Special:	Maurice Swinkels
Title:	Tape maniac

As an energetic foreman of the Dutch death lead forge Legion Of The Damned, he keeps the vocal embers blazing at maximum with his hammer throat. Since 1991 Maurice has been raging as a vocal cord berserk - and with more than three decades of practice, skill and experience, the man is definitely to be appreciated as a veteran of the guild.

What was your very first self-bought album on LP, CD or cassette?

I was always a fanatical cassette collector, couldn't get too excited about vinyl and CDs. I can't really remember the first cassette ... one of my very first CDs was "Worship Him" by Samael and "Consuming Impulse" by Pestilence, CDs were relatively new back then. It felt kind of strange for me to have Samael's "Worship Him" on CD, later on "Left Hand Path" by Entombed was added. On vinyl, "Bathory" by Bathory and "Consuming Impulse" by Pestilence. My very first shirt that I bought was "Behind The Mirror" by Kreator. I also bought "Hell Awaits" with Raider (now Twix) coupons and you got a discount at the free record store where I bought that Slayer album. All the other stuff I had, like Possessed, Slayer, Venom, Kreator, Helloween, Iron Maiden, etc., I got either from my older cousin - who got me into Metal - or from people I knew in my neighborhood who were older and therefore worked, had money and could buy records. At that time I was also into stuff like Cryptic Slaughter, Crumbsuckers, Excel, etc. ...

What is the very special album that has influenced you the most as a musician?

I never thought of myself as a musician, so I can't really say. But if you ask me about my favorite singers and the records that go with them, it's Mayhem with Dead on vocals, for example, and all of Sanctuary and Nevermore's records - I love Warrel's voice. His solo project is finger licking good too. Speaking of Kreator with "Pleasure To Kill": Mille's voice is great there. But also Sodom's "Persecution Mania" or Possessed's "Seven Churches". Slayer, of course, too ...

Which is the most important album for you in every respect and therefore also the most personally valuable?

I never collected albums, so I don't have any valuable albums. But albums that are dear to me are for example Slayer's "Reign In Blood", Mayhem's "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", Immortal's "Pure Holocaust", the disc brings back memories of our tour with them in 1994, but also most of Marduk's albums and Metallica's early works - basically the albums I grew up with.

Which album did you dislike at first and then became a classic upon further listening, and how did your attitude towards it change?

Phew, tough question, I remember being used to Dead's vocals on Mayhem, so when "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" came out with Attila's vocals, I felt like I was thrown against the wall in a negative, allegorical way. But, man, the album and the vocals have grown on me incredibly, it's a classic! But there are some bands that I lost track of or interest in that later regained my attention, like Rotting Christ - I liked their early albums in the early 90s, then I lost track and interest, but their last albums are really great!

What album have you always wanted to have in your collection without making it so far and why?

As I said, I've never been a collector, so I can't really answer that. Friends of mine who show me their collection and have five different "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" albums from Mayhem don't do me much good in that regard. As for CDs, I sold my entire collection years ago. But there were a few CD releases that I kept, and those were mainly the ones from the Italian-Slovenian experimental Rock band Devil Doll.

© Markus Eck, 10.05.2023

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