With "Into Nothingness" German old school deathers Wilt have done a huge step forward in their career (read review here). Pretty much unknown to this point, at least many people in Germany including myself became aware of them with this self-released album. Their vocalist Matze was so kind to answer me the questions I sent, and also their guitarist Sascha was involved in the interview, answering my question about his other band (and also pretty worth to check) Evoked. Thanks guys for doing this again! Enjoy reading.

Michael

Hey, everything fine with you?

Hello Michael! It was just a bit turbulent, but now everything is back in calmer waters and we are very happy about the response to "Into Nothingness".

I got in touch with you for the first time at End Of Days in November last year - maybe you can introduce the band to the readers a bit more first?

Dirk from Hotel 666 (a German webzine; M.) describes us like this: "Wilt stands for uncompromising, honest and brutal Svenska Dödsmetall, whose HM2 circular saws, driven by heart and soul and a penchant for rolling and all-crushing groove, without much ado and flourishes directly to your eardrums and shred them precisely and mercilessly. Here Death Metal is not only played, but also lived, because it is important to continue the spirit of this sound with dedication, joy of playing and high quality, to live up to it not only as musicians, but also as fans."

That pretty much hits the nail on the head.

Your second album "Into Nothingness" has received consistently good to very good reviews, how flashed are you by that?

That's totally crazy. We had hoped that we could tie in with "Faces Of The Grave" and take it up a notch, because we have grown as a band and musicians over the last few years, not only through a lot of live presence. We know what we want and have developed a feeling for what works and what does not. Our resulting vision of Wilt anno 2023 obviously coincides quite well with the expectations of our fans and the old school death metal maniacs out there. It really wasn't something we could have predicted.

In retrospect, isn't it a bit annoying that you decided to release the album on your own due to the lively (media) interest?

No, that was a very conscious decision. I think just the enormously increased interest confirms that we have done a lot right with our lived DIY, even in the past. About half of the copies have already been sold, even though the record has been out for less than three weeks and we have only played two shows since then to present the new songs live. We certainly have to admit that we were a bit naive in our approach and that we might have left out some potential, but you don't plan something like that.

Why did you decide to take this rather courageous step?

This has nothing to do with courage, for us this is simply the "natural way". We had discussions, but then decided to do everything ourselves again. This way we still have full control and can do what we think is right at any time. We don't have to pay rent for a rehearsal room or studio, we have storage space available and with Bandcamp we have a platform through which we can easily handle direct sales - but of course you can also contact us directly at any time if, for example, you don't want to use PayPal. We are also lucky to have great support from Cudgel, SCR, Neckbreaker or Idiots, among others, and you can get our records there as well. We put every cent directly back into merch, mastering, artwork, etc. and spend a lot of time developing new ideas, making and maintaining contacts and of course also for the unspectacular things like paperwork, shipping and stuff like that. Because we are not only enthusiastic music fans, but also quite nerds, everyone has his own interests and skills, which he brings into the band. That way we can do most of the stuff ourselves and don't need any advance or subsidies. Of course, this is only possible if you are unattached or have an understanding and patient family behind you.

Let's get to the music, which is pretty fat old school death metal. What are your main influences?

The late eighties, early nineties death metal, European school. Marko, who writes most of our songs, actually has a modern musical background. He used to come to the rehearsal room with appropriate ideas and then we put his ideas through the death metal grinder. In the meantime, he has also discovered his love-hate relationship with the old school, so that the new album was almost entirely created from his finished ideas and everyone just added their part.

Malicious tongues could reproach you that you don't deliver anything new, but are stylistically rather very close to the better known German combos like Revel In Flesh or Fleshcrawl or their idols - compliment or insult?

Why "malicious tongues"? I think that's a very nice compliment! We don't want to invent anything new at all. We are simply death metal fans, who at some point took up the instrument ourselves. We just can't help it. I grew up with this stuff, when my 13 year old self heard "Turning Black" coming out of the speakers for the first time, it was immediately clear to me that one day I would play exactly this kind of music. Well, it took another 20 Christmases until that day came. Hehe!

How long did it take you to compose and record the album? Were there any problems or why did it take 5 years to release it?

Several factors come together here. First of all we didn't know what would follow after "FOTG". We thought, come on, let's make a CD now and fulfill the absurd dream of a vinyl version sometime in two years, when the money is in again. And then everything turned out differently. The vinyl came out three months later and on the live front, from our point of view, an incredible amount happened. We didn't really get to work on the many ideas that were bubbling out of Marko. We had just finished 'No Vital Signs' when Corona came. Lockdown, contact ban - life stood completely still from now on. Everything felt pointless. In addition, there were private and health problems that first had to be overcome. In the end, most of the ideas ended up in the garbage can and we started all over again. So the material was created almost completely in the last year.

Does "Into Nothingness" have a concept lyrically or does each song stand on its own?

No, the songs rather stand for themselves, but unlike in the past, they have no political or socially critical content. The only exception is 'No Vital Signs', which, as I said, was finished long before the other songs and whose lyrics were written by Börgy. At some point the news and the picking on the net just annoyed me, so we don't have to let the moral one hang out as well. There was a lot of crap that I carried around with me, so this time the lyrics are characterized by gloom, hopelessness and hopelessness. However, I couldn't help winking and that's how 'Dracunculus Medinensis' came into being. I wondered for a long time why maggots always play a role in Death Metal. With a buddy I watched by chance "The Trench", which is quite mustard, but reminded me of the Medina worm, so there it was, the maggot alternative.

All band members have been on board for about 10 years - are you also good friends in your private life or is it more of a "company" that only meets to make music? I assume that you have a good chemistry with each other...

Wilt started out as friends. Friends left, strangers came and became friends, sometimes even family. It all fits perfectly - unfortunately, there is a downside. When you are so close to each other, it is sometimes very difficult to make or accept factual and objective decisions.

I always find appealing covers very important for albums - how did you manage to get Juanjo Castellano Rosado as cover artist, who designed a very lovingly detailed one for you?

That was pretty simple. We got in touch with him, presented him our idea of the outside of the grave from the cover of the debut, and gave him music and lyrics. He was up for it and made us this awesome cover with which he exceeded our imagination and expectations.

What are the best 5 record covers of all time? (can not always ask only about songs, albums or artists;-))

Phew, that's a hard nut to crack. - Interment - Scent Of The Buried

- Grave - You'll Never See...

- Asphyx - Last One On Earth

- Entombed - Left Hand Path

- Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream

Are you coming on tour soon or are there any festivals where you can be found?

Of course, a tour for the release would be ideal, but the live situation is difficult at the moment, as we all know. Oversupply, lack of personnel, rising costs, restraint in pre-sales, etc., so a lot is uncertain right now. We will definitely play a few single shows, so a lot is already fixed. In addition, we are pretty much always "live-ready", often need only a day's notice and have therefore very often stood in as a "last minute" band.

And last but not least, a question for Sascha - what about a new Evoked???

Hehe, there will definitely be something, what it is exactly and when, but I'll keep myself a bit under wraps...