Dutch thrash metal four-piece Legion or the Damned recently released their new album Ravenous Plague. Andrew Rawlinson asked singer Maurice Swinkels some questions for Ech(((0)))es and Dust.
(((o))): So according to your biography you formed in 2004, how did the band originally meet?
Maurice: The band was already formed in 1990, we only changed the name in 2006 to Legion of the damned, before that period it was under the name Occult, in 2004 we recorded our album Elegy for the Weak, which later was released as Feel the Blade!
(((o))): Did you name yourselves after the Warhammer 40000 regiment and if so did/do you collect any armies?
Maurice: Legion of the Damned is indeed a game as well, or whatever Warhammer is, but we got the term out of World War II.
(((o))): Apart from the obvious bands who else has influenced you?
Maurice: Some thrash bands from Germany that never got so big like Exhumer and Darkness, but also underground bands like Sathanas from the US.
(((o))): What has been the highlight of your career so far?
Maurice: There are many: Wacken Open Air, our South American tour, playing Graspop, playing the Sweden Rock Boat.
(((o))): Where did you find/meet your new guitarist Twan Van Geel?
Maurice: I know Twan already for several years, we have been playing together at a Chuck Schuldiner (Death) benefit concert in 2001. So I really quickly had him in mind, gave him a call and he said yes to the job.
(((o))): Apart from this change in guitarist did you change any other approach to Ravenous Plague?
Maurice: We wrote this album for 2 guitars, previous albums have always been written for just 1 guitar, but many of the songs were already done for Ravenous Plague even before we knew we wanted to put another guitar player on it. So the next album will be fully written for 2 guitars.
(((o))): Where do you get inspiration for the lyrics and especially the song titles?
Maurice: They are personally as well as from books.
(((o))): Can you tell us about the metal scene in Holland and how it has changed since you started?
Maurice: We have some pretty good bands, I think holland always had a strong packed of bands, they changed over the years though, but we have killer bands like Pentacle, Asphyx, Hail of bullets, Pestilence etc.
(((o))): According to Wikipedia the special edition of 2008's Cult of the Dead came with a block of cheese? Is this true and if so how well did it go down with the fans (as it were) and do you have other plans for interesting products?
Maurice: It was a funny idea of our manager, he wanted to include something really "Dutch". I do not even like cheese haha, but it's a cutting block in wood with our logo on it. It was limited to only 300 pieces I think. Descent Into Chaos had a goat like figure as statue, also limited to 300. The new album came in limited earbooks of only 500 copies.
(((o))): You’re given the opportunity to create your own festival. What would be the first five bands on your list?
Maurice: Devil Doll (even though they do not even play live), The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud (although they are RIP), Gae Bolg, Combichrist and Rotting Christ.
(((o))): Are they any places you have yet to play that you really want to?
Maurice: I would love to play Japan once 🙂
(((o))): What are your goals for 2014?
Maurice: There are not really any goals, we just going to play some festivals and we will take it from there.
