Churches Without Saints - GOLDEN Marbled Vinyl

Dark goldenrod marbled vinyl limited to 300 copies.

The Germans Desaster have been doing their very own godless extreme metal thing since 1989 and are back in 2021 with perhaps their most powerful album to date: Churches Without Saints is nothing less than outstanding and "typical Desaster - a mixture of old-school black, death and thrash metal with a lot of aggression, but also a lot of atmosphere and epic melodies," as guitarist and co-founder Infernal enthusiastically explains. Under the simple guideline to bang out a record full of "breakneck songs", the quartet has once again earned the leading position in its ancestral field and offers both die-hard and new fans plenty of fodder for the ears.

Disaster's followers had to be patient for five years after the last longplayer The Oath Of An Iron Ritual, but the wait was absolutely worth it. "Apparently we have found a release rhythm of four, five years, although I would not say that this is due to a lack of creativity, but is due to our duties outside the band, which have increased over time. But when we get to put our heads together, there's always that magic in the air that we need to write strong songs." Because of the long hiatus, the group didn't feel pressured when tackling the new disc. "It's never happened before, especially since it would ruin our creativity and joy in music. When we get together we like to have fun and celebrate the music, it's not a business thing for us. We enjoy writing new songs and just start working on an album as soon as we think it's time." During the year-and-a-half-long creative process, the band never followed any schemes or patterns, but let everything happen naturally. "All our feelings simply flow through our hands into the instruments and become songs, done." Although their songwriting is comparatively effortless, the members discard anything that doesn't sound good to their collective eight ears and take it easy on each other when they're together. "I'm always happy to meet the other dudes, crack a couple of beers, play some old stuff to warm up and then get started on some new shit, it's a step-by-step process." And as for said ears, there's a new pair involved this time around, as Hont has taken over from Tormentor behind the drum kit, bringing a refreshingly different approach. "He's very accomplished and can really play anything. Whereas we used to compose a lot of stuff on a trial and error basis, trying out different rhythms, now it's much more efficient. Hont knows immediately which groove goes with which riffs. He has thoroughly internalized our music and recognizes what works best, but he doesn't copy Tormentor's style, but brings in his own refined way of playing, including new rhythms and figures. Logically, this gives the songs an unused touch."

The idea for the title Churches Without Saints came from Infernal and bassist Odin, but it was frontman Sataniac who filled it with life. "I started with a few words about religious hypocrisy. We played through the title track several times in the rehearsal room, after which the lyrics came to me naturally. We are still blinded by these old fairy tales and suffer from them. Even after millennia, we still believe our souls need to be saved from death or something like that, but it's not necessary; life just goes on without you." Based on this, decidedly profound, philosophical lyrics emerged, dealing with questions of life and death, and even reaching beyond them. 'Learn To Love The Void', for example, asserts, "If you're still trying to get to heaven and just not hell, it would be easier to seek your peace of mind in eternal nothingness. There is silence there, and you don't have to serve anyone or pray to experience it. Please try to learn to love the emptiness. For me, the reminder that everything passes is always quite soothing." The more abstract 'Armed Architects of Annihilation' grapples with our constant uncertainty about what life actually is; Sataniac doesn't rule out that our minds are "simply a mistake of evolution."