NIGHTRAGE (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for your time. What’s NIGHTRAGE currently up to?
Marios: Hey there and thanx for the chance to talk with u. We are getting ready to release the new album Insidious and also preparing for the forthcoming North American tour with Firewind on October 2011 along with Arsis.
– Your new «Insidious» will come out next September; what are your expectations?
Marios: I hope that people will like it and embrace it, we as a band we feel this is our best album to date and it will make us happy to see other people get our musical message, we have worked a lot to make the best songs and to give u the best quality.
– And how could you describe the sound in the album?
Marios: I think it contains musical pieces from all the 4 albums that we have done on the past, this time the sound it’s warmer and has a nice smooth feel. The overall sound its clearer and the production really well done, I have worked a lot on the production on the album along with Terry Nikas and we are all happy with the result. The riffs are more compact and the way we record them really helping the songs to breathe more and you hear all the brutality without losing the focus on the song and the melodies are done with such precision and they sound better than ever before.
Antony: I would say it is very straight forward when compared to WAMC. Songs are a bit shorter and more compact. The guests on the album really add to the variety, especially in the vocal area. On the last one we didn’t have really any guests except for Gus. I wanted it to sound different vocally and the best way is to have some friends come in and do their spin on the songs.
– I think this album shapes the definitive NIGHTRAGE’s degree of maturity; what are your thoughts on this?
Antony: Totally. I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ve been in the band almost five years now, and I could have never imagined that this is what we would sound like when I started. We will always push the limits of the music without going over board and doing the typical sell out move.
– I could say since your previous «Wearing a Martyr’s Crown» you have, somehow, gone back to your roots providing a more brutal sound in comparison to, for example, «A New Disease is born». Was this something intended?
Antony: Very much. I am not putting down ANDIB in anyway. I think it’s a great album. But it was not what the fans wanted in terms of the vocals. That’s the honest truth and you can read that on any forum or whatever place on the internet people discuss this band. I’ll never forget the first time I met Marios he and I literally talked for about forty eight hours on how this band should sound. And it was exactly what you described. Going back to the roots of the first two albums and exploring those sounds even further.
– You recorded this effort at Zero Gravity studios, in Athens and recorded vocal parts in Arizona. Were you satisfied with this process?
Antony: In the end I am very happy with it. We have been working with Ryan since the WAMC actually. He handled 99% of all the vocal pre production. And he works very differently than say Olof did with me. He is more of a football coach. He work on the performance only. And he and I know each other very well so he has no issues with telling me I did a bad take. On the flip side of that I had to do all the production on my own, which gave the vocal melodies and phrasings a whole new twist when compared to WAMC. I did however miss having Marios there as well, giving me the thumbs up so to speak on all the different takes. But that is the charm on this album, you get to hear a new perspective to the vocals. So all in all I am very happy with the way it turned out,
– Fredrik Nordström and Henrik Udd took mix and mastering duties. Are you happy with their work?
Antony: Always. They are true professionals and Fredrik has been working with this band and Marios for a very long time. And it doesn’t hurt that we are all really good friends so the communication is very open for all of us.
– In this record we can find several guest artists such as Tom S. Englund or John K among others beside some ex-members as Gus G or Tomas Lindberg. Tell us a bit about it; how did you come up with the idea, why did you choose them, what have they brought with their cooperation, etc.
Marios: Yeah we had the idea to put some cool guests on the new album as well, so we didn’t really think a lot about it, we have contact them and they were really happy to help us. We wanted to show that we even if we have a concrete line up we still want to collaborate with people that play on NR on the past. I think all the guys they brought their own thing and that adds a lot on the actual sound of the album, it’s a nice touch on the already concrete sound that we have as a band, in reality it’s a cool addition and gives a different tone here and there.
– What could you explain about the album’s artwork?
Marios: it’s a nice translation of the lyrical concept that we have this time. We just sent the title track and explain the meaning of the lyrics to Gustavo and then he came up with this amazing cover.
On Insidious lyrics we are speaking about the darker side of human beings and how this behavior can affect and change people’s lives. And the cover in a way shows somebody that taking off his mask and show his real face, its very simple and very in your face.
– And how was the songwriting process for this CD?
Marios: We were composing this album the last 2 years and we had even ideas on the last minute. We didn’t really felt any pressure when we were writing the new songs, we just go for it without thinking that we have to write the best album of the decade. I think we were pretty inspired on this one and we wanted to make the best songs that we are capable of.
– If I’m not mistaken, you have included a cover for DEF LEPPARD’s «Photograph» in the Japanese edition. Why did you choose this concrete song and what changes have you done to it?
Marios: We wanted to cover a song that was a bit different than the usual typical covers and we tried to make it sound like a Nightrage song. Even our producer Fredrik thought that this is a Nightrage song on the first place, so I think that the fans will get it on the end. We choose this one because I always loved this song and always thought that I can hear some Nightrage like melodies and chords there, so we tried to make it sound like its a NR song and make a death metal type version, Apollo from Firewind sang the chorus and that makes it even more special, hope u guys will like it on the end.l
– All your albums so far have been released each 2 years; is there any concrete reason for this? Anyway, I guess the creativity flux between the band must be great…
Marios: Yeah that is true we are releasing albums every 2 years which I think it’s an ok time if u want that the fans will not forget you. I don’t know there’s not really a specific reason behind it, we just write the songs and then we are going to record them on the studio, of course we have to make sure that we have some killer material.
– You will soon tour the States with FIREWIND and ARSIS but, are there any plans for a European tour?
Marios: Yeah the USA tour will be amazing we are thrilled to tour with our bros from Firewind, since they are really good friends of mine (recently I was playing session bass for Firewind on their last 16 shows including USA and Japan tour, along summer fests) So we can’t wait to be on the tour and play the new songs for our USA fans on October 2011. We are also planning a Nightrage headline tour on Europe on January 2012 that will include all major European cities, along on the trek will be some amazing bands, we also can’t wait to start doing this tour and meet you all there.
– And finally, any other short-term future plans for the band beside this American tour?
Marios: We are planning to play a Nightrage headline European tour on January 2012 with some cool bands and also make a new video from the forthcoming album Insidious.We hope for the more cool albums, health and having a good time doing what we love to do.
– That’s all, thank you once again. Now feel free to add some final words.
Marios: Thanx for the interest on the band we hope to see u all soon on our forthcoming shows. Hope u will like the new album Insidious, go and buy it and support Nightrage.
