Interview for DEATHTHRASHER MAGAZINE by ARMANDO MUTILATOR & ARTURO JORDAN : 

DT: Tell me about "Holy Terror", Demo 1 - 1985.
Robert Gonella: Well, it was rehearsal room recording and had a bad sound. On a newcomer competition of our hometown Dusseldorf, we made the last place with the demo. We only got one point given by the TOTEN HOSEN guitarrist who was in the jury…J We got an offer for a record deal from a US label though. But we decided it was better to wait for a German contract.

DT: Talk me about the ASSASSIN's return.
Robert Gonella: There were always the idea of starting the band again. But it took until 1999 that we had the time and the will to finally reunite ASSASSIN. SCHOLLI and DINKO were the main men behind the reunion. We tried different drummer until we found ATOMIC STEIF (ex-SODOM, VIOLENT FORCE, LIVING DEATH, HOLY MOSES, STAHLTRAGER). The line-up now was ROBERT, SCHOLLI, DINKO, STEIF and new bass-man JOACHIM who played in different local bands before.

DT: Tell us about your famous "The Saga Of Nemesis", Demo 2 - 1986.
Robert Gonella: Our second demo was recorded in a small studio within 3 days and produced by RUDY GRAF (WARLOCK). This demo brought us some interests from diffentent companies. We decided to sign with the young label STEAMHAMMER RECORDS.

DT: How does the writing in ASSASSIN?. How about lyrics?.
Robert Gonella: We all write the stuff together. Of course the guitarists do the main work, they come up with new riffs and stuff. Then the whole band works on the song. The lyrics are all written by me (ROBERT).

DT: What can you talk me about your work with STEAMHAMMER?.
Robert Gonella: In the beginning it seemed to fine. But in the end we must say, they didn't do much promotion for us. It could have been so much better. I think INTERSTELLAR EXPERIENCE could have sold more copies if it had a better promotion.

DT: Tell me about the hyper classic "The Upcoming Terror" Album (Jan '87), how much have you sold it and what kind of response have you gotten?.
Robert Gonella: We got some good reviews from the Metal press. We were very proud of that record. Hell, it was our first record!! The record sold about 30.000 copies worldwide, which wasn't too bad at that time I guess.
We still receive good response from fans all over the world. We still play lots of songs from that record live.

DT: Are you friends with GERRE from TANKARD?.
Robert Gonella: No. We met here and there before. I wouldn't call that friend-ship. he is nice though.

DT: What do you think about bands like SCORPIONS, ACCEPT and HELLOWEEN?... what is your opinion about SCORPIONS album / dvd "Acoustica"?.
Robert Gonella: I liked early SCORPIONS and also Accept. I never really was into HELLOWEEN. I haven't heard the Acoustica album yet. It not really my music…

DT: What kind of things inspire you the most, when making a song?.
Robert Gonella: As said before, the guitarist come up with a riff and we build a song on it. We are influenced by everything and nothing. I cannot say we are influenced especially by this or that. Its all the feeling for a song that makes the song build up. 

DT: Where did you get the name ASSASSIN from?.
Robert Gonella: The name ASSASSIN was the idea of our old drummer Psycho Danger. It comes from the arab "Assassinen" which means Hash-Eater. It also mean "Murder" or "Terrorist". 

DT: What do you think about other German bands?... have you some names to recommend?.
Robert Gonella: We all love KREATOR. I think they are the Thrash Kings from Germany. Of course our old pals DESTRUCTION, RUMBLE MILITIA, SODOM are cool. Some good new bands are RAVAGE and FINAL CRY. 

DT: Please describe your stage performance. What songs do you play on stage and do you play any cover songs?.
Robert Gonella: We have no special show effects or stuff yet. We do our "normal" Thrash acting, headbanging and sweating. We play old stuff from our 2 albums and also some new songs. Some songs we play are ASSASSIN, BAKA, ABSTRACT WAR, BULLETS etc.

DT: Do you prefer MICHAEL SCHENKER, RUDOLF SCHENKER, MATTHIAS JABS, ULI JON ROTH or KARL - HEINZ VOLLMER?.
Robert Gonella: O, to be honest I prefer KERRY KING ;-) 

DT: Please what is your opinion about German Underground Metal Scene, if compared to the foreign countries?.
Robert Gonella: There are many bands everywhere. Some real cool ones but also some shit bands. The biggest problem here is to find a place to play live. Many clubs don't want Metal. Which is real stupid because the Metal fans drink the most and thus they could make some serious money… Record companies are not willing to sign young band like the did in the 80ies. They are all afraid of music copying.

DT: Do you have the MESSIAH MARCOLIN's diet?
Robert Gonella: Ha Ha, not really. He should stay as he is. He voice would not be the same anymore if he looses to much weight. Keep on eating, MESSIAH!!

DT: In your opinion, the best German band from all times?.
Robert Gonella: KREATOR. I have to be loyal to MILLE!!

DT: Are you into soccer?... do you know CLAUDIO PIZARRO?.
Robert Gonella: We all love soccer. We are fans of FORTUNA DUSSELDORF our local team. Our manager dies for BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH. PIZARRO is a great player who unfortunately plays for BAYERN MUNICH. We all hate BAYERN MUNICH!! If FORTUNA will make it to the first division again hopefully PIZARRO won't be too old to play for FORTUNA J

DT: "Interstellar Experience" Album (Jan '88) is your best gem?.
Robert Gonella: Yes. It's the best recording YET. Bit we have some cool new track. Wait until you hear them.

DT: How long do you think ASSASSIN will be around?... do you think you could keep on playing this kind of music when your 60 of age or over?.
Robert Gonella: O, I don't really know. The age of the band members is all between 30 and 38. Who really knows what will happen in the future. At the moment I don't waste my time thinking about that. We have to concentrate on the present!

DT: Are you friends with the legendary UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER?.
Robert Gonella: He is cool and was good for the German Metal scene. I am not a fan but I respect him very much. I hope he will do what he does for a long time.

DT: Who design the "Interstellar Experience" cover?.
Robert Gonella: This was a friend from our old manager. The artwork is still great. But our old manager was a jerk and I don't want to talk about him anymore.

DT: Please anticipe us the songs of your new project.
Robert Gonella: We have about 6 new tracks. They are very different from our old stuff. They are heavy and have faster headbanging parts. Some songs are PRICE OF POWER, REAL FRIENDS, SOCDCER VIOLENCE, CONTRAREVOLUTION etc. We hope to put out a new album this year. If not, we might release it on our homepage www.assassin-online.de !

DT: Tell me about your last gig?.
Robert Gonella: That was a little show in Iserlohn. 3 bands but due to bad promotion only about 100 fans, The show was cool though. We had a lot of fun. After that we played a special birthday show for the bass man of MORTAL REMAINS in their rehearsal room. That was even more fun. Best show lately was our reunion concert in our home town in Dusseldorf in June 2003. 

DT: Do you listen to anything apart from Metal?.
Robert Gonella: Yeah, we all have different music we listen to. SCHOLLI likes Wave and Gothic a lot. DINKO is very much into 60ies music. MICHA also likes real Rap. There are good things in every kind of music. Don't limitate yourself!!

DT: Talk me about your friendship with KREATOR, SODOM, DESTRUCTION, RUNNING WILD and DESASTER.
Robert Gonella: Well, I am a very good friend to MILLE from KREATOR. We know each other for years. We always meet as often as we have the time to. I also know SCHMIER from DESTRUCTION. Our old drummer STEIF knows the guys of DESASTER. SODOM'S ANGELRIPPER is also way cool. MICHA did an interview for him for the SODOM DVD which will be out next year.

DT: What is your musical direction now days?. Do you pay much attention on your old tracks and old musical style?.
Robert Gonella: Our musical direction is not to be limitated on everything. We have so much different sounds now. For example there is one untitled track which has a huge psychedilic touch. Its still Heavy and Thrashy. We are a THRASH METAL band.

DT: Your last comment for DEATHTHRASHER readers?.
Robert Gonella: Rage hard! Have a good time in Peru. We hope to visit your country one day and have a cool Metal party with you. Thanks!