About to Die [Trower / Reid] 

Never Void [Germany]

[L–R] Sebastian Katzberg, guest voice; Stefan Braunschmidt, bass
Christian Braunschmidt, guitars; Christian Nicolai, drums

CB: Never Void was founded in the early days of February 2004. They started as a trio, just Christian Nicolai on drums, Stefan Braunschmidt on bass and Christian Braunschmidt on lead guitar. Stefan and Christian are brothers and had a couple of bands together before. Never Void was founded by Christian and Stefan with the idea to play 80s metal music like Mr Big or Lynch Mob. But after a few rehearsals there was no doubt about it, it would be totally different from that music. Influenced by bands like In Flames or Machine Head but also classic progressive bands like Dream Theater or Queensryche, Never Void became more and more a Melodic Death Metal Band. In these early days, Sebastian Katzberg from Lamprey joined the band as a guest singer. His roots are in classic melodic metal like Edguy or Helloween. He did the vocals on About to Die because the band had no singer at this point.
 

The relationship to Procol Harum is not that distant. Christian and Stefan's father Hermann (well-known in the fan scene:-)) is a huge fan. Hermann and Roland Clare gave us the idea to be part of the Palers' Project compilation, so Christian and Stefan asked their father which song would be good to play in a metal band. So he came up with the idea to play About to Die. First time Christian and Stefan heard it, they liked the main riff and the lyrics so it was perfect for them to re-arrange it in their own style. After a couple of hours they wrote a complete new arrangement for the song and started rehearsing it with Christian on drums.

At the end of 2004 Philipp A Küssel joined the band as a member and the lead singer until today. He had heard the About to Die version of Never Void on the radio when it was played in an interview with the band. So he heard that they were searching for a singer and contacted the boys. After just one rehearsal he became a member of the band. In autumn 2005 guitar player David Durzynski also joined the band. He was the guitarist in the former band of Stefan and Christian, Project Mayhem. Today Never Void plays a fast mix of Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal and some Classic Hard / Gothic Rock elements.

Check out our website and please sign our guestbook. Never Void bookings through United Noise

Christian Braunschmidt:
RBC Guitars (please check them out) Start type with Humbucker at the Bridge position; Epiphone Les Paul (Zakk Wylde model); Peavey 5150 Amp; Marshall JCM 800 Amp; Boss OD-3 Overdrive; Dunlop Cry Baby; Behringer V-amp; Marshall JCM 800 Cabs and custom build 4 x 10" Cab; 4 Shure SM57 and Sennheiser 606 Mics; Ernie Ball Strings (10-52)

Stefan Braunschmidt:
Yamaha Attitude Ltd. I Lake Placid Blue 4-String; Tuned Acoustic 270 Head; Acoustic 2 x 15" Cab EVM 15L and 15B loaded. Recorded with Audio Technica and Hughes & Kettner Red Box ; Rotosound Strings (45-105)

Christian Nicolai:
Pearl Ex Drums Pearl Export Series Ex (pure white); 22" x 16" Bass Drum; 22" x 16" Bass Drum; Bass Skins, Remo Powerstroke 3 Bass; 8" x 8" Tom Tom; 10" x 10" Tom Tom; 12" x 10" Tom Tom; 13" x 11" Tom Tom; 14" x 14" Floor Tom; 16" x 16" Floor Tom; Tom Skins, Remo Powerstroke 3 (kl); Signature Ian Paice 14" x 6.5" Steel Snare; Ludwig-Snare Pearl Piccolo Bras; 13" x 3" Messing-Snare; Snare Skins, Remo Coated Ambassador (wr); Zildjian ZBT Cymbals plus 14" Hi-Hat; 16" Crash; 20" Ride; Paiste 404 14" Crash; 16" Crash; Pearl Wild 300 16" Effect Ride with 32 Alu-Nieten; Paiste Alpha 10" Splash; 18" China; Special Magnum 5.5" Cowbell; 6.5" Cowbell

Sebastian Katzberg: Neumann Mics and Tube DI Box

UPI Studios: recorded on Logic 6.0. We used tons of different mics: don't remember the final setup!

Tracklisting