INTERVIEW: Cruel Force vol. II

At the start of 2023, I interviewed CRUEL FORCE. This was just before the release of “Dawn of the Axe,” which struck in August of that year. With that now released and their fourth record, “Haneda,” imminent, Slaughter and I decided to add a second chapter to our discussion.

1. Hey mate, great to have ya back already! What’s new in the Cruel Force camp? I imagine a lot of activities to get the word of your new LP out?

Hey mutha, yeah, it’s slowly getting busier with all kinds of inquiries for interviews and gigs. The promotion slowly picks up speed. Since we’re into fast paces, this is much welcome.

2. That’s great to hear! “Dawn of the Axe” definitely lived up to the expectations I had during our last conversation. Over the last (almost) three years, it has been a firm favourite and rarely far from my turntable. Are the band happy with the response this offering received?

We’re pretty happy about the reception. When we reformed the band, we didn’t wanna be people pleasers, since that’s against our nature. We wanna do what we actually really wanna do, if that makes sense. We couldn’t come up with something of great quality if we did it for the wrong reasons. GG, Alex and I used to play in a band called Sphynx, and it was exactly what “Dawn of the Axe” is, just in a heavy rock outfit. But not one of these nowadays hipster, man-bun wannabe retro outfits, but the real deal. You know, I have studied this kind of shit, the whole Purple, Rainbow, Scorpions stuff to death. We’re metalheads into heavy rock, not hipsters into guitar music. We live the proper lifestyle, playing proper music. So, we simply continued what we were doing in the years before. And this is even more obvious on the new album “Haneda”. It’s not like we decided what to do. We did what we had done before. We just try to improve and adapt and not try to record the same album over and over again. We are happy that people enjoy us enjoying what we enjoy.

3. I agree, it has a very authentic and down-to-earth feeling that is often lost on newer bands. This release also seems to have taken you to new shores in the live arena. Can you tell us some tales from the road? Also, some favourite shows you’ve played? Seeing you at Thrash Nightmare was a live performance I certainly won’t ever forget!

We’ve never been a band that played many shows, not even in the earliest days. I think it was 10 to 12 shows we played at most before we disbanded. And still, to this day, we don’t feel the urge to play every show, but rather a few selected ones that we wanna play ourselves. Not only to keep a high quality, but also to enjoy it ourselves. If you live that life of playing every other weekend to make yourself a name, I can imagine it might start to feel too much like a job. One must be honest, not every show or festival is of the same quality and excitement. And if you play shows with bands you don’t think fit the overall atmosphere, it simply takes away from both the fans and the band. So we try to select what makes sense, what seems to be homogenous. Sometimes we get asked to play festival XY, and there’s nothing wrong with them, we just don’t see ourselves there. And no money can buy that. So out of the shows we have played so far, most of them were really something to remember, for the fans and for us too. I think if the band feels great about something, this will affect the fans as well. Quality over quantity. Either we do it right or we don’t do it at all.

4. That’s always been my approach for playing shows too. It makes every one special, rather than a chore. Before the release of “Haneda,” you’re self-releasing a 7” vinyl— something I’ve done myself and know it’s an undertaking only for die-hards. What is the significance of doing this for Cruel Force? An homage to the underground greats of the 80s and their 45rpm classics or something to reward the more maniacal fans?

We love to have a proper single before the album, something physical, something worthy, once again something we would like to have ourselves as metalheads. So, we want to present our music in that way too. In a time when it seems bands, even in the underground, start doing the AI, digital singles, Kemper amps or even no amps at all, digital recording stuff; it’s even more important to fight against it. It might sound good, I’m not denying the sound quality of digital singles or these modeler amps, but we’re people of principles, and we didn’t need to decide our way, it was already clear to us. It’s no secret that we look up to the bands of the 80s. So why would we not want to release albums like they did, like we grew up with? Why would we not want to release a 7” of our own music? I don’t see anything beneficial in not doing it, other than going the easier and faster way. But is it the better way?

5. I think this is commendable and the way a heavy metal band should operate. Can you describe the writing and recording process of “Haneda” and also that of “Dawn of the Axe” for us? I’m interested in what was the same, what was changed, and what you learned in the interim. Of course, Marco Brinkmann was at the helm of producing both at Hellforge Studios. How has working with him been?

The writing is usually done by me. I write the riffs and raw structures that then get worked out together in the rehearsal room. I usually record a demo version and we take it from there. It’s important that everybody is behind the music, though. Because I write the riffs, it’s even more important to decide together what works and what doesn’t. Once we’ve worked the songs out and got the lyrics and everything ready, we start doing some pre-productions, to hear what the songs sound like and what needs to be altered or adapted. At this stage, Marco comes in, and this is the moment with lots of phone calls, talking about our vision, since he wants to understand what the band really wants to do. To us, that’s pretty simple, since we have a clear vision of how we wanna sound. The most complex part here is using the right words so Marco can understand what we feel. Music is so based around emotions, and some words might be used differently by either of us. But it’s important that we are all on the same page. Marco is very dedicated to his job, and to achieve proper results, he is very focused and determined in his way of working. That can be tough, but in the end it’s the band that benefits from this. I might not be an easy person myself, but once I understood it was best for the band, it was easy for me to follow his lead, since he knows better than I do. And that’s how it should be with an engineer and producer. This allows me to lean back a bit and let Marco do the worrying. The results were always pleasing to us. Especially this time, we didn’t play it safe. We wanted to break out of the typical reverb drenched productions that are often usual for this kind of music and have a more organic sounding, big studio production. This was certainly a challenge for both Marco and us, but together we managed to achieve our goal.

6. I cannot argue with the results, it sure sounds enormous! Another example of the band keeping things the same from album three to four is Maegan LeMay’s glorious cover artwork. What guidance did the band give her for each, and can you give us some details of both pieces and what the band wanted to be visually represented on the records?

Once again, we reach out to Maegan with our ideas to see what she thinks about them, to see if she can pull the vision off. It’s like the situation with Marco. A band can have a vision, yet the vision must be translated to the person who’s crafting it. So, it’s important to talk back and forth a lot, so that the vision can come to life. We always ask Maegan for her input; it’s important to have her input since she’s one of us too. She is also a highly respected person with the greatest knowledge and taste in metal. It’s funny how it sometimes feels as if we’d grown up so similarly, musically, that we share the exact same taste even in the metal realms. We couldn’t find anyone better, artistically but also on a human level. To us, it’s very important to make the people part of the whole thing. “Haneda” is not the band’s record; it’s the record of Maegan, Marco, and the Kruel Krew too. While the music plays a big part, the production and packaging create the proper atmosphere. It’s more than just the band-it’s a creation of great people involved.

7. This explains the tangible feeling of a band between the art, the music, the lyrics and everything altogether. Do you see these two records as part of the same overall arc in the band’s creativity, or are they totally separate endeavours, and if so, how? Additionally, do you feel they are equal, or was “Haneda” an improvement for you?

I’d say “Haneda” is a continuation of “Dawn of the Axe”, like the saga continues. I wouldn’t say either record is better; this is for the listeners to decide. I can’t stand the usual interview answers when asking which is the best album a band has ever made. And then every band says the new one is the best. Obviously, it’s true for them, and I can say that this album is our favourite right now. Is it the best? That’s up for the listener to decide. What I can say is that we’re confident we made a great record from start to finish. We’re proud of it. But can you say which album is better? Is “Powerslave” better or “Somewhere in Time”? You can ask 100 people, and everybody will say something different. That just proves that both albums are of the highest quality. In the end, it’s a matter of personal preference. Just for the record, we don’t compare our album to any Maiden album, as we’re not worthy; however, you get my point.

“Haneda” has a different approach, more atmospheric, melodic, and epic at times, without losing the raging speed. As a songwriter, I am absolutely proud of the title track and “Crystal Skull”. This is the stuff I always dreamt of, and I pulled it off. To combine material like this with the speed thrash we play is even better. I don’t know any other band that has done it this way. But this will also be up for the listeners to decide.

8. I agree, I think both are fantastic and of equal quality. Indeed like those Maiden records, sometimes one fits one’s mood, or sometimes the other! We touched on your influences going further back to the golden days of hard rock and heavy metal – this seems even more applicable on “Haneda” than ever. Which bands, records, themes, and such went into influencing the grandiose album?

There’s a lot that influences me, so it’s really a pool of inspiration. But the stuff that influenced me the most throughout my whole life would be songs such as “Powerslave”, “SSOASS”, “Gates of Babylon”, “Stargazer”, “Sails of Charon”, and so on. That stuff left an everlasting mark on my life from the days I first heard these songs. I really love these atmospheres. Steve Harris is a master I look up to a lot. His compositions are the best my ears have ever heard. And since I picked up my axe, I learned Maiden songs exclusively for many years. Learning Dave and Adrian’s riffs and Harris’ compositions made me the person I am today, and I guess to this day this is my approach to writing songs-obviously in a speed-metallic way.

When I look back at our first albums, I still think I have the same riff style I had back then. Comparing riffs like “Victim of Hellfire” to “Whips-A-Swinging”, I don’t see much of a change, other than that my songwriting skills have developed for better or worse.

9. Of course, I have my own opinions (my review gave those at length), but how would you describe “Haneda” in your own words? What does it represent to the band as a record, and who do you feel would appreciate it most? I hope to connect the real, passionate heavy metal fans to this effort, but nobody is better to speak to them than the band directly.

I sometimes jokingly say that this is what I imagine Dio or Rainbow with Dio would have sounded like if they’d played speed metal in the mid 80s. It definitely is an album that needs to be digested. Not that it’s complicated, but it’s not your regular 10 song album where every song is designed to have a catchy chorus. For us, it was important to create an album, a proper album, not just singles. So, we wanted it to flow well. The songs go hand in hand in atmosphere, without following a specific concept other than the concept of speed metal. It really is a journey through ancient atmospheres. Paul Di’Anno was supposed to sing a verse on “Whips-A-Swinging”. He was stoked about the idea and told me that he loved “Dawn of the Axe”. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen because of his untimely passing, yet the lyrics fit so well with him, his persona, and the whole record.

Also we made an instrumental track called “Crystal Skull” this time, knowing this might bore the regular listener, yet we wanted to include it on our album, like Maiden used to do back then. But the track is important for the atmosphere of the album. The transition from “Crystal Skull” to “Warlords” sets a whole mood. We think we created an original album that offers more than just a few cool songs, it provides an overall experience. It will certainly be appreciated by real metalheads who don’t just live for the plague of “disco metal”.

10. Wow, that would have been amazing. The very last time I saw Paul he was wearing a Cruel Force t-shirt! Cruel Force seems to be moving from strength to strength – so it seems only logical to ask what’s next? Are there some great shows to promote the new album in your diaries? 

We’re looking forward to the “Haneda” release show in Mannheim and the actual release. It’s been over a year since we started recording this album, so it already feels old to us. It’s time for the people to dive into it, so we can all celebrate it live together. That’s basically it, promoting the album and playing some shows.

Go back and read part one here! Read my review of “Haneda” here!