CONTENTS 04_Uriah Heep 0 5 _ Tr e a t 07_Impellitteri 0 8 _ S e v e n t h Wo n d e r 10_Dream Child 11 _ C r e y e 12_Reviews 15_City of Thieves 17_Groundbreaker 23_Nazareth Melodic Rock Fanzine The official Frontiers Music s.r.l. magazine Year #14 - Nr. 5 / Issue #88
NORDIC UNION “Second Coming”
RED DRAGON CARTEL “Patina” (CD / LP / Dig.)
HOLTER “Vlad the Impaler” (CD / LP / Dig.)
STEPHEN PEARCY “View to a Thrill” (CD / LP / Dig.)
TEN “Illuminati” (CD / 2LP / Dig.)
DOOMSDAY OUTLAW “Suffer More” (CD / Dig.)
DEVIL’S HAND “Devil’s Hand” (CD / LP / Dig.)
JOHNNY GIOELI “One Voice” (CD / LP / Dig.)
STEELHEART “Rock’n Milan” (CD+DVD / Dig.)
MAGIC DANCE “New Eyes” (CD / Dig.)
STATE OF SALAZAR “Super Hero” (CD / Dig.)
ALCATRAZZ “Parole Denied – Tokyo 2017” (CD+DVD / Dig.)
Editor-in-chief: Elio Bordi Concept, Graphics & Design: Elio Bordi Writers: Bruce E.J. Atkinson, Duncan Jamieson, Barry McMinn, Fabiana Spinelli. 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©2018 Frontiers Records s.r.l. - All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Printed in Italy.
PALACE “Binary Music” (CD / Dig.) ------------December 14 2018 JORN “50 Years on Earth - The Anniversary Box Set”
(12 CD Box Set in Vinyl Replica)
Fabiana Spinelli: Hi Mick and welcome to MRF! The 25th studio album is an amazing goal, are you still feeling “very ‘eavy… very ‘umble”? Mick Box: I can only feel ‘umble and thankful about it all Fabiana. It has been an amazing musical journey that has allowed me to play with some of the best Rock Musicians and Vocalists of all time, and I am very proud to have kept the band going this long, and we are still looking toward a future. There are many exciting things to come, and I cannot wait to start the promotion and tours of our new album ‘Living The Dream.’ Bring it on! FS: Let’s start talking about “Living The Dream” from the very beginning: there’s a Pledge Music project going on, but you’re just selling some nice goodies to your fans, because the album will be released via Frontiers Records. But this was your idea or was it agreed by the label? MB: You are correct, this album is through the Italian Frontiers Records label. This is our third album with them and they are a label that is full of Rock Music and we feel it is a good fit because of this. The Pledge Campaign is something that we started ourselves and we have embraced it to give the fans a chance for some exciting opportunities to join us in some amazing experiences, if they so wish. We did a 10-week tour of the USA & Canada and over that period we had Drummers, Guitarists and Vocalists all purchasing the possibility of joining us on stage at the sound checks, and they were able to video the experience too, which they could use however they wanted. Some being life time fans never thought that would ever be possible, and they have sent us messages after the event saying it was the best experience they have ever had in their life. Some going as far as to say it was a life changing experience. FS: I saw a wonderful Carparelli style guitar on sale, is it your guitar while recording the new album? MB: If that is the guitar in the Pledge Campaign, then yes it was a lovely Green Carparelli Telecaster type guitar that I played on a few tracks on the album. I wanted to keep it, it was that good. Mike Carparelli the owner of the company built it himself, and it was truly a thing of beauty. He even put my saying ‘Appy Days, engraved on the back
4 | MRF
of the headstock. The whole band signed it and we had pictures taken with it, and there is even a video of me playing it in the control room sitting next to our Producer Jay Ruston. FS: Speaking about guitars, how was your experience with a producer like Jay Ruston? MB: I have nothing but good things to say about Jay Ruston. He has a great set of ears and produced some of the best sounds we have had on a recording, certainly on my guitar parts. He fully understood what we were going for by keeping intact our heritage but making it sound fresh and very today. Jay was an absolute pleasure to work with on every level. In Uriah Heep there are five very strong personalities and it was good to have Jay’s sixth set of ears to finalise some of the decisions. He also was a very relaxed Producer which made us all feel at ease, and by being this way he coaxed out of each one of us the best performances every time, without us even realising it. FS: I think that “Living The Dream” is the perfect mix between your legacy from the past and a new, fresh energy, sounding 100% Uriah Heep! Can you please tell us how the new album was born and how did you build it song by song? MB: Phil Lanzon our keyboard player and I started writing the songs once discussions had begun about recording the new album. Both Phil and I are natural writers and it is something we do on a daily basis either writing a riff, a chord sequence, a title, a melody or even a verse. Even if it is not for Heep, we still do this as it is in our creative blood to do so. When the decision comes for a new album, as the band usual trust Phil and I to do the writing, I meet up with Phil usually at his home, and I put all of my ideas on the table and so does Phil. Then we sift through the ones that excite us, and we start to develop them. As Phil and I are very in tune with each other, sometimes some of my musical riffs and chords fit some of Phil’s ideas immediately and the other way around too. We do work very quickly but there again we are very driven people, and we do have a good work ethic when song writing. Usually all of the music is written and then we start writing the lyrics. We take lyric writing very seriously and we do like to tell a story. Firstly, we hit on a subject and go from there.
This can come in many ways, for instance most mornings when I was staying at Phil’s when he takes his partner to work in the morning, I always sit in the kitchen with my breakfast and read the papers on my iPad. When he returns I usually discuss some of the content with him on that day’s events, which to be honest is mostly the funny bits. Anyway, Phil said to me, maybe we should look at that as a subject for one of our Proggier songs. This we did and then the lyric to ‘It’s All Been Said’ was born. We tend to make a few basic home demos of all of the songs to play to the band, so that they can get a feel of what we are going for. We then booked a 10-day Pre-Production period where we present the songs to the band and they decide which ones we should work on, and which ones go in the bin. Once this is done we play as a band in the studio and knock them into shape. Dave Rimmer our Bass Player had written a song with Jeff Scott Soto, so he threw that into the pot too which was great. Once the songs had taken shape we demoed them, and they were sent to Jay in Los Angeles. We had some timing issues with Jays schedules, but once this was resolved, in January 2018 we booked into Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire and recorded the whole album in 19 days. We had a further 2 weeks booked but we did not require them. The reason it went so quickly was partly due to the fact that we recorded every track as a band in the studio. On some of the tracks we did not even use a click track. It was a very enjoyable album to record indeed. Would you like to say something more about “Living The Dream” to our readers? MB: Firstly, we want to thank you for your support over the years and we would like to see you at our concerts when we start this mammoth World Tour 2018/2019 in support of our new album. It will be a rocking show which you have come to expect for the ‘Mighty Heep,’ and we will play the Classic Songs along with some of the ‘Living The Dream’ tunes, sprinkled with some older tracks that we have not played in a while or even played at all. It will be a musical journey from our first album Very ‘Eavy Very ‘Umble right up to ‘Living The Dream.’ So, come and join us for a Magical Night! See you there! ‘Appy days!
Barry McMinn: This is the band’s 3rd album since the comeback in 2006, and each album outdoes its predecessor. So what is it about now that keeps the band motivated? Anders Wikstrom: I guess it is that we´re more matured as individuals and our love for melodic hard rock still intact. We also feel that the new songs always have worked superb in our live shows which gives us that extra boost to go on and do more. BM: So why did the band decide to reform back in 2006? AW: Jamie called Me and Robert up for a dinner in the summer of 2005, and had thought about a reformation for a while. We listened to his vision and agreed the it was a good idea to bring the band back to life for a second go at it. We tried out a couple of rehearsals as soon as Patrick and (then bassist) Nalle Påhlsson was on board as well. It was simply fun again! BM: Like I said ‘Tunguska’ is just a superb album and rates as one of best of the year so far for me. Did you approach this album any differently to ‘Ghost of Graceland’? AW: The truth is, that I hardly had any time to approach this album in any way other than to spit in my hands and go to work, so to speak:) I had just delivered the Revertigo album days before I started writing this one as a maniac. The inspiration I got doing the demos were tremendous i gotta say, and it really felt like, what we say in the songwriting community, that I had ”Angels in the room”. I think Tunguska has a great balance between new
and old Treat style and is in general an uplifting album with a positive outlook, the bands performance is stellar and by far the best we´ve ever achieved together. BM: How long have you been working on the album? AW: It took me exactly 6 months writing and demoing it, and we recorded it in 2 separate session one in Nov 2017 and one in feb 2018, then we mixed and mastered it in March 2018. BM: Did you write the album from scratch or did you have something left over from Ghost that didn’t quite fit in with that album at the time? AW: I wrote all the songs from scratch this time, I believe we have some material from the Ghost sessions lying around, but it wasn´t used for Tunguska. BM: There are some stunning tracks on the albums for instance ‘Always Have Always Will’ and ‘Best of Enemies’, as well as my favourite ‘Creeps’, but are there any songs that you are particularly proud of ? AW: I really love the ones you mention, but Progenitors and Rose of Jericho has proven to be barnstormers in the new live set as well. A song that I keep close to heart is the ballad ”Tomorrow never comes” as it is autobiograpical about Me and Robert growing up in the same street in the south of Stockholm and the dreams we shared and realised, this will make a great video concept, Don´t you think? BM: The band has always one of those bands who refuse to get pigeon holed into on specific genre, has this been a gift of a curse over the bands history? AW: Nowadays It seems to work to our advan-
tage, but in 1993, when we called it a day (first round) It was pretty hard to go on with our melodic style of hard rock as this was seen as counterpart to the grunge trend at that time. We always try to expand a little bit style wise knowingly or unknowingly as our music taste is broad and there´s a lot of great rock music around these days to be inspired by. BM: The band has been around for some 30 years plus, do you think today’s music scene can cater for the multitude of bands around the scene at the moment? AW: I really don´t know, We try to make the best albums we can and show our fans we are for real and not in any way over as a band, we also take pride in the fact that we were around back when this music form took shape and wish we made our contribution to it coming back alive and well again. BM: Looking back over the last 30 years or so, given the chance would you do anything differently? AW: Oh yeah! If we would have been able to do some business changes in our past we would:-) Musically, NO! we are exactly where were supposed to be now! Slowly but steady reaching our maximum! BM: You currently have live dates in Japan, Germany and Sweden will the band be announcing further dates for this year or early next year? AW: The first part of the Tunguska tour is well ahead and will go on to the end of November 2018, We are planning to continue with the tour in February/March of 2019 as well as play festivals in the summer of 2019.
MRF | 5
Duncan Jamieson: The production is terrific. You obviously take a lot of care of getting everything to sound right. Can you tell us about the recording process? Chris Impellitteri: The band plays together live in a very large studio. We always make certain my guitar sound is exciting, the drums powerful, and the Bass deep in tone. We spend a lot of time playing with different amplifiers, tuning drums, selecting vintage microphones, selecting vintage Neve mic pre amps and eq’s. We also spend a lot of time perfecting the sound of the vocals! Once we have our sound we then perfect our playing and singing... We play our song multiple times to capture the best performances. Once we have the performance that we like we then begin mixing the new album! DJ: How much of the record is worked out in the studio and how much is worked out before? CI: The music and vocals are always written and rehearsed before we go into the studio... Once we have perfected the guitar riffs, guitar solos, drum patterns, and bass lines we then bring rob to write his vocals..once rob completes the lyrics we then go into the big expensive studios and record our record! DJ: Tell us about some of the guitar tech you use on the record? CI: I primarily use my custom made Charvel
Stratocaster. The guitar was hand built by Grover Jackson and Mike Shannon. The guitar plays very well and sounds very popular... It is easy for me to play fast and melodic with my Charvel guitar. DJ: Lyrically, there’s a kind of theme to a lot of the songs that ‘The Nature Of The Beast’ (i.e the nature of man) is often very flawed. Was that theme intentional? CI: Yes, the lyrical theme is used in many songs on the nature of the beast? The meaning is symbolic. For example, If you play with fire you are bound to be burned... Another example, is political... People like Donald Trump get elected by lying to the public. Now that he is president he has done the opposite of what he said he would do for the people before he was elected... So lying is his nature. DJ: The cover of ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ is a shred sensation. What made you choose this as a cover and have you ever thought about doing a whole album in the rock opera style? CI: I have always loved the haunting theme of Phantom of the Opera. I wanted to create a speed metal version of Phantom of the Opera. I also wanted to have rob sing all of the vocals as he has a great vocal Range! I also decided to play some very complex shredding guitar solos that also have great melody!
DJ: And there’s a Sabbath cover too. What made you pick ‘Symptom Of The Universe’, and did you try any other Sabbath songs out first? CI: I love the riff. We made Symptom of the Universe a bit more energetic! We added very fast technical guitar solos and added orchestration to the composition. You could say we Made Symptom an IMPELLITTERI song. DJ: Rob Rock is a force of nature on the disc and the rhythtym section is thunderous. What’s it like playing with those guys? CI: It is an honor to play with Rob and James, as ell as John And Patrick! All the artists in IMPELLITTERI are highly skilled musicians. All the band members contribute equally to the band Impellitteri! DJ: What’s your daily guitar routine? CI: I play guitar all day every day... I love playing guitar, I practice my soloing technique, I also write music constantly. I also create riffs all of the time! DJ: Are there any new guitarist out there that you rate? CI: I like all of the new guitarist..they are all different and good! Many have been fans of IMPELLITTERI DJ: Is there a chance we’ll see you in Europe to promote this record? CI: Yes! We will tour!
MRF | 7
Fabiana Spinelli: Hi guys and welcome to Melodic Rock Fanzine! It has been such a long wait from “The Great Escape”, but finally you’re back with “Tiara”, an album of great depth and maturity. Can you please tell us something about these last eight years of hard work? Tommy Karevik: Yeah it feels great to be back. It sure has been too long to say the least. The whole process started in 2011 when we started collecting a few ideas. One being the basis of the title track “Tiara´s song”. I remember playing a midi demo of it to the band at the Progpower Europe Festival that year. Crazy to think about actually. Somewhere shortly after that I was announced as the new singer for Kamelot and of course that slowed things down a lot. Personally it was hard to find the time and energy to juggle 2 bands (one that is heavily touring) and a full time job. Was a crazy couple of years with not much down time at all. The guys kept the spirit up though and I am very grateful for their patiente. They kept collecting ideas and writing music without me. About 2.5 years ago we started planning to actually make this 5th album (the 1st with Stefan) happen. We really sat down and the idea of making it a concept album started to brew. Me and Andreas worked on the conceptual theme, story and lyrics like we always did in the past, but this time we spent more time in the same room throwing ideas back and forth which I think made the final product even better. Of course it took more time and planning that way but I am happy we decided to do it. We recorded everything in Studio Wonderland and in our home studios and together with the mixing skills from Öyvind Larssen, I now think we have a truly special album in our hands. FS: I can find in “Tiara” all your influences, from progressive rock to power metal, with an incredible attention to melodies. Did it all come natural or was it a precise intention, to give us a broader vision of Seventh Wonder’s music? Andreas Blomqvist: To us, the main factor that separates a normal record from a conecpt album, is that you are much more deliberate in your writing. A certain part of the story might requuire a certain feel, a certain type of song to really get the message across, you know? So in
8 | MRF
that sense this album was mostly written with intention, as you put it. At the same time I don’t wat to sound too pretentious, I mean, it’s not like we wrote a musical or an opera, at the end of the day it is still a bunch of melodic metal songs, and that’s the way it should be. But yeah, there is definitely a direction going into writing an album such as this. TK: Yeah I think you are right. We did spread our wings a bit more on this album in terms of doing a few things outside the box. It was both intentional and unintentional I would say. Intentional in the way that we always try to throw a new flavour in there with every release. Unintentional in the sense that we all listen to different music in the band. Everything from country music to death metal goes and it of course shows in our music. We don´t really censor ourselves or put a label on what kind of music we play. We just call it music=). It is cool to have the freedom to do whatever you want musically when writing a complex concept album like “Tiara”. Only then can you really explore all the moods and emotion the story calls for. The melodic approach is and will always be a key ingredient in SW music. FS: I’m totally in love with the center section of the album, the three parts of Farewell, an epic metal opera. How it was ideated? Especially “Beyond Today”, with its sweetness and finesse, it’s one of the highlights of the album… TK: That is nice to hear! Yes we are very happy with that segment as well as it tells a very emotional and crucial part of the storyline. In this section we could really portrait the same situation from 3 different angles and emotional approaches being the people, Tiara´s parents and Tiara herself. It all goes down the night before Tiara´s big jouney… It is so rewarding to play with raw human emotion and really dig deep in yourself to find things you didn´t even know you had inside of you. Finding that melody or lyric that hit that special nerve… That is what makes music special to me. AB: I thought the whole thing was really interesting to explore, you know, from a psychological perspective. One thing, or one event rather, can mean very different things for different people. The first part of the Farewell trilogy is a tribute to Tiara and her sacrifice, i.e. that she
decided to leave and give us a fighting chance. You know the entire world was doomed, and now suddenly there might actually be a tomorrow to wake up to -can you imagine the joy? Then if we look at her parents, the situation is fundamentally different. If their daughter doesn’t go -it is the end of the world, but what kind of tomorrow would they wake up to if it meant sacrificing their only child? Can you imagine how you would feel waking up on that orning the day after she was sent away? Horrible! And then thirdly, from Tiara’s own perspective. A young but mature girl contemplating her choices and what they will mean to her and what she will be forsaking. It just makes for a thrilling and emotionally gripping story. The Tommy worked his magic and wrote the majority of the music for that trilogy, with Stefan also contributing greatly. We are very happy with it, and lyrically I think we hit the bulls-eye, Tommy and me. FS: In “Tiara” we can also find an explosive power, I’m thinking about songs like “Dream Machines” and “By The Light Of The Funeral Pyres”. Where did all this energy come from? What does inspire you and all the band? TK: Yeah! Well the music for “Dream Machines” is basically all Johan. A typical Johan song I would say. Groovy, straight forward with great riffing. “By the light of the funeral pyres” is musically all Andreas B and is very typical for him with a lot of cool meter changes, proggy riffing, nice mood changes and fun tonalities. They both serve thier respectice part of the story beautifully I think and gave the album the egde and power it needed. AB: I believe Dream Machines was a melting pot of Johan’s typical way of writing guitar driven, riff-laden heavy and melodic music, combined with Tommy’s vision on that track of making it kind of machine-like, robotic, chugging if you will. With “Pyres” the idea was to depict chaos and turmoil so I just set my mind to writing the most intense stuff I could come up with at the time. The contrast between the verse and chorus compared to the bridge is something I am very happy with and Tommy signs it beautifully. You know, how they in the midst of pandemonium find moment of pure love and joy as they get one last embrace.
Duncan Jamieson: this. What’s sparked your return? Craig Goldy: Actually, it was Frontiers Records that sparked my return! It started with an email quite a few years back that I got from Frontiers asking me if I’d be interested in doing an album with some other famous musicians from the 80’s and the music being in a Whitesnake sort of vein….and I said “Yes!’ This later became known as the Resurrection Kings album! It was through this album that I learned what amazing people the Frontiers Records people were, and still are to this day! This Dream Child album especially is very close to me heart! DJ: Tell me how the idea for this band came about? CG: I was on the phone with the President of Frontiers, Serafino Perugino. He and I were discussing the Eisley / Goldy album and we started brainstorming about another possible project. I remember making mention of some comments that I had read so often that were made by fans on some of my favorite Rainbow and Deep Purple songs on Youtube; those comments being, ”They don’t make music like that anymore!!” and Serafino simply asked me a question that would forever change the course of my future and that question was: ”Well, can you?” and I said ”Yes!” DJ: How easy was it to get ex-Dio members Rudy Sarzo and Simon Wright involved again? CG: That was the very next thing that Serafino asked me during that conversation, he asked ”Can you get me Rudy Sarzo?” and I said “Yes” and fortunately for me and this project, Rudy was both interested and available! Then Serafino asked me ”Can you get me Simon Wright?” and I said ”Yes” and fortunately for me and this project Simon was both interested and available! Rudy and I go way back, when he and Tommy Aldridge left Ozzy, they had a band together and I was fortunate enough to be their guitar player! Then I got the call to join Dio! Rudy and I had stayed friends and later on Rudy joined Dio and was with us in the beginning
10 | MRF
stages of the Dio Disciples. Simon and I had always wanted to do an album together and this was a perfect opportunity for that to happen! DJ: How did you find Diego Valdez? CG: Nearly 8 years ago, a friend of Diego’s sent me an MP3 of a Dio song that Ronnie and I had written for the “Killing the Dragon” album, a song called “Push” that Diego’s band back then called “Helker” had done that songs as a cover it was chilling to say the least! It sounded as if Ronnie had covered his own song! I got a hold of Diego and told him how amazing I thought he was, but that it was just too soon for us to do anything together right now, but that some day he and I would indeed do an album together! So when Serafino asked me ”Who would you get to sing?” I told him, ” Hang on a minute and let me send you an MP3!”; there was no mistake, it had to be Diego! DJ: How were the songs written and recorded? CG: It’s a sort of a “Hybrid” between the old school and the new school! Many songs were written while being in the same room as one another, some recordings were also done while in the same room together as one another; Rudy, Wayne and Diego each had their own home recording studio where they could record professionally as well! Some songs I had written myself and others were collaborated with other great song writers like Jeff Pilson, Doogie White, Chas West, Wayne Findlay and Alessandro Del Vecchio! Even the songs that I wrote myself still ended up being a collaboration once in the very capable hands of Rudy, Wayne, Simon, Diego and Alessandro! We had kind of a running joke between me and them they would send me back their performances asking me “Is that right?” or “Is that ok?” and I would answer back, ”no”, ”it’s better!” DJ: Which songs are you particularly satisfied with on the record, or have particularly significance to you? CG: All of them really, because like I mentioned before this was such a collaborative effort and
especially since everyone brought their “A” game to the table! But the title track “Until Death Do We Meet Again” has a strong significance to me, one that means it will need another story for another time!! The song “You Can’t Take Me Down” actually was born out of my worst day ever! Everything around me was going wrong and I mean everything I felt like shouting out to the world ”You Can’t Take Me Down”! And then I thought, that’s a cool premise for a song and a pretty cool song title and the song just started to flow out naturally and yet so quickly that I almost couldn’t keep up with the flow of ideas as they came to me, musically, melody-wise and lyrically! But it was on my worst day, that I wrote one of my coolest choruses! DJ: Although there’s a very strong Dio flavour to a lot of the material you’ve stated that the idea for the music of Dream Child was inspired by Deep Purple and Rainbow. What albums and songs of those bands have had a particular influence on you? CG: The Deep Purple “Burn” album the “Rainbow Rising” album even some early Van Halen, Whitesnake and Genesis! DJ: The name Dream Child comes from a nickname Ronnie James Dio had for you. Tell us about your relationship with Ronnie? CG: He was my friend and my family! He was and still is my favorite singer! He went so far out of his way on both a professional and personal level for me, that it’s hard to believe it was all actually real! And I miss him every day! DJ: What do make of the hologram shows with Ronnie? CG: I’m sorry, but every time I say anything about the hologram, some online tabloid gets a hold of it takes it out of context and I get crucified, so I am no longer making anymore remarks about the hologram! I really am sorry! Plus, I think by now, there is a sufficient amount of quotes by me out there that I think everyone pretty much knows my stance on this subject and I would just be repeating myself here anyways!
Bruce Atkinson: I would like to begin a little history of the band, and your vision Andreas, of ’Creye’. Andreas Gullstrand: Back in 2015 when this journey began I wanted to create a band with clear influences from the 80’s put in a modern production. So to kick things of we used hired guns for the first songs to get the ball rolling. When everything was in motion we decided to look for full-time members and finally had a complete band in early 2017 just in time for signing a major records deal with Frontiers Records. The vision has of course changed over the years as the journey has progressed and as name has grown. What started of as a small studio project is now a band that is aiming for the top. BA: Mentioned in the Press Release’s you are creating a throwback to the 80’s and 90’s…yet I hear a lot of present day in your musical creations! This album sounds very fresh… AG: Our main influences surely come from the 80´s and 90’s but at the end of the day we’re creating an album in 2018 with a 2018 production and we do not wanna make it feel as it were almost 40 - years old. Despite our influences we have always aimed on creating something that’s new and fresh today. BA: It is obvious that you and the lads have put your hearts in the shaping of the music… AG: Blood, sweat and tears haha. BA: Your home country, Sweden, has become a beacon of what we call
AOR…however again I have a different take—simply that you defy category…one can simply say what we hear from “Creye” is grand music! AG: First of all, thank you so much for that compliment. Well we are not trying to be put in a genre box. We do have very present influences in our music but we still try to just do our own thing. BA: However, you seem to have an affinity for the 1980’s, so when recording the sessions, did you employ certain recording techniques that were characteristic of the era? AG: No we didn’t think on any of that actually. We just like the elements that those 80’s & 90’s songs consists of. Big synths, drum machines, synth bass and so on. Implementing those elements to a rather modern song and production is what makes us sound the way we do. BA: I see that Erik Wiss was at the production helm…could you say a little about that experience? AG: Working with Erik is as always amazing. Erik has been a part of this since day 1 and he’s extremely thorough in his work and he just has a way to make everyone go way beyond what they thought were even possible. All this is of course resulting in a great end result. BA: I realise that you all are very pleased with the results, and well you should be— however is there any special songs that stand out for you personally?
AG: It’s very hard to say since I’ve been working on all of them so closely throughout the process. Almost like choosing between your own children haha. But right now I would say that my top 2 are ”Miracle” & ”Nothing to lose”. But there are so many. Hard to chose really. BA: Can you please talk a little bit about the artwork? AG: Me being a person with an eye for the cinematic I really wanted that feeling to it. We also wanted a picture that makes you believe that anything’s possible. The guy on the picture is actually me and the cellphone creates a bit of character to the picture and it also has some importance to the stories being told on this album. Not in a way that you as a listener will ever know or notice. We also wanted something that felt connected to the artwork that was done for Straight to the top. Almost like another scene or another movie in the same series. BA: I also realise that you will be performing at ‘Frontiers Rock Sweden’ in October… Do you have any other plans to perform at select concerts, or-hopefully-a full tour in the near future? AG: Yes we’re also doing Rockingham the week after. We have big plans but nothing ready to be revealed yet. BA: I thank-you for taking the time to answer my questions, would you leave our readers with some closing thoughts… AG: Thank you Bruce! To your readers, I hope that you’ll enjoy the album and that we see you out there on the road!
MRF | 11
eviews
R
New releases available on www.frontiers.shop - The official Frontiers Music s.r.l. shop!
URIAH HEEP “Living the Dream” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
NAZARETH “Tattooed On My Brain” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
TREAT “Tunguska” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
After 47 years together and 25 studio albums, only a huge passion can explain an album as great as ‘Living The Dream’: Uriah Heep are back at their top! Everything here is made with pure love, an endless love for riffs, melody and just one desire, have fun with their own music. That seems to be the recipe of an amazing success and maybe Mick Box has a time machine, because this album sounds incredibly fresh and young. Of course, you can find a big influence from Seventies, but also a modern and powerful hard rock, capable to bring Box and Lanzon’ songwriting to a new life. And Bernie Shaw seems to be in a state of grace, too: ‘Grazed By Heaven’ blows away any doubt. Do you need something more? So, here you are an amazing production work by famed Canadian engineer Jay Ruston, who seems to perfectly understand the spirit of this band, extolling their natural qualities. Uriah Heep are still living the dream and with this new album we’re part of it. Fabiana Spinelli (98/100)
When it comes to standing the test of time, no one can argue that Scotland’s Nazareth aren’t one of those bands. Here we have a band celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and with this comes the band’s 24th studio album. The band new album ‘Tattooed on My Brain’ is purebred Nazareth and the first to feature new vocalist Carl Sentance (ex-Persian Risk, Don Airey), who has the big boots of Dan McCafferty to fill after he left the band in 2014. The album may not have McCafferty at the helm but Sentance is the perfect replacement, as he keeps that same classic rock vocal running throughout the album, as opener ‘Never Dance With The Devil’ really shows. The classic Nazareth feel continues with the storming title track and the current single the ballsy ‘State of Emergency’. Other great tracks include the excellent funky rocker ‘Pole to Pole’, the bluesy ‘The Secret is Out’ and the pumped up rocker ‘Crazy Molly’ just to name a few. Like the big man from Nazareth himself, the band have risen once again and are ready to spread the word, Nazareth are back and ready to rock! Barry McMInn (95/100)
Since their reformation back in 2006 and two critically acclaimed studio album and a great live album, Treat are back with their brand new album ‘Tunguska’, named after when object from space apparently exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia. The explosion killed reindeer and flattened trees, in what has become known as the Tunguska event. And what an event this new ‘Tunguska’ truly is. The band have kept up where their superb 2016 release ‘Ghost of Graceland’ left off and shows that after some 30 years, the band still have the hunger to produce great music and believe me, ‘Tunguska’ will fill even the emptiest of rock bellies. The album gets underway with the ‘Progenitors’ and from here on in the album doesn’t look back, as each track outshines it’s predecessor. The band mix great hard rock with a touches off classy AOR, with the likes of the excellent ‘Always Have. Always Will’, the simply stunning ‘Best of Enemies’, the rocking ‘Creeps’ and the epic feelings of ‘Overboard’. Then throw in the ballad ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’ and the no holds barred rockers ‘All Bets Are Off’ and ‘Undefeated’, and what you have here is the perfect Rock album! I certainly don’t come across many albums of this calibre these days. Barry McMInn (98/100)
CITY OF THIEVES “Beast Reality” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
CREYE “Creye” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
LEVERAGE “The Devil’s Turn” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
There’s quite a lot of this style of bluesy hard rock coming from new and young bands at the moment, enough for the Frontiers label to launch their own ‘New Breed’ promoting promising new bands like London-based City Of Thieves who deliver a terrific, no-nonsense début. Taking the bump and grind groove of AC/DC, they serve up an album that’s chock-a-block with chest-beating riffs and big hooky choruses. It’s full of songs about hard living and hard rocking. Okay, that might not be exactly original but it’s done this well who cares? ‘Fuel And Alcohol' is so vibrant and contagious that it makes you want to follow the band’s nihilistic lyrics and drive yourself off a cliff while slugging on a bottle of Jack Daniels.‘Buzzed Up City’ would fit on any latterday AC/DC album. ‘Control’ and ‘Animal’ display the same sweaty intensity as Airborne. The whole record is up-tempo, therefore, a couple of the tracks towards the end suffer by comparison to what’s gone before. Toby Jepson’s bright production sound captures a potent live energy. The tag line for the Frontiers’ ‘New Breed’ promotion is “Rock Ain’t Dead” and this album proves that point very well. Duncan Jamieson (94/100)
Founded by guitarist extraordinaire; Andreas Gullstrand, “Creye” has finally released their debut! Opening with “Holding On”, we quickly sense that we are about to embark on a musical experience like no other! The energy levels are sky high on this self titled album. Each member of the group is in top form! Leading the charge is Andreas on guitar with Robin Jidhed on vocals, drummer Arvid Filipsson, keyboardist Joel Ronning and Fredrik Joakimsson on second guitar and bassist Gustaf Orsta. Tripping the fantastic, “Creye” unleash thirteen brand new diamonds for us to admire. From the opening cut straight through to the closing “A Better Way”, we are propelled to exquisite musical performances! “Miracle” is a highlight, as is “Christina”, both show sides of this group’s high talent and musicianship. Then, of course, we begin our next journey with “Straight To The Top”; which just may be their concert opener! This self titled debut exudes confidence, a musical adventure that combines a huge sound with subtle streams of musicality throughout. Each performance tuneful, emotive coupled with power and harmonic melodies that reverberate. An album that just may become the debut of the year! “Creye”… Remember their name! Bruce Atkinson (92/100)
Frontiers have never been a label to look a gift horse in the mouth and with the new signing of Leverage earlier this year, the wheels have been set in motion for the band’s new album ‘The Devils Turn’. And to give us a taste of what the band can deliver, we see the release of a four track EP. This is just the starter for what is going to be a three course banquet from the Finns. Things get underway with said title track a blazing slab of Symphonic fuelled Metal that really shows what the band is all about. The bands mission from their last three albums is to stand out from the crowd and judging from the four tracks available, they certainly keep that philosophy high on their agenda. Next up is ‘Wheels From Hell’, again a great straight-up Metal assault. A really great riffed track that really shows why this band refused to be pigeonholed. Next up it’s the wonderful epic ‘The Unicorn’, which for me is this band at their very best. Soaring melodies great vocals, before the E.P. closes with another great riff fuelled spectacle named ‘Children of Skyfall’. If this is just a taster of the new album, then bring it on! Barry McMinn (90/100)
New releases available on www.frontiers.shop - The official Frontiers Music s.r.l. shop!
SEVENTH WONDER “Tiara” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
We were waiting for Seventh Wonder from 8 long years. We had a little thrill when Tommy Karevik became a member of Kamelot, but now we know that Seventh Wonder are alive and at their best. ‘Tiara’ is a deep concept album and p r o b a b l y t h e b e s t c h a p t e r i n S W ’s discography, with a great mix of progressive metal, power and heavy. We can find all the band’s influences in a wonderful central section called ‘Farewell’, in three parts, from the powerful energy pf ‘ Ti a r a ’s S o n g ’ t o t h e s w e e t n e s s o f ‘Beyond Today’, a perfect example of this b a n d ’s e l e g a n c e a n d p e r f e c t i o n . T h e swedish band knows how to strike at the heart and Andreas Blomqvist raised here a very high level: listen to ‘‘By The Light Of The Funeral Pyres’ and you’ll see how various and motley his songwriting can be. After all these years of hard working, Seventh Wonder are back with a little masterpiece, not only for their supporters, but for all the music lovers out there. Fabiana Spinelli (100/100)
IMPELLITTERI “The Nature of the Beast” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
The frantic pace and energy of the rhythm section and Chris Impelliteri’s guitar playing is so contagious that if you drove whilst listening to this album, you’d get a speeding ticket or if you exercised to this you’d suffer a heart attack. The US band are over 30 years old now and while this mix of neo-classical and shred metal has gone out of vogue, there are so few guitarists who can play with such dextrous precision that this sounds fresh and vital again. Consistently well written, the hooks, killer riffs and mind-blowing solos make this one of Impellitteri’s strongest records. All good but highlights are ‘Masquerade’, ‘Man Of War’ ,‘Kill The Beast’ (the last minute-woof!) and a bonkers cover of ‘Phantom Of The Opera’. Although I can’t get an image of Rob Rock dressed up as Sarah Brightman every time I hear it, there’s some terrifically inventive guitar playing on the song. Any Ballads? You're f-ing joking! Of course not. This is 100% METAL! Rob Rock’s singing is monstrous and he’s shoulder to shoulder with Halford or Dickinson. The production is sonically mega and a lesson to others .One of the best classic metal albums of the year-no question! Duncan Jamieson (95/100)
DREAM CHILD “Untile Death Do We Meet Again” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
Craig Goldy, the ex-Dio guitarist is on a creative streak at the moment after the mighty Resurrection Kings album, then the more lukewarm Eisley/Goldy record. He’s back again citing Rainbow and Deep Purple as the influences for this album and you can hear that on the throb of ‘Under The Wire’, the thundering ‘Midnight Song’ and the Lord/Blackmore influenced jam of ‘Washed Upon The Shore’. However the songs that work best are those that sound more like Dio. Not surprisingly perhaps, as ex-Dio rhythm section Simon Wright and Rudy Sarzo are on hand to deliver a walloping back beat and the vocals of Diego Valdez are uncannily like Ronnie James Dio. ‘It Is What It Is’ has the swagger of Dio as does the awesome ‘You Can’t Take Me Down’. It’s a song I could listen to all day and it’s worth buying the record for that track alone. Not everything is so incendiary though as are there are a few longueurs such as ‘Light Of The Dark’ or ‘Weird World’. However if you miss Dio, then this keeps his spirit alive and I’d vote for this over a hologram any day. Duncan Jamieson (92/100)
GROUNDBREAKER “Groundbreaker” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
Just try to think about your music dream team and tell me if you can do it without naming Robert Säll (Work Of Art, W.E.T.) and Steve Overland (FM)! Two amazing musicians, with the unmistakable touch by Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Jorn), united in a great melodic rock/AOR project called Groundbreaker. Originally conceived by Serafino Perugino, the idea suddenly won Steve’s heart, who had often thought about collaboration with other european rockers. With Säll writing almost all the songs for Overland, you can find here the highest quality level of melodic rock: tasteful elegance, simplicity, strength. If you are a Work Of Art fan, so you’re going to love ‘Over My Shoulder’ and a magical riff like the ‘First Time’ one; but if you prefer the gentle finesse of FM, ‘songs like Standing Up For Love’ and ‘The Sound Of A Broken Heart’ are made especially for you. But this is an album for all melodic rock lovers, where everything feels great, energy and good taste are in balance: ‘Groundbreaker’ is a little gem, don’t miss it! Fabiana Spinelli (97/100)
SNAKES IN PARADISE “Step Into the Light” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)
“Step Into The Light”: is the latest effort from Mr. Berggren and fellow band mates, Peter Petterson on drums, Tomas Pomma Thorberg on bass, and lead guitarist Stefan Zimman Jonsson with Thomas Jakobsson also on guitar… Well, for one, listening to any of the twelve songs on “Step Into The Light” we know why this group was a breath of fresh air back in 1993! That same sense of freshness and energy still has spark. A rock solid and bluesy vibe pulsates throughout, no matter if we are listening to an up-tempo romp or a melodic ballad like journey. Each number is crafted with a purity of heart, whether in the lyrical sense or the music performance sense. We are set upon a vast and deep musical ocean. One that will immerse us in a melodic firestorm of grand proportions! Not many groups can combine a hard rock blues base with that of constant melodious flourishes and stinging guitar lines! “Snakes In Paradise” do so on every track. Touching on the legacy of “Journey” and “Whitesnake”: “Snakes In Paradise” lay down their own signature on each performance. And with each performance, leaving us a enduring pleasing memory! Step Into The Light”, indeed! Bruce Atkinson (90/100)
Bruce Atkinson: This is a stomping debut. Tell us about how the band got together? Jamie Lailey: Of course! Ben and I decided in 2007 that we should form a rock band once we left college, and in May of 2008 we met Will, and we’ve been together ever since. We’ve been through different line ups but us 3 have always stuck together, and our belief in each other kept us going for the last decade. We started off as Four Wheel Drive (you can still find our music on iTunes and Spotify etc. if you want to get to know us before the album comes out!), and for about 7 years we toured and gigged everywhere. We played all around Europe and the UK, and released a full length album, and two EPs which you can still find out there – as well as about 5 videos! When we began working with Toby, we decided that we wanted to expand our sound, and felt that a new name was in order so that we could showcase the new songs without feeling we were tied to our old ‘style’ moving forward. It’s still us though, and ‘Buzzed Up City’; ‘Animal’; ‘Fuel and Alcohol’ and ‘Lay me to Waste’ could have been Four Wheel Drive songs very easily… but stuff like ‘Something of Nothing’; ‘Born to be Great’; and ‘Reality Bites’ are a brand new step for us as songwriters, so we’re so glad to be able to release them! BA: Did you take your name from the David Benioff book? JL: Actually, not exactly, because we weren’t fully aware of it at the time, however I guess it was a subliminal thing. We needed a new name and were playing with lots of different ideas, but Will (drums) I think had seen the book somewhere, but he kept bringing up the name ‘City of Thieves’ and it kept making appearances in our shortlist, so eventually it won out. The reason was that we started to
actually really identify with it as a name as something that really represented us. It said a lot about where we come from, what we’ve been through, and what we’ve had to fight to get to where we are. It sort of alludes to all the ‘crooks’ we’ve encountered in London over the years, people who think they can jump on the bandwagon to make a quick buck if you just do everything they say. It stands for corruption and rebellion all in one, and was something that we thought was memorable and represented our sound, our lyrics, and our story! BA: How are the songs normally written? JL: For ‘Beast Reality’, all the songs followed a similar line, and did so going back through all the old Four Wheel Drive records. Myself (Jamie) and Ben, have an innate understanding when it comes to writing, so we bounce ideas off each other all the time. A song can start with a riff, a chord sequence, or a fully formed verse or chorus. Honestly, there’s no ‘right way’ to write a song, that’s the beauty of it. Take ‘Born to Be Great’: that was a whole chorus that just jumped into my head one day, and Ben and I sat down and wrote the rest of the song around it. The intro was the last thing we wrote! ‘Incinerator’ started with that riff, and then we decided to drop it down two tones to the key of C – this kick started a whole new approach to writing for us and playing with the spread of sounds across different octaves. We wrote the chorus over Olie’s riff, and then we made the dirtiest heavy blues riff to sing the verses over. Buzzed Up City was that riff, but we rewrote the verses a couple of times. So yeah, Ben and I write the songs and take them to the band when we’ve finished with them as far as we can take them, and then we see how they evolve once we start playing together. Then when we go to the studio, we
start refining them further, and also thinking about what we then want to add into the arrangement in terms of extra guitars, keyboards, percussion and vocals, to make every song the best it can be. But we always start with a demo, where we’re happy with the lyrics and melody, and the demo is always raw enough that we only include things we can play live. The studio is our playground after that, but we always make sure we can pull the songs off live, cos otherwise what’s the point?! BA: There’s an old school AC/DC, Airborne vibe in places. What bands would we find on your ipod? JL: Not what you might think!! I was more excited going to see Eminem recently than for basically any rock show in the last 10 years or so! It’s up there with the first time I saw Guns ‘N’ Roses, Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones or Motley Crue! Eminem is a great source of inspiration to me in terms of lyrics, rhythm, delivery and intensity… but I also listen to a lot of top 40 radio – gotta stay on top of sonic trends, and song construction! One of my favourite songs at the moment is F.R.I.E.N.D.S by Anne Marie! Music is music, and I think more people need to realise that. I don’t judge anyone for what they like, but I’m more judgemental of people who feel ‘their music’ is more important or more valid than someone else’s, just because it’s a bit more niche… We’re all about global reach… we want the most people possible to like our songs. If people start to dislike something because too many other people like it, then you know what? You can live without the ‘support’ of people who don’t want to see you go further! So yeah, obviously all the classics will be in there, but it’s important to keep embracing new ideas and sounds to see where the next great idea might come from!
MRF | 15
Fa bia na S pine lli: H i guy s a nd we lc om e t o M R F! For a ll t he m e lodic r oc k f a ns , Gr oundbr e a k e r is a r e a l e a r t hqua k e wit h y ou t wo t oge t he r f or t he f ir s t t im e ! Wha t ins pir e d t his pr oje c t ? R o b e r t S a l l : Gr o u n d b r e a k e r i s a n i d e a Fr o n ti e r s R e c o r d s c a m e u p w i th a n d th a t I w a s h a p p y to b e a s k e d to b e p a r t o f. I th i n k th e i r b a s i c i d e a w a s to h a v e S te v e s i n g o n a 8 0 i e s A OR s o u n d i n g r e c o r d a n d th e n fi n d th e r i g h t p e o p l e to h e l p b u i l d a r e c o r d l i k e th a t a r o u n d h i m . S te v e Ov e r l a n d : Th e p r o j e c t w a s b o r n w h e n I fi r s t w e n t o v e r to Ita l y to p l a y th e Fr o n ti e r s fe s ti v a l . I m e t A l e s s a n d r o a n d Fr o n ti e r s p u t u s to g e th e r to m a k e a c l a s s i c 8 0 ' s s ty l e m e l o d i c r o c k a l b u m . R o b e r t c a m e o n b o a r d a l i ttl e l a te r a n d th e s o n g s j u s t fl o w e d . FS : R obe r t , y ou a r e t he m a in c om pos e r f or a bout ha lf of t he s ongs , but I t hink it wa s v e r y dif f e r e nt f r om wr it ing f or Wor k Of A r t ! H ow doe s it f e e l wr it ing wit h S t e v e ’s v oic e in m ind? R S : Th e m a i n r e a s o n I w a n te d to b e i n v o l v e d i n Gr o u n d b r e a k e r w a s b e c a u s e I l o v e S te v e ’s v o i c e . S o i t w a s v e r y i n s p i r i n g to w r i te s o n g s k n o w i n g S te v e w o u l d s i n g th e m . I th i n k s o m e o f th e s o n g s l i k e “ W i l l i t M a k e Yo u L o v e M e ” o r “ Fi r s t Ti m e ” c o u l d e a s i l y h a v e fi tte d o n a Wo r k o f A r t r e c o r d w h i l e s o n g s l i k e “ Ov e r M y S h o u l d e r ” a n d “ To n i g h t” a r e s o n g s th a t I h a v e b e e n s i tti n g o n fo r a w h i l e b u t n e v e r fe l t w a s r i g h t fo r Wo r k o f A r t. S o to m e , i t’s n o t th a t d i ffe r e n t fr o m w h a t I d o w i th Wo r k o f A r t b u t, i t g i v e s m e l i ttl e m o r e
fr e e d o m w r i ti n g w i s e . FS : A nd a ls o f or S t e v e , of c our s e , it ’s a dif f e r e nt c ha lle nge f r om FM . Wha t wa s t he ha r de s t t hing a bout it ? S O: It w a s a r e a l e a s y fu n a l b u m to m a k e a s b o th R o b e r t a n d A l e c a m e u p w i th g r e a t i d e a s fo r s o n g s . Wi th FM , I te n d to w r i te th e s o n g s fr o m th e v e r y fi r s t n o te th e i d e a s a r e g e n e r a l l y m i n e w i th th i s I h a d s o m e g r e a t p i e c e s o f m u s i c to w r i te to . FS : A bout “ Gr oundbr e a k e r ” , in wha t is dif f e r e nt f r om y our or igina l ba nds ? D id y ou ha v e f un wr it ing a nd t r y ing s om e t hing e ls e ? R S : It w a s b o th fu n a n d c h a l l e n g i n g . It’s b e e n a b o u t fi v e y e a r s s i n c e I d i d a n y A OR s o n g w r i ti n g s o fo r m e , Gr o u n d b r e a k e r w a s th e p e r fe c t s i tu a ti o n to s o r t o f “ d i p m y fo o t i n th e w a te r ” a n d s e e i f I s ti l l c o u l d c o m e u p w i th s o n g s i n th i s s ty l e th a t fe l t r e l e v a n t. S o th e b i g g e s t d i ffe r e n c e w a s k n o w i n g th a t Gr o u n d b r e a k e r w o u l d n o t b e a p r o j e c t w e r e I h a d to w r i te a l l th e s o n g s b u t r a th e r b e p a r t o f te a m o f w r i te r s a n d th a t fi tte d m y p e r fe c tl y. A n d a l s o , l i k e I m e n ti o n e d b e fo r e , w i th Gr o u n d b r e a k e r b e i n g a b r a n d n e w p r o j e c t, I fe l t a l o t m o r e fr e e d o m to w r i te w h a te v e r I fe l t l i k e . S O: We h a d g r e a t fu n d o i n g th e r e c o r d a n d w e tr i e d to m a k e a r e c o r d c a p tu r i n g th e b e s t e l e m e n ts o f 8 0 's r o c k m u s i c , i t h a s a l o t o f d i ffe r e n t i n fl u e n c e s a n d I d o n ' t th i n k s o u n d s l i k e a n y o f o u r o th e r b a n d s , Gr o u n d b r e a k e r s o u n d s l i k e Gr o u n d b r e a k e r.
FS : M ix ing t he B r it is h a nd S we dis h t r a dit ions , wit h a dr op of It a lia n blood f r om A le s s a ndr o D e l Ve c c hio, a r e y ou s a t is f ie d wit h t he r e s ult s ? C a n we e x pe c t a not he r c ha pt e r of t he s t or y ? R S : I th i n k th e a l b u m tu r n e d o u t b e tte r th a n I d a r e d to h o p e fo r. Go i n g i n to s o m e th i n g n e w l i k e th i s , a n d w i th p e o p l e y o u h a v e n ’ t w o r k w i th b e fo r e , y o u n e v e r k n o w. B u t I’ m v e r y p l e a s e d w i th th e r e s u l t and I would happily jump at any chance to d o i t a g a i n . B y n o w, I m u c h m o r e k n o w w h a t Gr o u n d b r e a k e r i s a l l a b o u t a n d th e r e i s d e fi a n tl i y th i n g s I th i n k w e c o u l d d o e v e n b e tte r o n a s e c o n d a l b u m . ( S te v e ) : We a r e a l l r e a l l y p l e a s e d w i th th e r e c o r d , i t' s w h a t w e w a n te d i t to tu r n o u t l i k e a n d a g r e a t d e b u t. We w a n t to ta k e Gr o u n d b r e a k e r w h e r e v e r w e c a n s o l e t' s s e e w h a t th e fu tu r e h o l d s . FS : You’r e going t o pla y liv e in s e le c t e d f e s t iv a ls , wha t k ind of s e t lis t we c a n wis h f or ? S ongs a ls o f r om WOA a nd FM or m a y be s om e t hing e ls e f r om y our f a v our it e ba nds ? R S : A c tu a l l y th e r e a r e n o p l a n s fo r a n y l i v e s h o w s b u t w h o k n o w s , i f th e ti m i n g i s w r i te fo r e v e r y o n e i n v o l v e d , I w o u l d l o v e to p l a y s s o m e s h o w s . A s fo r a p o te n ti a l s e t l i s t, c o l l e c ti v e l y, w e h a v e l o t o f s o n g s to c h o o s e fr o m b u t p e r s o n a l l y I w o u l d g e t a r e a l k i c k o u t o f p l a y i n g s o m e FM s o n g s ! S O: Wo w, i t' s a b i t e a r l y fo r s e tl i s t q u e s ti o n s b u t m a i n l y s o n g s fr o m th e r e c o r d I guess and we'll see what else we can th r o w i n .
MRF | 17
REFUGE “Solitary Men” Exclusive Orange LP €21.99
TNT “XIII” Exclusive White LP €21.99
INGLORIOUS “RIde to Nowhere” Exclusive Crystal LP €22.99
RED DRAGON CARTEL “Patina” Exclusive Orange LP €22.99
URIAH HEEP “Living the Dream” Exclusive Christal LP €21.99
NORDIC UNION “Second Coming” Exclusive Gold LP €22.99
LORDS OF BLACK “Icons of the New Days” Exclusive Silver 2LP €24.99
SEVENTH WONDER “Tiara” Exclusive Chrystal 2LP €24.99
NAZARETH “Tattoed On My Brain” Exclusive Splatter 2LP €26.99
G. BONNET BAND “Meanwhile Back in the Garage” Exclusive Silver Vinyl (2LP) €24.99
STEPHEN PEARCY “View to a Thrill” Exclusive Silver LP €22.99
HOLTER “Vlad the Impaler” Exclusive Red LP €22.99
ALCATRAZZ “Parole Denied” CD+DVD: €15.99
STEPHEN PEARCY “View to a Thrill” CD: €13.99 LP: €19.99 Exclusive Silver LP: €22,99
TEN “Illuminati” CD: €13.99 2LP: €22.99 Exclusive Blue 2LP: €25,99
HOLTER “Vlad the Impaler” CD: €13.99 LP: €19,99 Exclusive Red LP: €22,99
MAGIC DANCE “New Eyes” CD: €13.99
PALACE “Binary Music” CD: €13.99
STATE OF SALAZAR “Super Hero” CD: €13.99
STEELHEART “Rock’n Milan” CD+DVD: €14.99
TOBY HITCHCOCK “Reckoning” CD: €13.99
Barry McMinn: The new album ‘Tattooed On My Brain’ starts the next chapter in the Nazareth story, so what keeps the band going for a massive 50 years? Pete Agnew: Like everyone else from the 60’s and 70’s, we had no idea how long it would or could last but the years kept rolling by and not only did we find that we still wanted to do it, but we found that people still wanted us to do it. I’ve always counted it a blessing that I could do what I loved for a living. That and the fact that I can’t imagine what life would be like without Nazareth and have no intentions of finding out. BM: The album is the first to feature Carl Sentence on vocals, what has Carl brought to the band since joining the ranks two years ago? PA: Carl has now been with us for over three and a half years and has brought an incredible amount of energy and amazing voice to the lineup. He’s given the band’s live performances a new lease of life, as anyone who has seen us lately will agree, and the guy is a very fine songwriter as we all found out on TOMB. I have never seen him deliver any less than 100% effort either live onstage or in the studio. A consummate professional that we are very lucky to have in our band. BM: Dan McCafferty left the band in 2013, was this a shock at the time and did you ever have thoughts of calling it a day? PA: Dan had been pretty sick for some years and it was very hard for him to tour, so by the time he had to retire in 2013 we weren’t really surprised but it still felt terrible when the inevitable happened. We had already considered what we would do when he would have to stop and whether would want to continue without him but it was Dan himself who said we must really keep
going. As he said the night he was forced to come off the stage for the last time, ‘Nazareth is bigger than any one individual’. Having said that, we still had our doubts and it was a very shaky year for us immediately after he left, but as you all can see, it all turned out right in the end. BM: So how did Carl come to fill the vacant mike spot? PA: We tried out a bunch of singers but didn’t really find anyone suitable. Also most guys that sent audition recordings were trying to do a ‘Dan soundalike’ and we definitely didn’t want that. We needed to get someone with a great voice but with their own style so we would be continuing but bringing something new to the fans and not just a second hand Dan. And we got even more than we could have hoped for in Carl. A friend of mine, a drummer from Glasgow, knew we were looking for a singer and he got in touch to say he thought he’d heard a guy that would be perfect for us and told me about Carl. We had a look at Carl on YouTube in a couple of other projects he was involved in, thought he was great and asked him to come and audition. He came up to Scotland to our rehearsal studio... sang one song, blew us away and now you see us! BM: Over the 50 years the band stuck to its guns and produced great classic rock albums. When trends come and go, why to you think Classic Rock still demands respect amongst the rock fans around the world? PA: Rock never gets tired, never gets old...even the young bands starting now are trying to emulate their heroes from 30 years before they were born. Even the kids on ‘X Factor’ or ‘Timbuktu’s Got Talent’ or whatever are singing songs from the 70’s when they perform on these shows. What does that tell you about today’s ‘new’
music? Anyway, I’m working on a new song maybe for our next album. The first line goes ‘They threw away their disco suits but kept their leather jackets’.....just a start. BM: Back to the album, so how long have you been working on the album? As to the song writing process in the band did everyone one have input on ‘Tattooed On My Brain’? PA: Everyone in the band writes and all have different ways they approach this. Carl had been preparing songs for the last two years before we started recording and we had heard all his demos in the run up to going into the studio. Jimmy records bits and pieces of ideas all the time at his home studio and plays them to us, never stops between albums, but we rarely hear his finished songs until we start recording the album. Lee and myself are more kind of ‘last minute’ people. We’re usually still writing while the album sessions are under way. It makes for some very exciting recording sessions. On TOMB, we recorded 5 songs written by Carl, 2 songs by Jimmy, 2 songs by Lee and another song they wrote together and 3 songs by me. BM: The album is pure bred Rock n’ Roll with some quite outstanding tracks including the excellent funky rocker ‘Pole to Pole’, the bluesy ‘The Secret is Out’ and the pumped up rocker ‘Crazy Molly’ just to name a few. If you could pick one track off he album that says this is Nazareth what would it be? PA: That would be hard to do because although the album is as you say ‘pure bred rock’n’roll, there are 4 different guys writing their different versions of how they see it. However, having said that, my own favourite, as an example of a straight ahead, no nonsense, hit you in the gut out and out stompin’ rock song would have to be ‘The Secret is Out’.
MRF | 23