Haris: It’s been already clear since 20 years that you can hardly be pigeonholed, but you seem less willing to compromise with HOLLENTHON than e.g. with Pungent Stench at that time. Are you more due to HOLLENTHON than to anything else you have done so far?
Martin: Yes, one might say that. HOLLENTHON is a very personal project, because I can express all my likings here and don’t have to subordinate a certain genre. On the one hand, it’s an advantage, because HOLLENTHON is not linked to transient trends and thus remains more timeless, but from a pure commercial point of view it surely might be more helpful, if you could pigeonhole us somehow. That’s what many listeners are used to and not everyone is open-minded enough to think outside his own box and discover new stuff.

Haris: On Opus Magnum you worked for the first time in the history of HOLLENTHON in the classical line up “vocals – 2 guitars – bass – drums”. Has HOLLENTHON already become a well-practiced band, where every member can fully and actively participate in the songwriting or do you prefer keeping things firmly in hand and working together with session musicians?
Martin: Yes, we are a real band, whatever that means actually, but the songwriting is still very own domain and this will stay this way in the future. But this time I worked with Mike, our drummer, more intense to emphasize the Metal part in our music. Opus Magnum is definitely more focused on guitars than the previous two records and directed our attention more to the drums this time.

Haris: Not long ago, a statement by your long time companion Alex Wank (ex-Pungent Stench drummer) could be read on the official myspace-site of Pungent Stench where you didn’t come off well with. I haven’t read any statement of you yet. Can you describe the last days of Pungent Stench from your perspective?
Martin: I also issued an official statement on our forum (I don’t have access to our homepage and myspace-site), but I didn’t intend to bury the band with public mud throwing. I can only shake my head concerning Wank’s statement in view of the lies and half-truths he spread about me. It’s a fact, that, as I was about to do the mix for the new record, he let me know via email that he wanted to throw into disarray all the previously made financial agreements and that he wanted to change them on his behalf. If I didn’t accept that, this would be the end of the band. Anyway, I had no other choice then to draw the conclusions from this if I refused to be blackmailed. And this was ineligible, of course.
At first, I surely was shocked about this development, but I just went on and worked on Opus Magnum. Now the album is done, I enter the stages of the big festivals and I’ll go on tour this October, as Wank sits in his gloomy small record shop and sells my record. He still earns money this way with my music, but by far not that much like before, haha!

Haris: The Ampeauty follow up is recorded. Quite a few Death Metal fans would die to hear the farewell album. Are there any ambitions of releasing the record post-mortem?
Martin: Yes, there are ambitions, but first Wank and I have to strike an agreement and this is a pretty tenacious matter. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you more about this right now.

Haris: But that’s enough talk about past things…
An important element in the sound of HOLLENTHON is the appearance of various samples of orchestral character, which push you in the symphonic Black Metal direction. These elements are more matured on Opus Magnum and developed with much more attention to detail. How do you proceed in the songwriting of HOLLENTHON?
Martin: That differs a lot – sometimes the song builds up on a guitar riff and the orchestration is added afterwards, but there are also songs, which are initially based on a sample. I use to work mostly on more songs at the same time and when nothing comes into my mind with one song, I continue working on the next one. As you can see, I don’t have a fix formula concerning the songwriting, which probably is one of the reasons why our music is quite varying. In any case, it is always a very complex and time-consuming process to align all the orchestra parts, choirs and Ethno-elements with Metal.

Haris: Opus Magnum – the “grand work”, it’s all in the name. The new album sounds like a consequential continuation of With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell, but it has nothing to do with the roughness and gloominess of your debut. One gets the impression that you have abandoned any ballast while listening to your third album, but you still make to write an entertaining record it in spite of an explicitly more progressive orientation. You have improved technically in all respects. E.g. the guitar work is considerable and among the best you have ever recorded in your career. What’s the key to success of HOLLENTHON for you?
Martin: Like I already said, I attached great importance to the guitar work this time. But it still was important for me that the record does not sound forced or glutted, i.e. being progressive at any cost even though you loose all the recognition value. I’ve always admired bands like Jethro Tull who make it to combine a highly technical standard with catchy songs, which can be understood by non-musicians as well. The anarchic character of our debut has vanished, of course, but the basic elements are still the same as at that time.

Haris: You have shocked people with Pungent Stench; the lyrics were means to an end. How important are the lyrics in HOLLENTHON?
Martin: They are very important. That’s why I I don't write them! [author's note: the lyrics are written by Martin's ex-wife Elena Schirenc]

Haris: You and bassist Gregor have already proved with Pungent Stench that you are live more than convincing and first class entertainers. Isn’t it annoying in a band like HOLLENTHON when the live sound is mixed badly (as on this year’s Summer Breeze festival in Dinkelsbühl/Germany) as your songs contain so many different elements? Either the string- or choral samples once go down the drain or the fan doesn’t here your vocals. Is this a well-known phenomenon for you? The other bands in the party tent, which I was allowed to see, got a consistently good sound mixed.
Martin: Usually we don’t have a bad live sound, but it’s always a thing like that on festivals, because you have to enter the stage without having a soundcheck and, of course, it definitely isn’t an easy job for a soundman mixing our complex material. Thus, I prefer club gigs, where it ain’t so chaotic like on festivals, because you aren’t pressed for time that much.

Haris: The last question has nothing to do with HOLLENTHON. But, in the course of (definitely meaningful) reunions of bands such as Carcass, At The Gates or Pestilence, I’m interested in your opinion on this. You Pungent Stench reunion about eight years ago made sense, because to me, it seemed likely, that you wouldn’t do this mainly for the money. Carcass however tour the US (apart from some festival gigs). Europe and especially Germany seems to get left out. Does success in the USA mean more money? What’s your opinion on the reunions of the mentioned bands? And in this context: Is Pungent Stench finally dead for you?
Martin: I was lucky to see all these bands while they were active. That’s why I actually don’t give a shit about that. But there are many young fans that thereby get the opportunity to finally see these bands live. It surely is a question of money for most of the bands, but the musicians must live on something and as long as their live shows are good I can live that. Unlike the Carcass reunion, ours wasn’t planed as something singular, but it was simply a continuation of the band after a longer break and if there hadn’t been the internal problems we still would be playing.
Pungent Stench is dead for me in this constellation in any case. That means that I will never again enter the stage together with Wank. But time will tell about anything else.

Haris: Well, Martin, I say thank you for the interview! Godspeed to you and your guys!