Bulletbelt-interview in Metal & Me
“Bulletbelt im Interview”
Posted-on2. Mai 2021By lineBylineRaintaker1978
Albumcover
“Bulletbelt” veröffentlichten über “Ragnarök Records” ihr Album “Warlords” am 23.04.2021 in Europa. Das Album der Neuseeländer gibt es mit zwei Bonusliedern zu kaufen! Ich habe die “Kiwis” angefragt, ob sie Lust hätten, für ihre Fans ein Interview zu geben. Steve stand mir dann Rede und Antwort. Hier mein Interview von Bulletbelt und mir – für euch!
Cheers Steve from „Bulletbelt“. My name is Tobi. I run a Facebook page and a webblog. On this page I post reviews of current albums, interviews, band presentations and reports about concerts that I visit with my wheelchair. On the one hand, to tell other wheelchair users how the venue is equipped in terms of accessibility and on the other hand, how to best proceed to get tickets, which is usually not possible with conventional ticket portals.
In the future I will also write about hygiene measures, as this is important for me as a high-risk patient and for my readers too. Of course, I also write about the bands‘ performance. Today I have a few questions for you about your new Album „Warlords“.
First of all, I want to ask you, how are you and your Bandmates doing right now?
Hi Tobi, and thanks so much for the interview! We are doing really good. Down here in the bottom of the world, New Zealand we are very fortunate that our government took very strong action early and we have managed to keep COVID very under control which has meant life as normal for most of 2021, including concerts!
And how are you when you think about April 23th, 2021?
That was a great day with Ragnarok Records unleashing a 2nd wave of Warlords upon Europe!
When was the Release of „Warlords“ in New Zealand?
We released the album in July 2020 and it got a great response.
The Album had amazing high Chart Entries in NZ. How proud are you about that awesome pice of Metal you created?
Yes it went on the NZ Charts which was a big surprise for us at we aren’t playing pop music! But there is a great Metal scene down here and we promoted the album well so we felt we earnt it. We are all proud of the album as we put a lot of work into it.
About „Warlords“: Where did you get your Inspiration for the songs?
The concept of the album was to highlight some of the great Warlords through history. Warriors (good or bad) who have used force, might and brains to dominate their foes and reign supreme. The subject matter was really interesting to research and some of the figures we wrote about were Genghis Khan, Khutulun, Galvarino, Joseph Kony, Vlad the Imapler, Boudicca.
One track, Blade On The Fire is about Galvarino who was was a famous Mapuche warrior. He was caught in battle and had his hands amputated as punishment for insurrection. Upon returning to the Mapuche he had blades fastened on his stumps and went back into battle, killing the number 2 in comand. Fantastic Heavy Metal subject matter!
What is the main difference between „Warlords“ and your last release?
We had some line up changes with our new singer Paul joining and Josh coming in on guitar. It has resulted in a much more cohesive band. We are all pointing in the same direction and working for the song and the album. The band has been going for 12 years and this is the strongest line up we’ve had. The future is good.
Tell me how hard is it for your Voice to manage a over seven Minute Song like Herodian Kingdom?
We worked on that song for a long time until we got it right. It’s a very different song for us as it’s slower and very epic. It reminds me a little of Bathory (one of my favorite bands). It origionally didn’t have a guitar solo so we added that late. It is definately a feature of the album. Paul our singer did a great job on that one, the emotion in his screams are perfect.
How long did you write on „Warlords“ and how long did it take, for the whole Album to be ready for Release for our Ears?
It took us around a year to complete the album. First 9 months of song writing, then lots of pre production, followed by recording and post production. Lots of hard work and planning!
Do you have a song that you particularly like on „Warlords“?
Haha it changes all the time. I think Impaler is a really strong opener, like a punch in the face and Punishment Of God straight after is a killer track also!
The Cover-Artwork is really dark but impressive. From who was the Idea?
We have worked with the artist, Scarecrowoven before on our 2nd album, Rise of the Banshee, so I knew he was the man for this one. I gave him the concept of Warlords and he came up with the idea of basing the art around the Indian God, Shiva who is the Destroyer of Worlds. I encouraged him to make the colors bold so the album would stand out in sea of Metal releases! We were really stoked on how it turned out.
How are you all actually after a show with all your tracks? How long do you need to regenerate?
We are all good. We practice hard and are always prepared for shows to give 100% energy and put on a great show.
A few words to the fans who definitely can’t wait to hear you and these fucking great new Songs live. Are there any plans about a streaming or Release Event? Although I have to say that I don’t know the current rules for New Zealand. The restrictions in Rhineland – Palatinate are enough for me.
As I said at the beginning of this interview, we are very lucky down here in New Zealand that at present we have few restrictions. There are concerts happening every week and last weekend 50,000 people attended a pop concert in Auckland. After the NZ release of Warlords we did a NZ Tour with 15 shows all around the country. It was a big success and we had great turn outs at all concerts.
The only restrictions for us at present are obviously we can’t tour the album overseas. We would normally follow up a NZ tour with a tour to our neighbours Australia. And we actually were planning our first European Tour in 2021. But that will have to wait now until everything is back under control!
How is it to you to stay in contact with your fans via social media in these pandemic times and to find out what the mood is like in the fans‘ camp in europe.
Social media makes it very easy to keep in touch with our fans. Also due to COVID, we have a captive audience overseas who are spending a lot more time online which makes it great for keeping in touch, releasing music and selling merch!
How did you as deal with the restrictions in the meantime? How much does it restricted you in your working life? I must say, that i dont´t know how you fight the Covid19 in NZ.
When COVID first hit us in early 2020 we were in a lock down for a few months but then we got it under controls and the restrictions lifted. At the moment we have zero community transition of COVID so life and work is completely normal. I am a swimming coach and have been lucky to manage to keep working most of the way through COVID.
If you could privately go to a concert in this, sorry for the expression, shitty corona pandemic, which one would it be?
The line up for the next Maryland Deathfest looks insane! So I would love to attend that.
Wich other Music do you listen to?
Haha sadly I must admit I pretty much only listen to Metal. But my tastes in Metal are very diverse, I am not restricted to any genres. I love everything from Scorpions through to Mayhem and most stuff in between!
Get away from the music a little. What about hobbies?
NZ has beautiful scenery and outdoors so I do a lot of running and cycling plus compete in Ironman Triathlons. Keeps me out of trouble!
A few words to your Fans out there in Germany and all the Others in the World?
Thanks to anyone out there who takes the time to check Bulletbelt out! We are very appreciative! When the Pandemic settles down and life returns to normal, we plan to tour Europe and we look forward to meeting fans and fellow bands on the road. That’s why we do this!
Thanks for the interview, Steve. Many greetings to all from the Band. Something that is important to me: Stay healthy and good luck for the Release of your awesome Album in Europe!
Many thanks to you Tobi for supporting Metal and we hope to meet you on the road some time and share a beer!
Bandphoto
Bulletbelt sind:
Paul Roberts | Vocals
Josh O´Brien | Guitar
Tim Mekalick | Bass
Steve Francis | Drums
Photocredit: Bulletbelt
Danke nochmal an Bulletbelt, für das schöne Interview. Ich hoffe auch, dass ich euch Jungs in Deutschland mal sehen darf. Natürlich mit einem kühlen Blonden, bevorzugt in Bayern auf dem Summer Breeze Open Air. Ein weiteres Dankeschön geht an Ragnarök Records, durch die ich die Band und ihre Musik erst “entdeckt” habe.
Schau doch gerne auch auf meiner Facebookseite vorbei, um dich mit anderen Metalheads und mir auszutauschen.
Bleibt gesund, Metalheads und danke fürs lesen des Artikels. Vielleicht habt ihr ja Bock reinzuhören! Ich habe hier noch den Link zum Label: Ragnarök Records, dort könnt ihr auch “Warlords” von Bulletbelt erstehen!
