DECEMBER 30th, 2023
OLD RUIN EXCLUSIVE

Metaltitans very own, Metal Mom had the opportunity to chat with Black Metallers, OLD RUINS out of Germany. Forming in 2019, performing in the musical styling of post-black metal mixed with heavy metaller. Also themed in the ways of the Diablo video game, adding atmospheric riffs in a new and unique way. Check out the interview below, for more about Old Ruins.

LINE-UP:
Christian Krajewski - Lead Guitars, Vocals
Ersin Kara - Guitars
Oliver Krajewski - Bass
Alexander Czernik - Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:
2020 - Old Ruins • EP
2023 - Always Heading East • Full-length

MT - Tell us how you came up with the name for the band?

Ersin: One Day, I was at Alex's house and we were listening to a Demo Song he did with Christian. And he talked about the name maybe being Al Druin, the Sword of Tyrael, but in german, it sounded to me like “alte ruinen”(Old Ruins in German).
When I asked him, why he talked about old ruins … then and there it clicked and we had a name, that fit perfectly with the Concept also.

MT - I have the line-up there, but can you tell us how each member came to be in the band? Plus maybe some history on each member. .

Ersin: First of all, we all are long time friends and know each other for almost 20 Years (except Christian and Oliver, who are Brothers). But Alex and Christian wanted to do something different, as their band Firestorm (Power Metal), was on hiatus, and wanted to do something totally different.
So they did it as a Studio Project.

On that fateful day, where I was at Alex's house, he played me a track they recorded and I was with Mortals' Path (where I played Bass and Guitar) at the time, but I wanted to be part of it, no matter what (because I knew Christian had a really good Voice).
Oliver was the Singer for Firestorm, but also wanted to take on the Bass, so the stars really aligned for this Band to happen.


MT - What was the first band you were ever in, and how old were you?

Ersin: for me it was Mortals' Path, it was a Old School Death Metal Band I founded, with a friend. But things got icky for me personally, so I left it one year after I joined Old Ruins. But it was still one of the best times I had and I wouldn't trade it for any other memories.

MT- Did you have an influence of someone that really made you decide that you needed to be in a band?

Ersin: I know Christian from our equivalent of High School, so he is to blame, not only me listening to Metal, but also playing Guitar, as he taught our whole class how to play Seven Nation Army on an acoustic, when we were on a school trip. I kept at it and why I wanted to found a Band is, I am a creative guy and had many ideas, how I could write some things and what they would be about and everything.
Around that time Entrails came out with their Comeback Album “The Tomb Awaits” and I pestered another friend (Dennis, who was also in Firestorm) to get together and write stuff that was in that OSDM-Vein, because I was jamming with Alex and Dennis, also at that time (funny enough, Alex was the first official drummer of Mortals' Path and gave us our name, but he was with Firestorm and his work and a second band would have been too much).

MT- Your EP "Old Ruins" came out in 2020, covid time, was that hard to do, getting it all together? Mixing, producing and getting to the crowds?

Ersin: It was espacially hard, because we couldn't practice in a traditional sense.
But Christian did the producing and mixing, and we could be in our rehearsal space, two people at a time. So it worked out good that way. And after we finished the recording, we wanted to test it out and release it, so we have something out there, just to look, what the resonance would be.
And thank god for the Black Metal Promotion YouTube-Channel and Bandcamp.
That was our driving force as far as marketing goes, and people liked it.
The response was so good, we pressed CD's and had them in a Shop run by Lacky (the Drummer for the German Thrash Legends “Darkness”).

MT- How was the reaction to your EP ?

Ersin:  I think we came at a time, where people where hungry for something new, because everything was on hold for what seemed an eternity and the reaction overall was very positive and people actually asked if we had vinyls of the EP (which he didnt have, because it was too expensive).

MT - You call yourselves Black Metal, why did you choose to be Black Metal?

Ersin: That was Christians and Alex's idea, they wanted to do something that was darker and more in the vein of “i” or “Demonaz”, but we also listened to a shit ton of Black Metal together, so it was a real product of influence.

MT - You also seem to be a bit more than that, how do you come up with your style ?

Ersin: Throw everything you know or want to express as yourself in a Pot, stirr it up, taste it, have an open mind for other ideas. If we would have wanted to sound like every other Black Metal Band, we would have done that, but we have so much more influences, that we dont deny ourselves.
Like Quorthon said, Black Metal is what you want it to be and we made it, as we saw and felt it in the moment.

MT - September 15, you released your first debut album "Always Heading East", how has this album been received ?

Ersin: The Reception was very positive all around. We are really happy about the reviews we are getting about it.

MT - Why did you choose to call it Always Heading East ?

Ersin: It was that or the Dark Wanderer. But we didnt want the name of the record be that much on the nose with the concept of Diablo, because not everybody will know, what the concept is about.
So we chose that, because it is a lyric from the Song, but also builds intrigue, even if you know, what Diablo is all about.

MT - You have 8 tracks on the album, do you have a favourite and why that one?

Ersin: for me personally it is Lord of Hell, because it is my very first Solo I recorded, that is somewhat good, not knocking my part in Fallen Temple and Tristram, but they were more midtempo and Lord of Hell was the first, where I thought I levelled up the most.

TRACKS:
From the Servant's Diary 01:10
The Dark Wanderer 06:56
Tristram 04:56
The Desert Sands 04:55
Risen From The Grave 07:03
The Fallen Temple 06:50
Mephisto 05:41
Lord Of Hell 04:07
Sescheron 04:59
Brave Last Words 00:56

MT: Was it an easy process from writing to the final stage?

Ersin: Since we had some of the Songs already, it wasnt that hard, but filling the gaps was more tricky than hard, because we are telling a story and how are you going to go from this point, to the next and make it sonically also evolve and make sense. So it was more challenging in that way.

MT: Who writes the lyrics, and where does the inspiration come from?

Ersin: Christian is the Mastermind behind the Lyrics and the Concept is about the Dark Wanderer and the general story of Diablo 2 (Blizzards RPG Game).

MT: Who was the artist for the album cover, and how did the design come about ?

Ersin: It was Timon Kokott, who also did the Artwork for our EP and our Logo.
It was a premade he did, which fit perfectly with the concept, since the wanderer is at some point, wandering through a desert, so we just bought it from Timon (check him out, one of the best artists out there right now @timonkokottartwork).

MT: Tell us something about the band that we might not know?

Ersin: We secretly like pop and do an on-stage tribute to N-Sync … im Justin, because of my locks xDDDD. No, siriously now: I dont know if you guys know this, but Christian is also in another Band called Smorrah, which you should definitely have an eye on.

MT: What is the most important thing for you, about doing concerts?

Ersin: For me its the Energy you get from performing. Giving your all and getting it back from the audience is just one of the best feelings ever.

MT: If you were not in a band, what do you think you would be doing?

Ersin: Be artistic in some other way definitely.

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview with us here at Metaltitans, we appreciate it, and we wish you much success with "Always Heading East".

Ersin: Thank you very much for the awesome questions and the very best for you also.



Words, views and opinions expressed in answers are those of the authors and do not reflect necessarily the official position, attitude or position of 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗘 ᴳᴸᴼᴮᴬᴸ