New Blood: Reapers Path

Heavy ass hardcore from Kiel / Schleswig area of Germany. I have posted their demo for download some time ago so check it out here if you haven't already. Fans of Shattered Realm, Merauder and Cold World should be on the lookout!

Heavy ass hardcore from Kiel / Schleswig area of Germany. I have posted their demo for download some time ago so check it out here if you haven't already. Fans of Shattered Realm, Merauder and Cold World should be on the lookout!
For those that don’t know you, please introduce yourself and tell us where you’re from?
I'm Niels, Vocalist of Reapers Path. We're a 5-piece Hardcoreband based in Kiel, a city in the north of germany. Lasse is doing the drums, Timm plays bassguitar and Olli and Erki do the 6-strings.
How do you define your overall style?
I think it's not that easy to define the stuff we're doing. For me it's like metallic HC with a Stoner-Rock edge haha. But if you're going to listen to the Lifesick EP you'll notice that our style differs from the demo tracks.
Some weeks ago we hit the studio and recorded 4 new tracks. And in my opinion our style processed again. We had much time for the songwriting and we did it all together, so there are many different influences.

You’ve got a debut demo out which sounds pretty strong in my opinion. Could you tell us something about it?
Funny thing with the first demo. Timm (our bassplayer) and me wrote all the songs by ourselfs. RP wasn't meant to be a "real band". We just wanted to record some stuff we like, because we we're so sick of not having a band at that time. So Timm did bass and some vocals and I recorded guitars and vocals. The drums are (as you can hear) from a computer haha. But shortly after we finished the 4 tracks we became so much positive feedback and started RP.



With the name of the band like Reapers Path, do you try to put a positive message across in your music or do you prefer to rant about the dark side of life?
As we started RP it was clear for me that I only wanted to do very personal lyrics.
The stuff I'm singing about is definitly not positive at all haha.
I'm singing about negative moments and feelings I had in my life.
I also love if people come to me and say "I found myself in that song!".
It's pretty cool but at least all the songs just deal with my own experiences.
And for me it's hard to be positive in a world this dark.
So I'm just hating and hating again haha.

Before you write a song, where do you find inspiration? What's the first thing that comes to your mind?
Mostly someone just throws in a cool riff and we work on the idea. We all listen to very different styles of music so it hasn't to be a HC-style riff. We all know that we want to do hard stuff so in the end the outcome is always cool for everyone of us.
For the lyrics its not that simple. There are times where I have a big lack of inspiration.
But someday a small moment of the past hits my head and then I start writing and writing. Sometimes I do 2 -3 songs in an hour but only one text is good enough for the band haha.

Bitter End is hell of a song! What’s the story behind the lyrics for that one?
I think it's the "easiest" song to talk about on the demo. Bitter End deals with some People I met over time. We all know that kind of people. In front of you they're Talking like "hey! what up mate!" and if you turn around they'll stab you in the back.
Bitter End is my personal shoutout to 3-4 people and tells them what i think about their behaviour and intentions. You know who you are. FUCK YOU!

The hardcore is all about live shows so what’s your recipe for a good show? What is the craziest thing that ever happened at one of your shows?
We all like people punching each other haha! I love it when there are people going crazy, singing along, doing stagedives and headwalks, 2step, side-to-side. In my opinion its the graetest reward for a band if the whole venue goes nuts. And thats also one of the craziest, well I'd say coolest thing that happend to us. We played a show in a small village, Marsberg, in a classroom. We thought that no one had heard of us before. So we had absolutly no expectations.
At the first not i turned to the crowd and everyone was going crazy and moshed. So many people there knew the lyrics and sang along. It was one of the best shows we ever played, next to the deathmetal show in Elmshorn with long-haired headbangers in the first row while we player "Life or Death"!



What's your pick for best hardcore release of previous year and what albums you anticipate in 2013 the most?
For me the Coldburn LP "The Harsh Fangs Of Life", Expire's "Pendulum Swings", Warhound's "Colder Than Ever", Backtrack's "Darker Half" and maybe "No Regrets" of No Turning Back are definitly the best releases. I think that 2012 was not THE year of cool new bands or releases. Most of the bands sounded the same and i forgot most of them. But it's cool to see that there are always new bands coming.

What are some other future plans for the band? When can we expect a full length album?
For now it's releasing our new 7inch. Maybe we'll do a small tour late 2013 and hopefully we're able to play more shows this year. Most of us have jobs with dumb working hours so we'll see.
Full length? Don't know. Maybe in some years haha!

Shout outs and/or last comments
Keep hardcore alive, do zines, bands, shows, distros, whatever! This scene is what you make out of it. Stop to boycott your own "people" by making stupid "rules" and "codes".
Check out Wolf Down, Coldburn, AYS, World Eater, Gone To Waste, Tides Denied (so young and so passionated), Beneath The Wheel and Ghostwriter.