IE: For someone who has never heard of World Eater can you tell us what this band is all about?

Alex: Hey Chris , well we started out in September of 2009 and till this day we have the same lineup which consists of Steven on drums, Dominik on bass, Michael and Steve on the guitars and myself Alex doing the vocals. I had the idea for World Eater in my head for a long time. I wanted a band that played "classic" fast hardcore with simple and short songs like the bands I grew up with (Agnostic Front, Straight Ahead among others). It took some time since I was quite busy with my previous bands. When we first started out World Eater we were planning to be just a side project and our goals were to maybe play some shows here and there and maybe record a demo at some point ... Well now here we are like 4 years later with 3 European tours, an Asian tour and 4 releases under our belt, still going strong.

IE: In September of last year you played your first tour of Southeast Asia stopping off in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.  How did this tour come about and did people over there know your material well?

Alex: In late 2012 we played a couple of shows with Overthrown from Singapore when they toured through Europe. These shows were record release shows for No Turning Back’s "No Regrets" record. Their singer Martijn who is a longtime friend of mine hooked me up with Jay who plays guitar for Overthrown and who also is booking bands in Southeast Asia so during that weekend we talked a lot and found out quickly that we share the same opinions on a lot of things and started to become friends and about a week later I got an email which asked if we wanted to come to Asia in 2013. Of course… we didn’t have to think twice about it. I think people hardly knew our stuff because our records haven't been available there. I think people supported the tour well and some of the shows were crazy as fuck. Haha

IE: What were some of the more memorable moments from this trip when you guys weren’t playing?

Alex: All in all the whole trip was just memorable and the shows were like a bonus. We were treated like family members and people showed us the real life over there. Not just the tourist places. Some things that come to mind were staying overnight in a temple in Seoul,  visiting the South/North Korean border, Singapore at night and visiting Manila and Kuala Lumpur with our new friends there.

IE: Did you run into any drug selling monkeys like in The Hangover movies?

Alex: Haha no! Not at all!

IE: When I see hardcore bands traveling to different continents I often think of the high prices or airfare and then coupled with food and places to stay can add up unless the locals of each scene help you out. Can you tell us about your experiences from this particular trip?

Alex: That tour was organized so well by our man Jay! We always had local people around us who were providing food, places to sleep, giving us rides to and from the airports, hostels or even to the next show. At no point of the tour did we ever feel lost. Southeast Asia is totally DIY and they really care about their guests... At least that’s what we experienced. About money ... if you think about going over with your band to make some cash forget about it! A lot of these countries are really poor. In the end we paid for the plane tickets and that is totally cool and it made for an amazing "vacation". 

IE: The cover artwork for your latest album “Worm Feast” has some serious subject matter on there… what kind of message are you trying to get across on songs like “Worm Feast” and the artwork?

Alex: After we decided that “Worm Feast” would be the title track of the record I immediately had the idea for the artwork. I'm a huge Cro-Mags fan and I wanted our own “Age Of Quarrel” cover…haha. As for the lyrics the song deals with subjects I don't like in our world like corruption, religious madness, media control and useless wars. So we gave some of the subjects a face.

IE: What other topics are you singing about in your lyrics?

Alex: I'm responsible for all the lyrics and they all deal with personal subjects about how I see things, experiences and things I don't like in our society or even in our scene... Like usual hardcore lyrics but I'm not the judge who tries to tell people what to do. If you can relate to my words...cool! If not ... fine as well.  We can talk about certain issues at our shows… haha.

IE: Who came up with the name World Eater and what is the idea behind the name?

Alex: The names origin comes from a song by the British death metal band Bolt Thrower. There is no deep meaning behind the name. I just knew at some point if I ever started a new band I wanted to name it that.  

IE: How is the hardcore scene these days in Germany? For as long as I can remember bands I have talked to have said that it is the best country to tour in Europe for various reasons.

Alex: The scene is still going strong. We have a bunch of really cool bands and promoters who care also about the small bands, giving them a chance to play. Of course not everything is gold when it comes down to some stupid gossip, jealousy or whatever. But mostly it’s cool these days.

IE: Why do you think the German hardcore scene has held up this strong reputation so long? What is it that keeps motivating younger kids in your opinion?

Alex: Well as far as young kids goes I think it’s still the same like back in the days when I got into it. It’s a fast aggressive music and a certain style that attracts them. I think the message behind it all you can just witness if you are a part of it for a while and look behind the music. I know many kids will move on after a while but if 2 out of 10 stay it’s a cool thing I guess. The thing I would say is different now is that it is so easy for kids to get hardcore know it all’s because of the internet. Sometimes I miss the old tape trading thing. It was always an exciting thing to get a new tape with bands you never have heard of before. But beside all of that we have lots of old farts that have been active for ages and still giving fresh air to the scene and keeping it up.

IE: What are some of the bands coming out of there to look out for that we may not have heard of yet?

Alex: I could do an endless list but to name a few European bands (not just German) I would recommend Risk It, Redemption Denied, For The Glory, Ablaze, Challenge, Still Ill, Look My Way, Dogchains, Light It Up, Strength Approach, and tons of others! Not to forget the kings of Europe No Turning Back for keeping it real since 1997.

IE: How old were you when you first found out about hardcore music and who was it that turned you on to it?

Alex: I think I was around 14 years old and a total metalhead at the time. Once I got a new tape made by a friend with Slayer on one side and on the other side he taped me the Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front. I was blown away by the power and energy I heard and felt. From that point I tried to get to know as many bands as possible but I have to admit that I did not care about the message behind it all at the time ... the only difference for me was the metal bands had long hair and these hardcore bands short hair. Haha.

IE: Do you remember what the first hardcore or punk record you bought was?

Alex: Maybe it will cost me scene points but I witnessed punk after I got into hardcore. I think my first store bought records were Slapshot’s "Step On It" and Judge's "No Apologies" LP. A bootleg LP with the famous “Chung King Sessions” on it.

IE: What about your first hardcore show? Where was it and who played?

Alex: My first real hardcore show was in 1992 I think with Sheer Terror. I've had been to some local punk and hardcore shows before that but that was the first international one and the first one that I saw a real crazy crowd going off. I was scared but at the same time I loved it.

IE: What is one band that you never saw play live that you are dying to see?

Alex: Oh that's a hard one... I would love to see Maximum Penalty once and some bands I would love to see again would be Breakdown, Underdog and countless more... Man I love that shit… I never saw Outburst as well so I would love to see them. 

IE: What does everyone in the band do for work?

Alex: Dominik and Steven have office jobs, Michael works with handicapped children, Steve whatever he can earn some bucks at and I work in the car industry building automatic transmissions.

IE: Are you working on new material yet? When could we expect new music from World Eater?

Alex: We're ALWAYS working on new stuff! At the moment we're working on a new EP for 2014. Some songs are already finished and a lot of ideas have to be put together. Expect some typical World Eater songs and maybe some surprises.

IE: That’s about it, is there anything else that you would like to add?

Alex: Thanks to the worldwide hardcore family for all the support we've gotten through the last 4 years. It’s amazing and is not taken for granted! Thanks to Stronger Bookings, Save My Soul Records, Beat Down Hardware Records, Farewell Records and to you Chris for your patience and giving us the chance for this interview! Hopefully we can come over to the US one day and cause some trouble. 

PHOTO BY: BAS SPIERINGS