Interview with technical brutal death metal band from Germany - CYTOTOXIN.
Answered Fonzo (guitars), thank you!
Recenze/review - CYTOTOXIN - Biographyte (2025):
Ave CYTOTOXIN! Greetings to Chemnitz, Germany. I hope the radiation situation is normal there. It should be, although it's true that your new album "Biographyte" blew me away again so much that while listening to it, I felt like I was right inside a nuclear power plant. Death from radiation must always be terrible. This year, you returned with a new album after five years. Why did it take so long? I was really looking forward to it, and I was rewarded with another recording that literally kills with uranium. How did the album come about, and what has the response been like? How do the new songs work live?
Glück auf, my friend! Many thanks for the super kind words! Some things take a bit longer – especially when you want them to be as good as possible! We wanted to take all the time we need to make each song shine. We experimented a lot and did things differently on purpose – from vocals, production processes and additional layering tracks. And this can be quite a long process. We also toured a lot in the past years and we have our private lives. But the results matters and we are super happy how Biographyte came out and got great feedback from supporters all over the world! The live songs go very well, currently we have Hope Terminator, Biographyte and Condemnesia in the set!
Every time I see someone wearing a gas mask, I get a strange feeling. I remember elementary school in socialist Czechoslovakia, when we had to wear them during civil defense drills. The teachers released tear gas and we marched. I felt exactly the same way when I first saw the cover of the new album, "Biographyte." The author is German Latorres (who also did the covers for NUCLEAR and MALEVOLENT CREATION, among others). How did you get together, why him, and what exactly is the cover motif supposed to express in connection with the music and lyrics?
The uneasy feeling is entirely understandable. These masks have their own unique characteristics, exuding a certain sense of consistent menace, which fits the band's theme quite well. Of course, there's also an inevitable association with war due to the history of these masks, which also fits the setting well, as the liquidators in Chernobyl in particular had to fight against radiation as an omnipresent invisible enemy. If the cover of the new album triggers this kind of unease, then it also speaks volumes about the qualities of German, who has brilliantly implemented the concept. We've known him for a very long time. Our first encounter was at one of our concerts, and since then we've maintained a close contact and have always kept an eye on his artistic work. That's how he came up with some designs for our merchandise. Once we had developed the concept for the new album, we involved him in the project relatively early on and worked long and hard on the artwork. Essentially, the album artwork depicts a liquidator forced to carry the reactor on his back. This is meant to be a metaphor, meaning that these liquidators must bear this burden on behalf of humanity. Furthermore, buildings are chained to this titan with the reactor, leaving them as uninhabitable ruins that cannot be discarded. The setting is inspired by the video game "God of War," in which the Titan Kronos is condemned to crawl through the desert carrying Pandora's temple on his back. Fittingly, Pandora's box contains what humanity is denied: hope. Thus, our Titan is symbol, metaphor, and bearer of hope all in one.
Speaking of lyrics... What exactly are they about on the new album? You are generally inspired by the horror of what happened in Chernobyl, nuclear danger, nuclear war. Who writes the lyrics? Do you draw information from books or movies?
Grimo writes the lyrics. They're usually quite long at first, but then refined and rattled together with Fonzo ;-). The new album offers a lyrical tour of Chernobyl, a journey to significant buildings, intersections of the past, or eventful locations. We also tried to create perspectives from multiple time levels. Therefore, the narrative of the scene takes place partly from the here and now of the past, but also from the current situation today. This tension led us to describe not only the decay of atoms but also of space and time in the exclusion zone. Both types of decay cause energy to be released, both kinetically and artistically. The sources of information are very diverse. For this album, in addition to lyrical fragments from survivors, the HBO Chernobyl series, documentary footage, and eyewitness accounts from forays into the zone. We also sought personal exchanges to create the most authentic picture possible "on the ground."
Readers would probably not forgive me if I forgot to ask about the band's history. Chemnitz used to be in the socialist bloc. What were your beginnings like, how did you get together as a band, and why brutal death metal?
Fonzo and our first drummer actually studied together at the same university in Chemnitz. Rehearsels took place in a small attic in some kind of youth center and it was more of a blackend death metal project. Only a few months later when Grimo joined the band it transformed into brutal slam death metal and from there it was only a short way until Cytotoxin found their sound. I guess it was some kind of masculine obsession. As you probably know young men try to test their limits and it felt only natural to us to play as fast but also as heavy as possible. It was just all about what would be the most fun music to play.
I've been to Chemnitz several times. Now only as a tourist, but a long time ago, after the revolution, when socialism fell, your city was my first foreign concert visit. At that time, we went with a group of friends to see my beloved TANKARD. We got terribly drunk, I don't remember much, but I know I threw up in some beautiful park. Maybe even in a fountain. What was it like for you in terms of metal in the nineties and what is it like today? Are there any events? Do fans go to concerts? I remember that back then it was in some cultural center...
I hope the fountain has recovered from this accident hehe. Chemnitz itself is a very old city in terms of population, and is characterized by beautiful old buildings. Here and there, Soviet architecture still shines through, which brings with it a certain charm. Generally speaking, it's a city where it's good to live, in my opinion. In terms of concerts, to be honest, things are a bit thin. Some clubs from the post-reunification era no longer exist and there's simply no target audience for events of this kind. When it comes to metal concerts, fans transfer to the town and travel from the surrounding area. Perhaps that will change again someday, but fundamentally, the brutal death scene in Chemnitz is somehow in the process of renaturalization.
What about you as a musician? Which band got you into music? Who inspired you the most? I mean as a musician now? Do you have any classical music education? What about your first concert, your first performance on stage? Tell me, exaggerate...
We all have different influences and roots but I’m sure we can all agree on bands like Necrophagist, Beneath the Massacre, Dying Fetus or Origin. And these are the bands you might rediscover here and there in Cytotoxin’s songs!
Fonzo and Jason have a more or less classical background.
Jason is more inspired by progressive music and started out with piano as a child and later learned guitar self-taught. His first concert was In Extremo at Schlachthof Dresden. The first show was probably at high school with a metalcore band.
Fonzo was all about Hard Rock like ACDC in his first musical steps on guitar in the young age of 14. Only later when he was 16 years old he discovered bands like Machine Head or Children of Bodom he was amazed by what can be done on a guitar. From there it only got faster, heavier and harder over the years. First metal concert must have been the Unholy Alliance Tour with Slayer, Lamb of God, Children Of Bodom and In Flames... man what a package!
Let's get back to the new album. I really like the sound on it. It's massive, raw, but cold and dark at the same time. Where and how did you record it, who is credited with the mastering and mixing?
Thank you so much, happy to hear that! We recorded the guitars at home and partially in the studio. Same for the bass actually! This time, we decided to record vocals in our rehearsal room. This was mainly driven by the lack of time we had previously in the studio. Imagine, we usually just had 4 days to track vocals for the past albums. This time, we wanted to have more time and experiment a bit more. And I think you can hear that! We recorded the drums again at Kohlekeller Studios. But the mixing and mastering wasn’t done by Kristian „Kohle“, but by Mendel – ex-guitarist of Aborted. If you know his solo project you can tell that he is a pro when it comes to modern production, heavy guitar sounds and orchestration. And this is exactly what we wanted with the album.
I've seen CYTOTOXIN several times at festivals in the Czech Republic, and I've also met you in smaller clubs. What do concerts mean to you? Do you enjoy playing live? And what do you think of Czech fans? I think they really like you here. After all, I'm one of them.
It’s always a pleasure to play in Czech Republic. It’s safe to say that our Czech supporters are the greatest party animals which makes these shows always fun and recognizible. Concerts of course mean a lot to us. And it doesn’t matter if it’s Brutal Assault, Melodka in Brno, Rock Cafe in Prague or a smaller club inbetween. We love the energy that the crowd gives, to see people dancing and moshing. It feels like people are very much enjoying our shows – and the well crafted beer!
When I read some books about Chernobyl and saw the famous series on Netflix, what fascinated me most was the Russians' inhumanity, which continues to this day. How they didn't care how many people would die, how many crazy decisions they made. And then how they lied about everything, how they let thousands of people die. Without help. I don't want to get into politics, I don't like it, but how do you perceive the current situation in Chernobyl? And at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. Do you think that we, as humanity, are a little closer to nuclear war again?
We are very much worried about the war in Ukraine and it feels unreal to see acts of war again in Europe. We were deeply shocked when we heard about the attacks on the power plants. I think, we can all agree that these fights need to stop immediately. Other than that we agree with you that we stay away from politics as good as we can.
You have been dealing with the nuclear threat for 15 years. Still, are you ready if something happens? As a small child, I was constantly scared by rockets, that the Americans would attack us and destroy us. We were supposed to take raincoats and plastic bags for our feet and hands. And run to the shelter? Hey, could you really do that? When I see footage of a war that is a few thousand kilometers away from us, it makes me feel pretty bad.
I’m not sure if you can really be ready if something tragic like this would happen. Of yourse, we sincerely hope that people are reasonable and responsible enough to stop fighting or even drop bombs on people again like they did in Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Let's move away from serious topics. I'm curious what music and playing in a band means to you. Is it a hobby, a lifestyle? What has music (brutal death metal) given you and what has it taken away? You can approach this question from a philosophical point of view.
That’s a great question! For all of us, music has always been an integral part and I know that it has always been our childhood dream to play our instrument in front of crowds and be able to make a living out of it. We all still have jobs besides music and that’s totally fine. So, I would say it’s a hobby – but quite an intense one! Nearly each minute of our free time is dedicated to music, our instrument and the band. Music gives us energy, music enabled us to travel the world, meet our idols, make so many friends and supporters in the most distant corners of the world – and that’s amazing. But you also pay the price for this: you will miss many things! You are away from friends and family, it’s challenging for relationships because you got to skip many events because you are on the road. Also, everyone of us has to sacrifice the holidays to be able to join tours!
Do you have any dreams with the band? Any goals you would still like to achieve? Are you interested in a big festival or label?
We for sure would like to go back to the the US and Canada. But there are also so many other countries we would like to visit with the band. We get many comments from people to play in this or that country and we would love to exactly do that. So reach out to your local promoter and make them get in touch with us! When it comes to Festival, we would be honored to play Hellfest or Wacken one day. When it comes to labels, we currently try to survive without one and do things on our own. But who knows, maybe we want to team up with a label again in the future!
What is CYTOTOXIN planning for the coming months? If you have a message for fans, labels, promoters, something on your mind that you would like to say to everyone, or just a message... here's the space...
The next big thing coming up this year is a UK tour! 10 dates together with Analepsy, Osiah and Cognitive. We are so happy to be back on the island, especially with this insane lineup. UK friends, make sure to get your ticket sooner than later!
And for everyone who can’t make it: Be sure to stream our new album Biographyte or even purchase your copy – we can sign it if you want to. Your support keeps the death metal scene alive!
Thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciate it. I wish you as many loyal fans as possible, sold-out venues, and success in your personal lives. I hope the radiation situation remains normal. CYTOTOXIN RULES!
Thank you so much! Same for you and hope to see you very soon!
Recenze/review - CYTOTOXIN - Biographyte (2025):
about CYTOTOXIN on DEADLY STORM ZINE:
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