Vocalist Mem Von Stein answers the Q’s from Chris Martin…
For starters, welcome back to the metal world! Why the long wait for new Exumer?
We were getting so much mail over the years and it really did not stop after we played the reunion show at Wacken in 2001. I was playing with the idea of putting the band back together for a while but then in 2007, Paul Arakaki (2nd EXUMER singer/bassist), came to stay with me in NYC over Halloween. We connected in such a profound way that it brought back my initial thoughts about reforming the band. I had recorded the 2nd Sun Descends full-length and actually was mentally prepared to give it another try with Exumer.
Paul is a technical genius and works for Apple in Hawaii and so he suggested we could work via the internet in three different places, me in NYC, Paul on Hawaii and Ray in Germany. Ray got onboard almost immediately after I had introduced the idea. We toured in 2009 and 2010, played all over the world and recorded a 2-track demo called: Waking the Fire. Paul left the band for a third time after the 5 Nights Of Fire tour in 2009, and so Ray and I we got a new line up, which has been the same since 2010. We then took a year off the road in 2011, to complete writing, recording and mixing our 3rd album. So, I think I caught everyone up.
Why is now the perfect time for Exumer to begin their takeover of the thrash scene?
Well, it’s like with everything else; timing. It feels right to have a working band again and to be active since 2008. We have been through a lot in our career and people who follow the band know that. However, we are grateful always include our fans in our decision making, meaning that it is all geared toward making them happy, whether with killer live shows or great records. The idea was not to have a reunion type of format but a working band. That means going on tour, writing new material, recording new albums and getting signed to a label. The main objective was to come back and record the best third album a band can possibly record after putting out their last album 25 years ago. The same goes with the live shows, we only want to play the most furious shows that you can imagine. There are so many fans who were either born in the 1980s or after, and who have never seen the band play live. Just go on you tube or some other medium and you will find a lot of people wondering if they could ever see EXUMER live.
Exumer’s first album since 1987 is about to be released on Metal Blade called Fire & Damnation. How did the album come to be? Is it all new material or have some of the songs been around?
We started getting ideas as early as 2008, continued to write through 2009/10, while we were touring and finally took off from playing live in 2011, to complete writing and rehearsing/recording in 2011. We scheduled a 3-week rehearsal session in spring of this year, prior to entering the studio for recording, in order to play and finish writing the new songs in the rehearsal room. This way we sounded like a cohesive unit when went on to record the tracks in the studio and the material got a total “band/rehearsal room” vibe. We then recorded the album in Germany, around the area of Dortmund. The tracking was fairly quick but mixing took 3 months and in phases and with a lot of A/B the material. The end result is what counts and we were all in agreement that we will mix the record until all parties are happy with the end result. It just took a while to incorporate all the elements and everyone’s wishes.
Though the band broke up in 1990, it looks like that starting in 2001 Exumer started getting out and playing shows again. What was it like after all that time to get back on the stage playing these great songs? Were you doing other things musically keeping your chops up or did you take a break from music in general?
The Wacken Open Air was like a “Thank you”, to all our fans who didn’t have the chance to see Exumer with Ray and myself in the line-up. I founded the band with Ray in 1985, but left the band shortly after “Possessed by Fire”, was released and a lot of people never seen the band with that line-up. We were all there, except the drummer; Syke. It was a lot of fun, many bands were doing one-off reunion shows at the time in Wacken and it definitely was the right place and time to pull off a one-off like that.
After leaving EXUMER in late 1986, I moved to the U.S. for the first time and played in a band in New York but we broke up the project, due to financial problems. Then I formed Phobic Instinct in 1988, which broke up in 1990. I formed Of Rytes and then played in Humungous Fungus with Ray and Bernie of EXUMER. I formed Sun Descends after my 2nd move to New York in 2000, and then finally reformed EXUMER with Ray and Paul.
I’ve been a thrash metal fan for the majority of my life. Exumer was a band just on the fringe that I had heard some from, but not a lot back in the day, but have since heard much more. Why do you think the band never caught on at the time? I still think you’re music is just incredible.
Thanks, really appreciate the support! It was just circumstances and bad decisions. The band just ran out of ideas and it was just too much with the personnel changes, especially having had 3 different singers throughout the band’s lifespan.
All I have heard so far is the title track and I love it. There’s a definite maturity to the band while maintaining the classic thrash sound. Will Fire & Damnation as a whole still hold true to the thrash sound?
We just wanted to record the best possible album that we could, with the band’s traits that you and so many of our fans are familiar with. The mission was to create a worthwhile follow up to our records from the 1980s, incorporating the aggression and energy of our youth with the musicianship that we have acquired over the past decades. It is the most honest and passion filled effort of our career and we hope that the fans hear this approach in the music. To answer your question, I think it will do more than hold true to the thrash sound!
Over the last couple of years there has been a resurgence of thrash bands. Many young bands have embraced that style like Warbringer, Bonded By Blood, and Gama Ray. And there’s certainly some Exumer influence going on. How does this impact the Exumer legacy and how does it motivate the band now?
We do things when we want to do them but I think the new bands give the younger fans a guide or a bridge to research the roots of thrash and the early bands. The cool thing is that we ended up becoming friends with Fueled by Fire and Merciless Death, greet guys.
Many of the bigger thrash bands from back in the day have released some top notch material. Have you been keeping tabs with your contemporaries like Exodus, Overkill, Death Angel, and Anthrax?
My favorite comeback records are both of the latest Onslaught albums, Exodus’ “Tempo of the Damned”, and Overkill’s “Iron bound’!
I know why I love thrash metal, but what is the appeal to it for Exumer?
We love the aggression, energy, honesty and the unpretentiousness of thrash, kind of like Punk/HC. I grew up with Punk and Hardcore and those styles have always been an integral part of the thrash metal attitude. The look of thrash metal is also more that of a Punk/HC attitude than a traditional metal look.
Once the album is released what are the touring plans for Exumer? Lining up any key festivals or performing on any major package deals this summer?
Yea there will be lots of touring, starting with a few shows in Mexico, Europe, followed by a South American tour and then hopefully a few dates in the U.S. in the fall. We will keep busy after taking an entire year off from touring last year. There will be a few Festival dates here and there in Europe this year but we will do a full Festival tour in Europe in 2013.
What has nearly two and a half decades changed in the mindset of Exumer and I assume the fans won’t have to wait that long for their next fix?
Ha, no not at all we will be back with a new album in 2014, but for now enjoy Fire and Damnation!
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ENMY The Ledge (FiXT)
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