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Summoning the timeless spirit of 80s pioneers Destruction and Kreator, as well as later legends such as Nifelheim and Aura Noir, Belgium’s ferocious Slaughter Messiah take the listener back to extreme metal’s early years, a time before the black, death and thrash metal genres had fully separated.

Featuring veterans of the scene and members of bands such as Heinous and Nocturnal, not to mention the ex-frontman of Enthroned, Lord Sabathan, they have invoked a violent and aggressive maelstrom on each release issued since their 2011 demo, their first and so far only full-length 2020’s Cursed to the Pire remaining an obvious highlight in their discography.

Likewise, the band have made a name for themselves with their devastating live shows and now prepare to return to the UK to play the fourth incarnation of London’s respected Subterranean Manifestation festival, taking place on the 29th March, where members will also perform with the aforementioned Heinous. We caught up with the band at their rehearsal space for an exclusive conversation…

All members are active in other bands and projects, does this provide challenges in terms of working with Slaughter Messiah?

L. Sabathan: “Aside from Slaughter Messiah, I have two other projects: Sabathan is where I revisit the old Enthroned material from my time in the band (1993–2006). We only play exclusive shows (no more than three to five gigs per year) because we absolutely want to keep this project special. Besides that, I also have Heinous with Desecrator from Slaughter Messiah.
With this project, we play a few shows per year, but challenges are never an issue. We always find an alternative. Quite often, we even propose a Sabathan/Heinous or Slaughter Messiah/Heinous package, like this time in London.”

John Berry: “We’re using a sort of a ‘first come, first served’ optic. But we can safely say that the conflicts towards gig dates have been very close to zero so far. Maybe once or twice where the second offered gig was not a major one anyway or could shift to another date nearby the original date.”

Death Horse: “I only have a side project with Thomas, Slaughter Messiah’s former guitarist, called Perkölatör (black/speed metal). When I play with Slaughter Messiah, I’m 100% with them, and the same goes for Perkölatör. I share the same opinion as John and the others about this. I think the most respectful and simplest way is that as soon as a gig offer is accepted by one of our bands, it takes priority over the others to avoid conflicts.”

This feels like a very good time for bands like yourselves who play an unapologetically raw and exhilarating old-school form of metal. There seems to be an abundance of both fans and bands compared to the era you guys started out in. How does it feel from your perspective?

John Berry: “There can’t be enough of these bands and people. Who go back to the essence of harsh metal. Riffs, beats and unrelenting attitude without compromise. Unfortunately, nowadays, much of the attitude is fake, and the visuals are more important than the music.”

L. Sabathan: “I sincerely believe that this genre has never weakened because the fans are true enthusiasts, both young and old. Today, there are so many genres that have nothing to do with heavy metal, yet they still have the audacity to call themselves metal. It’s essential for fans to find their way back to return to the roots, to that sound and style that truly define what metal is all about.”

Obviously, Sabathan is well known for his work within Enthroned, which was much more in the ‘second wave’ black metal vein than the more thrash leaning Slaughter Messiah. How do you see this band with regard to genres like black metal and thrash? Are there any bands you feel are your peers, and did this influence your decision to sign up with High Roller?

John Berry: “This question is multi-layered; allow me to dissect it and be clear in my words! As for Slaughter Messiah, we don’t aim at one or more genres; we don’t measure stylistic influences on a scale and even them out according to a premeditated formula. We are influenced by all the traditional underground genres and soak that in. And even more by the ancient gods of genres before the ones we play by. We try to come up with our very own but homogenous songs. Now and then, one song might tend more to black, or to death, or to… you guys figure it out. We hold no bars during the creation of our sonic violence.”

“We consider all bands that keep the same flame burning as peers, especially if those who hang by the bar, drinking until we also need to physically support each other. This did not influence our signing, but it did come in handy. At the time HRR did not have many ‘extreme’ bands on their roster yet. Thanks to guys like Mell(e)hammer, a few more seep their way onto HRR, which we can only applaud. The label already had a great legacy, and it’s an honour to be part of it! So when Melle offered us the slot… we needn’t overthink much longer.”

L. Sabathan: “Before Enthroned, my very first band was with Cernunnos, the first drummer and founding member of Enthroned. It was already a black/thrash band called Morbid Death, in the vein of Poison (Germany), Obscurity (Sweden), etc. So, for me, joining Slaughter Messiah in 2011 and playing this style again was simply a return to my roots – much to my delight – because it’s truly the style that suits me best and runs through my veins. During my time in Enthroned, the band also had a strong black thrash influence, and we even covered several songs in that style, such as ‘Under the Guillotine’ by Kreator, ‘Witching Hour’ by Venom, and ‘The Conqueror’ by Sodom. After I left, Enthroned took a completely different direction – but that’s another story...”