ACID BLADE is the continuation of Klay's (our singer) and my project Angel Blade, which was released via Dying Victims Productions and was part of a Split with Venator. Originally we didn't plan to continue working together after recording the Angel Blade songs, because Klay moved to the other end of Germany. We both soon started missing making music with each other though, so we decided to give it a try and find bandmates for a full line-up. We got together late 2020/early 2021 and quickly recorded a demo in May 2021, before playing our first shows in that summer and recording our debut album in February of 2022. That was released digitally and on tape on 12th August and now on CD. The LP will be released on 13th January and then we'll see what this year brings.

Well, Angel Blade was never a real band, but just a project of Klay, me and my best friend Jonas. We wanted to record a demo that sounded like it had been lost for 40 years and was found in some dusty basement. It was more of a fun-project than anything else. Unexpectedly we got many good reviews and a lot of exposure through the Split with Venator, which of course played a part in us deciding to form a new band. Angel Blade was never thought to be more than the demo though, so we decided to change the name. We now have completely different visions and ideas from back then.

Yes. But we live in three different cities, so we can only ever rehearse as a full band when we're on stage.

What mostly concerns us is the Underground Heavy Metal scene, of course. And we are lucky that this scene is very active and incredibly well connected. Just to give you some examples: Our new drummer is also the drummer of Firmament (ex-Tension), during the album recording I lived with the guitarist of Sintage and their singer is another close friend, who lives just a few streets away. Then we also have two more established bands in Dresden, Wucan and Schafott, who we are also fairly close with. And that whole network spreads more or less to every region in Germany. Since everybody knows everybody, there's surely some influence on us, because it motivates us and sometimes also makes things much easier, because we can get better opportunities at festivals, for example.

Hmm, I don't know if "growing up" is the right word. Except for me, all of us have played many gigs in other bands before. But we always see gigs like that as "stepping stone" shows, because we know that many people, some of which could help us as we go along, are there. So of course shows like that have a certain importance for us.

Oh, thank you! On the album, I basically do the solos in the songs that we rehearsed first when Alvin wasn't part of the band yet. By now, we divide them by the type of the song. If it's a more aggressive, fast song, Alvin does the solo, as he is a much more technical player than I am. If the song is more melodic and slow or mid-tempo, I do the solo. Or sometimes it's just decided by who is more inspired for a certain part.

About half of the lyrics are by Klay and half of the Lyrics are written together by Klay and Sci-Man. They often sit together and just throw ideas around and develop stories - Power Dive, Into the Light, King Killer and The Tomb of Khentika Ikheki all came into existence that way. Sci-Man actually studied how to write stories, while Klay's main influences are Dio's lyrics as well as the old Chinese book Tao Te Ching, which is about someone leaving home and exploring life.

Definitely! I think our songs are strong either way and I'd probably say that our bassist Sci-Man is the one, who can play his instrument better than everyone else in the band - but Klay is the one, who makes the songs catchy. He writes all the vocal melodies, so the hooks in Ablaze at Midnight or Power Dive are on his part. He definitely is a very big cherry on top of everything else, but not a show-off at all. He has a good feeling for what is needed within a song and what could make it even better than before.

I've seen various and while some of them make sense (basically the obvious influences), some completely miss the point and I'm like "Okay, apparently we've stolen everything from that band that I've never heard of or listened to". I actually think that NATUR from New York City is very similar to us, or we are to them. I've only listened to them for the first time last year, but there were many parts, where I thought "Oh, we could have done/written that, too!"

Yes, the title track and Into the Light. I think Into the Light is the quintessential Acid Blade song.

Well, my three favorite bands are Maiden, Megadeth and Mercyful Fate and I think that's obvious in several moments on the album. Also NWOBHM legends Satan are THE reference for our sound, which is NWOBHM-like, but a bit more aggressive.

Haha, I don't think we'll make it to the States that quick. That's more of a goal for the year after the year after next year. We'll record the follow up-EP to Power Dive in April and it will be different from the album and go a bit more back to the Angel Blade days. Our plan is to record that one live again, like we did with the two demos. Hopefully that'll be out late 2023 or maybe early 2024.

Thank you for taking interest in us! Stay real!