Minenwerfer: Mud, Snow, and Guts
Imagine yourself in the Great War. High atop a frozen mountain firing down on enemy combatants. Your fingers, stiff from the frost, shaking from the recoil and muzzle-fire peppered throughout the white covered terrain. There is nothing but a screeching mountain wind and blood, snow, and death for miles. This is what Sacramento War/Black Metal band Minenwerfer describes in brutal detail in the song
Der Blutharsch from their LP, Alpenpässe.
Minenwerfer, German for “Mine Thrower”, has been going since 2007 and in that time they have created albums highlighting different stages and battlefields of WWI. Each album has its own feel and echoes the theme. We reached out to the creator of Minenwerfer, Generalfeldmarschall Kriegshammer to see if he would regale us with his war stories and if he would give us some insight on what Minenwerfer has been planning for the next offensive. Here is what he had to say:
It’s been three years since what many would say is your greatest LP, Alpenpässe, was released. How have you been spending your time?
We’ve occupied ourselves with the writing of the new album. Which actually didn’t get started until early 2021. We don’t really work quickly anymore. We are a two-piece band at this point. While it is very easy for us to work together as we are totally on the same page, it is a slow process because the guitarist and drummer are now the same person.
For those who don’t know, can you speak a bit more on the evolution of the band and where it’s at now?
There hasn’t been too much evolution honestly. It started as a solo project with a bit of help, then into a live band. I don’t feel that we were a real band until the Wachtmeister joined on guitar. After 6 or 7 years of playing with a couple of drummers and our last one moving away, we decided to continue on as a two-piece and no longer play live.
I don’t feel musically we’ve evolved too much either. Some songs are longer, some are more melodic, and some are more dissonant, but we just write whatever we want and whatever the album needs. At this point, I think I’d rather devolve more.
You guys are signed with Osmose, any reason you moved away from Purity Through Fire.
PTF was great to work with and we sort of still do in a very limited capacity, but signing with Osmose was a huge step for us. We worked out a deal that is mutually beneficial and I feel there is a certain amount of prestige that comes with signing with one of the labels that put out so many classic records.
What is your instrument setup (what guitars, drums, bass do you use)?
I use Rickenbacker basses and Mesa amps with various effects. The Wachtmeister uses Jackson and ESP guitars and Mesa amps. I can’t remember what drums he uses, to be honest.
You’ve said in previous interviews doing live shows isn’t of huge interest to you because of all the hassle and the cost, but with the international appetite for war black metal bands do you feel this changing anytime soon?
Not really. Maybe eventually. I don’t know. I’ve turned down quite a few offers to go to Europe and various parts of the US. I think I understand exactly why Fenris doesn’t want to do Darkthrone live. At this point, we’d have to hire a backing band to play with us. That sounds awful. I’m not going to hire a couple of guys that have no connection to the music.
We haven’t exactly had people trying to audition for us either. There’s a severe lack of people in our area with an interest in this music or talent to keep up with the material. We haven’t played live in over 5 years, and if we were to bring it back it would have to be exactly to my liking.
Then there’s the money issue. I don’t do this for money, but up until 2019, this band didn’t make a dime. For almost 15 years I actively lost money due to playing live and self-releasing merch. Driving 5 hours to get paid 20 bucks and play for 15 people. None of that appeals to me anymore. I’m too old for that shit and I have bills to pay.
I once toured all over Europe in another band and besides being miserable the whole time, I didn’t see one dollar for two weeks. So there’s a lot going against us playing live. I wouldn’t mind doing a festival or something in the future, but we aren’t getting those kinds of offers.
You did a split album with 1914, called Ich hatt einen Kameraden, can you tell us a bit more about how you guys met and decided to create it?
There’s not really any story to it. They emailed me asking to do a split. We agreed. I kind of settled on an Eastern Front theme for our 4 songs. 1914 already had a title and art in mind so they took care of it. Archaic Sound put it out on CD and Worship Tapes put it out on cassette. There wasn’t much communication and it was all done pretty quickly and efficiently. I wish there was more to the story, but that’s really about it.
Dmytro of 1914 is said to have a strange fascination with the departed souls of soldiers of the Great War. He loves digging up photos and stories about the soldiers and civilians who have lived through the horrors of war. Do you find yourself having a similar kind of connection with those who partook in the Great War?
I still find a lot of enjoyment in researching everything. I have a degree in history and focused extensively on the time period. Something has drawn me to it ever since I read Storm of Steel so many years ago.
I think oftentimes readers and listeners tend to judge underground black metal artists and listeners as one-dimensional or trivialise the complexity of their music. You, however, have a rather wide range of tastes when it comes to music including things like Dungeon Synth, Neofolk, Classical and Punk, can you give us a few of your favourite bands from each?
I listen to a lot of martial industrial and neofolk, which has always been the secondary musical influence for Minenwerfer. I have always been a huge Sol Invictus fan and The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud is also a favorite. I really like the Romantic period with Wagner and Bruckner and so on, but I think I listen to more Baroque period stuff now.
I think 15th/16th-century music is easier to digest and listen to than those massive Romantic epics. Johann Fux is a favorite of mine. It just depends on the mood I’m in. I don’t listen to as much punk anymore, but I’ll still occasionally reach for TSOL or Samhain or something. I think I listen to way more post-punk. Dungeon synth is cool, but so over-saturated now. That being said, Fief is great.
Do you have any other projects going on outside of metal?
Yes, sort of. One is a project that the Wachtmeister and I are both working on that we are not ready to reveal. My other project Vermineux, while firmly still a black metal band, is going to delve a bit deeper into ambient stuff in the future.
Has black metal lost its edge?
Yes and no. Satan isn’t a scary topic anymore, but apparently, there are some other topics that can still elicit some extreme reactions.
You said in your off time you like to read, any recommendations for good WW1 books?
Anything by Ernst Junger. Can’t go wrong with any of them. He also isn’t going to give the narrative about the war that most people might want to hear.
What do people need to know about war or maybe overlook?
Don’t ever expect for it to end. It never will.
You’ve been in this game for a while now, what is one of the biggest learns you’ve had as an artist?
Have low expectations. You might eventually get surprised.
Can we have a bit of a teaser into what the next album will have/might sound like (lyrical content or musically)?
All I will say is DO NOT expect Alpenpässe part 2.
Let’s say you have access to audio all around the world for 10 seconds (TV, radio, headphones) that will be heard by millions, what would you say (or play)?
Something funny. I do have a sense of humour, believe it or not.
Any last words?
Thanks for the support. We're about 75% done with the recording, so hopefully, we can get it out by the end of the year.
Thank you, Generalfeldmarschall Kriegshammer, if you haven’t heard the brutality of war turned into music head on over to Minenwerfer’s Bandcamp or Website, get an LP, get a shirt and support the band!
