Timo Schütz

GodSkill

There comes a band, every once in awhile, that shakes up the senses of a true metal head; this being said, I had the chance to review none other than Germany's latest export, GODSKILL. Unleashing their brutality upon mankind with their debut album, "I: The Forthcoming", via Brethard Records, I had a great opportunity to interview guitarist, Timo Schutz, who explains what makes the band stand apart, to a future second album in release, along with playing early covers of SEPULTURA and OBITUARY, while drinking beer and eating pizza. Now, let us begin a journey into GODSKILL discovery.

By Jussi Gough

• April 24, 2017

Would you describe your music as Heilbronn Death Metal, or is that in reference to where the band is from?

No, it just describes where we are coming from. We liked it, because we discovered that every member was actually born in Heilbronn.

Beginning a new act in the aspiring metal scene, were there any challenges as far as getting out there and being heard?

Yes, there are many challenges. The main challenge right now, as an underground band with no big record company, is to have the money to record the next album without anybody supporting the band financially. It is hard to generate all the money by ourselves to make a good sounding album. Of course, this is the case with every underground band.

Has online exposure given the band a wider fan base audience, as compared to the old school way of doing things?

I´m not sure. Personally, I´m more into a band if I see them live on stage than clicking a Youtube video. But for bands like us, it helps definitely to reach a wider audience via the Internet.

After listening to "I-Forthcoming" and previewing the live stage videos of the group, do you think that GODSKILL excels better live than compared to new acts who only want to release records for the hell of it?

I would consider GODSKILL a live band. To see the people reacting to our songs, to our show, during and after the gig, is what we enjoy. Just putting out a record without playing our songs live is not the goal of the band.

Has GODSKILL shared the stage with named acts and/or tours (Considering there was nothing mentioned much about it)? If not, were there any metal festivals or acts that the group would like to share the stage with or maybe in the process of doing?

With GODSKILL, we shared the stage with ATROCITY, SONIC SYNDICATE and KNORKATOR. Right now, we are playing a club tour called "Plague from the Underground" with 3 German underground bands throughout Germany, with our friends from SURFACE (Hamburg), TORTURIZED (Magdeburg) and AWAITING DOWNFALL (Geseke). Playing on any metal festival like Summer Breeze or Wacken for example, would be a huge success.

How did the band get started or who started it?

Thomas (Berni), our former shouter, Wolfgang Baumann, and myself started the band in summer 2011 by playing SEPULTURA and OBITUARY cover songs while we were drinking beer and eating pizza. To be honest, we were forced by Thomas to play with him. 😉

Any future direction/goals you would like to see GODSKILL achieve or do?

Future goals are, recording our second album, playing some more club shows, and festivals. Hopefully also outside of Germany.

Changes in the metal scene musically today, for which bands seem to come and go, do you think it is challenging for a band of GODSKILL's style to keep up? (Personally speaking, bands of your caliber have what it takes for longevity).

We like what we are doing and as long as we are having fun playing together, we will keep on doing this. The good thing about being a death metal band is, that you are never really "in" so you can´t be really "out". I´m convinced that bands of our caliber have what it takes for longevity, if they manage to create their own sound. If you sound like a rip off, then the people have no incentive to listen to your music.

Is the local scene supportive to GODSKILL?

Yes, they are supportive. But we are still struggling to get gigs in the area of Heilbronn.

Do you think that the band might do a promo video in the future for this release; if so, what song would the band use and why?

We released the lyric video for "Prophecy II" last year. There are no future plans to do a promo video for "I -The Forthcoming" today. We are going to release a promo video for our second album in 2018.

How long did it take to record "I-Forthcoming"? Did the band experience challenges with this?

Actually, we recorded the album from May till July 2016. The recording took place in different places with different people. Markus Ullrich from LANFEAR, SEPTAGON and THEM for example, did the guitars and bass. Mixing and mastering was done by Achim Köhler in August 2016. It was the most professional recording we have ever done. The challenge for us was to lay down all the tracks in the shortest period of time and to be satisfied with it. We changed our way of preproduction and recording dramatically because of this experience.

If there were two songs of this record that would describe GODSKILL, what would they be, and why?

I would pick "Prophecy I, II and III". These are the last songs written for the album and they describe GODSKILL with our new shouter, Carsten, today. They follow also a concept; they are telling a story and this is what we are about to do in the future for our second album.

Does GODSKILL's lyrical content touch upon the darker aspects of forces, or is there more to this besides what most bands would write about (death, evil, religion)?

Writing about riding a horse or picking flowers would maybe sound strange with our music. Of course, we grew up with all the "evil metal lyrics" and we are interested in the darker side of life. And we believe in things like demons. Everybody has their own demons inside their heads. So, why don`t write about it. We are also doing German lyrics about this kind of topic.

Are there certain aspects that you draw upon from your musical influences that you incorporate into the bands overall sound? Or is it just the influential energy that is is drawn into GODSKILL?

We do not draw certain aspects of our musical influences on purpose. They would be way to different anyway. I write the songs but we all together give them their final touch, because everybody has to be happy with it. If anybody is not happy, we continue working it out, till we are satisfied. Of course we have an idea how GODSKILL should sound like. From the beginning, we always tried to create our own style and sound.

Was wondering who designed the cover art for this album? (It's great work).

His name is Eka Pzycho from PZYCHOPART. He is from Indonesia. Really talented and a pretty nice guy.

For someone that has never heard of GODSKILL, what song would you recommend that they listen to convert them over as a fan? (Mine is "I'm Your Death")

Jussi, this is a pretty hard question. My favorite is "Prophecy I", because it is really fun to play live.

Any final words and or news to share?

Thank you for giving us the opportunity for this interview and keep on supporting the underground. All the best in the future. Also please visit www.godskill.de (this link will open in a new window)" target="_blank" href="http://www.godskill.de/" rel="">www.godskill.de or our Facebook page www.facebook.com/godskill (this link will open in a new window)" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/godskill" rel="">www.facebook.com/godskill

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