SERENITY INTERVIEW
Who would have guessed that Austria had a progressive metal band of such high class as what SERENITY presents to us on their debut album? I for one didn't see that coming from a million miles away … However, I believe it's time for us to acknowledge that also the "smaller" countries are able to deliver first-class music, so with that in mind, let's start our little chat with keyboardist Mario Hirzinger:

Interview by Claus Jensen
Hey guys, Congratz on that awesome new disc! It's a brilliant album, that took me totally by surprise. I remember your previous demo, which had some great things in it, but also lacked a bit in the production and vocal departments … now everything seems to blend together perfectly.

Hi Claus, thank you for all these compliments! This is Mario (keys & backing vocals) and I will try to answer your questions the best way I can!

Please start by introducing the band to our readers … who are you, where are you from, what's your musical experience?

Serenity consists of the lead singer Georg Neuhauser, Thomas Buchberger (all guitars), Simon Holzknecht (bass), Andreas Schipflinger who plays drums and does backing vocals and me myself. We're from Tyrol, which is an austrian province, you may know it from winter & summer holiday commercials ("heart of the Alps")! Andreas and me have been playing in the band since 1999, we're the remaining founding members (we name 2001 as founding year when the first line-up was completed). Thomas and Georg had been playing together in a rock cover band for five years, Georg still does so. Simon is the youngest (20), before Serenity he mostly had music school experience.

In Austria there really ain't many progressive metal bands … besides Edenbridge, Stygma IV and perhaps one or two more, I can't really think of any … so what's the scene like in Austria?

You're right, Austria is much better known for extreme metal bands (PUNGENT STENCH, BELPHEGOR) and the huge underground in this style (maybe as a reaction to the thousands of folk music groups;)). But it's a very vital metal scene with many concerts happening and many venues at all sizes. Even really big bands visit our country - in the past I saw i.e. BLACK SABBATH (with Tony Martin!), DEEP PURPLE or JUDAS PRIEST. Naming progressive bands of the underground I think of DIVINE TEMPTATION, GLASS MOON, KARMA KILLER ... but extreme bands I almost could name hundreds!!

Off-topic question: do you remember the Austrian band Nothingfaith? They did one of the best selffinanced progressive metal discs I've ever heard from a European band 10 years ago …

Of course, "Sigiriya" really is a great album! It's so f***ing shit that these talented guys stopped playing! Their keyboard player is from my village (I actually met his brother yesterday and told him about your question) and I saw them live twice, one gig they performed everyone dressed in white with white sheets covering the whole backline - really remembering! ... and their album was recorded in a studio in my neighbourhood!

Your debut album is called "Words Untold and Dreams Unlived" - what does that symbolize?

Well, we did some brainstorming about the album title and I suggested that one - everyone liked it! In some way it explains our situation back then: our music and lyrics were yet untold in the metal world and we had dreams that now already partly have come true i.e. record deal, touring ... and it has a beautiful poetic touch!

Who did your coverartwork? It's brilliant … how does it connect with the album - is it a conceptual disc?

That genius was Spiros at Seth-Design in Greece! He already had worked for PARADISE LOST, CALIBAN, CHRIS CAFFERY, ... I think you know some pieces of his art. There is no concept behind the lyrics on the album, but we had some elements for the artwork in mind: natural structures, butterflies, a women and some kind of gate to another world created by that women. In the end it was a bit different to our ideas, but we are very content now as the whole booklet is just great!

When listening to the album I come to think of bands such as Threshold, Superior and Dreamscape … am I right in counting these among your influences? What other bands have inspired you?

THRESHOLD surely is a great influence, as I own and admire all their albums since "Extinct Instinct"! As far as I know, nobody in the band listens to SUPERIOR, but of course we also like DREAMSCAPE very much - I'm looking forward to the new output, the songs we heard live are very promising!! You must know that the main song writers in the band are Georg, Thomas and me. I listen to nearly any style in metal, concerning Serenity I would name EVERGREY, SAVATAGE or even MERCENARY as influences, Georg and Thomas love the sounds of KAMELOT, SONATA ARCTICA, NIGHTWISH ... and we all admire "new" prog bands like CIRCUS MAXIMUS, PAGAN'S MIND and MALPRACTICE!

You've recorded the disc with Jan from Dreamscape … how did you get in touch with him, and what has he meant for your sound?

He was the one who did the mix for our last demo "Engraved Within" and despite the fact that his work was very satisfying we decided to do the "big thing" in his studio. There's always a relaxed atmosphere working with him and he is a great musician himself, which helped us very much! His sense of hearing is absolutely brilliant! He also changed some parts in our songs, and that all was necessary looking back to it now although we did not like it first!

You're signed to Napalm Records. How did you get signed to them? You're their first real progressive metal band, as they mostly deal with gothic/dark metal … is this a good thing for the band?

One of their A&R managers saw us performing live in September 2004 and he was amazed! From that point on we had been in contact and when the album was finished, Napalm Records was on our list. Their offer was closest to our ideas ... so we signed to them on December 1st 2006. We think it's a positive fact that we have some kind of stand-alone-status within their range of bands regarding our style. They do a great job promoting and supporting us and we will do our best to come up to their expectations!

What's your plans now? A tour perhaps … ?

These ten days on the road with MORGANA LEFAY and SACRED STEEL in the end of this year's march were just ruling - we can't wait to get on the next tour which hopefully will take place in fall 2007, but I'm sorry I'm not allowed to tell about the headlining bands as nothing is fixed yet! There are some festivals to play for us in summer (all in Austria) with great bands like SOILWORK, EDENBRIDGE, DISILLUSION, MERCENARY, ... I hope there will be fine weather, cool beer and lots of cute ladies!

Thanks for doing the interview guys. Best of luck with the disc. The last words are yours …

Thank you from all in Serenity! To every maniac out there: don't miss us when we are in town and give a listen to our record - you won't regret and you'll help us getting somewhere between Falco and Mozart;)!