MH: Could you tell us in a few words the most important moments in the band's history?

JK: End 93 I formed the band, at that time a two piece outfit, me writing all the music and lyrics and all the other guy did was lend me his recording equipment and he had some ideas about the keys, unfortunately I listened to him and used keyboards early on. In 97 Folter Records got in contact with us and in 99 we released the first album Strijd, second album, Verwoesting in 2002 and the latest album Dodengang at the end last year.

MH: What bands have influenced your decision to get into metal and in particular black metal?

JK: Sadistik Exekution, Bestial Warlust, older bands like Mortal Sin, ACDC, old Metallica, but furthermore nothing different then most of about 33 years old, Kreator, Bathory, Frost. The sheer brutality and melody on Gehenna s 7 inch Angelwings and ravenclaws was probably the moment I decided to plunge into black metal, this was in 93.

MH: What has been the impact on Sammath’s music since becoming a two piece band? Do you intend to share the writing of material?

JK: Never, the band is mine!! I’ve tried this in the past but always it didn’t feel right. I started this band and have always written the music and lyrics, changing this would mean changing the band name I think. I hate bands that change style or direction but keep the same name, progress is necessary, but to much of a change always sucks. We are a band for live shows, but in the end I decide what happens, live I have just as much to say about the setlist as the rest of the band, but the core will always be me and the drummer Koos Bos.

MH: Do you have one instrument you prefer to play overall? Would you like to recruit new members to the band?

JK: Guitar and bass, simply because I cant drums for shit, my vocals on cd are ok, but live I cant sing and play the guitar, I just end up sounding like a idiot, or my guitar playing is pathetic. I still look at death live and wonder how the hell chuck managed this, what a genius.

MH: What are your favourite lyrical themes and how significant are they in Sammath’s music?

JK: Earlier I used to have the same lyrics as every other black metal band, the Satan screaming stuff. But as I teached history for some time I decided it was time to write some lyrics that told a story, rather then just kick at the church all the time, religion is for idiots, I don’t waste my time on idiots anymore.

MH: Your earlier releases had Dutch lyrics, yet you changed to English on Verwoesting. What were your reasons behind this decision?

JK: I grew up in Australia, when I moved to Europe I found that dutch sounded very harsh for black metal, perfect, the thing is when Sammath got more known worldwide I felt it pretty stupid that no one could understand the lyrics. I always hate it when I can’t understand lyrics, so I decided it was best to change to English, titles will always be in dutch. To get the right mood the listener needs to know what the hell I’m on about.

MH: I felt the sound on the new album was particularly intense, can you tell me about the recording process for Dodengang and how you managed to obtain such a huge sound? How pleased were you with the finished results and now that it is some time since it was recorded, how do you feel about it now?

JK: It was really just a combination of luck and the bigger budget I got from the label made it possible to get a good studio. We recorded the drums in Holland, the guitars and vocals in Germany, then we had the mix we were lucky enough to have Peter Neuber, a great producer from Berlin, to master the album. What he did with the sound was perfect; he made it sound very intense. Luckily the mix was done in such a way that he could still do many things to the sound. I finally got four different versions send, peter doesn’t want the bands in the studio, we had contact via mail or phone daily for about three weeks, he would change things I wanted. I think that’s a great way of working. The man obviously knows what he is doing, having me around in the studio is not easy, I nag and want to know everything, this way of working is better. He can concentrate on his job without me bothering him. I think the sound is almost perfect for black metal, it sounds like it can cave in at any moment, but played loud it sounds very powerful.

MH: Your drummer, Koos Bos, is inordinately fast at times, how did you manage to obtain his services?

JK: That’s a pretty stupid story, we both started to study history in 96. I was already busy with Sammath, but with the drum computer. We both made a big bloody mess of everything back then. I think he left the study after we had been drunk to many times to mention, we didn’t really attend any classes and spend most of our time at concerts. Some years later we met up again and we started to rehearse with another band, this was crap. I never really thought about inviting him to be a part of Sammath because usually everything we ever did together just turned out being a drunk mess, everything usually got broken. He really got very fast and very good with the double bass in 2000 onwards, so I heard him in the rehearsal room and immediately asked him to join, I threw out the drum computer and am damn sure I made the right decision. His drum style is very unique, its all very primitive yet very subtle changes in pace and ferocious drum rolls make it all very spectacul;air.

MH: What have been the reactions of the fans and press on Dodengang?

JK: Extremely good till now, but theirs always someone somewhere who doesn’t like it. The dickhead from Rockhard, the Austrian fag, said it was outdated. I don’t mind bad reviews, people can obviously like what they want, but just giving it crap points and writing a lazy review is what I cant stand, you can tell if someone has taken their time for a review or not. I think I’ve read over 200 reviews and 90% are very positive. I care most about the opinions of people who have been listening to Sammath for the last years, or some reviewers whose opinion I …if they hate it that would suck.

MH: Do you have any more material ready to be recorded? What do you think you need to do to improve your work?

JK: I need to improve on many areas, like placing of the lyrics, the way of recording the guitars. We definitely need to record the whole album in one studio next time. It’s a big hassle to drive up and down Europe to get a album recorded, For the band it always takes time to get used to surroundings, once you stay in one place you relax more and can concentrate on recording better. I also think Sammath can sound better when the vocals have more depth to them.

MH: What things inspire awe in you and what do you have respect for, if anything at all? Do they have any effect on your music?

JK: That doesn’t really effect my music, my music is a combination of restlessness and disgust for religion, and a fascination for war. I have respect for anyone doing their own thing, not being a follower.

MH: I still feel that black metal utilises many chord sequences from punk, I can hear it in Sammaths music also. Would you agree with this comparison?

JK: Definitely, although I don’t listen to punk at all, except the sex pistols, I can hear the comparison. The raw tones and song structures are very similar, the black and roll movement gets very close to just being punk, change the vocalist and you cant tell the difference.

MH: Have you done any live shows, if so, what is a typical Sammath live performance like? Who would be your ideal touring partners?

JK: We have done some live shows before, about ten or so. We are working on getting a tour organized this winter. Favourite band to go on tour with, Mysticum maybe, Salacious Gods from Folter will be joining us on this tour for sure. We will be performing at the cult festival under the black sun in July this year, looking forward to this, it’s got a great line up this year, 1349, Watain, many more.

MH: I gather that the band name is derived from Tolkien’s works. Do you read much fantasy style material, if so any particular favourites?

JK: Yes its from Tolkien, I also got my logo done by Christophe Zspajdel, so in the originality department I score real low regarding this… But I got it all done in 96, way before the hype, but who really cares. I don’t read much fantasy at all. I’m more into harsh realistic stuff, like world war two movies, documentaries, shit like that. I don’t like reading stuff about things with green hairy feet or whatever.

MH: In today’s download culture how difficult is it to get a band like Sammath known?

JK: I promote the band on many forums, I really don’t care too much about downloading, people who follow the band buy the albums anyway, I sell more with every release. The biggest problem is the shitload of crap releases, there are hundreds of labels releasing hundreds of crap CDs, if this continues I really cant blame people for downloading, you don’t want to spend 10 euros on crap. I used to do lots of tape trading, that was very different though, the quality with shit of course, so you would buy the cd later.

MH: I particularly like your band logo, who designed it and drew it?

JK: Thanks, but the honour isn’t mine. Christophe Szpajdel, a Belgian artist made the logo, he’s done about 10000 logos I think, I wonder if the poor guy ever sleeps.

MH: Do you listen to the type of metal you create? If so who has impressed you recently?

JK: I listen to more violent blunt black metal, Bestial Warlust, Sadistik Exekution, Revenge, Black Witchery, Conqueror, stuff like that. Most impressed though I was with the last cd of the Norwegians lja, melodic fast black metal.

MH: Black metal has had a lot of bad press regarding the NSBM movement; do you have an opinion on this?

JK: Yes, politics and metal don’t mix, period.

MH: What are your long term hopes or ambitions for the band in the future?

JK: I have achieved more then I intented to, I get mails everyday from around the world, the cd is available at most mailorders, I have gotten about 200 damn good reviews for this release, all I want to do is keep going at it, improving every dimension and trying to write the ultimate black, war, death metal cd.

MH: Any further comments or messages.

JK: Metal or death, thanks for the interview.