Krieg IV

NEILL: The car was completely split on the album, which made sense with it being such a drastic departure from the earlier material. Looking back, it almost feels like a universal metaphor. Post-9/11, everything about travelling changed. And here were DARKTHRONE, making this massive shift of their own

On location in San Antonio, Neill and KRIEG’s live bassist, Jeff Tandy of AVERSE SEFIRA, learned that their guitarist had missed his flight. Though assuring everyone he’d join them in Germany, this left a last-minute gap to fill for the Texas show.

For Sacrifice of the Nazarene Child, KRIEG had recruited Californian drummer Rob Alaniz. Since his main band, NOCTUARY – who’d exchanged demos with Neill in the mid-90s – was also on the bill, the remaining members were already present. Their guitarist, Joe Van Fossen, stepped in to complete the line-up.

NEILL: Blackthorn arranged for us to enter the venue early. The place had an indoor stage and a restaurant serving massive hamburgers, each branded with the bar’s name – quintessentially American. I remember sitting in a booth, showing Joey the riffs he’d be playing later that night, surrounded by the sound and smell of those enormous burgers cooking.

Were you naturally good at staying calm in high-pressure situations?

NEILL: Not at all – but now I felt no pressure whatsoever. I’d also agreed to do guest vocals with KULT OV AZAZEL, which I didn’t even get a chance to rehearse – again, no stress. A stark contrast to the year before when I had a total meltdown over lost luggage. This was far more serious, yet I felt completely detached from the situation.

Any idea why?

NEILL: I’d grown so emotionally invested in old BEHERIT, PROFANATICA, and BESTIAL SUMMONING that technicality no longer mattered. What counted was whether the show erupted into a violent upheaval of emotion. I wanted our set to embody my vision of American black metal. Given all the obstacles leading up to it, you’d expect the usual calamity – instruments spontaneously combusting, and so on.

The previous KRIEG show – five months earlier, at New Jersey’s The Return of Darkness and Evil – had been a disaster. The bassist was blackout drunk, and midway through the second song, the drum machine literally caught fire.

NEILL: This time, though, it was pure chaos and violence – in the best possible way, “Oath of Black Blood” (BEHERIT) style. Honestly, it ended up being one of the most gratifying KRIEG sets I’ve ever played. That show gave me a hell of a lot more confidence heading into Europe, even with a different line-up.

Just how different of a line-up they’d have only became clear once Neill and Jeff boarded their flight out of Texas.

NEILL: Our guitarist, Mike from War Hammer Records, was supposed to be sitting next to us. Instead, his label partner, Jamie, showed up and took the seat. I asked, ‘What the fuck are you doing here? Where’s Mike?’ He just shrugged: ‘I don’t know where Mike is.’ We didn’t get the full story until we landed in Germany.

I’m assuming this was the guitarist who’d allegedly been jailed?

NEILL: Yeah. Mike claimed he got arrested on the way to the airport. Our first show was in Belgium that evening, so as soon as we started driving, Jeff and I had to work out what the hell we were gonna do. Andrew then mentioned that one of the drivers, Steve, could play bass, so I asked him – and he agreed to step in.

This was German musician and tour organiser Steve Metalkommand, who now runs Parasite Gallows Booking. At the time, he played bass for REPENT and SEEDS OF HATE. With a session bassist secured, Jeff moved over to guitar duties. Honza of AVENGER – a Czech band signed to Breath of Night – had agreed to handle drums for KRIEG on the tour.

NEILL: Jeff knew the material, but now he was switching instruments. Honza had played with me once before, at the JUDAS ISCARIOT show in Germany the previous year. Steve, I’d only met him five minutes earlier. We arrived at the venue, taught Steve and Honza the fucking songs, performed two hours later, and then toured with that line-up.

Did you meet any old contacts at the first show?

NEILL: Yeah, quite a few. We partied at the campground just outside the venue afterwards, and many leading figures from the European scene were there, including Marcel from Sombre Records. That’s actually how the “Destruction Ritual” deal happened – I handed him the masters directly, which was pretty cool.

Krieg - live in Berlin, December 2001

I attended three of the shows on this tour. With the first set in Hamburg and the second in Berlin, it was here I first noticed the stark contrast between metalheads who’d grown up on opposite sides of the former German divide. Judging by Neill’s post-tour reflections, he made similar observations.

NEILL: Moving from parts of Germany I already knew to playing in Hamburg – a seemingly liberal city – felt like familiar territory. But entering Berlin was a completely different experience. The architecture changed immediately; everything turned brutalist. Driving past the remains of the Berlin Wall only heightened the surrealness.

Erected in 1961, the Berlin Wall stood as one of the Cold War’s most enduring symbols, physically and ideologically separating East and West Berlin for nearly three decades. On one side lay the Federal Republic of Germany, aligned with Western Europe; on the other, the German Democratic Republic, firmly part of the Eastern Bloc.

NEILL: I still remember watching the Wall come down as a kid, and now I stood in a city still visibly shaped by it. That contrast hit hard. The East German crowds were much more serious – not necessarily in dedication, but in their demeanour. It threw me off completely and was probably my first real culture shock.

Can you give an example?

NEILL: I mean, you couldn’t joke with them. I noticed it almost immediately when I met the KATHARSIS members. Andrew mentioned that these guys had built up an idea in their heads about me – expecting to meet the most evil black metal American ever. Then they saw me put on a Burger King hat at a rest stop, and whatever respect I’d accumulated vanished instantly.

Where did you get a ‘Burger King hat’ from?

NEILL: From a fucking Burger King rest stop, obviously. Every other North American on the tour wouldn’t shut the fuck up about missing American food, completely ignoring the rare chance to try something different – real cuisine, not packed with chemicals and garbage. But they whined enough that we ended up stopping at a Burger King.

I’ll never forget arriving at the third German venue – Festung in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Ryan Marauder of GOSPEL OF THE HORNS summed it up perfectly, describing it as ‘something straight out of Mad Max 2; as if it had been bombed during the war and never rebuilt. An industrial wasteland completely taken over by punks and crusties.’

NEILL: Nothing else existed for miles around, so we stayed in the venue’s living quarters. It felt like an isolated compound where the subculture governed itself. Actually, it kind of reminded me of Waco. That was my first real exposure to leftist crust punks, and they turned out to be decent people: generous with food, shelter, and plenty of beer.

When all was said and done, what thoughts and impressions did you bring back?

NEILL: The absolute dedication and seriousness of the Europeans stood out in a way I’d never experienced back home. Of course, some US bands had that same commitment – BLACK WITCHERY, for instance – but the overall culture felt different. In the US, black metal often seemed like entertainment. In Europe, it was a way of life.

Two weeks after Neill returned from Europe, Red Stream released “Destruction Ritual”. The reception surpassed anything KRIEG had seen before.

NEILL: My earlier records either went ignored, met mixed reactions, or found appreciation from a small crowd. I’d grown accustomed to indifference or backlash, so seeing people actually connect with my music – understanding what I was trying to do – felt incredibly rewarding. Commercially, “Destruction Ritual” cemented KRIEG as a serious force in American black metal.

“Destruction Ritual” included no printed lyrics, but Neill has described them as deeply personal, dealing with inner turmoil and existential themes.

NEILL: The album represented my interpretation of black metal. I never considered myself a Satanist, and many insist the genre must be Satanic – but for me, it channelled something demonic, violent, and self-destructive. When writing lyrics, I tried to mirror the aggression in the music. By the time “Destruction Ritual” was finished, it felt like I’d closed a chapter.

Why was that?

NEILL: I’d already explored those themes, said everything I needed to say, and felt no urge to keep treading the same path. I didn’t yet realise how much my outlook would shift over time – just that I wanted to do something different. Andrew once told me “Destruction Ritual” would’ve been the perfect ending for KRIEG; in a way, he had a point.

In a KRIEG website update from January 2002, Neill announced an upcoming performance at Destruction Fest in New Jersey. For this gig, NOCTUARY served as KRIEG’s backing band.

NEILL: The NOCTUARY guys had weeks of rehearsals leading up to the show, which made all the difference. More than anything, that performance gave me a chance to prove myself to the New Jersey audience. In the past, they’d seen KRIEG with either an embarrassing drummer or a burning drum machine. This time, I could finally deliver the music exactly as intended – raw, intense, and serious.