Henri Sattler - This is 'Passiondale'

On April 24th ‘Passiondale’, the new CD from our national death metal pride God Dethroned will be unleashed upon the masses, and it is a record that I was quite looking forward to. Not only because of the music – God Dethroned is one of the few death metal bands I really enjoy – but also for the lyrical theme this time: The First World War. This insane mass-slaughter however, that in the four years this war raged on, butchered countless soldiers and civilians alike into oblivion, isn’t that well-known in The Netherlands. Yes, in Germany, England, France or Belgium everybody is quite aware of that tragedy, but since Holland remained neutral in the conflict, we escaped practically all of the horrors so it did not infested our collective memory. On the other hand, it would not be such a bad idea if Dutch schools taught a lot more about this conflict that nearly destroyed Europe and (together with its aftermath) was the logical cause for World War 2. And we all remember that one, now don’t we. That is why I think it is a good thing that a death metal band like God Dethroned leaves the common death metal death, doom and destruction crap behind to get the most of us acquainted with one of the darkest periods of the 20th century. Bandbrain, singer and guitarist Henry Sattler explains his songs…

The Cross of Sacrifice
This is the intro track of the album. The lyrics deal with the situation in Europe before the war and the tension that was built up that resulted in the actual war. It is spoken by a Japanese lady to create a certain atmosphere that actually reflects this tension.

Under a Darkening Sky
A furious song where the lyrics start with a little bit of war propaganda. I used parts of war propaganda here and there in some of the lyrics and I must admit that I was stunned by what the separate countries told their men to get them into the war. In the middle part of the song I play a guitar lead like Tony Iommi meets Kerry King. Tony Iommi would sometimes play two leads on top of each other. Mix that with my Kerry King style of playing leads and I guess I don’t have to explain what kind of cacophony that creates… Ha!

No Man’s Land
This song takes you back to ‘Bloody Blasphemy’ times like ‘Boiling Blood’ when it comes to type of song and atmosphere. The Slayeresque middle part should be good for a decent slamming pit.

Poison Fog
This is the longest song of the album and at the same time the most hymnic one. It deals with the mustard gas attacks that took place during the war. Blast beats and brutal riffing are combined with atmospheric parts and clean vocals as well. We hadn’t done that since ‘Bloody Blasphemy’, but this song was ideal for it.

Drowning in Mud
This is the song with the Motorhead feel in the opening riff. The lyrics deal with what happened to the soldiers being stuck in the trenches for a long time, like losing their fellow mates and starting friendship with rats. Many (if not most) soldiers lost every sense of reality being in the trenches that long, never able to live a normal life again.

Passiondale
This is a song about the little village Passchendaele which has been wiped out during the war. Since the English speaking armies couldn’t pronounce the name of the village properly, they nicknamed it to Passiondale. This is the slow song of the album, full of melodies and a great atmosphere.

No Survivors
We wrote this song in the studio on the last day we recorded drums. It is a very spontaneous song. Aggressive and furious again, but also with some cool melodies and clean vocals. We never expected to write a song with so many different elements in such a short time, but it turned out very well.

Behind Enemy Lines
One of the more catchy songs on the album. Still fast but with a structure that’s a little bit easier to follow than the other songs which are more hectic (and/or chaotic).

Fallen Empires
The song title basically says it all. Where most countries were still empires or kingdoms before the war, they all fell and lost millions of their fellow countrymen. Prisoners of war dying in camps. Also a more melodic song.

Artifacts of the Great War
World War I is also known as the Great War. Country leaders thinking it would be the first, last and only great war. The war to end all wars as they thought. This is the outro song of the album. Instrumental and almost soothing, the end of madness.

Especially for those of you blessed with a head emptier than a hermit’s address-book I have added the first ten minutes of a very enlightening documentary about this first worldwide-mechanized mass-slaughter below. So you know what this album is all about. And don’t be afraid to seek out the rest of this documentary on YouTube. It won’t make your brain hurt. No really, it doesn’t…