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RACE THE SEASSOLAR FRAGMENT is a new hope in power metal scene. Probably they are also the newcomer of 2011. With their 2nd full-length ''In Our Hands'' they have offered great music-''a must have'' for every lover of melodic, heavy and power metal. One could also notice that there are musical parallels and links with Blind Guardian. Solar Fragment, German based band, could be labeled as ''one of followers'' of Blind Guardian sound since that is obvious that they are very influenced by aforementioned Kreffelfer.
Hi Marc! Please, could you for the very beginning of the interview tell us something about Solar Fragment? It will be very welcome for our readers since the band is still a newcomer for most of us! Hi Marko! So… We are Solar Fragment from Dortmund, Germany, the city of beer and soccer and since late 2004 we keep the flame burning for German Melodic Power Metal! After recording a demo in 2005, we released our first album named “A Spark Of Deity” through greek metal label Sleaszy Rider Records, followed by our new shiny disc named “In Our Hands”, which came out worldwide last year, powered by the italian metal label Scarlet Records.  You have released during 2011 your second effort ''In Our Hands''. A good offering from my point of view, especially for all lovers of melodic and power metal. So, how would you like to present it from your point of view? We learned a lot during our composing and recording sessions for the first album and our goal for “In Our Hands” was, to bring us to a new level. More powerful, rough, melodic, pure, catchy. That’s what we love, that’s what we do. We don’t want to be symphonic, we’d prefer kicking asses! The album is indeed melodious one but yet the record is also very strong vibe with ''not-so-polished'' production but yet it sounds indeed bombastic, so it seems that you have done a perfect balance between melodic and stronger influences. Any comments about this? I hear you! The way we did “In Our Hands” was exactly the way we wanted to do it. With a lot of passion and the idea to combine both, the melodies and the power. I think we did pretty good! Do you have any favorites when it comes to latest issue? I noticed that especially your ballads like ''Race the Seas'' have definitely so much to offer! Well, to be honest, it’s very hard to pick one song, MY favorites are Moana’s Return and Come Hell Or High Water. Although I really like Race the Seas for being such an emotional ballad as well! I like them all. Hell yeah! ''In Our Hands'' has this indeed dramatic feeling but on the other hand the atmosphere is somehow positive, after all. It seems that emotions are playing really a big role when it comes to music. Do you agree with me? Yes, sure! From my point of view you need emotions and passion. Especially when it comes to playing live. I mean. Did you ever see a band live playing songs without any passion? Boring! What can you say us about the lyrical concept when it comes to new album? Well, I guess that the lyrics are very linked with cover artwork and have something to do with sailing the seas... Well, during the last years and also in our first release we placed parts of a story that Robert (vocals) wrote and is still writing. You can also find parts of the story in the booklet of “In Our Hands”. Talking about the cover artwork and it’s relation to the sea: Yep, “At the Harbor”, “Race the Seas,”, “Come Hell Or High Water” and also “Homecoming” deal with it! Other songs, like for example Moana’s Return are based on fictional stuff, like movies or literature. Musical influences from Blind Guardian are obviously noticeable. Especially when it comes to singing, but, yet I found this very positive. Especially I see strong link between ''In our Hands'' and furious record ''Imaginations from the other side''. Could you give us your point of view about this? Always a pleasure being compared to such a highly anticipated band like Blind Guardian. We are all fans of their work! On the other hand, we don’t want to be a perfect copy, we’re always trying to be independent, representing our own “Solar Fragment Style”. Solar Fragment is not the only one who is influenced directly from Blind Guardian when it comes to German or Sweden. For instance there are bands like Persuader and Orden Ogan. How would you like to comment this phenomenon? Back in the days, Germany was the most important country for melodic/power/speed metal. I mean, we are talking about Bands like Helloween or Blind Guardian, which are known everywhere on the world! There was a time when that kind of metal was falling in oblivion, but right now, it’s getting stronger and bands like Persuader, which by the way are REALLY great, and Orden Ogan help getting that ship back to the water. Also, Hansi Kursch has done guest vocals for your song ''Inside the Circle''. How did it happen after all? Funny story. We asked! He liked the song, the concept behind it and he just agreed to give us a glimpse of his remarkable voice… you can believe be, since we are Blind Guardian Fans since a long, long time, having him on our CD is… crazy… Since I got just recently into your music what can you tell us about your live activities? I would really like to see you somewhere-so is there any chance for a tour or something like that? We are always open for such things, although we are all hard working men. We try to play live as often as we can, always feel that we are alive, breathing and rocking! As a matter of fact you're on Scarlet Records. From my view this is too small label for such a band as Solar Fragment is. So, do you plan to find any stronger label? Scarlet Records did a great job on promoting the album and we are proud to be part of their family. I personally don’t like the idea of working with big companies, there is a pretty good chance that you as a small band get out of scope. What are the future plans when it comes to Solar Fragment in 2012? We are planning on working on new material and do some nice live shows! And our main goal: bring back the metal to everybody! Well, I would like to thank you for the interview and I really hope that I will be able to see you somewhere live! Thanks for the interview! Visit our facebook page at facebook.com/solarfragment or our very own website at www.solar-fragment.com (and yes: we have a shop with pretty good looking merchandise and our cds!) Answers by Mark |
PUBLISHED ISSUESMETAL SOUND #mpu vorbereitung |
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