Artillery's Michael Stützer: "It's really easy to keep the band going - and if people are still having a good time when we play, why stop?"

Hello and welcome to Sentinel Daily – You must be looking forward to the trip Down Under? “Yes, one of my biggest dreams was to play Down Under, so I’m really looking forward to meeting the Australian fans. Artillery have played in so many countries like the USA, Brazil, China, Japan and Germany just to mention a few but now for the first time in Australia”.

You’ve been in Artillery for around forty years – How hard has it been at times to keep the flame alive, and did you think you’d finally be making landfall in Australia after all this time? “Yeah, such a long time, if you take the ‘nineteens’ away, I always loved to play and still do so its really easy to keep Artillery going and if people are still having a good time when we play, so why stop?

I really hope we can do a great tour in Australia and we will do our best and i’m sure we will meet some of the die-hard fans we have here and get a metal party going. I really can’t wait to do the Face of Fear Down Under for those guys. So, I have big expectations for the shows and the metalheads here”.

What was the scene like in Denmark in 1985 when your first album came out? As a young headbanger in England I’d only really heard of Mercyful Fate and Pretty Maids. Was it hard for Danish bands to get noticed in the pre-internet age? “Yes, but I think we got a good interest in the band and a lot of people really liked the album. But my fave Danish band Mercyful Fate was of course bigger”.

Your first two albums came out on Neat Records – what was it like to be on the same label as names like Venom and Raven? And how did the deal come about? “One of the reasons we signed with Neat was because of bands like Venom, Tank, Raven and Tygers of Pan Tang et cetera. We did the Fear of Tomorrow demo and send it out to the labels, and we got offers from six or seven labels and chose Neat and they did a good job on our first album”.

This tour will be focussing on your most recent album, The Face Of Fear. Tell us a little about the recording of the record, and where you feel the album sits overall in the Artillery canon (no pun intended!) “We always play a set of both new and old songs. and on this tour, we have songs from all albums except for My Blood and B.A.C.K., which could be included on our next tour. The Face of Fear was recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark with producer Søren Andersen who has produced all our albums since we reunited.

It is an album which has the usual Artillery touches with strong hook lines, great drumming, middle eastern influences in the guitars and a clean vocal with melodic thrash metal like we love to play. I really love our new album and think it have touches of Fear of Tomorrow, By Inheritance, When Death Comes and Legions. It also got some real good reviews, so I think it fitS in the list of our top three albums”.

You’ve been touring a long time now – what tricks have you learned to make travelling more bearable for ageing bodies? And, apart from the ninety minutes on stage, what are the highlights of being on tour for you? “(laughs) I never think about my age, but I guess some tricks would be reading some good books and hearing some good music to make the waiting time shorter; that helps, but I really like to tour, and we have a really good friendship in the band so the good company also makes things easier. I also try to see as much as possible of the country we are touring in and talking to the local metalheads is awesome. But as you said nothing can beat the time you are on the stage”.

Can you remember much about the first ‘proper’ tour Artillery did? Happy memories or not? “Yes, we played in Holland in 1985 including a show at the famous Dynamo Open Air Festival and it was a good tour and I still remember it. When we returned to Denmark, we had the honour to support both Slayer and King Diamond later that year, but that’s another story”.

And finally – is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers of Sentinel Daily? “Yes, thanks a lot for the support, I really hope you will come and support us and letting us show you The Face of Fear Down Under“.

Thanks for taking part! “Thanks to you for the support”.