         
|
|||
|
|||
 RECREATION DAYSMany people have thought that Evergrey has finished its road after the departure of some key members but Tom and Rickard have recruited some new people and the result is „Glorious collision“ which returns the faith in Swedish progressive institution after lacklustre „Torn“. Rickard is here to give us the info...
Greetings Evergrey! What’s up guys, is everything cool?Yes very cool! We have just released the new album and are very exited. So far the respons has been just super and we are very hopefull in how things are going. Many changes and new things are present in Evergrey camp so let's go one step at the time... first off, how are you satisfied with „Glorious collision“ as it marks the new beginning for the band, so to say? It  was a little bit scary at first since three members left the band. We didnt know if we were able to write songs for one whole album. Luckily it was quite easy for us and we wrote the album pretty fast without thinking too much about it. I must say we are very happy with the result and the new members does a tremendous work.  One very important feature is the change of line up... I know that the story is maybe a bit old but tell us what caused departure of Henrik, Jari and Jonas? Are you still good friends with them? We felt we were going in different directions and made the mutual decision that it was time for a change. Jonas and Henrik felt it was not so funny anymore to be part of Evergrey and they also had a project on the side that they wanted to give main focus.  Jari got an offer from an American band that he couldn’t refuse. But we are actually really good friends still. I talk to Henrik and Jonas pretty much every week so there are no hard feelings between us. In connection with that, I would like to hear your honest opinion about „Torn“. Many people have dismissed it as the weakest Evergrey album; did it lead to crumbles in the line up? No , I dont think so . Maybe people were a bit dissapointed that we didnt tour so much after „Torn“. But we had problems with the label going bankrupt etc. As far as I remember we were pretty happy with the album ourselves. So can you now please introduce the new guys in the band one by one? Is your cooperation satisfactory till now? We have Marcus Jidell on guitar. He used to play with Royal Hunt and are a pretty famous session musician here in Sweden. Johann Niemann on bass used to play with Therion and knew Tom since many years. Hannes Van Dahl on drums is a young guy that haven’t done any albums before. We are really lucky we found him since he is very good and hungry. It works really superb so far with the new guys so that feels awesome! And we work really well on a personal level which is very importante since we spend so much time together. Who was the main composer of „Glorious collision“? Was it hard to do the songs in the new line up? Me and Tom did most of the composing on „Glorious Collision“ and since most of the songs were ready when we found the new members there was no problem. Marcus has also contributed on a couple of songs. How would you describe the new album to Evergrey fans who still havent heard it? I think I can hear elements from band’s various eras in it... I think it’s really hard to describe. You should listen to it to make your own opinion. But hopefully it got elements that you like and by that I mean dark and heavy atuff as well as quiet and beautiful songs. From „Monday morning apocalypse" the lyrics took the new direction, focusing more on personal stuff. Is the new material in same vein in that department, how would you describe the main concept of the album? Yeah I think the lyrics are more focused on personal issues. Why that is I can’t really tell since it’s Tom who’s writing the lyrics. I think the main concept of the album is that even if you have to face hard stuff you get get stronger out of it. That’s really what „Glorious Collision“ means that something good can come out of bad things. In connection to my last question, can we expect that Evergrey will do another album about aliens or conspiracy theories in the future? There is no album planed at the moment but if/when there will be one it’s possible for a more concept album. If I am correct you have filmed the video for „Wrong“, can you tell us something more about it? Yeah that’s right. By now you have probably seen it. We filmed it with Patrick Ulleus who has done our latest videos. It’s a performance video filmed in his studio and it looks great like always. We acctually teared and fixed ourselves with all the paper you see in the video. I have noticed considerably filthier and more „live“ sound of the album, so to say, so what can you tell me about it, was that kind of production done on purpose? Not really. But I’m glad you think so because that’s the sound I like for a band. But we recorded it in three different studios so every instrument is laid down seperately To conclude the story about the new Evergrey – do you think that this is the strongest band’s line up ever and if so, why? What is different now in comparing to the past? No. It’s too early to say. I mean, I played with Henrik and Jonas for 8 years so it’s really hard to compare with the new guys. It will take some time to learn how to play really good together but we are on our way and we are getting better and better together. As far as musicians the new guys are excellent but like I said it takes time to be a really good band. If it’s not a secret I would like to know which Evergrey album was sold in biggest numbers and on the other hand, which one is the most popular among the fans? I think „The inner circle“ has sold most copies and I would say „In search of truth“ or „Recreation day“ is the most popular album. „A night to remember“ has reached the cult status in melodic metal waters, are you thinking about the new live album / DVD in the future? We have no plans for that at the moment but we are thinking about doing an acoustic album hopefully this year, with old songs of course.  What are the touring plans for promotion of „Glorious collision“, with which bands are you gonna tour and where will the tour go? We are doing a tour with Kamelot starting in middle of April-May. Then we have some festival gigs this summer and in September we will tour USA together with Sabaton. You have played two gigs in Belgrade so you probably carry some nice memories from our country... Give me some impressions about Serbia. Together with Brasil I think Serbia has the best fans. And that’s no bullshit, I really love playing in Belgrade! Unfortunately we have never had so much time to check the city out that much. Hopefully we will come back soon again and I will try to see more of the city. But I really love the people in your country. Very open and warm. Can you tell me your personal top ten for 2010, which albums were you listening to the most? No, sorry I can’t. I don’t really know what albums were released in 2010. When I don’t play with Evergrey I try to do totally different things and just spend time with my family but I think the new Deftones is really good. OK, we have reached the end of this interview; I wish you all the best! Your message for Serbian fans... Hope you like the new album and then I wanna say a special hi to our Serbian fanclub and really hope to see you soon. Answers by Rickard Zander |
PUBLISHED ISSUESMETAL SOUND #mpu vorbereitung |
||
