INTERVIEW: Stormwitch

Germany’s STORMWITCH is one of those names that may never have broken the mainstream, but for the cult of loyal followers such as myself have remained one of the greatest Heavy Metal bands of all time. I had a discussion with the enigmatic and brilliant Andy Aldrian who has been the vocalist of the band from day one until present. Focussed mostly on the first three records, below are the results…

1. Greetings! Firstly, could you please introduce yourself to anyone who may be new to the band?

Hello to every body, over the years Stormwitch has become a synonymous with real, honest, traditional and well – played Heavy – Metal music.

2. Your first LP came in the form of 1984’s superb “Walpurgis Night”, a record packed with superb tracks of dark Heavy Metal with a truly powerful production and recognisable cover art. How did this work come together? Is there any elements you are dissatisfied with or is it the perfect gem of an album to you that it is to me? 

With intensive rehearsals and all the enthusiasm in the world that a handful of teenagers can have is how we put everything ready to debut in the major leagues. We had barely a week to record it completely, in live session in the studio, not by tracks as it is usually done, and for that reason it has that raw and aggressive sound.

3. On both this and the follow-up there is a noticeable occult theme. Was this a practise of the band, or more of an aesthetic decision?

Although our look and show might make everyone think that we were very satanic, we never passed over the delicate line of the occult and the satanic.

4. Only a year later, “Tales Of Terror” seemed a very logical follow-up with a similar sound and art, though perhaps a focus more on fantastical and theatrical that was present but felt more centred here. What do you think progressed from album one to two? There is certainly a similarity visually too, so are they part of the same puzzle so to speak?

The idea was to have a better production. The concept was the same. 

5. “Stronger Than Heaven” marked your third album in three years. To put out so much music in this time-span is impressive, let alone with three such amazing albums. This is perhaps the most “refined” of the trilogy with a, dare I say, more commercial sound in some parts. Though still retaining your gothic and gritty touches that Stormwitch held close to the heart. Was this intentional or just a natural occurrence from recording albums again and again?

In 1986 Thrash Metal was the major trend. But we wanted to stay close to traditional and melodic metal.

6. In the glory days, Scratch Records seemed to to be home for a number of records. Looking back, was this a good deal and did they do all they could to get your name out there? I own some originals, but they weren’t too easy to find in this day and age, so I can assume they were somewhat limited in distribution.

Gama was good to present our music to a wider audience.

7. As with a band so long in existence (1981 for Stormwitch, 1979 for (Lemon Sylvan), there has been a plethora of lineup changes but you have remained a constant. Of course Lee Tarot passed away, so do you feel you owe it to those past warriors to keep flying the flag of German Heavy Metal? Any words on these prior legionaries of the band?

Lee Tarot did a lot of good things for the band. He left  Stormwitch long before he died, I was always sorry for that. My mission is to spread the Stormwitch songs all over the world.

8. Coming from Germany, competition was always very strong with such titans as Helloween, Running Wild, Accept and so on but also some amazing less known bands like Tyrant, Scanner, Gravestone and Attack. Did you feel a kinship or competition or perhaps neither with your fellow countrymen? Personally I feel Stormwitch ranks among the lands finest outputs, but obviously didn’t reach the same commercial heights as say Helloween for reasons I can only speculate. What do you think kept you underground (and perhaps kept you from being spoiled by commercial labels etc)?

We played our music the way that we liked it. Success was never so imported for us. We wanted a good time with the fans. 

9. Although I have focussed on the bands early days, Stormwitch still continues to release awesome music right up to 2018’s latest effort “Bound to The Witch”. Should we expect more? And perhaps live shows? Or is the band winding down for a well earned rest after 40 years of service to Heavy Metal?

Because of Covid 19 all our plans were mixed up. Our government is stupid. About October we have non – transparent rules. From one day to another. So we have the problem, when we come back from Sweden, we have a two weeks quarantine, maybe. We work on a new album, and in the future time will tell.

10. Any final words for our readers that you would like to share? This can be announcements for the band, some bands you love that you’d like us to hear or some death-threats to those who wronged you! The stage is yours!

Thank you for keeping the witch alive.