Doomed Confessionary: Marcus (Mudfinger)
Mudfinger is a four-piece stoner/sludge metal band from Koblenz, Germany. Formed in 2016, Mudfinger consists of Marcus (vocals, bass), Timo (guitar), Jeff (guitar) and Oli (drums).
The band has just released their second full-length album »Amentia« on May 17th, 2025. Available now on limited vinyl and digital.
Mudfinger’s style is characterized by steamroller-like, sustaining riffs with razor-sharp solos and driving drums. Their mission is to combine stoner-doom-sludge elements into an oppressive fuzz avalanche.
Can you please say a few words about your band?
Mudfinger was founded in 2016 by Oli, Timo and me. Timo and I recently abandoned the predecessor band and Oli – who was the drummer of the predecessor’s predecessor – had returned to the Westwoods from studies. So we took the opportunity to create another band. It is our creative outlet to daily stress and chaos and we express ourselves musically
Starting with a strong dose of metal and sludge, we evolved into the band we are today; with influences from stoner rock, doom, metal and a little bit psych rock.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
The biggest challenge was starting to work with two guitarists. After Timo took a break in 2021, we recruited Jeffrey, a very agile guitarist with a distinct style. He mastered the entire set in just 14 days and played the very first gig just two weeks after Timo left. Later in 2022, Timo decided to return, so we decided to work with two guitarists. Syncing intertwining their ideas to into songs was challenging in the beginning, because Timo and Jeffrey follow quite different approaches at creating music.
Another big challenge is the timing: Timo and I both have strong family ties and syncing the band schedule with family commitments is an ongoing obstacle.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Well, at the moment we are incredibly proud of our new album. It reflects the essence of the last five years of work and it was quite a bumpy journey we tackled. So holding the brand-new LPs last week it was a pretty neat experience; all our work and effort and Oli’s tireless work on the audio material finally paid off. Again, we have a great artwork and the final production sounds phenomenal.
What was your biggest regret?
In a band context? No regrets so far. Sometimes I tend to condemn myself for allowing two guitars in the band, but the benefits outweigh the tradeoffs, hahaha.
Photo by Marius
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
All concerts are great and unique to us – we are a purebred jam band and we enjoy playing live.
One of the most fun concerts was at the Sommerschein’s Rise and Shine Festival. They had a pretty nice stage and a great backstage area. Besides that, they had tons of broken cables which we had to filter out before starting which kinda sucked but delivered a funny day to remember in the aftermath.
The probably most intriguing gigs we played at the Bastards Festival – created by the now-disbanded Iron Bastards – a couple of years ago. The had terrible beer, but an absolutely beautiful venue in Strasbourg with really great sound & light equipment.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
I was very surprised how active and supportive the stoner rock scene is. It is not very big compared to other genres, but there are lots of ongoing activities. We are few, but we are highly engaged.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
In my personal rotation, there is a ton of Clutch, whom I appreciate very much. Then a number of classics like 1000mods, Villagers Of Ionnina City and Valley Of The Sun. Also some doom metal stuff like ELR. And a small dose of older metal stuff, like Sepultura, Pantera. Finally a good portion of Country and Country blues stuff. I am not dedicated to a singular style at all.
Oli is pretty much stuck to doom stuff like Eremit, YOB, Bongripper, Belzebong.
Timo and Jeff have a versatile musical interest as well – so I guess they are drifting in the same type of Bermuda triangle like Oli and I do. Besides that, Jeff is a big Black Label Society fan. And I suspect Timo secretly enjoys Rock and Roll.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
I guess the best advice was given years ago by a professional musician, who told me to stay focused and be perseverant. One of the issues with underground bands is the instability and volatility; we experienced this as well. After disbanding our first band, we threw away all the material and started from scratch. Same with the second band, which was – stylistically – much closer to Mudfinger. So we decided to become a stable band and – in case – not to restart from scratch in case of personal changes. This perseverance finally paid off for us. We are still here, we are still Mudfinger and we have not restarted everything after Timo’s leave and comeback.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Cold Beer, good beef and a little bit of mischief, plus some nicotine. This sums up most of the band except Jeff who does not drink alcohol.
Can you say something more about the current music scene in Westwood area?
In the Westwoods, where we are all living, there is a very small, but vibrant stoner tock scene, with maybe half a dozen noticeable local bands. The next city is Koblenz, where a number of other bands are active. Once a year we host a festival in a small venue in Koblenz connecting with bands and musicians. Going further towards the major cities like Frankfurt or Cologne there is much more activity. Hence, we also played numerous gigs in the large cities.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We just had our album release party in Lippstadt, Germany on May 17th. A larger venue planned is the “Latscho Umsonst & Draussen Festival” at the end of August. Also planned is the “A Nighful of Stoner” in Koblenz somewhere around November. We are not occupational musicians, so we don’t have an ongoing tour. Most of the gigs come in pretty spontaneously, so stay tuned. We schedule our gigs currently on Facebook – but check our website as well, since this currently is subject to change.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
We already are working on new material, so that our next release won’t take so long. Also, Oli has introduced his Infernal Audio Studio last year, where we made the recording and the production – so I guess the next release will come sooner than the prior one.
How can people best support your band?
In addition to visiting us at concerts, we have audio and merchandise on our Bandcamp site and at mudfinger.de.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Get out there! Get up and support the local underground! Most of the people don’t realize the sweat and effort that is needed to run a one day festival with three bands. Moving a ton of equip and wiring all up, organizing lights and audio engineering and so on. Local bands run concerts out of idealism and every listener in the audience is truly welcome!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well