Infestation is a very young German thrash metal band that takes a modern approach to the genre. They recently released two powerful singles, one of which is a cover. I spoke with guitarist Pascal Surkus not only about these singles, but also about many other interesting topics. That's why I recommend reading this interview – and, of course, checking out this young but undoubtedly promising band.
Hi Pascal! Let's start the interview with your latest single, which is none other than a cover of Sodom's "Silence Is Consent". How did you come up with the idea to choose this particular song?
Hey Kornel, we chose "Silence Is Consent" because, on one hand, it's a really underrated song, and on the other, it addresses the brutal killing of endangered whales – an issue that is unfortunately still very present today. We wanted to use this track to bring more attention to that topic, and at the same time, the song hits you straight in the face right after the intro, and that kind of intensity is exactly the style we want to push forward as a band. It also represents one of the key influences that has shaped Infestation over the years. For us personally, "Silence Is Consent" is one of the top five songs by Sodom – especially if you've experienced it live, you know how powerful it is. Having the chance to feature Andy Brings on the track was a huge honor for us, and it made the decision even clearer that we had to release this cover.
Please tell us a little bit about where you recorded it, who was responsible for mixing/mastering, who designed the cover, and how you managed to get Andy Brings involved in the project. Will this excellent cover version also be released in physical form in the near future?
Well, actually everything was recorded at home. We never went into a professional or something, because everyone has the things that he needs in the home studio to record their instruments. So it's really easy for us to work and record on remote. Our mix and mastering engineer is Tom Tschernig. He also plays in a thrash band called Exa and he did a fantastic job. The person which did our cover is the same one we had for our single "Rapid Fire" and "The Vermin Within" album. His name is Alworkk from Thailand. Our manager Ricky Wagner, frontman of the thrash band Rezet, is a good friend of Andy, so he arranged us the contact to Andy, which led to the last release in the end.
In December 2025, the single "Rapid Fire" was released, combining classic thrash metal with a modern approach. Will Infestation's second album be in the same style? By the way, how many new songs have you written for it so far? When do you plan to record/release it?
Yes, "Rapid Fire" has some really modern influences, specifically the breakdown at the end. We thought it would fit the song really well and it did. We also never wanted to do like 100% old school thrash metal, because we wanted to approach a new way to connect thrash metal with modern influences.
For the album we definitely continuing using those influences, without losing our roots of thrash metal. This year we're putting the shows a little bit aside, and continuing more on song writing, which is already in progress for the next album. Some bangers have been written, but there is still more work to do.
What topics do you cover in your lyrics? Where do you get your inspiration from?
Our inspiration mainly comes from what's happening in the world today. When you look at the news, there are so many terrible things going on, and we try to capture those realities and messages in our songs. For example, ongoing conflicts, especially in regions like the Middle East, are something we reflect on in our lyrics. We aim to express how horrific these events are and to make listeners aware that war, in our view, is something that should never be accepted and has no place in the future.
But not always, like our song "Bierpartei" is about a person, who decided to create drunk his own political party, which is called translated beer party. The funny thing, after we released our album, we found out, that such a party actually exists in Austria.
Your debut album, "The Vermin Within", was released by Iron Shield Records. Are you still with them? Will they release your next album as well?
Yeah, we are still with them. If the second album is ready to go, it would be nice as an option, for sure, for us to release it via Iron Shield Records.
Infestation was formed in 2021, but there have been a few lineup changes. So what is the current lineup of the band? What do the members do besides music?
Back then, we usually performed as a five-piece band. Currently, we're playing as a four-piece, with one guitar, vocals, bass and drums. However, that might change again in the future – we're considering adding a second guitarist, because we've noticed that sometimes a bit of power is missing on stage. Let's see who will join us in the future.
Outside of the band, our vocalist Maurice and our drummer Volker actually met randomly at university. Volker, for example, is very active musically – besides Infestation, he plays in several other bands, including Taskforce Toxicator, and he's performing live almost every weekend. So overall, music plays a big role in our lives, even beyond this band. New future project is also in the making with me and my brother, but psssssst...!
By the way, which bands influenced you to start Infestation? Tell us about your all-time favorite bands and list your five favorite albums here.
Oh, hard question. The first metal album I've ever bought was Iron Maiden's "The Final Frontier". It came out in 2010, that was the first year I got into heavier music and also discovered Iron Maiden. It was the current album at that point of time, and I really loved it. Also was totally blown away by the cover art. It looked sick as fuck for a 12 year at this point of time. So I bought it on CD. A lot of Maiden fans don't like it, but for me it is still one of my favorite album. But for music in general, there are too many good albums. But if I had to choose 5, I would say: Iron Maiden – "Powerslave", Metallica – "Ride the Lightning", Sodom – "Agent Orange", Exodus – "Fabulous Disaster", Destruction – "Infernal Overkill".
Let's talk a little about your concerts. Do you perform a lot? How would you describe to our readers what an Infestation concert is really like? How many songs do you usually play, and do you also play covers? What does your current repertoire look like?
We have performed quite regularly – over the past few years, we've usually played around one show per month. This year has been a bit quieter, because we're focusing more on songwriting.
Our shows are very fiery and fast-paced, full of energy.
In the past, we used to drink a bit more before going on stage, but as we've gotten older, we've toned that down a little. That said, we still keep some fun traditions alive – for example, before we play our song "Bierpartei", we invite a fan on stage for a drinking contest. If they can drink faster than our frontman Maurice, they win a shirt from us.
As for covers, we used to play quite a lot of Sodom, like "Wachturm" and "Agent Orange". Currently, we're playing "Silence Is Consent", which is also featuring Andy Brings.
On average, we play around 10 to 11 songs per set, and if we're headlining, we usually add a few more. After our next album, we gonna add some more songs to our set!
You come from the Rinteln/Schaumburg area. What is the underground scene and metal life like there? Are there any other active thrash metal bands besides you? Tell us a little bit about all this.
In Schaumburg are quite a few strong local acts like Belialed, Orca or Paranoic – bands we've played with and are good friends with.
In Rinteln itself, there are fewer bands overall, but in the wider Schaumburg area, the scene is a bit more active.
When we first started playing shows, most of our early gigs were actually in nearby towns like Bückeburg or Minden, where there were already small stages and opportunities to perform.
It's something we still find a bit unfortunate about Rinteln, because there isn't really a proper venue or stage for bands to present their music. But overall, the local underground scene is supportive, and there are definitely some great bands around.
Okay, that's all I wanted to ask, but if I missed anything important, please write it here. The last infested words are all yours.
Thanks a lot for the interview, and also a big thank you to all the readers who are checking this out and supporting the underground scene. It really means a lot. We're looking forward to releasing more new music in the future and bringing more modern influences into thrash metal that you'll hopefully enjoy. You can definitely expect a lot more songs from us this year – also even an album, with more news coming soon. So keep listening, support thrash, take care – and fuck war!
