Introducing: Knife

Strap yourself in for the breakneck speed black metal punk sound of exciting German band Knife, who summarise their lively sound as “horror, speed and sharp.”

The band, from Marburg on the Lahn river in central Germany, was formed in 2019 by vocalist Vince and guitarist Laz, who were previously part of an action rock’n’roll band for several years. But they decided it was time for something new and brought drummer Ferli and bassist Gypsy, who grew up in the same village as Vince, on board the Knife project.

And on the sound they’ve crafted since, Gypsy tells us: “The audacity that makes you look into the despicable abyss of fear and horror. Laying in front of the altar of the Gods of Rock’n’Roll you offer your soul and beg for mercy. As long as you can get out alive, you’re purified and metalized!”

Our latest taste of this is Knife’s second album Heaven Into Dust, which was released at the end of last month. It starts out with a grand organ intro, then ritualistic whispering and spoken vocals give way to a big drum roll, driving guitars and wild vocals through the opening verse of Hawks of Hades. The guitars slow down a little over pounding drums, before a cry of “Hearts of Hades, now we rise” and fast-paced guitars and drums set up another verse.

That’s followed by the excellent Night Vision, which is lyrically influenced by The Silence of the Lambs. It opens up with a bumbling bassline and cheeky cowbell hits under drawn-out guitars. A little bass solo sets up a breakneck verse that flows into an equally lively chorus. A second chorus gives way to an engaging guitar solo, which drops into a cool lick over driving drums that sets up a final blast of the chorus. Check it out in the video here:

Next up is the album’s title track Heaven Into Dust, which dives straight into rapid guitars and drums supporting Vince’s intense vocals. Chunky guitars set up another wild ride of fast-paced vocals then a chorus drops into fun guitars and a piercing guitar solo. Check it out in the video here:

The album offers reams of punky metal goodness packed with vicious vocals, engaging riffs and guitar solos aplenty. That includes potentially a personal favourite With Torches They March, which develops from a cool solo into a big instrumental section and a fun lick setting up a heavy outro. There’s plenty more darkness in the form of the engaging Black Oath and Spells, the slightly more laid-back The Arson Alchemist and the lively A Phantom Devised and Realm of Violence.

In short, there’s absolutely no filler on this album. And it goes out in style with final track No Gods In The Dark, which you can watch in the lyric video here:

Prior to the album release, Gypsy told us: “We’re excited as hell. We put much effort and energy into HID and now we want to set the beast free. The current feedback on our released Singles Heaven Into Dust and Night Vision is very positive, so we look forward to good things to come.

“We did the same as we did on our first record. It always starts with Laz, coming up with some riffs. In general, Vince always has some vocal fragments and hook lines ready. In the rehearsal room, everything comes together and we arrange the songs as long as everyone is content with them. I think this time we worked more oriented on conceptual subjects, speaking of ‘hell’ and ‘fire.’ Our topics are horror and serial killer-based themes, criticism against the church and religion in general, dark fantasy and dark literature, which people may know who listened to our first record. You won’t miss them on our second strike. Speaking of the instrumental arrangement, we also tried a mid-tempo track and some more harmonies. So you better expect everything.”

The Knife sound is influenced by a wide range of music, from a shared love of Night Demon and Midnight to Gypsy’s love of Iron Maiden and Venom and the wider thrash metal genre. Laz takes inspiration from classic rock and hard rock through to Scandinavian punk and crust. Vince, in Gypsy’s words, “is our maniac” for all things British heavy metal-related and Ferli is big into old-school death metal.

And on what inspires them to write music, Gypsy explains: “We are influenced by different types of horror topics, whether they are fictional, in movies or literature, or are based on real events, like serial killers or the evil on our earth in general.

“Speaking for myself, I love 80s horror movies. Not only the movies, but also the visual concept art, on posters and images. So at least it’s music referring to your personal interests. The kind of music you would think of when Jack Nicholson crashes the door in The Shining. So for me, there’s always a deep connection between the music you hear and visual elements. But besides the horror elements, we also pick out the wrongs and evils done by religion and their fanatics as a central theme. And as always putting up our middle fingers against all these fascists out there. Nazi Punks, FUCK OFF!”

Knife just finished up their open air and festival shows and will have more gigs across Germany beginning this month. And they’ll finish the year off with a big tour alongside Sodom, Soulburn and Imha Tarikat between Christmas and New Year. Check out all their live gigs here.

And Gypsy adds: “Hold the banners high, fists in the air and support your underground!”

You can follow Knife on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer and YouTube. And check out more new bands like Knife through their record label Napalm Records.