Doomed Confessionary: Julian Küster (Shaytan)
Shaytan is a traditional doom metal from Germany, featuring current and former members of Demon Incarnate, Grief Collector, The Last Supper, Black Eden, Tridentifer, No Hope & more. Shaytan are Julian Küster (vocals and organ), Jan Paul (guitars), Jochen Klose (guitars), Thorsten Jacob (bass) and Kai Schneider (drums).
Stylistically, the band continues along the path of traditional doom metal, drawing inspiration mostly from the genre pioneers Black Sabbath and Pentagram as well as the ’80s and ’90s doom giants like Trouble, Candlemass, The Obsessed and Solitude Aeturnus, and infusing their music with oriental influences.
Shaytan’s debut album »Chapter One« was released on December 15th, 2023 via Metal On Metal Records on CD and digital with vinyl edition coming this spring.
Can you say a few words about your band?
We are Shaytan, a doom metal band from South-western Germany that worships the pure doom metal sound from the late 70s, up to the 90s as you can hear in Candlemass or The Obsessed spiced with atmospheric oriental influences. The band was already known as Demon Incarnate but when I replaced the previous singer we decided to change the band name to emphasize a new and fresh start.
What was the biggest challenge for the band last year?
All in all it was a really busy year for us, as we were writing and recording our debut record, playing our first gig. A further challenge was finding a new bass player to prepare for concerts in 2024. We are very happy that Thorsten joined us recently, so we can start with live gigs right in January!
What can you be most proud of last year?
I think we are all very proud of that we could finish the record so fluently although the band had many changes this year (especially me joining the band as a singer).
We didn’t expect to be ready as a band with a new record so quick but the band chemistry and recording process just worked out very well.
What was your biggest regret?
Not really a regret but it’s sad to see so many live clubs going down and that it got so hard for small bands to tour.
What was the best concert/tour last year and why?
As we are a new band we had our live debut this year in Saarbrücken’s famous venue “Horst”. But this one gig showed us that everything will work out fine. The rest of the year we concentrated in writing and recording our debut record.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
On the downside; even a cult festival like the Hammer Of Doom, with its great lineups, having problems and making a break in 2024.
On the upside; to see a guy like Wino is still rolling with The Obsessed, doing a new record and finally gets a little more attention, well deserved.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We are highly motivated to play as much gigs as possible this year. Right now we are in talks to do some festivals and some club shows around Germany. Fingers crossed 😉
What are your plans for this year as a band? What do you personally want the most?
With new band constellation we want to define our live sound more and more for the most doom and heavy live experience possible!
Secondly, we plan to record new material which will be very interesting with the new influences and ideas of every band member.
We hope that our music will be spread in the international doom metal scene as well, especially with the help of our label Metal On Metal Records.
What were your New Year’s Eve activities like?
Hanging out with some friends, have some beers & whiskys, listen to some classic records and celebrating a really good year for our band. 😉
How can people best support your band?
Our record »Chapter One« was released on CD and digital in the middle of December 2023. A vinyl release will follow in spring 2024. Spreading the news, listenting to our new material will definitely help! And if you like it: fell free to buy merch from us… 😉
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Of course we want to thank everyone who enjoys our music and supports us via social media or in personal!
This is just the first milestone for our journey and we can’t wait for more live experiences and albums to come!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well