FANGORIA MUSICK - DROP DEAD CHRONICLES CUTTING EDGE

When people ask me about horror music, one of the first things that comes to mind is horrorpunk. The sound and look of horrorpunk is bloody, ghoulish, sometimes campy and always fun. One of the most well-known and prolific horrorpunk record labels is the German-based, FiendForce.

We sat down with one of their fearless leaders, Thorston (who also happens to be the singer of the well known horrorpunk band The Other), to talk about the music, the horror, and of course the movies. Please join us, audio zombies, and dont forget to lend an ear to the bloody tracks included below.

POLINA: Hello, Thorsten, and thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us about horrorpunk and Fiendforce Records. Can you please tell our readers a little about horrorpunk and its connection to horror movies?

THORSTEN: Obviously the whole idea for horrorpunk came from artists and bands like Screaming Jay Hawkins, Screaming Lord Sutch, Bobby Pickett, The Cramps, The Damned, The Misfits and 45 Grave. They all sang about horror in a campy Halloween-type style, like most of todays horrorpunk-bands. But I also think that punk and horror fit together perfectly, because good horror is more than entertainment, but rather functions as social and political commentary. Just like punk rock. Horrorpunk will hide its political and social side beneath a horror story but will address these themes as well.

POLINA: Do you think a horror movie fan would like horrorpunk bands even if they never heard of it or even punk music before?

THORSTEN: Good question. After attending a lot of horror movie conventions I found out that a lot of the fans there do listen to alternative music, be it metal, goth or punk. Horrorpunk and even Psychobilly are new genres to most of these people though, but especially Horrorpunk is getting more and more attention. I think that’s because we take the horror as a lifestyle and as something meaningful. Horrorpunk bands don’t just sing about blood and guts but take the whole cultural aspect and the history into account. And horror fans, who are a devoted bunch, find out that horrorpunk bands feel as strongly about horror movies, books and comics as they do. Also, there is a lot of interest from filmmakers, and horrorpunk songs from bands like Blitzkid, The Other, Shadow Reichenstein, etc. are used more and more for horror movies. Just like they used 45 Grave and The Damned in Return Of The Living Dead.



POLINA: Your label Fiendforce is the most recognizable and prolific label for the horrorpunk bands. How did Fiendforce start and how did you chose to work with horrorpunk bands ?

THORSTEN: Fiendforce started out because I had recorded my first demo with my band, The Other. I had been in touch with Paddy Scum, who runs fiendclub.de, then a Misfits-fan-site, for a while. And when we had finished our demo, I thought, why not release it on my own label instead of shopping it around. I had worked as a promoter for a metal label before and as a music journalist, so I knew I could do it with the help of Paddy, who does most of our artwork. And since this whole horror music thing was very young and not many bands were around, we had to give it a name and chose the term horrorpunk. Since nobody knew the word, we decided to make a compilation with the existing bands to define the genre. And that release was called THIS IS HORRORPUNK. Voilà, that was the beginning. We were the first and are still the biggest label that specializes in horror music, and the bands benefit from the fact that the fiends know what they are getting from us and will check out all our releases. Fangs again to all you horrorpunks out there!

POLINA: What is Fiendforce busy with right now?

THORSTEN: We just released new albums from Americas No 1. horrorpunk band Blitzkid (ANATOMY OF REANIMATION), and from Germany’s gothpunk legend Der Fluch (IM DORF DER VERDAMMTEN). And we are proud that Zombina And The Skeletones have chosen Fiendforce as their label, and have just released their new album OUT OF THE CRYPT AND INTO YOUR HEART. Plus, our annual Hell Nights Tour has just taken place and it was a huge success, with lots and lots of fiends coming out to see Blitzkid, The Other, Der Fluch, Zombina and the Skeletones.

POLINA: Who are the active Fiendforce bands?

THORSTEN: The Other, Rezurex, Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space, Shadow Reichenstein, Rezurex, The Spook, Zombie Ghost Train, Der Fluch, Blitzkid, Nim Vind, Zombina and the Skeletones. Frankenstein is also on Fiendforce but not really active at the moment, sadly enough. The Crimson Ghosts have just left us after three albums to work with other labels.

POLINA: What albums did you put out in 2008?

THORSTEN: The Crimson Ghosts DEAD EYES CAN SEE, Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space MONSTER MUTANT BOOGIE, Rezurex PSYCHO RADIO, Balzac/Rod Gonzales Split 7“ ZOMBIE A GO-GO, The Other THE PLACE TO BLEED and the CDs mentioned above from Blitzkid, Der Fluch and Zombina.



POLINA: What are Fiendforce’s plans for 2009?

THORSTEN: Right now we are talking to two new bands, one from the US and one from Italy about signing with Fiendforce. Also, I just had a promising talk with a band consisting of three famous horror rockers about the possibility of working together for their first full-length album. Hopefully all this will work out well. Other then that, we will have our annual Fiendforce Fest, promote many tours with our bands, put them on festivals like WGT and prepare our next Hell Nights Tour.

POLINA: In conclusion, can you please share with our readers your favorite horror movie of all time?

THORSTEN: THE EXORCIST. No doubt about it. But there’s other movies almost up there, like TARANTULA, THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, the original NOSFERATU, THE SHINING, THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (somebody stop the remake!).

POLINA: What about favorite new horror movies?

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Comments (5)

• |2009-08-09 01:15:03 Tessara DeMorgue
  

  This is a great label that includes some of the greatest horrorpunk bands! Check out Stellar Corpses and their new full length album, Welcome to the Nightmare, released on FiendForce Records!
  
  www.myspace.com/stellarcorpses
  www.stellarcorpses.com
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• |2009-01-26 05:28:48 Mike
  

  I think you should cover Robot Monster records.
  They have really good bands, and they are actually in the USA, and not germany.
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• |2008-12-16 18:37:28 Lea
  

  They've always been my favourite label for horror music. Their compilations kick arse and they have the best bands!
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• |2008-12-16 17:00:09 Polina Y
  

  Agreed, I am glad we got this interview up as one of the first things on Drop Dead Fangoria Music Blog. Its a very important label for Horror Music.
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• |2008-12-16 11:55:24 Dj Alien S Pagan
  

  The greatest Records!
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  Reply

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