Meet Lesson in Violence: Originating from long-standing friendships, we delve into their Thrash Metal journey, album creation during lockdown, signing with Iron Shield Records, and their upcoming release 'No Need for Death'.
1. Can
you tell us about the origins of Lesson in Violence and how the band came
together?
Some of us
have been making music together for several years and in the year 2019 it was
time for us to team up to do what we love: Thrash Metal. Roland Schäfer (bass),
Florian Negwer (vocals) and myself (Florian Helbig/guitar) were together in a
band called „Brain Damage“ but we wanted to start something new and so we made
the change.
2. What
inspired the name Lesson in Violence, particularly referencing the Exodus song?
Many names
have been discussed and we tried to find one that was expressive enough for
everyone to know what it was about. We alle love Exodus and many other bands of
course. It just happened by chance that we named our baby „Lesson In Violence“.
It could also have been something like „Angel of Death“ or any other songtitle
on any Album by any Thrash Metal-band in these times.
3. How
would you describe your musical style and the themes explored in your lyrics?
The musical
style clearly is Thrash Metal, because it is fast, raw and full of alternate/tremolo
picking. We wanted to keep it simple by focussing on the essentials and not
adding too many effects and bells and whistles.. In our lyrics it is generally
about our love to Thrash Metal, social themes and a bit of horror-like stuff,
but we do not follow a certain line with our Lyrics.
It was
great because we had much more time for it than in a "normal" year..
We all worked from home most of the time, there were no live-shows, there were
no rehearsals so we could sit in our home-recording-chambers and do the
recordings without any distractions.
5. What
led to the signing with Iron Shield Records Berlin, and how has that impacted
your journey as a band?
Iron Shield
Records has a lot of great bands and we've known many of them for a long time.
So this label was predestined for us because it's a label for thrash metal. I
called Thomas "Duck" Dargel from Iron Shield Records and asked him if
I could send him some demo tracks. He liked them, so we drove to Berlin and
signed the contract during a night of drinking. That’s it, so it was very
unspectacular. But all the contacts we made with other bands and magazines
around the world wouldn't have been possible without Iron Shield Records, so
the influence was really big.
6. Could
you share some insights into the creative process behind your music, from
writing riffs to finalizing songs?
It all
starts with a riff. If a good riff comes to mind or someone in the band comes
up with a really cool riff, then you start working on it. We build a structure
that leads to and from the riff, arrange it and rearrange it until we say it
feels good.
There were
many of them. For example, the reaction to our first album. It was really great
to create something you love and so many people felt the same way. There's a
good chance we can experience that again with our second album.
8. How
do you feel about the current thrash metal scene, and what sets Lesson in
Violence apart from other bands?
I think the
current scene has become stronger in recent years because there are a lot of
great bands that were formed after the year 2000 that deliver really good Thrash
Metal. We want to play our part in this development, but I don't think there's
that much that sets us apart from other bands. Because everyone wants to make
good music and especially in our genre you want to sound brutal and fast and so
on. I think it's all a matter of taste and that's the one thing where you can
stand out.
9. Can
you give us a sneak peek into your upcoming album "No need for
death"? What can
fans expect from this release?
You can
expect the album to be faster, more brutal and more mature than the debut.
There are eleven tracks on this album that can each stand on their own and if
you like raw Thrash Metal without any cosmetics or effects, then you've come to
the right place.
For
"Social Madness" it was just a fun idea to do something for our fans
so they would have something to remember. We made an announcement that anyone
who wanted to be in the video could send us pictures and be part of the video.
It was a lot of fun and the reactions were great. With "War against
Hypocrisy" we wanted to make things more professional and have something
to show everyone that we can be taken seriously. It's a great song and we've
been asked for a video a lot, so we decided to do it.
11. How
do you approach live performances, and what can audiences expect from a Lesson
in Violence show?
We don't
have any special rituals before a show or any kind of preparation. Rehearsing
and practising is the key to a good show. We try to bring all our energy to the
stage by celebrating our thrash without any other elements. The music should be
the show, without any theatrical aspects or anything like that. If you prefer
elaborate or extensive stage shows, you should go see a musical 😉.
12. Looking
ahead, what are your goals and aspirations for the band in the near future? Any
upcoming tours or projects you can share with us?
We want to be on stage this year to increase our reach and take as many people with us as possible. We're also already working on our third album and I can tell you one thing: it's going to be even heavier and we're going to keep doing what we've been doing 😉 And we're working on new merch stuff to improve our offering. We can't look much further than 2025 at the moment.
No Need For Death | Lesson In Violence (bandcamp.com)
Lesson In Violence (@lessoninviolencebandofficial) • Instagram-Fotos und -Videos
Lesson In Violence - Thrash Metal Mankind 2019 pre-production (youtube.com)
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