Horus Sound Studio doesn’t announce itself with fireworks; it just sits there in Hannover and keeps ending up on the back of records that sound like they were forged, not “produced.” The name starts showing up, then showing up again, until it’s basically living on my shelf rent-free.
Frank Bornemann built the place in 1979, and that date matters because it tells you this wasn’t some latecomer cash-in. This was infrastructure. A real room with real walls that could take volume without flinching.
Sleeves get flipped, credits get scanned, and suddenly there it is: Steeltower hammering out Night of the Dog (recorded and mixed Jan–Sept 1984), Living Death pushing Metal Revolution through the desk (recorded and mixed Aug 1985). Both of them sound like the amps were slightly insulted to be treated “professionally.” Love that. No cap.
Then the bigger names start piling in, and the pattern gets almost suspicious. Kreator tracking and mixing Terrible Certainty in 1987. Sabbat cutting History of a Time to Come in Sept 1987. Helloween grinding through the winter of 1986–1987. Sodom getting Agent Orange mixed there in April 1989. Not a coincidence. More like the studio knew how to keep the edges sharp instead of sanding them down for “radio.”
Plenty of studios capture sound. Horus captures intent—the part where a band decides to stop asking permission. Anyone calling that “just a room” is either lying or has never heard what a good room does to a hungry band.
