We invoked some ancient rites and conjured Hanzel Und Gretyl on our crystal ball for a conversation about their new album Hexennacht, and a quick lesson on numerology.
“It’s a Wunderland of Hell. Very much like a Bosch or a Falero Walpurgisnacht painting but with more head banging.”
Did you conjure any demons during the production of this album?
Vas: Of course! It was not conceived with flowers, lollipops and cotton candy. The demons came out at times via stress, arguments and delays. But at then end of the day we rose from the darkness and are here to tell the tale!
Kaizer: Certainly the demons spawned are the songs and depictions of our new selves as vexed and perhaps possessed entities still lost in an figurative intergalactic dark forest looking for a way out, destroying witches, running with wolves, seeing through the eyes of vultures, becoming a robot, just struggling day to day [and] whatever it takes. It’s a metaphor for living, or surviving, in this business of show.
Released on a Friday 13th Hexennacht is a very apt title for an album from a magical forest. What events conspired to bring us this mighty black ceremony?
Vas: This was not planned. Hexennacht was to be released in November. But the powers that be, perhaps demons, cosmic forces and the Universe, made sure that we miss our deadline therefore pushing it to Dec 13. We had no idea there was to be a full moon on the eve of release 12/12 at 12:12 During the year 12 ( 2+0+1+9=12) while the catalog number of Hexennacht is Met 1212. All this while we were closing up the decade. That’s a lot of special HEXXX!
Kaizer: We are practically foaming at the mouth at the thought of infusing black metal elements into the framework of our basic and long running concept of a displaced Hansel and Gretel characters in a surreal setting. The idea with Hexennacht was to imagine an occult based Bavarian type Halloween scenario that laid the groundwork for our minds to go all over the place but within the confines of our ever-present fairy tale theme.
Did you summon Mozart for inspiration on how to finish the album and if you did, did he rock you?
Vas: Eine Kleine Hexennacht Musik is all Kaizers Idea, He’s always being summoned by some weird forces.
Kaizer: I’m always looking for a way to insert classical references. I studied classical at LaGuardia Music and Art High School in NYC (aka the Fame movie high school) and that exposed me to the great classical composers. We always visit the crypts when we are in Vienna (hello Mozart) and I like to clean the haus while listening to classical muzik. I got tired of ripping Wagner all the time and the Nacht in Hexennacht was asking to be a Mozart inspired industrial metal dance song. And yes, I have thought of covering Falco frequently.
“The Black Forest is always dark and full off Terror.”
Tell me some dark, dank and dangerous stories about the black forest from Halloween.
Vas: From what I have read from the traditional Witches Night, The witches meet up with Mr. Satan himself, the Hellmeister, in the Brocken mountains where they conjure up evil and the villagers are pissed so they attempt to light fires to burn the witches. Our depiction of Hexenacht is a Black Forest metal mix of all chaotic dark elements. A Satanik Germanik onslaught of dragons over the blood red forest, vultures, Death, blood, gore, evil star galaxies burning witches on the cross, killer robots hunting with fire and fury, guns on the ready. It’s a Wunderland of Hell. Very much like a Bosch or a Falero Walpurgisnacht painting but with more head banging.
Kaizer: We have actually been to the Black Forest both to traverse the darkness and to play shows in the area such as Freiburg and other outlying areas but we usually just emerge with cuckoo clocks and lederhosen to bring back home. Don’t get me wrong wearing lederhosen everyday for a month or two is as dank and dangerous as it gets.
Are there more mysteries, myths and monsters to come from the black forest and if so can you spill some rites?
Vas: There’s always more, including ourselves as the monsters. The Black Forest is always dark and full off Terror.
Kaizer: They’re infinite. All of our CD’s are some type of reimagined Black Forest nightmare. In the beginning in the 90’s it was dark and futuristic, then it became more war-faring in the 00’s and now it’s occult-based. Our catalog to me feels as if Hansel and Gretel went into some type of Vanilla Sky coma that is ever morphing and seemingly endless. Pure hell. We always think like this. It helps us to free associate [sic] if we get stuck creatively. We are pretty good at allowing ourselves to not make sense or belong. We are quite comfortable with being alienated or lost. We are after all: Hanzel und Gretyl.
It is great to hear from you! Thank you and take care.
Vas: Thanks for having us!
Kaizer: Danke schön!
