狂战士 - 澳大利亚Industrial Death Metal / Grindcore乐队The berzerker专访

Volcano Magazine
31 minutes ago
14 min read

今天采访到的是来自澳大利亚的Industrial Death Metal / Grindcore乐队The Berzerker，组建于1995年的The Berzerker乐队，已经走过30年，是一支当之无愧的老牌乐队，最初由歌手Luke Kenny一个人组建，最初Luke Kenny以极端电子流派的DJ为主，但是作为一名热爱Death Metal / Grindcore风格的歌迷，Luke Kenny决定组建这支乐队，1996年Luke Kenny发行了乐队的第一张EP专辑“No?”，这张专辑由美国的Bastard Loud Records厂牌发行，如果你希望从这张EP专辑当中听到Death Metal / Grindcore等元素，那么你一定会大失所望，这张作品当中充斥着大量的电子元素，这张专辑的风格也被定义为Gabber和Speedcore，如果你是一名电子风格的歌迷，这张专辑一定适合你，1998年Luke Kenny在德国Speedcore厂牌发行了第二张EP专辑“Inextricable Zenith”同样收到大量的好评，Luke Kenny不仅仅是一名优秀的音乐家并且他也是一名优秀的制作人，再一次帮助Morbid Angel这张专辑的时候被英国Earache Records厂牌看中并且签约了两张专辑的合同，随后Luke Kenny招募了Jay，Ed Lacey，Toby，Sam Bean等成员加入乐队，让乐队阵容完成，2000年乐队在Earache Records发行了他们的第一张正式专辑“The Berzerker”，这张专辑融合了Industrial, Techno, Death Metal, Grindcore和Avant-garde noise等等元素，凭借这张专辑The Berzerker也成为了澳大利亚炙手可热的乐队，不过这张发行之后Jay，Ed Lacey，Toby，Sam Bean等成员退出乐队，2002年Luke Kenny发行了最新的EP专辑“Broken”，同年乐队在Earache Records厂牌发行了第二张正式专辑“Dissimulate”，这张专辑Luke Kenny邀请到了让中国歌迷熟知的鼓手Gary Thomas加入乐队，同时也正是这张专辑让更多的中国歌迷认识了这支乐队，鼓手以极快的速度闻名，让这张专辑更加的极端，随后乐队在Earache Records厂牌发行了多张作品都收到好评，2010年乐队发行了现场录音专辑“Live in London”之后宣布解散，一段传奇就此落幕，虽然Luke Kenny在2019 - 2023短暂重组了乐队，但是最终以停止活动结束，虽然乐队目前处于停止活动状态，但是我们依旧不应该忘记这支伟大的乐队，前不久杂志与乐队的创始人Luke Kenny取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 L: 代表Luke Kenny）

The band I interviewed today is The Berzerker, an Australian industrial death metal/Grindscore band formed in 1995. They have been around for 30 years and are a well deserved veteran band. Originally formed by singer Luke Kenny alone, Luke Kenny initially focused on extreme electronic DJs, but as a fan of death metal/Grindscore style, Luke Kenny decided to form this band. In 1996, Luke Kenny released the band's first EP album "No?", which was released by Bastard Loud Records in the United States. If you wanted to hear elements such as Death Metal/Grindcore from this EP album, you would definitely be disappointed. This work is filled with a lot of electronic elements, and the style of this album is also defined as Gabber and Speedcore. If you are a fan of electronic style, this album is definitely suitable for you. In 1998, Luke Kenny released his second EP album "Inextricable Zenith" on Speedcore in Germany, which also received a lot of praise. The sentence is:, Luke Kenny is not only an excellent musician, but also an excellent producer. When he once again helped Morbid Angel with this album, he was noticed by the British label Earache Records and signed contracts for two albums. Later, Luke Kenny recruited Jay, Ed Lacey, Toby, Sam Bean and other members to join the band, completing the lineup. In 2000, the band released their first official album "The Berzerker" on Earache Records, which combined elements of Industrial, Techno, Death Metal, Grindcore and Avant garde noise. With this album, The Berzerker also became a popular band in Australia. However, after the release of this album, Jay, Ed Lacey, Toby, Sam Bean and other members left the band. In 2002, Luke Kenny released his latest EP album "Broken", and the band Earache Records released their second official album "Dissimulate", which invited drummer Gary Thomas, who was well-known to Chinese fans, to join the band. It was also this album that made more Chinese fans aware of the band. Drummers were known for their extremely fast pace, making the album even more extreme. Subsequently, the band released multiple works on Earache Records and received positive reviews. After releasing their live recording album "Live in London" in 2010, the band announced their dissolution, ending a legendary period. Although Luke Kenny briefly reorganized the band from 2019 to 2023, it ultimately ended with a hiatus. Although the band is currently in a state of hiatus, we should not continue with it. Forget about this great band, Luke Kenny, the founder of the magazine and band recently I got in touch for an exclusive interview!

(V: representing the author L: representing Luke Kenny)

采访对象：Luke Kenny（The Berzerker乐队创始人）

采访时间：2025.11.03

V: 你好Luke，很高兴见到你，非常感谢你接受本次采访。我想这是贵乐队首次接受中国杂志的专访对吗？首先请向所有中国乐迷问好。The Berzerker乐队成立于1995年，是历史悠久的资深乐队。请问乐队最初是如何组建的？The Berzerker这个名字有何含义？

Hello Luke, nice to meet you and thank you very much for participating in this interview. I think this is the first time your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine, right? First of all, I would like to say hello to all Chinese fans. The Berzerker band was founded in 1995 and is a long established band with a long history. How did you first form this band? What does the name The Berzerker mean?

L: 兄弟别客气。是啊，这是我们首次接受中国媒体采访，感觉超酷。向所有中国乐迷致以诚挚问候。我不确定我们最初在中国是否有过发行渠道，所以现在应该都在Spotify上吧。我很想知道那边的乐迷喜欢哪些专辑。这个项目始于1995年，2000年签约Earache Records后，我不得不组建乐队进行巡演。其实组建乐队并非我的初衷，原本计划只做录音室作品。但后来我们还是组建了乐队，带着五张专辑巡演了十年。2000年首张全长专辑发行时，我们的标志是“铁龙”，恰逢藏历铁龙年。The Berzerker乐队灵感源自维京突击战士——被视为地球史上最残暴的族群之一。其名源自古诺斯语bera serkr，暗指他们身披熊皮上阵的传统。The Berzerker素以佩戴兽面具、展示动物獠牙或颚骨著称，这种装扮强化了视觉冲击力，象征着与野兽精魄的神秘联结——这正是我们早期采用面具造型的缘由。他们既屠戮敌人，也残杀己族。彻头彻尾的疯魔。

No worries mate. Yeah, this is our first interview by any Chinese media, so very cool. Yeah, big hello to all the Chinese fans. I don't know if we originally had any distribution over in China so probably everything on Spotify these days I'm guessing. I'm interested to know what albums the fans are into over there. Yeah, I started the project in 1995 and then I signed with Earache Records in 2000 and I had to put together a band so we could tour. So it wasn't really my idea to put together a band. It was never really supposed to be live, but yeah, we did that and then toured for 10 years on five albums. As the first full-length album came out in 2000 our logo was the Iron Dragon which coincided with the Year of the Iron Dragon from Tibetan calendar. The Berzerker were based on the Viking assault warriors which are regarded as some of the most brutal humans to have walked the planet. with their name coming from Old Norse words meaning "bear shirt" (bera serkr), referencing their tradition of wearing bear skins into battle. Berzerkers were known to wear animal masks and display prominent animal teeth or jaws, furthering the psychological impact of their appearance and symbolizing a mystical connection to the beast’s spirit hence our original appearance with the masks. They killed their enemy and they killed their own. They were total maniacs.

V: 你目前是乐队中唯一的创始成员，其他成员在1999至2002年间陆续更换。第一代成员为何离开乐队？新成员又是如何加入的？

You are currently the only original member in your band, and the other members were replaced between 1999 and 2002. Why did the first generation members leave the band? How did the new members join the band?

L: 这些年来我们更换过许多现场乐手，其中大部分我都不得不替换掉。

We have had many different live members over the years. I've had to replace most of them.

V: 能否介绍一下你的创作过程？相信你的创作经历会给更多年轻音乐人带来启发！

Can you introduce your creative process? I believe your creative experience will bring inspiration to more young musicians!

L: 创作初衷就是打造最残暴的音乐，最初并不受人类演奏能力的限制。因此我能实现非人的演奏速度。当我们筹备现场演出时，不得不重新思考这个问题，这给创作带来了诸多限制。更准确地说，我能在脑海中构想出完整的声景，但当极致速度与覆盖全频谱的声响交织时，要让所有元素完美融合实在困难重重。和多数人一样，我受到Brutal Truth、Vader、Carcass等乐队启发，同时也汲取了Extreme、Gabber和Industrial音乐的养分

The inspiration was just to make the most brutal music possible, which originally wasn't constrained by human performance. So I could do inhuman speeds. When we put the live act together, we had to rethink that little which put many restrictions on the creativity. It's more I can see the soundscape in my head, but it's so hard to make it all work together when you've got such incredible speeds and sounds taking up the entire frequency spectrum. Like most people, I was inspired by other bands such as Brutal Truth, Vader, Carcass, but then also Extreme, Gabber and Industrial music

V: 你的每张专辑都有出色的录音效果。是在哪家录音室完成录制的？哪位制作人操刀了这张专辑？

Each of your albums has excellent recording effects. Which studio did you record the album in? Which producer made the album for you?

L: 我一直都在家里录制所有作品。2002年我制作了一部完整纪录片DVD，详细记录了前两张专辑的录制过程。首张专辑堪称噩梦般的经历，耗时超过12个月——我原本计划前往加拿大与Strapping Young Lad乐队的Devin Townsend合作录制全部内容，但最终未能成行，于是只能独自完成所有工作，此后每张专辑都由我独立完成。

I've always recorded everything at home. I did a full length DVD documentary in 2002 detailing recording of the first two albums. The first album was a horrible nightmare that lasted more than 12 months as I tried to go and record everything with Devin Townsend from Strapping Young Lad in Canada, but it didn't work out so I did it all myself and then have done so for every album.

V: 你的Logo设计非常精美。是谁为你设计的这个Logo？你的专辑封面艺术作品都围绕着龙的主题。这些艺术作品是谁为你设计的？

Your logo design is very beautiful. Who designed this logo for you? Your album artworks are all about the theme of dragons. Who designed these artworks for you?

L: 谢谢兄弟，我姐夫设计了这个Logo。他最初画了一幅手绘龙图，后来我让他强化Industrial元素，于是就诞生了双铁龙Logo。

Thank you mate, my brother-in-law designed a logo. He had an original hand-drawn image of the dragon, which I then asked him to push more into an industrial element, and that's how the double iron dragon logo was created.

V: 你曾与多家唱片公司合作发行专辑，其中最著名的是Earache Records。你目前签约的厂牌是Berzerker Industries。你是如何与Earache Records达成专辑发行的合作？对他们的运作是否满意？Berzerker Industries是你自己创立的吗？

You have collaborated with numerous labels to release albums, with the most famous being Earache Records. Your current signed label is Berzerker Industries. How did you collaborate with Earache Records to release albums? Are you satisfied with their work? Did you establish Berzerker Industries yourself?

L: 没错，当时与Erate Records签约对我而言简直不可思议。我钟爱他们旗下多数乐队——Napalm Death、Morbid Angel、Carcass、At The Gates、Extreme Noise Terror、Brutal Truth。能签下五张专辑的合约令我无比自豪，但随着时间推移合作日益艰难。最终在录制最后一张专辑时，我离开唱片公司创立了自己的厂牌Berserker Industries，以此获得更多创作自由。

Yeah, at the time the Erate Records deal for me was incredible. I loved most of the bands on their roster, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Carcass, At The Gates, Extreme Noise Terror, Brutal Truth, And I was very proud to sign a five album deal, but it became increasingly more difficult as the years went on. And then the last album, I left the label and started my own label, Berserker Industries, so I could have more freedom.

V: 是什么原因导致你们乐队在2010年解散？2019年你们重组了乐队，是什么促使你们这样做？目前乐队状况如何？

What caused your band to disband in 2010? In 2019, you reorganized your band. What prompted you to do so? What is your current state?

L: 最后一场狂战士乐队的演出是2009年。那时我对音乐产业彻底厌倦至极。我们已巡演十年，我身心俱疲，最终从澳大利亚墨尔本老家搬到了黄金海岸。之后我从事摄影工作超过十年。新冠隔离期间我们曾筹备新项目，但突发个人健康问题迫使计划搁置，康复耗费数年光阴。直到最近才重新回归音乐创作。

The last berserker show was 2009. I was completely sick to death of the music industry. We had done 10 years of touring at that point and I was burnt out and I ended up moving from my hometown in Melbourne, Australia to the Gold Coast. And I then did photography for More than 10 years. We started to put a project together in around the quarantine of COVID, but I had a lot of personal medical issues come up which stopped all that. And that took a few years to recover from. I've only recently started to get back into music now.

V: 我听过你们所有作品，最大的特色就是鼓点。你们的鼓手绝对是我见过最快最疯狂的，闪电般的速度搭配极致的吉他速弹。不过在编曲上你们依然非常讲究，主唱的声线如野兽般嘶吼，作品融合了Industrial Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore等元素。你对自己作品有什么看法？

I have heard all of your works, and your biggest feature is the drum. Your drummer is definitely the fastest and craziest drummer I have ever seen, with lightning speed and very fast guitar speed. However, in terms of arrangement, you are still very particular. The singer's singing is like a beast, and your works are mixed with elements such as industrial metal, death metal, Grindcore, etc. Do you have any opinion on your own works?

L: 其实我创作了大部分音乐，而且我原本是鼓手。但19岁那年遭遇车祸后，我再也无法演奏鼓了。于是开始创作Electronic Music，采样各种素材，用MIDI编写所有鼓点并亲自完成所有人声录制。后来签约Earache Records时，我不得不寻找能演奏如此高速节奏的人类鼓手——这简直是项极其艰巨的任务。Gary Thomas在第二张专辑中表现惊艳，但巡演期间受伤，最终带着至今未愈的背伤返回澳大利亚。Todd Hanson是另一位杰出的鼓手。这对他们而言是巨大挑战，最终我们现场演奏的多数歌曲速度都比专辑版本更快。

Well, I write most of the music myself and originally I am a drummer. But after a car accident, when I was 19, I was unable to play the drums anymore. So I started to create electronic music. And sampled everything and wrote all the drums with MIDI and then did all the vocals myself. And then around the time we signed with Earache, I had to find human drummers that could play that fast, which was a horrendously difficult task. Gary Thomas was incredible drummer on the second album but sustained an injury on tour which left him having to return to Australia with the back injury he still has. Todd Hanson was another great drummer It was a lot of work for those guys and we ended up playing most of the songs fast alive than they were on the album.

V: 你参加过哪些音乐节？哪些音乐节给你留下了深刻印象？能否介绍一下这些音乐节的现场氛围？你发行的DVD和现场录音专辑，都是你参加音乐节时的演出记录吗？

Which music festivals have you participated in, and which ones have left a deep impression on you? Can you introduce the live atmosphere at those festivals? You released a DVD and a live recording album, both of which were recordings from music festivals you participated in?

L: 我认为最出色的两个音乐节是英国的Bloodstock，那场演出简直令人难以置信。就我所见，全场观众都百分百投入其中。当时我们的演奏状态极佳，那种满足感难以言喻。另一场是捷克的Brutal Assault音乐节，却因截然不同的原因令人难忘。当时所有可能出错的事情都出错了——暴风雨导致电力中断，而我们依赖触发器和监听系统。每次演出被迫中断后，都得重新启动所有设备。刚演奏完一首半新歌，电力又中断，所有人都在泥泞中奔跑。经历三四次这样的状况后，我最终...试图跃过护栏冲进人群，途中小腿被绊倒摔进了观众区。但那依然是个精彩的周末。

I think the two standout festivals were Bloodstock in the UK, which was just incredible. As far as I could see the entire crowd were 100% into the gig. We were playing really well by then. That was very satisfying. The second one would be brutal assault in the Czech Republic for a different reason. Where everything that possibly could go wrong went wrong. There was a massive thunderstorm, rain kept shutting the power down and we rely on triggers and inia monitors. And every time we would have to stop, reboot everything, get everything running again. We'd play another song and a half, the power would go out, everyone was running around in the mud. After this happened three or four times, I ended up... trying to launch myself over the barriers into the crowd, clipped my shins on the way and ended up in the pit. But it was an awesome weekend.

V: 你们乐队目前有新作品计划吗？能和大家分享些信息吗？

Does your band currently have any new work to do? Can you share some information with everyone?

L: 没错，就像我说的，我最近才重新投入音乐创作，所以我们可能会再推出一张专辑。大部分动态我都会发布在Facebook主页上。

Yeah, like I said, I've only recently just got back into music again so we may put out another album. Most things I just post on the Facebook page.

V: 我是你们乐队的忠实粉丝，听过你们所有作品。非常期待你们的新专辑发行。采访结束时你想对中国的乐迷说些什么吗？

I am a loyal fan of your band and have heard all of your works. I am looking forward to your release of a new album. Do you have anything to say to your Chinese fans at the end of the interview?

L: 是啊，这太棒了兄弟。就像我之前说的，我压根不知道我们还有中国乐迷，听到这个消息真是超酷。要是能看到他们参与Facebook主页互动打个招呼就太好了。Earache Records的大部分专辑和现场专辑应该都能在网上找到。Spotify、Apple Music等平台都有。我敢肯定连DVD现在都在Earache的YouTube频道上了。不过我们上张专辑"The Reawakening"，几年前我就从所有流媒体平台撤下了，因为他们对待艺术家的方式让我恶心。

Yeah, that's awesome man. Like I said earlier, I had no idea we even had any Chinese fans, so that's very cool to hear. It would be great to see some of them getting involved in the Facebook page and saying hello. Most of the Earache albums and live albums should be online. Spotify, Apple Music, etc. I'm pretty sure even the DVD is on the Earache YouTube channel now. But our last album, The Reawakening, I took off all streaming platforms a few years ago because I was disgusted in how they were treating artists.