Pic courtesy of: Power "This attitude of partying but never loosing sight of the real problems surrounding us is an explosive mixture and was always a great motivation for me to write songs and playing Thrash Metal"

CR: Hey man how are you doing, where are you as you answer this questions?
Stef: Lex and myself are sitting right in our lovely rehearsal room in Cologne, one of the biggest cities in Germany.

CR: I have to admit that the only way I did find out about your existence was thanks to those “illegal download” sites where I got the copy of your great album “Roll the Dice”, so after excusing myself from doing that, I have to admit I don’t regret it, the album ended up kicking some major ass! So my question will be, why isn’t STF-Records promoting Power more? I mean there is supposed to be a thrash revival going on out there and Power definitely sounds like one band that could capitalize on that!
Stef: First of all, thank you for your commendation. Secondly, I think it's totally OK to download stuff like our CD from the internet, since it simply isn't available all around the world. So you have no other choice than to suck it from the net if you do not want to pay a great amount of money in order to import it. Indeed, we wanted to upload our whole Album “Roll the Dice” for free on our Myspace site before we found our new label STF which distributes us now. We're glad to sign a contract with STF. They helped us a lot but they 're a small label and their possibilities of promoting us are limited. Maybe, we have a better distribution for our next album. We'll see.

CR: Since “Roll the Dice” came out last year, and many people over here in Costa Rica didn’t really get a change to hear you guys, how would you present the band to them, how would you describe Power to our readers? And to make it tricky, you cannot use the word Thrash!
Stef: Ok that's quite easy.
POWER is a bunch of crazy Zombie Motherfuckers kicking some good ole Rock 'n' Roll into Heavy Metal!!

CR: I read some place that Power started out around 2000, did you guys always wanted to play old school thrash or some of your members came from different musical backgrounds and tastes?
Stef: It was pretty clear to us all that we wanted to play Thrash Metal when we started with POWER, yet we have different musical backgrounds. Lex, Klunker and Itchy come from Metal and used to play together in Heavy Metal Bands before. Tommes and myself always felt at home in Punk-Rock that's why we had a punk rock band. Nevertheless, all our bands dissolved in 2000 and so the five of us merged together to POWER. Punk Rock plus Heavy Metal = Thrash Metal!!!

CR: There is a special limited edition of the album that contains a comic, could you please talk to us about it? And are you guys comic fans?
Stef: Yep, that's right. I love comics and when my girlfriend, an upcoming comic artist offered to create a comic version of POWER we just went crazy. Then, we came up with that really cheesy B-Horror story (POWER In SPACE) and she created a whole comic out of it. STF Records than published a 500 limited edition of that artistic masterpiece. I tell you man, I always wanted to be a comic character. Feels awesome.

CR: Well maybe not reading but seen the ratings in some album reviews (not reading because much of the album reviews are in German), I can infer that the record did pretty good with the German metal media? How much do you think this record advanced your musical career? Do you see “Roll the Dice” as the album that was supposed to put you guys “on the map” sort of speak?
Stef: It's true that we had some real good feedback from the German press to our album “Roll the Dice”, yet there are so many other good Metal bands in the German underground scene that it’s really hard to get on top. Anyhow, this album boosted our musical career.

CR: You guys play live with make up and a sort of “zombie” like outfits, just how important is the “look” of the band when it comes to live shows? Do you think that this factor makes people more interested in the band?
Stef: I think it is really important for us. We decided always to wear this zombie makeup on stage and it extremely adds a special tone to our show. We are the fucking blood spitting Zombies and of course one will remember such a massacre better than just some guys playing their instruments. However, it's up to you if you like it or not.

CR: Let me tell you, the song Roll the Dice is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs in what thrash goes, when you guys write a song, can you tell or do you know when a certain riffs has the potential of becoming a thrash anthem or to you every single song you guys write is as astonishing as the next?
Stef: The last suggestion hits the mark!

	Pic courtesy of: Power "Thrash got its rough, dirty sound from the punk and hardcore music. It’s maybe not that visible today, when you take a look at modern thrash bands, who focus a little bit more on technique coming from death metal, but the influence has an revival with great bands like Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, Warbringer and others"

CR: What can you tell us about the album lyrics (I looked for them but no luck sadly), the titles sound like they are all pretty much about zombies and death, are there some “social” or “political” ideas within your songs?
Stef: First of all, if you wanna to take a look on our lyrics just visit our homepage: www.powerthrash.com. They are all listed under the button discography. Of course, the main theme of our songs is Horror, but Horror comes along in many shapes. Some texts like “The Truth about a lie” cover some very personal stuff, others like “ Out to Kill” or “Made in Hellfire” can be read as social critic, if like to read between the lines. Nevertheless, most of our songs are just Horror Stories which are influenced by movies or comics and simply try to kick ass.

CR: I never had the pleasure to listen to “Thrashblitz” how would you say it “differs” from your actual “Roll the Dice”?
Stef: All things considered one can say that our first album “Thrashblitz” is a little bit rougher than “Roll the Dice”.

CR: What “famous” metal producer do you think would be the most accurate one to produce a Power album and why?
Lex: We would be quite happy to record at Andy Claasen’s Stage One Studio. He produced many cool metal masterpieces, for example a lot of albums of the German thrash metal destroyers Dew Scented. But in my opinion the man of the moment behind the mixing desk is Andy Sneap. He did a great job on the last albums of Kreator, Testament and Exodus. Especially his drum and guitar sounds are killer!!! But at the moment a recording session with one of them is only a wet dream, haha!

CR: What were the bands, the German bands that influenced you the most to pick up your instruments and play thrash metal?
Stef: In Germany we can look back on a great history of thrash metal bands and I think nearly all of them influenced us in some way. Mainly there is to mention “Destruction and “Kreator”.

CR: Most of your reviews and interviews, well pretty much all your media exposure is inside Germany, or in the German language; how much “exposure” has Power had in the rest of Europe?
Lex: I think it’s not pretty much at moment. We had some reviews of the “Roll The Dice” album in Spanish and French webzines but that’s all. All together, it’s not very surprising to me: If you think of the big size of the German metal scene and all the bands, which play their asses off, we can be quite happy to receive this great feedback in the German-speaking part of Europe.

CR: Why zombies? What is it about zombies that we find so many thrash bands using them as topics for their songs and album covers?
Stef: Zombies are cool!!!!!
They are like a happy family and make no high demands on the world. Just flesh and brain, that's all they need. If we all were Zombies we would have a better Society.

CR: Your lyrics also speak about religion, just in the third track “Made In Hellfire” you speak very strongly about it, so Power is not just about zombies, but anti-religious zombies, a pretty solid metal foundation really! What better explanation do you like about “zombie creationism” evil sources reviving the dead or a scientific experiment gone terrible wrong?
Stef: I think both explanations can be seen as possible source of “The Zombie”. But personally I prefer the black magic stuff, cause its giving me the creeps.

CR: What is the material that you use for the dismember limbs you guys use on stage?
Stef: The limbs consist nearly all out of latex and rubber. We usually buy this stuff in Halloween stores.

CR: There is an obvious punk sound going right through the album, an also in your physical aspect we can see some punk influences, is there a big punk background on Power, I mean do all the members in Power like punk rock or this is just a taste of some of you guys and not shared by all?
Stef: Hey man, you've listened very closely to our CD. Thumbs up!
Yeah, most of us are fond of Punk music but as mentioned above especially Tommes and myself love Punk Rock.

CR: For some reason and I personally like thrash metal because of this, thrash metal musicians don’t take themselves very seriously while at the same time they dare to speak about social issues; do you think this has something to do with the fact that punk rock had such a big influence in the early days that thrash managed to carry still today that punk “sensitivity”?
Stef: Again you hit the bull's-eye. One thing I really love about Thrash Metal and Punk Rock is that they are able to laugh about themselves. This world is serious enough with all the shit like wars, greed, hate, discrimination and poverty around us. As Monty Phython sings” Always look on the bright side of live”
Furthermore, I think you are totally right when you say that this combination of just having a good time yet calling attention to crucial problems in society is an influence of Punk Rock to Thrash Metal. This attitude of partying but never loosing sight of the real problems surrounding us is an explosive mixture and was always a great motivation for me to write songs and playing Thrash Metal.

		Pic courtesy of: Power "We decided always to wear this zombie makeup on stage and it extremely adds a special tone to our show. We are the fucking blood spitting Zombies and of course one will remember such a massacre better than just some guys playing their instruments. However, it's up to you if you like it or not"

CR: How important do you think punk rock was for thrash metal? And do you think punk has had a fair recognition within the metal community these days?
Lex: Punk Rock is one root of thrash metal. Thrash got its rough, dirty sound from the punk and hardcore music. It’s maybe not that visible today, when you take a look at modern thrash bands, who focus a little bit more on technique coming from death metal, but the influence has an revival with great bands like Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, Warbringer and others. Lets hope that this doesn’t become a fuckin’ commercial trend, who disappears as quick as it appeared, when there is no more money to make.

CR: Got to ask you these because I have seen a sort of split opinion on the topic… Is speed metal a genre or just a way of playing metal, I mean is speed metal really a genre in itself or just very fast heavy metal?
Lex: Like Punk Rock, Speed metal is an independent basic of thrash and of course a metal genre of it’s own. Just remind old Exciter or Anvil stuff. But beside of these two bands, not many people liked to play because Thrash simply sounds cooler, haha!

CR: There are several young thrash metal outfits out there playing old school thrash, to mention a few of the top of my head, Evile, Gama Bomb, Bounded by Blood, what new thrash band do you think other than Power of course best manages to represent what thrash is all about?
Lex: Oh, that’s a difficult question. Concerning this new wave of thrash maybe Municipal Waste. They’re cool and funny guys – we know that because we drank their beer after a gig of them in Cologne. But as I said, I’m afraid, that the new movement of thrash can become a trend and lead to a sold-out like it is in Metalcore. When you take a look in the actual German underground there are a lot of new bands, which play thrash the new “old” way. On one side it’s cool party music and there are partially really good musicians in the bands, but on the other hand I think only the originals will last forever and will be the mile stones and references. To answer your question: Thrash was, is and will be represented best by Slayer, Exodus and Testament.

CR: After all my previous questions that pretty much touch on this I just wanted to ask you very simply, what is thrash metal to you? What does it represents?
Lex: Thrash means hard music, party and beer or to keep it simple: good, friendly violent fun. No more and no less.
Stef: Yep!!!! Totally right!

CR: Best thrash record of all time?
Lex: No question about it: Slayer – Reign In Blood.

CR: When can we expect a new Power record? And how can we (in Costa Rica) get a hold of your releases?
Lex: We are working on new songs at the moment and plan to record the stuff in spring or summer 2009.
Stef: Yeah, It's going to be a hell of a record. I'm really looking forward to the final product. When it's done, we'll send you a Promo CD and you'll tell us your opnion.
Ok, thanks for the interview, man. And a big “hail to the king, baby” to all of you in Costa Rica,
Bye!