AVALON
- Metal Militia
- Aug 19, 2025
- 6 min read
// A maniacal and tempestuous force, Germany’s own AVALON are here to tell ancient tales and guide you through a journey of fantasy. Blending heavy metal, speed metal, and power metal, AVALON forge their own sound while giving kudos to those who came before them. I had a chance to talk with the whole band about where they are and what their plans for 2025 are. //
Hello! Would you mind giving a quick introduction on yourselves and your band?
↪ We are a 4-headed Hydra of Destruction! German Steel in a classic and violent way. On the drums we have our Italian Stallion Valerio Prevido, on the lead guitar we have our Prodigious Son Henry Stemme who is 18 years old and has played guitar since he was 5. On the rythm guitar we have our Ascetic Madman Pakko and the screamings and bass comes from Deanosaurio del Rock.
How did AVALON come to be? Where did you find each other?
↪ Deanosaurio: Well, AVALON started in my mind as a vision. I wanted to found a band in the way I personally think it should be. Honest, Fast, Handmade, Fantastic and Occult. At first I met Pakko, who was a super impressive guy and I immediately knew I wouldn’t find someone more adequate than him – and so our journey started with the guys from SPHINX covering our back, showing us the basics to start and how to get things rolling. I knew Valerio from many gigs and festivals and after AVALON crashed after the first demo, I found out that Valerio plays drums so I asked him if he’d like to try himself out. It just fit in a super unique way since we both speak Spanish and have a pretty concrete taste in music. The story with Henry is actually pretty funny – he was 16, came drunk to me (normal in Germany) and started talking with me about music. I had a damn Wiener in my pocket (nonsexual, really – a sausage) which I gave to him, then I checked him out and Jesus Fucking Christ what a talent. I sent him the song “Vengeance” from BANZAI and it took him only a week to learn it by ear, so he came over and it worked out just perfectly.
When it comes to bands who really champion the spirit of ‘80s metal, AVALON is certainly one that comes to mind. Your sound is very authentic and reminds me of so many great underground bands. I know Valerio is really into obscure metal bands, but what about the rest of you?
↪ Deanosaurio: Thank you for that! Yes, absolutely, we are all complete Maniacs that live our passion in the most sincere way.
Similar to that last question, does AVALON have any particular set of influences? Since your sound cycles between power, speed, and heavy metal, I’d imagine your influences run deep.
↪ Deanosaurio: Oh yes, indeed! Our influences are pretty wide and we absolutely add to each other. My personal goal was to create real teutonic steel in the sense of PARADOX or XANDRIL with the mixture of Spanish heavy metal which Valerio and I are completely obsessed with – bands such as SANTA, BELLA BESTIA, OBUS or BANZAI. By the vocals, I have to say that I love completely maniac vocals such as the ones from LIVING DEATH or CIRITH UNGOL, pure madness! And for sure, the touch of evil which we all enjoy, but I’m damn sure Pakko is the embodiment of it as he loves (for example) NECRONOMICON, VENOM, or the first SODOM demo.
Pakko: They’re real pieces of art.
Henry: RAZOR.
Considering you haven’t released much material, I think it’s awesome that you’ve played with other bigger established acts like CENTURY. You’re even scheduled to play with the legendary METALUCIFER this summer! What bands have you enjoyed playing with most?
↪ Deanosaurio: We have been pretty picky about playing gigs, so we have only played with bands we all genuinely like and in line-ups we actually fit in. There are many friendships within and we really enjoyed playing and seeing every one of them. Fun thing to mention is that we once got booked for a try of a Halloween party with “Whoever dresses up gets free entrance,” but the only dressed up person was Laura Vesprini from CHEROKEE as Valerio.
I noticed in one of your promo photos, all three of you are wearing equally cool shirts – Dean has on KREATOR, Valerio has on MEDIEVAL STEEL, but Henry is wearing BANZAI, a Spanish band! What do you have to say to people who ignore entire areas of the world just because bands don’t sing in English? What are some of your favorite non-English albums?
↪ Valerio: Especially Italian and Spanish bands have lyrics with a deep meaning, which makes them very worthful. The people who ignore areas because of that is because they don’t understand it, how could they? My favourite releases are STRANA OFFICINA’s 1984 EP and “Besatt” from TYRANN (Swedish).
Henry: I don’t have any.
Pakko: Me neither.
Deanosaurio: I am a super big nerd of Spanish metal, punk and rock. My top-notch releases would be the self-titled MAZO, “Toledo” by SUBTERRÁNEO, and the first MURO album – the live one – but there are so many releases that I personally see as 10/10. That is a hard question.
So far, AVALON has released two demos and the “Holy Grail” single. These have been released in very limited quantities and have been entirely self-released. Does AVALON have any plans to sign with a label or a distributor for future material?
↪ Henry: Yes, we are actually close to recording our next release in a studio which, hopefully, will get us a label deal for a full-length.
Speaking of demos, I’ve seen Dean get a lot of flack for his vocals on the “Tower of Babel” demo. I don’t understand this, since I think his voice is super unique and even reminiscent of Logon from DEMON BITCH. Dean, explain to me your approach to vocals. Do you ever feel like you want to switch to a more traditional singing style?
↪ Deanosaurio: Thanks man! I always intended to be over the top, and I intend now to bring a bit more variety with aggressiveness but to never reduce the Madness within.
Originally, AVALON was a four-piece, with both Christian Konschak and Benedikt Kriegel on guitars. What led to their departure, and how did you find the young shredder Henry Stemme? Valerio was also not the drummer for AVALON until after the first demo was released. How did Valerio come into the band?
↪ Pakko (Christian Konschak): Why are you asking these things? You probably know more about AVALON than me.
Deanosaurio: Hahaha, actually the band history was a big fucking rumble ‘til we got established. These boys got a complete burnout because we did everything completely analogic with a reel-to-reel machine. There was a lot of pressure and mocking from the outside because it took us pretty long to finish the first demo.
AVALON takes its name from the island where King Arthur supposedly extracted Excalibur, his magical sword. Is the name AVALON the reason why so much of your lyrics are centered around mythology?
↪ Deanosaurio: Well yes and no. There were a lot of things that pointed to this name, but in the lyrics I try to bring more variety in a poetic way – I mean, “Pandora’s Doom” is about Greek Mythology, “Chamber of Chains” is about a Domina in a castle who collects fallen warriors and satisfies her desires ‘til they perish, “Mata Hari” is about the “supposed” spy in WWI, “Holy Grail” goes on about the madness in men seeking something that doesn’t even exist and so on…
What’s on the horizon for AVALON? Will 2025 be the year for an AVALON EP or full-length?
↪ Deanosaurio: Yes! We will record our next release, the EP “Astral Claw” in March and hopefully that will get us a full-length deal.
Thanks for entertaining my questions! Any final words?
↪ Valerio: Thank you very much, this will be our year for releases and concerts, yes.
Deanosaurio: Thank you very much for this cool interview, we all feel very humbled that you researched the band and found the details within it.
Interviewed: January of 2025
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