GOD DETHRONED main man, guitar player and singer Henri Sattler is one of the most dedicated Metal heads in Holland. Always been fascinated by the dark side of life and anti christian matters in general, he started in 1991 GOD DETHRONED for the first time with some friends. Soon after their first demo they released the debut album “The Christhunt” in 1992 on a small label not worth mentioning. The first step into the business was done, but instead of going on, Henri decided due to problems with the other band members and the amateurish record company to split the band. He then formed MINISTRY OF TERROR, a Thrash Metal band with a lot of potential, released the album “Fall Of life” in 1994 and played an extensive European tour with IMPALED NAZARENE. During this tour many people asked Henri about GOD DETHRONED and after coming back home he already made his decision to leave M.O.T. and reform GOD DETHRONED. He found Jens, Beef and Roe, three excellent musicians that followed his visions and understood what aggressive Metal was all about. Together they wrote a few, songs, recorded them and sent them to a few record companies. Metal Blade were immediately interested and signed the band in a second. The highly acclaimed second album “The Grand Grimoire” was released in October 1997 and got major impact in the European magazines. GOD DETHRONED received great reviews and big articles on this album all over Europe. The musical potential and technical skills proved on this album are unbelievable, the diversity of blast beats, heavy riffs and atmospheric parts is phenomenal, nevertheless all the songs are very catchy and easy to get into. Straight after the release of this masterpiece the Dutchmen played a European tour supporting SIX FEET UNDER and leaving the crowds without a breath. Another tour followed in April 1998 when GOD DETHRONED played the famous No Mercy Festivals with CANNIBAL CORPSE, IMMORTAL, MARDUK, OBITUARY and ANGEL CORPSE all over Europe. The album was also released in the United States and got, surprisingly enough, extensive airplay on the radio stations and sold pretty well. In the end of 1998 GOD DETHRONED entered once again Franky’s Recording Kitchen for the recordings of the third album. “Bloody Blasphemy” is another killer album with all the trademarks of its predecessor. GOD DETHRONED have found their own style which is a mixture of Death, Thrash and Black Metal, with a good dose of the aggression SLAYER once have spread on “Reign In Blood”. Don’t believe it? Listen to the album three times in a row and tell me something different! And Henri Sattler? He enjoys the growing interest in GOD DETHRONED, knowing very well, that there will be many more battles to be fought in the future…
Henri Sattler – vocals, guitars
Jens van der Valk – guitars
Beef – bass
Roel Sanders – drums
Discography:
The Christhunt” (1992; re-released in 1998 on Cold Blood Industries)
The Grand Grimoire” (1997; Metal Blade)
Bloody Blasphemy” (1999; Metal Blade)
What can you tell us about the latest GOD DETHRONED album?
The name of our new album is Bloody Blasphemy and was released in the beginning of April. The album contains 8 tracks that are even more brutal than the songs on The Grand Grimoire.
Inform us on the lyrics…
On Bloody Blasphemy Henri wrote most of the lyrics and I wrote some too. The hate against Christianity is the main subject of course, but we also have some lyrics about a few Dutch sailors again.
Henri Sattler talking about some of the lyrics in his own words:
SERPENT KING: Song about an invisible serpent travelling around and stealing souls everywhere by shooting people from real close. NOCTURNAL: This is about a guy who thinks he hears sounds of witches at night. Every night he goes outside and tries to find them, but he never succeeds. On one night, when he’s out there searching, a hand grabs him by his neck and he will never know… THE EXECUTION PROTOCOL: Song about the inquisition. Describes a person who’s being sentenced to death and his feelings towards the executioner in this religious matter.BOILING BLOOD: A song about feelings of hatred towards a person. In this song a person makes a voodoo puppet of his enemy and tortures it to death.
A VIEW OF AGES: Song about Nostradamus and his prediction about the third antichrist and the downfall of humanity by a great global fire…
SOUL CAPTURE 1562: This one is about the tale of the Flying Dutchman, which was a ghost ship. It’s about a doomed ship that has to sail the seas forever and every ship that meets the Flying Dutchman will disappear with its crew. This is an old legend based on true facts.
UNDER THE GOLDEN WINGS OF DEATH: Song about a psychopath who needs to kill over and over again. It just makes him feel good doing this. We also did a video clip for this song. So watch out for it
FIREBREATH: Track about Admiral Michael de Ruyter, a national Dutch hero. He lived in Holland’s golden century. when Holland was a republic instead of a monarchy. In the year 1667 he sailed the river Thames with his fleet and robbed the English towns (like Chatham) and conquered some British ships. He was the only enemy sailor that ever sailed the river Thames.
BLOODY BLASPHEMY: The title track is about a necrophiliac who steals Jesus from the cross to eat him.
What do people think of GOD DETHRONED? What do you think yourself?
We got very good reactions on The Grand Grimoire from all over the world, especially in the USA we seem to be very popular. We are satisfied with The Grand Grimoire, but as musicians we think we always can do better. And I think it will show on Bloody Blasphemy.
What about touring?
We did 2 European tours. The first one was with SIX FEET UNDER in October 1997. And in April 1988 we did the No Mercy festival with IMMORTAL, CANNIBAL CORPSE,
MARDUK…. We went on tour on the 29th of April with IMMORTAL and BENEDICTION and we played the Dynamo fest on the 23th of May.
Describe a GOD DETHRONED gig!
A GOD DETHRONED gig is a short but heavy outburst of violence, with almost no breathing time between the songs.
How much fan mail does GOD DETHRONED get?
That depends, but I think that after the release of Bloody Blasphemy we get a few letters a day.
Which band are you listening to right now? Which song do you want to be played on your funeral?
Emperor. On my funeral I would like The Passenger from NEVERMORE.
What are your favourite bands?
My favourite bands are AT THE GATES, EMPEROR, MORBID ANGEL.
Your ultimate playlist is…
AT THE GATES – Slaughter of the Soul
EMPEROR – Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
MORBID ANGEL – Covenant
KRABATHOR – Orthodox
ICED EARTH – The Dark Saga
React:
Black: Great – Death: Even better – Heavy: OK – HardCore: Sh!t – Progressive: Sh!t – Thrash: Cool – Doom: Sometimes – Grind: Ok – Speed: Ok – Gothic: F*ck
Can you tell us something more about the new songs?
The songs on Bloody Blasphemy are more aggressive and full of hate, we also made the songs shorter, so they will be more interesting if we play them live.
Any merchandising GOD DETHRONED sells?
We have T-shirts and long sleeves from The Grand Grimoire, Bloody Blasphemy.
What is your opinion on the current scene? What do you think of the Belgian bands? How is the scene in Holland?
I think the underground scene is not dead as many people say. It only made progress. I like ANCIENT RITES, IN-QUEST. Some promising bands in Holland are CENTURIAN, LIAR OF GOLGOTHA.
Are you involved in a side-project?
No, I am concentrating purely on GOD DETHRONED, but Henri started his own record label Cold Blood Industries and he will soon release the new DEAD HEAD album.
Give us a description of GOD DETHRONED’s music.
It is a combination of Black, Death and Thrash Metal that is aggressive and melodic at the same time.
Some thoughts to end with?
Alright, go out to the record shop and buy our new album because it will smash your face and I hope to see you all on tour to drink beer together.
Thanks Beef & GOD DETHRONED.
THRONE OF ABSENCE 