Alex Krull of Atrocity and Leaves’ Eyes
© Ovidiu Cristian Panait [Photo Legions]
On 5 October 2026, the two acts took to the stage at Quantic in Bucharest for a concert organised by Metalhead, performing some of their most representative songs before the Romanian audience. After the gigs, the vocalist joined us for a discussion about the visions he had for both bands, the stories behind the albums that left their mark on him, and what is brewing in the Atrocity and Leaves’ Eyes camps.
Hello, Alex! We are glad to have the chance to talk with you for Din Întunerec about the bands you are involved in. Let’s turn our attention to Atrocity first. You initially formed the band under the name “Instigator”. Then you quickly decided to put an end to that chapter, changing the name. What prompted this move?
Alex Krull: Hello, nice to talk to you!
Yes, we only used that name for a short time before changing it. There was already a punk band with the same or a similar name, “Instigators”, while our band was called “Instigator”. We didn’t want to confuse people, so we came up with the name “Atrocity” from a song title I had written. We gave the band that name, and later another “Atrocity” appeared in the United States, haha.
Recording “Hallucinations” in 1990 at Morrisound Studio meant collaborating with Scott Burns. What do you remember most vividly about working with him?
Alex Krull: Recording the album with Scott at Morrisound was great experience. At the time, he had also worked with classics like Obituary, Sepultura and many other bands. I think we were the first European band he worked with, or at least among the first ones to record at Morrisound.
There was another thing, too, that I remember: the 1990 World Cup, when Germany won. We mixed “Hallucinations” on the day Germany played the final. Scott kept saying, “Hey, guys, I’m mixing the album!”, while we were like, “Yeah, but we have to watch the game!”. It was crazy!
Did you feel at the time that the audience response to the album matched your expectations?
Alex Krull: I remember the reception being really, really great. We also toured with Carcass, and I organised that tour with the guitar player we had back then. Nobody among the bigger agencies wanted to book this kind of music, so we did it ourselves.
We went to Morrisound, recorded our first album and played those songs live for the first time. We were already getting great reactions, and when the album came out, the response was absolutely amazing.
There is another thing worth mentioning about Morrisound and “Hallucinations”. Everybody was coming by. We got the equipment from Obituary, including the drums and guitar amps. Mike Browning, who passed away recently, was there, as was Dave from Morbid Angel, Alex from Cannibal Corpse, and so many others from the Florida scene.
You can imagine what it was like for us as young kids. We were having a great time together while recording an album, surrounded by all these people. It was insane. The result was also something magical, a beginning of sorts.
When we released the album, we had that H.R. Giger cover, which made a strong impression on many fans, too.
From those early days in the Florida scene to the albums that followed, your sound has travelled far beyond its original roots. However, the “Okkult” trilogy, released between 2013 and 2023 marked a return to a more brutal approach. What drew you back to those roots?
Alex Krull: With “Hallucinations”, we also started something like technical death metal. Throughout our career, we have done a lot of different things. You could say we were a pioneering band in some respects, bringing gothic and metal together, incorporating electronic elements, folk and Indian music, alongside all the brutal stuff.
We have always tried to break boundaries, but for me, there was also a longing to return to our roots and create something very dark, creepy and brutal at the same time. That was the source of the idea.
The main thought was to make a trilogy, because one album isn’t enough to tell all the obscure stories about the occult around the globe. As I said on stage, it was a kind of journey from country to country, exploring some of the darkest myths from each place. We ended up creating a decade of occult-themed music.
Among the grim historical accounts explored across the trilogy, which story left the deepest impression on you, and what made it so disturbing?
Alex Krull: I think there are some really, really dark stories. La Voisin, for example, is one of them. It was also a historical turning point because things had become so decadent among the aristocracy, with insane satanic rituals taking place.
They took babies from poor families. People believed they were sending their children into good hands, where they would have a new home, receive an education and so on. The reality was completely different.
Nowadays, you have the Epstein files, right? It is a similar kind of situation in the sense that it involves rituals, the pursuit of eternal youth and all this crazy stuff.
Through magic, people believed they could influence politics and other matters. The whole affair involved a circle of aristocrats and a satanic priest. Some aristocrats were poisoning people, and they were very careful to keep the public from finding out. They used a secret chamber where the court would gather.
After the members of the circle were sentenced to death, more details emerged in the aftermath, when family members began speaking about what had really happened. It was not simply a matter of aristocrats poisoning one another; there were also the satanic rituals they had performed.
They found, in La Voisin’s backyard, what was reported to be around a thousand babies’ corpses. People had given her their children, believing they would be cared for, educated and given a better life. The truth was something entirely different.
It is really sick. I think it is one of the sickest things ever.
The trilogy contains plenty of material. If you were to think of one or two songs you find the most interesting, which would they be, both in terms of their stories and their vocal and instrumental arrangements?
Alex Krull: “Pandaemonium” is a very bombastic opening to the trilogy, and perhaps that makes it particularly interesting to perform live, with its big intro. We also have “Desecration of God”, which combines epic, dark and brutal music.
You can write a very brutal song or a very symphonic one, but combining those elements while retaining the structure a song needs to grab you by the neck is the real challenge. I think these are good examples.
I agree. With your permission, let us cross into the world of Leaves’ Eyes. The project began while you and Liv Kristine were working together in Atrocity, but the vision was to create a separate band. What world did you want to build when you first set out?
Alex Krull: The vision was quite clear. Back then, my former wife, Liv Kristine, and I were working together in Atrocity. She was also joining us on tour, and the idea came up of forming a band rather than a project, one built around Norse mythology, the natural world, and plenty of symphonic and folk elements.
The contrast between female and male vocals has always been very important to Leaves’ Eyes. The same goes for the music: we have fragile passages alongside very bombastic ones. Vocally, there are deep, low growls contrasted with a very angelic voice.
That was how everything started, and then it grew bigger and bigger.
Leaves’ Eyes soon attracted considerable attention, including among metal fans here in Romania. When the ideas were taking shape, could you have imagined how far the band would reach?
Alex Krull: There was already a big uproar when we started, including among record labels. I remember that we had not even finished the first demo, or the first songs, when people were already asking me, “Hey, Alex, we heard you are doing something. Can you present it to us?”.
There was a lot of interest from the labels, to be honest. We eventually chose Napalm Records, and that was a really good start.
I also remember how much the fans appreciated that we were making this kind of music, with plenty of Viking themes, and later with concept albums and so on.
What is it about Norse mythology and Viking culture that continues to fascinate you?
Alex Krull: Norse mythology itself has a lot of great material for a band like this. It is not only about the Vikings.
As you know, I am a Viking reenactor. I do a lot of sword fighting, take part in battles and train for this kind of thing. I am also involved with groups all over the world that share this interest and have an authentic historical background.
Soon, we will have the biggest battle at our home event in Germany, with 600 warriors in the Codex Belli style. It is always the biggest event at the end of the season, so I am really looking forward to it. You meet all these Vikings and people who share the same fascination.
But going back to the question, there is also a simple explanation: the Vikings travelled extensively and left their mark across the world. Their presence extended far beyond Scandinavia, reaching Iceland, Ireland, England and other parts of Europe, as well as North America. There were also connections with parts of Spain and Italy, and the Varangian Guard in Byzantine history, made up of Viking warriors who served in Constantinople.
All these things take you on a great journey, one that is epic and full of magic. Norse mythology also contains tragic and powerful sagas. It is the perfect combination for this kind of music.
From these bountiful inspirations, you have managed to build a substantial discography with Leaves’ Eyes, with the latest full-length, “Myths of Fate”, released in 2024. Could you tell our readers more about what is behind the album?
Alex Krull: It was never just one approach. Before “Myths of Fate”, we made “The Last Viking”, which was a concept album. Afterwards, we decided that the next album would explore different topics, all of them mystical and connected to Norse mythology, including some sagas that are perhaps less well known.
We also have “Sons of Triglav”, which draws a little from the Slavic world, and we brought these influences together with orchestral elements.
We had also worked on the “Viking Spirit” documentary about living history and Viking reenactment. We collaborated with Jonah Weingarten, who created a kind of soundtrack for the film. I liked it so much that I thought we could turn some of those ideas into metal and rock songs.
That was another source of inspiration: taking ideas from a cinematic, symphonic background and transforming them into symphonic metal. In this case, you could call it ice symphonic Viking metal.
If you had to choose one song from “Myths of Fate” to represent this chapter of Leaves’ Eyes, which would you choose?
Alex Krull: It is very hard to say. If you allow me to answer by taking the music videos into account as well, we filmed several clips that I think turned out really well. We shot in Iceland, Poland and Germany, in great locations and alongside great people.
“Forged by Fire” is a really powerful song, and we played it as the final song of the show. “Realm of Dark Waves” is also amazing. It is probably my favourite music video from that period, although “Hammer of the Gods” is cool, too.
For that video, we filmed a fight in Iceland, right in the middle of a glacier. We were incredibly lucky to find a spot where the ice was clear of snow and other obstacles. We had already spent the whole day scouting the landscape and recording vocals. Then we needed a location for the fight scenes where we would not break through the ice or run into some other problem.
Someone said, “Alex, this is unbelievable! Come up the hill and look at what we have down there!”. We found the perfect spot.
When Elina Siirala saw the fight and the drone footage, she said, “Alex, nobody is going to believe this is real. It looks like CGI!”.
I told her, “Hey, we are freezing out here on the ice and fighting until we bleed!”. Even the steel was breaking when the swords struck one another. It was not fake. Suddenly, we did not have two swords anymore because one had broken. That is why the scene came together the way it did: we had to take his weapon and kill the guy with it.
That’s quite a story! And with all the memories behind, you brought both Atrocity and Leaves’ Eyes to Bucharest. How did the evening unfold from your perspective?
Alex Krull: Oh, we had a bit of a rough start with Atrocity because of some technical issues we were not expecting. During the first song, my microphone stopped working.
We continued, but we encountered a few more technical problems. We had been playing at Rock‘n’Iași, where the temperature was very low, and some of our equipment broke down during the show. It also seemed that there was an issue with the electricity, or something connected to it, so things were not working perfectly on stage.
It was a rough start, but the concert turned into an amazing evening with the people.
I know there was a football match between Sweden and Romania, and I had heard about that. There were also plenty of other concerts taking place. A Monday show can sometimes feel like an unusual way to start the week, but we really enjoyed it.
Rock‘n’Iași was amazing, too. It was a great honour for us to play with Atrocity as the final band at the festival’s last edition.
As for Quantic, we have played here several times before. We know the people, including Coro and the promoters, and Lenți is here as well. I have known him for 32 years. Can you imagine? That is something!
It is always great to return to Romania. We love it here.
Alex Krull of Atrocity and Leaves’ Eyes
© Ovidiu Cristian Panait [Photo Legions]
Alex Krull: We are actually in the middle of producing new material with Leaves’ Eyes, and we also have some crazy ideas we are working on with Atrocity.
However, everything is a little bit sealed, as you would say, because otherwise there would be no surprises.
There are plenty of things in the pipeline, and a lot of positive developments, including videos and other material. I am also working on videography, so I work very closely with the record company, which I joined in October. I am now working for the record company as well.
That sounds promising. Congratulations on the new role, and thank you for taking the time to talk to Din Întunerec.
Alex Krull: Thank you very much, too.
Atrocity and Leaves’ Eyes on the stage of Quantic, 5 October 2026
© Ovidiu Cristian Panait [Photo Legions]
