German thrash metal band Warfield have recently released their second album entitled With The Old Breed on April 4th. The band’s drummer Dominik Marx spoke with Metal Express Radio about their latest release, covering Nuclear Assault, playing the 70,000 Tons Of Metal Cruise, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Your band, Warfield, just released their second album entitled With The Old Breed on April 4th, what can you tell fans about your latest album?
Marx: On With The Old Breed our main goal was to create a more massive and heavier mix, while retaining the aggression of our debut without making the album sound overproduced. There’s nothing worse than an album that sounds like every other. We’re more than happy with how Phil (Hillen, SU2 Studio) has managed to get such a clear, balanced sound while still preserving the grit and grime of old school thrash! We also tried a lot of new things on this record. There are new elements like gang vocals and Roto-Toms, as well as a seven-minute song that includes many different parts. The songwriting is more mature and clearly worked out with many variations. Lyrically, there is more depth, with a stronger focus on the inner lives of the soldiers and the impact of their experiences. For example, “Fragmentation” is written from three different perspectives, which creates a fragmented narrative as well. These approaches presented a new challenge for us and we’re really excited about the result. If you’re into high-speed riffs, raw vocals, thundering drums and are hungry for relentless thrash hellfire, With The Old Breed is what you’re looking for!
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being your band’s second album?
Marx: Usually Matze starts with a rough concept of a song and shows us the material he saved on his phone. After that we try to figure out what riffs fit together or what other ideas would be great to add. Starting the song real slow as with “Tie The Rope” on the new record for example. We also discuss breaks, special drum parts and other effects that could work. At the end, of course, we write the lyrics to the songs and try to find out what vocal rhythms could fit to each song. We also tried to set the lyrics and vocal rhythms first on some songs, but for us it’s definitely easier the other way around. We went into the studio at the beginning of 2023. The unexpected thing about the recording process probably is that we, due to time issues, recorded the album in two different studios. Drums, Vocals and the final mix and mastering with Phil Hillen (SU2 Studio), Guitar and Bass with Karsten Aurig (Darkone Studio). That delayed the process a little bit, but both are very great characters and did amazing jobs, so we are very happy we had the chance to work with both of them on the new record.
MER: What kind of changes have you noticed within the band since your debut album Wrecking Command?
Marx: We have all developed personally and musically, but we still get along really well and love making music together. Due to the album process, the label signing and the many discussions and decisions we have to make, things can often get heated. It’s important that these situations always happen in a respectful manner. I think that experiences like these bring us closer together as a band and create a kind of unspoken understanding. On a musical level, our songwriting has improved and expanded. We tried to make the new album sound as diverse as possible despite the narrowly defined playing style that thrash metal entails.
MER: How did it come about covering Nuclear Assault on the album?
Marx: Because we all love Nuclear Assault, haha! I think this is one of those bands with the perfect mix of well-known but still dedicated to the underground. Their music contains everything you need for good thrash metal. Their stage presence and appearance also had a huge impact on us. There’s a lot of social criticism in “Wake Up” that aligns well with our song themes. The song also encourages not to be afraid of taking risks and seizing opportunities, which perfectly fits to our current band situation: We want to achieve a strong impact with the new album, open doors and wake up as many moshers as possible – that’s why we shout it out in the cover song!
MER: You recently played an album release show, how was that for you and your band?
Marx: Totally mind-blowing! The show was nearly sold out. Both – bands and crowd – were on fire. It is so good to see that there’s life in the underground. We played almost every song off the new album. It turned out that the new songs fit perfectly into our live set and complement the older songs really well. The gang shouts give our performance some kind of extra power and we added new intros before some of the songs, which create a special dark atmosphere. It was a hell of a show, which whetted the appetite for more.
MER: What do you see as plans for you and your band to support the album?
Marx: To play as many shows as possible! There are already some gigs confirmed for 2025 like the Vienna & Eindhoven Metal Meetings, the Metal Embrace Festival and some club shows. Mainly, we hope that we can go on a nightliner-tour to spread the new album across all lands. That would truly be a dream come true for all of us three. There are things in the making, but nothing we can talk about right now.
MER: You’ve supported bands such as Exodus, Evil Invaders, and Tankard just to name a few, is there anyone else that you hope to tour with and why?
Marx: That’s right, these shows were really inspiring for us and we are thankful that we already had the opportunity to play some shows with the idols from our teenage years. Of course, it would be total madness going on tour with any of the big Teutonic Thrash or Bay Area bands. But it’s also important being on the road with people you get along with or maybe already know. In February, we played a show in Bahrain with Swedish Black Metal legends Necrophobic and Greek thrash tornados Amken. We just had a great time with all of the people there. If this had been a tour, I think it would have turned out to be a great time filled with partying. Also touring some smaller venues with our friends in Fusion Bomb would be an absolute blast!
MER: Is there anywhere you hope to play live and why?
Marx: For me, it definitely is a dream to play a show in South America. The people over there are truly on another level of energy. I can’t imagine anything better than playing ‘Appetitive Aggression’ live while the South American thrashers wave their burning bengalos in the circle pit, haha! Or maybe countries I wouldn’t have thought of before, like Bahrain, which turned out to be an incredible experience. When we received the request, we didn’t know what to expect. At the end, both shows were sold out and the crowd went wild before we even entered the stage. They have such a passionate fan base over there. It was very impressive!
MER: You recently also played the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise, how is it playing a big show like that as opposed to playing club shows?
Marx: The opportunity to play on the cruise came up very suddenly. Personally, it was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The organization was very good, but it’s very tightly scheduled. As a newcomer band, we were lucky with our time slots and didn’t have to play at 5 o’clock in the morning. This gave us the chance to attract many new people to us and we managed to create big circle and moshpits, even in the smallest venue. As we didn’t play the bigger stages like the pool deck or the Royal Theater it kind of felt like playing a club show and sometimes you forgot that you’re on a fucking ship, haha! The feedback on our shows was great. Everything about the event was truly extraordinary. The sound was mind-blowing and much louder than at normal concerts. Of course it was, after all there are no neighbors to complain about it, haha! Overall, we’re more than grateful to have been part of it!
MER: If you could create your own Big 4 of thrash metal, who would it be and why?
Marx: I start with Slayer. What a surprise, haha! They have to be the headliner because they’re basically the biggest influence of Warfield and personally for me, Dave Lombardo had a huge impact on my kind of drumming. I go on with Sodom as a co-headliner. They’re my favorite band from the Big Teutonic 4, always deliver honest thrash metal and M-16 is one of my all-time favorite albums, “Blasphemer” one of my all-time favorite songs! Next, I place Nuclear Assault in the lineup for the reasons mentioned before. As the opening band, I choose Toxic Holocaust. One of the first bands I discovered as a growing teenager. I listened to the An Overdose of Death album immediately every day after school. We also covered “Nuke the Cross” hundreds of times in the rehearsal room. Through their kind of thrash metal, I developed a good feeling for when it makes sense to change a drum part in our own songs, or to slow things down without losing the song’s energy. Furthermore, the music works well without tons of solos and you don’t get the feeling that something is missing, which makes it comparable to our own style as well.
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