Canada’s The Metal Voice recently interviewed GIRLSCHOOL backstage at Les Foufounes Electriques in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on March 31, 2024. The band talked about their final US/ Canada tour and told Jimmy Kay of The Metal Voice there will be a second leg covering the West Coast in June, 2024.
Also During the interview Voivod singer Snake dropped in to give the ladies a present and wish them good luck.
The longest-tenured all-female rock band and NWOBHM legends GIRLSCHOOL have embarked on their final North American tour. The first leg of the trek will see support from LILLIAN AXE and ALCATRAZZ and kicked off on March 21 at Hell’s Heroes festival in Houston, Texas and will run through April 6.
GIRLSCHOOL’s 14th studio album “WTFortyfive?” is an outstanding and deliciously dirty declaration that age is a number that shows how much real raw attitude you have when it really counts. Kim, Denise, Jackie and Tracey leave the grit under their fingernails and the scuzz on their crusty leather boots as they riff and stomp their way through 12 statements of intent showing major attitude, some great melodies, and a consistent crunch to every guitar.
GIRLSCHOOL is:
Kim McAuliffe: rhythm guitar, lead and backing vocals Denise Dufort: drums Tracey Lamb: bass guitar Jackie Chambers: lead guitar, backing vocals
The Metal Voice recently interviewed former Iron Maiden Lionheart guitarist Dennis Stratton.
Lionheart ‘The Grace of a Dragonfly’ will be released Release: 15 March 2024 via Metalville.
Lionheart ‘The Grace of a Dragonfly’ The songs on The Grace of a Dragonfly are sensational, with Lee Small’s emotional lyrics reflecting not only the pain and grief inflicted by war on ordinary, innocent people in every conflict zone, but also their strength, resilience, and determination. Supported by LIONHEART’s superb songwriting, soaring backing vocals, beautiful twin-guitar harmonies, and atmospheric keyboards, LIONHEART’s sheer power shines brightly from every one of the eleven songs, culminating in a heartfelt prayer for peace in the world.
Each new LIONHEART album has brought with it a leap in the quality of the songwriting and production, and this album is no exception. ‘The Grace of a Dragonfly’ is nothing short of epic and is, by far, LIONHEART’s finest work to date.
When asked about the lyrics themes on the new Lionheart album ‘Dragonfly’ “The lyrics sort of tended to lean towards World War II but Steve Mann and Lee Small were writing the lyrics as a thank you to all the men and women that sacrificed their lives in the second world war, so we could live a sort of Freer life. Basically it’s an anti-war thing and it was written before Ukraine and Gaza and all that. “
When asked to explain the musical difference in his time with Iron Maiden & his Current band Lionheart “ “I was in the band ‘Remus Down Boulevard’ before Iron Maiden, which was a twin Harmony Guitar band that followed Wishbone Ash all over the world and all over the country. We had harmony guitars and harmony vocals. Dave Murray and Steve Harris used to come down and watch me play at our residency in West Ham. That’s why when they signed the deal in 79 to EMI (with Iron Maiden) they offered me the job, I didn’t go down for an audition. They sent me a telegram. Basically they said here are the Soundhouse tapes, we want you to let us know what you can do and I went great. So they offered me the job straight away but my impression was to go home to listen to the Soundhouse tapes and listen to the songs that they had recorded or demoed already which were very Punky, very single guitar rhythm, single guitar solo and very raw. Basically I said to Steve listen I come from a Harmony Guitar band. I sat down with Dave and I said Dave would you be into this? And he went I’m open to any suggestions. Dave was so easy to get on with and Steve loved it. The first lot of songs we laid into I started putting the harmony guitar parts into some of the riffs which they liked. We also started doing some harmony vocals with Paul (Di’anno) in the rehearsal studio and that’s how the Harmony Guitar style got introduced to Iron Maiden. But remembering that most songs from the first two Iron Maiden albums were already written so all I had to make them bigger and make the production bigger by adding these harmony details and adding the harmony vocals. Not to change the sound of Iron Maiden but to make the songs more interesting. Songs like, Running Free, Phantom of the Opera all the harmony little Riffs that you hear were just little bits to polish the song up a bit more so it wasn’t to change the sound of Iron Maiden.”
When asked if he would tour with former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’anno “Stjepan Juras who’s basically looking after his affairs (Paul Di’annos) he contacted me about 20 times. I even met him in Milan at the Maiden gig. I had a long Chat So he contacted me in 2023 but unfortunately he asked me outright would would you ever join Paul Dianno on the stage and I said I’m never going to say never. I said but at the moment it’s just the wrong time. I said because I’m committed to a tour that I was booked in in 2020 I’m now going in 2023. I but I did say to him I’ll Never Say Never because you know many years have passed now so I don’t carry things on silly little arguments and move on there’s more things to worry about in this world than petty arguments so we move on we’ve all grown up.”
When asked what song off of Iron Maiden Killers album he should have gotten more credit for “A very important question because most of the songs on Killers were already written. We were rehearsing both albums because we needed a one and a half hour set for Metal for Muthas’ Tour 79-80. So all them songs were already written and put down as demos, I just added my Harmony Guitar bits and everything else. And then it was a case of Steve (Harris) choosing what songs are going on the first album. Then when we got halfway through the ‘Metal for Muthas’ tour doing an hour and a half we went on the Judas Priest tour where we’re going to do 45 minutes slot, so then we reverted back to first album and maybe Wrathchild or two songs from the from the Killers. We did work on Killers (the song) and Steve wasn’t a lover of that Riff. But I think everything was so rushed that everything had to be done yesterday for the record company. I didn’t like ‘Women in uniform’ I must admit I’ve told a lot of people I don’t think we should have done a cover, they had so many good songs of their own. But as I say the song I did the most work on was was Killers because we were working on that right up until I departed from the band.”
When asked about his memories opening for Kiss on Unmasked tour “I must admit Ace was very quiet. I got on really well with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to the point where they took me and Dave Lights out in Stockholm on the ninth of October 1980 for my birthday. So they took us to a restaurant and Paul gave me a fire hat with all the signatures of a band on it. Ace was very quiet I only used to see him when he used to be walking onto the stage. I’ve got photos taken with him on my phone but I have lots of photos taking with with Ace and Eric (Carr). They (Kiss) probably forgot about me but you know it’s nice to have their memories you know and also the photographs that I’ve got.”
LINEUP Lee Small (The Sweet, ex-Shy) – lead vocals Dennis Stratton (ex-Iron Maiden) – lead guitar/backing vocals Steve Mann (MSG, ex-Liar) – lead guitar/backing vocals Rocky Newton (Grand Slam, ex-MSG) – bass guitar/backing vocals Clive Edwards (ex-Pat Travers, Uli Jon Roth & Wild Horses) – drums, percussion
The Metal Voice recently interviewed singer Mark Tornillo of Accept. Tornillo talked about the bands new album ‘Humanoid’ which will be released April 26, 2024 via Napalm Records.
When asked about writing the lyrics for Humanoid “It’s a challenge to find things to write about. You try not to rehash the same thing over and over again but luckily we seem to come up with these topics.”
When asked about not having Gaby’s Hoffmann’s input in the lyrics anymore has given him more free reign “I’ve always enjoyed Gabby’s input, she’s a very smart woman and really well read. You should see her library. But I never have free reign because it always gets edited. Andy’s (Sneep) is gonna change things on me, Wolf’s gonna change things on me you know. I just like thinking to myself it’s never going to be free reign and it’s the same for them. Nothing’s ever finished until it goes to press.”
When asked about the musical direction of the new album “It sounds like classic Accept classic. A little of both (Udo ara and Tornillo era). I don’t think the band has strayed that far from what it was in the 80s. You know different members obviously You put it on you and you know that’s Wolf Hoffmann there’s no there’s no doubt about it. It’s a classic metal album without trying to be too redundant and we try to make things interesting. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, just refresh it.”
When asked if having Udo releasing music and Accept releasing new music, does this competition make everyone’s albums better “I suppose. I mean I really don’t think about that but you know you could look at it that way. I’m sure some people do. Some people say that about KK’s Priest and Judas Priest. We just saw K.K. and Ripper on the Monsters of Rock Cruise and they were amazing. “
When asked if he misses former bassist Peter Baltes as songwriter in the band “Of course. Martin Motnik ( current bassist) has stepped up and become that guy right now. He brings in ideas and we bounce them off of him as much as each other. So it’s just tough shoes to fill, I know all about that. It’s tough shoes to fill but you know you gotta man up and do it.”
When asked about being sick while on tour in 2022 and having Jason MacMaster to replace him “I was more than sick for a few days. I had R.S.V. (Respiratory syncytial virus). F**-evil I’m telling you and I was singing through it. I had sang four shows already with it I mean we had been out on that run for a few weeks already. I got sick, I think in Colorado and I sang that show and then I sang like two more after that and I woke up on the bus in Toronto and I couldn’t breathe. Seriously I was literally laying in the bunk on the bus and I had to cough. I’m going, I don’t want to cough. But okay go ahead cough. I went to take a breath and nothing went in. I was like oh whoa whoa whoa what the hell is that about? I jumped up out of the bunk and I’m like calm down dude if you couldn’t breathe you would have died in your sleep. Oh yeah that makes sense, so just calm down and breathe through your nose. Okay that works. I went up to the front of the bus and they were all sitting in the lounge and said there’s no show tonight, it’s not gonna happen. I then went to the hotel and they got a doctor and he came in and he pumped me up full of freaking cortisone and he pretty much said dude don’t (sing), you’re gonna kill yourself. Don’t do it, your vocal cords are like this big. That’s why you couldn’t breathe this morning. So I missed that show then there was a show in New Jersey two days later that they cancelled. And then Jason did the show in Pennsylvania and then there was two in New York and one in New Jersey with all the same promoter and the promoter got wind into what was going on and he calls the management and goes if Tornillo doesn’t show up to these shows I’m canceling them. I was home by then and my wife’s an emergency room nurse or she was at that point and we went down to her emergency room and they ran a full panel on me. They test me for covid and I had R.S.V. I don’t wish that on no one. I’ve had covid three times that was shit compared to this. This was nasty man and they were going to cancel the shows and I said well I can’t let that happen. So I got in the car and I drove to Upstate New York and Jason and I split the night. We did the same thing for the next three shows. There was one in New Jersey and then he (Jason) went back to Texas and I played New York City show. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody bro and trying to sing with it is even worse. I mean because you know it’s not it’s not working so you try harder and you’re literally just beating yourself up.”
When talking about using backing tracks when singers are ill “It’s not Fair. It’s not it’s not fair to the audience to be doing that (singers using backing tracks).”
Once again finalized by leading metal producer Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Amon Amarth, Testament, Saxon, etc.) at his Backstage Recording Studios Ltd. in Derbyshire, UK, Humanoid is a towering musical achievement and another world class entry in the ACCEPT catalog, certain to rally fans from around the world. Humanoid will be available in various formats worldwide, some of them strictly limited.
Humanoid joins absolute genre classics like Balls To The Wall, certified Gold in USA and Canada, Metal Heart, and newer masterpieces like Blood of the Nations or the #1 album Blind Rage. Their albums regularly place in national Top 10 sales charts, with global sales in excess of 17 million to date.
The Metal Voice recently spoke to former Kiss guitarist and solo artist Ace Frehley about his new album 10,000 Volts.
When asked if his new solo album after being released and the feedback he got did it embarrass Gene Simmon and Paul Stanley? “I think I did (laughs). Honestly I didn’t try to make a great record just to show them up. It was ironic that the album got finished mixed and mastered around the time they were retiring. Which I don’t believe is going to happen. I’m sure they’re going to reform in one way or another or with different people. I think Gene (Simmons) already put together a band and has some shows happening in South America. But be that as it may you know I wish them all the very best and any of their new Endeavors because we’re all Brothers in rock and roll and you know we created something really special. And believe it or not even though we argue and disagree you know we’re still all friends.”
When asked about touring with Rush when they opened up for Kiss in the 70’s“” I would say more times than not every night while we were on the road me and Peter and those three (Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart) guys would end up hanging out and uh doing stupid stuff. Alex used to put a bag over his head (with) a joint. Peter would get up and do his routine sometimes. I’d do some kind of silly routine. In those days when I was drinking I could rattle off 50 or 75 jokes nonstop one right after the other for some reason I can’t remember them anymore. At one point in my life I wanted to be a standup comedian but it never panned out because I never had the time to do it.”
When asked if he regretted quitting in the ‘Creatures of the night’ era “I had already committed to leaving the group and I started looking for band members and stuff and jamming with other people. It was just too late I had already made the decision because you know I could never trust those guys. I don’t know what hair brain scheme they come up with. I mean if I was still in the band I would have never agreed to do these avatars. Something maybe kids would enjoy but I don’t think a long time kiss fan is going to enjoy that stuff. I wish them well like I said good luck but you know in my humble opinion I don’t think it’s going to be a successful endeavor.”
When he spoke about the songwriting on the new album between himself and Steve Brown “Me and Steve (Brown) work well together. I got aggravated the other day cuz I heard that people were saying I didn’t write any of the songs on the record and it was all Steve Brown. And then Steve he was doing (The Podcast) ‘Three Sides of the coin’ and he kind of confirmed that (by answering a question on the podcast) how much did Ace bring to the table? And he (Steve Brown) goes well, I pretty much brought about 97%. I was really shocked when he said that because that’s not the case and I called him up and he apologized to me. He’s a wonderful guy. I love him. You know he was so excited about the record and they were asking some questions that weren’t rehearsed . He had no idea, so you know everybody sometimes toots their own horn a little more than they should sometimes without thinking. He was so excited about the record you know he made that statement but he admitted to me last night you know that that wasn’t the case. We just decided no matter how much one of us brought to the table we were going to split everything in half. It’s a lot easier doing it that way than because I don’t need the money that bad and you know. I know Steve worked really hard because not only did he co-produce it but he engineered the whole record himself . And I didn’t have to pay for an engineer so that saved me thousands of dollars. Whatever one guy brought to the table or the other guy it really didn’t matter. To me, the most important thing is the end result. I sang lead on all of the songs I play guitar solos on 80% of the songs 75% a couple of solos that uh he came up with they were guide solos for me to copy and I said you know Steve those solos are so good let’s just leave them. He goes well I don’t want any credit you know, humble and I said I’m gonna give you credit because you know I like to give credit where credit is due. I don’t want to take credit for your solo if I didn’t write it so you know that’s the kind of relationship we have. It really doesn’t matter who came up with what first. I always end up ACEFYING it, that’s right putting my stamp on it. you know you can’t get away from my voice the many you hear my voice you know it say fly yeah that’s for sure yeah and well thanks for seconding setting the record straight
When asked if he believes in Aliens“ “Yeah. I’ve seen UFOs multiple times. They’ve already done polls and more than 50% of the population believes in Aliens so I don’t think it would be that big a shock. You know that whole thing about well if an alien ship landed somewhere and Aliens walked out everyone you know would throw off the idea of religion. I don’t buy that. You know God could have created aliens as well and on a different planet and they ended up making it here. It could have been the other way around. I mean for us to believe in a universe this size with billions maybe trillions of planets we’re the only one that has life on it that’s pretty ridiculous.”
When asked about him saying in the past about the rumour he was from the planet Jendell” “Oh my friend in high school came up with that and I just kind of used it once I became I used to Joke around when I was drunk. I go yeah I’m from I’m from planet Jendell.”
When asked about his feelings about Kiss Alive being touched up in the studio “A lot of it was touched up, 50% of it. At least 50% was re-sung and replayed. I mean and I remember Eddie Kramer had Loops of tape going around microphone stands, going back into these 2inch tape machines and each one had three faders and they were dedicated to crowd response. One was really crazy (crowd response) one was mid Midway and one was more subtle. I mean if you listen closer to the album you can hear that it’s faked. I didn’t fake my live guitar solo that was real. I mean sometimes you sing off key a little in those days, we didn’t have auto tune. So if Paul, Gene, Peter or myself sang something a little off, we’d re-sing it in the studio. We just wanted to put out the best product possible. Today in the studio that stuff like that is done without even a thought. So many groups today that are performing live and have backing tracks, not just Kiss, plenty of other groups and I don’t want to name them because I know them and they’re friends of mine. I rather not spill the beans I don’t want to disappoint the fans but yeah I I there’s a lot I know because I know everybody and I know engineers and guys who do sound for these bands and they tell me the real deal. It used to be like a big a big crime to do that I mean you remember when Milli Vanilli got like Boohed because they will found out they were lip synching. Things change over the years you know now it’s accept it. I don’t believe in having backup tracks because I’m too spontaneous.”
When asked what was going through his mind on his famous interview on the Tom Synder show ” I was drunk, I had done a little blow. So that kind of bounced me out. Everything I said in that show was all spontaneous nothing was planned. The plumber joke and all that stuff that just came to me at the moment. I’m a funny guy I just come up with ridiculous things sometimes. I’ll be sitting somewhere and just start laughing because I think funny things in my head. They (Gene and Paul) disappeared, they never came over and congratulated me for doing a great show and being so hysterical. The only person who was knocking on my dressing room door was Tom Snider. He had so much fun he goes I gotta meet this guy. So I took my makeup off real quick and I invited him into the dressing room and we just started laughing and he goes you know you’re a really funny guy and I said yeah I’ve been told that before. I was actually told that by John Belushi, a professional comedian. I was hanging out with John for, you know six to eight months prior to his passing. We got pretty close. We used to go on three-day Coke runs. I would always crack him up and he used to say to me Ace you one of the few people that can make me laugh you know he’s a professional comedian .He just thought I was a character. He actually said to me before he left to get on the plane in California uh he said you’re definitely going to be in my next film but that never happened but we know we all know what happened.
01 – 10,000 Volts 3:24 02 – Walkin’ on the Moon 3:44 03 – Cosmic Heart 3:54 04 – Cherry Medicine 3:40 05 – Back Into My Arms Again 3:36 06 – Fightin’ for Life 3:21 07 – Blinded 3:54 08 – Constantly Cute 3:39 09 – Life of a Stranger 3:58 10 – Up in the Sky 4:28 11 – Stratosphere 3:05
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently interviewed Buck Dharma singer/ guitarist of Blue Oyster Cult. In the chat Dharma talks about the bands new re-imaged album ‘Ghost stories’ as well as he looks back at, the film ‘Heavy metal’, producer Martin Birch, Metallica cover of Astronomy and more.
BOC new album ‘Ghost Stories will be released April 12, 2024 on Frontiers Music s.r.l. pre order here
When asked about re-imaging the legacy tracks for the new album Ghost Stories “Blue Oyster Cult historically didn’t record a lot of extra material that didn’t fit on a vinyl LP which you know had a runtime of about 40 minutes maximum. If CDs had been around at the time all these songs would have gone on the CD but they were fallow. Most of the source material were pre-production recordings done by our live sound mixer George Geranios. A lot of them are eight track analog, some were direct to stereo. But some of the source tapes had deteriorated as the tape formulations of that time were famous for and had to be resurrected or in some cases re-recorded. Frontiers music was clamoring for some more product; we just had the three night Sony Hall live performances of the first three records and bonus tracks with original drummer Albert Bouchard on the stage too. So they (Frontiers) wanted more stuff. So we got A.I. to de-mix a stereo recording and it (AI) lets you have more control over the individual elements; the drums, the bass and the vocals specifically guitars are a little harder to uh yeah extract. It gives you a little more individual control as if you were dealing with a multi-track sound.”
When asked if Ghost Stories will be the last album by Blue Oyster Cult “As far as promises, it’s the last one but you know in reality I don’t know perhaps there’ll be more stuff. If we stop recording we might get Restless.”
When asked how many tour dates they did last year “Last year we did about 30 and we’re going to do less this year. We may want a tour again but uh I’m thinking I’d like to just not tour for a while so we’ll see how that goes. As long as I can play and sing I’ll probably want to be out there somewhere. But as far as the the grind of of making a living at it, I don’t have to, So we’ll see what happens.”
When asked about the connection between B.O.C. and Heavy Metal “I think the term was coined right about the time that we got started. We admired Black Sabbath and I think when we were starting we were casting about for an image. We were the Soft White Underbelly (band) before Blue Oyster Cult and I always thought of the Underbelly as the last of the East Coast psychedelic bands. We were sort of a jam band more than a metal band. Certainly what metal has become is nothing like what B.O.C. is of course.”
When asked if his big hits he wrote and sang (Don’t fear the reaper, Godzilla, I’m burning for you) caused friction within BOC over the years “It’s just the way it worked once the Reaper was a hit the whole band wanted to write hits. I think that actually was not the best strategy for the band but you can’t blame everybody for wanting the Hits and The Record Company certainly wanted hits. So we became a lot more pop oriented I think in response to having a pop hit.”
When asked if the were any plans to re-release the Black and Blue Live concert (Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult 1980) “I don’t know who has the rights but we don’t. I had heard that Ozzy and his Camp didn’t want that out although Ozzy is not on that it’s Ronnie Dio but who’s ever suppressing that it is not us.”
When asked about working with producer Martin Birch on BOC’s Cultösaurus Erectus and Fire of Unknown Origin “I feel very affectionate toward Martin and I’m sad he’s gone. He taught me how to record at home. He was just a great guy. He engineered and produced and he didn’t have a heavy hand as a producer but if he thought something was important he would stand up for it. So I think the coherence of his records are basically his doing. “
When asked about Metallica covering BOC’s Astronomy “It gave us some credibility with the younger generation. We were very flattered when they did it. It’s nice to get some recognition like that. I love all the covers of our songs that people do and there are a lot of them out there.”
When asked if BOC will ever live down the cowbell? “No the cowbell is like a ball and chain around Blue Oyster Cult’s ankle (laughs).”
In a thrilling partnership with Frontiers Music, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT is set to captivate fans with a collection of reimagined and newly completed songs that span from 1978-2016. These musical treasures, long considered ‘lost gems’ by BLUE ÖYSTER CULT enthusiasts, were originally recorded between 1978 and 1983, except for one track from 2016, “If I Fell.” Also included is the only known studio recording of their concert classic “Kick Out the Jams” (MC5 cover). Some of the material is from sessions workshopping material for an album, some is from performance rehearsals. All were recorded once in the hopes that someday they’d see the light of day.
George Geranios, the band’s original audio engineer and an integral part of the band’s golden years, co-produced the original 1978-83 recordings along with BÖC. All w
ere originally recorded on reel-to-reel analog tape. They were later transferred to digital audio, which is when modern AI and magical musical talents met and the collection of vintage multi-track recordings was de-mixed, re-mixed, and produced by Steve Schenck and Richie Castellano to become ‘Ghost Stories.’
Ghost Stories Track List 1) Late Night Street Fight 2) Cherry 3) So Supernatural 4) We Gotta Get Out of This Place 5) Soul Jive 6) Gun 7) Shot in the Dark 8) The Only Thing 9) Kick Out the Jams 10) Money Machine 11) Don’t Come Running To Me 12) If I Fell
Band Members & Credits: Eric Bloom – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals Albert Bouchard – Drums, Vocals Joe Bouchard – Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals Allen Lanier – Guitar, Keyboards Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser – Guitar, Vocals
Rick Downey – Drums (on 3 and 11) Richie Castellano – Additional Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
“If I Fell” was Recorded on April 18, 2016, at Red Studios, Hollywood, CA Eric Bloom – Vocals Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser – Guitar, Vocals Richie Castellano – Guitar, Vocals Kasim Sulton – Vocals Jules Radino – Percussion
Original recordings Produced by George Geranios and BLUE ÖYSTER CULT except, “If I Fell” Produced by Steve Schenck and Richie Castellano De-mixed, Re-mixed and Produced by Steve Schenck & Richie Castellano Engineered by Richie Castellano
“Gun” and “Money Machine” overdubs recorded by Joe Bouchard Digital Transfers by George Geranios Mastered by Sam Stauff at Mercy College Studio, Dobbs Ferry, NY
Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to vocalist Elina Siirala of Leaves’ Eyes about their upcoming album ‘Myths of Fate‘ which will be released March 22, 2024 via AFM Records
Elina also talks about the differences vocally between her and former vocalist Liv Kristine as well as fan acceptance over the years.
When asked about the new album lyrical content “This album is a little bit more towards this mystical and magical objects and people and places. As you know our previous album for example, ‘the last Viking’ was a little bit more focused on the historical side of things and it was a concept album battles and everything. So this (Album) is a little bit away from that topic which was also I think a nice refreshing thing for us to do a little bit something different. It’s not a concept album but of course ‘Myths of Fate’ it builds around these magical and mystical topics.”
When asked if all the fans today are comfortable with her taking over leads vocals after 6 years from Liv Kristine “You have to ask the fans. For me personally I felt very accepted from the beginning. For me it was very clear that I needed to come to the band as myself. I’m a completely different Vocalist, different kind of performer. For me, it was taking the time and trying to do my best in the situation back then. And of course now many years later we have three albums and whatnot we’ve been touring over the world. It’s a different position now for me but I never really thought about it like that. When we played live, which was like two weeks after I joined the band it was always great and I never had any any really negative things.”
When asked how her vocals differs from Liv Kristine “I can only speak again from my side how I see it but uh I would say that probably my voice is a bit stronger. In the sense of my forte is not singing with a very light and head voicy head stuff that’s not my forte. And of course I have a classical education. I don’t want to be classified as only one thing or another thing uh and even on this album I think I’m showing that versatility using my voice uh but that yes certain things will never be my forte. The whole timber of the voice is different.”
Four years after bringing “The Last Viking” to Valhalla with their previous opus, Leaves’ Eyes resurrect with “Myths Of Fate” to celebrate their 20th year of existence. With their ninth studio album, the Germany-based artists consolidate their leading position in the symphonic metal universe. Powerful, epic and impressive – Leaves’ Eyes once again merge traditional metal genres by fusing elements of folk, gothic, and classical music into a captivating sonic masterpiece.
LEAVES’ EYES is: Elina Siirala – Vocals Alexander Krull – Vocals Micki Richter – Guitar Luc Gebhardt – Guitar Joris Nijenhuis – Drums
CD1 : 1. Forged by Fire 2. Realm of Dark Waves 3. Who Wants to Live Forever 4. Hammer of the Gods 5. In Eternity 6. Fear the Serpent 7. Goddess of the Night 8. Sons of Triglav 9. Elder Spirit 10. Einherjar 11. Sail with the Dead
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
