EMQ’s With Panzerkrieg 666
EMQ’s With Panzerkrieg 666
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with German Black/ Death Metal band, Panzerkrieg 666. Huge thanks to thei Guitarist/ Bassist, HvS, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is HvS, I play guitar and bass in the band Panzerkrieg 666 as well as handle all the songwriting duties. We are a Black Metal band with Death Metal influences from the Northrhine-Westphalia region in Germany. We started out in late 2021 and released an EP annually since 2022.
How did you come up with your band name?
The name pretty much means “tank war 666” in English, which is kind of blunt and direct at the same time. A lot of people like the name and a lot of people don’t like the name. Its not too bad when people are really 50 / 50 about it instead of having no opinion or couldn’t care less. We personally think the name is great and by reading the name you instantly get the idea what the music could be like…fast paced, brutal in your face Black / Death Metal.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We are from Köln and Mönchengladbach region in West Germany. Germany has quite a strong Metal scene, so we have the possibility to see a lot of shows that are passing through our city or the Ruhr area where also a lot of concerts are happening, so that’s pretty cool. Also Germany has all the big metal festivals (which I personally don’t care about, but anyways).
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
We just released our 4th EP titled “Day of Genocide” on April 20th 2025, so feel free to check it out on Spotify or any other streaming platform!
Who have been your greatest influences?
Difficult question really. We all have a wide-ranging taste in music and while we are playing Extreme Black / Death Metal, that’s not the music at all that I listen to (anymore) on a daily basis. We are getting compared to Marduk and Dark Funeral a lot, yet I would still dare to say that we don’t really have a lot of influences as the music we listen to is vastly different to the music we play. Though you obviously cannot deny that listening to and playing Extreme Metal for decades have left its marks in our music nowadays.
What first got you into music?
Probably a TV show called “Metalla” on the German music channel, Viva, back in the 90s. First time I came in contact with Metal bands like Carcass, Gorefest, Morbid Angel, Vader, etc. Good times!
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Don´t really have the desire to collaborate with any band or musician. We are just doing our own thing without looking left and right.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
No specific thing in mind. Personally I would love to play abroad in the USA or Asia though. A proper tour would be great too!
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Probably a 3D printed tank and a lamp with an illuminated Panzerkrieg 666 logo, very cool!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Make yourself as independent from others as possible. That goes for everything in life.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
As the list of dead rock stars is pretty boring so far, I would probably go for Kurt Cobain or Eddie van Halen.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Its great being able to express yourself through creating music and everything has to do with it. Unfortunately the Metal scene is attracting a lot of low IQ idiots, so that’s a downside to it.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Not easy to answer. I am 50/50 on the whole streaming topic. On the one hand its great, because anyone can listen to your band at any time anywhere in the world easily, on the other hand its really difficult to get noticed, as for example on Spotify alone, about 100,000 songs are released EVERY DAY, so it’s not easy to stand out. Nobody (including me) has the time and energy to keep up with all the good new releases, so you are probably missing out on a lot of good stuff, including Panzerkrieg 666!
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Difficult to choose just one. Carcass – “Heartwork” was probably the album I listened to most in my younger years. I was blown away by the guitar work and production when I heard it the first time as a teenager.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs or Downloads?
For me personally it is Downloads (or rather streaming). Its just very practical to have the (almost) whole music catalogue of the entire world in your pocket or car at any time. Although I don’t listen to CDs anymore, I still enjoy to have a nice digipack CD with a booklet to check out. That’s the reason we are still doing the CDs, although from a financial standpoint, it doesn’t make a lot of sense anymore. We also release our EPs on cassette. I am not a collector myself, but maybe we will also do vinyl in the future, although that’s quite expensive for an underground band.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Probably Misanthropic War Fest in Helvete / Oberhausen this January. Great bands, great crowd. The last shows have been awesome in general, so we are looking forward for more to come.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Not sure about that, maybe selling cocaine in the streets.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, Rollo Tomassi, Eric Harris, Time-Traveling Traci Lords from the 80s
What’s next for the band?
We are in the middle of promoting our 4th EP “Day of Genocide” that was released in April. We will surely play some shows this year, design new merch and write some more songs for an upcoming release in 2026 / 2027.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
You can find everything here:
Bandcamp: https://panzerkrieg666.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/panzerkrieg666
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/panzerkrieg666/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3DRoaL6PukxRQGQyZ9K9yA
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1EtqgspQneyzxDfKvMtjyt
Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B09SZG4M8C/panzerkrieg-666
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gr/artist/panzerkrieg-666/1611018759
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/161332552
The most easy way though is to go to our website www.panzerkrieg666.de , there you can find all the links!
There’s a long-standing food-based debate here in the UK. And we’d like your help. So… A Jaffa cake – is it a cake or a biscuit? Discuss!
Hahaha. Good one. As Germans, we probably have our own definition of a cake. That’s a biscuit for sure, 100%!
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thanks for the feature, we appreciate it a lot! If you like extreme Black / Death Metal, feel free to check us out!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
