If you are a metalhead and hate the fucking millennium we are right in and prefer living in less troubled times, like say, the cold war era, I strongly suggest you search Italian band Bunker 66. Their first EP Out of the Bunker is destined to bring about a tear of joy. It may occasionally even bring about a laugh or two. But their music is no joke. Though the Messina bambinos seem to have a light attitude about it, the riffs and the lyrics that make up the whole of this awesome EP are no laughing matter. We contacted the band and drummer Desekrator of the Altar responded. Read on and spread the word…

DS -I am always surprised by the wealth of underground bands from Italy. Now, you guys don’t hail from one of the biggest cities, right? Messina has about a quarter of a million people. Is there a scene there?

Hell yes, Italy’s metal and punk underground is alive and well! Yes, you’re right, Messina is a ‘medium size’ city, the third biggest city of Sicily. We have a very small scene here, basically about 40 people, but just 10 are really obsessed metal fans and support it properly, so I don’t even know if we can call it a ‘scene’. Italian underground bands, especially from Sicily and Calabria, came often here when a place called Cinque Quarti was active, this club closed three years ago and after that there were no more metal nights. If I want to see a cool gig I have to travel at least about 500 km… There was also a time between 2003 and 2007 when well-known bands came here. I saw Mayhem, Napalm Death, Agnostic Front and many more bands here in Sicily, for us it was like a dream!

DS -Which band from your area is your favorite?

My favorite band from Messina is Convulsed, they only did one demo in 1988 and then split up, but that demo is a real killer, it’s called Blind Enough to Obey and it’s quite similar to Schizo’s early material. Active bands are death metallers Exhuman and the obscure doomsters Fangtooth, a great band! There’s also a power metal band called Warcryer and a black metal band in which I play called Grim Monolith. Me and Damien Thorne play also in a hardcore punk band called AlterAzione, that’s pretty much it!

DS -What was your earliest metal memory and why do you think it got to you?

My earliest metal memory was a VHS of a friend of mine with lots of metal and hardcore videos taken from Headbangers Ball, I didn't even know what metal was and I was totally shocked when I saw Sepultura's Troops Of Doom live in Barcelona in 1991. After that I copied lots of stuff on MC from the collection of the greater brother of a friend of mine who was already into metal. The first metal concert I attended was a local Iron Maiden cover band. Shortly after that I started to buy CDs and vinyls and still now I discover great bands almost every week! Well, I don't know exactly why metal possessed my soul, I guess it was very important for me as a young kid to release my anger without killing people ahahah! Metal came naturally in thanks to my friends that started with it too and so we became fans, learned to play, went to gigs and formed various bands.

DS -So how did the band come together? How and where do you meet each other?

Bunker 66 was formed in 2007 but we were already friends and played in different bands. I was already playing in Grim Monolith and Traumagain, Bone Incinerator left Exhuman some months before and Damien was already in a Kiss cover band called Deuce and also with me in Traumagain and AlterAzione. We were sharing the same passion for old school metal and one day we decided to jam. We did some cool riffs and decided to record them, that’s how Bunker 66 and Out Of The Bunker were born, pure fun. It is easy to find metalheads here because we all know each other.

-The name Bunker 66. The first time I read it I thought I misread it because I thought it was actually Bunker 666. Please give us a background in the name and its significance?

Eheh, it’s funny because it has no particular meaning, we initially thought Bunker 666 but then Bone or me said: “hey Bunker 66 sounds better!”. Don’t know why we came up with the word ‘bunker’, it simply jumped in our twisted minds. After that, we analyzed our moniker and noticed that it has a nerdy hidden satanic content, but we will never reveal it!

-Let’s talk about Out of The Bunker. To me it is one of the best old school metal recordings I have heard in a long time. Most bands sound like mere copyists, but Bunker 66 truly sound like just came out of a time machine. Please take us through a typical writing sessions. What goes into nailing that old school vibe?

Thank you very much, we are super happy to read such words! Well, Bunker 66 is a very spontaneous band, Bone is always in a 80’s mood so almost every riff he does sounds good for us. Our music reflects what we listen and what we like in metal so it’s not a problem for us to create the 80’ feel. Sometimes when I’m joking I say to him “hey what’s up with Sarcofago?! Do some shit like that!”, but that’s all. Some riffs get discarded because we simply feel that they have no personality. Sometimes it happens that Bone comes up with AC/DC or early Mötley Crüe riffs which are cool but simply don’t fit in our songs.

-As far as songwriting, how do the songs come up?

The songs come up with some riffs that Bone does at home or in our rehearsal room. Sometimes we jam but usually Bone has already some ideas. First we do the music and then Damien does some lyrics with me, they aren’t definitive until we record them. The riffs create the atmosphere for the lyrics: a Motörhead-like riff, for example, is perfect for alcohol lyrics and so on…

DS -There are parts in Out of the Bunker, like when you scream, 'here Comes Bone Incinerator' or the high wail on "Metal Redentor", that are quite comical. What part does humor play in Bunker 66? I ask this because many metal bands take themselves too seriously, but I get the feeling that you embrace humor...

Yes that's me eheh! Humor is very important for Bunker 66, our goal is to have fun also with some evil metal, I guess it's an approach that also Venom and many old metal bands had.

-Listening to the record now that it’s been out for a little while, how happy are you with it?

We are very happy with it, it’s normal that actually we would have changed some riffs but a record is like a photo, it reflects a specific period. Out Of The Bunker is 100% Bunker 66 and our new songs will have more or less the same vibe.

DS -Listening to the record, many bands come to mind, but who do you consider to be the greatest influencer in Bunker 66?

Hmmm, I guess Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, but also Venom and Motörhead are among our most strong influences. I think that these bands, together with other great and different classics from the past embodied all that was good about metal in the early days, from Judas Priest to Sodom, from Manowar to Slayer, etc…

DS - If I am not mistaken, the CD comes with a cover with a pic of the band while the vinyl comes with an actual drawing. It’s pretty neat. Who did it?

The CD which has the cover with our pic is the first self produced press on cd-r. After that Reinig Records has re-mastered and re-released it as a digipack with a new cover artwork, same for the vinyl. The drawing is from Sean Digestor from Impaled, he did a killer job! Reinig Records came up with the idea of the cover artwork, it depicts the 3 zombified Bunker 66 members who run out of the bunker with heavy weapons, followed by cursed zombie troops. Sean did not have free reign as Reinig Records already gave him the basic idea. We had no communication with Sean, Reinig Records cured everything about it.

DS -As far as new recordings, when and what can we expect from Bunker 66?

Actually we have a lot of new songs, some of them are for a split 7” with Noia which will be unleashed under the banner of Reinig Records, the other songs will end up on our first full-length album. We hope that the 7” will be ready this Summer and the full length at the end of 2011. We will lurk on the same old school metal territories, sound-wise even more if compared to our first EP. Expect total ancient metal worship!

DS - Finally, what are you listening to right now?

I’m listening to Voivod’s Dimension Hatröss.

DS -Last words?

Thank you very much for the interview and thanks to all the people who support us! Stay tuned on http://www.myspace.com/bunker66 for updates!

Read our review of Out of the Bunker here…