ single “Orchid Queen”. They're full lenght debut release “A Hell Of A Knight” is still hot, so I decided to ask few, not necessary serious questions to Sascha Maurer, a hellish screamer of the Ritual Steel.

Hail Brother! You have just released your full lenght debut “A Hell Of A Knight”, a piece of pure steel! I guess that all the old Metal maniaxe like me just love it – but tell me please as the author, would you like to change anything?

Hail, hail, my friend. Well, there are a few things I would have changed, for sure, I'd taken more time doing my vocals, I did in within four hours and there are a few passages that I could do much better. It was – for me – all a question of money but next time we enter the studio I will be prepared, financially. I will take more time and deliver real killer vocals. The rest is quite good, I am happy with the album.

I know you will release it also on LP format, I heard about expected bonus tracks. Any comments?

Okay, you got me, yes, we do a Manilla Road cover, “Necropolis”, we also do an original named “Metal Supremacy”, a fast paced, nearly thrashing song. The recordings were made last summer in our rehearsalroom with a mobile studio. The guitars on those two tracks were handled by our friend Mark Schuster, who joined us for a while when Timo and Dirk left us for different reasons.

Your first releease was the “Orchid Queen” 7″. Sadly I haven't heard it – can you compare it with the full lenght CD?

“Orchid Queen” is a rock song, it came out of a rehearsal when our then (and hopefully future) second guitarist Benjamin was tuning his guitar. It was really like that, he came up with that rocking riff and the band joined him playing and finally I came up with lyrics and so it became that song. “Liquid Steel” is my composition, it is similar to the album tracks, fast paced, heavy, slightly anthemic. The sound is different, for sure, we did not take too much time for everything. I really love this 7″ though.

I know you all are fans of the 70's / 80's obscure Metal stuff. Why you haven't recorded any cover tune? Do you play covers alive? Are you planning to record some?

I could play tons of covertunes, 70s and 80s stuff, Wishbone Ash's “Warrior” would be great, or Pentagram “Lazy Lady”, “BE Forwarned”, “Sign of the wolf”, Winterhawk, Amulet, Angelwitch, there is alot of stuff I'd like to coverversions of. We actually do “Necropolis” of Manilla Road, we do it live and include it on our album, the vinyl version. We will do more stuff for the future, surely, but we are concentrating on writing originals, we try to climb up onto the level, our heroes had. Originality and magick power are the things that count for us.

How does it came to signing a deal with mighty Miskatonic Foundation? And what do you think about relases of your labelmates TWISTED TOWER DIRE, SLOUGH FEG and IRONSWORD?

I love them. I love those bands. They're all wonderful guys. The music is classical, very original. I have some doubts about the forthcoming TTD album, since some friends have heard a couple of tracks and said they were totally average birdsong style happy metal with a touch of old TTD now. Well, I will check the album and build my own opinion about it. If it is not of my liking, well, to hell with it. But the stuff on Miskatonic is awesome, all the stuff. Rich has a good hand for original bands. Ironsword rock like hell, a cross between Manilla Road and Omen, of course, the sound is not too innovative but the songs are catchy and memorable. Lovely stuff…

Together with Japanese cult band GORGON you sung “Bright Lights” of mighty TRESPASS, live on stage at the Headbangers Open Air. Whose idea it was? What do you think about these worshippers of the 80's Metal spirit from Japan: GORGON, METALUCIFER and DUEL? All of them play in a bit different style, but all follow the NWoBHM way…

I haven't heard Düel yet but I'd love to get hold of them…Gorgon rule, the singer is not too professional but it is the spirit and fun that counts and Gorgon do it with passion. I like it better this way, it is the early NWoBHM way, they do it on a grassroots level and do it for the love of the music. The idea to cover “Bright LIghts” was mine, it is my fave song of Trespass and as I made the connection of the Gorgon guys and got to know they come to Germany, well, I thought we could make it and we did. It was just for fun, my voice was very strongly damaged that day and I messed up the third verse, well, it was a good time on stage and the people loved it. As I did. Well, Metalucifer, they are also great and don't take the whole “True Metal” thing too seriously while they take their music very seriously. Good band, great songs with the original feeling of the pioneer days of Heavy Metal. They play the metal as it once was and could actually be forever. I prefer this stuff over the totally flat, one dimensional melodic metal of nowadays.

When I listen to RITUAL STEEL, names such as CIRITH UNGOL, MANILLA ROAD, (early) RUNING WILD, GRAVE DIGGER & ACCEPT, or let's say even LORD VADER are walking around me… Will you agree with such comparisions?

Oh, man, we play the same style as those bands and still we cannot deny our influences. Sure, these comparisons are fine, it was all the metal we like. But we will not stay on a level like we have with the first album. We will develop into a unique force in hardrock and metal.

I would compare your person to Piet Sielck of IRON SAVIOR: you are for a long time on the Metal scene (you write reviews for HELLION RECORDS as Sir Lord Doom), but you started with own band so late. Why?

Well, if you would compare my person to Piet Sielck, I would beat up your butt, my friend ;-). Just kidding. Even though I cannot stand Piet at all, his productions, his band, his craving for recognition (you will notice that when you hear his productions with him singing backing vocals, joining the singer on the verses, etc.), there might me some similarities, well, well… But I did not start that late with a band, I had two albums with two bands in 2000, “Beschwörung” (engl.: “Conjuration”) with my Folk/Goth/Metal Outfit FOrgotten North (private Release, ltd. 550 copies) and “The paralysed days” with my technical Powermetalband Carpdiem. Both bands still exist but changed style a bit since I left / was forced to leave. I am singing in bands for 9 years now, been together with Forgotten North since 1995, had a 60 minute demo back in 1996 with that band and a CDR album with a band named Cachura in 1998. Oh, I did alot of music, sometimes strange, sometimes accessible.

Is your nick Sir Lord Doom taken from name of Sir Lord Baltimore? As I know you're also great admirator of the 70's Occult / Prog Rock. What bands would you mention as your fave ones?

Ha, you got it. Not many people in the metal scene do know much about the 70s stuff, so I am very happy you know about this and recognized the source of my nickname. I got the name DOOM first for my first band, than was Lord Doom for the next band and finally I added the SIR for my reviews at Hellion, I created a comic character for that, ha. And Sir Lord Baltimore, well, yeah, they kicked my ass badly with their two albums, it rocks! A good influence for me (and not only me but also my fave band Pentagram are big fans of these hardrock godz) My personal 70s faves would be Sir Lord Baltimore, Julian's Treatment (epic rock band from London, two albums), Black Widow (their flutist Clive Jones is a friend of mine), Supernaut (they did a demo for Vertigo in 1973, being rejected for their pure heaviness, now their demo got reissued on CD, it is like mostly instrumental dark / doom hardrock), Jerusalem (1972 powerhardrock from England, produced by Ian Gillan), Rush (first four albums), Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath (first five albums), Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Mellow Candle (an enchanting Folkband from Ireland), Sorcery (Chicago, earthy but epic hardrock), Sorcery II (the band that did the soundtrack to “Stuntrock”, which was cool, theatralic hardrock), Irish Coffee (belgian hardrock from 1971, heavy and organ driven); early Genesis, ELP, Budgie, Buffalo from Australia, I could not tell all my faves…I like the occult, dark rockmusic, I like hardrock no matter if major bands (which were still very inspired then) or underground, I like folky music and progressive bands from that era. It was all like a witches cauldron for me, inspiration, magick, visions, all went hand in hand back then. The music was so colorful. It all started to go down in the mid 80s I think.

My personal tastes starts also around 60's / 70's Hard Rock, of course through 80's Metal, to the extreme Black & Death stuff of the 90's. What bands of the 90's would you pick up as the best ones – on the extreme Metal field? And what do you think about Nu Metal and all those Sympho bands such as DIMMU BORGIR & CRADLE? In my opinion Nu Metal is not Metal, and the CRADLE / DIMMU bands have cool dark atmospehere, but actually there is almost no Metal in their music, because when you will turn off their keyobards, almost nothing will stay…

I found alot of bands in the early 90s that I loved, the death and blackmetal, good stuff came from that last really exciting movements. I'd pick Burzum, Darkthrone, Master's Hammer, early Rotting Christ, Asphyx (my faves), Benediction (until 1993), Dismember, Impaled Nazarene, Beherit (their metal stuff), Entombed (only their Deathmetal albums), Death, Deicide, Graveland (for the atmosphere), Pan thy monium, Edge of Sanity, Deceased, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Winter, Gorefest, Grave, Acheron, Samael (first album), Cerebral Fix, tons of stuff, also great 80s bands from the extreme side like Death, Slaughter, Infernal Majesty, Possessed, Repulsion, Napalm Death, Terrorizer and more. Well, Nu Metal, it is no metal indeed, it is also mostly uninspired, hectical, psychotic rockmusic with no spirit and magick. Well, from the symphonic black metal I like Cradle of Filth, the new album is quite great to me. It is inspired, there is metal inside I think. I like the stuff, from the first album on. Oh, well, extreme metal is a source of inspiration for me. If you look at the nu metal, there is some good stuff if you combine the psychotic moment with some traditional elements and get magick music out of it, well, this could be very good. Into Eternity, Section 16 and Postman Syndrome do some nice progressive Rock / Metal combined with this so called nu metal. It is wonderful, still a bit hard to get into first and not of everybodies liking but it is, to me, very good stuff. But actually I stay with the stuff from 1966 to 1993, the best 27 years in rock…

Do you have good relationship with East European Metal scene? What bands you like most?

Metal from Eastern Europe? Well, i am into alot of stuff, for sure Turbo, CETI (sorry for being late with the review), Kat, and since my girlfriend is hungarian I have alot of hungarian faves like Pokolgep, Ossian, Lord, P.Mobil, Pandora's Box… but I am mostly into the old stuff, the current bands mostly bore me. Heard a russian band lately playing the same old stuff like Stratovarius do for ten years now, I would not need this. I like the stuff from the 80s to the early 90s. Karthago from Hungary, Aria, Monomakh (from Russia), CETI, Kat, Turbo, Voodoo, even TSA, Dragon, Master, Master's Hammer, Törr, Omen, Pandora's Box, P:Mobil, this would be my faves…did I mention some bands twice? Sorry ;-)!

There is an opinion that wearing of tight ttrousers make man's potention weaker… Any comments? Haha…

I stay with Jeans and shirt, I cannot tell about tight trousers…

Do you have a girlfriend, or you prefer the one night adventures? I heard that some cool girtrls are working at HELLION's store, hehe… Or maybe RITUAL STEEL have already some groupies?

Well, I have a girlfriend, hungarian native, but I would never say never. Yeah, the cool girls at the Hellion Office, ha! Petra is my former girlfriend, she's a hot little lover but I am not rreally interested anymore, Andrea is 8 years senior to me, she's a wonderful friend and beautiful woman but I'd not even think of touching her. But there are others that will come my way. Groupies? Did you ever see a photograph of us? We're not the most beautiful band in the world, well, well, well.

Ohhh, the time for my visit at Hellion Records is coming! Haha… What's for you to be Metal? Are you die hard?

Being METAL is to be free, to be different, to have inspirations and keep them, to follow your own visions and of course to listen to some fucking heavy music. I am not a die hard when it comes to ignore other styles, I am a die hard with the bands I already like and the digging in the underground for new jewels, past and present. You know, “Liquid steel is running through my veins…”

Ok. I think that'sall I wanted to ask for, thanks for a nice talk, my Brother! Last words are yours, maybe inform the maniacs how to get in touch with you, where to get your merchandise and so on!

I thank you for this wonderful interview, I thank the guys who once started to play this style and I thank the people who keep it all alive nowadays…I don't thank those who make metal a farce. Everybody who wants to get in touch with me can do it at sirlorddoom@aol.com. It is good to talk to the people out there. Do not believe in anything else but your own vision… Blessed be…