| Bands: | Dungeon Keeper |
| Release: | Chaos Sorcery Strike at Midnight |
| Genre: | Black Metal |
| Country: | Germany (Osnabrück) |
| Release Date: | 16th of August, 2024 |
| Released via | Fucking Kill Records (Vinyl) Lower Class Kids Records (Tape) Low Fidelity Assaults (Tape) Iconoclasm Conquest (CD) |
| Cover Artwork: | slowdeathdesign |
If there was one Black Metal release that certainly concentrated underground attention in 2024, we’re surely talking about Dungeon Keeper’s full-length debut Chaos Sorcery Strike at Midnight. Being a novice in ancient spell forces, I considered it overtly brave to dare and venture the depths of the Fortress of Evil in order to grasp lore about this first conjuration, the keys that lead to its incantation and possibly also some secrets about its sorcerers.
Interview with Dungeon Keeper
All hails go out to thee, mighty sorcerers from the conjuration of Dungeon Keeper! It is with great pleasure to salute you at this ominous circle of writers! It’s been some months after the release of your full-length debut Chaos Sorcery Strike at Midnight, how are you doing recently?
Hello Roman,
thank you for finding the courage to join us here, in what we call our home, namely the forgotten cellars beneath the Fortress of Evil. We are pleased to meet you and would like to express our sincere gratitude for your interest in Dungeon Keeper. But please, mind your head as we wander about, the vaults in these parts of the fortress are very low and poorly lit.
We have spent the past months, as well as the countless years before our first releases, in a deep sleep. It is only through occasional yet recurring awakenings that we are allowed to write new riffs and lyrics that are set to eclipse the light of day for the future to come. In addition, the now familiar material of the first compilation of deadly spells, “Chaos Sorcery Strike at Midnight” could be presented to the inclined public at several events.
We have received formidable feedback in the form of magical review scrolls as well as personal commentaries and therefore feel deeply grateful to the scene as well as everyone who finds pleasure in what we do.
To anyone who has been following the progression of the underground scene in Osnabrück and surroundings, you guys have probably not been unknown. specifically from bands such as Prehistoric War Cult, Baerus and Panzer Squad and now disregarding the numerous other projects you are involved in, forming a band has probably not been new to you. Going by the fact that you have been this active already, though – how did the idea come up to form Dungeon Keeper?
You are certainly right, young lad, we have been dwelling amongst our kind for quite some centuries. But it was not before the dusk of 2021, when we realized we had to end our futile travel through genres of the extreme, to throw off the ballast and get rid of obsolete projects, for us to finally return to our ancient roots in Black Metal.
At the time of getting active with writing first songs for a then nameless project, we realized that the genre in its original style, with not too complicated riffs and drums without blastbeats, was underrepresented.
In 2023, you released your first EP Fortress of Evil that stirred up the scene a lot. I can still remember a whirring recording that roamed in our team chat before the release that already drew a lot of attention. How did you experience the release of your first EP?
Thank you, we do appreciate the enthusiasm for the first EP. Fortress of Evil was recorded in the winter of 2022 in our former rehearsal space, located in an old, dreaded bunker. The four songs on it represented the whole material Dungeon Keeper had to offer at that time. And as it often is with first releases, one never knows if it’s going to be liked. But even before the release, we got booked for a show by our dear friends Fina and Steffen. That was an indicator for us to know that we’re not completely heading into the wrong direction.
The band consists Bestial Bonecrusher, Battle Druid and Archaic Tormentor. We certainly have to know, what heroic or even nefarious deeds did you have to execute in order to be entitled as such?
While their origin is shrouded in oblivion, the names were brought to us under the influence of magic potions. The composition of these potions, created from herbs, fume, fungus and flesh, is one of the great mysteries, locked somewhere deep within the dark vaults of the ANSIBARIAN BLACK ORDER.
It is of utmost importance for the remaining armed contestants to know – where can we find the blacksmith that forged the chain mail securing your health during your local ceremonies?
It is, of course, a well-kept secret about whose hands have forged the steel that protects against evil sorcery and ancient spells. The smithing knowledge of the elders must remain veiled, thus can we not expose it without harm. For you must understand, it is in favor of the safety of yours and the ones near you.
In the past, you already mentioned that you were writing material for the release of a full-length right after Fortress of Evil was finished. Did you have a clear perspective to take a serious stance with this band right from the beginning?
Well, one cannot say we had an exact vision of where to go with this project, nor do we have one now. But ideas for new songs kept coming and it didn’t take us too long to realize that we would not want to make another EP or a split as a second step. Even though we take ourselves not overly serious, Dungeon Keeper as a whole is to be considered a serious project that thrives to make its contribution to the musical canon of Black Metal.
The influences of Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Darkthrone and Isengard are more than apparent when listening both to Fortress of Evil as well as Chaos Sorcery Strike at Midnight. You also mentioned the influence of early Carpathian Forest as well. Are there any specific elements or a specific impact from this music that caused your personal interest in order to loosely follow these footsteps for the style of Dungeon Keeper?
Carpathian Forest and especially Nattefrost are sketchy, but we cannot deny certain acoustic similarities between their and our first EP. The simple but effective guitars combined with stoic drumming is a basic recipe that we could derive from the influences mentioned. Our songwriting usually goes by rendering almost every riff as sinister and nasty as possible. We look at the riffs that we have prepared for the rehearsal and usually someone says they are too technical or carry too much melody. We then try to get rid of any unnecessary note, in order to simplify the tunes whilst retaining a certain degree of viciousness. Tension is then created mostly through dissonant riffing, or howls and screeches on the lyrical level.
To a certain extent, I feel as if the playstyle that is vaguely entitled as 1st Wave Black Metal has recently found a renaissance at least within the spheres of the underground. Do you feel the same? – and if so – are there any guesses what started this interest?
We sense that some people feel the urge to go back to the roots. One can only – and rightfully – assume that parts of the scene are exhausted by the abundance of new forms of black metal. 1st wave is the raw foundation of everything that black metal has evolved into and thus lures people from other parts of the scene due to overlap with different styles, such as heavy metal and punk. After all, stomping drumbeats and simple but catchy riffing are always to prefer over spheric and dreamy cheesiness.
Even though you might reject offering the secret lore behind your spells, we need to know – what exactly is chaos sorcery and who is capable of casting it?
Well, only the wisest and most experienced elder wizard is capable of handling the incantations, which are – CHAOS SORCERY. It is therefore quite unsurprising that a novel apprentice, such as yourself, will not have the ability to handle such dreadful spells. Nonetheless, if one truly seeks to command the forbidden chaos spells, it is a prerequisite of utmost importance and strict imperative to not consume melodic black metal.
F.O.M.B.M.
When having recorded Fortress of Evil, you were supported by Poison Drinker from Minenfeld / Prehistoric War Cult. Going by the fact that a share of your members also overlaps with Prehistoric War Cult, it gets quite evident why he was in charge recording your debut EP. However, Poison Drinker was also in charge recording your full-length debut. Was this clear to you guys right from the beginning or did you also consider other producers / sound engineers?
It was clear to us right from the beginning, that only the one true impersonation of pure evil would enable us to reach the spheres of utter audible chaos. That is Poison Drinker.
What can we imagine the favored means of torture and the space itself at the Sadistic Dungeon of Terror look like?
Well, what a pleasant surprise to ask this question at exactly this point of time. We are just arriving at the gates of Althroguous, entrance to the hall of unspeakable horrors – the Sadistic Dungeon of Terror. I suggest you look around for yourself… But be warned, what you might encounter is not of human origin and thus could exceed the limits of comprehension.
We already know to a certain extent evident influences that impacted your sound. However, when recording the album, were there any particular details during the recording process you focused on in order to achieve a specific sound?
It was our goal to match the original live sound as best as possible with the first official album release. The Fortress of Evil EP sounded more rough and dirty, which is good for a small EP or split but does not represent the feeling of live sound too well. We might go the other way round with future releases but are more than happy with what Poison Drinker was able to create for Chaos Sorcery Strike at Midnight. We think it delivers a contemporary and true sound while retaining some of the grittiness of the releases we idolize.
Since you already knew Poison Drinker from other musical projects it was probably a little easier to initiate the recording of Fortress of Terror and Chaos Sorcery Strike at Midnight. You’re all from the underground scene of Osnabrück and surroundings, which already bears quite a notorious reputation. Were there any other benefits from the scene taking place there that aided setting up your releases or working as a new band in general?
Sharing a rehearsal and recording space definitely helped in the beginning. Of course, it also helped having gotten to know many interested people over the years prior to releasing with Dungeon Keeper, who were open to support us from day one. This includes people like Mogel of Kellerassel Records, who initially released the Fortress of Evil EP, designed our logo and thereby helped us to get on the way. And, to be frank, we are very thankful for everyone who put their basic trust into us and supports us to this day.
The involvement in the aforementioned scene probably also made it a little easier to get in contact with Chris from Fucking Kill Records (having released at least PWC and Gorge on vinyl). However, was it immediately clear to you that you wanted Chris in charge for this release or did you also consider other labels?
Chris is a very experienced and enthusiastic supporter of the scene. Over the years he and his label have gained a good reputation, while strictly avoiding sketchy bands. Plus, he adores HELLHAMMER, so it wasn’t too hard to convince him for a release, haha
The tape release is still to follow and will be done by no one less than Nino from Lower Class Kids Records co-releasing with Jacob from Low Fidelity Assaults. How did this amazing team-up get together?
We have known Nino and Jacob for quite a few years now and have played a few times with different bands in Weimar. Nino even invited us to open for Poison Ruin last year, which was rad! We very much like their labels, not least because they have released extraordinary special edition tapes. If we remember it correctly, it was Jacob who actually reached out to us for a release. The guys do an outstanding job with their DIY labels, releasing only hand-picked bands in exquisite forms.
On your bandcamp page, it is evidently made clear that you take an anti-fascist stance within the spheres of the Black Metal cosmos. I highly favor that. However, as I have heard in the past, this sometimes turns out to be a little exhausting as well. What was it like to you guys so far to openly stick to anti-fascism in the Black Metal scene?
It was not too hard up until now, actually. There have been a few instances when we were offered a release, a gig or such, but turned it down due to labels having released sketchy stuff or venues booking such bands for the same night.
For us, it is a matter of course to represent a left wing and open mindset, especially in the metal/punk scene with elitists around every corner. Therefore, we are opposed not only to nazis but to idiots and gatekeepers in general.
Going by all the aforementioned labels involved as well as Iconoclasm Conquest who were in charge for the CD release, it is without a doubt that you heavily roam in the realms of the DIY underground. What does it mean to you as Dungeon Keeper to enact as an anti-fascist band in the DIY underground scene?
The DIY spirit is a driving factor of our musical culture. Therefore, we try to be as highly supportive to the DIY scene as we can. This includes selling merch for not a € too much, asking smaller artists for designs or working together with underground labels to release our stuff. We love playing in self-governed and open spaces that support the DIY sense with every fiber, while actively trying to avoid capitalist outgrowths, such as streaming services and the like.
Buy physical media! Go to concerts! Support DIY labels and artists! We are living in hard times.
The first pressing of your album on vinyl was sold-out quite quickly, the second pressing is already on its way. Apart from playing the amazing Möve Fest in Münster, what are your current future plans for Dungeon Keeper?
We are currently in the process of writing material for new releases, which will come out in the form of splits with different bands that we honor. Apart from that, we are planning gigs for the upcoming months and are especially exited for the weekender with Karloff & Kriegszittern in January. Maybe there will be some international gigs as well.
Thanks a damn lot for taking the time to answer all of these nosy questions. The last words, as usual in my interviews, shall belong to you!
Thank you for having the courage and recklessness to venture into the deepest depths of vileness. It is our honour having you as our guest here, in the Fortress of Evil.
We just want to say thank you to everyone who supports the scene by going to concerts, spending their money on records and merch, creating art on their own and indulging in all of this.
And with these words, we will continue to dwell among the bats and ghouls. For this is the past, the life, the future and death of all devotees to the ANSIBARIAN BLACK ORDER… MAHAHAHAHAA!
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