Melodic Rock Fanzine #71

CONTENTS 04_Vanden Plas 05_Harem Scarem 06_Find Me 08_Saffire 09_Millennial Reign 10_Blood Red Saints 11_Wacken Eyes 12_Reviews 14_Major Instinct 15_Hungryheart 16_Enforcer 18_Khymera 20_Billy Sherwood 21_Manimal 22_Magnus Karlsson’s Freefall Melodic Rock Fanzine The official Frontiers Music s.r.l. magazine Year #11 - Nr. 6 / Issue #71 Editor-in-chief: Elio Bordi Concept, Graphics & Design: Elio Bordi Writers: Bruce E.J. Atkinson, Duncan Jamieson, Barry McMinn, Vitale Nocerino, Rob “Ezy” Bone, Primo Bonali.

Headquarters and general contacts: Frontiers Records - Via Gonzaga 18 80125, Napoli - Italy Tel: +39.081.2399340/7753 Fax: +39.081.2399794 E-mail: elio@frontiers.it Website: www.frontiers.it; Facebook: facebook.com/frontiersmusicsrl; Twitter: twitter.com/FrontiersMusic1 Editor and publisher: Frontiers Records s.r.l.

Copyright©2015 Frontiers Records. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Printed in Italy.

Band: Vanden Plas

Question: This album is second part of the story Andrej Delãny, so how much of the album did you write after the release of this first part of the saga?

Answer: The whole saga and the music was already written for the rock opera “Bloodnight” we brought out in 2012 – after that the big challenge was to rearrange the whole theatre piece to bring it closer to the Vanden Plas vision and to fit in one CD version.

That took for path 1 and path 2 nearly as much time than to write the complete new material for an album.

Q: When putting together an album of this magnitude, do you have to immerse yourself into the character, or do you see yourself as the narrator, telling the story to the listener?

A: I did both: while writing the theatre libretto I had to immerse in every character because I had to build up the dramatic concept. Then for the album I had to rewrite the lyrics. Now I´m telling the story more from a narrators point of view. The clou is - because I already had to deal with all the figures of the story I could now switch more easily from the narrators position into the 4 | MRF

Interview with: Andy Kuntz

invented characters and could give so my performance another atmosphere and another artistical dimension.

Q: The whole Rock Opera has become a big part of the band, how easy is it to produce what we hear on album to what is seen on stage?

A: We have two different procedures This time we produced the stuff for the stage – had to rewrite it then for the album. For Christ 0 for example it was the other way round. Both are very difficult – you don´t want to loose the essence but have to conceptualize it from one to another medium. While writing Netherworld Path One and Two directly on scenes the outlook of the music turned out to be much more vivid and pictorial. So the music has now its own power to create cinematic pictures. That was the good side effect on the way we did it this time.

Q: So are you bringing this new chapter to live audiences in the not to distant future?

A: Yes we are heading for some great shows during 2016 – I think there´ll be a tour with 30 concerts in Europe – With the last album we also did play 25 concerts - hopefully this time we will

Interview by: Barry McMinn

visit also Italy!

Q: Will you be incorporating ‘Path 1’ and ‘Netherworld 2’ together for this shows?

A: Yes but the complete concept? No that will be not possible! We will involve a reasonable section of the concept in a kind of “best of” show.

Q: This is last part of the saga would you consider going down this path again, or will you be taking a more traditional path for the next album?

A: The next album will definitely differ from this concept ! It will go more back to the VP roots again for sure and with all the experience we have now, we try to transport this special kind of VP ambience without loosing any epic, magnitude and power.

Q: If Wolfgang Hohlbein came up with another idea would you consider working with him again?

A: He already came up - and we are already working on it since one year.

The story is based on his book “Hagen von Tronje”. It´s very close to the original german Niebelungen saga and in my opinion it is his best book so far.

Hope that my adaptation is getting good as well...

Question: This is a great live album that covers your whole career and the band sound as great as ever. Can you remember your feelings playing this homecoming show in Toronto?

Answer: I’m really glad we had the chance to do this. We’ve documented a lot of our career filming and recording around the world, but this is one first in over 20 years. So it was pretty cool to make it happen.

Q: Choosing a setlist must have been difficult with such a rich back catalogue. How did you pick the songs and were there any differences of opinion of what should be played?

being on the other side of the world playing for people that don’t speak English that well but know every word to every song is very cool…

Q: You all look like you’re having a good time. Do you approach the band differently since reforming?

A: I’ve enjoyed it much more, it feels like we’re doing it because we want to, not to prove anything or reach a Band: Harem Scarem certain status. We have a loyal fan base and it’s nice to Interview with: Harry Hess see them out at the shows.

Interview by: Duncan Jamieson Q: Pete recently broke his arm. How’s he doing now?

A: Pete’s a big pussy and I A: We usually have a few songs that we think he should have played even if he don’t agree on but the majority wins in broke both arms, I would still sing if I situations like that. There are a bunch of broke both my arms, right??? No songs that we’ve played for years that excuse…

(He’s doing fine now) are on this but we purposely left out Q: “Thirteen” was one of the best “Honestly” because it’s been on every melodic rock albums of the year. Do live record we’ve ever done. you have plans to make another?

Q: Are there any songs you particularA: We hope to, we haven’t written anyly like playing live?

A: “No Justice” for me because I really thing yet but we have been talking about get the sense that it is a fan favourite as starting to write in the new year.

Q: What else are you up to in the near well as “Slowly Slipping Away”.

Q: Are there a few gigs that stand out future? in your career as particularly memo- A: Some production work for other bands and working on a H.S record next rable?

A: Our first tour in Japan was great, just year.

Artist: Find Me

Question: So, “Dark Angel” is the second effort with Daniel Flores — and obviously this musical partnership has developed very nicely! Did the both of you approach this recording any differently than the debut?

Answer: I think we took a little more of a fun approach on it.The first one took a lot longer to do but “Dark Angel” really flowed quickly. I had more fun singing this one!

Q: Again, you have built this around yourself, Daniel and Philip Lindstrand plus a select number of musical guests. Have you included some different guests on “Dark Angel”?

A: Daniel is in charge of all that. I get the demos and then the work tracks. All the demos I receive are really nicely laid out for me. I change a few things here and there. I’m not really sure on all the personnel changes this year!

Q: Does “Find Me” serve as an inspirational creative outlet for you, and consequently serve as an 6 | MRF

Interview with: Robbie La Blanc

inspiration for your Work with “Blanc Faces”?

A: Find Me is definitely a great creative outlet for me. I really enjoy singing great rock/pop songs and I love the process of finding the right voice for each song. Jimi Jameson style or Steve Perry, etc. Really there is no Blanc Faces connection. The two are really different. I hope someday we can do another Blanc Faces record though!

Q: Now-a-days the term “musical project” sometimes has a negative connotation — which in my mind shouldn’t, as a project such as this has to open up opportunities for the musicians that are taking part, opportunities that otherwise would not exist... Would you care to comment?

A: Sure. It’s really cool that I can do an album that is born and finished in Sweden! Wow, no airplanes at all.

The Find Me project has this amazing vibe to it, we all know what it should sound like! So all the great players create this awesome foundation for

Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

me to sing on. It’s really cool. I can find nothing negative about that!

Q: “Dark Angel” is an excellent collection of songs, are there any favourites or songs that have a special story behind them?

A: I didn’t write any of the songs but there are special ones that reach out to me. “Nowhere To Hide” really hits home, “Midnight Memories” is a great pop rocker, I loved singing that one! We do a cover of a Kenny Loggins song, “I’m Free”. I had a blast singing that one too!

Q: Upon listening to this collection, one can hear the love that went in to the recordings, so obviously you enjoy working with everyone involved — but how difficult is it to get everyone on board — as you all are so busy…

A: We all make the commitment and we honor it! We agree to a timeline and thankfully we got it done! Again, this one went pretty quick. Daniel really put his heart into this one and really did a great job on all fronts: drums, mixing and production.

Band: Saffire

Question: How have things changed for the band since the release of “From The Ashes”?

Answer: “From Ashes To Fire” gave us a very good start with lots of great response.

It was kind of a groundbreaker for us, helping us reach out to a big audience, landing some really nice gigs and also signing us with our booking agency “Rocknytt”. So in that way it has changed, I guess. I wouldn’t say that there’s been some dramatic changes within the band.

Q: How would you best describe your music and who would it appeal to the most?

A: Classic, melodic hard rock with a touch of metal and a hint of progressive touches.

If you come to one of our shows you’ll find 18 year old metal fans, 30 year old pop/rock fans and 65 year old Deep Purple/Rainbow fans. The song and the melodies are the most important thing for us, and that’s why we have a broad audience. People who like the 70s/80s bands like Purple, Van Halen, Rainbow etc can find similarities in our songs while the younger folks can hear hints of Audioslave, Symphony X, Ghost etc.

Q: About the recording process. Did you feel that you needed to get it done quickly after the success of your debut album?

Or did you take your time to produce the best album you could...

8 | MRF

Interview with: Anton

A: No, it’s all about writing good songs.

Luckily, we have one of the best song writers out there in Victor, who’s just a pure genious. So no stress when writing the songs, although we were really looking forward to making a new, great album! We had some songs done to about 90% a couple of months before we started to record, so we had all the time we needed to think it through and get the right feel in the songs.

Q: Would you say that the material develops in a particular way as the new album progresses from beginning to end?

A: Compared to “From Ashes To Fire” it’s a bit more “even”. With FATF we started the album with the more classic hard rock and easy accessible songs, then the more complex and so on. On this album the flow and songs are more even and the tracklist sort of fell in a natural way.

Q: What part of your life do you think your music reflects the most?

A: Well, on this album we’re focusing on the stuff that’s going on around the world more than our own lives. But also on experiences that we’ve all had in our own lives during different periods. For example, “As Promises Burn” is a song about bullying and the consequences of it, and we all have some kind of connection to it, you know. I’d say it’s constantly changing depending on what’s going on in our lives and around us.

Interview by: Barry McMinn

Q: Can you tell us the story behind the video for ‘Casters of the First Stone’?

A: The video is supposed to illustrate corruption, manipulation and the irresponsible acts of powerful people. The guy in the red mask illustrates the “evil” side and Tobbe, our singer is acting as a politician/messenger who fights against it but also has to give in to it because of the way the world works.

Money / power talks, you know.

Q: Could you tell me about the origins of the song ‘Shadowland’? It’s very catchy and damn near impossible to get out of your head!

A: Oh, thanks! Glad to hear! "Shadowland" was featured on an early demo that we made many years ago. Victor had that really cool boogie riff recorded and we worked around that. I had been working on coordination and foot exercises when I came up with a cool groove (2:44 and onwards in the song) that the boys liked, and later we added it into the song.

Q: An obvious question perhaps, but are you taking to the road to promote the album either later this year or early 2016?

A: OF COURSE! We love to play live and hopefully we’ll be on the road more than ever next year. The album is out November 27th, so I’m guessing there won’t be much time to tour this year, but 2016 definitely!

Barry McMinn: The band originally started as out as solo and studio project, so what made you decide to bring things together as a full on band?

Dave Harvey: About half of the first album were songs that I and the drummer (Bryan Diffee) from a previous band decided to record. I wrote a few more to fill up the album and recruited a vocalist (Trae Doss) to write lyrics for the remaining songs and record vocals. Once I had written songs for the second album the first two guys were not available to record, so I recruited another singer and drummer. But as we were recording, conversation led to making this into a live band. We recruited another guitarist and bass player as things went along and had everyone we needed before the album was finished.

BMM: The band’s sound has been described as a mix of Maiden and Queensryche, but how do the band see themselves musically?

DH: I can understand those references because Maiden is definitely one of my favorites and James has a similar style voice of early Tate. Although, musically I just write what comes naturally to me. It's not like I intentionally try to sound like anyone. I heard it said many years ago "wear your influences on your sleeve." I guess it's just natural to do that.

BMM: The new album is real heads-down metal album, so was this your original vision for the album, or did it just evolve into the metal beast of an album that it became?

DH: First of all, thank you for saying that. I have always been into power metal so yes, I guess you could say it was the ultimate vision for the album and band.

BMM: It’s been 3 years since your debut, so how long have you been working on the follow up ‘Carry The Fire’?

DH: I had maybe 3 songs already written when the first album was released. Being that the intention was to do another studio project, I was in no real hurry. I had Aska taking some of my time during those years so I just wrote when I could and was inspired. Most of the album music was written by the time James and I got together.

BMM: How would you compare the US Metal scene to that of Europe?

DH: Europeans still appreciate and support the metal scene like it should be. Here in the U.S. not so much. The rise of the grunge scene and record labels really killed it here. Fans don't get out to the shows anymore unless it's a huge name. It'll never fully recover.

BMM: Have you thought about taking the band on the road to promote the album and if so, would you travel across the pond to Europe?

DH: Absolutely... we're hoping to work with our label on doing some shows with Theocracy and eventually hitting some fests in Europe next year.

Band: Blood Red Saints

Question: We know you from the likes of In Faith, Angels Or Kings and Tainted Nation. How did you decide to get together?

Answer: Late in 2014 It became obvious that the in Faith ‘project’ wasn’t going to work, due to various issues. I decided I wanted to form a band, one where everyone worked for the better of the band. I was writing with Rob Naylor and it quickly became evident that we had the same interests and aims. Soon after we made the decision to give it a go. We needed a guitarist, Lee Revill was suggested by several people and we arranged a meeting with him. We left him with a couple of rough demos and he came back with better results than we could have hoped for. I had known Pete Newdeck from the In Faith recording process, Pete had quickly become a close friend and importantly, I trust his judgement. He was the only choice to play drums for Blood Red Saints.

Q: This is very much seen as a band rather than a project.

A: It definitely is a BAND!! We all get along really well and we can’t wait to take it out live. We are several songs into the next album already, so the band is developing nicely.

10 | MRF

Interview with: Pete Godfrey

Q: Were all the songs written for the record or was there material from your previous bands that was reworked?

A: I had 4 or 5 songs that had never been used, I played the rough ideas to the guys and then we went about making them fit into our idea of what the Blood Red Saints should sound like. Apart from “Best Thing”, all of the other tracks were reworked quite extensively, with everybody putting their parts and ideas in.

Q: It has elements of some classic British AOR bands like FM, Dare and even Def Leppard but manages to have a strong identity all of its own, would you agree?

A: I can definitely see the elements that are mentioned, the idea behind the band is that we want to put out albums that would have competed with what we classed as the great albums of the eighties. Albums like Hysteria, Indiscreet, Slippery When Wet, that’s where we need to be but with a modern edge.

Q: How did you get Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) and the Martin brothers (Vega) involved?

A: Harry Hess mastered the In Faith album, Pete Newdeck is good friends

Interview by: Duncan Jamieson

with him and it was Pete who suggested getting Harry onboard to do the mastering again. While we were working on the album, Pete asked Harry to put some piano down on a track called Faith. The results were great so Harry ended up playing on our album! I met James and Tom at Firefest in 2014, we got on really well. We decided to write something together, they sent me the track that would eventually become “Best of Me”.

It was easy to write with them because they have such a great sense of melody and structure. I would definitely work with the guys again in a heartbeat. We had another track that we wanted to put on the album, maybe that will be released at some point.

Q: Do you have plans to play any forthcoming shows?

A: We are doing a launch show on the album release date 4th December in Bolton, then we have the JSY/ARFM charity show at the end of January in Derby. We are playing at HRH AOR in March and we are proud to be playing the Frontiers Festival III in April.

We are trying to add shows hopefully supporting some bands, we want to play as much as possible before recording album 2 in 2016.

Band: Waken Eyes

Question: Hello guys! How are you? Your debut album “Exodus” sounds really intense and powerful, with a stellar musicianship and an amazing songwriting, from the first note to the very last one.

What are your impressions and expectations about it?

Answer: We are good! Didn't really know what to expect to be honest.

But Well the response so far has been amazing and overwhelming.

Very positive vibes!

Q: How is born the band?

A: Waken Eyes started around two years ago. I was already playing in another progressive metal band at the time and doing my solo album instrumental shows as well. After the band went on hiatus I decided to continue writing music for this new project I had in mind. I still love instrumental music but I really enjoy vocals as well. It was a conscious decision because I felt stuck and not really “progressing” in music scene. So I started to write all these riffs, melodies, string arrangements for what is now Exodus. I wanted to get top notch players to accompany me on a cinematic melodic progressive album.

Interview with: Tom Frelek

After getting superb players like Marco, Mike, and Henrik the album couldn’t of turned out better. It’s has been a long road for the completion of the record but it was all for the best!

Q: How did you manage to have bassist Mike Lepond (Symphony X) and drummer Marco Minnemann (Joe Satriani] on your album? Both are BIG names in the Prog Metal scene...

A: Well they are professionists and nice guys. It was a matter of showing them the material and the vision of the album. They liked it and we started recording weeks later!

Q: “Exodus” is a quite unique and diverse album; we might include it in the Progressive Metal world, yet it features catchy melodies, challenging instrumental parts and epic cinematic movements. How would you describe it and are you satisfied with the final result?

A: Yes. It definetly has elements of progressive metal and cinematic movements. I would describe it as a Cinematic Rock record. I've always been a fan of soundtracks and scores to film. So i wanted a cinematic feel to the album. I wanted the music to

Interview by: Primo Bonali

truly tell a story and make listeners think. We couldn't be more happier of how it turned out. It really came together nicely after the mixing process. It's a record that takes more than one listen and grows on you I think.

Q: Which have been your most important influences in writing an album like “Exodus”?

A: We all have our own influences when it comes to the writing and performing music. But in terms of the record as a whole. The influence of telling the story of being fearless drove the music. That it might help listeners that are going through tough times.

Q: What are your hobbies?

A: I’m a big sports fan, I like to play hockey, baseball, volleyball.

On the weekends I volunteer at a dog shelter and train stray dogs find a home, which is pretty cool.

Q: Any touring-plans?

A: We'll have to wait and see! Stay tuned!

Q: That's it! Thanx a lot for your time. Any last words?

A: Thank you! Keep on shreddin' and stay tuned for more things to come!

MRF | 11

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VANDEN PLAS “Netherworld Part 2” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

‘Chronicles of the Immortals Netherworld Pt 2’ is the much anticipated second chapter to German Prog Metallers Vanden Plas’s 2014 opus ‘Chronicles of the Immortals Netherworld Path 1, and once again the band have set the bar high for the genre with this follow up. This release is a very epic piece of work from the Germans, as you would expect, as the band expand on the story of saga of the immortal Andrej Delãnymay. The album is full of bombastic overtures that have become the stalwart sound for the band over the years, so why shouldn’t this continue. Andy Kuntz delivers a near flawless vocal performance as he brings Delãnymay to life, with the soaring guitar work of Stephan Lill and the sublime keyboards of, Günter Werno this album really takes the story to another level.

Soaring melodies abound really have to listened to, to take the full Vanden Plas experience. Definitely one of their finest pieces of work to date. I would love to catch the full stage show of this epic Rock Opera to experience the complete story in all its glory.

BMM (95/100)

HAREM SCAREM “Live at the Phoenix” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

This is a great live album from the Canadian rockers that encompasses music from across the band’s career and with a catalogue as strong as theirs it can’t help but be a great listen. Although the stage set up is pretty basic; a small stage with the band all dressed in black, it’s well shot with multiple camera angles. The band is extremely well-drilled; Pete Lesperance’s guitar playing remains as fluid, melodic and heavy as ever. Drummer Darren Smith delivers some great vocals on ‘Sentimental Boulevard’. Harry Hess is a relaxed frontman these days with a dry sense of humour. His voice is still brilliant and instantly recognisable. All the Scarem classic are here such as ‘Saviors Never Cry’, ‘Stranger Than Love’ and ‘No Justice’ but you also get the occasional surprise like ‘Distant Memory’ from the first album, the more modern classics like ‘Dagger’ and ‘Killing Me’ plus strong versions of ‘Garden of Eden’ and ‘The Midnight Hours’ from their most recent ‘Thirteen’ album. With 20 tracks this is like a bumper greatest hits live package and the band’s performance is so good, it stands up to repeat spins, something that can’t be said of many live records. DJ (94/100)

BILLY SHERWOOD “Citizen” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

“Citizen”, Billy’s latest musical journey is all of the above and certainly more! “Citizen” is an expansive soundscape, a powerful musical concept both in song and performance. It is a story that is mysterious, one that chronicles the life and journey of a soul on an endless journey through time. The story is timeless and so is the music! An album that demands intense listening, with musical tapestries that layer instruments and voice, melts them in to flowing living musical waters that are warm and hit direct to the heart. An albums worth of thoroughly provocative, immersive and soulful musical movements that hinge on the classical. I could go through each and every selection, but that would take volumes of words… So let’s just say that within “Citizen” we get an unexpected, yet beautiful movement of music and voice, a compelling story and all created by one of the world’s top progressive musicians! Enough said? I think so, other than Billy Sherwood’s “Citizen” is a masterful musical work that will endure for years to come and be thought of as a Modern Symphonic Classic! BA (92/100)

FIND ME “Dark Angel” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

This is the second collaboration of Daniel Flores and Robbie La Blanc and it’s a monster! “Dark Angel” is huge in sound, vast in songwriting and colossal in production! Bringing these two fine musicians together unleashes a flood of creativity that brings us varied rivers of Melodic Rock with a razor’s edge. Strong, driving songs that surrounds us with soaring up-tempo pieces that will make your heart swell! Both of these musicians have invited many of their musical friends to contribute to “Dark Angel”. Guitarist Philip Lindstrand is front and centre, as is Soren Kronqvist on keyboards and Daniel himself, is behind the drum kit. Others have also joined in, like vocalist Angelica Rylin. All in all “Dark Angel” is performed with passion sung with conviction and is very muscular in tone. Complete with an over all heart felt selection of musical pieces, this second effort is a definite 10! Rich and potent, and over flowing with melodic rivers, this album will certainly ‘Find Me’ listening over and over!

BA (95/100)

HUNGRYHEART “Dirty Italian Job” (Tanzan Music)

MAJOR INSTINCT “Roots & Wings” (AOR Heaven)

SIGNUM REGIS “Chapter IV-The Reckoning” (Ulterium Records)

TORINO “Customized” (Steelheart Memories)

MANIMAL “Trapped in the Shadows” (AFM Records)

DIVINER “Fallen Empires” (Ulterium Records)

Complete with towering guitars and punchy keys, this album simply rocks! The opening track, “There Is A Reason For Everything” explodes with sound & emotion and if it was released at the beginning of Summer, we would have seen it climb to number 1! “Dirty Italian Job” displays the massive musical talents of Josh Zighetti, Mario Percudani, Stefano Scola, and Paolo Botteschi. Twelve BIG numbers that touch upon all human emotion, and then some!

“Nothing But You” showcases Josh’s husky, emotive voice and displays the strong but tender musicianship of all who make up Hungryheart. Razor sharp guitar signatures to tasteful keyboard fills, this album has it all! The blues-rock of “Devil’s Got My Number” and “Second Hand Love” to the Power rock of “Bad Love” and others “Dirty Italian Job” just keeps surprising us as it grows from strength to strength.

Everything is balanced and just perfectly! Another highlight song on this super release is “You Can Run”, one of many I may add, giving us a mighty record indeed! “Dirty Italian Job” is certainly the one worth waiting for! Enjoy! BA (90/100)

Mr. Laneby should be no stranger to music lovers, as he founded M.ILL.ION some twenty-odd years ago! “Major Instinct” came about after a lengthy and serious illness suffered by B.J. The bassist brought together some of the best musicians in Sweden, presented a fistful of songs and proceeded to create a miracle in hard rock styling’s! “Roots & Wings” is the group’s debut, and these ‘first fruits’ are overwhelmingly ripe with meaty riffs, forceful drums, pulsating bottom rhythms and topped with soaring vocals!

Hard, and at times heavy, each piece gains energy, and rises a little higher when Stefano starts to sing. Hard Rock?-Yes!, a Classic sound? Yes, but with more than enough modern touches. The lyrical content brings forth many stories about life, the ups and downs of a modern citizen of the world. Each musical opus is both inspirational and serious. Each is performed with precision, fervor and muscle! The music we hear is full of emotion, from the whispers to the thunderous climaxes throughout! Yes, this is a debut, but from wise veterans that just know how to rock! “Major Instinct”, ‘Roots & Wings’: a grand beginning from these five grand musicians. An album full of promise and potential!

BA (88/100)

The power metal outfit from Slovakia had the dependable Goren Edman handle the vocals on their first couple of records and their last album, the epic ‘Exodus’, they used different vocalists for each track.

One of those singers Mayo Petranin is now their permanent vocalist and sings on all the songs here, making for a more unified sound. Petranin has a voice that works well with the music, capable of hitting those soaring notes.

However, what really identifies the band is their neo-classical twin guitars that pump out sharp, heavy riffs and speedy guitar runs that are driven by an explosive rhythm section that outpaces Usain Bolt at times and a keyboard sound that adds colour. The band’s first single off the record ‘Lost And Found’ has a good hook. You would think the band were Scandinavian listening to ‘The Secret Of The Sea’ with its catchy chorus. ‘Prophet Of Doom’ also has a good hook and is complex enough to tip it into the prog camp. ‘Tempter Of Evil’ balances power and melody to good effect and ‘Kingdom Of Heaven’ creates a soaring soundscape that feels like ascension to heaven might indeed feel. Signum Regis continue to grow. DJ (84/100)

Now finally on Cd for the very first time, “Customized” was the debut album for Melodic Hard Rock act TORINO. Despite its limited production, the album contained some catchy & melodic songs, like “Call Of The Wild”, "Can't Let Go", “Out Of The Fire” and the soft ballad “Take My Heart Away”, that might definitely bring a smile on the faces of all SHY, FM and Strangeways fans. With a singer like Stuart Fox, whose style sat somewhere between Jon Bon Jovi and Steve Plunkett (Autograph) and some songs that dripped with the red, white and blue of the American stars and stripes, TORINO were one of the few acts that truly deserved their deal, back in the day. Coming complete with the original GRAN TORINO demos, extensive liner-notes and a host of memorabilia and press cuttings, plus the usual full remaster from the original tapes , “Customized”, as part of the LOST UK JEWELS Series, is a welcome addition to any Hard Rock/AOR lover’s collection. REB (90/100)

When the world of Melodic and Hard Rock is dominated by the Scandinavian quarter, they can still produce great Heavy Metal and one great example is Gothenburg’s Manimal. Now in 2015 they return with the second album and follow up to the critically acclaimed debut ‘The Darkest Room’. The album gets off to flying start with ‘Psychopomp’, a bombastic no holds barred modern rocker that is followed by the riff laden slab of Metal that is ‘Irresistible’.

This is where frontman Samuel Nyman really shows his power and might along with the rip snorting fiery licks of Henrik Stenroos on guitar. Imagine Judas Priest meets Accept. Now there’s a link as the album has a very special guest vocalist in Mr Udo Dirkschieder, who delivers his full vocal might on ‘The Journey’ another all out metal assault. This is a real heads-down metal album, a must for all metalheads who like their guitars fast and frantic, but who also like a touch of melody.

BMM (89/100)

This is a big bruising debut from the Greek metal heads.

Sonically powerful, it takes traditional metal, a whiff of thrash and some modern intensity to create a disc that impresses. Serious, no-nonsense metal, ‘Fallen Empires’ sets out their stall with a strong hook at its centre. ‘Kingdom Come’ comes on like a snarly Dio. ‘Evilizer’ gets heavier in a Judas priest meets Accept type way. ‘Rider From The East’ pitches itself between Manowar and Iron Maiden.

The strident ‘The Legend Goes On’ has great chants at the beginning and the end which could have been exploited more. Yiannis Papanikolaou has a forceful voice as evidenced on ‘Come To My Glory’ and the long closer ‘Out In The Abyss’ shows off a dynamic arrangement. It’s an accomplished disc for a debut bolstered by Peter In de Betou’s mastering. This is one for the unreconstructed man, who loves the bands mentioned above and more modern fair like Iced Earth. DJ (82/100)

KHYMERA “The Grand Design” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

The Grand Design is the much-anticipated new album from Khymera and after some 7 years in hiatus, Dennis Ward once again takes up the vocals and bass for this new album. Although the whole Khymera project started out as an alliance between Italian producer / musician, Daniele Liverani and then Kansas singer Steve Walsh, but it was only when Ward took over the reins that Khymera really took off, and now he brings the name of Khymera band back along with Felix Bohnke (drums), Michael Klein (guitars), Eric Ragno (keyboards) and Jim Rybkost (piano, additional keyboards). Together they have made the 7 year hiatus worth the wait as this album is one of albums of the year. So far a true reflection of the talent of Ward, not only a producer and songwriter, but also as a great vocalist. The album has some great tunes far to many to list but some of my favourites have to be the stunning ‘Say What You Want’, the excellent ‘She’s Got The Love’ and the title track ‘The Grand Design’ is just magnificent.

These are just three of my favourites, but to be honest any of the 12 tracks could have made the list. If you don’t buy another album in 2015, then let The Grand Design be the one to round off your year. BMM (98/100)

MAGNUS KARLSSON’S FREEFALL “Kingdom of Rock” (Frontiers Music S.r.l.)

The Swedish guitarist returns with his second solo album and it’s a masterclass in melodic metal. As on his debut, he entices a who’s who of hard rock singers to join him, no doubt drawn by the classy songs. We know he’s a great guitarist and his powerful, melodic playing is all over this disc, but he also adds keyboards and it’s the overall quality of the song writing that is the record’s strength, trumping his debut. There are some stirring hard rockers like the Jacob Samual (The Poodles) sung ‘Out Of The Dark’ and the epic ‘When the Sky Falls’ with Tony Martin re-conjuring up his stint with Black Sabbath. You also get the excellent ‘No Control’ which is ideal for Jo Lynn Turner and ‘A Heart So Cold’ which Harry Hess’s distinctive voice turns into a song that could fit comfortably on any Harem Scarem album. Karlsson also sings on two tracks and proves to be a decent singer too.

Consistently strong songs and all the guests put in good performances, making this an easy buy for melodic rock fans. Jorn sings the line, “We will rule the Kingdom Of Rock” on the awesome opener and he’s not wrong. DJ (94/100)

BLOOD RED SAINTS “Speedway” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

While the band name might be new, the personnel involved should ring some bells for British aor fans. Pete Godfery of In Faith, Rob Naylor from Angels Or Kings, Pete Newdeck of Eden’s Curse and Tainted Nation fame plus Lee Revel combine their talents to create one of the best British melodic rock albums of the year. It speeds out of the gates with the hard rocking ‘Kickin’Up Dust’ where Godfery comes on a bit Joe Elliot and is then followed, still at full throttle, by ‘Mercy’ with its big harmonious chorus. The brooding, Ten like, ‘Dangerous’ and the keyboard and guitar mix on ‘Better Days’, recalling the recent Iconic Eye effort, tick the songs-that-rock box. ‘Best of Me’ has an epic early Dare quality. I thought the great sing-a-long ‘The Best Thing’ sounded a bit like FM but ‘Wrapped Up in these Arms’ sounds so much like FM you’ll need your ears syringed to discern the difference. Godfery’s honeyed vocals, with their heart on their sleeve quality, really lift the record. A couple of co-writes with the Martin brothers from Vega and a mastering job by Harem Scarem’s Harry Hess adds further to the pedigree on this record. DJ (92/100)

MILLENNIAL REIGN “Carry the Fire” (Ulterium Records)

ENFORCER “Live By Fire” (Nuclear Blast)

WAKEN EYES “Exodus” (Ulterium Records)

VOODOO CIRCLE “Whisky Fingers” (AFM Records)

SAFFIRE “For the Greater Good” (Aor Heaven)

TORINO “Rock It” (Steelheart Memories)

This is a must buy album for fans of the likes of Queensryche, but with a touch of Power Metal thrown into the mix for good measure. In new vocalist James Guest they have powerful frontman to take the band to the next level, and with the twin guitars of Jason Donnelly and Dave Harvey (as he takes up the six string), the pairing deliver power chords that are the perfect foil for Guest’s tremendous vocals power, and with the rhythm section of Daniel Almagro on bass and Wayne Stokely, they have real tour de force to bring the big thunderous sound that the album deserves. Highlights for me have to be ‘The Day’, the riff fuelled ‘Way Up High’ and the excellent ‘Not My Own Way’, being are just a few of the stand out tracks on this wondrous slice of power driven Metal. Like I said if you’re into Queensryche and great twin guitar metal, then this release is a must to check out. BMM (90/100)

Recorded in Tokyo on October 20th, 2013 (DVD) and in Athens on January 24th, 2013 (CD), “Live By Fire” is a very nice package destined not only to ENFORCER fans but to anybody into Classic Metal and NWOBHM. You can find here 9 tracks (on the DVD section) plus 18 tracks on the CD section, with the last three being brand new exclusive studio tracks. The live-recording shows us a band devoted to the roots of Heavy Metal in any conceivable way, weather its spirit, sound and authenticity.

Enforcer is definitely an unstoppable force and their live shows are pure energy, immense power and genuine attitude.

“Real Metal or no Metal at all” is what they believe, live and sing.

Horns up! PB (87/100)

It doesn't happen very often to listen to a debut-album of a new band and be immediately caught and trapped into its musical vision; intriguing, epic, majestic and breath-taking, this is how Progressive Metal should always sound! Put together by guitarist Tom Frelek duing 2013, Waken Eyes features no less than Mike Lepond (Symphony X) on bass and Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, Joe Satriani) on drums, plus Henrik Båth (Darkwater) on all vocals. The album is amazing, impressive and pretty unique; progressivebut still very melodic, epic, intense and majestic, inspired by different sources like music, paintings and movies. Close your eyes and listen to these 10 gems; emotions, shivers, dreams... that's exactly what great music can give you, when you really “feel” it. TOP album. PB (93/100)

Eleven high energy, exciting slices of Hard Rock driven by guitar and keyboards. Alex Beyrodt has certainly gone one better, this time around!

“Whisky Fingers” dials in at 12 on the Richter scale! This record also introduces us to two new members of the group: drummer Francesco Jovino lays down a heavy and highly energised canopy of percussion and adding more muscle to each performance.

Alessandro del Vecchio has also found a new home for himself and his keyboard talents! Again, adding an expanded sonic expression that meshes nicely with the driving riffs of Alex’s guitar.

That thunderous bottom end?

Well, that is Mat Sinner, certainly a strong presence and one that anchors what we hear so solidly! This line-up simply spells supergroup and the music is the same!

“Whiskey Fingers” is so strong, a straight on Rock extravaganza and done only like “Voodoo Circle” can do.

This album will totally amaze… DJ (82/100)

Hailing from what has become the heart of great melodic and hard rock, Swedish hard rock outfit Saffire return with their second album ‘For the Greater Good’. The album see the band bringing great melodic rock with a touch of AOR and some Classic Rock influences, in an album that highlights perfectly the quality of the musicianship.The album opens up with the impressive ‘The Great Escape’, where we instantly get that mix of Classic and modern hard rock, with the Hammond organ bringing that classic sound, while the big guitars bring in that modern edge. From here in you get immersed in the sheer class of this quintet, with great moments like the title track that has more licks than you can shake a stick at. Then there is ‘Shadowland’, where the band show a heavier side and bring 70’s vibe to the mix. The band manages to bring classic and modern together in one superb album, a real mixed bag that will keep you coming back time and time again. BMM (92/100)

After the overtly Americanised Melodic Rock splendour of “Customized”, Liverpool’s favourite AOR sons decided to go into a slightly harder direction with a bigger, bolder sound than what was captured on “Customized”; what we got is “Rock It”, the follow-up album, originally released in 1989, resulting in a sparkling set of Hard-Rock tunes, with a second guitar player added to the line-up and some punchy anthems like the titular “Rock It”, the Kisslike, the hyper-melodic “Seven Mountains” and the overtly sentimental “It Takes A Man To Cry”.

Unfortunately after the release of the album, the band split up, due to the usual problems (lack of support from the label, internal problems, etc); still – with “Rock It” - Torino definitely went out with a bang. Featuring a full set of long lost and previously unheard pre-production demos, extensive liner notes, full remastered sound and a raft of memorabilia and press cuttings, “Rock It” (now released as Vol.12 of the LOST UK JEWELS Series) finally gets the reissue it so richly deserves.

REB (90/100)

Question: Knowing that ‘Major Instinct’ is a new band, but made up of veteran musicians, please tell us a little of the band… And how you all came together…

Answer: I had already talked Stefano Marchesini to before the last M.ILL.ION tour about doing something together. Fantastic singer and great guy who I produced in the 90`s and I always had him in mind ever since. We met up in November last year and in December 4/5 of the band were in place. Johan Häll I brought in from the last M.ILL.ION line up and Magnus Mild the guitarist was recommended to me by Stefano .Our guy behind the

played the big stages, have seven internationally released albums with my former band M.ILL.ION and now a new one with my new band MAJOR INSTINCT. Quite a journey, but at the same time: I know where I come from! “You need Roots and Wings, combined to fulfill Your dreams”…

Q: Not only is B.J. a survivor, but all of the members of the group are in Band: Major Instinct one form or another. Does this magnify the desire of Interview with: B.J Laneby staying a team?It certainly shows in the music!

Interview by: Bruce Atkinson A: Thanks, glad You can hear that. It might be my Hammond Organ took a little longer to brainchild, but this band is just that: a find, but now he´s here. He´s just 22 B A N D! I wrote all the lyrics but years old but plays the shit out of that regarding the music, everybody conorgan and he´s hero is Jon Lord (R.I.P). tributes. Each and everyone in this That suits me just fine. gang is a great musician but at the same Q: May we continue with the meaning time very cool and fun to be around of the title of the debut, “Roots & guys. Everybody brings something to Wings”…it is an interesting title, and the table and we´re all family. Great song… atmosphere and we enjoy working A: The lyrics are actually about my together. A very creative team and we story as a rocker. Started out as a fan laugh a lot. Important in these dark myself, drove for hours on my moped to times. get the new album from KISS, went to Q: So how long did you spend in the all the shows, started playing in a band studio? in my garage etc etc…”Some time” A: A month, give or take. July 2015 we later I find myself as a colleague and recorded and in august the mix were friend with many of my teenage idols, done.

Band: Hungryheart

Question: I would like to begin by asking a question that you have most likely answered far too many times! Why so long between your second record and this brand new one?

Mario Percudani: Well, It’s been five years of numerous collaborations, albums and live shows. Frankly speaking we would have loved to release it a couple of years ago, but we had to wait until 2015 .... But now we know this has been the right time to make a more mature album, a release that can really reveal what we are today.

Q: It seems that you have taken control over all aspects of the recording sessions, including the production being done within the band…

A: Dirty Italian Job has been created and produced in my studio from scratch, so I think that having the complete control of every single step is the main difference compared to our previous albums. The final results is exactly what we had in our mind, so we are very happy about it.

Q: I’ve noticed that you have utilised the talents of Alessandro Del Vecchio on several songs… Must have been great working with such a musician…

Josh Zinghetti: Alessandro is a great friend of ours and yes of course a great talent. Luckily we often have the chance to work with him and we have been knowing each other very well for a long time.

We are very proud of having him as a

Interview with: M. Percudani / J. Zinghetti

guest on some songs of this new album, as well as the other guests/friends and awesome musicians Giulio Garghentini and Paolo Apollo Negri.

Q: Being that you have taken more time in development of this, your third release… Did you change your routine at all? Approaching the recording tasks a little differently?

JZ: As we said before, we’ve been playing many shows and making many releases with different projects in the last years, so for sure this has influenced a lot our approach to the recordings and the making of this new album. We can feel a kind of evolution, not just for the songs themselves but for the production too.

Q: Every selection is very strong, and having said that, do you, yourself, have any favourite tracks?

MP: It’s always hard to pick some favourite tracks because every song has inside its own story to tell. And all songs of Dirty Italian Job talk about us, our lives and dreams, we tried to find inspiration from every single and simple thing around us. “Shoreline”, which is also the single and the first videoclip of the album, is probably one of our favourite track, both for the lyrics and the music that represents very well our sound and songwriting. Other songs are “All over again”, which is the first song written for this new album, “Nothing but you”, written on a little island far away, and

Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

“Second Hand Love”.

Q: I know “Dirty Italian Job” has been out for a while, are you happy with the results so far?

JZ: Being the third album, before the release date, we were worried and anxious to know the feedback of our fans and melodic rock lovers. Now we can say that we are so happy about the result! The album is going great, we received amazing feedback from people and media all over the world!

Q: Are you planning to extend your touring in to 2016, before you enter the studio once again?

A: Since the release date we did many shows and shared the stage with bands like Ted Poley, Eclipse, Bonafide and others. We have already planned many shows in 2016 and thanks to some new collaborations it looks like it will be a good year for touring. We are doing our best to do a good live promotion of the new album before starting working on the next one..... and for sure we won’t wait other five years to release it!

Q: Thanks for answering some of these questions, and all the best in the future for you and the rest of the band!

Please leave our readers with some closing thoughts…

A: Thank you for the interview, Bruce!

It’s been great to spend some time with you and we hope to hear soon your feedback about Dirty Italian Job. See you on the road! Rock on!

MRF | 15

Band: Enforcer

Question: Hello guys, how are you?

Great to have you back on the scene with your new Work, the “Live By Fire” CD/DVD package. So first of all, who did come out with this idea to release a live-album and do you think this is the natural step for a band like you, after the release of 4 studio-albums?

Answer: The idea came from that we all of a sudden had these recordings, both the audio and the video. When we recorded it it was never meant to end up on a official release but we were so happy with the outcome of them we decided to bunch it together to a nice little package together with some new songs and release it as it was. It's a nice thing to do after doing 4 full length albums in a row.

Q: “Live By Fire” features a DVD recorded during October 2013 in Tokyo and a Cd recorded in January 2013 at Athens, and it doesn't contain any material off your latest album “From Beyond”...

Please let us know more about this choice...

A: It's simply because this was recorded in 2013 and we hold on to the material until we found a proper way of releasing it. We made the 16 | MRF

Interview with: Olof

decision last year to focus on a new album (From Beyond) instead of putting too much time and effort into a live album.

Q: On the “Live By Fire” CD/DVD package we are able to find also three unreleased new songs that make the whole thing even more interesting... have these songs been written especially for this release?

A: These songs are completely written exclusively for this release as an EP. Figured it's a nice way of writing songs for once when you can do something completely free from the "context". Writing full lenghts are much about making an entirety and making a certain flow that lasts for 40-45 minutes. This is more to nail down the best songs we possibly can do.

Q: What has been the feedback from fans and press to your latest album “From Beyond”?

A: The feedback has been tremendous in all way and it feels we have grown a lot with it, which is great. the audience picks up the new stuff better than anything else we've done before.

Q: Since the debut, all of your album sound very powerful and “real”, we can feel the passion and

Interview by: Primo Bonali

heart you put into any of your Works. How do you keep yourself always so inspired?

A: Listen to music a lot is the key to be inspired. But also, that you work with stuff until you're happy with it yourself and don't let anything go before that.

Q: What is the reason of your interest and passion in music?

A: I don’t really know, I’ve always been playing music. My parents were musicians so that sort of got me interested. I don’t really consider myself a musician I consider myself a hard rocker. I do it for the passion of the music rather than any musicianship or anything.

Q: Your advice to young bands?

A: Be yourself 100%. Don’t try to copy other bands, but even if people ditch you for what you do just do it even more. The more personalised you can be the better. Don’t let people get you down for doing your own thing.

Q: How's your opinion on the actual international Heavy Metal scene?

A: There's a few bands that stands out and that I like, but to be quite honest with you I'm not much into new music whatsoever.

Band: Khymera

Question: The first question is pretty obvious, why the seven year gap between albums?

Answer: Was it 7 years? I guess you loose a feel for time as you get old. Actually I was quite busy with other things, like working with Unisonic and other projects. It just took a long time, somehow.

Q: Next up is how long have you been working on the album?

A: The actual songwriting started around fall of 2014. I record a lot of material as I write so it was spaced out between a half a year… But it didn’t take half a year of course. Some of the recordings were done at the other musicians home studios. I recorded all of the drums at HOFA studios, the bass, clean guitars, acoustic guitars and vocals at my place. Pete recorded at his place as did Eric and Michael partially. The mix I also did a my place.

Q: This is first album featuring no outside writers just the people involved with the record. Did this give you more freedom to make the album you wanted?

A: Absolutely. I could be sure that the material fit to my voice and I think we made a “red line” through the record. Something I feel strongly about as an artist and producer. It also let me experiment more with 18 | MRF

Interview with: Dennis Ward

arrangements, something I find to be highly over looked in these days of “do-it-yourself” bedroom productions. Seems like many new acts, that produce themselves, just worry about getting an intro, versebridge-chorus, repeat, solo, and ending chorus (repeat and fade). Sometimes that’s all you need and sometimes it’s just boring.

I like having middle parts and “C” parts that take the song into deeper territories for the listener to be able to “walk around” in.

Yes, I did indeed enjoy the freedom.

Q: The band around you is also new, so how did the rest of the guys get involved on the album?

A: With Felix Bohnke it was simply because I had fell in love with his drumming whilst on tour (Edguy/Unisonic). I found out that he is a long time fan of AOR music and then I had to ask him the obvious: “Would you play drums on the next Khymera album?”

To my surprise and delight he said “yes”.

Michael Klein (guitars) is a long time buddy of mine. I felt he was fit for the job and he showed a lot of enthusiasm. It’s also easy working with him since he lives only a few minutes away. I feel it is important to work closely with the guitarist on a rock album.

Eric Ragno I’ve worked with in the past.

He’s become a friend. He is MR. AOR key-

Interview by: Barry McMinn

boards. I like his interpretations of my ideas and I like the fact that he can get to the point of an idea of mine quickly. Pete Newdeck, is a buddy of mine that I’ve always enjoyed working with. He had offered a choir idea to the song “Street Lights” while working with Paul and after hearing his idea I begged him to work with me on the choirs for the album. If anyone needs cool choirs, Pete’s your man. Jim Rykbost was actually a buddy of Pauls’ at first. He wrote most of the music to “Where is the love” and I was immediately captivated by his piano skills. I think playing the piano is a different thing from being just a “keyboardist”. I was very glad to have him onboard.

Q: In your opinion, how has the bands sound evolved since the debut?

A: I really liked the skills of the previous band members. They were excellent and very talented. However I always found the production to be a bit “cheap” to be honest.

I know that we all are trying to save money and cannot record at Abbey Roads studio but I felt that we’ve now managed to now get the sound of the band to be more together and AOR-ish. There was simply room for improvement and this is the biggest part of the evolution.

Artist: Billy Sherwood

Question: Billy, not to give away the story built by your new release, “Citizen” but could you tell us a little of the concept, and how you came about writing such a story?

Answer: It's the story of a fictional character... the citizen, a lost soul reincarnated over various periods of history. We see through his eyes as he appears a WW1 trench runner, sending messages to the troops, a Roman conscript legionnaire at the fall of the empire, a friend to Galileo being told "The earth is not flat"... and more.

These settings are the backdrop for the concept to come to life, I wanted to place the listener right in it.

Q: Knowing a little of the ‘back story’ on this recording, I imagine that this release is a very personal statement in addition to being an epic effort…

A: Anything having to do with music for me is always very personal... Normally I make solo records all by myself, playing/singing everything. In this case I've expanded the window and included some amazing musicians / singers to assist in making this production. The guests artists add so much to the final result, it's an honor having them participate.

Q: Your relationship with both ‘Yes’ and Chris Squire must have been a source of inspiration for this as well…

A: I was inspired by Yes from an early age and the spirit of the music has guid20 | MRF

Interview with: Billy Sherwood

ed me in a strange way directly to the source of inspiration, meeting Squire and the rest of Yes along the way, it's become part of my DNA. Q: You have also invited several ‘Yes’ members, both past and present and several others to contribute to “Citizen”, that must have been a complicated task in of itself…

A: At this point we're all friends and so it's a matter of asking... it's always a blessing when they say Yes (pardon the pun). The relationships make doing things perhaps more easily done. I trust they know exactly what to do, they trust I will represent their work in the best light possible. I have band relations with, Tony Kaye as we have our band CIRCA: (which has a great new record coming out on Frontiers Records next year) and of course now playing with Yes Geoff Downes is a bandmate.

Q: A virtual who’s who in modern Progressive Rock appear throughout, so through this process did any of the pieces change drastically from their original form?

A: I explain to them all where the "solos" are to happen, beyond that I ask that they add what ever they like to the tracks, the song remains the song, but the additional parts/sounds etc... added takes everything to another level. It changes in that way... and that's a good thing.

Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

Q: Now, playing most of the instruments, aside from those of your guests, and singing the lead on most of the record, did you seek out assistance on the overall production, or did you handle that task as well!?

A: I own my own studio and have for decades, engineering, mixing etc... so I don't often seek out assistants and what not. I tend to work alone. That's not to say I don't like working with engineers/producers, I just really enjoy the process, tweaking sounds and levels and working with effects. It becomes a part of the composition for me, in the way it sounds. This way the vision I have for the record remains a constant.

Q: Listening to “Citizen”, one comes away knowing that this is a majestic and epic Work! One created by a true musician, and a Work that took a lot of energy to start and complete.

Would you take on another enormous project like this again?

A: I'm very proud of the outcome for CITIZEN, as a record, as a concept and hopefully as a live stage show. I would gladly continue placing our citizen into many other settings, the context for the subject matter is limitless. I love history and so can imagine so many interesting things to write about. We shall see where it all goes, it starts with people enjoying the record... from there anything is possible.

Band: Manimal

Question: The bands debut album “The Darkest Room”, was released in 2009, so why the gap of nearly six years between albums?

Answer: Besides writing new material, we’ve also done a lot of live shows since the release of our debut. And not to forget that we have gotten two new members of the band as well.

Q: How long has “Trapped in Paradise” taken to put together?

A: Our new album is called “Trapped in the Shadows” and the new songs for that album have slowly emerged piece by piece since the day we released our previous album. Small fragments of ideas have been carefully glued together into whole songs. We have put much time and effort in trying to create a varied album which is supposed to grow with each listening. We don’t like following the same template when writing our material. We aim to let each song have its own unique structure and character.

Q: The album features legendary vocalist Udo Dirkschneider on “The Journey”, so how did this metal legend get involved on the album?

A: Sometime after our tour with U.D.O, we wrote this song - a ballad more or less, which was meant to be a duet. And

Interview with: Samuel Nyman

even though Mr Dirkschneider’s not mainly known for doing ballads, we believed he’d fit perfect on this specific track. So we sent him the song along with a request, and he accepted it! Udo has been an idol for us ever since we were kids. We are very happy and proud to have him singing on our album.

Q: With the debut “The Darkest Room” getting such critical acclaim did you feel any pressure when putting the new album together?

A: Well, not really. By writing and playing live you gain experience, and out of experience comes self-confidence. By the years we have tended to believe more in our own ability, and to care less what others think, and I’m sure that’s reflected in our performance on the new album.

Q: Sweden has long been a stronghold for Melodic and Hard Rock, but what is the Metal scene like in Sweden?

A: The metal scene in Sweden is doing pretty good with some killer acts out there. However, like in the rest of the world, we are also dealing with decreased record sales which, in the long run, is extremely worrisome. But it's a nice trend that vinyl sales are increasing – even among the younger population!

Q: Are the band planning to tour the

Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

new album either this year or next?

A: Yes, we are planning a tour next year!

However, nothing official yet. But make sure to check our websites (www. manimal.se or www.facebook.com / manimalofficial) for the latest updates.

Q: Have you thought about album number three yet or are you just concentrating on promoting “Trapped in Paradise”?

A: Though it is true that our main focus is to promote “Trapped in the Shadows” at the moment, it is crucial to be able to keep several thoughts in your head simultaneously and hence we have already started writing material for our next album.

Q: Where would you like to see the band go in the next two years?

A: We would like to build an even stronger following all over the world but since Rome wasn't built in a day I guess you need to take one step at a time and that's why focusing on Europe is a good starting point. Since MANIMAL is mainly a live act we'd therefore love to do headline touring with some production and to play the major metal festivals all across Europe. That being said, we are no strangers to play at other continents if the timing is right!

MRF | 21

Band: M. Karlsson’s Freefall

Question: The record sounds great.

How long did it take to write and record?

Answer: Thanks! The recordings went quite fast. I like to work fast when I’m in the studio. The writing on the other hand took a while. I would say from the first idea to the finished master, it’s more or less a year.

Q: How did you record it?

A: I record my parts in my own ”Stunt Guitar Studio” here in Sweden. And the rest is recorded in studios all over the world... It was around ten studios involved in this recording. I spent a lot of time and work on the demos to make it easier for everyone to record their part on the album.

Q: As on your debut, you’ve enlisted the help of some big rock singers. How did you get them all involved?

A: I just ask if the have time to do it before my deadline. And they answer ”maybe if I like the song”. And after that I try to do the best song I can and so far it worked pretty well.

Q: You sing on the record yourself too, rather well. Were you ever tempted to make the record without 22 | MRF

Interview with: Magnus Karlsson

the other artists?

A: That was the original plan to maybe have one or two guests. But there are so many great singers I wanted to work with so I ended up singing just two songs.

Q: Obviously the guitar playing is terrific but what stands out is the song writing. When you write the songs do you have a singer in mind?

A: Yes always, it makes it much more fun and easier when I have their voice in my head during the writing process and I also think it improves the result. I even try to sing a bit like the singer on the demos to get the right vibe from the start.

Q: Do you approach your guitar playing any differently than you do for Primal Fear?

A: Yes, Primal Fear is metal all the way even in the ballads. On my own album I play around more with different sounds. There is a lot of metal in Free Fall too but also a some Aor, rock, folk and progressive stuff.

Q: Which song, if you had to choose, is your favourite on the disc?

A: I’m very happy with all songs, but

Interview by: Duncan Jamieson

I can’t stop listening to ”When the sky falls” with Tony Martin. It was actually co-written with Tony, maybe that’s why I think it’s special. I normally have a song or two that I skip after a while but not on this album and thats a fantastic feeling. I’m proud and happy of it all!

Q: You’ve also got the new Primal Fear record coming out. What can we expect from the new disc?

A: I think it continues our last album “Delivering the Black” in a great way, same style, same sound. Just a little better. The band is really on fire and Ralf just seems to sing with more power on every album. If you like that style of metal it just doesn’t get any better in my opinion.

Q: Have you got any plans to do any other projects for other artists, like you did with Bob Catley on “Immortal”?

A: Well if Bob would ask I would love to do something more with him. Now I’m working on the next Starbreaker with Tony Harnell. And I’m also working with my bandmate Mat Sinner for his next Sinner album… and then we’ll see...