Interview with Hellcrash

Hi! With your second album, Demonic Assassination, you have refined your sound and songcraft. Can you tell us about the creative process behind the album and how it differed from your previous works?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Hi!
To be honest I don’t think we did anything different from the previous album, songwriting-wise. Hellraiser and me kept coming to the rehearsals with ideas, riffs or entire songs, we rehearsed them, changed something here and there and in the end we had a proper new song. Of course some of these new compositions can be more elaborated than the previous ones, but that’s just because we “grew up” since we first released our debut album. One thing that changed for sure is that this time we rehearsed the new songs to death, which we didn’t last time (or better, we didn’t get the chance to do that).

L.C. HELLRAISER:
No real differences besides having learned how to write songs more effectively. If you listen to the first demo Ready to Burn in Hell you’ll notice all the elements that make up our sound were there already, we just expanded it.. There’s been a lot of boozing in between so that may also contribute to the mayhem.

The album cover for Demonic Assassination is striking and eye-catching. Can you tell us about the concept behind it and how it relates to the album’s themes and lyrics?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
After we released Krvcifix Invertör, we thought it was a good idea to create a “tradition” for Hellcrash albums to always have a 2-words title with the umlaut and a cover with someone decapitated. Since we had some ideas about the name of the songs, like Volcanic Outburst or Satan’s Crypt, we added some references to them. Funnily enough, Serpent Skullfuck (which perfectly describes what’s going on on the cover) was written later. Even more funny: the cover has nothing to do with the title track!

L.C. HELLRAISER:
We will always have cover artworks you must hide from your parents. Make Metal dangerous again! Make Metal controversial again! If some purple haired lesbian find it offensive even better. No mercy!

How would you describe the overall sound and style of Demonic Assassination to someone who is unfamiliar with your music?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Speed Metal. That’s all it’s needed to say.
“Venom meets Iron Maiden”, if you want to be a little more intriguing.

L.C. HELLRAISER:
Take a lot of old rusty nails, throw them inside a fryer filled with boiling acid, stir that with a chainsaw and then pour it on the altar of the nearest church. Then kidnap the priest and force him to eat all of it and then make him vomit on the crucifix, then set everything on fire. That’s how it sounds. In one word: METAL.

Your debut album, Krvcifix Invertör, was released in 2021 and gained a lot of attention from metal fans. Did the success of that album put any pressure on you while creating Demonic Assassination?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
I don’t think so. We knew we had to correct something (the production, for example) for this one, but that’s more like learning from our mistakes instead of being under pressure for the success of the previous album. We play what we like, that’s it.

L.C. HELLRAISER:
We put the pressure on people, not the other way around! We pressured people to drink more and be the worst they can be.

Your sound has been compared to early Slayer, Venom, and Bulldozer. Who are your biggest musical influences and how do they inform your sound?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Add Maiden to that list and you’re saying everything about us ahah!
That’s the music we grew up to. Of course there are a lot more influences and bands we love (Baphomet’s Blood, KAT, Krossburst, Sodom, Gehennah, Nifelheim and so on), but if you want to sum it up then it’s probably Venom and Iron Maiden (which is no surprise since those two are the main influences of most of the aforementioned bands). My favorite band is Iron Maiden, Hellraiser’s favorite band is Venom. Can our music be any different?

Talking about how we put those influences in our music, all I can say it’s we don’t think about it. Sometimes we have a riff which would fit the musical style of that particular band, sometimes we have a refrain which brings another band in mind. In the end, the mix of those creates our style.

L.C. HELLRAISER:
Of course VENOM. Then Bulldozer, Baphomet’s Blood, Fingernails, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Iron Angel, Razor, Exciter, early Sodom, early Destruction, early Kreator, early Slayer, Sarcofago, Vectom, early Running Wild, Tyrant (Ger), Warrant, Poison, Vampyr, Acid, Maniac, Avenger (UK but also German I’d say), Mercyful Fate, Nifelheim, Crossfire, Atomkraft, Killer, Rogue Male, Raven, Possessed, Rigor Mortis, Battleaxe, H-Bomb, Destructor, Bombarder, Turbo, Death Mask, Blood Money, ADX, Warfare, Renegade, At War, Ghostrider, Onslaught, Deathwish, Eudoxis, KAT, Korrozia Metalla, Evil Blood, Gehennah, Bewitched, Exorcist (Poland), Exorcist (US), Piledriver, Armoured Angel, Bombarder, Torture, Tormentor and I could go on forever but you get the picture. METAL OR DIE!

The album features a mix of speed metal, thrash, and metalpunk influences. Was it a deliberate choice to incorporate these different styles, or did they come naturally in the songwriting process?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
As I said, we don’t think about it for a single second. We just go with the flow of the songs. Some of the differences between the songs are more obvious when those are written only by me or only by Hellraiser. Maybe while composing we were listening to two completely different bands, hence why one song could sound more Speed/Heavy and the other might be more in the Thrash area.

L.C. HELLRAISER:
That is just what it comes to my mind when I hear the word METAL. Hard, fast and threatening, like a knife pointed to your throat!

Demonic Assassination is being released on CD, cassette, and vinyl. Do you have a preferred format for listening to music, and why?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Vinyl, absolutely. When we received the vinyl version of Demonic Assassinatiön we put it on immediately and God, it sounds EXACTLY the way it’s supposed to sound, probably even better. If you’re unsure on what version to buy, go with the vinyl.

That being said, I really love how the CD overall graphics came out.

L.C. HELLRAISER:
CDs are no fun. CDs ruin the life and happiness of millions. We appeal in particular to the youth of today, stop the CDs, there are better things in life.

The band has been together since 2013, but only released first album in 2021. What led to the delay in releasing debut album, and how has the band evolved since its formation?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Well, when we formed 10 years ago it was basically me and Hellraiser. There was no drummer (I was for a short period of time but I’m the most inadequate person in the world to play the drums). In 2015 we found Nightkiller and that’s when we started playing live. In 2016 we recorded what was supposed to be our first album but the final result was absolutely terrible so we scrapped it. We kept playing live, writing new songs, and in a blink of an eye it was 2020 when we entered the studio to record Krvcifix Invertör (the pandemic didn’t help of course).

I’m kind of glad it took us that long to release our debut album, and I’m proud of us for having the balls to scrap the album we did in 2016. For some 17/18 years old guys who really wanted to have an album out it was not an easy decision. Luckily it turned out for the best.

L.C. HELLRAISER:
We have always stayed the same and pursued the same path. We’re just so much better at it now and you can expect us carrying on for another 10 years like that unless we die before (which we hope).

The album’s title, Demonic Assassination, sounds ominous and foreboding. Can you tell us about the lyrical themes that inspired the title and how they are explored in the songs?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Actually, the title track is inspired by a relatively funny (true) story a friend of us kept telling. To make it short, in late 1800 there was this man living in a remote village in our area. He was a blasphemous one, especially for those times. At one point he got sick and prayed to God to get better, saying he would build a votive chapel and overall stop being blasphemous. He got better, but he didn’t keep his promise. One day he was out taking the cows to pasture with his wife waiting for him at home. Suddenly he returned home, completely covered in shit because he shot himself. When asked what happened, he simply answered: “I saw the Devil”. Needless to say, he built the votive chapel and so on.

We fictionalize some parts but that story is what the title track talks about! For the rest of the album, it’s mostly Satan and stuff like the previous album, maybe a bit more elaborated.

You are from Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy, a country with a rich musical history. How has your hometown and country influenced your music, and are there any Italian bands that have influenced your sound?
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Of course there are a lot of Italian bands which had (and still have!) an influence on us. We already named a few like Bulldozer, Baphomet’s Blood or Krossburst, but there is more for sure: Fingernails, Bunker 66, Violentor, Barbarian, Loculo, Last Rebel, Evilspell, Witchunter, Neanderthal Noise Machine, etc… I could go on forever ahah!

The fact we waited almost 10 years to record our first proper album gave us the opportunity to see and listen to most of these bands in the meantime, so our music kept getting better and better.

L.C. HELLRAISER:
We’re just better because we are italian. You know, we should have won WWII and ruled the world with an iron hand. Imagine everybody speaking italian and acting italian. Fuck the world, hail to us!

Thank you!
F.T. SKULLCRUSHER:
Thank you, see you Somewhere on Tour!

L.C. HELLRAISER:
Fuck off in hell! WE PISS IN YOUR ASS!
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