German hardcore band STILL ILL are proud to give you their newest music video for the track “Building The Beast”, released n Two Song Promo Tape in November 2015 and serving the title track for their debut full length album, coming up on March 11th on Demons Run Amok Entertainment (go here to grab a copy!). The track features guest appearance from Kevin Otto from Ruhrpott death metallic heavy hardcore band OPTIMIST. The record is a concept record being about how society and people are turning into things they once fought. The metaphorical beast is builded by each and everyone of us, guided by greed, malice and anger. The title track is a powerful introduction to the whole idea of the record.
The band commented:
Most of the songs are about some specific topics which are in our point of view main problems of the modern world. Misguiding media, abusement of power, racism and facism, people caught in despair and being without hope. In some songs and somewhere between the lines there is still a glance of hope and some points where we could still turn those things around – if we act before it is too late.
On the video:
The video displays images of disturbing things happening day after day on our planet, trying to catch several aspects of what we feel is wrong: police violence, oppression, terrorism, animal abusement. It’s a non specific wake up call about the current state of the world.
Watch the video right here and scroll down to read the full interview!
Lyrics:
filthy tongues, poisoned hearts
building fear in our soulsmisguided, mistreated
dragging innocence astraydie saat geht auf
vergiftet und verfault
die herzen korrumpiert
die hoffnung sie ist ausradiertmy hope falls apart
through lies and deceit
you are building the beastbad seed, dark minds
a foul harvestdriven by false beliefs
you are planting an evil seed
filling our minds with darkness
a foul harvest is what you reapyou reap what you sow
through your world of ignorance
you are building the beastdie bestie zermalmt
crushing you
Hey there guys! Once again, thanks so much for teaming up for this premiere! How do you feel about the video? Tell us a bit about this idea, the people that helped you out with its production and the final result of your work.
Markus: Hey! Thank you for the opportunity! We are really happy with the look and the content of the video. It was a clear decision for us to release this song with exactly that kind of video. We’ve shot the video with our best buddy Adam from RoughNeck Media, who also shot the “The Greater Fool” and “Frozen Souls” videos for us. Also Kevin from Optimist, who did a feature for the song, was able to appear in the video. The idea behind the video was to find pictures fitting to the lyrics of the song, which should show how fucked up the world is. We want you to see the video and leave you with the thought: holy fuck. But we tried to figure out a good balance and not to overuse images which are too violent just for the sake of shocking.
Lyrically, what’s the concept behind “Building The Beast”?
Markus: The song is kind of non-specific and just about the whole idea behind the record. That with all the bad influences, violence, lies and malice we are building a metaphorical beast which is swallowing us all. And everyone of us can either feed that beast or prevent it from growing.
How does it relate to the full record? Did you have a certain idea for the message you’ll be trying to send to your listeners with this new effort?
Markus: The title track is more or less an introduction to the concept which I just stated. As the record goes on we handle some topics more specifically which are part of the “growing process” of the beast. Racism, fascism, violence, abusing power, people left without hope; just to name a few. As you reach the end of the record you’ll also find a glimpse of hope and at least my own suggestion of how you could be part of the solution instead of the problem.
Which of these issues worry you the most? What are some things you see in your everyday life that remind you of the need, if not obligation, to speak loud about them?
Markus: Well, obviously there is nothing more present than this refugee crisis right now, which is based on fear and racism. We could fill pages now just talking about that, but if we take a look at the bigger picture, for me personally the biggest problem in this world is how people just take the right to devalue the life of another living being. I feel like the older I grow and the more loss I experience in my own life, the more I realize that when push comes to shove the only thing which is really valuable is your own life and it is frightening how fast that can be taken away. So with that being the most precious thing, I am disgusted of how much nonsense killing, abusing and hurting you see in the world. And with that aspect of acting towards other beings, the other problems follow. If you don’t respect someones life as being as precious as your own, you start to devalue also gender, race, beliefs and whatever you feel is inferior to your own standards. Trust me, when we were searching for video material for the video, I’ve seen things, which obviously didn’t make it into the video, but made my stomach turn. Humanity is truly the devil.
Ok guys, so you formed STILL ILL 5 years ago. What took you so long to present your debut full length? Tell us a bit about your story so far, other projects you’ve been involved in and how you view STILL ILL and its evolution.
Markus: Yeah, it has been a long road. After being formed from the ashes of KILL THIS DREAM, SNEAK ATTACK and PAPERS PLEASE we did the Demo 2011 and the Split “Court Blues” with ON THE RUN in 2013, I believe. After the Split we got Michael, who was prior in LOOK MY WAY, on the second guitar which changed our sound a lot. We went from fast punkish hardcore to a more hard and more metal based kind of hardcore. As a first sign of life we recorded and released “Frozen Souls”, which is also re-recorded on the new record. After that we wrote and even recorded “Building The Beast” by the end of 2014 but we had a change in our lineup in the middle of the recordings. So we got Martin on drums now and it took almost a year to get things going again, learn the new record basically once again and go back to the studio. But in the end it made the record way better and I believe that the current versions of the songs on “Building The Beast” are the best versions possible and far superior to their prior versions of 2014. We are very happy with how everything turned out and really happy that we found such a cool label like Demons Run Amok for our baby!
What are your next steps? Where and when can we catch you guys live and what are your hopes for this year?
Markus: We already started writing new songs and we definitely don’t wanna wait another 2 1/2 years to get another output. We will play a small weekender in February visiting Hannover and Bochum and then finally our Release Weekender with our buddies in HUMAN TOUCH, BLOOD BY DAYS and WORLD NEGATION in March. We will visit Krefeld, Ulm and Frankfurt on this tour, starting on the 18th of March. Beyond that we just hope that people will pick up and listen to our new record, check us out on stage and take some time to read the lyrics and make up their own thoughts.
Alright buddies. Thanks so much for the quick interview! Feel free to add your last words and good luck with the new record! Let it reign :)
Markus: Thank you a lot for this chance! We can’t wait to get feedback to the whole record which is released on the 11th of March on Vinyl/CD and Digital via Demons Run Amok Entertainment. If you can, make sure to visit one of our release shows and say hello. Follow us on www.instagram.com/still_ill_520 since Facebook is the worst for bands. Give me MySpace back, please.
