CONTENTS04_Whitesnake

06_Cain’s Offer ing

07_Dennis Churchi l l Dries

08_Beauvoir / Free

09_Within Si lence

10_House of Lords

11_Luca Turi l l i ’s Rhapsody

12_Reviews

14_Worldview

15_Pyramaze

18_Burning Point

20_Nelson

22_Trixter

Melodic Rock Fanzine

The official Frontiers Music s.r.l. magazine

Year #11 - Nr. 3 / Issue #68

Editor-in-chief: Elio Bordi

Concept, Graphics & Design: Elio Bordi

Writers: Bruce E.J. Atkinson, Duncan Jamieson, Barry McMinn, Vitale

Nocerino, Rob “Ezy” Bone, Primo Bonali.

Headquarters and general contacts:

Frontiers Records - Via Gonzaga 18

80125, Napoli - Italy

Tel: +39.081.2399340/7753

Fax: +39.081.2399794

E-mail: elio@frontiers.it

Website: www.frontiers.it

Facebook: facebook.com/frontiersmusicsrl

Twitter: twitter.com/FrontiersMusic1

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

Copyright©2015 Frontiers Records. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is pro-

hibited.

Printed in Italy.

Band: Whitesnake

Interview with: David Coverdale

Interview by: Vitale Nocerino

MRF | 5

Question: Can you please introduce

“The Purple Album” to all your fans?

Answer: It’s a tribute to my past, the

music that started me on my amazing

journey that continues today & at this

point in my career, I’m going to do

whatever I want, not what anyone thinks

I should do. I’ve worked hard to live a

life of choice & this is my choice & that

of my esteemed colleagues. What is

interesting to me is that when we were

mixing “The PURPLE Album” I had the

feeling of completion that my career had

come full circle...It felt good...

Q: Is there a particular reanson why

you have decided to make this record

at this point of your life and career?

A: I feel the originals deserved a fresh

coat of paint. The House of Purple is

fabulous as it is...this project is not

intended to compete, or compare with

the originals, this is simply

Whitesnake’s tribute to the music of

Deep Purple Mark 3 & 4.

Q: Are you afraid of an eventual com-

parison with classic versions?

A: No, not at all. Opinions are like arse-

holes, everyone has one...

Q: Is this album a way to go straight to

the more hard blues music?

A: It’s simply a project that, because of

circumstances, became a new

Whitesnake album...Take it or leave it...

Q: What is your opinion about the last

Whitesnake studio album

“Forevermore”? Are you still happy

with it?

A: Yes... I love both “Good to Be Bad”

and “Forevermore”, I’m very proud of

both of them and my musicians.

Q: Did you ever get close to a mark III

reunion, or something like that? We

are also sad about the passing of your

late friend Jon Lord, do you want to

write some lines to remember him?

Can you tell us an anectode concern-

ing you and Mr. Lord?

A: He was a beautiful Soul of a man. He

taught me charm & grace. He helped

polish a rough diamond into a great deal

of who I am today.

Q: Rumors are telling that Ritchie

Blackmore is considering to return

playing hard rock and reform

Rainbow. What's your opinion about

them? Do you think they're well

founded?

A: I hope so. I’m hoping to contribute to

his electric project, It’s very exciting

that he may pick up his white Start

again. He is, without a doubt, one of my

favourite all time guitar players and I

was incredibly honoured to work with

him in the same band.

Q: What happened with Doug

Aldrich?

A: We wished each other well...I love

Doug & hope he achieves everything he

wants in his life. I loved working with

him. Some of my absolutely favourite

songs I wrote with Doug.

Q: You’re going to tour with Def

Leppard and Black Star Riders. It will

be a huge fun for everyone!

A: It’s going to be an amazing UK tour...

An added bonus is we’re going to work

with the Riders, too, sweet package.

Q: How was working with Bernie

Marsden on the “Shine” record?

A: I was delighted Bernie asked me to

participate. We are both thrilled we

reconnected so well after many years of

not so nice energy between us. I wish

him every success.

Q: In the past you have played with

some of the most amazing guitarists in

the world: Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy

Page, Steve Vai, Doug Aldrich and

Reb Beach. Is there anyone past or

present that you would've like to have

performed with? What do you look for

in a guitaris?

A: Jimi... Jeff Beck... he's one of the few

musicians who achieves total emotional

experience for me... I can get teary lis-

tening to him... then I can burst out

laughing with the incredible, imagina-

tive lines he plays... Total Guv'nor of the

guitar. What I look for in musicians is if

they can take Whitesnake to another

level. With Deep Purple, for exemple, it

became very difficult to write within that

head banging, heavy metal identity. For

me, I wanted Whitesnake to be this huge

umbrella of hard rock rhythm and blues.

Big riffs, fun, tongue in check, an elbow

in the ribs, a knee in the nuts. From the

beginning I knew I needed to electrify

Whitesnake. To continue to take things

further. Simultaneously with the kind of

music I do, Whitesnake, it’s a guitar

hero syndrome. I think my experience

with Tommy Bolin, who I love and treas-

ure, got a bit crazy in the end. And with

Richie Blackmore, who I honor and

respect and thank for all the lessons I

learned from him. But I didn’t want to go

through that phase where one person

can be dictatorial. Believe me, I’m not

dictatorial. If people expect Whitesnake

to be awesome, then everybody who

comes in has to be awesome! That’s a

prerequisite. When I started Whitesnake

I went with extraordinarily good musical

guitarists versus guitar heroes. I didn’t

go for a Coverdale foil. I was probably

playing it a bit safe and we did great. We

established Whitesnake and gave it an

identity. I needed the house of snake to

have a redo but maintain that integrity

with rhythm and blues.

Q: What is your opinion about the

social networks? I see you use them

very well!

A: I’m embracing new technology to

record my songs & it’s a wonderful way

to interact with people who love

Whitesnake & help spread the Gospel of

the Snake & I’m having fun doing it,

very much...or I wouldn’t do it...

A lot of journalists don’t bother doing

their homework & I’m finding out they

don’t ask the questions fans are most

interested in...so, now I can respond

directly to people who actually enjoy my

music.

Q: Looking back on your career was

there ever a song that you wrote that

you were confident would not be a hit

and it was or vice versa?

A: I have no regrets. I’m not the type of

person who says “if only this” or “if

only that.” I do remember having a

stand up argument with my management,

Geffen records, and executives at MTV

that I wanted “Judgment Day” from Slip

of the Tongue to be the song out of the

box. They all wanted the redo of the

older song “Fool For Your Loving. I

though the original version was fine. I

think this came from John Kalodner

doing his behind the scenes manipula-

tions. Fuck it. I wouldn’t change any-

thing. It’s good being me!

Q: What about the next step? Any

news reguarding the new Whitesnake

studio album with brand new songs? Is

Joel Hoekstra working with you on the

sogwriting as well?

A: I have no doubt I will be writing with

Joel, Reb and Michael, but, I have no

plans for a new project at this time. I am

getting prepared for “The PURPLE

Tour” which will embrace the music of

Whitesnake, of course, & the whatever

songs we all agree to perform from the

new studio release in May.

6 | MRF

Question: The debut album “Gather The

Faithful” was released in 2009. Why did it

take so long to have the second effort?

Nowadays six years is a very long time.

Didn’t you fear to miss the right momen-

tum?

Answer: To be honest, I didn’t think there

would ever be a second Cain’s Offering

album, and I never thought about the

momentum either. I always thought it was

funny when people kept asking me if there

will be another Cain’s Offering album five

years after the album had come out. I guess

it showed that people really liked the album

and wished that we’d return to make some

more music. It’s now been six years since the

debut came out, we are coming out with a

new album and the fans are still there and

interested. I think that speaks volumes about

how great and devoted metal fans can be,

and I am really touched and thankful for

that.

Q: What is his opinion about the actual

phase of Sonata Arctica? Do you still see

meeting points with the band that he con-

tributed to create in 1995?

A: I haven’t really been following their

career that much after my departure, to be

honest. I’ve tried to listen through every

album they’ve released though. It is clear

that they have moved away quite a bit from

the original style that we had when we made

our first albums back in the day, but I guess

that’s just a natural evolution of a band.

People get older, mature and get interested

in different things. I think some of their new

material is pretty cool, and there are still

some echoes from the “old days”. Very cool

band, all the best to them!

Q: Can you please explain the meaning of

the band name “Cain’s Offering”?

A: Back when I was first putting this band

together we were thinking about the name

with some friends and the label. I don’t real-

ly remember where “Cain’s Offering” came

from, but I knew immediately that this is it.

It’s a really intriguing name, as in the bible

God rejected Cain’s offering. So I guess it

means we are the “rejected ones”.

Q: The first album was a kind of mixture

between the main power metal finnish

acts, and I mean of course Sonata Arctica

and Stratovarius. Do you think that

“Stormcrow” confirms this trend or is

there something different?

A: Of course I knew that we would inevitably

be compared to those bands, I mean, I was in

Sonata and Timo is the singer and frontman

of Stratovarius. We operate within the same

genre, although I think all three bands have

their distinctive styles. I think “Stormcrow”

is the definitive continuation of our first

album “Gather The Faithful”, but I don’t

know how it compares with the works of

Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius. All three

bands rely heavily on strong vocal melodies,

but all three also have a bit different

approach on how to write and present the

songs I think.

Q: In your opinion, what is the difference

between the first album and this new one?

A: As for meeting points, it’s still melodic

metal where the main emphasis is on the

vocal melodies, everything is build around

them. I think the biggest difference is that for

“Gather The Faithful” I had a lot material in

store that I had written among the years, so I

had a quite diverse pool of material to

choose from. This I think manifests in a way

that although the album has some really

strong songs and moments it is a bit “all over

the place”. The new album “Stormcrow”, in

my opinion, is a much more coherent, it

seems more unified and has a bit more clear-

er “character”, so to speak. Also I think the

overall songwriting on “Stormcrow” is much

stronger and more focused than it was on

“Gather The Faithful”, which was the first

album I wrote all by myself, so I was still

learning the ropes.

Artist: Cain’s Offering Interview with: Jani Liimatainen Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

Artist: Dennis Churchill Dries Interview with: Dennis Churchill Dries Interview by: Duncan Jamieson

Question:This is your first album since Tattoo

Rodeo’s ‘Skin’. Why was the time right now?

Answer: The Firefest shows White Sister did

really pulled me out of “retirement”! Rick and I

started writing again, and I just kept on going

after we lost him… Pretty much just to keep mov-

ing forward mentally, emotionally.

Q: It sounds like a very personal album.

Indeed, it sounds like it was therapy in a sense.

Would that be a fair assumption?

A: Very true. I believe this project kept me going,

moving forward with my life. It was difficult, but

one of the most important things I’ve ever had to

do for my family and myself. As I’ve said before,

at the risk of sounding full of myself, it doesn’t

matter if I sell 100 copies of this album or

100,00… I did this for me! I’ve received so many

great wishes form the people who have heard the

whole album, regarding the meaning behind the

songs and the lyrics, I think I was able to commu-

nicate my feelings with this one without getting

too deep. Understanding where I’m coming from

is in fact important to me.

Q: On the song ‘Unbroken’ you sing ‘I feel the

time has come’ and what sounds like ‘Life’s

Hand Has Just Begun’. Does this record feel

like a new beginning? “I feel the time has

come, and I wont be undone, I’ll never be…

no no not me”, “My time has just begun,

bright lights cast shadows, someone I know…

I used to know”

A: A bit of a continuation really, as I don’t know

if I started something or just put this music out to

the world only to go away again. I really don’t

know where this is all going, just enjoying the

ride!

Q: How long did you take to write and record

it?

A: I had about half the songs written over the last

couple of years and wrote “Heard It On The

Radio”, “Unbroken”, “Song For the Living”,

“Pieces”, and “Can You Feel” It during the

recording process over the last 10 months or so.

All the vocals, bass, some of the keyboards, and

some of the acoustic guitars were recorded in my

dining room on a Tascam MK24 portastudio! I

sent the files over to Paul and he pulled them into

his DAW and added his guitars, keyboards and

backing vocals on a couple of songs. We worked

pretty quickly when we got going. This was all

self-financed, totally independent production.

Q: You’ve worked with the very talented Paul

Sabu on this record. How did you and he hook

up and what was it like working with him?

A: I have a lot of love for Brutha P! We were sup-

posed to be in a band project that turned into a

solo album. I knew Paul from the first Tattoo

Rodeo album way back in 1991 and haven’t

talked to him since until this project… Crazy. We

started working together and hit it off right

away… He has the ability to take my songs and

make them sound good without getting in the

way, you know? You can hear his guitars and

style on the project, but he still let me be me. He’s

a very underrated producer.

Q: You went down really well when you

reformed White Sister for Firefest in 2008 and

2009. I guess the sad death of Rick Chadock

and Rich Wright will mean they’ll never be

more music or shows under the White Sister

or Tattoo Rodeo name’s again?

A: True, although I may perform some songs live

at some point from the catalogue, those two

bands are gone. You can’t recreate that without

Rick.

Q: Both White Sister and Tattoo Rodeo didn’t

make the splash that the quality of music war-

ranted. What do you put both bands lack of

good fortune down to?

A: White Sister is a mystery… No idea why we

didn’t break out with that project! I’m thrilled

that people (you included!) feel that the music

was strong enough to warrant some success… I

guess the staying power of the music over time

will have to do! It’s amazing to me that people

still talk about that band. I’m honoured really. I

still get comments on Tattoo Rodeo’s “Been

Your Fool” and how it helped people get through

rough times. That means a lot to me, to reach

people like that.

MRF | 7

Band: Beauvoir / Free Interview with: J.Beauvoir & M. Free Interview by: Barry McMinn

Question: Tell us a little of you how guys get

back together and how you hooked up with

Frontiers Music.

Jean Beauvoir: Since we went our own ways in

1995 after the debut, we got back in touch and

over the years have been discussing doing more

recording together... I had moved on and

recorded/released another 7 successful albums

with my leading Crown Of Thorns, but still

thought it would be cool to do a project with

Micki again. We played a few gigs together

including Hard Rock Calling in the UK a cou-

ple of times… I've had a long-standing relation-

ship with Frontiers who have released several

of my Crown Of Thorns albums, solo albums

etc., so I decided to mention this project idea to

Serafino. He and Mario liked the idea, so we

made a deal with them for the Beauvoir-Free

release!

Q: When did you realise the magic was still

there and that this record was going to be a

killer?

Micki Free: First off thanks for the great com-

pliment! From the beginning stages of writing

the record I felt it was special, magic far over

due. As far as we are / were concerned, the

magic never left. We’ve always been a great

writing team, and to that there is no doubt,

(Crown of Thorns debut CD). Like the brothers

we are, sometimes we don’t agree, we take a

break, assess the situation, speak softly and get

it right… Period. We know there is a “magic”

when Beauvoir Free write together, and we

enjoy the connection. We are “brothers to the

bone”, sometimes not always agreeing, but dis-

agree leads to talking it out and getting it right!

Q: Did you have a vision of how the record

was going to sound from the off, or did it just

evolve with the writing and in the studio?

JB: We talked about it and felt we wanted to try

and capture the same kind of feeling we had on

the debut. I think what we do together comes

naturally and it just fell into place. I had an idea

technically of where I wanted to go with this

record, sounds and production. Just followed

that path and this album came out of it...

Q: So how did the song writing process go for

this album? Did you write specifically for

this record, or did you both have previous

ideas you brought to the table?

JB: Similar to other work we've done previous-

ly, we just sat in my studio, he'd start playing a

rockin’ riff idea or vice versa, I'd just start

singing a melody over it and we'd know pretty

quickly if we had something cool or not. Micki

would come spend some time with me in

Florida, usually 2 weeks at a time for us to write

and lay down his parts. When he'd leave, I

worked on doing the various instruments,

arrangements, vocals and production. For

lyrics, we'd usually have a title idea fairly

quickly...Micki would send me some lyric ideas,

cool words etc. I'd use that as a base to write the

final lyrics and create the story, or at times I

just heard lyrics, being inspired late at night

and would just write it...

Q: What was the first song you wrote for

album?

MF: I think the very first song was “Whiplash”,

and I think we wrote that song before we were

signed to Frontiers Records. Kinda wanted to

see if “The Voodoo Man” and “The Gypsy

Cowboy” were still on the same page, nuff said!

We just smiled, we new we were rocking when

we wrote that one… I really wanted an AC/DC

type song feel and sound, Jean nailed it to me,

and with Jean’s sultry voice and stinging gui-

tars… HAVE MERCY!

Q: The album has some killer songs I just

love the opener ‘Angels Cry’, ‘Whiplash’,

the title track ‘American Trash’ all kick

some serious ass, the funk element is amaz-

ing, but are there any tracks your particu-

lary proud of?

MF: Wow! I really like it when people get the

“back beat” of our songs, call it funk or what-

ever, YOU obviously get it! Favourite song?

now that’s a hard one, as we love all “our

baby’s when we write them! I mean the whole

CD, in my very humble opinion, is full of smok-

ing guitar riffs, and grooves, with Jeans vocals,

singing like he did and even BETTER, when we

wrote the “Crown of Thorns” debut CD!

Ssetting you up, the listener for the “big fall”,

right into the arms of Beauvoir-Free and rest

assured, we got cha baby!

8 | MRF

Question: The band started out under the Rightdoor name, so why

change to Within Silence?

Answer: The reason for changing the band name was very simple. We just

wanted to present a better name for our music and of course we also wanted

ensure that the new name will sound good abroad (especially UK and USA).

Q: How long has this line-up of the band been together?

A: We have been together for 2 years now and must say that after many try

outs with different musicians we finally found the right persons which fits per-

fectly for this band not only musically but especially as persons.

Q: “Gallery of Life” is the band’s debut album, so how would you

describe the band’s sound to those unfamiliar with the band?

A: On Gallery of life you can find melodic metal and melodies are really what

you can expect and capture during the listening and does not matter if goes

about catchy choruses, nice guitars and keyboards melodies or great solos.

But on the other hand you can listen also some heavy riffs and progressive ele-

ments. So this album should satisfy listeners whose expects high performance

and musicianship but it is great for fans of melodic music not necessary only

in metal genre. Album is treated with amazing and fresh production which is

work of young producer Jan Cvercko. All in all we can say it is nice package

of solid power metal music topped with atmospheric sound.

Q: How long has the band been working on the album?

A: It is hard question as we found band in 2008, but at that time we started

from zero and we just have begun to work on our musical skills. Of course we

had some nice ideas from that period but we were not able to provide needed

performance for them. After three years later we started feel that we could hit

the studio and record one of our songs. In 2012 we record our promo song

and after this experience we started pay more attention to songwriting as we

had reached good level of your musicianship and were able to treat our ideas

with appropriate arrangements and performance. To sum up I can say that we

spent approximately one and half year net time for writing music and lyrics.

Q: Do you all have input in the songwriting process or is there one main

songwriter in the band?

A: No, we did not input all in the songwriting process. Normally ideas for new

songs come from me, either as rough structure or as main theme which cov-

ers vocals lines, riffs and melodies. After that we started work on other parts

for current song if needed and on possible arrangements. With this phase

mainly helps Richard, who added some nice passages to the songs and wrote

whole song anger and sorrow too.

Q: Have you taken songs from your Rightdoor days and included them

on the album or is it all new material?

A: We can say that all songs are taken from Rightdoor days as we decided to

announce changing of band name with news about our singing to Ulterium

records. However, I can reveal that two songs come from really early days of

the band but others was written later between 2012-2014. Anyway with new

ideas we don´t have problem , contrary we have a lot of promising material,

but harder is to pick best ones and get them to final form. That means put all

arrangements, guitar solos or additional keyboards for making right atmos-

phere.

Interview by: Barry Mcminn

Interview with: M. Klein

Band: Within Silence

Question: Are you satisphied with this

new album?

Answer: I am so happy with this CD, I had

a good feeling about it, but as the songs

were written I was getting more and more

excited.

Q: To my ears, it is one of the best

album of the first months of this year:

great production, great lyrics and a tor-

rent of creativity. Is there a sort of

secret formula to write songs like these?

A: Man I wish there was a formula, but

writting songs never works well if you

think you have a formula. At this point

sometimes you get it right and other times

not so much. What I do know is when we

get it right, I know it immediately.

Q: What is the meaning of the title

album?

A: Since the new HOL Line-up was intro-

duced in 2006, I have always had to hear

comments that this was not really HOL

because it was not the original line-up. I

did understand that criticism back then,

but I don’t accept that now because we

had the same line-up now for 10 years. So

it was my way of telling the world, hey, we

are still here, INDESTRUCTIBLE.

Q: Did you have a specific musical

direction you wanted to go in for the

new songs?

A: I wanted to feature Jimi much more, he

is an incredible guitar player and so

unique. I wanted his heaviness with my

melodic input. Put them together and you

have “House Of Lords 2015”.

Q: What were your inspirations during

the writing process?

A: The inspiration came from many differ-

ent places, I always try to do at least one

song that deals with our troops who are

working so hard to protect us, it is some-

thing that is important to me. Other inspi-

ration comes from love, corruption,

betrayal, and good old fashioned party

songs that helps us to forget how old we

really are, even if is just for a moment.

Lastly, good old fashioned rock songs

about women and wine!!!

Q: Was it a difficoult “journey”?

A: Sometimes it does become difficult dur-

ing the recording process, but not on this

CD, everyone was in perfect step. We did-

n’t think about making it conform to the

“Melodic Rock “ format, because we

inherently think that way so why try too

hard. At this point in our career, fans sort

of know what they are gonna get, so we

wanna make sure we advance the music a

bit. This time around it just felt effort-

less“.

Q: Do you avoid to listen to music dur-

ing the writing process of your albums?

A: No, that never changes, I have been lis-

tening to so much music all my life that I

have enough influence in my mind to last

me a lifetime, I draw from my lifetime of

music and the people that I admired

through the years.

Q: Which are your favourite songs of

the album?

A: “Got To Hell”, “Pillar Of Salt” “Call

My Bluff” and “100 MPH”.

Q: During the writing process are you

influenced by the fact that what you are

writing will be played live?

A: I worry about that later, It is my job as

a singer to give everything I can to a song.

If I feel when I am listening to my vocal

that there is not enough punch and emo-

tion, I raise the key. Then if there are

problems to do it live, I lower the key.

Q: Do you think that an album should

be first of all about music, or could it be

also a method of communicating a mes-

sage?

A: The album should first and formost be

about the songs. I have heard many

albums with this incredible production

value, great cover art and when you play

the album it is empty inside. Songs mean

everything to me.

I listen hard, I want to be invested by the

song. I want it to move me someway, some-

how. Make me sad, make me think, make

me realize, make me happy.

Band: House of Lords Interview with: James Christian Interview by: Vitale Nocerino

10 | MRF

Question: It’s a hugely ambitious album

which obviously took a long time to pro-

duce.

Answer: We invested a lot of time for writ-

ing. It took seven months. I wanted the

orchestra to sound more realistic. On the last

album ‘Ascending To Affinity’ I programmed

the orchestra. This time I wanted to record

every little part with my hands on a key-

board, which isn’t easy for a guy who wasn’t

a born keyboard player. I’m happy with the

result. It’s the most satisfying record I’ve

made. I recorded my solos in Italy.

Dominique Leurquin (the other guitarist)

recorded his solos in France and then the

vocals and choirs were recorded in Munich,

Germany. After seven months working on

the songs the three months to record every-

thing got a little bit boring! It took over fifty

days to mix the album. It was difficult to mix

all the different aspects. We pre-mixed all

the orchestral parts in my studio here in Italy

and then sent it to Germany. It was a real

fight with the frequencies between the gui-

tars and orchestra and so on. In the end I do

it all just for me. If I invest so much time, I’m

the first fan of my own music. I want to make

the kind of music I want to listen to. Your

own creativity is the only limit to what can be

achieved.

Q: There’s particular care taken with the

choirs as they differ in sound considerably

from track to track. There’s a lot to take

in across the record for the listener.

A: You’re right. There were three kind of

choirs on this record. The first type of choir

we have is an epic one, with lots of voices.

For me it’s the voices on a record that give

the emotion. The second kind of choir is a

typical heavy metal choir. For that you need

only 4 or 5 metal singers who can sing pow-

erfully. We were lucky to have Ralph Scheeps

of Primal Fear, David Readman (PC69) and

Dan Lucas (KARO) collaborating here. The

third type of choir is an operatic, classical

one. Here you don’t need so many voices.

Once I made an album with sixty people

doing the operatic part but in the end that

wasn’t so satisfactory. Now if you compare

the sound quality of a sound sample with a

large choir, when you mix it in the studio

then even with the London Orchestra it does-

n’t sound so good as you need more defini-

tion and the same applies to a choir. We had

to have two singers sing over the top to give

the sound clarity or else the voices blending

together can sound muddy, almost like a

fake. So now I take six or seven voices

singing the parts each time. I’m very inter-

ested in polyphonic voices. This way you can

get a very good effect. We had two singers

Previn Moore from Vienna and Bridget

Fogle from Germany as the main voices with

other voices around them, sometimes more

and sometimes few voices. There’s even

Holy, Gregorian choirs on there.

Q: What touring plans do you have now?

A: Right now, I’m planning a tour with my

agency which will be all over Europe. It’ll be

a lot of fun. The first great thing is compos-

ing the songs and recording them and then

the second great thing is when you get to go

out and play your own songs very loud in

front of an audience.

Q: The music is unmistakably Rhapsody.

How much of an influence does coming

from Italy have on Rhapsody’s sound?

A: My father was a fiddle player. He died

when I was two years old so I never really

knew him. My mother played classical music

so I heard that and I listened to a lot of

Italian music from the 70s like Libano. Our

music is cinematic but the vocal lines in our

music are catchy, no don’t like that word,

they’re melodic. Those melodies are influ-

enced by those Italian musicians I grew up

listening to.

Band: Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody Interview with: Luca Turilli Interview by: Duncan Jamieson

MRF | 11

WHITESNAKE “The Purple Album”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)There was an air of mystery late last yearand early this year, when it was announcedthere would be a new Whitesnake album in2015, following the acclaimed “Forever”album of 2011. This isn’t an album of neworiginal material per se, with this album theband have revisited some classic Purplesongs that haven’t been sung in decades,with the exception of the likes of “Burn”,“Stormbringer” and “Soldier of Fortune”,which have all been included in the liveWhitesnake sets over the years. With newguitarist Joel Hoekstra teaming up with fel-low six-string maestro Reb Beach, the pairtake the songs guitar parts to a whole newlevel, while Coverdale is his usual bluesybest. This album is a must for allPurple/Snake fans. These versions arebeefed up to the max, the originals wouldbe a six-stone weaklings and these versionswould be the Charles Atlas versions. Ialways say if you’re going to revisit theclassics, then make then your own andCoverdale and the guys have done just that.Just check out the excellent “The Gypsy”.“Mistreated” is just phenomenal and “SailAway” is Coverdale at his emotive best. Ifyou’re going to have a Purple patch in yourcareer, then this is the way to go. BM(90/100)

CAIN’S OFFERING “Stormcrow”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)“Stormcrow”, the second musical state-ment from this powerful Finnish fivepiece. Joining Jani on this effort is TimoKotipelto; (vocals), Jani Hurula; (drums),Jonas Kuhlberg; (bass), and JensJohansson; (keyboards). Opening withthe title track, “Stormcrow” sets themusical stage for what is to come. Abrawny track with thought provokinglyrics, this cut paints a huge music scapethat continues throughout the record. “ANight To Forget” is a “building” track,telling a compelling story with a strongbut melodic bed of music that just march-es on. Some of the songs are full of hope,some with tenderness and some showingnaked aspirations, all flowing into oneanother creating a stellar musical jour-ney! The whole album shows how variedJani’s song writing is and how he hasdeveloped the art. Here, in “Stormcrow”we have eleven heroic journeys, unfold-ing for all to hear, the magnificent talentsof each member musician. “PowerMetal”? Yes! indeed, and also very sym-phonic in places! “Cain’s Offering” –“Stormcrow”, immense in sound, off thescale in Talent, but what else would weexpect from a Supergroup such as this!BA (94/100)

ASIA “Axis XXX Live in San Francisco

MMXII” (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

Recorded on November 7th 2012 at the

Regency Ballroom in San Francisco,

this new ASIA live CD / DVD and Blu

Ray captures once again the band, in the

original line-up (Geoff Downes, Steve

Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton) in

front of an ecstatic audience during one

of the shows that ASIA performed in

support of the “XXX” album and which

was broadcasted by AXS TV in the

USA. The band is always top playing

thei greatest songs that made the history

in music. What make this album a best

buy for all of you is the set list that fea-

tures songs from their first two albums

and selected cuts from the reunion

albums, including the single from

“XXX” “Face on the Bridge”. This is a

historical document of where the band

was at the time and a snapshot of their

musicianship, camaraderie and passion.

Make sure to buy it expecially the Blu

Ray version that is really an amazing

jouney to live with fantastic sound and

HD images. VC (88/100)

NELSON “Peace Out”(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

The Nelson twins return with anotherinfectious album of feel good, unmistak-ably American rock. The brothersGunnar and Matthew's matching long,lustrous blond locks from their early 90sheyday might have gone but their songsremain as glossy as ever. While thisrecord might not eclipse their 2011return 'Lightning Strikes Twice', it is stilla terrific listen. High energy classic rockwith good harmonies and songs thathave a positive life affirming vibe. It'sabout having a good time. Opener “HelloEverybody” lays down their manifesto,“Hope you’re here to let your hairdown/free your mind and lose control”.“Back in The Day” is a song written foreveryone out there who still has pangsfor those glory days when hard rock wasall over MTV and the radio. 'Invincible'benefits from guitar licks that apeBoston. “Rockstar”, “Autograph” and“What's Not To Love?” are hair metalanthems with power pop hooks, while“Bad For You” , my personal favourite,shows they can get down and dirty too.If this proves to be the last album underthe Nelson moniker they can go outholding their heads up high. A perfectsummer record. DJ (94/100)

LUCA TURILLI’S

RHAPSODY

“Prometheus - Symphonia

Ignis Divinus'”

(Nuclear Blast)Music doesn’t get any more bom-

bastic than Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody.

His creative juices are not so much

flowing as creating a tsunami here.

Over seventy minutes long, his cin-

ematic metal approach continues to

evolve. Only the rapid firing drums

remind you of the band’s metal

roots. It’s mostly orchestral in nature

rather than metal (a couple of good

solos aside, the guitar is cast into the

shadows for much of this record).

What stands out are the complex

choral arrangements. There is a mix

of male and female voices, epic

choirs and Gregorian chants. The

songs are sung in Italian, Latin and

English underlining the record’s

diversity. Standouts are

‘Rosenkreuz (The Rose And The

Cross)’, more direct than a lot of the

material with a good melody and

thus perfect as first single, ‘One

Ring To Rule Them All’ which con-

jures the feel of Tolkien’s shires well

and the closing nineteen minutes of

‘ Michael The Archangel And

Lucifers Fall Part Ii Codex Nemesis’

(not the catchiest of titles) throws

everything, including the kitchen

sink (no, make that the Trevi foun-

tain), into the mix. Rhapsody fans

will rejoice in its ambition, the rest of

world may find it endearingly

bonkers. DJ (92/100)

IRON SAVIOR

“Live At The Final Frontier”

(AFM Records)Now, this is a homecoming if

there ever was one! “Live At

The Final Frontier” is Iron

Savior’s first live document!

After nearly twenty years of

recording and releasing and

treading the boards, the cameras

finally caught up with these

Metal Troopers. Yes, cameras,

as this isn’t just a live audio

recording, it is also the band’s

first full DVD release! A visual

document of their recent home-

town performance in Hamburg

at the beginning of this year. It’s

all here—strong performances

from numbers throughout their

career… Including from their

debut of 1997, to the “Rise Of

The Hero” release of 2014!

“Live From The final Frontier”

is perhaps an end to a chapter,

however the “Iron Savior” book

is far from finished! The group

continues to tour, and has just re-

released 2007’s “Megatropolis”,

ompletely refreshed. The band

has even re-recorded some of the

material ! Not tanding still, “Iron

Savior” are determined to

unleash yet more of their finely

precise musical drivers, muscu-

lar and molten, as it was in the

past; it shall be in the future: we

still have an “Iron Savior”! BA

(90/100)

HELLOWEEN

“God Given Right”

(Nuclear Blast)“God Given Right” is the fif-

teen studio album from

German Power - Metallers

Helloween. Not only is this the

first time the releases five stu-

dio album with the same line-

up, but also it’s the seventh

consecutive album produced

by Charlie Bauerfeind and the

first to be release on the

Nuclear Blast label since their

2003 opus “Rabbit Don’t

Come Easy”. But most impor-

tantly, it’s all pure Helloween!

The album is pure Heavy

Metal no matter how you look

at it or pigeon hole a band, and

what Helloween have always

done is produce great Heavy

Metal albums and “God Given

Right” is right up there with

their best. Derris is superb as

always. The guitars of Weikath

and Gerstner are just as rifftas-

tic as ever and the powerhouse

rhythm section of Grosskopf

and Loeble are as dynamic as

ever. The album takes that 80’s

Helloween sound and brings it

screaming into the now as

always. Tracks of note the

massive opener “Living on the

Edge”, the anthemic “Battles

Won” and the storming ‘Lost

in America’. This is Teutonic

Metal at it’s very best. BM

(91/100)

BOREALIS

“Purgatory”

(AFM Records)The Canadian melodic metal band

continue to develop on their third

album. It can be brutally heavy at

times. The riffs are punishing, the

drumming wildly frenetic and the

bass rumbles so much it measures

on the Richter scale, making this

one for those of you who like

your metal heavy but it’s also very

melodic thanks to Matt

Marinelli’s voice. He’s got that

modern Transatlantic rock voice

that is manly, angsty but ultimate-

ly melodic. The heavy elements

incorporate many genres such as

power metal, prog metal and sym-

phonic metal. The keyboards add

light to the darkness with orches-

tral parts and swirling prog pas-

sages. The biggest hook goes to

“The Chosen One” and sounds

ripe for a single release. The

crackingly heavy “Form The

Ashes” is a standout. The ballad

“Rest My Child” is an acoustic

and piano ballad that showcases

Marinelli’s voice and the techni-

cality and muscle of Mike

Briguglio’s guitar throughout is

impressive. The band’s sound is

stronger than the songs though as

the melodies and rhythms are sim-

ilar and blend together over a

whole album. Listening to a few

songs in isolation it sounds great

and there’s much promise in this

young band. DJ (84/100)

DENNIS CHURCHILL

DRIES “I”

(AOR Heaven)The former White Sister and

Tattoo Rodeo maestro finally

appears out of exile to deliver a

very personal, cathartic sounding

solo record that further demon-

strates what a great singer and fine

songwriter this American musi-

cian is. There are touches of the

melodic rock sound of White

Sister on the wishful thinking of

“Heard It On The Radio”, the hard

rocking “Unbroken” and the up-

tempo AOR of “She Loves

You”. He’s aided and abetted by

Paul Sabu (Only Child). I was sur-

prised initially by how little

Sabu’s heavier signature sound

can be heard here. Instead, he’s

happy to compliment Dries own

sound. Ouside of those three rock-

ers, there are a variety of personal

ballads such as ‘I’ and the terrifi-

cally sung ‘Home. The other bal-

lads all have something differ-

ent;‘Can You Feel It’ has a posi-

tive message, there’s a laid back

feel to “Pictures”, “Pieces” is

piano led whereas “So Good To

See You” relies on acoustic gui-

tar. Generally, I would have

favoured more rockers but it’s all

quality material. On ‘Unbroken’

Dries sings “I feel the time has

come” and hopefully by this he

means it will be the start of more

output from the underappreciated

talent of Dries. DJ (92/100)

WHITHIN SILENCE

“Gallery of Life”

(Ulterium Records)Hailing from Slovakia,

Within Silence is a name

that may be unfamiliar now,

but when this album gets it’s

general release, it won’t be

unfamiliar for long. “The

Gallery of Life” is the bands

debut release and is an

impressive statement they

make with it, as they blend

melodic metal with fine

crafted power metal ele-

ments. The driven guitars of

Richard Germanus (lead)

and Martin Cico (rhythm)

and towering rhythm section

of Filip Andel and Peter

Gacik bass and drums

respectively, are only

dwarfed by the superb

vocals of Martin Klein. The

album delivers on so many

levels it’s hard to use to cor-

rect superlatives to describe

just how good this debut

release is. So instead I’ll

just pick out a few of the

many highlights of the

album. Kicking off with the

thunderous Emptiness of

Night”, the old school metal

of “The Last Drop of Blood”

and the massive “Judgement

Day”, are just a few of my

favourite tracks from one of

the finest debuts this year.

BM (92/100)

eview

s

R

TRIXTER “Human Hera”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)A couple of years ago I was privileged to have theassignment of reviewing what was the comeback albumof “Trixter”, “New Audio Machine”. Now here we areagin-2015-and “Trixter” are celebrating the “HumanEra” with a scorcher of an album! All cylinders are pop-ping on this one! Opening up with “Rockin’ To theEdge Of The Night”, the boys go all-out delivering thatenergised Hard Rock sound that we all love! And theydon’t let-up! But, what’d we expect? Songs like “CrashThat Party”, “Good Ties Now”, and “All Night Long”certainly tell us that each member is putting their heartand soul into each jaunt and singing those famous ‘trickof the phrase’s as well! “Human Era” finds the group atthe top of their collective rocking game! Twin guitarsflying, pulsating and pounding rhythms and nasty, yetsoaring vocals! Each track is a stellar rocked out soundexperience. Tight as tight can be, this band is amazing!Raucous slices of anthemic rockers and some slowtempo songs as well! Topping this off, “Trixter” are hit-ting the road once again! Hopefully headline as well, asif they are opening, then they will just blow whomeveroff the stage and steal the show! That is how strong arocker “Human Era” is! This Summer celebrate thehuman era with none other than “Trixter”! BA (91/100)

BEAUVOIR / FREE “American Trash”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)If you’re familiar with Crown Of Thorns debutalbum, then the names of Jean Beauvoir and MickiFree with be no strangers to you. Now in 2015, thepair are back together for their fantastic new album“American Trash”. The pair combine once more tobring that sound of Crown of Thorns bang up to date,with Beauvoir vocals still sounding as soulful asever, while Free’s guitar work is just sublime, withtouches of rock intermingled with just enough funkto get your groove on too. The album is just pure ear-candy from the opener “Angels Cry” right down tothe last track “There’s No Starting Over”, there isn’ta bad song on the album and there aren’t manyalbums these days than can boast that. Real treats forme are the title track ‘American Trash’, a funk filledspectacular than just rocks big style, the rocking‘Shotgun to the Heart’, the riff filled “Cold DarkDecember” and “There’s No Starting Over”. When itcomes to great Hard Rock they don’t come any bet-ter than “American Trash”, one of the highlights ofthe year for sure. BM (95/100)

HOUSE OF LORDS “Indestructible”

(Frontiers Music s.r.l.)As everybody here knows, House Of Lords standsfor unique melodies, grandiose arrangements, epichooks and powerful songs. And the brand new stu-dio-album, the aptly-titled “Indestructible”, proudlykeeps on the tradition of this awesome band, witheleven songs, which definitely combine the best ofHeavy and Melodic Hard Rock. Starting with theheavy-sounding “Go To Hell” and “Indestructible”,the album brings us also some incredible melodiesenriched by the heavenly vocals of James Christian.The following one, “Pillar of Salt", might be a goodrepresentation of how the new album sounds, a com-bination of heavy and melodic parts, while “Call MyBluff” contains that typical House Of Lords epic-likefeel that made the band so popular worldwide.Celebrating their first ten years together, the line-up,comprising of Jimi Bell, Chris McCarvill and BJZampa (with James Christian leading the gang),sounds tight, powerful and better than ever, deliver-ing an incredible performance and giving the band areal new life in its 25+ years of career. A great come-back-album from a great band that didn't always getwhat it deserved... PB (90/100)

PYRAMAZE

“Disciples Of The Sun”

(Ulterium Records)This Pyramaze’s fourth album is

a definite Work of labour, love

and passion! The group has suc-

ceeded in creating a masterful

body of work that will eclipse

that of “Immortal”. Staying true

to the original concepts, having

that passion grow stronger, and

the Talent combined progress-

ing as well—this effort is per-

haps more varied than the previ-

ous three. “Disciples Of The

Sun” is a collection of twelve

forcefully executed symphonic

musical rivers that swell to cre-

ate an immense ocean of sound.

A fantastical set of stories set to

song! In this release those pres-

ent are performing with all of

their being! Although a journey

that began back in 2002 and has

experienced many changes, the

one constant is the musical

vision of true melodic modern

classical expressions. This con-

stant is front and centre in

“Disciples Of The Sun” and

each member of the group-past

and present, are brothers in this

epic journey! A most powerful,

majestic expression of musical

stories that will resonant for

years to come!! BA (89/100)

WORLDVIEW

“The Chosen Few”

(M24 Music Group)Worldview might be a new name

in the US Heavy Metal world, but

band's members are definitely not

new to the scene; as a matter of

fact, Worldview was formed in

Los Angeles by guitar-player

George Rene Ochoa and vocalist

Rey Parra, with the addition of

John Gonzales on drums and

Todd Libby on bass guitar and

keyboards. Their style is not too

far from what Sacred Warrior has

been used to play, a Progressive-

Power Melodic Metal, with a

strong influence from bands like

Queensryche, Fates Warning,

Dream Theater and Heir

Apparent. The album starts in a

quite heavy way with “Mortality”

and “Illusions Of Love” but it's the

third, incredible track “Back In

Time” that brings the band to the

next level, showing awesome

vocal melodies and great arrange-

ments, and recalling here and

there the mighty Crimson Glory.

“The Mirror” is another early

Queensryche/Dream Theater-

influenced track, and “Why” is a

ballad-type monster, with a

breath-taking performance by

Rey Parra. Definitely a “must-

buy” album if you love the US

Melodic Power-Progressive

Metal. PB (88/100)

THE VINTAGE CARA-

VAN“Arrival”

(Nuclear Blast)Three young musicians from the

unlikely country of Iceland. The

group is a power trio worthy of

the name and a style that goes

back to the late sixties. A three

piece that could be likened to the

great “Cream”! Amazing-yes! In

the music and depth of composi-

tion. Unbelievable: certainly,

especially when you realize their

age and that this album, “Arrival”

is their third! The group had its

start in 2005 with Oskar only in

his pre-teens. “Arrival” is a heavy,

pulsating bottomed out slice of

Heavy Rock and Blues.

Complete with blistering guitar

work, haunting vocals, and

grooved out rivers of sound.

Tuned down chords accentuates

their heaviness, very similar to

early “Sabbath” and obviously

“Cream”. Each performance is

simply a “groove-fest”! Creations

such as “Monolith”, “Eclipsed”

and “Last Day Of Light” are

some of the epic performances

that you will be carried away by.

The three musicians are enor-

mously talented, and this is appar-

ent on each cut of the album. “The

Vintage Caravan”, “Arrival”, this

may be the start of world domina-

tion! BM (92/100)

BURNING POINT

“Burning Point”

(AFM Records)2015 marks a new chapter

in the Burning Point story

as Pete Ahonen steps down

from the microphone and

in steps former Battle

Beast vocalist Nitte Valo.

The album is still Burning

Point at it’s core, it’s just

the surroundings have

changed. Ahonen is still

steering the ship with his

driven guitar work along-

side Pekka Kolivuori, the

rhythm section of new

bassist Sami Nyman and

Jussi Ontero are a force to

be reckoned with. The

result is sonically the best

Burning Point album to

date. The album includes

five new songs and rework-

ing of five other plus a

KISS cover. The new songs

are just the tip of the ice-

berg and will be part of the

bands upcoming album

“Polttopiste”, the five

reworked tracks highlight

what Valo brings to the

band, plus the cover “I’ve

Had Enough”, which is just

the cherry on the top, on

what is pure Heavy Metal

Burning Point style. BM

(85/100)

T. BERGSTEN’S FAN-

TASY “Nightwalker”

(7Chords)Based upon the excellent

Swedish band “Fantasy” of the

early 80’s to early 90’s, Thomas

Bergsten’s Fantasy is a revival of

the music created at that time.

Thomas has re-arranged some of

the material and updated some of

the lyrical content, giving new

interpretations to most of what

we hear. A strong musical state-

ment, “Nightwalker” consistently

displays the skills of Thomas, as a

guitarist and song-writer, as well

as a vocalist. The Fantasy band

consists of equally talented musi-

cians: Per Schelander on bass,

Jorgen Schelander on keys, and

Tobias Bergsten on drums. All

four continually weave musical

threads that form deep & colorful

tapestries that excite the senses!

A vibrant sound, coupled by an

intensity of performance will

make this musical project one of

note. The music is actually well

ahead of its time, and if “Fantasy”

came and went without much

notice, then this time around

Thomas Bergsten’s Fantasy will

certainly make an impact upon

the music world! Seek out the

first of this trilogy, and explore

“Nightwalker”, if only to glimpse

at sides of “Fantasy” that you did-

n’t know existed. BA (92/100)

Question: Let's start with a quick story of theband...George Rene Ochoa: Johnny Gonzales(drums), Todd Libby (bass) and I had the ideaof doing project together. Johnny and I playedtogether in Recon and Deliverance and Toddplayed keyboards for Recon for years. We allwere good friends and we still are. Rey Parragot to be our singer because of Rey and minesmutual friend Rick Macias. Rick and I talkedabout starting a project and at the same time hewas speaking to Rey to start a project and it washe who brought us together. Unfortunately Rickpassed away so Rey and I took up the torch tohonor our friend. Q: I know you're coming from some wellknown Heavy Metal bands like SacredWarrior, Recon and Deliverance; how didthese previous experiences influence themusic you've written for Worldview?Rey Parra: Fronting Sacred Warrior was agreat experience, one that would shape the manI am today. We had many great and miraculoustimes. We saw many come to Christ. Our style

was heavy metal and that was great for me then,singing as many high notes as I possibly could.These days, I don't really feel the need toscream all the time. I now understand that inorder to be a good vocalist, I have to display myoverall vocal ability rather than singing highnotes all the time. Q: Your album sounds really powerful, stillmelodic with “classy” arrangements. To myears it looks like you've been influenced bythe '80s traditional Power-Heavy Metal, andespecially by bands like Queensryche (inprimis), Fates Warning and Heir Apparent,am I right? Which are your most importantinfluences, musically talking? And howwould you describe your album?GRO: First of all... Never heard of HeirApparent. Secondly, I would say that we don'treally sound like Queensryche. We are muchheavier and more technical at times. Don't getme wrong, I think that their early years wereamazing. Worldview is influenced by MANYbands. In this record you may hear some of ourinfluences such as Pink Floyd, Kamelot, Iron

Maiden, Nightwish, Deep Purple,etc etc etc... We don't want to belabeled as a band that sounds likeanother band. We want all of ourinfluences to come through alongwith our own creativity. Q: You're coming from LosAngeles; how is the scene forHeavy Metal over there, nowa-days?GRO: Johnny, Todd and myselflive in Los Angeles and Rey lives inFlorida. We have managed to makeit work. We talk on the phone andall texts each other all the time. Themetal scene in Los Angeles is nowhere near as happening as is it isin Europe. Having said that, I

recently went to see Judas Priest and it waspacked at a larger venue. It told me that...METAL IS ALIVE AND WELL! Love it!!!Q: The album features a lot of guests appear-ances, from musicians like Oz Fox (Stryper),Les Carlsen (Bloodgood), Jimmy P. Brown(Deliverance), Larry Farkas (VengeanceRising, Die Happy) and more. How did youmanage to have these guys playing on youralbum?RP: I have been great friends with Les Carlsonfor many years. We had talked about him doingsomething on this album for a while so I con-tacted Les and he agreed to do it. At a later timeI thought it would be great to get Oz Fox to joinin the fun so I asked Les if he would contact Ozand ask him if he would be interested. Ozagreed and he contacted George and they madeit happen, as far as every one else goes, Georgemade that all happen. Q: Any touring-plans?GRO: Yes, we are currently looking for a book-ing agent. Do you know anyone good?

Band: Worldview

Interview with: GR Ochoa & R.Parra

Interview by: P.Bonali

Question: I would like to begin with the cur-rent line-up; it seems that there has beenmuch upheaval in the band of late…Answer: Well, this has been going on for a cou-ple of years, in fact since Matt Barlow left backin 2008. Urban Breed was then the vocalist forthe tour the band did with Volbeat in 2008, butMichael Kammeyer (band founder and gui-tarist) left shortly after the tour and so didbassplayer Niels Kvist. The band then recruit-ed Jacob Hansen as their guitarist, but UrbanBreed felt he was being too busy with otherbands and projects, so he quit, and Jacob gothold of me. We met during the mix of our 2ndTeodor Tuff (now CROSSNAIL) album atJacob's studio, so we were already friends, andwhen he approached me with the offer to joinPyramaze, I couldn't turn it down. I heard acouple of songs, and the material was verygood.Q: You joined Pyramaze in 2013, and havehad two years with the group… So it mustbe very fulfilling to have completed such astrong musical statement in “Disciples OfThe Sun”…A: Thank you! When I joined, most of the musicwas already written, but we worked together(with the addition of Henrik Fevre as lyricistand co-writer) on the melodies in the studio,me and Jacob, and it went really smooth. Yes,it is very fulfilling! I tried to do my best for thesongs, and it came out really, really strong,also because the guys know what they're doing!And I really think the whole album is verystrong. There's a variety that is important, andwe change pace here and there so it goes fromreally heavy to almost atmospheric. I reallylike that in an album. It makes me proud.Q: With all that has been going on aroundthe band, has it been hard to keep the origi-nal vision of the group intact?

A: Well, yes and no. I think we wanted to dosomething new anyway. An updated version ofPyramaze. It was inevitable with the new song-writers and the new line-up, but I really don'tthink the band has suffered from the change.Quite the opposite in fact. It felt like it was timeto bring in some new, fresh blood, and you canhear that in the songs. Everybody wanted to dotheir best and show the world that we're a forceto be reckoned with. Michael Kammeyer wasso kind to let us continue everything like wewanted, since there's still 2 members from thedebut, Morten and Jonah, and Toke came in on"Legend Of The Bone Carver", so the core ofthe band is somehow intact.Q: Listening to the album, is there any songor songs that are expressing some of the pastdifficulties?A: I think in a way they all are. If you want, youcan read that into every song. Our feelingsmaking this record and struggling with pasttroubles shines through, I think, but in a verypositive way. I mean, when I listen to the albumand the songs, it puts a smile to my face, as it'sall good memories from recording the vocals.It was summer, green leaves everywhere andwe enjoyed every minute of it. It felt like therewas this extremely positive aura around theband and members. They were so happy thatfinally this was happening, and everybody washaving a great time.Q: Again, listening to the new material, onewould not think that some of you are almostbrand new to the fold. It sounds like youhave playing together for a long time!A: We're pros, haha. These guys are all greatmusicians, and as far as I understand, Jacob(guitars) has been working with Morten(drums) on several occasions, and they allknow each other from way back. Jacob record-ed and mixed Michael Kammeyers first demo

almost 15 years ago, so the whole band was notnew to each other. Also, I was guided very wellby both Henrik Fevre (Anubis Gate), who wason the phone + Skype and Jacob who's great atwhat he does. It came out as one solid unit,which is great.Q: As I write these questions, I am indeedlistening to this new Recorded Work, and Idon’t mind telling you that the passion ofeach member is so dominant! While record-ing, the sessions must have been just asintense…A: Indeed! Toke, Morten and Jacob went intothe studio with I think 5 songs almost ready,and they just went nuts writing and working onthe songs, and having a good time. Every timea song was done, they recorded the drumswhen it was fresh in memory and did more orless first takes on the drums. Morten is a mon-ster, haha! And what they wanted to do, wascapture the intense and positive energy, andget that onto tape, which I think went very well.I think you can tell that here's a band who lovesto play these songs! They did the basic record-ings as well as writing in 1 week...Q: So, is “Disciples Of The Sun” more of asolidarity statement from you, the bandmembers?A: I think so. It's definitely a band achievement.There's not just 1 person who's behind this orresponsible of making this happen. It's verymuch a collective spirit.Q: Do all of you contribute to the music orare there distinct songwriters and com-posers in the band?A: It's mainly Jacob, Toke and Jonah who'swriting, but everybody has a say, and I willcome with ideas here and there as well. I thinkon the next one it'll be even more, as I amgrowing accustomed to how things are doneand how they write.

MRF | 15

Band: Pyramaze Interview with: Terje Haroy Interview by: B. Atkinson

Question: The new album is the first

not to have you singing, why have you

stepped down as vocalist after 15

years?

A: Well, I basically just wanted to try

something completely different and shuf-

fle the deck for good. I love singing and

love being the the singer, but I felt it

was time for a change.

Q: How did Nitte Valo become the new

singer of Burning Point?

A: I think it was summer 2013 when I

first got the idea in my head. First I

talked to the other guys and they were

all very excited about it. I contacted

Nitte late 2013 and asked her interest

towards joining us and that does she

have time in general to do music. She

was interested and she did have time.

So, we put the ball rolling right away

and here we are!

Q: How long did the album take to put

together?

A: It was something like 5- 6 months all

in all, mixing and mastering included.

Q: Do you see this as a new chapter in

the Burning Point story or a new

beginning?

A: Both, definitively both. We are very

proud our past and very excited about

the future.

Q: Your involved with many different

bands apart from Burning Point like

Stargazery and Ghost Machinery, so

why not simply form a new band with

Nitte at the helm?

A: Hahahahah, good question…hmmm

why I didn’t thought of that � No, just

kidding. As I said, I wanted to try some-

thing new and make some huge changes.

Also, there are lots and lots of old BP

classics that deserves to get more recog-

nition and this is a great way to give

them a “facelift”.

Q: Will you still be singing the older

songs when you play live or will you

and Nitte share the vocal duties?

A: Nitte will sing most of the songs for

sure, but maybe there will be some

“duets”. We’ve played one cover track

we did on Empyre album, I’ll be yours,

and in that song we’ve shared the duties.

Q: With the success of metal in

Finland and the success of some metal

bands in getting their albums on the

charts did you approach this album

with the idea that it could be a com-

mercial success and maybe hit the

charts or did you not worry about that

at all?

A: I think that if you start looking at

charts or even start writing the songs in

a way that are they going to be a “hit”

songs you’re way out of line. I have

never wrote a song thinking that is it

going to be a hit. What comes, comes

straight from my heart.

Q: Who has been a big influence on

your musical career and how do you

think these influences show up in your

songwriting?

A: Yeah Yngwie Malmsteen Rules!!! I

listen so much different metal bands

(and a little Flamenco music occasion-

ally...) that it is very difficult to pin

point where exactly I get my influences.

I just listened the U.D.O`s THUNDER-

BALL cd and I really loved the song,

Trainride in Russia. I have always loved

those Russian melody lines, they have

combined a power and kind of sadness in

those melodies. Maybe I will do some

Russian melodies too on the next

albums.

Band: Burning Point Interview with: Pete Ahonen Interview by: Barry McMinn

18 | MRF

Band: Nelson

Interview with: Gunnar Nelson

Interview by: Duncan Jamieson

Question: There are some great pop

rock songs on this record. You’ve

obviously laboured over this. Can you

tell me about the writing and record-

ing process?

Answer: Thanks for the kind words. I’m

really proud of this record… About a

solid year went in to its creation from

the writing to the final mix. This partic-

ular record was a solitary process… A

matter of me locking myself in my studio

late at night, and not emerging until I

felt I had something great going. When

writing, I hear these songs in my head

as if they’re already done… As if

there’s a stereo playing somewhere off

in the distance in my mind. I feel really

lucky that way. I’m not saying that

those ideas come to me completely fin-

ished… That has happened, but it’s

really rare. What I am saying is that I’ll

get enough of the song to be able to

sense if it’s worth chasing down or not.

If it is, I tend to focus on just that one

song idea until I’m done enough with it

to document it (I don’t really like leav-

ing half-finished songs and bouncing

back and forth between them). I’ll

tweak the production elements and the

lyrics all the way up to the final mas-

ter… But I usually won’t quit on a song

until the melody, title, theme, semi-fin-

ished lyric, and basic arrangement is

captured in recorded form. I don’t like

to refer to my work tapes as “demos”.

These days, you have to consider them

‘masters in progress’ from the very

beginning. You never know when the

very first performance or idea is going

to be the one that has unbeatable

magic. I’ve made the mistake of not tak-

ing my “idea tapes” seriously, and

being really bummed later on that they

were initially recorded shoddily. On

this record, from the very beginning, I

was trying to make the best record I’ve

every been a part of. So, from the start

in my studio it’s always my best mics,

tube compressors, and vintage 1972

Neve pre-eq modules to record through.

I use the same signal path that the

multi-million dollar recording studios

that have made my very favourite rock

records have. So if the end result does-

n’t sound huge and honest, it’s my

fault… not the gear’s. I think this par-

ticular record sounds wonderful.

Q: It’s a very positive upbeat record

with songs like ‘ Invincible’, ‘On The

Bright Side’ and ‘What’s Not To

Love?’ . You’re in a good place at the

moment, aren’t you?

A: Actually, I am. I just got married to

the woman of my dreams about 8

months ago… And became a father to

three girls that same day. This worka-

holic touring machine has finally gotten

some balance in his life- and it’s effect-

ed my music in a good way. This is also

my last NELSON record… So I wanted

the songs to reflect the best of what I’ve

had to offer these past 25 years… And

the best of my attitude. The songs you

mentioned are unapologetically uplift-

ing… Yet tough at the same time.

Reflective of the man I hope to be.

Q: The song ‘Back In The Day’ is a

homage to the glory days of 80s hard

rock. What do you remember of those

days in the spotlight?

A: I was really blessed to have been

able to enjoy that level of success at

that particular time. HUGE crowds (all

screaming girls!) First class tour

busses, hotels, light show… and all

modesty aside, I knew that when we

took the stage, we had the best fucking

rock band on planet earth at that time.

We had the best live show most had ever

seen… and we put a lot of time, effort,

and our own money into it. Simply put,

we CARED… and it paid off, big time.

Q: “Autograph” is another terrific

track. When you had a US no.1 and

were all over MTV you must have had

your share of fandom. What were

some of the stranger things some fan

did?

A: There are always going to be some

psycho fans around… It’s an occupa-

tional hazard. I have more “fan” sto-

ries than I could possibly recount

here… But Matthew seemed to be the

one of us who attracted the serious cra-

zies. They all wanted to marry him…

And if he wasn’t up for it... They’d seem

perfectly happy to skin him and wear

him for their birthdays. I always had a

very low tolerance level for drama and

obsession… So most of the time I’d just

send those fans down to one of the crew

guys’ rooms.

Q: The title ‘Peace Out’ suggests that

this could be your last record as

Nelson. Please tell us this is not the

case!

A: I’m afraid to say, alas, it is. It’s not

that I don’t love the music, or the fans.

It really comes down to this industry’s

lack of support for guys like me.

Everything I record is organic… Not cut

and pasted together. It takes a LONG

time and a LOT of effort to make a

proper NELSON record. I’m putting in

the same amount of time that I put in

when we had major label budgets of

$500,000 per record. But when our own

record label keeps telling me that my

work is worth less and less to them with

each passing record… while at the same

time the cost of living keeps going up…

There’s naturally going to be a point of

diminishing returns. We’re at that

crossroads now. I’m a professional

musician… And my time is worth some-

thing. This is what I do for a living, it’s

not a hobby. The juice just has got to be

worth the squeeze, you know? If we’re

at the point that I can’t afford to make

proper NELSON records because I’m

surrounded by people who want me to

make half million dollar records for

free and feel lucky to be taken advan-

tage of, I’d rather be the one to choose

our ending, and to celebrate this ending

on the highest of notes possible.

Q: You work with people outside of

your brother but what is the differ-

ence when you’re collaborating with

your brother compared to other musi-

cians?

A: It’s changed quite a bit since we

began working together when we were

kids. He used to show up for the process

a whole lot more. Now I think he trusts

me to do the heavy lifting in the studio

because he knows I love it… That I

know he hates it… And after decades

making records together, he knows that

he can trust me to get it done. I think

Matthew and I are going through an

interesting phase at the moment. I think

the more I’ve gone in the direction of

loving the recording studio and making

records my way, Matthew has gone ever

more in the opposite direction. Yet he

seems to enjoy working with other writ-

ers and performers where he can record

as quickly as possible then go home…

So who knows? He acts like he wants a

break from me and my methods, and/or

NELSON. We’ve been doing this trip

together for 25 years- a quarter of a

century and that’s just as NELSON.

We’ve been making music together for

over 40 years! Maybe we could both use

a change of creative scenery for a

while. I guess our next phase is going to

determine if Matt needed a break from

this musical style and the cast of char-

acters that surrounds it… Or if he real-

ly just needed a break from me.

Q: Even if Nelson ceases to be you’ll

continue to make music with your

brother, won’t you?

A: That’s the plan! We’ll always do our

RICKY NELSON REMEMBERED gigs

together… The occasional NELSON

gig… He has fun playing in Scrap Metal

with me. We’ve been talking about the

next creative phase… Centered around

the two brothers singing together with

simple production. More along the lines

stylistically of what we grew up around

in Southern California as kids.

Q: What are you planning to do next?

A: Enjoy this record cycle. Tour it like

crazy. I want to do as much as we can

with PEACE OUT. I want to have FUN

making music again… Industry aside…

It’s time to get back to what we started

making music for in the first place…

Getting chicks. Just kidding (but not

really). It’s always been about having

fun doing what I love to do more than

anything. That’s the very definition of

living the dream. So, let’s LIVE a little.

MRF | 21

Question: From the release of the last

album, you have toured extensively…

When did you guys settle down to

begin writing the new record?

Answer: After the overwhelming

response to NEW AUDIO MACHINE we

got a new found confidence and sense of

power knowing that we made a great

record. I started writing while we were

on tour and after "FOR YOU" "GOOD

TIMES NOW" and "MIDNIGHT IN

YOUR EYES" were produced I knew we

had the goods for a new TRIXTER cd

better than our last… Welcome "HUMAN

ERA".

Q: With “New Audio Machine”, you

assembled a great production team

that helped you with the production, is

it the same here, you being the main

producer and enlisting the talents of

others to assist?

A: Yes, Chuck Alkazian

(Soundgarden,Pop Evil, Kid Rock) mixed

a few songs, Pete Evick (Paramore,Bret

Michaels) mixed the stellar ballad

"BEATS ME UP" and TOMMY KESSLER

from BLONDIE mixed MIDNIGHT IN

YOUR EYES. I love surrounding myself

with people who really care about the

music and making it sound the best it

can be. PJ Farley co produced as well.

Q: Now, whether you like the term or

not, Trixter are becoming veterans in

this crazy world of Rock! To me that is

a good thing, for over twenty some odd

years, you and the lads have rocked us

with a Capital “R”. What is your

secret?

A: Ha ha… Yeah wild to think that we

are a CLASSIC ROCK band, but I'll take

it. We are blessed to be able to this still.

We are the ALL ORIGINAL band which

makes it extra special. We are a band of

best friends and brothers. It’s awesome!

Q: Going back to the new record,

“Human Era” first, has any of the

material come from the “New Audio

Machine” sessions?

A: No, but there are some older tracks

like "NOT LIKE ALL THE REST" and

our first single "ROCKIN' TO THE

EDGE OF THE NIGHT" which was writ-

ten back in 1987 and I reworked it to be

a new TRIXTER classic like GIVE IT TO

ME GOOD.

Q: Why the name “Human Era” and

does it have a special meaning to you?

A: PJ came up with the concept. It goes

back to when we started as a band. When

there were no cell phones, computers,

social media… You had Human contact

and had to deal issues face to face. As

much as we all love technology it has

taken away from positive personal inter-

action.

Q: Please go through some of the

recording process and the sessions.

Have you done anything different ?

A: We record all the music and backing

vocals here in New jersey at my studio

MOJO VEGAS… Pete does his vocals in

Arizona at his house. He then DROP-

BOXES his vocal tracks to me. We have

a really wonderful system for making

records. It shows in the end result.

Q: Trixter are obviously a road

band… So fill us in on your touring

plans for the Summer / Fall period.

A: Oh yeah ..We have about 15 dates

booked so far all across the USA and we

hope to finally play Europe and go back

to JAPAN.

Q: “New Audio Machine” came out on

the Frontiers label, and so is “Human

Era”. It seems that you are getting a

lot of support from the label…

A: Serafino Perugino and the Frontiers

camp have been great to us. They really

give their all for us and the fans to get

our music out there.

Band: Trixter Interview with: Steve Brown Interview by: Bruce Atkinson

22 | MRF