Sanity was founded almost 30 years ago, initially as a grunge rock band with only one guitar, a bass and drums. But then the band’s musical focus shifted to death and then to black metal. By 1996 we had released our first three track demo and by 1998 our first full length album “Sinister Reflections”. 1999 came “Nocturnal Poems” our second album, where we journeyed into the realm of symphonic black metal. With faster paced drums, intricate guitar riffings, much more advanced orchestra arrangements, we released “Schattensymphonie” in 2001. What a great album, the sound still holds up today and the songs speak of an almost forgotten rawness and hardness that we had back in the days. The band went on hiatus in 2002, all the while we continued to compose songs for the next album. Around 2014 we called the band back together to start practicing the new songs. And this time we aimed at creating a master piece. We wanted it all, clean vocals, shouting, well arranged rhythm guitar riffings, lead guitars, fast drums, realistically sounding orchestra and choir. And we took our time. The EP “Revelation” was released in March 2023, followed by it’s sequel “The Beast” in March 2024. T he Revelation cycle will be completed with the release of “Armageddon” in 2025.
* Introduce us to the band! What are your names and what do you do in the band? Where do you call home?
We are Sanity from Berlin, Germany. Right now we are Philipp the drummer, Florian the singer, Silas the bass player and myself, Julius, the guitar player.
*How long have you been together as a band and how did you find each other?
Philipp and Florian have been in the band since its formation in 1994 which is crazy to me, I wasn’t even born yet back then. I joined the band sometime around 2020 and Silas joined some months prior to me. We all know each other from our local church, that’s a connection we all share. * Do you have a special songwriting recipe you follow?
When writing songs I usually start with the music. Most of the times I’ll have a riff, or an intro that I enjoy and I will write the rest of the song around it. As for lyrics, we usually write them onto the musical piece, after the piece is composed.
*How would members of your family describe your music to someone that hasn’t heard it?
I think they would describe it as loud, aggressive or infernal. I wouldn’t take their opinion as educated though.
*What do you have on your(Spotify) playlists you would be embarrassed for others to see?
I am actually not embarrassed of anything on my phone. But there surely is some stuff you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a heavy metal musician: There some Jazz, some Synthwave-type music, obviously some Queen and strangest of all some “Weird Al” Yankovic.
* Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Before every show we pray together. We’re all Christians, we’ll lay every show into God’s hands.
*Who have you met that has left you starstruck?
I had the honor of meeting Neal Morse last year after Morsefest Europe. I loved the guy and his music before and he is just as kind in person.
*What do you consider your greatest achievement as far as a band?
I think it’s releasing our EP Revelation last year. Getting that finished has been a pain in the neck a lot of times and we postponed the release not just once. So it felt great to get that finished and out into the world last year and I consider it an achievement because the EP as well as the other yet to be released songs of the whole “Revelation-Cycle” are produced in high quality and with a lot of sweat.
*What key elements do you believe makes up a successful song?
If only there was such a formula.. I think a successful song has to be well written. And for some genres that means going above and beyond with strange artistic choices and for others it means keeping it simple. Production is a key element as well. That’s very general though; with successful songs you can find exceptions to almost every rule.
*When writing, how do you know when it is finally done?
That’s highly subjective. Mostly when it feels finished and the band is happy with the result.
*What song of yours are you most proud of?
That might differ from band member to band member but I am most proud of ‘Throne’ from last years ‘Revelation’. I think that song is an amazing piece of music, you can take a listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x4RdpaD9Ho
*Is it possible to be on the road and not eat junk food? How do you keep it leveled out?
Since we haven’t hit the road for extended periods I can only hypothesize. I guess if you find the time you can complement your diet of junk food with your own cooking. There’s plenty of simple recipes that taste great and make good meals for bigger groups of people. My favorite is pasta.
*Are you able to write while on the road or do you need a calm familiar space like home?
I feel most comfortable in the solitude of my home. When I feel watched, I am not as free to just start writing ideas.
*What’s the most embarrassing thing to happen on stage or on tour?
Oh man I can think of so many things. A band member leaving the band while on tour is pretty sad. But I think most embarrassing is catching something weird on video, like the front man saying some stupid stuff in concert and have that video circulate the internet. That is an absolute nightmare.
*What can BleachBANGS do to help you in any way?
Wow, that is a wonderful question and offer! How kind. It would be great, if you would take the time to listen to our EP Revelation and publish a review about it on your site. Would you actually do that?
*How can everyone keep up with everything you have going on? Where can they get albums/merch?
You can find us online at
Web: https://www.sanity.berlin
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sanity.berlin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanity.berlin
Bandcamp: https://sanityberlin.bandcamp.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanity.berlin
X: https://twitter.com/SanityBerlin
Streaming Site Links:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/0bhXlkSU7XN56kBuUuvXXa?si=ki9IcUitQNyodBXyrq_B5Q
Amazon Music: https://amazon.de/music/player/artists/B0CHHW97WL/sanity?marketplaceId=A1PA6795UKMFR9&musicTerritory=DE&ref=dm_sh_PidIrR7CbqZCj4mwIPm5zpymv
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sanity/1546091708
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCsYZJ2WYArtoGXgBOc-jVNw?si=OmjURhgpG_wSbCHN
