On War & Combat with Rasmus Henriksen of PANZERCHRIST

After reviewing Panzerchrist’s latest album, Regiment Ragnarok, I was luckily to have been able to interview the band’s lead guitarist, Rasmus Henriksen, to discuss their sixth studio release.

The answers received left me intrigued, with my admiration growing for the quintet - they are an outfit that I’ll be keeping my eye on in the future and I hope all the readers will too.

Your latest album ‘Regiment Ragnarok’ is a very powerful record, how pleased are you with the final result and is it being well received so far?

Rasmus Henriksen: We’re very pleased indeed. As always there are things you think could have been done differently, but the album has been received very well so far so I guess it’s not bad at all.

The album is very thick and heavy in the most part, yet delves into more melodic and atmospheric sections, did you decide before hand to have this incorporated in the album or was it just the result of how the songs were written?

Henriksen: The latter I would say. We always try to hold on to parts that we think have that special Panzer thing, this being something that gives associations to war and combat. 

This is pretty much what controls our whole writing process. It has to be war-like in a way if it is to be part of a Panzerchrist song. But war can be beautiful as well as ugly, so we’re not only limited to the super fast and brutal approach.

When writing for this album, or any others for that matter, do you aim to write songs that stand out on their own, or to write songs that all fit well together and make a consistent sounding album?

Henriksen: We aim for some consistency but try not to over do it. We want to have the freedom to make something that stands out. This album has consistency in the lyrical theme, but otherwise, I think some of the songs sound far apart, and that’s a good thing. 

One of the fun things I have experienced during the last decade is that many of the fans disagree on their favourite Panzerchrist songs, but for the most part I can see consistency in what they like. And we feel much the same in the band as well.

The bands break-though album was 'Soul Collector' which was released in 2000, which incorporated themes or World War 2 into the lyrics, does this latest release have a set theme which the lyrics revolve around?

Henriksen: It does, in a way at least. All the songs on Regiment Ragnarok put the listener behind the eyes of some soldier in a combat situation, or that soldier reflecting about his participation in war or specific battles. 

It’s about the impressions battle have on men, and how they react to different experiences. Some go insane and some fall in love with war, when their animal instincts surface during intense combat. 

Lyrically, we don’t get into much detail about what scenarios these men are part of, but we have gotten inspirations from many different wars at a broader timeline with this album.

I have to ask, with all the line-up changes this band has seen, how have you managed to keep writing albums with such a consistently similar sound and style despite always having different members to write and record with, and do you believe that the current line up is the strongest the band has ever had?

Henriksen: The reason is that we have a pretty strict formula on how we do things in this band. I have always thought of this as one of our main strengths since we don’t have to renew ourselves. We only want to move forward and don’t take any turns along the way. It’s always faster, stronger and more brutal for us, and new members only join if they know and agree on the path we’ve chosen. 

And yes the line-up definitely is the strongest we’ve ever had. This is the line-up that made Panzerchrist play live again and I think that is the best thing that has happened to us in a long time.

This year Panzerchrist is to hit the stage for the first time in 11 years, what brought on this decision to take it live and is there anything big planned that we can get excited about?

Henriksen: It’s all about us finally getting the right crew. We’re all excited about it and agree on how we’re going to approach this thing. 

We played our first concert a few weeks back, and by the reviews you can expect to experience one of the most brutal poundings you have ever witnessed. Our only aim is to totally blow people away, and deliver a constant sonic attack. 

If this is a big thing, depends on if you like our music or you don’t. Some people have been completely amazed of our relentless attack and others told me they got sick and had to leave. I find both statements very pleasing.

Is the band planning to keep releasing more albums in the near future?

Henriksen: Yes, we definitely won’t wait another 5 years this time. We have agreed on setting a higher pace for the band, mostly because we decided to play live again.

Before we finish, are there any final words you want to send to the fans and readers?

Henriksen: Thanks for the support and hope to catch you live some time.

To read the Voltage Media review of Panzerchrist’s new release, Regiment Ragnarok, follow this link, and for more information on the band, visit their official website.