Spitfire roars out of southern Germany with heavy-pounding, thrashing speed metal madness that shows no mercy. Known for their relentless energy and blistering riffs, they’ve earned a reputation as one of the fiercest forces in german speed metal. In this interview, I delve into the chaos behind their sound, uncovering their history and how they’ve come to embody the raw, unfiltered spirit of the genre.

Interview

The Nwothm: Hey there guys! Happy new year. First up can you introduce the band where you are from and who are the bands members?

S: We are Spitfire from southern Germany. We´ve been around since 2014. We play traditional Thrash Metal/Speed Metal, inspired by Teutonic Bands and also US Bands. You will learn more about the members while reading this interview.

The Nwothm: I want you to think right back to the bands birthday! Spitfire has roots in a previous band, Stormblade. How did Stormblade evolve into Spitfire, and what influenced the decision to rebrand?

S: Stormblade was our very first written and recorded song and it was just the first band name. A “working title” if you will. We changed it into Spitfire very quickly. There is no particular story behind the name. We should play this song once again cause we didn’t play it live for 6 years or something like that!

The Nwothm: And why did you choose the name Spitfire? I presume the band are fans of war and aviation?

S: The name Spitfire was inspired by the airplane, of course! Rico was watching a documentary about WW2 and he immediately fell in love with the name. Back then we didn’t think about the possibility that other bands could already use this name. So maybe it’s not the smartest name, haha! But since we installed our own trademark sound, we are happy with the name.

The Nwothm: In relation to my previous question what kind of themes to the band explore in your music?

S: Almost everything. At least it must be real. We like to write about mental illness, drug abusing and alcoholism, war and society.

TheNwothm: What bands or artists have been your biggest influences, and are there any unconventional inspirations behind your music?

S: I think the biggest inspiration is the music itself. It is like delivered freedom in fact. Music is a way to express yourself, a way of therapy in many forms. But beside that, we just do what we love to listen to, to keep the legacy of Thrash and Heavy Metal in general alive!

The Nwothm: So you guys are from Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg in Germany! Can you tell us about the culture and history of the area and how the metal scene is in the area?

S: The musical landscape here has changed a lot during Corona and Cancel Culture. A lot of locations are out of business at the moment. There is also a lot of politics in the “scene” nowadays. Some locations are hating on us, cause we are not in the mood to share their politics. We are unpolitical and free, some people won’t accept that anymore. But there are still some awesome locations, such as “Alte Hackerei” or “Soundcheck One”!

TheNwothm: What is the story behind your first self titled release?

S: Shortly after forming the band, we recorded this on our own in our first reherasal room in Manuels (Drums) basement!
This was our first expierience EVER in recording music. So it´s a really sloppy production, but full of power and passion!
We were a drunken bunch of young thrashers and delivered some music straight from the heart. We still got a few copys left on CD. Maybe we should reproduce this one on Tape or Vinyl, or both?

TheNwothm: As your debut full-length album, how did “Tectonical Power” set the foundation for Spitfire’s identity?

S: Good question. There´s a lot of stuff that we´d like to change on this record, if we had the oppotunity to do it again.
There are some good songs, such as “379 Bombers”. But in fact we did this record without a twice-thinking eye and ear. No producers, no experience in a real studio before. Also the mastering wasn’t that good. Some songs are way too thin!
An interesting story is about the cover artwork, inspired by the 2004 Indian Tsunami. Our Drummer Manuel was there and survived that tragedy. He could be a dead man – among the 230.000 other victims – but he managed to get away!

TheNwothm: Were there any particular challenges you faced during the recording
process for this album?

S: Yeah. A lot of alcohol, a private relationship breakup and even more alcohol. 😀
Ah, and sweat – everywhere. Recording an album in august with more than 33 degrees and directly under the roof is like a near death expirience 😀

TheNwothm: Your journey hasn’t been straightforward, with a hiatus in 2018 and a return in 2021. What inspired your comeback, and how has the band evolved since then?

S: Since we broke up due to familiar reasons, there was a voice inside Rico and Manuel that told them to carry on, almost immediately. They never loosed their friendship, so they often talked about the good times. With the return of the original bass player Michael back to Germany, things got serious again. They decided to write a song, did that in one day – three days later they were already in the “Soundtown Studios” (Nightmares and Trinity) to record a single song named “White walls”. The feedback was simply awesome, so they decided to carry on!

TheNwothm: Can each of you tell us a bit about yourselves?

S: Sure, Let´s start with Rico. He is the lead singer, guitar player and founding member. He also does the management stuff and booking. Manuel is a total maniac behind the drums and also in Spitfire up from hour X. Bolz joined Spitfire on Lead Guitar during the NIGHTMARES recordings, Simon followed a few months later as the new bass player.
We are all longtime friends, even before the band existed.

The Nwothm: If you could collaborate with any artist in the metal world or beyond, who would it be and why?

S: We had Francis from WUCAN on Nightmares, which was an awesome level-up for the record. She is propably the best female vocalist in Rock/Metal nowadays, at least in Germany! But to answer your question: There are no particular acts in mind at the moment. Some guest vocals by Tom Angelripper maybe?

TheNwothm: in 2022 you put out your album Nightmare! Do you remember much from how that album together and any interesting stories you would like to share?

S: The album was written only by Manuel and Rico during the Covid lock-downs. They always met at night, more illegal than legal. All the songs were written in less than two months. Bolz joined the Band almost at the end of the studio-recordings. We decided to let the world know about the new brother.So he played three guitar solos in the most spontaneous way you can imagine…Sadly, our former Bassplayer wasn´t able to play his stuff on the record. He didn’t learned a single note for Nightmares. All Bass lines are played by Rico. Finally we had to kick him out. So you see: The productions were surrounded by many problems 😀

TheNwothm: do you have any favourite tracks from that release?

S: The title track with Francis of course! “Tyrannic Reaper” is also a really good one. To take a life is a crowd shaker!

TheNwothm: Thrash and Speed Metal are known for energetic live shows. What’s your approach to delivering an unforgettable performance?

S: AGRESSION!!!! And tightness! You have to be authentic to reach people´s hearts. That´s why we talk about “real” themes in the lyrics. Be yourself and do what you love.

TheNwothm: Do you have any truly memorable performances from your career?

S: Once we played a festival show in front of a sold out audience. Everything went great… until: Rico accidentally destroyed a guitar string during a song. So he picked up his backup guitar. It lasts for ONE more song, until the same happened! We went out of Guitars and Rico finished the set only on vocals. We were disappointed in the first moments after the Show. But then: We went sold out on the Merchandise table that night! They loved our professional way of improvisation! And we also got booked immediately for another festival.

TheNwothm: Returning to music you put your most latest album last year known as “Trinity.” When you first started writing songs for that record did you have a clear direction in mind like what themes you wanted to explore?

S: We can´t remember when we started writing for TRINITY. Maybe shortly after NIGHTMARES. There was no clear direction like on NIGHTMARES. At least we can say, that the Movie “Oppenheimer” had a lyrical impact.

TheNwothm: And did you approach the whole process differently with this album or did you take a fresh approach?

S: The freshness came from the new musicians in the band. That was the first time ever, that we wrote music all together in Spitfire. That´s the reason why TRINITY is more Thrash than Speed. Bolz and Simon are highly influrenced by bands such as Slayer, Exodus, Testament an all that US-stuff, while Rico and Manuel are more the Speed and Heavy Metal Part of the band.

TheNwothm: And looking back over your career how do you feel that this album sets itself apart from what you have written before?

S: It is more technical, more dynamic, more focussed. We worked more professional, more as a team and also closer to the producers and recordlabels.

TheNwothm: Can you each name your favourite track from the album and why? Any of them particular meaningful to you?

S: We are in love with every single song on that record. Honestly!

TheNwothm: And how was the fans reception?

S: Overwhelmingly awesome! We got so much great feedback from fans, other musicians and from the press all over the world. And it doesn’t stop at all. Even a Spanish Non-Metal-Magazine did an interview with us. That´s freaking crazy.

TheNwothm: Thinking forward to 2025 what are your new years resolutions?

S: Nothing in particular. Full power as always. We got some great shows to come, along with great bands. And we are still waiting for our Vinyl due to problems with the factory – that will be a highlight for sure, after 4 months of waiting, bloody waiting, haha!

TheNwothm: And will you be heading out on tour this year?

S: Touring is difficult due to our daytime jobs. But at least we already got 10 Shows booked and counting. We will do more weekenders in the future, to play even more shows.

TheNwothm: Musically what is next for the band? Have you started writing or will you be focusing on touring/ other things?

S: We are already back in business with songwriting! We don´t want to waste too much time. We also got a video coming out in february, produced by Stefan (from Vulture). Aaaaaand: Trinity is coming on Tape! Stay tuned.

TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you and buy your music and merch?

S: We are on Facebook (spitfirespeedmetal), Instagram (spitfirespeedthrash) and on Youtube, of course. We don´t care much about Spotify, but we are also there… We sell our stuff only face to face at our shows, so there is no online shop at the moment. If u want some merch, leave a message on our social channels. =) But of course you can buy CDs and Vinyls directly from our Labels (witchesbrew.eu) and (fetznerdeathrecords.de – only TAPES tbr.

heNwothm: Anything els you would like to mention?

S: Thanks for having us! Stay clean, stay clean…