So how has your latest album/EP gone so far with fans then? How has your latest release been received?
“The Beast” is nothing for the faint hearted, it’s much heavier than “Revelation” and that shows. We had some promising reviews scoring in the top tier. The song “Babylon” is always a favorite amongst our fans when we play live, so finally they can enjoy the song as a recording. I believe they like that very much.
Tell us something about the release no one knows?
My brother and me are old hands in the heavy metal business and have been living it actively with Sanity for almost 30 years now. By 1996 we had released our first three track demo and by 1998 our first full length album “Sinister Reflections”. 1999 came “Nocturnal Poems” our second album, where we journeyed into the realm of symphonic black metal. With faster paced drums, intricate guitar riffings, much more advanced orchestra arrangements, we released “Schattensymphonie” in 2001. What a great album, the sound still holds up today and the songs speak of an almost forgotten rawness and hardness that we had back in the days. The band went on hiatus in 2002, all the while we continued to compose songs for the next album. Around 2014 we called the band back together to start practicing the new songs. And this time I aimed at creating a master piece. I wanted it all, clean vocals, shouting, well arranged rhythm guitar riffings, lead guitars, fast drums, realistically sounding orchestra and choir. And we took our time. The EP Revelation was released on 11 March 2023. While Babylon, Plagues and Gospel are songs that we composed more than a decade ago, Kingdom was composed quite recently, when the recordings for the album were already underway.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
When Rage released their “Lingua Mortis” album, I was blown away by the fusion of metal and classical music. Remember, classical music was a big influence in my childhood. To combine this with my passion for heavy metal had always been my dream. Already on our first album we composed quite intricate synthesizer arrangements, these played a vital role in creating the somber atmosphere of “Sinister Reflections”. On “Nocturnal Poems” we took it a step further, you clearly hear the classical influences in many songs, but it was still a synthesizer that provided the sounds. We briefly toyed with the idea to ask the school orchestra from a school in our neighborhood to partner with us, but it never came to being. I believe also because we still had so much creativity that needed to be put into new songs. So we went forward with the next album. In 2001 Dimmu Borgir released “Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia” and I was blown away. This was obviously an outstanding production with real orchestra, something we could only dream of. Fast forward to 2018 and suddenly I had a powerful new studio software in my hands with real orchestra samples. We finally could forge an album that combined metal and classical music! And that’s what we did . I reworked the synthesizer arrangements into sophisticated orchestra arrangements just like I had dreamed of for twenty plus years and now I hold it in my hands, a beautiful symbiosis between the two musical genres I love the most. Imagine now, if we would be offered to perform a live show or even a short tour together with a live orchestra and choir, this would be the dream of my dreams. There you have it.
Can you tell us about the meaning behind the track?
The Beast is based on the biblical Book of Revelation that lays out the apocalypse. It’s about the end of the world! And not by any random or man-made natural disaster, no, it is about God judging the world. This judgment is carried out by mighty angels and at the end of it all, a third of mankind is dead. This is grim business. By setting the book of revelation to music I believe we are doing something that has never been attempted before, that is truly unique. By 2025 we will have released all three EPs that will make up the complete Revelation music project. And then you will be able to experience the events of the coming apocalypse by simply listening to the fourteen intensely dramatic songs that we created. What probably sets us apart from other artists is that we actually use the original verses from the bible, so there is no interpretation in our lyrics, no re-telling of the events in our own words. Just plain scripture. And the message is brutal, excruciating, devastating, and scary, but also mighty, breathtaking, awe-inspiring and incredible. And so is our music (smiling). So, given all that, the music of the Revelation project could become a precious heritage to future generations. In the end, when the last days truly begin our music may help people to understand the events that are happening around them. It may allow people to hear about what God’s word reveals about the future and how this God provides a way out.
What tours do you have coming up, and what can you tell us about them?
There will be concerts in summer and autumn for sure, but we are still in the planning phase, nothing concrete, yet.
What venue are you most looking forward to playing the most, and why?
From the very beginning I had envisioned Sanity to reach the English speaking audience and thus used English lyrics. It would be pretty awesome to get in contact with metal bands from the UK or US and become their support on one of their tours. And of course we’d love to play some big stages and are dreaming about a small tour outside Germany. Scandinavia would be awesome or the US. Our latest release is a concept album of the book of Revelation from the bible, a prophetic, dystopian book that vividly and explicitly describes the Apocalypse. A dedicated tour on that topic would be incredible. Let’s see what the future holds in store for us.
What else can we expect from you in 2024?
We have already recorded the songs for third EP to complete the “Revelation” project and plan to release it in 2025. This trilogy will then have a total of 14 songs. The record release concert for the second EP “The Beast” was on 2 March 2024. There will be concerts in summer and autumn for sure, but we are still in the planning phase, nothing concrete, yet. At the same time my brother and I are working on a rerelease of our second album “Nocturnal Poems” from 1999. Florian is actually composing completely new rhythm and lead guitars and I will be recording new drums for it. Additionally, we are currently preparing the video shoot for our next official music video, the song “Babylon” from our EP The Beast. We are working with Underpaid Mantis Studio (www.underpaidmantis.com) and are currently developing the story line for the video. Our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Sanity.berlin already has a good amount of content and I would like to add more. The official videos for “Seals” and “Throne” were just released. Check them out on YouTube.
Sanity – Throne (Official Music Video) https://youtu.be/5x4RdpaD9Ho?si=Ef-AdqBEUSLkL9R6
Sanity – Seals (Official Music Video) https://youtu.be/9adVATPq-yA?si=hpVCQPAv_dBcGvUr
You see, we got our hands full with exciting subjects for many years to come.