Interviews

Interview with HAMMERFALL/ Oscar Dronjak: “The festivals are always fun, but the tour is the real deal!”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 9, 2011
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HAMMERFALL stand for powerful, majestic and melodic heavy metal. Memorable choruses, straight and heavy riffs, thundering drums, pounding bass power and outstanding vocals will without any doubt become the metal hymns for eternity. These seasoned musicians have become one of the leading and most successful metal acts of our time. Their unstoppable creations reigned in a time when none cared about classical Heavy Metal, and without a doubt they have and will always deserve credit for keeping the heavy metal genre alive. Hammerfall are: Joacim Cans – Lead and backing vocals * Oscar Dronjak – Rhythm, lead guitars and backing vocals * Pontus Norgren – Rhythm, lead guitars and backing vocals * Fredrik Larsson – Bass and backing vocals  * Anders Johansson – Drums.

Some days ago I had a chat with Oscar Dronjak, this is what we talked about…

Hi Oscar, I’m Tarja, welcome to Metal Shock! How’re you today?

Very good actually, and how are you?

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Interview with IVAN MIHALJEVIC: “The Meaning of Life is to Give Life a Meaning!”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 7, 2011
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IVAN MIHALJEVIC is a surprising revelation in the international progressive metal scene! Born nearly 25 years ago in Zagreb, Ivan is recognized also outside of Croatia for his unparalleled quality of guitar skills as well as for his merits as a composer and singer. But let’s know him better…

Hi Ivan, I’m Tarja, welcome to Metal Shock!

Hello Tarja, thanks for having me here!

I’d like to start from “the beginning”? Please tell me how your passion for the music started?

I was a fan of rock music way before I started playing the guitar. I was listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Queen, Black Sabbath, The Beatles, Radiohead, Metallica and many more. My favorite band at that time was Oasis and they were basically the reason why I wanted to pick up the guitar.
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Interview with ROSVO: This Is A Challenge To Dig Deeper, If You Dare…

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 6, 2011
Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: , , . 3 Comments

To describe Swedish  hardcore band ROSVO, there’s no other better way than to quote Peter Dolving‘s own words: “ROSVO is a riddle. It is an enigma. A cult. A band of dissidents, creative volcanoes in his infernal majesty’s service to the fullest. I am not at liberty to tell you anything more about it.” … but let’s try to find out more about this enigma, wish me luck though… ;-P

*Hej Peter, Jag heter Tarja, välkommen till Metal Shock! Hur mår du idag?

*Hej Tarja! Jag är nöjd och utmattad. Jag har just jobbat färdigt med sångläggning för ett annat projekt som heter SCIENCE. Det är krävande att jobba så här intensivt som jag gör i år, men jag är ändå genuint tacksam och lycklig över att jag får möjlighet att arbeta med de här människorna.

Well, you don’t reveal a lot about Rosvo on your website or on your facebook… so, to start, I gotta ask you to tell me about Rosvo, how all began? And why you decided to form the band?

Honestly I think it’s, well, I mean ROSVO in itself is not really open for speculation or storytelling. It’s all about the music and the words. Anything outside of that, and the images it brings out are really completely uninteresting.
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Interview with Tarot, Marco Hietala: 25 Years of “Spell of Iron” And “Savonian XXX-Press”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 3, 2011
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TAROT is an heavy metal band from Kuopio, Finland, formed in 1985. While enjoying a broad underground popularity in Finland, the band has gained more success in the recent years when singer Marco Hietala joined Nightwish in 2002. I had a long and enjoyable chat with Marco, on the way to a gig (April 15, 2011)…

Hi there Marco, I’m Tarja, welcome to Metal Shock! How’re you doing today?

Yeah, it’s going good. right now  I’m lying here on the bed in our tour bus, we’re on the way to Oulu for a gig tonight.

Let’s talk first about the past, in early 80’s you and your brother Zachary formed Purgatory-band … what memories of those times remain in your mind and why?

In those days Purgatory began to become a more serious act, we were about 15-16 years old, we played at various events, and participated in the Rock SM- competition, where we arrived in the finals.  In Rock King, organized by Suosikki magazine, we reached a shared second place. The band had a clear potential. In ’84, we changed the drummer and in that moment we realized that we had a core group of 3 persons, which could go very far. In those years, there weren’t too many metal bands around in Finland, there were more so-called oldish hard rock and punk bands, and  from the very beginning, we were more oriented to harder stuff.
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Interview with SOULS OF DIOTIMA: “…Recalling The Priestess Of The Symposium Of Platone”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on April 29, 2011
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SOULS OF DIOTIMA, is a female fronted Power symphonic-progressive Metal band from Sardinia (Italy)… these Guys are maybe still unknown to big metal scenes and wide stages, but they’re heading forward with full speed and with their serious attitude and pure passion for the music! Some days ago I had a chat with Renato Pinna, the guy behind the band’s bass and growl vocals…

Hi Renato, welcome to Metal Shock! Souls of Diotima was formed in 2004 Sardinia (Italy). Please, present me your band members, and tell me what was the initial kick to form the band?

-Hi Tarja! Hi Guys! The band was founded by myself and my brother Giorgio. Our aim was to raise a serious band that had the desire and preparation to achieve major breakthroughs, with great dedication and sacrifices. After several lineup changes, we have achieved the stability in 2007-2008 with Claudia Barsi (Vocal), Marco Fozzi (Guitars), Salvatore Moretta (Guitars), Andrea Pinna (Keyboards), Renato Pinna (Bass, Growl Vocals) and Giorgio Pinna (Drums).
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Interview with PAUL ALLENDER, The Artist: “Create from the heart no matter what’s your medium!”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on April 26, 2011
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PAUL ALLENDER is known worldwide as the main songwriter and guitarist of CRADLE OF FILTH… but did you know, that he’s also a very Talented Dark Artist?  The other day I had an interesting chat with Paul, trying to find out more about this other side of him… and his VOMITORIUM ART!

Hi Paul, welcome back to Metal Shock! some months ago we had a chat and we were talking about music, but today we’ve another topic.. 🙂

Thanks Tarja, pleasure to be back my friend (;,,;)

Paul, besides you’re the main songwriter and guitarist of Cradle of Filth but you’re also a very talented artist. Let’s talk about the beginning… how and when everything started, artistic-wise?

It all started in 1996 when I befriended with the owner of a design company, he let me go there in the evenings to teach myself Photoshop. After playing around with the software I was pretty hooked with it and found out that I had a great understanding for the program which lead me to learn as much as I could.
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