We caught up with Matze and Tobi from The Sorrow before their show at Bristol Bierkeller on the 6th April for a chat on the history of the band, how their tour with Chimaira has been going and if they would rather be a Zebra or a Giraffe.

Tell me about the history of the band
(Tobi) We formed about three years ago, and shortly afterwards we started recording our demo tracks. After a year, this demo went out to the record labels and this is what secured us our record deal. In terms of us guys, we all were in different bands before The Sorrow, but we all knew each other. We all came together and this is where we're at today. It's as simple as that.

Why did you pick the name 'The Sorrow'?
(Tobi) There's no real deeper meaning to it. It's just a name that we think sticks in people's minds. When we came to choosing a name, we were actually quite surprised that someone else hadn't already called themselves it. But also, it does sum up the mood of majority of the songs, which deal with media apocalypses.

Who are your musical influences?
(Tobi) Everyone in the band has such different influences, but they all fall under the same sort of stuff I guess. Bands like Priest, Iron Maiden, Skid Row, Pantera, that sort of metal.
(Matze) And then the newer stuff, like Killswitch Engage and some of Unearth. There is quite a diverse range of bands that we draw upon to be honest.

You sound rather like Killswitch Engage and the media agrees. Do you welcome the comparison?
(Tobi) We have to, I guess. They are the best band in this genre, so therefore being compared to the spearheader cannot be all bad. But its something that we're also very conscious of, and when we record the next album, we'll try to diversify our sound more and move away from it as best we can.

What is the metal scene in Austria like?
(Tobi and Matze) It's really really small. We're from the west border near Switzerland, like 800 miles away from Vienna. We have to say that there isn't an overall scene there at all, but rather lots of small communities that each like their own certain things. We find that we get a lot more exposure in South Germany, where they love their metal much more. But Austrian metal is coming, theres us and other bands like In Slumber and Before The Fall who are really starting to get some exposure.

What are the crowds in the UK like compared to Austrian ones?
(Tobi) We find that there is a lot more support in the UK for bands than most places in the world. Every US band that we've known say that they love it over here simply because of the lack of a language barrier and that is something that we have to work against. But quite simply, there aren't as many shows in Austria as there are over here. Thats because the UK is a lot more passionate about its music and you can see that in the reactions of the crowds. It's simply on a much smaller scale in Austria.

How has this tour gone so far? Are you fans of Chimaira yourselves?
(Tobi) Its been really good so far, apart from a few technical problems with our tour bus. It broke down in the Swiss Alps and that made us miss a show, and we also missed a show in Madrid because of it. But other than that, its gone really really well. The crowds have all been awesome, and us ourselves have become really good friends with the guys from Maroon.
(Both look shifty and talk in German) We'll say this quietly, but no we don't really like Chimaira! They're really nice people and all, but their style is a bit too monotone for our liking. They are really good musicians though, and know what they're doing with their instruments. It's just not for us!

How has the album 'Blessings From A Blackened Sky' been received?
(Tobi) 90% of the reviews have been really really good, and the other 10% have been really quite bad!
(Matze) The bad ones basically call us a Killswitch Engage ripoff.
(Tobi) But yeah, its won quite a few awards in the German Metal Hammer, being Album of the Month. It also won Demo of the Month 6 months previous and thats quite a rare feat for any album, the only other band to have done it to our knowledge are Machine Head with 'Burn My Eyes'. So its something that we're pretty proud of. We also won a reader's poll to be Newcomer of the Year in the same magazine so its a good time for us right now.

Do you have any favourite tracks from the album?
(Tobi) It depends on my mood and how long its been since I've listened to the album. I mean, for me its been well over a month since I last had a listen. If I had to pick, I'd probably say 'Numbers of Failure', I like playing that song as well.
(Matze) Knights of Doom, even though its the song that we're most known for.

Why is track 5 of the album nameless?
(Tobi) Because its not a real track. Its just really a prelude to 'Numbers of Failure'. We did spend a while trying to think of something to call it, but in the end we decided that it would be better for it to just be nameless because nothing suitable came to mind.

How did the idea for the album artwork come about?
(Tobi) Well, like we said earlier, the theme of the album is media apocalypses. This basically means when you turn on the news, or read a newspaper, and every report is about how bad the world is and how they make a massive deal out of this. Therefore, we decided to think of a concept which showed all the destruction of the world but also that had a cleansing storm. This was to represent that despite all the bad stuff that light could shine through and one day, there could be a cleansing storm that removes all the suffering from the world.

You shot a video for 'Knights of Doom'. Will this be the only video from the album?
(Both) We'd love to do another video, but we've been on 4 tours in just over 6 months and now we have a severe lack of money. As well as this, we don't really have the time. But its something that we're looking into, and forward to if we can. The 'Knights of Doom' video was all a bit of a rush anyway, we basically thought up the concept a week prior to filming at Wacken Festival. Then to promote it, we put on a free show at a nightclub and 500 people turned up, selling it out. So yeah, we enjoyed doing it.

Have you been to Bristol before?
(Matze) Yeah, I came here about 7 or 8 years ago. I came for like a couple of days with all my family when we were on a holiday over here in England.
(Tobi) I haven't, but I lived in both London and Brighton, and also have visited Oxford before. I get quite a homely feeling whenever I'm over in the UK and its probably because of this time I spent over here.

Do you guys have any festival plans for the summer?
(Tobi) Well, not in England. Our booking guys are currently talking to Bloodstock but nothing is definite and I doubt anything will come of it. But you never know, we'll have to wait and see. On the continent, we have quite a few coming up, for example Metal Camp in Slovenia and Nova Rock back in Austria plus others in places like Finland and Germany. So yeah, we'll have quite a busy summer.

Where do you see the band in 5 years time?
(Tobi) Thats a tricky one, but hopefully we'll be on the next stage. Its hard to tell because we might have problems or personal breakdowns but I'd like to think that we'd still be on stage being happy, and doing the thing that we all love.

Random question that we ask all bands: Would you prefer to be a zebra or giraffe?
(Tobi: after laughing) Probably a giraffe, purely for the reason that I'm quite short and therefore it'd be interesting to see what its like to be tall.
(Matze) Giraffe as well, purely for the tongue. Just imagine how much happier my girlfriend would be!

Finally, do you have any message for your fans reading this?
(Both) We have fans?!!!
(Tobi) I guess we'd say thanks for supporting us, please buy the album if you don't have it and say hello to us if we return to the UK!

Interview by Anthony