BRAINSTORM INTERVIEW |
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After receiving Brainstorm's new album "Ambiguity", and giving the cd a 5/5 review, Lars had the chance to talk to guitarist Torsten Ihlenfeld about the release, finding a new singer, beer brand and lots of other stuff....
Interview by Lars F. Larsen |
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What does the title "Ambiguity" represent?
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"It's kind of a reflection over the last 14 months with the change of vocalist and label, and the fact of speaking to a lot of people who you're not sure if they lie or tell you the truth... We wanted a title like with the first two cd's - a title of only one word - a connection with the past, and then put everything into one word."
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Is the cd out on the market now?
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"It's been out a couple of days now. (released in May 2000)."
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So you don't know the reactions yet, in terms of sales....?
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"No, not really."
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Are you going on a tour, to support the album?
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"Well go on tour in September with Armored Saint and Jacob's Dream. We definitely plan to visit Denmark, but we don't know if it's possible. We don't have any influence on that. It's up to the company that books the tour."
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This album is to me one of the strongest records released in the past year - very tight and non compromising power metal. How do you guys compose the songs?
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"It's the same procedure we've been using for the last 10 years. Me or Milan (Loncaric - other guitarist) brings a riff or two on the guitar in the rehearsal room, and we kind of work on from there - building a song structure out of that. Then we add the rest of the instruments and finally the lyrics are put into it."
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Yeah, it seems to me that the songs are very worked out with the bass drums and the bass guitar hitting the beat on the exact same time, and extremely tight twin guitars/rhythm section. How long has it taken you to do the songs?
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"We started working on the songs after we came home from Greece last summer (on tour with Labyrinth), so all in all it has been around 11 - 12 months time, but there are also some riffs from the last few years that appear in some of the songs."
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Dirk Schlächter from Gamma ray produced the album. He has really done a great job. How was it working with him?
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"It's always great working with Dirk. He also produced our 2nd album. We became very familiar. He's very experienced of course, working with Gamma Ray also, and everything fits together when we work with him, which is very important to us. He's got the same kind of humor and so on, so it's a great cooperation."
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How long time did you spend in the studio to record "Ambuiguity"?
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"We were recording from mid December to mid February. We hate spending 10 - 14 hours a day in the studio, so therefore it took a while. Some of the days, we just did 5 hours, and then went home."
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But the result is fabulous, so it shouldn't be a problem at all.
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"No, not at all."
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How come you chose Andy B. Franck (ex-Ivanhoe, Symphorce) as your new singer, in stead of Dirk Barron, who did after all do a big festival job for you at Wacken Open Air '99?
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"It never was our intention to bring Dirk into the band. He was just a guy helping us out, when we had to do the Wacken show. And Dirk is more into harder music, like Pantera anyway, so ....?"
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Are you playing any festivals this summer?
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"Not any of the big ones. We're playing a festival with Alice Cooper in the Eastern part of Germany, and one with U.D.O. & Primal Fear and then we concentrate on the tour. We will play Wacken Open Air next year, haha."
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What is the story behind the Pre - lyrics in the booklet for the cd?
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"We wanted in one sentence to state what the lyrics are about. So to every song there is this "start - sentence" explanation. It's often difficult to read lyrics and understand what they are about. so it's a kind of service to our fans."
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What kind of music are you listening to yourselves?
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"Majestic is a good band, and a lot of American Power metal."
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Final question: What kind of beer do you drink?
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"???? eeeh, we have a very good one her called "Königsbräu", and the good thing is that we actually know who brews the beer, hahahahahaha."
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That should be it then. I wish you good luck with "Ambiguity" and hopefully this will push you into the big league of metal.
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"Thank you very much, see ya...."
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