Furious Trauma

Furious Trauma
We Choose No Other Way

17.09.2017

Архив интервью | Русская версия

Denmark has always been famous for its metal bands consistent in producing high-quality music. The first ones to mention here are a certain promising tennis player, who ended up turning into a drummer, and such a phenomenon as Mercyful Fate. Our interview subject is also a prominent figure on the Danish scene: he was among the originators of Danish thrash metal with Furious Trauma and later gained worldwide fame as a member of death metallers Konkhra. Thrash metal is enjoying a true renaissance these days, even though it is now praised for totally different concepts than in the 1980s and 1990s. Anyway, Lars is now back with Furious Trauma, and the recording of a new album is always a good reason for an interview. It is true that this band has not achieved continental fame and its releases have not been praised by prominent peers. But their music still bears that quality mark that is so familiar to those who know more than a couple of Danish bands.

It has been reported that Furious Trauma are planning a new album. Could you share with us any details of the new material? Do you have a label for it and/or maybe a tentative release date?

First of all, I wanna thank you for showing your interest in Furous Trauma, I appreciate that. Yes, it’s true, we’re in the process of recording a new album, No, we don’t have a label yet, and no, we don’t have a release date, but what I can tell you, is that this one is gonna be the fastest, heaviest, and most brutal album we have done so far.

What is the current line-up of the band?

Brian Andersen – drums
Rene Loua – guitar
Daniel Johansson – guitar
Lars Schmidt - bass/vocals

You started playing metal as a member of Battalion. How did you get involved with heavy music?

Actually, I started playing metal music in an occult/satanic outfit before I joined Battalion, but I’m kind of impressed, you have really done your homework, since you know of me, being a member of Battalion, cool.
I was introduced to rock music in a very early age, started out at 5-6 years old, with the Danish rock legends Gasolin. In school I had this teacher, who was into bands like Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead, and bands like that, and at 9-10 years old, someone showed me a poster of a band with painted faces, spitting blood and stuff like that (Kiss), and it completely blew my mind. From then on, it just took off with NWOBHM, thrash metal and so on.

Furious Trauma released two solid demos in 1988 and 1990, but the debut album only came out in 1992. What was the reason why it took so long?

I don't know.

How did it happen that the first Furious Trauma album was produced by Eric Greif, a person well-known on the international metal scene in many capacities?

Honestly, I can’t remember how I was introduced to Greif, but I tell you, he’s the nicest guy you can imagine, and we were very happy to work with him.

This album was released by C.B.O.D. Records. Was this the only release by this label? What kind of label was it, and who owned it?

Yes, it was the only album on that label. It was our own label. Back then we called our way of playing thrash metal, THC thrash, so C.B.O.D is actually short of "chillum bong of death".

There is a live video of your song “Incoming Shock” dating back to 1989 on YouTube. Why did it fail to make it to demos or the first album? Do you have more of such "forgotten" tracks?

I guess, we didn't find it good enough, and maybe that was a mistake, maybe we should record it sometime in the future. We made a lot of tracks back then, and some of them, well, should stay forgotten. (laughs)

The song "Thrash Yer Guts Out" from the "Tempora Mutantur" demo (1988) was dedicated to Cliff Burton. What did Cliff mean for you?

Back then Metallica was a huge inspiration to us, and we thought Cliff was really cool. Metallica had just recorded "Master of Puppets" in Sweet Silence Studio, which was located right next to our rehearsal room, and Hyr (former singer of Furious Trauma) had met Cliff, James and Kirk, and they all wrote some words on the back of his jacket. The words that Cliff wrote, "thrash yer guts out", was exactly what we intended to do, so it kind of worked perfectly for our way of living/playing, so of cause, a song with that title, should be made. And so we did.

The album "Roll the Dice" (1999) contains elements of groove metal. Did you decide to experiment with your sound at that time? Season of Mist even put the sticker "Thrash’n’Roll" on the CD...

I have always been a fan of rock‘n’roll and music from the 60s and 70s, you know, bands like The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Ten Years After, Sweet and especially Kiss and Motorhead. At that point of time, when we made "Roll the Dice" I kind of wanted to combine the music I grew up with and the music we were playing in Furious Trauma, and to try something different, not repeating ourselves. If we did a good job, I will leave to the listeners to decide. If I had to record that album today, I would probably change a few things, but at the end of the day, I like it and I think it’s a cool album.
By the way, the "Thrash‘n’Roll" thing was our own idea, not that it was some kind of genius invention, but it was quite obvious to us, now that we were combining rock’n’roll and thrash metal. Experimenting with the sound, ya’, in that way, we always try to do things better than our previous record, and to find a sound that fits the music.

At different times, Furious Trauma featured members of Mercyful Fate, Artillery, Illdisposed, Dominus, Konkhra, Hatesphere, Pretty Maids… What were the reasons for such numerous line-up changes?

Yes, there have been a lot of line-up changes throughout the years, not that I like it, but some were really necessary, some unfortunate. Back in the old days of Danish thrash/death metal, a lot of the musicians didn't take things very seriously, so some of the members simply weren’t good enough. Some left because of family issues and some left to join other bands, some left because of musically differences.
You mention that we have had members of Illdisposed, Dominus and Pretty Maids. Just to get the facts straight, Morten Gilsted (guitar) left Furious Trauma to join Illdisposed and not an Illdisposed member being a part of Furious Trauma. Brian Andersen (drums) left Furious Trauma due to family reasons, but he did assist Michael Poulsen recording the Dominus record later on. Again he was not a member of Dominus joining Furious Trauma, but an ex-Furious Trauma member helping out a friend. Allan Tschicaja (drums) left Furious Trauma to join Pretty Maids. So basically Furious Trauma has never featured members of those bands, but those bands have featured members of Furious Trauma, it’s that way around.

Your debut album was released on vinyl for the first time in 2013 by Denmark’s Extreme Metal Vinyl Records in a limited edition of 300 copies. Six songs were printed on a 12-inch vinyl, and two more on a 7-inch vinyl, with no bonus tracks added. Why was such an unusual configuration chosen?


Peter of Extreme Metal Vinyl Records has always loved that album and wanted to make a vinyl edition, as he is a vinyl freak. He did contact me, to offer me a deal and since he is a fan of that album and a very nice guy, I thought it was a nice idea. Beside that, I would love to have "Primal Touch" on vinyl. It’s as simple as that.

Russia’s GSProductions released both demos and the first full-length album by Furious Trauma in 2014 as a two-CD digipack. Were you satisfied with this collaboration? Did you initially have any doubts about it?

Yes, I’m satisfied, and I have no doubts about it, at all. From the very beginning, I found Vitaly of GSProductions a very nice guy, and most importantly, a very honest guy. Instead of just releasing the album without our permission, he actually took the time to contact us, and ask us if we were interested in working together, and that is more than I can say of other labels. I was recently informed of another Russian label, releasing "Roll the Dice", and nobody informed me about that, no one asked for my permission, even though, all rights are mine/Furious Trauma. So thumbs up for Vitaly and GSProductions.

You contributed a cover version of "Trapped Under Ice" from the "Ride the Lighting" album to Part 2 of a Metallica tribute "Metal Militia" CD issued by Sweden’s Black Sun Records in 1996. There are quite many fans who believe that Metallica moved to mainstream after "…And Justice for All" and gave up thrash metal. What is your opinion?

"Kill ‘Em All", "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets", I consider milestones in metal, and they were a huge inspiration to me back then. I have seen Metallica shows dating back to the "Ride the Lightning" tour, and they blew my mind. Seeing Metallica with Cliff Burton (R.I.P.) is something I shall never forget.
Yes, they might have softened up a bit, and so fucking what. If that is the way they wanna go, be my guest. We all want to develop and try new stuff, so did we with "Roll the Dice", and I guess they are still laughing, going to the bank. (laughs) I like Metallica and I have no problems with them, going mainstream as you call it. To me, they are still the greatest metal band on Earth.

You devoted a substantial part of your musical career to Konkhra, playing on the overwhelming majority of their releases (except 1990 and 1991 demos, 1992 EP and 1997 LP). Therefore I feel the need to ask you a few questions about this band…


Yes. I spent a lot of time in Konkhra, had some good days and bad days. I’m done with Konkhra, the page has been turned, a new chapter has begun, and that is about Furious Trauma. So if you don’t mind, I would prefer not to talk about Konkhra. The future is about Furious Trauma. It’s okay to ask, cause as I say if you don’t ask you don’t get any answers. I don’t wanna be rude, but I kind of moved on, hope you’re okay with that.

What is your opinion of young Danish bands of the present day?

The standard of present day bands in Denmark have really improved since the early days. So that’s a good thing, the future looks bright for Danish metal acts, and that makes me very happy.

You have produced several Danish bands of different styles. Do you prefer to work only with your fellow countrymen in this capacity?

No. Not at all.

A few books have been published on metal scenes of various countries. For instance, there is a very detailed guide on Swedish metal from its first days to the heyday. Do you happen to be aware if anybody is working on a similar study of the Danish scene? Denmark has given the world so many excellent bands …

I’m sorry, I really don’t know. I think a friend of mine, a journalist, has written some books about Danish metal, but if it is a detailed guide, I don’t know. You can try Google him, his name is Jens Jam Rasmussen.

Can you say a few final words to our readers?

Hope you will like our new stuff, and hopefully I will see you on tour in the future. "We are into metal / We choose no other way / We are furious / We are here to make your day". (chorus from the track "We Are Furious", taken from the forthcoming album).

Official Furious Trauma website will soon be available at: http://www.furioustrauma.com

Official Furious Trauma video can be seen here and here

Magomed Gadzhiev
July, 30, 2017
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