(Last fall, the German band Deathrite released their fifth album, and our Comrade Aleks got in touch with them to find out more about it. After some delays, we’re finally able to bring it to you today.)
Hell! The fifth album of Deathrite, Flames Licking Fever, was released in October 2024, and we managed to organize this interview with these guys from Dresden exclusively fast. But Ruinous Powers interfered at some point, and this fast interview arrived only in the winter of 2025.
A feverish and lunatic mix of deranged death metal and hardcore punk doesn’t need a long introduction. Dig or die. But read it before you choose any of these options.
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Hail Deathrite! How are you?
Fine, little bit hungover, as we currently are on a release tour with Obnoxious Youth passing the alps to Vienna.
Accept my congratulations with the release of your fifth album Flames Licking Fever. And, firstly, you have a stunning artwork, really super killer, you just can’t ignore it, I couldn’t. How did you find this one? Did you choose it because of images? Because of colours?
Was kind of a lucky punch. We were browsing through Rotting Reign’s portfolio, and this one stood out. It perfectly matched the album’s lyrical themes and title.
Your previous EP is named Delirium, and you have this line of lunacy in your mix of death and punk. Is it the main motive behind Deathrite now? What was your vision of the band when you started it?
We all have some hardcore and punk background. That might explain the filth and punk edge in our sound. Over the years it developed naturally, incorporating more influences from black, death, noise-punk, etc. It’s all about being ecstatic, vicious, and raw.
You didn’t play this anarchic death punk from the start, developing the style step by step. How did you come to the sound we hear in Flames Licking Fever?
We wanted to continue where we left off on our latest release Delirium. We sharpened our blades a little bit more and developed our own interpretation of a musical fever dream. And I think we managed to hit the spot of a more straightforward and versatile version of our style.
How exhausting for you is it to play this stuff live? It’s quite intense and psychotic stuff, so I bet that you perform it at full capacity?
Shows are quite exhausting, but it also has a cleansing side to it. It’s like anger management on stage, nothing artificial or fake. We just let it all out.
What kind of gigs do you usually play nowadays? Do you have the thrill of savage punk gigs, or is it more about regular metal gigs with the grim guys who stand like statues for most of the show?
Our audience is pretty mixed. We have intense shows in smaller punk venues and also bigger stages. In general, we like our shows tight and dirty – a crowd of lunatics in a sweaty shithole.
Fucked up music for fucked up people.
Flames Licking Fever obtains a crushing alive vibe, it’s a highly energetic and wild thing. How did you manage to record the album this way? How was it at the studio?
We recorded drums and guitars with Jan Oberg at Hidden Planet Studio in Berlin and finished the recording in our own rehearsal space. We’ve worked with Jan before, so it was very straight-forward and productive. Trying to keep the natural raw power and not overproduce it, to have a live and dirty vibe.
There are the songs’ titles which speak for themselves here: “Misanthropic Rush”, “A Slave to a Poisoned Soul”, “Bottomless Graves” or “Gallows Trail”. What do you put into the lyrics? Do you have an overall concept?
I try to guide the listener to the darkest depth of my vicious mind and soul. There is no real overall concept, it’s just my natural contempt against mankind.
Flames Licking Fever was released on both vinyl and cassettes, but I didn’t see a CD-edition. Is it a temporary decision, or is it a part of your plan?
The CD version just dropped on War Anthem Records.
Okay, what are your plans for the rest of 2024?
Surviving the tour and wrapping up the year. BUT keep your eyes peeled for more hot stuff in 2025.
https://deathrite.bandcamp.com/
https://deathrite-iec.bandcamp.com/album/flames-licking-fever
https://www.facebook.com/deathrite666