INTERVIEW: Megaton Sword

Greetings MEGATON SWORD! For those reading, this Swiss epic Heavy Metal band have released some truly fantastical music, below we talk to 2 of the founding members.

1. So first up, please do the introductions, who’re we talking to? What other bands do you guys have? You know, the pleasantries!
   
   TS: I’m Dan Thundersteel, batterer of drums in the realm of Niralet. Whenever I’m not engaging in spreading True Heavy Metal with Megaton Sword, I play drums in the Post Punk Band Anger Mgmt. and crunch out blastbeats in Forlet Sires, where Seth Angel plays guitar as well. All the other members play in other bands as well, except Simon the Sorcerer. He is so busy composing Epic Metal hymns for the glory of Niralet, that he doesn’t have time to lend his low frequency assaulting skills to any other project currently.
   
   STS: Simon the Sorcerer, bass player, songwriter and asset manager of the band, haha.

2. Before getting onto your music specifically, you come from Switzerland, which as produced some legendary Heavy Metal bands over the years (not least Hellhammer / Celtic Frost and Messiah), but does your country have a very active scene nowadays or do you feel quite isolated compared to say a German or French band? If you can recommend some underground bangers from your country for us, please do!
   
   TS: Switzerland has quite a small but very dedicated and active underground Metal scene, which is however, more oriented towards Extreme Metal. There currently aren’t many bands holding up the torch of traditional Heavy Metal besides us and the awesome Sin Starlett from Lucerne (ed: really dig their new album!). We don’t feel isolated at all though. Being one of the few classic Heavy Metal bands from Switzerland makes us stand out even more and we can also feel that the local scene welcomed us with open arms, as it isn’t oversaturated with classic Heavy Metal bands yet, like the German scene for example. To be honest however, we’re not very much active in the local metal scene, as Winterthur and the surrounding villages just have an underground music scene. Genre doesn’t really matter around here, as long as you’re dedicated to what you’re playing. Everyone mingles with everyone and that makes Winterthur quite interesting for music and culture in general. We do maintain strong ties to the Helvetic Underground Committee from Zurich and the Chaos Ritval gang though, as well as to our brothers in Vomitheist and Haile Selacid from the neighboring town Frauenfeld. Both bands that are about to unleash records that’ll shake the underground scene. Check it out!
   
   STS: Since I’ve been listening to a lot of thrash the last few days, I’d like to recommend Battalion to you. The band unfortunately doesn’t exist anymore, but especially the 2015 output “Generation Movement” is a really strong album.

3. Forming in 2018, it took about a year to put out your debut MLP “Niralet” in 2019 which is an astounding first move. 5 tracks of glorious, old school Heavy Metal with a truly enchanting fantasy theme. What inspires the sounds and themes of the band, and can you explain a bit of the ‘lore’ of this debut please?
   
   STS: Thanks a lot. I had been interested in forming a classic heavy metal band for a long time, as my old band was threatening to fall apart for various reasons. But I had never found the right people for it. The release of Armor of Ire by Eternal Champion further fuelled this desire. I met Uzzy at an Obituary concert in Zurich and also met Dan that night. After a few beers we realised that all three of us were really keen on a new project. This beer idea was quickly followed by the first actions and we met in Dan’s rehearsal room to jam a bit. After that it didn’t take long until I came up with the first song (Vulva of the Nightfall). And since I can’t really play guitar, I convinced my old buddy and guitarist Chris to join in. And then everything went pretty fast and in winter 2018/2019 we were already in the studio recording Niralet.
   
   As far as musical inspirations are concerned: When we founded the band, I had a pretty intense epic metal phase, of course, and listened to countless bands from this genre. But this phase has subsided a bit in the meantime. Because basically we’ve all always had a pretty wide-ranging taste in music. In my opinion, this also explains the very varied song material on BHS-SHF, which is enormously important to us.
   
   I don’t know what Uzzy is inspired by for the lyrics everywhere. But it was clear to him from the beginning that he wanted to create his own world. The story has become quite long and deep and is actually far too complex for it to be completely processed in song lyrics. More detailed information may follow in the near future.

4. The following year (2020) saw you release your first full-length album. How do you guys work so fast? The music doesn’t feel like you cut corners or skip anything, it’s very full and complete, so one can only assume sheer inspiration ensures such fast work.
   
   TS: That’s something we ask ourselves, too. Simon the Sorcerer however seems to be gifted by the gods of Heavy Metal with a never-ending arsenal of razorsharp Heavy Metal riffs, which he then skillfully combines to craft Epic Metal hymns. With just having one sole songwriter, we’re able to work quite fast, as we trust Mr. Sorcerer 100% and usually just have to make some minor adjustments in the rehearsal room, before we have a finished song. This way of producing records has proven very efficient and we plan on continuing doing so.
   
   STS: I had already written songs for BHS-SHF during the recording session of Niralet. At our first show we had already played Crimson River, although the album was still far away. I just had a big creative output during that time. Uzzy was the same way. He came up with the whole story, lyrics and vocal lines. But also the other guys put all their effort into it. Somehow the magic and the moment were just right. Looking back, it also seems like a completed cycle to me. With the upcoming second album we took a little longer, although the work efficiency is of course still very high.

5. Megaton Sword have played some pretty impressive live events on some incredibly strong lineups. Which shows have been your favourites and do you have any tales of conquests to share with us? Perhaps you can hint as to what we can expect from a Megaton Sword show (on which note, I hope you come to the UK sooner rather than later). 
   
   TS: My favorite show has to be our gig at Keep it True Rising. Sharing the stage with some of my childhood stars such as Demon and Blind Guardian has been surreal. We’re still continuing to develop our show as we go along. Our show is very much inspired by the greats of the 80s such as Manowar, Iron Maiden, or Dio with a touch of Spinal Tap. The visual aspect should match the music. This is something that we already knew before we even had our first show booked. One shall never see a Megaton Sword show with the band not clad in denim and leather and no large sword raging from the stage. As for conquering the United Kingdom; we shall heed your call as soon as we hear it.
   
   
6. “Blood Hails Steel – Steel Hails Fire” is a very natural follow up to “Niralet”, sonically and thematically building on the EP’s strengths and taking them to new ground without losing its charms. Will album 2 be a similar growth or do you plan to keep it very much following in the footsteps of the debut? Talking of the next one, when can we expect it?
   
   TS: The follow up for Blood Hails Steel is already recorded and we’re currently working on the last details. It will be a similar growth as Blood Hails Steel was to Niralet. It features our heaviest and softest material to date. A release date is not yet set but we aim for a release in early Spring 2023.
   
   STS: Yes, I also think that the new album goes a little step further again. It has songs on it that would have fit on both Niralet and BHS-SHF, but overall the material is more compact and yet more detailed. The second guitar of course contributes the appropriate part to it. Also, the Bathory vibe is a touch more present.

7. Both of your releases have been handled by Dying Victims Productions and have adorned the work of Adam Burke on the sleeves. Is this artist integral to the band in representing your music visually and do you intend to always use his skills? The art does perfectly fit the records, so it seems a wise choice. Also do you plan to stay with DVP? How how your relationship been to date?
   
   TS: It was integral at the time. We already had a basic idea of what we want on the cover when we started producing Niralet and we wanted the artwork to not deviate too much for Blood Hails Steel. He did stellar work for both releases but we felt it’s time for something new so the new record will feature an artwork from another artist we very much adore. I’m sure it’ll visually be just as impressive as the previous two and will fit our lore as well. As for the label, we can confirm that the new album will be once again released by Dying Victims. We love working with Florian from Dying VIctims, as he’s just as dedicated an underground maniac like we are. He also continually moves forward with the label and has a slow paced, but steady growth, which we can very much stand behind. So the relationship with him has proven to be very efficient and beneficial for both parties.
   
   
8. Now we have a solid picture of you as a band, let’s finish by going back to before you were. How did you guys meet and form and more importantly, who influenced you? We love to hear the classic legends or fellow torch-bearers that struck a chord with a current favourite!
   
   STS: I guess I should have read all the questions first, I already answered most of them above, hahaha. So here’s a short list of bands that seem to have had a lasting influence on the musical work of Megaton Sword: Saxon, Manowar, Manilla Road, Judas Priest, Grand Magus, Grave Digger, Candlemass…