It is not that many bands who created a whole subgenre in one manifesto-like album: Venom with Black Metal arguably, and Bethlehem with Dark Metal for sure. The German band spawned a whole generation of DSBM musicians and influenced many others. Jürgen Bartsch, its creator, bass player, and mastermind, has been forging music from anxiety, creeping madness, and self-destruction for more than three decades now—without ever faltering, as proved by the self-titled album Bethlehem.

For its release in late 2016, I reached out to Bartsch to have a chat about the band’s longevity, its line-up changes, and this last (at the time of the interview) release. Hearty, sarcastic, and open, laughing wholeheartedly even when talking about the worst, he spoke about the history of the band and more personal matters as well: his relationship with death, which he encountered several times already, his mistakes, and his aspirations.

This interview took place in January 2017 and was first published on Radio Metal.

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