Spanish heavy metal band Slowburn has arrived, poised to shatter your eardrums with their latest release, “Fire Starter,” marking their second album! I had the privilege of catching up with Serra S.B for this exclusive interview.

THE NWOTHM: First of all, please us the name of the band, where you are from and who is in the band?

Serra S.B: Hello. I’m Serra, bass player and founder for SLOWBURN. We are a Heavy Metal band from Madrid (Spain). The band is formed by:
Guillermo Muñoz: vocals
Miguel Coello: guitars
Jorge Sáez: drums
Jorge Serrano ‘Serra’: bass

THE NWOTHM: And how did you form? Can you remember much from that period?

Serra S.B: I play in a Thrash Metal band called RANCOR (formed in 98) and about 2014 I gathered some material I had been working on from a long time ago that didn’t fit in a Thrash Metal band (Note: I also compose for RANCOR). At this time I was young enough and I had much more time to create
a lot of music hehe. I decided to start a band with my mate drummer in RANCOR Jorge Sáez, using the more “classic heavy metal” material and we started to look for musicians.

THE NWOTHM: How did the the idea for the name and logo come about?

Serra S.B: That was the last… We worked in the rehearsal room for years until a name came up. Searching for a name was a very difficult process for me, I really couldn’t find something that I liked. The logo was made by Javier Pastor, a designed who has worked with a lot of bands from the Spanish scene: Frenzy, Wild, Nigromante…

THE NWOTHM: What is the metal scene like in your hometown?

Serra S.B: The answer for this question can be very long…! Spain have a lot of summer open air festivals with the typical big names that used to work really well. Madrid is a big city with rock/metal concerts almost everyday, but there is hardly any tradition for Rock and Metal compared with other countries. About the shows in venues my impression is that is less mid-class than ever. Big events or underground concerts in clubs. The underground scene is still there, there is a Heavy Metal Club (PMU) but i miss more audience. There’s a lack of younger people getting interested in Metal. I see always the same people at the concerts.

THE NWOTHM: Do you remember the very first instrument you owned and if so do you still have it?

Serra S.B: A cheap precision bass imitation that my father bought me when I was 14 (I guess). It is at my parents house covered by band stickers hehe…

THE NWOTHM: You formed all the way back in 2015! What happened in the period between forming and your first full length “Rock N Roll Rats” in 2020?

Serra S.B: The band at that point was only a side project for everybody so the things started really slow. When we stablished a complete lineup (mid 2016) some live shows happened and in 2017 we started recording our first album. We lost our first singer in the middle of recording our first album and that
was like a brand new start… We did another shows and finally complete the recording in 2019 at last, we got the label and band was ready to start but everybody knows what happened in 2020…

THE NWOTHM: Do you feel like your stage shows have changed a lot since the early days of the band?

Serra S.B: All the people in the band had experience in previous bands… But I hope that we have improved since the beginning! There’s a big difference: We started as a five piece and now we are a quartet: Only Mr Miguel Coello guitar live.

THE NWOTHM: And would you say your sound has also evolved? Do you have a different direction from when you started?

Serra S.B: My idea for the band was having a very widely abroad Heavy Metal style… I didn’t want to settle with an specific sound: “Speed Metal”, “NWOBHM”, “80s German Metal”… I like a lot of different bands and I think classic Heavy Metal is very diverse sonically. That was the idea for the band and is still to this days. Maybe even now our sound is more diverse, but I have to recognise that we sound very much “American Heavy Metal” style.

THE NWOTHM: “Rock N Roll Rats” was released In 2020! Tell us how the album came together and what was the recording process like?

Serra S.B: I had most of songs for that album written for some years… Only some like “Clever Than you”, “Head In a Box” were written while the band existed. We mostly recorded first album in our rehearsal room, searching for freespots for everybody… I thank to Vasco Duran (producer and engineer for first album) for the patience for that recording! In my opinion it was a process that lasted too long. The album was just released at the same time of pandemic and most of the band left during that time.

THE NWOTHM: Out of all the band members who has the most unusual hobby?

Serra S.B: I don’t know what to say.

THE NWOTHM: And what are your interests when your not making music?

Serra S.B: Music is our main activity… Even our drummer work as a drum teacher. Personally I expend almost all of my free time in going to concerts, but I like swimming, gym, basketball and other nerdy stuff like comic books or video games; but I really don’t have so much free time in my live. Our guitar player Miguel is a Spanish cinema enthusiast… That maybe answers the previous question haha.

THE NWOTHM: 2023 seems to have been a productive year for the band! Having released two singles and your second album “Fire Starter” where did all the creative energy come from? And how did you want to change things up for the second album?

Serra S.B: Since we completed the actual line up (mid 2021) the chemistry in rehearsal room exploded and we created new songs in a very easy way. I feel that with these musicians it is very easy to be artistically productive. All the ideas became into songs easily. For the recording we tried to do the opposite… Do all the instrumental tracking in a professional studio (Traste Cero with Gonzalo Vivero) just for one week. Guille was sick for that time so we
have to wait a little more for him to be recovered and track all the vocals.
The style of the band is now more matured musically. It is Heavy Metal, but we are not afraid to include all kind of arrangements in our songs. For Fire Starter we have not been shy about expressing ourselves musically.

THE NWOTHM: With your newest release now out, what are your touring plans for the rest of 2023 and 2024?

Serra S.B: Touring here is complicated for an underground band. You have to be ready to lose time and money. I would love to have the opportunity of open for other bands, doing festivals etc etc. Also we plan to present Fire Starter in our home town properly. Anyway, I think this album deserves to be
played live in so many places so we will try at our best.

THE NWOTHM: And what is next for the band?

Serra S.B: Now I’m only thinking about promote the album (so thank you for the interview). A new video clip is coming and I hope that we can do as many shows as possible. Unfortunately, I’m not thinking in creating new music at this point instead of enjoying the new songs live.

THE NWOTHM: Where can fans buy your music and merch?

Serra S.B: The best way for this is just contact the band:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SlowburnHeavyMetal
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slowburnheavymetal/
If you write a DM we can give you special prices and offers with our material.

THE NWOTHM: Anything else you would like to mention?

Serra S.B: Thank you very much for the interview and just a message to Metal fans: If you like bands like Armored Saint, Metal Church, Van Halen, Savatage, Blackfoot, Queensryche or Judas Priest I recommend you to listen to “Fire Starter” from the first song to the last… I won’t disappoint!