WEHRMACHT

MARCO 'SHARKO' ZORICH

Wehrmacht was a crossover/thrash metal band or beercore as they called it. Wehrmacht became 'famous' for being one of the fastest bands on the earth back in the late eighties. After recording a bunch of demos between '85 and '86 the band finally debuted in 1987 with Shark Attack. The follow-up was released in 1988 titled Biermächt. They disbanded when the nineties came and the band wasn't heard of until 2010 when the Fast as a shark attack EP was released. They have gigged with D.R.I., Accept and Kreator to namedrop a few.

We can begin with a small presentation

Hello, this is Marco Sharko, lead guitarist from the thrash band Wehrmacht.

What led up to this comeback?

We got together and did a reunion show back in 2010 in our hometown of Portland Oregon. After that, offers started coming in for other shows and tours.

You gigged with D.R.I. And Kreator quite recently, how was that?

The Kreator show was very cool because Accept was on the bill too. Two of our favorite bands. It is always fun playing with our friends in D.R.I. as well. Those shows seem to always be crazy.

Wehrmacht - Biermächt

In 2012, The band parted with longtime-vocalist Tito Matos, what happened there? How has the transition to a new vocalist been?

Tito's heart is not in heavy music these days. He is a professional D.J. and prefers dance and hip hop music over thrash. It was greet he did a few reunion shows with us but we all knew we needed to make a change. Eric has been part of the Wehrmacht family for years and was the only person we auditioned. It has been a seamless transition and very good for the band.

Tell me everything there is to know about your upcoming album. Are you finished with the album and when will it be released?

Right now we have about 10-12 songs demoed and we are still writing. We expect to have the album out by summer of 2015 to coincide with our European tour. Everyone has been writing and contributing to the new music just like on the first two albums. We are very excited about it.

You debuted in 1987 with Shark Attack, what do you think of it in retrospect?

We were very young and didn't know what were doing other than we wanted to play fast. I feel like it is a very raw album in both production and performance. We got drunk and just went for it.

Your albums was released through New Renaissance Records, how did they get in contact with you and did they support the band enough?

Not sure how we came in contact with them. They have offered zero support and actually owe us a lot of money.

You were perhaps the most fastest thrash band in the late 80's. Who or what inspired you to play like that?

We never tried to be the fastest of anything like that. It just happened. We were just drunk teenagers listening to bands like GISM and Raw Power.

Why this fascination with sharks? Was it from the Jaws-movies?

The Jaws-movies probably had something to do with it. We always thought a shark would be a great mascot for our band. It has turned out to be great match.

The name Wehrmacht is a bit controversial. Did you get a lot of reactions for chosing a bandname that people associates with nazi-Germany?

We rarely get asked about the name at all. It is just a name, like Megadeth or Kreator.

Drummer Brian Lehfeldt

What can you tell us about Spazztic Blurr?

We are back with a new lineup and some new music. We just got done playing a big show with Exodus and we are off to MDF this spring.

What's the highlight of your career?

Wehrmacht played Crazy Nights by Loudness to a sold out crowd in Tokyo last year. That was pretty awesome. It was also cool having Mitch and Barny from Napalm Death up on stage with us doing their cover of Wehrmacht's Night of pain.

What's your plans for the near future?

New music in 2015 and as many shows as possible. We look forward ton playing all over the world this year.

Have you got any funny story to tell, if anything weird has happened while touring or so?

While in Australia last year we were setting up to do a show and a big storm came into town and knocked out the power. No lights, no electricity or anything. The place was packed and we were not sure when power would come back on. The venue quickly came up with some acoustic guitars and Wehrmacht played our first ever "unplugged" show, in candlelight, to 200 people. Never practiced for anything like that but it went over very well. It was a big drunken campfire.

Beer or Sharks? ;)

Sharks!

Any last words for our readers?

Would just like to say Thank you for the support and that we look forward to seeing you all this year on the road. Cheers!!

By/Ruthless

(04-01-2015)