CONTENTS04_Revolut ion Saints

06_Issa

07_Dracula

08_Eclipse

09_Uriah Heep

12_Reviews

14_Blind Guardian

15_U.D.O

16_Ammunit ion

17_Care of Night

19_Level 10

20_Sweet & Lynch

22_Pat Travers Band

Melodic Rock Fanzine

The official Frontiers Music s.r.l. magazine

Year #11 - Nr. 1 / Issue #66

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

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Editor and publisher: Frontiers Records s.r.l.

Copyright©2015 Frontiers Records. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is pro-

hibited.

Printed in Italy.

Band: Revolution Saints

Interview with: Alessandro Del Vecchio

Interview by: Duncan Jamieson

MRF | 5

Quest ion: When and how did th is

project get o f f the ground?

A: I t a l l s tar ted thanks to Sera f ino

Pe rug i no . He a lway s d r eamed o f

hav i ng Deen Cas t r onovo do i ng a

so lo a lbum. He pu t me in touch wi th

Deen sugges t ing h im to work wi th

me and I s t a r t ed wr i t i ng d emos

which was what opened the doors to

the whole pro jec t . The mus ic d id the

ta lk ing . When f ina l i z ing the whole

th ing we thought i t might have been

cool to pu t Deen toge ther wi th some

fr iends and make a band ou t o f th i s .

That ' s when Jack Blades and Doug

A ld r i ch go t i n t h e p i c t u r e and I

go t t a s a y t h e f e e l i ng among t h e

work i ng t e am ha s b e en amaz i ng

s ince day one .

Q: How wel l d id you know each

o ther be fore Sera f ino sugge s t ed

this project?

A: Deen and Jack go a long way

back . I guess they have been f r iends

and worked toge ther for 25 years .

Deen me t Doug on a Jou rney /

Whi tesnake tour in the UK and a f ter

tha t they s tayed very c lose . Ac tua l ly

I was t he new k id on t he b lock !

Funny tha t Jack i s one o f my favor i te

producers and I ended up produc ing

him.

Q: I t ’ s def in i te ly got more of a

Journey v ibe ra ther than

Nigh tranger or Whi t e snake . D id

you d i s cu s s a d i r e c t i on f o r the

album beforehand?

A: Wel l , y e s . We wan t ed Dee t o

sh ine vocal ly f i r s t o f a l l . I t ' s a band

but i t ' s Deen ' s f i r s t band as a vocal -

i s t . As you might know, Deen i s a

g rea t f an o f S t e ve Pe r ry and we

wanted to showcase h i s na tura l way

of s ing ing which i s what we know

from h is l i ve shows wi th Journey . I

asked Deen , Jack and Doug to be

themse lves wi thout ru les or any k ind

of "we should sound l i ke tha t" th ing .

So apar t form the songwri t ing , what

you hear i s the band wi thout any

brake and on fu l l power . I wanted

th i s record to be a mus ic ians record

and to ge t the bes t voca l per form-

ance I cou ld f rom Deen . I a l so t r ied

to g ive the band a sor t o f harder

edge than Journey . B ig ba l lads fea-

t u r e bombas t i c d rums , t hunder ing

bass and b ig gu i tars anyway even i f

the formula would say to keep i t

l igh t .

Q: How did you come up wi th the

name of the band?

A: That was Jack . Sera f ino sugges t -

ed some k ind o f revo lu t ion name and

he came up wi th i t .

Q: Deen’s vocals are great . Do you

th ink some peop l e w i l l b e sur -

pr ised?

A: I guess so . Any Journey fan now

knows Deen i s a s te l lar s inger . The

f i r s t t ime I heard “Mother Father”

sung b y Deen I a lmos t c ou l dn ' t

brea the . I was l i t era l ly speech less .

But a l so a lo t o f people know h im as

a grea t drummer so for those who

are no t fami l iar wi th Journey th i s

could be a rea l surpr i se .

Q: Do you l i s t en t o the o ther s

music and bands?

A: Sure I do . I don ' t l i s t en to any

par t icu lar genre . I love the song-

wr i t ing and produc t ion cra f t so any

good song tha t ' s been dressed in a

good way could a t t rac t me . I have

my tas te , bu t I l i ke to keep the doors

open . Obvious ly I ' ve been ra i sed on

t h e mus i c you know f r om me .

Melodic and Class ic Rock bands l i ke

To to , J ou rney , Deep Pu rp l e ( and

fami ly ) , Fore igner and bands l i ke

tha t are what I have l i s tened for

whole my l i f e .

Q: How did the record take shape?

Did you have the songs a l ready

wr i t t en be fore everyone was on

board?

A: Record ings have been done in our

own s tud ios bu t we a l so ga thered to

work toge ther . I spen t a month do ing

record ing sess ions wi th the band in

the US. As I to ld you be fore Deen

knew me through a a song I wro te

f o r h im and a f t e r h i s b l e s s i ng I

wrote the en t i re a lbum wi th some

help f rom o ther songwri ters . When

Jack and Doug go t on board the

whole a lbum was a l ready wr i t t en .

That d idn ' t l imi t the poss ib i l i t y o f

changing a lo t o f s tu f f ge t t ing Jack

and Doug to be an ac t ive par t any-

way . Jack wrote some o f the lyr ics

wi th me indeed .

Q: Is there l ike ly to be a fo l low

up? What’s the l ike l ihood of you

be ing able to p lay th i s mater ia l

l ive?

A: Wel l , I guess a lo t might depend

on how th i s a lbum i s gonna be wel -

comed by the fans . We ' re de f in i t i ve ly

in for the long haul and we ' re work-

ing on pu t t ing the band on the road

and th ink about our fu ture moves .

One th ing I hope i s tha t schedules

and commi tments won ' t s top us f rom

being a l l toge ther in a room and

wri te the whole nex t a lbum as a un i t .

6 | MRF

Question: This is your fourth studio release, what

do you think makes this album different from your

previous three albums?

Answer: I think this album is maybe more instant.

There is more in the production as well, especially in

the backing vocals and keyboards. All my albums are

melodic rock so it’s hard to separate them as I love

them all. I think this album has more of a pop edge to

it, similar to what Roxette were doing in the 80's.

Q: You worked with the Martin brothers for 5

years, so why now release these songs on this album

and not your previous albums?

A: Well, on all my albums there has been songs written

with or by the Martin brothers. During our time togeth-

er so far there has been lots of songs written. Some have

gone to other band or acts and some has been kept as

a back catalogue. I remember being part of some songs

for the “Find Me” album and those where songs I real-

ly wanted to keep; I still play them sometimes, but some-

times you need to think that you can’t keep them all; I’m

saying that not all these songs are 5 years old, some are

quite recent, I think only “Raintown'”and '”Crossfire”

are that old and those songs were held back until now

as the right band or act for the songs was not there

AND I really wanted to release them myself. Tom and

James have a huge catalogue, so as I sang the demos

or wrote with them I started to get an idea of which

songs I wanted for myself. You can say I’m a little

spoiled in this department...

Q: Did you have more control over this music on

this album than the previous three albums?

A: Yes. I started recording my album with the Martin

Brothers with the view of presenting it to Frontiers, they

were a bit worried at first as they normally pick the

songs but thankfully they loved what we had recorded

and we were really happy with that. I think I just want-

ed to do my own thing this time, realising now how

much work it took to do it all yourself; I don’t know if I

would do it again, but it feels pretty amazing when

you’ve put so much time into an album. I remember

playing at Frontiers Rock Festival last year and this

was the first time I played any of the songs from the

album to Frontiers, you can say I was pretty nervous

about it all but it was nice to be there and see how it got

received. Frontiers Records is like my second family

and it means the World to me that they trusted me and

was behind me all the way with “Crossfire”.

Q: The album sees you dueting with Mr Steve

Overland, how did Steve get involved on

“Raintown”?

A: I have always been a big FM fan and especially

Steve Overland's voice, he has an amazing voice and

very individual. When I recorded the album I wanted to

make the song “Fight Fire With Rain” into a duet- I

knew I wanted Steve Overland to sing it so I managed

to get his contact details from Steve Price at ARFM.

Steve Overland received “Fight Fire With Rain” and

loved the song so we planed the recording from there.

Now a few days later I got the mix of “Raintown” back

and it just hit me then. THIS is the song, it just wasn’t

enough with just me on it and I started immediately to

work on changes so this could be turned into the duet I

heard in my head. So after all this I had get back to

Steve and showed him “Raintown”. He loved the song

and shortly after we recorded the song as you hear it

today. Steve is not just an amazing singer but an amaz-

ing person to work with. I’m so happy with the result

and very proud of it too.

Q: Male artists dominate the world of Melodic

Rock so how has the scene reacted to you and your

music over the years?

A: Yes there is defiantly a majority of male acts and

bands in this scene and to be a woman in all this can be

a very different experience. I think it’s good and bad

sides to it, but mainly it’s all good. I met so many amaz-

ing people and fans over the time and thats when you

realize what a lucky person you really are. As a female

you stand out more in this scene, but as a female peo-

ple also expect more from you then with other bands

and acts. When I say expect I also mean in relation to

what clothes you wear and how you look and strange

enough some seem to think that you are less capable to

sing or perform for that reason. Saying all this thoughs

so many amazing and respectful people out there and

they overshadow all of those things, and in the end I’m

just very thankful for the support I get and that I can do

what I do because of that. So thank you!

Artist: Issa Interview with: Issa Interview by: Barry McmInn

Band: Dracula Interview with: Jorn Lande Interview by: Barry McMinn

Question: So how long have you been working on

this project as there were some extracts on

MySpace first back in 2009?

Answer: Yes, it was already a plan to do something

back then, and so a couple of song ideas were

demoed. But it wasn't till 2012/13 we started record-

ing what would end up on the actual album, it's been

a process working "on and off" inbetween live shows

and Jorn albums, that's why it took a few years to

complete it. Also, it's much more time consuming

when you have more complex arrangents than a nor-

mal rock/metal album, plus to avoid doing a typical

rock/metal opera concept, it took some time to find out

which direction to go with this. We eventually felt that

the most original approach was to create songs that

come more "straight to the point" without too many

long instrumental sections of music. And instead of

telling the story about where Dracula goes and what

he does like in the Bram Stoker book, we decided to

reflect more on Draculas inner battle and what goes

on in his mind rather then following every chapter of

the book. The result is a dr Jekyll mr hyde type of

Dracula character, who somewhere in the middle of

all his evil and darkness, is longing to be able to love

again. After centuries of walking the earth in thirst for

blood, he can still remember very well how it was like

when he was a human, about to get married to the

love of his life Mina. Tired and bored of watching gen-

eration after generation dying out he's experiencing

some kind of loneliness and developes an obssession

in finding the right bride to share eternal life with. In

other words the album can be described as a dark

demonic love story reflecting the inner shadows of the

man and myth.

Q: The album isn’t you normal Rock Opera, why

did you decide to go down a more Hard Rock

avenue for the album?

A: The Dracula story itself has many elements/moods

and it would have been a shame to limit the whole

thing by just making a straight forward metal album.

Also, after all these years in the business it's a bit more

interesting for both myself and Trond to take a step

out of the ordinary Box, and try something new and

challenging. We have brought some new modern ele-

ments into this album, as well as the roots of the

70's,80's musical influence that we grew up with. Also,

after all the rock and metal opera albums beeing

released over the last 15-20 years, we were both tired

of the storyteller, long intro's and instrumental sec-

tions, and so it was natural for us to think a bit differ-

ent for this album concept.

Q: The whole Vampire thing has been taken apart

by Hollywood over recent years, so how impor-

tant was it to go back to the original Bram Stoker

novel for the album?

A: Well, the TV and movie industry has invented tons

of new vampire concepts over the past decades, plus

that many bands/artists have tried to incorperate the

vampire element in their lyrics,videos and artwork,

especially in metal. I feel that the more recent vampire

trend has overshadowed the classic Bram Stoker

story a bit. So, even though the old story itself is noth-

ing really new, going back to basic, felt like a more

original thing to do these days. "Traditional"can

sometimes be a good thing.

Q: The album features Norwegian songstress

Lena Floitmoen Borresen, how did Lena get

involved on the album?

A: She sang on the first demoes and we thought what

she did was great. For a while we had an idea to make

an album of duets With several female singers, and

she was one of them. We even approached Doro

Pesch, Liv Kristine(leaves eyes), and also considered

Anette Olzon(ex Nightwish), but in the end we decide

that Dracula himself should be the main character to

front the album and dropped the idea. We rewrote

some of the songs Lena sang for the demos, to feature

Dracula more through out the album. Eventually, I

think we ended up with the right blend vocally,

between myself and Lena.

Q: Will you both be working on other projects

together in 2015?

A: We might rearrange some cover songs that we

consider to record later this year. There are some

older pop songs that I would have loved to hear with

a more heavy rock arrangement, but we will see. If we

do it, most of them will not be obvious song choices,

but something we can make our own and put a Jorn

stamp on. I'm also writing for a brand new original

Jorn album, to be recorded later this year.

MRF | 7

Band: Eclipse Interview with: Erik Martensson Interview by: Duncan Jamieson

Question: The new album picks up where

‘Bleed And Scream’ left off and is destined

to be one of the year’s best melodic rock

releases. How did the writing and recording

differ on this album from ‘Bleed And

Scream’?

Answer: This big difference is that this album

was written and recorded very fast. From start

to end it was just over two and a half month.

That is with the whole writing and recording

process. During the process my father sadly

passed away and that put even more pressure

on me and the whole sessions. So it was a very

special and emotional process to go through.

Q: Your voice just gets stronger and

stronger. Was there a lot of attention given

to getting the vocals right?

A: Not really, I'm very fast at recording vocals

and I'll just do my thing. Sometimes it's hard to

get the right feel for one song. When you

record a new song for the first time there are

no guide lines on how to sing it. It's not like

doing a cover version when there is a original

track to follow. But usually I have a pretty good

idea on what to do or I'll just make up lyrics

and melodies as I go along. If it doesn't sound

or feel right I re-write directly. I was changing

stuff even at the mixing stage. I always go for

a shoot from the hip approach when I write and

do music and I don't want to think too much.

Q: What tracks are you particularly proud

of on this record?

A: Sounds cliche but I like all tracks. If I didn't

like a song it wouldn't be on the album. But

“The Storm” is a special one for me but there

are several tracks that I really like. It was not

an easy job to choose the first single.

Q: We lost Jimi Jamison recently who Erik

wrote and produced his final album. What

do you remember about Jimi?

A: First of all he was a fantastic singer and a

great human being. I'm so proud of that album

and I'm honored to have had the chance to

work with him.

Q: Revolution Saints are doing a cover of

the Eclipse track “How To Mend A Broken

Heart” on their new album. How did that

come about?

A: This was Serafino or Mario's idea to let

them do a cover version of the Eclipse song. It's

also very cool as the guys in Revolution Saints

are our own musical heroes. And I have read

that both Jack Blades and Doug Aldrich think

it's their favorite song of the album!

Q: Has it been difficult to manage your out-

side song writing and production for other

artists as well working on Eclipse material?

A: Not really. When I write and have inspira-

tion I'm pretty quick and has a lot of energy. I

do music full time and I can't spend 365 days a

year just writing Eclipse songs! It's very inspi-

rational and a great learning experience to

work with others. Being a musician/writer/pro-

ducer is just like any other craft. you learn new

stuff and find new ways of doing it every day

and you never stop learning. I love it.

Q: So Magnus Ulfstedt, your old drummer,

is back in the band but as the bass player.

How did that come about?

A: We have had several great bass player in

the live band but this time we wanted a full time

and dedicated bass player that could be an

Eclipse brother to trust and work with in the

studio and on tour. We were starting to think of

different possibilities and just as a crazy idea

his name came up. I asked him if he could do as

I know he was really good at playing guitar. He

was all fired up when I asked him so he bor-

rowed one of my basses and spent a week at

learning and playing bass and then he called

me up and said "I think I can do it". We did one

rehearsal and it sounded absolutely fantastic.

So it's very funny that our old drummer is back

in the band on bass guitar.

8 | MRF

Question: Watching this new DVD package

certainly shows us why “Uriah Heep” are still

such an influence on the modern rock scene!

Did you ever imagine that you and the boys

would still be rocking as hard as you are in

the 21st century?

A: The thing is with being in a rock band is that

you never ever dwell on age or time... it’s a bit

like being in the Peter Pan business really.

Growing up and growing old is what “other

people” do in the outside world. Touring musi-

cians who tend to live out of suitcases, never

slow down enough to think of time in that sense,

so I guess the answer is YES, of course I just

assumed I’d still be singing with Heep and the

band still playing in excess of 100 shows a year

as we always have done ... and will continue to

do so... As long as we are selling tickets, we’ll be

around.

Q: This combination of your older material

with the newer music works so well and

on many levels…and it works so natu-

rally, can you take us through some of

the creative process—and has it

changed throughout the years?

A: We are very lucky that Heep had such a

distinctive sound and style back in the 70’s.

A trademark sound that set them apart

from all the rest of the Big Five (Zeppelin,

Purple, Sabbath, Tull and Heep). That

song writing chemistry still runs true with

Mick and Phil today and they still seem to

capture the magic in the melody and har-

mony that played such important part of

early Heep’s sound. Add the fact that we

still prefer to record all together in one

room at one time and you can’t help but get

the sound of the 70’s, amps on 10! Giving

it yer all!! That’s rock and roll at its basic

level. Include 5 guys that are all on the same

page musically, you can’t help but end up with a

great sounding album. True Heep, end to end.

Q: You last album “Outsider” is a most pow-

erful statement of the future of “Uriah Heep,

are you actually currently recording the fol-

low-up?

A: A follow up!!! It’s just been out for months!

We have an 18-month world tour booked to pro-

mote Outsider, give it a chance mate!

Band: Uriah Heep

Interview with: Bernie Shaw

Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

REVOLUTION SAINTS “S/T”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)This is a mouth-watering proposition asDeen Castronova, Jack Blades and DougAldrich of Journey, Nightranger andWhitesnake, respectively, team up on avery Journey sounding album. Initially, Iwas a little disappointed it wasn’t more anamalgam of all their bands. Although to befair on ‘Way To The Sun’ they do sound alot like Blades’ Damn Yankees. However,I’ve since succumbed to this record’scharms. The bulk of the songs are writtenand produced by keyboard whizzAlessandro Del Vecchio. Jack Blades playsbass and adds vocals to ‘Turn Back Time’and ‘Way To The Sun’ although I feel he’sa little underused on this disc. Doug Aldrichjettisons his hard bluesy rock riffs ofBurning Rain and Whitesnake for a moreAOR sound while the standout contributioncomes from Journey drummer Deen whohandles lead vocals. Sounding uncannilylike Steve Augeri, his voice is great. Ontracks like ‘Dream On’ and ‘Back on MyTrail’ he captures the uplifting joy ofJourney and indeed this disc could havemore mainstream rock appeal thanJourney’s last guitar drenched ‘Eclipse’record did (ironically, Neal Schon andArnel Pineda both guest). A real melodicrock crowd pleaser. (DJ 95/100)

ISSA “Crossfire”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

“Crossfire” is the fourth album from

Norwegian songstress Issa and this time

around she has taken a stronger role on the

songwriting front, co-writing songs with the

Marin brothers especially picked for this

release. The album is without a doubt her

best album to date. The songs are more per-

sonal, not that the previous albums weren’t,

but this album just feels stronger. Those

familiar with the previous three albums

know what a stunning vocal talent Issa is

and this album goes further to cement that

fact, with great slices of melody rich rock

like the opener and title track “Crossfire”

and the excellent “Ghost Inside My Heart”,

across to the more modern rock of “Long

Time Coming”. But if you want to hear

Melodic Rock at its best then you’ll have to

check out “Raintown”, on which Issa duets

with Mr Melodic Rock himself Steve

Overland. The album has been described as

“a melodic rock fans wet dream” and I can’t

argue with that. If you’re looking for an

album to kick 2015 off in fine style then you

can’t get any better than this. (BM 94/100)

URIAH HEEP “Live at Koko”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

One listen, or for that matter-one view-

ing of this new live CD/DVD produc-

tion from Uriah Heep will tell you why

this iconic group are still making an

impact! “Live at Koko” is a living testa-

ment of the high level of craftsmanship

and musicianship this group has. From

some of their earliest compositions to

their very latest creations: Uriah Heep’s

performances here are flawless! Join

their journey through four decades-and

then some-of stately progressive render-

ings delivered with the same energy that

we witnessed back in the ‘70’s! A fabu-

lous performance from an equally fabu-

lous band of musical gypsies, one can

be totally immersed in the sonic bril-

liance that is now and always was the

essence of Uriah Heep! A dazzling per-

formance from a long standing innova-

tive British super group, nothing more

needs to be said other than… Uriah

Heep “Live At Koko” is a “must-have”

release for all respecting Rockers!!

(BA 90/100)

ECLIPSE “Armageddonize”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)Erik Martensson is a star on the rise; hissongwriting chops have made him muchin demand in melodic rock circles. Thegood news is he hasn’t given all his bestsongs away as Eclipse’s fifth album ischock full of hi-energy melodic rocksongs. Their last record ‘Bleed AndScream’ was one of the best albums of2012 and this is on a par and time mayeven suggest it’s better. The triple assaultof ‘I Don’t Want To Say I’m Sorry’,‘Stand On Your Feet’ and ‘The Storm’that kick off the album leave you breath-less. There are the classic rock melodiesinspired by the best of the 80s(‘Breakdown’ even sounds like TattooRodeo!), the thunderous drum sound thatbrings a modern edge and thenMartensson’s voice which adds emotionalweight to the tunes. While some of ourfavourite classic rock singers’ voices arewaning, Martensson’s voice is getting bet-ter and better. The best of the rock soundfrom the past with modern energy andurgency, Eclipse capture what modernmelodic rock is all about. (DJ 96/100)

AMMUNITION

“Shanghaied”

(AOR Heaven)Wow! What am I listening to

here!? Is it Wigwam or something

heavier? Give Age Sten Nilsen

enough ammunition and he will

create a monster of an album!! And

“Shanghaied” is exactly what the

doctor ordered! Opening with the

anthemic “Silverback”, this debut

of Age’s new group sets the tempo

and tone of what is to come…

From this former Wigwam vocal-

ist! “Shanghaied” is full of hard

driving-smart melodic hard rock.

Combining Age’s creative song

smithing and equally strong vocals

with a stellar cast of musicians, this

debut is both loud and proud! So,

get ready to be Rocked to the hilt!

Pounding out the bass is none other

than Hal Patino, and backing him

up on drums is Robban Back. Jon

Pettersen is on guitar, along with

guest guitarist Eric Martensson.

Former Wigwam keyboardist

Lasse Finbrathen is also here,

ensuring an expansive and soaring

expression to this hard-hitting

effort! It is fantastic to hear Age

once again and his song writing

skills have progressed a notch or

two upwards! Not that they weren’t

fantastic to begin with! On this

record, Age displays a more mature

and intense approach to each num-

ber. We hear a greater depth in the

music, as well as the lyrical content.

The whole album is ballsier!

“Shanghaied” is one kick-ass

record! Just a great way to start a

new year! BA (90/100)

BLIND GUARDIAN

“Beyond the Red Mirror”

(Nuclear Blast)Some four years in the making

“Beyond the Red Mirror” is the

much-anticipated 10th studio

release from Germans kings of

storytelling metal Blind

Guardian. This is the follow up

to the bands “At the Edge of

Time” opus unites the band not

with one, but with three differ-

ent classical choirs. One from

Prague, one from Budapest and

finally Boston, plus two grand

orchestras, each with 90 musi-

cians! The result of which is

the band’s most grandiose

release of their career. This

albums story began back in

1995 with bands “Imaginations

from the Other Side” and now

the “Red Mirror” is the only

gate left between the worlds.

The album itself lives up the

Blind Guardian mantle of tow-

ering symphonic metal as it

opens up with the epic “Ninth

Gate”, which sets the bar for

the rest of the album to follow.

With the likes of heads down

metal of the “Twilight of the

Gods” interwoven with the

wondrous orchestral filled “At

The Edge of Time” and the

epic “The Throne”, this is one

Symphonic Metal magic carpet

ride you won’t want to get off.

BM (91/100)

U.D.O

“Decadent”

(AFM Records)Not so surprising that this musical

veteran has put together an album

such as “Decadent”. Not to be

taken lightly nor for the faint of

heart-Udo Dirkschneider pulls no

punches on this release! Take the

title track and really listen to what it

is, he’s singing about, not a nice

world!! Yet it is the world we live

in. Udo should be praised for what

he has done here, he has raised his

voice and rallied against what has

become normal behavior through-

out our society. His skills in song-

writing and musicianship also play

dominantly in this set of musical

warnings. Through the course of

this record, Udo strips naked the

imbalances of our society, lays bare

for all to see… The decaying

morals and decadent behavior of

those that seem to live a life of priv-

ilege and care not a lick for the rest

of us. He does this set to some of

his hardest driving music! Actually,

it is a beautiful thing to see and

hear, that after so many years of

crafting music, travelling the world

and meeting with success, that Udo

isn’t blinded by the folds of luxury,

that he still has a keen sense of what

is right and proper and that he is not

afraid of speaking up and singing

about the injustices of the world!

“Decadent” is a purposeful musical

statement, one that should resonant

with us all and perhaps this state-

ment will tear asunder the veil that

cloaks all of this decadence we can-

not easily see! BA (90/100)

CARE OF NIGHT

“Connected”

(AOR Heaven)When Seven Tears disband in

2009 members Kristofer von

Wachenfeldt (keys), Jonathan

Carlemar (guitars) and Fredrik

Lager (bass) weren’t about to

hang up their instruments, so out

of the ashes came new band Care

Of Night. Joining this trio in the

beginning were Linus Svensson

(drums) and Carl-Johan

Schönberg (vocals), who

rehearsed with the band way back

in 2010, with Linus eventually

becoming the band’s drummer

and Jens Andersson later joining

the band as vocalist. This first

reincarnation of the band saw

some changes in 2013 when

Fredrik and Jens both left the

band. Jonas Rosengren became

the new bass player and

Schönberg decided to join the

band on a permanent basis and a

EP was released in 2013. Now in

2015 the band return with a full

length album and their labours

have born fruits with a great slab

of Melodic Rock. Connected is a

great melody rich album and fits

in with recent plethora of talent

coming out of Sweden at the

moment thing with the likes of

Work Of Art, Eclipse and

Houston. With great songs like

opener “Cassandra”, the guitar

rich “Those Words” and the

excellent “Contact”, this band are

sure send ripples amongst the fans

of the genre. BM (85/100)

BATTLE BEAST

“Unholy Savior ”

(Nuclear Blast)Album number three for the

Finnish metallers finds them in

confident, bombastic form. It’s the

second album now with singer

Noora Louhimoo who handles the

melodies and screams impressive-

ly. They are happy to mix things

up a little. Sharing an ability to

mix pop hooks with muscle like

fellow Finnish rock acts such as

Lordi, Reckless Love or Devil I

Know. The result might leave

some power metal fans uncon-

vinced but for the more open

minded this is a great listen.

Rocking, anthemic battle cries like

‘Lionheart’ and the Powerwolf

sounding ‘Madness’ are com-

posed terrifically well. ‘Speed

And Danger’ is a terrific song that

makes you want to drive at speed

off a cliff with its breakneck guitar

riff and ultra-catchy keyboard solo

(the keyboards throughout add

bucket loads of melody). ‘I Want

The World… And Everything In

It’ could be UDO. ‘Touch in The

Night’ has a synthesised backing

sound that makes it sound like an

80s dancefloor filler which may be

a step too far from power metal for

some. The music has a certain

kitsch appeal (which has never

done the likes of Kiss or Alice

Cooper any harm) and it’s a huge-

ly enjoyable metal romp. DJ

(90/100)

LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM

“Level Eleven”

(AOR Heaven)Like clockwork, each year

starts with a new L.A.D

record. Eleven albums in near-

ly as many years makes L.A.D

not only one of the most pro-

lific but one of the most reli-

able melodic rock bands out

there. Mikael Erlandsson’s

distinctive voice leads from

the front on typical L.A.D

Scandi-rockers like ‘Kiss Me’,

‘Follow Your Heart’ and

‘Losing You’. It’s classic

melodic rock, with cleverly

arranged songs. Erlandsson’s

a fine songwriter. There’s

lovely melodious soloing from

Peter Söderström who joins as

the new guitarist and fits in

perfectly. As usual they throw

in a couple of numbers that

experiment with their formula

such as the 70s sounding

‘Fight The World’ which is

orchestrated and has a slight

Queen grandeur and ‘I’ll B

There 4 U’ which has backing

vocals that recall Supertramp.

With their records usually

released at the beginning of

the year, I sometimes feel that

by the year’s end people miss

them off their ‘Best of’ lists

which is a pity as this is a con-

sistently strong release that

pretty much any melodic rock

fan should enjoy. DJ (94/100)

eview

s

R

LEVEL 10 “Chapter 1”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)Put together by two authentic HeavyMetal-icons like US monster-singerRussell Allen (Symphony X, AdrenalineMob) and German bassist / producer/songwriter Mat Sinner , Level 10 was cre-ated with the purpose to melt the morecontemporary and aggressive sound ofAdrenaline Mob with the more traditionalEuropean Power Metal assault fromPrimal Fear. With such big names leadingthe machine – and a bunch of great musi-cians (Primal Fear's Randy Black ondrums and Alex Beyrodt on guitar, plus exHelloween Roland Grapow on lead guitarand Alessandro Del Vecchio on key-boards) asked to join them on this project –it shouldn't come as a surprise that thedebut-album, “Chapter 1”, results as a truedelight for all the Power and Heavy Metalfans. As songs like “Blasphemy”, “ScreamAnd Shout” and “Voice Of TheWilderness” are here to prove. On theother side, tracks like “Cry No More” (oh,what a Whitesnake “1987”-era guitarriff!), the epic “Soul Of A Warrior” and theanthemic “No Turning Back” and “OneWay Street” could also appeal to Classicand Melodic Hard-Rock fans, those whohave bands like Scorpions, RJ Dio andWhitesnake in their hearts. (PB 90/100)

DRACULA “Swing of Death”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)“Dracula - Swing Of Death” is the new RockOpera from two of Norway’s biggest namesin rock, Jorn Lande and Trond Holter (Teenyof Wig Wam), but this isn’t your usual RockOpera fodder, there isn’t a narrative runningthrough it nor are their subtle links betweenthe songs. This is more the song’s telling thestory and letting the listener paint visions intheir own mind. Taking it inspiration fromthe original Bram Stoker novel rather thanthe Hollywood vision of Vampires, this tellthe story of Count Vlad the III, Prince ofWallachia and venture to explore the innerstruggle of the man behind the legend. WithLande at the mike you know the rock isgoing to be massive. This album features afew duets where the Norseman is joined byLena Floitmoen Borresen, who plays the partof Vlad’s love interest Mina/Lucy from theBram Stoker book. So musically what is thisalbum about? Well with the concept behindthe album you’d be expecting some Gothicelements but as I said this is not your tradi-tional Rock Opera, this a Hard Rock Operafeaturing big melodies and big guitars. Thealbum flows beautifully, but you can takeany song from the album and play it on itsown and enjoy it just as much, such is thesplendour of the rock behind this concept.(BM 92/100)

PAT TRAVERS “Live at the Iridium”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)The Canadian’s no nonsense, meat andpotato hard rock always sounds betterlive. Recorded last year in New York,Travers delivers his characteristic bluesrock with plenty of elbow grease andsweat. Stylistically little has changedsince the 70s. That’s not a criticism; it’sproof of a man who’s stuck to his gunswhen others have jumped on whateverbandwagon comes along. He fires outhis signature tunes “Rock ‘N’ RollSusie”, “Crash And Burn” and a terrific“Ask Me Baby” like a man whose natu-ral habitat is the stage. His husky voicehas an undemanding, blue-collar, every-man appeal about it while his guitarinterplay with Kirk McKim demon-strates real subtlety as well as ripepower chords. Four covers in succes-sion, “Red House”, “If I Had PossessionOver Judgement Day”, “Spoonful” and“Black Betty” that ends the perform-ance show he’s happiest when playingthe blues. There’s nothing here from hislast, rather good, “Can Do” recordwhich seems a missed opportunity butthis is a typical sturdy hard rockin’ set,with few surprises or left turns, but willappease all Travers’ fans (hammerheads) out there. (DJ 90/100)

SWEET & LYNCH “Only to Rise”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)One must hand it to Serafino Perugino forhis musical vision! The collaboration ofMichael Sweet and George Lynch is astroke of musical genius! Hopefully “OnlyTo Rise” is just the beginning of this mas-terful musical partnership. Micheal’svoice has opened up in these performanc-es, there is more depth, a wider gamut thatlays upon the music that is being producedby the guitar of the extraordinary GeorgeLynch! We hear a soulful cry coming fromMr. Lynch’s fret board! What with theaddition of Brian Tichy thundering alongon drums and James Lomemzo nailingthat bottom end, each piece is full of meatand just oozes that rocked out sound!These four absolutely shine on each andevery song and they seem to absorb eachones positive vibe! A collection of twelvetruly remarkable songs, slices of Rock thatare rhythmic, inspiring and passionate!“Only To Rise” can only do that. I have iton good authority that these four are plan-ning to take this on the road! Right now,it is amazing to hear such songs as“Rescue Me”, “The Wish”, “Dying Rose”,it will be simply incredible to be able tosee and hear these come alive on thatstage! “Only To Rise” will be on thestreets in January, and don’t be surprised ifthis gem of a record hits the top of thecharts at the same time!! (BA 95/100)

THE STORYTELLER

“Sacred Fire”

(Black Lodge Records)I still remember the time when I

first listened to The Storyteller

music, back in 2000; that was the

debut-album, and I was totally

blew away from their sound, total-

ly devoted to the mighty old

Maiden, but played with a typical

swedish flavor, which meant a lot

of double-bass drums parts and

some epic passages. The band

released three more albums

(“Crossroad” in 2002, “Tales of a

Holy Quest” in 2003 and

“Underworld” in 2005) before

deciding to stop any activity (live

and studio) and to put The

Storyteller on hold. Finally, after 7

years, the band reunited and

released their fifth album, “Dark

Legacy”, that did really prove that

their fans were still there. And

now it's time for the new studio

opus, “Sacred Fire”, 12 tracks of

Traditional Heavy / Melodic

Power Metal, played with passion

and fire, full of majestic har-

monies, epic choirs, killer guitar

riffs and catchy vocal parts. The

band has – during the years –

toured with the likes of

Helloween, Hammerfall, Blind

Guardian, Gamma Ray, Sonata

Arctica and Stratovarius, so I

guess you have the picture. A very

good effort, in the name of our

beloved Heavy Metal music.

Horns up! PB (85/100)

ENFORCER

“From Beyond”

(Nuclear Blast)Being an avid “old school” Metalfan, I loved Enforcer since thefirst minute of the first track I lis-tened to. That's why I was prettyanxious to listen to their newalbum, “From Beyond”, sched-uled for a release in March. Invocalist / guitar player OlofWikstrand's own words “FromBeyond is faster, heavier, louder,darker and more vicious all at thesame time without losing a tiny bitof what ENFORCER stand for.After a couple of listen to thewhole album, I can tell you any-way that if you liked their previ-ous albums and Enforcer's style,you'll like this new one as well.The songwriting has been – asalways – totally inspired by thegreat '80s Metal bands (IronMaiden, Tokyo Blade andMetallica "Kill'em All"-era, inprimis), with fiery guitars-duels,fast drums parts and screamingvocals everywhere, and the spiritof the “golden Era” up in the air(do you remember the time whenwe were buying a vinyl in arecord-store and we were playingit in our stereo??? ha, the good ol'times!!!). They've added here andthere only some slightly darkeratmospheres, which gives to sometunes (“Mask Of Red Death”,“Undying Evil”) a sinister andmelancholic vibe. Yet, the overallsound is still the usual amazingmix between Classic NWOBHMand early US Speed Metal. A verygood effort and another to-havealbum! PB (90/100)

SERIOUS BLACK

“As Daylight Breaks”

(AFM Records)With the dawning of the New

Year as a journalist you’re left

wondering if 2015 will continue

where 2014 left off and so far

from what I’ve heard of the

year’s early releases 2015, it

sure does look to be another

corker. Kicking off the new

year with an almighty bang are

Serious Black. The band is the

brainchild of Mario Lochert

when a conversation with

Roland Grapow started the ball

rolling. Dominik Sebastian,

Thomen Stauch and Jan Vacik

soon joined the pair, with the

vocals spot being filled by

Urban breed, so the band was

complete. I’ve underlined band

because this is what Serious

Black are, this is no studio proj-

ect, the band have already lined-

up live shows with Hammerfall

in early 2015. So does the sum

of the parts match the expecta-

tions? You better believe it

does, this band brings some of

the finest Melodic Metal you’ll

hear this side of Christmas, with

highlights like the epic “Temple

of the Sun”, the bombastic

opener “I Seek No Other Life”

and the superb “Trail Of

Murder”. This album is sure to

send shivers down the spine of

any fan of the genre .BM

(90/100)

ORDEN OGAN

“Ravenhead”

(AFM Records)I have to admit that I became a

fan of the band since the

moment I listened to their won-

derful 2010-“Easton Hope”

album and I've been happy to

recognize that the follow-up “To

The End” (2012) has been up to

all my expectations and – most

important – secured the band's

international breakthrough. Two

more years and the Germans are

back, with another powerful,

solid and dramatically epic

example of Classic Power

Metal. Slightly more focused on

the choruses and on the majestic

vocals, “Ravenhead” blends the

traditional sound of

Heavy/Power Metal with an up-

to-date, crystal clear and heavy

production. Think Blind

Guardian, with an heavier gui-

tar-sound, some Running Wild-

like epic choirs, a few cinematic

passages, and a lot of guitars-

dueling and double bass drums

parts. There are also a couple of

guests here: Grave Digger’s

Chris Boltendahl on “Here At

The End of the World” and

Hammerfall’s Joacim Cans on

the very melodic “Sorrow Is

Your Tale”, which represent the

“plus” (if ever needed) to this

great album. Well done, guys,

and glory to the brave! PB

(88/100)

DIABLO BLVD

“Follow the Deadlights”

(Nuclear Blast)A unique five piece out of

Belgium, Diablo Blvd produce

a groove centric form of Heavy

Metal that touches upon post-

modern Rock. “Follow The

Deadlights” is the group’s

third effort, and having

Nuclear Blast supporting them,

an international presence

seems to be just months away!

The music on this record is

worthy of such lofty ambi-

tions. What with their unique

musical signatures ensuring

them widespread attention.

Made up of a twin guitar attack

in Dave Hubrechts and

Andries Beckers, plus Tim

Bekaert on bass and Kris

Martens on drums; the four

create a solid bed of music for

vocalist Alex Agnew to

explore. His styling’s rising

from the depths to a husky

mid-range timbre that sets the

grooves and rhythms a-fire!

Each selection on this release

reveals different musical

flavours, yet all contained in

the musical signature of Metal.

Yet they push those very

boundaries and create a very

tasteful musical bed.

Remember the “Diablo Blvd”

name, as it won’t be long that

their music will reach the cor-

ners of the globe. BA (88/100)

BLACK STAR RIDERS

“The Killer Instinct”

(Nuclear Blast)The debut-album, “All HellBreaks Loose” (2013), resulted asan incredible success for the band,which has been busy playingacross the globe for one year. Andnow it's already time for the newone, “The Killer Instinct”, that –in band's frontman RickyWarwick's words - “is the albumthat really defines BLACK STARRIDERS. We’ve gone to the nextlevel with this record!". Under theexpert guidance of producer NickRaskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters,Alice In Chains, Mastodon) at hisown "Rock Falcon Studios" inNashville, TN, BLACK STARRIDERS came out with a power-ful, genuine and truly authenticpiece of Rock. Thin Lizzy is in theDNA of the band and it willalways be there, so if you love thathistorical band you can't go wronghere. The first chords of“Soldierstown” clearly reveals theband's Irish roots, and tracks likethe title-track and “Through TheMotions” sound so close to theclassic Lizzy songwriting withthis twin-lead guitar sound and theunique vocals-lines, while a songlike “Finest Hour” has a slightlymore modern and melodicapproach, still remaining stronglyClassic Rock-rooted. With hun-dreds of live-shows and twoalbums under their belts now,BLACK STAR RIDERS is aClassic Rock band in its ownright, still retaining the spirit andthe soul of THIN LIZZY. 'nuffsaid. PB (90/100)

Question: The new album follows the

usual four year gap between albums, so

why the gap between albums?

Answer: This four year gap is nothing

that we intend to have between albums,

we just can't work faster. You have to see

that we spend half of this time on the

road, and while we are touring we don't

write any new material. Writing while

touring would lead to old ideas sneaking

into new songs, because you have the old

songs in your head all the time, and this

is something we definitely don't want to

happen. Only when we are done with

touring we get our heads free for new

ideas and start working on new songs. It

usually takes us about 18 months to fin-

ish the songwriting for a new album,

after this it takes another 6 months to

record everything and there you have

your four years between albums. Of

course we could speed things up, we

could write while touring, we could set

ourselves a timelimit of 6 months for

writing, but the quality of the songwrit-

ing would just not be the same, and this

is something we take very serious, we

don't compromise. We want to come up

with the best songs we can possibly write

and we take all the time we need to

achieve this.

Q: Do you approach each album differ-

ently or do you still write the albums

the way as when you first started out?

A: Compared to the early days writing is

completely different today, but our music

is very different as well. Back then we

wrote a lot during rehearsals, with the

four of us exchanging ideas and jamming

on them, but as our music became much

more complex over the years our way of

writing changed. Today we work on our

ideas in our own studios at home, when

we feel we have accomplished some cool

ideas we give our demos to Hansi and he

tries to find his vocal lines. If it works we

continue from there, if not we either have

to find a way to make those ideas work,

or we start from scratch. This method of

writing works perfectly fine for us, jam-

ming would just not be an option any-

more, we could not experiment with all

those guitar layers or the orchestration

while jamming in the rehearsal room.

Q: Does each band member input on

the songwriting process or do you have

set songwriters?

A: Andre and Hansi definitely are the

main songwriters in Blind Guardian, but

everybody can write as much as he wants

to, there is no rule saying that only those

two guys are allowed to write. Whenever

one of us has an interesting idea for a

song we work on it and see if we can

make it happen, independent of who had

the idea. And even if a song was only

written by one person, everybody else

still has his influence, after all we talk

about the songs, exchange opinions and

make suggestions, and also when it

comes to recording everybody has an

influence with his personal performance.

Q: What is the story behind the

album?

A: The story is based on two songs from

our “Imaginations from the other side”

album, “Bright Eyes” and “And the story

ends” to be precise. Those songs told the

story of a little boy, living in an isolated

world, that has the chance to step

through a portal in order to get from his

world into another one. But since he is

only a boy, he is too afraid to take this

step, which has desastrous consequences

for both worlds. Now, 20 years later, the

boy has become a man and tries to recov-

er his memory, he goes on a kind of quest

for the holy grail and to find a passage

into the other world in orde to make

things right again.

Band: Blind Guardian Interview with: Marcus Siepen Interview by: Barry McMinn

14 | MRF

Question: In the past you mainly chose album

titles that sounded very „metal“, like „Rev-

Raptor“, „Steelhammer“ and so on. Now you

chose „Decadent“ which sounds more like

glamrock...

Amswer: The whole idea about the name

“Decadent” was... I'm a guy, I watch every morn-

ing like on TV the news. And then many times I

saw an advertising on "Save the children". It was

like dying kids in Africa, they don't have something

to eat. You know, and then on the other hand you

saw rich people, stuff like that. And that was the

whole idea - that we are living in a decadent

world. It's like, a lot of people have a lot of money,

they're living really decadent, they have yachts,

they have villas, they have -I don't know - so many

things going on. Then on the other hand people,

they don't have nothing to eat.

Q: But hasn't that always been the case? Most

people think of the eighties when you think

about decadence...

A: Yeah, I mean, also music-wise. I mean, of

course, all the rockstars, it was really decedent in

a way. But, I mean, I was not thinking about this,

you know, the old days. That was for me really... I

don't know, it was - I have to do something! The

whole album "Decadent" is like, you know,

against political things and what would have hap-

pened if ... One song "Rebels of the night" is about

when we were touring on the last tour in Ukraine

when there were all those things happening in

Kiev. So the whole story of "Rebels of the night" is

(about) what happened in Ukraine, you know. But

we have so many things going on that I'm really a

little bit scared of what's going on with all these

bomb attacks and people dying and, you know, a

lot of political things. That they are really lying to

us. It's like one other song on this album "House

of fake". The "House of fake" is not only one

house, the "House of fake" is like, you know, all

the parliaments and stuff like that. They are talk-

ing a lot of bullshit and they do nothing. So that's

in a way the whole thing. That's why we called the

album "Decadent", you know.

Q: So it is a strong social commentary?

A: Definitely! And there are a lot of other things.

For example another song is called "Pain", how

much pain we can take. It was like, when you

watch the news on TV now, it hurts, you know.

There is not really something nice going on any-

more, you know. Always like bombs and attacks

and this and this and this. And that's the meaning

of it: how much pain we can take.

Q: You've been in the music business for 46

years now. How do you keep the passion and

the fire alive? Are you still "restless and wild"?

A: Yeah! I mean, in a way you can say that I'm

restless and wild. You know, I mean, for me it was

very important, you know, I don't want to end up

in drugs and alcohol. You know, I saw a lot of

musicians in this business and I always say: I don't

want to look (like) this or want to end up like this.

And, you know, in music, for me I like to be cre-

ative, you know. I mean, It was also like a dream

come true when I did this this year together with

the Bundeswehr Orchestra, you know, and doing

a lot of things. I like to make music. You know, I'm

always composing stuff. And already the new

album is old for me, I'm already thinking for the

next album, you know. And then also definitely

now with the two young guys, you know, there is

fresh blood in the band. And they really want to do

it, you know. They take you with you through the

whole thing, you know. Let's say, the most impor-

tant thing is: I will do this as long as I have fun!

Very important! This is very important!!

Q: Do you still enjoy playing the old Accept-

songs or is it just a favour to the fans?

A: That would be a lie to say: "Pah, I don't care!"

I mean, I was in... I'm still in the songs. You know,

it still has something to do with me, it's my history.

And I don't have any problems, I enjoy this to do

it. And it's still fun. The most interesting thing is

now, I mean, we have a lot of young people com-

ing to the concerts. And also they're singing along

with the old Accept-stuff, you know, and this is

very interesting.

MRF | 15

Band: U.D.O Interview with: Udo Dirkschneider Interview by: B. Atkinson

16 | MRF

Question: I would like to begin with the forma-

tion of Ammunition, it seems that you have sur-

passed your past efforts with Wig Wam…

would that be a fair statement?

Answer: Wig Wam was Wig Wam you know, and

I see Ammunition as a quite different animal. I

guess this is what I really wanted to achieve with

my former band. The songwriting, the sound, the

friendship, the dedication and the heart and the

soul put into this album and band formation is

everything I ever dreamed of. This is an album

written and recorded on the music’s premises.

Without any limitation in expression or time. So

yeah, I’ve never been happier or more proud.

Q: Being that “Shanghaied” is the first effort,

were you going in with with high expectations?

A: The songs and the formation of the band was

all art by accident, you know. But the expectations

grew as we started to realize the magic going on

between Erik and I when we started to write the

album. And when we realized how extremely well

everyone got along musically and private too. To

be honest, my only expectations when Erik and I

got together, was to cut some great demo’s for

Wig Wam’s fifth album, that hopefully would

make it on the album. Forming a band or even

making an album with Erik wasn’t part of the plan

at all. It just happened. And it wouldn’t have hap-

pened if my former band mates had been honest

with me. Then I would most likely have been wait-

ing for them while they did their own stuff. These

days I’m thankful for the way it all turned out. It

sure was an eye opener and a great turn for me.

Maybe it was a sign.

Q: Tell us about the others in the group… It

seems you have surrounded yourself with some

of the finest!!

A: I must start with the one and only Erik

Martensson. The album and the band

wouldn’t have happened without him. After

all he is the one that suggested forming

this band. Erik is by far the best producer

I have ever worked with. And he is a multi

instrumentalist and a great singer too. And

just when you thought you’d seen the icing

on the cake, he proves to be the nicest per-

son in rock as well. And we just get along

so amazingly well. I guess we’re the

“chopstick twins” of rock ha ha. Robban

was suggested by Erik, as they both play in

Eclipse and W.E.T too. When Eclipse

opened for my side-project Nordic Beast in

Oslo, he really blew me away. Hal and I

had already got together as brothers in the

new band formation Nordic Beast, with

John Norum and Mic Michaelli from

Europe and Mikkey Dee from Motorhead.

His bass playing really belongs to the sev-

enties. Lots of improvisation and steady as

a rock. Jon and I have worked together for

almost 8 years with my Queen show “The

Show Must Go On”. I first met him back in

the late eighties, when we needed a new

guitar player for my band. And we had

heard a lot about this great guitar player

Jon Pettersen from Krakerøy. Jon joined

us, and we played in this band together for

about 3-4 years. He’s one of the finest gui-

tar players I’ve ever heard, and blends

great with Erik. Jon is more of a blues and

classic rock guitarist than Erik. Influenced

by Clapton and Page, and I can’t wait to

unleash him on stage around the globe.

Lasse comes from the progressive world,

but joined me on my “GLAMunition” gigs

in Norway and Japan in 2009. He later

joined Wigwam as touring member of the

band since the “Non Stop Rock’n Roll”

Tour. He’s such a musical genius, I tell

you. The band’s nerd too I may add ha ha,

since he’s extremely into gaming, comput-

ers and all the other stuff I don’t know a

shit about. But it’s fascinating. And he’s

become a very close friend of mine. Love

him to bits !

Band: Ammunition Interview with: Age Sten Nilsen Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

MRF | 17

Quest ion: The band rose from the

ashes of Seven Tears in 2009, so

why go down the Me lod i c /AOR

sound for the new band?

A: I th ink tha t everyone in the band

though t t ha t AOR was a b e t t e r

choice o f genre for us as a band.

Q: How long did i t take to record

the new album?

A: I t took about 1 year f rom s tar t to

f in i sh .

Q: Who had the idea to name the

band a f t er a poe try by Swedi sh

poe t Bruno K . O i j e r? Can you

ac tua l l y t e l l wha t the poe t ry i s

about?

A: Gui tar i s t Jonathan came up wi th

the idea , as he i s a b ig fan o f poe try .

c / o NIGHT is a dark co l lec t ion o f

poe tr ies , re leased in the mid-seven-

t ies . I haven’ t read i t myse l f ac tual -

ly , bu t I do fancy Oi jer , anyone co l -

l abo ra t i ng w i t h swed i sh band

Fleshquar te t cannot be tha t far out .

Al l in a l l , we th ink o f i t as a great

name that f i t s our mus ic wel l .

Q: The a lbum see you turn to Erik

and Anders Wige l ius to produce

the a lbum, were they the obvious

choice af ter they worked on the

2013 EP?

A: The Wigel ius bro thers were de f i -

n i te ly our f i r s t and only choice . As

soon as we got the record deal wi th

Aor Heaven , we immed ia te l y con-

tac ted the Wige l ius bro thers .

Q: One of my favouri te tracks i s

the bal ladesque “Dividing Lines”

that features some very nice saxo-

phone playing . Can you te l l us a

l i t t l e more abou t th i s s ong ,

please!?

A: Thank you . My song and a person-

a l favour i te o f mine as wel l . A pre t ty

moody song abou t b r eak ing up a

long- term re la t ionship – and a l l the

fee l ings tha t comes wi th tha t . The

lyr ics descr ibes the main charac ter

fee l ing sorry for h imse l f bu t a t the

same t ime wishes h is former lover

al l the bes t ; ”your eyes , they smi led

and t ha t ’ s a l l I n e ed t o know” .

Talk ing about dynamics , I t ru ly love

the de l ica te verses wi th only p iano

and vocals , then the bang wi th the

chorus . Lots o f emot ions behind th i s

song , and Johan Axe l s son p l ay s

superb saxophone , I go t goosebumps

the f i r s t t ime he wai led in the s tudio

– amazing mus ic ian .

Q: When did you f irs t rea l i se the

band was going to work?

A: I have never had any doubts in

re la t ion to whether the band would

work or not . However , i t was when I

heard the song Cassandra in the s tu-

d io t he f i r s t t ime tha t I ac tua l l y

real i zed how good the band and our

mater ia l was and that we had creat -

ed someth ing tha t could a t t rac t a

broader audience .

Q: What ' s the mos t impor tan t

thing to the band r ight now?

A: To ge t r ich and power fu l ! ! ! No!

But we want to ge t the record out to

a s many peop l e a s po s s i b l e , and

hopefu l ly p lay some l ive shows in the

fu ture . I f th i s record i s wel l rece ived

and success fu l i t wi l l g ive us the

poss ib i l i t y to fur ther deve lop as a

band and inves t in fu ture records

and mater ia ls .

Q: Do you have any plans to tour

in the 2015?

A: We don ' t have any th ing booked

r ight now. We have had fu l l focus on

the comp l e t i on o f t h e r e co rd .

However , d i scuss ions have been in i -

t ia ted and negot ia t ions are tak ing

place in re la t ion to a poten t ia l tour

as we speak .

Q: What are your hopes for the

band? This i s your debut but where

do you hope to go from here?

A: To p lay some l ive shows and to

s tar t p lanning the nex t a lbum.

Q: Give us one good reason why

the readers should go out and buy

your new album.

A: Because i t i s a k ick as a lbum wi th

great songs! I t i s the per fec t a lbum

to s tar t the year 2015 wi th .

Interview by: Barry McMinnInterview with: Calle SchonbergBand: Care of Night

Question: Hello guys! How are you doing?

So let's start from the beginning: when have

you started thinking putting together this

album and how did this project develop dur-

ing these years?

Answer: Two years ago, I’ve got a call from

Serafino, the boss of Frontiers Records asking

me if I was interested in writing and producing

an album together with Russell Allen. I love his

voice and his albums. For me he’s one of the

best singers today. Well, this was a cool chal-

lenge and worth to put all my energy into this

album. I’ve met Russell on some festivals dur-

ing the years and the chemistry was always

great and now it was time to record an album

together. I’ve asked some guys I could imagine

they would be cool to join the band and every-

body was htrilled about the idea. We’ve started

the songwriting and some months later we’ve

started the recordings and tracked the drums.

Q: Honestly speaking, I've been amazed,

since the first listen, by the great songwrit-

ing and the heavy yet very melodic sound of

the album. I read on the biography that – on

the songwriting-side – how did you manage

this process?

A: The target was to write an album which is

basically heavy-rock and different to Russell’s

bands and show him in a diversified way and

show his ability in singing traditional heavy

rock songs. Russell has a phenomenal voice

and the entire songwriting was based on this

idea! Most songs were written together with

Alex Beyrodt and Alessandro Del Vecchio, plus

fantastic contributions on the songs I wrote

together with Magnus Karlsson or Carsten

Schulz and a killer song by Amanda Somerville

& Sander Gommans (Blasphemy). Everybody

involved was very motivated and I’m really

proud of these guys and their attitude.

Q: Apart you (Mat Sinner and Russell

Allen), LEVEL 10 features Randy Black (on

drums), Alex Beyrodt and Roland Grapow

(on guitars) and Alessandro Del Vecchio (on

keyboards), all very known musicians and

busy with their own bands and projects;

how did you deal the recording-sessions with

them?

A: If you are a busy musician there’s always a

little space left for something very special like

this project and I’ve spoken to the guys and

they were thrilled about the idea to play on this

album. Every tone was played with passion and

every note was sung with power and total

ambition - that’s why the result is not just

another project - this is a demanding album,

with 100% dedication. I’ve talked for a long

time with Roland for example in doing some-

thing together - now was the right time and the

right moment and I’m very happy to have him

on the album, like the other guys. Everybody

put a lot of passion in this album.

Q: LEVEL 10 sound has been described as a

mix between “the more contemporary and

aggressive sound of Adrenaline Mob with

the more traditional European Power Metal

assault from Primal Fear”. I think that this

album could appeal also to Melodic Hard-

Rock fans, as in your music I can hear influ-

ences from Classic Rock bands like

Whitesnake, Scorpions and UFO. Do you

agree with me?

A: For me it’s a traditional heavy rock album

with modern elements, a lot of great melodies,

hooks and classic rock influences. It doesn’t

make sense to compete for example with

Symphony X - they are are a killer band and it

makes no sense. We should let Russell’s voice

shine upon something different and he deliv-

ered a phemnomenal performance on the

album.

Q: Do you think you'll be able to play some

live shows as LEVEL 10 in the future?

A: That’s always a question of the fans - do

they love & buy the album, what’s the feedback

- it it makes sense, this band will go on tour and

record a second album!

Interview by: Primo BonaliInterview with: Mat SinnerBand: Level 10

MRF | 19

Band: Sweet & Lynch

Interview with: M.Sweet / G. Lynch

Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

Question: First , a couple of must

ask questions: Knowing that this

co l laborat ion was insp ired from

Seraf ino , the Pres ident o f

Frontiers Records. I’m curious as

to your f irst reaction to this con-

cept?

Michael Sweet : I was of course wil l -

ing and ready to do i t ! I suggested

producing i t and then bring George,

Br ian and James in to the mix .

Seraf ino agreed.

George Lynch: Some of the songs I

sent the guys were f inished arrange-

ments while others had al l the ele-

ments of the songs; intro, verse, pre

chorus, chorus, bridge, outro, e tc . . .

But I would leave the arrangement

open so micheal and the guys could

move the p ieces around they way

they saw f i t… I think in the case of

th i s par t i cu lar band the wr i t ing

process worked very we l l…

Somet imes when you ge t to many

people in a room you can lose focus

and direct ion. . .

Q: Upon l istening to some of the

tracks, I must say that i t sounds

l ike you two have been together

forever! Did you and George just

gel? Was i t an instant connection?

MS: I t real ly was. George sent me

guitar r i f f / ideas and I ran with

those and comple ted the songs .

every th ing jus t came toge ther so

smoothly and ef fort less .

GL: I t h ink the record embod ies

some o f the exc i t ing qua l i t i e s i

r emember f rom records i was

involved with in the 80.s… Big giant

hooks, micheals clear melodic voice

with a huge range, s terl ing produc-

t ion.

Q: Now, this isn’t just two fantas-

t ic musicians gett ing together for a

“one-off”, but a band of four fan-

tast ic musicans — Brian Tichy on

drums, and James Lomenzo on bass

— so, was the involvement of Brian

and James your idea, or was the

whole combination of the four from

Serafino?

MS: The concept was Seraf ino’s idea

and I put everything else together.

Seraf ino let me produce and wri te as

well . I think he trusts my judgement

and I trust his as wel l .

Q: Now, Michae l—back to the

a lbum, aga in , upon l i s t en ing to

some of the mus ic — i t sounds

quite inspiring and that you had an

intense t ime of creating… Almost

unbe l i evable that you weren’ t

actually in the same Studio!! Take

us through the recording process…

MS: George sent basic ideas, I then

went into the s tudio and arranged

and mapped al l songs out and then

f l ew Br ian and James ou t and

recorded al l the basics . I then went

to my home s tud io and recorded

vocals and then we sent everything

to George and he recorded h i s

tracks. Then he sent everything back

and we mixed. I t was qui te s imple.

Q: In the future are the four of you

going to be able to get together and

put something together for some

live performances?

MS: We’re working on that and def i -

ni te ly hope to do so. I think i t would

be a crime not to!

Q: “Only To Rise” is a fantast ic

beginning, and I’m aware of how

busy both you and George are with

other projects — however can we

expect more col laborations?

MS: I think so. I f this is a success

then I bel ieve we would al l agree

that i t would make sense to do more.

I look forward to i t !

Q: Do you feel that there have been

signif icant shifts in popular music

and the music business in the last

years that served as a more sup-

port ive env ironment for the ar t

you're making?

GL: Well , as a 60 year old legacy

musician known for work in the 80's

hair era i ts always a chal lenge to

break away from that s t igma and to

have my music be acknowledged and

understood by younger generat ions…

And I don' t think that can happen via

an ar t i s t s consc ience a t t empt to

make his or her sel f relevant . As far

as the current s tate of af fairs in the

biz I miss the fact that i could 've one

band working with one record com-

pany and have the consis tent rela-

t ionship that would last years , not

decades… Nowadays I have had to

diversi fy; I have had many musical

and other projects and vie had to

teach mysel f to become much more

nimble and adaptable… But I think

ul t imately that’s a heal thy thing that

makes me a bet ter musician… And

maybe even a bet ter person.

Q: I know musicians tend to stave

of f p ick ing favor i te songs or

albums for a variety of reasons but

is there any particular song or

album in al l of your projects/band

(Dokken, Lynch Mob, etc) that you

have fond memories of creating?

GL: I have great memories of the

process o f r ecord ing the KXM

record. . . Dug, Ray and I moved into

a house/s tudio up in the Cali fornia

moun ta ins for 10 days… We a te ,

s lept and breathed the music and

wrote and recorded the ent ire album

in that short but magnif icent 10 day

period… And we had a blast doing i t .

Q: Dur ing your career , you’ve

been invo lved in qu i te a broad

range of col laborations… Sweet &

Lynch is just one of those. Do you

think it 's important to the develop-

ment of your musicianship to be

involved in so many things?

GL: I just feel compelled to explore

mus ic tha t I en joy . . . Whe ther i t s

hard rock, blues, progressive, indus-

tr ial , ambient , whatever I love jam-

ming and when you jam with di f fer-

ent musicians you get al l these di f -

ferent chemistr ies… And you never

know what the outcome is going to

be. . .

Q: What aspect of making music

excites you the most right now?

GL: The mystery of not knowing what

new body of work or sonic landscape

I get have a hand in helping create .

MRF | 21

Question: First of all, congratulationf or the Live album, it is real-

ly an amazinf pieace of work and it reflects perfectly your real

vibe and mood on the stage...

Answer: Thanks! It means a lot to me. I think the live stage it my real

dimension and the goal is to express on the recording my emotions.

Q: In your musical life you have written tons fo amazing tunes

and should be always played on the radios and tvs, but nowdays

it is really hard to have it...

A: Yeah, it’s too bad. There was a time when FM radio ruled the way,

and even better than that, there were different areas. It wasn’t just one

song across the entire nation. They would play a different song in one

area, so it was interesting. But we have to do things differently today,

you know, find different ways. It’s still possible to have that. I assume

as soon as we get a cool video or something up on YouTube or do a

TV show or something, we’ll achieve the same thing.

Q: Today it is so easy to spread the music and release albums...

what it the difference with the past?

A: Absolutely, but I think it’s better. Because in the quote, unquote

“old days,” you had to have that major record deal and that was akin

to winning the lottery. Because it wasn’t fairly distributed; it didn’t

matter how good you were — and it’s still like that. But, with social

media and being able to promote yourself, not just regionally but

worldwide, it’s possible to build up a fan base, which is so much bet-

ter to have than just appearing out of nowhere. Then you can have a

career because once you’ve got a solid fan base, then when you’re up

you’re out, but when you’re down you’re still up, you know what I

mean? You’re not out. So I think it’s better. Then, of course, as you

start doing some big numbers on your social media, like you have a

YouTube video that’s getting a couple hundred thousand hits, some-

one’s gonna come snooping around anyway, you know, to see how

they can exploit you.

Q: Are you still in contact with Pat Thrall?

A: Yeah, Pat’s more than around. He was into digital recording with

pro tools way, way back in New York. And now he’s in Las Vegas at

the Palms Hotel recording studio. He’s been there several years. He’s

worked on some big albums as a producer and an engineer too.

Band: Pat Travers Band

Interview with: Pat Travers

Interview by: D. Jamieson