With the world being linked up, down, and ten ways to Sunday thanks to the internet, it’s hard to fathom that a metal band can rise seemingly out of nowhere, secure a deal with a respected record label, and find its way onto two high profile North American tours almost immediately thereafter. California-based Huntress did just that, signing with Austria-based Napalm Records in November 2011 and confirming an early 2012 release a short time later for their official full length debut, Spell Eater. It’s particularly disconcerting for someone like Yours Truly, who effectively lives on two continents simultaneously and supposedly has a finger on the metal scene’s international pulse. The jury is still out on whether this slip was a case of jaded journalistic ignorance, particularly given that Spell Eater is a meat-and-potatoes wallop of old school thrash-and-burn metal.

“No, you’re not at all ignorant; we did just appear, quite magically” says vocalist Jill Janus graciously. “Huntress was birthed in the underground metal scene, but I clawed my way through the roots and dirt rapidly. I have been visualizing this moment for a long time. I finally met four people at my level of musicianship who share the same vision. It’s simply our time now. I could have appeared sooner fronting some false trend metal band, but my integrity is sacred. We don’t compromise on our art.”

Jill is something of a minority on the metal scene as a vocalist, with only a handful of women out there doing actual singing without falling into the opera box or going full-on Arch Enemy death metal. She joins the likes of Doro Pesch (ex-Warlock), Veronica Freeman (Benedictum), Kate French (Vainglory), and bears an uncanny albeit heavier vocal resemblance to original Chastain vocalist Leather Leone (see: For Those Who Dare from 1990). The buzz surrounding Huntress being what it is, Jill’s performance is under even closer scrutiny at the band’s shows now that Spell Eater is out.

“You know, I have a good sense of humour about this business,” she says. “At the same time, I have integrity which doesn’t permit me to care what others think or expect. I do not compromise on my vision, ever. I live only for my purpose. I was born with a voice for heavy metal and that voice rules me. Nothing else matters.”

Meaning that the flak she’s taken for playing up the metal vixen image – primarily in the ‘Eight Of Swords’ video and promo photos – has amounted to a whole lot of nothing in her world. Folks will be waiting an awful long time for Jill Janus to justify her metal persona and the wardrobe that goes with it.

“I’m quite happy about my image evolving and I have never justified it to anyone, nor will I start now. I’m so broke I can’t even afford to buy clothes. Can’t wait until I can afford a skin tight leather wardrobe! There will always be misconceptions and illusions surrounding me, and that’s fine. I’m not here to change the world; I’m here to live only for my purpose.”

Go to this location for the complete story.

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Folks on this side of the music industry desk will tell you that the vast majority of press releases and band biographies are loaded with hollow bullshit. Many of these essays are too bloated with adjectives, mixed metaphors and blatant flavor-of-the-month ass-kissing to be taken seriously, often peppered with keywords and band names popular at the time and space in question, or yanked from a Wikipedia heavy metal page. These things raced through my head while scanning the bio for Moonspell’s newest outing, Alpha Noir, wondering out loud more than once if the newbie dweeb hired to write it had ever heard of the band before. Dropping names like Bathory and King Diamond as influences to describe an act hailed as one of the few and true remaining old school goth metal bands was absurd to the point of insulting.

Give Alpha Noir a spin and you’ll discover the description is dead on.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” frontman Fernando Ribeiro grins. “I tend to write those things myself. It’s not that I don’t trust someone else to do it, but I like to write and I think that sometimes the people at the record labels kind of miss the point. A lot of labels have many bands, and sometimes the people that write the press releases have to do it in a rush. I’d rather make things a bit more personal by doing it myself, so I’m glad you found everything in the press release to be true (laughs). With all the metaphors and poetry and personal notes that we put into the press releases, it’s good to know that people check out the new songs and realize that we’re not just blabbering and self-praising. We really tried to give people a clear view of what’s going on with Alpha Noir.”

For fans of Moonspell’s previous efforts such as Night Eternal (2008), Darkness And Hope (2001), or the legendary Irreligious (1996), actually hearing strains of Bathory and King Diamond within new songs like ‘Opera Carne’ and ‘Lickanthrope’ is downright disconcerting. Moonspell is supposed to be a goth band.

“You know your metal,” Ribeiro laughs, unapologetic for the scare.

In actual fact, Alpha Noir is two albums in one, splitting the Moonspell personality down the middle. Where Alpha Noir is full-on metal – because no other label does it justice – the gothic stamp is definitely on the second part, dubbed Omega White. The package as a whole continues the band’s tradition of diversifying themselves with each release, but there was no way anyone could have expected Moonspell to go as far as they have in both shedding their gothic sound and embracing it simultaneously.

“This probably isn’t the logical sequel to Memorial (2006) and Night Eternal,” Ribeiro agrees. “I think there are some really intense headbanging moments on Alpha Noir, but like every Moonspell album we treated this one very seriously. When we put a new album out we have to consider the novelty of it at all times, which has to do with the fact that Moonspell was born in the underground at a time when metal was really expanding. The bands and the fans were willing to take chances with new music. As that metal scene has gotten older, sometimes I find it hard to be surprised by new bands. I think that there’s a restlessness or something that can’t be predicted that is a characteristic of Moonspell.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

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It’s rare that a commercially successful rock band is good for a surprise. The vast majority would much rather stick to a proven formula – and understandably so – than throw their fanbase a curve. Pennsylvania-based rockers Halestorm, on the other hand, took the plunge with only one official full length album under their belt. Two years after the band’s self-titled debut touched down and started a buzz, the quartet issued the six song ReAniMate covers EP, which gave the people that thought they had Halestorm nailed down something to choke on. Covers of the Skid Row classic ‘Slave To The Grind’ – now a fan favourite in the band’s nightly set – and Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Out Ta Get Me’ left many a naysayer’s jaw on the floor, Yours Truly included, largely due to the explosive delivery by vocalist/guitarist Lzzy Hale. The EP set the stage and reined in a new batch of fans for Halestorm’s second record The Strange Case Of…, which rocks harder and heavier than what folks expect of a so-called “average” mainstream band.

“We chose the six songs on ReAniMate for all sorts of reasons,” says Lzzy, agreeing that it was one of the building blocks going in to make The Strange Case Of… “The cover of The Beatles’ ‘She’s So Heavy’ was the first song the guys and I ever jammed to as a band. The Heart cover of ‘All I Wanna Do…’ used to be my go-to karaoke song; the guys would sign me up in hopes of getting free beer from people who liked the way I sang. ‘Slave To The Grind’ and ‘Out Ta Get Me’ were some of my influences, growing up on my parents’ music, and they had tempos that we’ve never experimented with before. In turn, they directly inspired our fastest original song to date, ‘Love Bites (So Do I)’. ‘Hunger Strike’ was a nod to one of Joe’s (Hottinger / guitars) influences, and the Lady Gaga cover (‘Bad Romance’) was the #1 most requested song in a poll we put up for our fans to determine what our final pick for the EP was. It’s a great mix.”

Considering that Halestorm gained notoriety with radio-safe hits like ‘I Get Off’ and the Twilight-fuelled ‘Familiar Taste Of Poison’, choosing ‘Love Bites (So Do I)’ as the first single off The Strange Case Of… was a ballsy move. Folks that respect the band as a live act but have no use for the debut album have embraced the track, which is Halestorm’s take on ‘Slave To The Grind’ at its heart.

“‘Love Bites’ is a great ‘re-introduction’ song. It was a reflection of what people saw at our live shows while touring on our last album cycle. We wanted to give people a first single that was a step up from our last recording, but was familiar to the energy they get from us live.”

On the flipside, the new album boasts the surefire crowd-pleaser ‘Here’s To Us’. It’s one of those gems that has “hit” written all over it with the potential to cross over between mainstream rock and country markets. And depending on how it performs, the song could potentially dump Halestorm in the “Ballad Band” box; an albatross Nickelback has been trying to lose for years in spite of their heavier material. For her part, Lzzy isn’t concerned about being pigeonholed.

“I’m prepared for the possibility, and I’m not worried. This record has given us an opportunity to be both equal and on opposite sides of the spectrum. We’ve proven to ourselves that we can pull off exposing the duality which is Halestorm, and that nothing is impossible. ‘Here’s To Us’ is beautiful song, but it has the spunk of a metalhead kid. I’m excited to see what happens once it’s released as a single.”

Being up front and female puts the lion’s share of attention on Lzzy on any given day, which is to be expected. That attention has increased over the last year, as her tooth and nail performances – equal parts Joan Jett, Corey Taylor, and early Skid Row-era Sebastian Bach – have become a Halestorm trademark, putting many of her female and male peers to shame. Asked if she ever feels the pressure to deliver the same show every night thanks to the rampant YouTube coverage, Lzzy is admirable in her honesty.

“Of course! I still get antsy every night before a gig. I’ve always been a 110% kinda girl. I want to give my all to an audience, even if it’s in Middle-Of-Nowhere, Texas for 10 people in the house. There’s no other way to be but all in.”

Taking nothing away from her bandmates, it must be something of a battle in letting people know Halestorm is a band and not Lzzy Hale & Co.

“It’s a grand balance,” says Lzzy. “I don’t mind the attention, and neither do my guys. My band respects and encourages the media’s focus on me, but I feel like we do a great job keeping everyone in the light. You don’t really have a choice but to notice my little brother (Arejay) on drums; if you’ve ever seen us live, you know what I mean (laughs).”

Fans of Lzzy’s on-stage performances – particularly anyone who grew up in and around the ‘80s cock rock / hair metal scene in North America – may be surprised to learn she credits her vocal personality to a veteran of that era. It turns out that Steve Whiteman of the Maryland-based band Kix, who was and is still known for his over-the-top stage presence and pipes to match, was her vocal coach.

“He was my vocal coach for two years, when I was 17-18 years old,” Lzzy reveals, “and he’s still a great mentor of mine. I owe everything that I’m able to pull off every night to that man. He’s amazing. I recommend him to anyone. He introduced me to what I was born with, and taught me all that I could do with that gift.”

Her ties to the metal world don’t stop with Whiteman and the Halestorm’s cover catalogue. During the recordings for Adrenaline Mob’s official debut, Omertá, drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) invited Lzzy to trade off lead vocals with singer Russell Allen (Symphony X) for a cover of Duran Duran’s ‘Come Undone’. She considers it a privilege to have been asked and doesn’t take the experience for granted.

“Singing with Adrenaline Mob is the ultimate honour,” says Lzzy. “These guys could’ve picked anyone to sing for that song, but they chose me. I’m very humbled by that. I had to put my big girl boots on and go and give ‘em everything I’ve got for that one.”

Photos taken from Halestormrocks.com and the band’s official Facebook page.

Check out my review of The Strange Case Of… here.

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This interview is testament to the fact that no matter how cutting edge present day technology may be, it’ll never replace old school principles.

Booked for a phone interview in the midst of a European tour, Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann dutifully took on the task during a travel day, only to be confronted with a mobile signal that refused to cooperate as the band’s tour bus hurtled down one of Germany’s highways. Thus, two dropped calls later and Hoffmann questioning the wisdom of interviews being scheduled while the band is in transit, he opted not to call back a third time, leaving BW&BK with half an interview and a half-baked story. Fast forward 24 hours to an unplanned and completely unexpected phone call from Hoffmann, settled in his pre-show (and stationary) hotel room, who had chosen to step up of his own free will and finish the job rather than write us off as a digital-age hiccup.

Not that Accept desperately needs the coverage. Hoffmann is certainly happy to have it, but the buzz surrounding the band’s new album, Stalingrad, is as loud and in-you-face as the justified hype their rousing 2010 comeback, Blood Of The Nations.

“I guess we’re just firing on all cylinders at the moment,” muses Hoffmann. “We were away for quite some time, so maybe that recharged out batteries enough to give us the energy to keep going like this, but sometimes I ask myself how we’ve managed to do it again. I don’t know. We just go out and do it.”

Stalingrad marks Accept’s second outing with vocalist Mark Tornillo, who replaced original singer Udo Dirkschneider behind the mic for the reunion when the U.D.O. frontman made it brutally clear he wasn’t interested. Months of touring behind classic and new Blood Of The Nations material quite naturally tightened the bonds of this new Accept incarnation, suggesting the band was much more focused going in to do Stalingrad.

“It wasn’t dramatically different,” Hoffmann says of the creative process. “The only difference was that we were, as you said, a little more in tune with what we were going for. When we made Blood Of The Nations we were fishing a little bit; where does Accept belong in 2010? We weren’t sure if we should go the totally old school way or of we should try to incorporate some newer elements in out sound. But, because everything worked out so well with Blood Of The Nations we kind of decided not to change a winning formula. We just tried to come up with new songs that were as good as the one on Blood Of The Nations. The ideas on Stalingrad are fresh along the same lines, and that was our goal.”

Of course, no Accept release would be complete without a few people waiting for the band to sewer out the way they did forever and a day ago with Eat The Heat and David Reece in 1989.

“Yeah, but people are always afraid,” Hoffmann scoffs. “Last time out they were afraid we couldn’t deliver at all, now they were afraid we couldn’t deliver again… (laughs). Somebody’s always skeptical initially, wondering about the album title and so on, but then they hear the album and everybody’s excited. The end result is always what matters.”

It has to feel good knowing they’ve silenced Accept’s detractors with Stalingrad, one would assume for good. Particularly when you consider Blood Of The Nations bitchslapped the hard core pre-release skeptics into awestruck fanboy worship.

“Oh yeah, man,” he laughs. “I don’t think you could have more skepticism than what we had when we first announced that we were going to reunite. We got hit pretty hard by the wave of naysayers and criticism. I actually had to tune out at one point because I couldn’t stand the comments anymore. I found it pathetic and sad that people would make up their minds about us before they’d even heard anything. I feel vindicated, sure, and we had quite a few people practically making public apologies to us, which was very cool (laughs).”

Go to this location for the complete story.

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It’s fair to say that former Venom bandmates Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan (vocals/bass) and Jeff “Mantas” Dunn (guitars) do their best work as a unit. There are folks that labelled Dolan a pretender to original / current Venom singer Cronos’ pincushion throne when he stomped in for three albums from 1989 – 1992 (Prime Evil, Temples Of Ice, The Waste Lands), but Dolan is still recognized as an integral part of the band’s history. The fans were reminded of this in 2004 when Dolan joined Dunn’s new albeit short-lived project, Mantas. It was a venture that died before its time, largely regarded as a nice try and not much else. When the buzz of another reunion project started up in 2010, however – this time with ex-Venom drummer Antton Lant in the mix – people were all ears, particularly since the trio had chosen to work under the banner Prime Evil as a tip of the hat to their collective past. One name change and Lant’s unfortunate but amicable departure later, Dolan and Dunn are in arguably better form than ever with Mpire Of Evil.

“We had a long discussion before anything got off the ground,” Dolan admits. “Every time we’ve tried to get back together it’s been because we wanted to, and every time we stopped it was because of some other fucker, never because of us. The Mantas thing for example; we did the album (Zero Tolerance), we shot a video, we did the Earthshaker Festival in Germany, but when we got back it became apparent to me rather quickly that the record company (Demolition Records) might not be spending the money promoting the album they way they should have been. I told them that if they didn’t invest in it, thing were going to go the same way they always have. We had a big discussion with management and the record company, and I wouldn’t let it go. I kept bringing it up and they got so pissed off at me in the end, thinking that I’d become a bit of a problem saying they should do this and that. The label eventually told Jeff that he either dropped me or they were going to drop the band.”

“I told Jeff that he’d made a good album and I wanted the label to see the potential in it, and if that meant I had to walk away so they didn’t kill it, so be it. The album was bigger than me, so I walked away. They carried on, did another video, went to Japan, and in the meantime Jeff got a German manager. She was great, and she went straight to Demolition and told them everything that I’d told them. The next day Jeff got a letter saying ‘Right, we’re not gonna keep you anymore.’ The label dropped him right there. Fuck me, you know? I might as well have stayed.”

Following the Mantas fiasco Dolan dabbled in a number of projects, including an Atomkraft anthology released through Neat Records in 2005, and an Atomkraft EP issued in 2011 featuring a cover of the Thin Lizzy classic ‘Cold Sweat’ as its centerpiece. And somewhere in between – 2010 to be exact – the Venom-bled wheels began to turn once again, putting Dolan on a much needed collision course with Dunn.

“Jeff was doing his own project, Dryll, and when Antton came in they started thinking about giving me a shout. Jeff deliberated for ages and he finally called me; we just chatted the way you and I are doing right now, and then he started telling me about what he was doing with Dryll, about working with Antton again and having guest vocalists but needing a permanent vocalist and a bassist. It took me several minutes before the penny dropped and I realized he was talking about me (laughs).”

“There were things that I’d wanted to do before Mpire Of Evil, but I didn’t have the time and I suppose I didn’t have the focus,” Dolan adds. “I was also thinking that everybody in the business is up to something because I had some bad experiences with the Venom thing, Atomkraft and Neat Records. I was wondering if it was worth the displeasure. I had to think about it very seriously. The three of us worked well together, so it was tempting. And when they told me there were no record labels involved at that point, nobody telling them what to do, that sold me on it.”

“We had fun doing it, and that’s what has always drawn me and Jeff to play together,” Dolan says of getting back to business. “Our styles bounce off each other quite quickly; Jeff quite technical and he likes really tight tempos and tight changes. Venom was like throwing an egg at a wall musically, which was great, but Jeff has progressed as a musician and his style has opened up completely since the Venom days. He’s all about keeping things clean, and I love that. The tight twists and turns, the play on the dynamics, I love it, and that’s what I’ve always loved about metal. I mean, listen to the opening of Exodus’ Bonded By Blood; the slow build, then snap and bang, you’re into the first track. My fucking heart jumps every time I hear that (laughs).”

Mpire Of Evil’s debut album, Hell To The Holy, shines due to the fact that Dolan and Dunn weren’t trying to recapture or outdo their Venom past. It’s a different beast, rooted in traditional metal with thrash-like tendencies rather than trying to cash in on the classic Venom’s satanic Motörhead vibe.

“We were interested in seeing how people responded,” says Dolan. “Because it’s the three of us, we knew everyone was thinking it’s going to be another Venom record. In some corners people were screaming for that. We had some great album reviews at the very start, which was wonderful, but I remember reading a review from one black metal journalist that just ripped the shit out of it. He said the album was a piece of shit, it sucked, it was fucking pedestrian, it’s boring, and I came away from it saying ‘Thank fuck for that.’ Yes, we’re not black metal, and if we or the record company had tried to put us in that box we would have been sunk. This is more traditional metal, yes, but we just took a different approach to it.”

With over 30 years in the trenches, Dolan has paid his dues and is well aware of how quickly and completely the music industry can rip artists to shreds depending on the cards being played. He freely admits to being apprehensive about getting back in the game yet again, but when asked if Mpire Of Evil has fulfilled his expectations, he can only laugh.

“Funnily enough, yes. I’m really loving this more than I thought I would. When I was younger and doing this, Atomkraft had limited success. We had shit distribution, so if people can’t hear you they don’t know you’re around, and when you turn up in town opening for a band everyone knows they want you to get it over with really quick. That causes a problem, but Atomkraft enjoyed that aspect of it because we had to turn it over every single time. It was never easy for us, we always had to work really hard and we never took it lightly. The thing is, when that’s all going on you don’t realize how much fun you’re having, so when you look back there’ll be holes in it. You think ‘Fuck, why didn’t I take my time?’ It’s like eating the best steak you’ve ever had at a restaurant and just wolfing it down. It’s just a memory after that, and you always want to go back there to have another one and eat it really slowly. When you do get back it’s different; they put the steak in front of you and it’s just not the same. I’ve found the restaurant and it’s going to be the same steak, only this time the chef’s a little bit better than he was (laughs). This steak’s going to be so much juicier and I’m going to eat it really, really slow (laughs).”

At press time, Mpire Of Evil had just wrapped up a North American tour supporting UK countrymen Onslaught. A small scale tour, yes, but a big deal in that it was booked well in advance of Hell To The Holy’s release. The fans were treated to a set consisting of new material and classic Venom tracks, which went over a storm. For Dolan, it was his first real tour since 1988; far too long to be off the road as far as he’s concerned. He offers a look back at Mpire Of Evil’s first official step into the ring…

“Antton’s band Def-Con-One played a London festival show and our label was coming over to see us. We’d been recording but we hadn’t rehearsed, and Antton suggested that we jump on stage at the end of their set to a couple song. We decided to do ‘Hell To The Holy’ and ‘Black Metal’, but we didn’t get together and rehearse for it. We each learned our own versions of the songs, and when we went up at the end of the show we didn’t watch each other or anything like that. We played as if we’d been doing the songs together all our lives. It was great.”

“However, when we walked off stage me and Jeff were bent over gasping for breath, and I remember saying, ‘Fuck me… that was only two songs?’ (laughs).”

Promo photos by Enzo Mazzeo.

Live photo courtesy of Mike Bax and the kick-ass Lithium Magazine. Used with kind permission.

For news and and information on Mpire Of Evil go to this location.

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Like any serious band, the members of Toronto-based trio Modified – Tricia Stanley (vocals), Anthony Xander (guitars/vocals), James “Jones” Rose (drums) – are fuelled by their individual rock star dreams. Those aspirations are tempered, however, by keeping their collective feet firmly planted in the real world. Every step they’ve taken since the release of their EP debut Cruel Intentions in 2009 has been with a goal in mind rather than to prove a point to curious people watching from the sidelines. Battle Of The Bands competitions, sharing the stage with screamo, pop rock and death metal bands, shooting live-off-the-floor studio footage or an official video clip, Modified have taken on the music scene with a professional and thought-out approach unexpected in a young band still learning the ropes.

Ironically, Tricia sent out a message via Facebook a month prior to this interview stating that Modified were finished with Battle Of The Bands competitions from here on out. Not quite a rant, but a clear indication the band has had enough of being a number on a ballot.

Tricia: “I’m not pissed off, but it just seemed like we were getting bombarded by these promoters coming to us all at once saying ‘Do you wanna play this show?’ which was always followed by ‘Here’s the catch…’ It’s not like: ‘We love your band, we believe in you guys.’ It all comes down to how much money they can make off us. I know that’s the reality of the business, but I feel we’re past the stage in our lives where we can drive around the city for two weeks selling tickets. I don’t like it, so I’d rather not be involved in that part of it. And half the time it’s not a true contest; it comes down to how many friends you bring and whose ass you’re kissing. If it was a true contest where you could get something significant out of it to help the band, that would be fine, but we just don’t have time for that.”

The new self-titled debut album, released at the end of 2011, consists of the five songs featured on the Cruel Intentions EP and six new tracks. It’s a move that may look questionable on paper, but has proven to be a solid introduction to the band for those that have been oblivious to Modified until now.

Anthony: “Like you said, we take things one step at a time and make sure that everything we do is the best possible decision. We’re constantly writing music. We’ve probably written 60 or 70 songs, so it’s not a case of having a lack of material at all. We just came to the conclusion at some point that instead of releasing EPs and demos, let’s put those five songs out there with the six new ones. I guess it looks a little bit better, and we had the chance to re-master the old songs. We feel they’re still a good selling point, so why abandon them?”

Tricia: “And a lot of people haven’t even heard those older songs before now. They’re only old to our 100 friends around Toronto (laughs). We actually set out just to do three songs for financial reasons; paying for a producer/engineer is expensive. Anthony and especially James really wanted to have a full length album, which is where we came up with the idea to combine the songs. It was kind of a last-minute thing. We didn’t know exactly what we were going to do, but we had to keep going because it had been long enough since we’d released any new material. We would have loved to put out 11 brand new songs, but we need to win a lottery first. The three songs turned into five songs because we brought back ‘Hollow’, which is an old Modified song…”

Probably the heaviest song on the album. Not at all what people would expect after hearing ‘Running From Myself’ or ‘When I Wake’, and it’s this broad dynamic that makes Modified stand out in a crop of new talent.

Anthony: “That’s the first song that Modified ever wrote, before Trish was even in the band. One of our key intentions with our music is to not only have vocal hooks, but to have guitar and drum hooks as well. I think that’s lacking in a lot of new music; there are no guitar riffs anymore, no cool little drum hooks. We try and do what sounds good instead of thinking that we need to focus on the vocals. Every element is important, not just one element. We’re also very spontaneous when we write. We don’t really have anything in mind when we start. Like the riff on ‘Running From Myself’… it came out and it sounds good, so I don’t care if it’s reggae.”

Tricia: “We don’t like to commit to an idea just because it’s there. Quite often Anthony will write a song and I’ll make him change the verse 75 times (laughs).”

Anthony: “She’s not exaggerating. Sometimes I’ll write 10 different verses for a song and eight different choruses. It’s ridiculous, but we’re very on top of the quality of the songs. We want everything to sound really good.”

Modified’s “let’s see what sticks” approach to their music makes them a head-scratcher for people that prefer to have their music stamped with a label and shoved in an easy-to-find box. Not surprisingly, they remain unapologetic for making people think before filing them on a shelf.

Anthony: “We’re not a formulaic band. We’re artists. Obviously, we want to write catchy music that is accepted by the masses, but we also want to write songs that we’re happy with as musicians. It won’t be cookie cutter Three Days Grace-type stuff because that gets old really fast. I’d liken our aspirations to that of a band like Muse. If you listen to them, they have metal elements in their sound, classic rock, all kinds of stuff going on. I guess we have a similar approach.”

Tricia: “We all came from different backgrounds, and they influence the Modified sound. I came from a pop band, Anthony has more of a metal background, and James came more from a classic rock band. We all have our own styles and I guess that comes through.”

Which makes the live show crossover into the realms of metal and everywhere in between a relatively easy, if not exactly comfortable switch of the gears.

Tricia: “It’s true. We play a lot of metal shows and most of the time I’m the only chick there (laughs). It’s odd playing on the same bills as these heavy bands, but then we’ll go out and play with rock and pop-oriented female fronted bands. We were booked a while ago by Noel Peters at Inertia to open for Otep, and then we got booked to open for Halestorm. They’re completely different acts. We didn’t end up playing the Otep show because she was sick and had to cancel, but we did the Halestorm gig. That show was great and we got a lot of new fans out of it. It was pretty exciting, and it was a last minute show where we only found out about it three days before.”

For the immediate future, Modified are mapping out the rest of 2012 with live gigs on their own terms – or as close as they can get without losing their shirt – and building on the buzz created by their new video for ‘Die To Resist’.

Anthony: “We’re definitely looking at playing more shows in Ontario, maybe into Quebec. Sort of like a 401 tour, a St. Catharines to Montreal kind of thing. We’re probably going to work the shit out of Ontario until we find proper label support or management to help us. We would go to Europe or Japan tomorrow if there was a demand for it, so we’re just going to work our asses off as we always have and make more noise here at home.”

Tricia: “We going to try and get out there this spring and summer to really push this album. We’re going to do another video, and we’re talking about doing one new song just to keep things going. We don’t have a complete game plan at the moment, but we really want to start shopping the album. And if the labels tell us to screw off, at least we tried. We at least have something to show people.”

Check out Modified’s video for ‘Die To Resist’ here, pick up the new album via iTunes and CDBaby.com.

Visit Modified on Facebook here.

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In North America the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has become as traditional at Christmas as Santa Claus, coloured lights and holiday parking. Even if you’ve never attended one of their seasonal shows – which usually hits a city near you anywhere from November through January – you’ve definitely heard of them, as the TSO rock opera format appeals to people from all walks of life, to everyone from children to the elderly. Plain and simple, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has proven for well over a decade that you don’t need to be metal to ride this ride, regardless of the outfit’s Savatage-rooted history.

Producer/composer Paul O’Neill is known for pushing the envelope with every project he devises. It was his collaborative efforts with Savatage frontman Jon Oliva in the late ’80s, in fact, that slowly but surely transformed the legendary metal band into something much more theatrical in nature, which eventually spawned the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. And while TSO established itself as a Christmas-themed project when it launched in 1996, O’Neill got rid of the sleigh in 2000 for Beethoven’s Last Night, an album telling the fictitious tale of legendary composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s last night alive. TSO finally toured for the album in North America in 2010, went to Europe the following year, and 2012 sees the band on the road again, this time supporting a fully narrated re-release of Beethoven’s Last Night.

Guitarist Chris Caffery, a long time member of Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, offered his views on the current Beethoven’s Last Night tour versus the annual winter shows during some rare and fleeting post-soundcheck downtime:

“It’s a very different vibe. The winter tour has the holiday and runaway theme to the story line, the music marries that story. This tour is the complete Beethoven’s Last Night album, and it’s not like the winter show isn’t a rock concert, but the Beethoven show has a darker feel because of the story and the theme. Beethoven is battling the devil to save his soul and his music, it’s a pretty intense story. For me personally it feels more like I’m performing a rock concert because of the way the songs and the album is structured. It’s a little bit more to where my roots were when I performed growing up. I’ve been on stage playing a heavy style of progressive and hard rock music since I was a kid. So the songs like ‘Misery’ are a lot similar to my roots. I think people really enjoy it because in a lot of these cities we’re giving them something they’ve never seen live before. Everybody that comes to see the show tells us they enjoy it as much as anything they’ve seen by us before.”

This seems to be the case even though the Trans-Siberian Orchestra hit the road for Beethoven’s Last Night in March, barely three months after the Christmas tour wrapped up. It’s another full-blown O’Neill audio-visual spectacle, but the numbers indicate that the fans are far from being TSO-ed out.

“It’s pretty crazy,” says Caffery, “because we’re getting a tremendous number of people on this tour that come out and say they’ve never seen TSO before. We’re doing a lot of different markets on this tour that we didn’t do last year. The winter show is so huge that some of the buildings can’t even hold the weight of the lights and gear we have. With this tour we have the opportunity to go to some of the smaller cities to the areas that we couldn’t fit the winter shows in. We’re getting into places where we do find it makes a difference for people that have to drive for over an hour to get to a show. If the show is only 20 minutes away, the people that couldn’t come out to see us before are coming out now.”

“There are a lot of reasons why this Beethoven tour is really exciting for us, and I think that’s one of the biggest because we get out there to see people that haven’t seen us once in out 16 year history. It’s nice to know people aren’t TSO-ed out.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Photo by Bob Carey. Used with kind permission of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

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It takes remarkable strength of character to throw yourself to the wolves knowing you’re going to get bitten and potentially ripped to shreds. So it goes that, regardless of what Into Eternity fans may think of vocalist Amanda Kiernan stepping in to replace Stu Block – now a member of Iced Earth – for the band’s live activities, they have to respect her for willingly putting herself in harm’s way. With a few gigs under her belt at the time of this writing, Kiernan had made more friends than enemies amongst Into Eternity fans even as they mourned Block’s absence, the majority seemingly able to give her the benefit of the doubt. It’s anybody’s guess how the future will play out now that the band essentially has two singers and Block’s Iced Earth career has exploded, but the bottom line is that Kiernan is committed to shedding even more blood, sweat and tears to make things work.

Kiernan’s journey began in November 2011 when Into Eternity put out the call for a “touring only” singer. She jumped in with both feet.

“I found out about the audition and called (Into Eternity drummer) Brian Newbury right away,” Kiernan says. “I just wanted to push myself to the top and prove to myself and others that I can actually do this, and that there are no limitations. After I called him we both went to my studio and spent two days recording the audition songs that Tim Roth (guitars / founder) wanted me to do.”

There was, of course, a truckload of trepidation going in. Block didn’t get snatched up by Iced Earth for putting in a half-assed effort, and his vocal acrobatics set the bar out of reach for many seasoned metal singers.

“It’s very intimidating because they’re big shoes to fill,” Kiernan agrees. “I’ve been listening to Into Eternity since high school, and I even remember when Stu joined the band. I wasn’t very happy about that, so I understand how everyone would be feeling right now. Then again, I can’t believe that I get the honour to take on such an amazing opportunity. I don’t know… why me? But I’m so thankful and I’m going to give it all I’ve got. It’s a huge challenge singing Stu’s parts.”

“It really helps that I’ve been in my other band, The Order Of Chaos, for seven years, so it’s almost like I got a head start. But then again, these Into Eternity vocals are a whole new level for me. It’s very difficult, but you can do anything you want to if you just put the time into it every day all day. I always say you need practice, practice, practice and passion. Even now, being the new touring singer, it’s surreal to me. I can’t believe all the hard work I did and this is actually happening. I proved to myself and everyone that I can do it all, but I couldn’t have done it without all my family and friends, The Order Of Chaos, and the members of Into Eternity.”

As it turns out, Kiernan didn’t have to resort to crossing her fingers and hoping for the best. Block was on hand to guide her through the process of following and hopefully matching his footsteps.

“Stu actually came to my audition and taught me to get into the music and own every word,” she reveals. “That helped the most, I think. He has so much control with his vocals and just listening to him sing even only after two days, I’ve learnt so much from him. I’m actually singing in a much different way, and my other band has even noticed that I’ve gotten so much better in just three months. Stu is amazing and I know I’m never going to sound exactly like him. It’s going to be my own style and I’m going to put my 110% into it. The only thing I have a hard time with is the really low growls, but I’ve become a part of the most amazing talented group of people in Into Eternity, so it’s not a problem.”

As mentioned, the fans seem to be on Kiernan’s side in what could have been an unpleasant uphill battle for her and the band.

“The fans are amazing! At first they’re very skeptical and they don’t know what to think and I understand all of that. But it seems by the end of the show they respond positively. They’ve all been so supportive. I never know how it’s going to go and I get nervous, but the way the fans have reacted so far… so very awesome! And it blows me away when they say the things they do. It makes me blush (laughs).”

Even as Into Eternity wrestle with continuing questions as to Block’s status in the band, Kiernan is going through a similar situation herself, having to reassure The Order Of Chaos fans that she hasn’t abandoned ship.

“It has been kind of difficult to balance both bands because I’m the kind of person who needs to make everyone around me happy, but so far it’s been good. Tim is a very understanding person and I’m thankful for that.”

“The Order Of Chaos has a lot of plans,” she adds. “We’re recording our third album, touring Europe in the summer, music videos, and many other things. We’ve been waiting for a European opportunity for many years so this is a big deal for us, so we’re very excited and thankful. Into Eternity has some tours lined up and I can’t wait to travel the world with them. I think it’s going to be an amazing experience, and it’ll only go up from here. It’s going to be a lot of hard work and I’m going to be a very busy singer, but I can’t wait. As long as there’s communication and understanding it shouldn’t be a problem.”

In closing, Kiernan offers her thoughts on what compelled her to audition for Into Eternity in the first place and how it feels to be a part of that inner circle…

“The way I feel when I’m on that stage is more amazing than anyone would know, and that sensation is the reason why any musician does this. It’s the best feeling ever. The energy, the crowd, the adrenaline… it’s bliss. Working with Into Eternity and being on the stage with them has been the most amazing, exciting, awesome experience of my life. I’ve fallen in love with all of them, and their friends and families. I’ve never been treated with more respect and had so much fun in my life! I’m honoured to share the stage with them and I thank them all so much for giving me the most incredible opportunity.”

For more on Kiernan joining Into Eternity, check out an interview with guitarist / founder Tim Roth here.

Kiernan’s ‘Sandstorm’ audition clip can be found here.

Check out Kiernan performing with The Order Of Chaos at this location, show ‘em some love on Facebook.

Live photos used with kind permission of Amanda Kiernan and J Kiernan Photography. Stu Block photo lifted from the Century Media promo archives.

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When word came down in March 2011 that Canadian bashers Into Eternity’s vocalist Stu Block had replaced Matt Barlow as the singer for Iced Earth, it caused major confusion amongst fans in both camps. Iced Earth followers that were aware of Block’s shriek-and-growl style were convinced guitarist / founder Jon Schaffer had lost his mind, while Into Eternity fans were left wondering if the band had a future without Block’s unique vocal talents. Both he and guitarist Tim Roth have maintained that Block is still with Into Eternity – a claim that rang true with the recent release of the single ‘Fukushima’ – but news that The Order Of Chaos singer Amanda Kiernan had been brought in as Block’s live replacement so the band can tour served up another barrage of questions. With that in mind, Roth was happy to hook up and set the record straight.

“We were rehearsing on a Friday, and after a whole weekend of rehearsals he hit me with the news that he’d joined Iced Earth,” Roth recalls when asked how Block broke the news of getting the gig. “And then he hit me with a CD of him singing some new Iced Earth stuff. So not only did he tell me, he showed me some of the material they’d already recorded. I was just floored. Stu and I are best friends, and we weren’t doing anything at the time, so it makes sense that someone would come in and invite Stu to join their band. Jon Schaffer knows talent, I know talent, and Stu has always been that shining diamond in the rough. When I’d seen him in his previous band he really impressed me. I knew I had to have a guy with his kind of vocals in Into Eternity.”

With an album entitled Dystopia and two big tours under his belt thus far – and more stagework to come over the next year – Block has won over the vast majority of Iced Earth fans. The band’s popularity has flagged in recent years thanks to what Schaffer himself refers to as “unfocused” songwriting, but Block’s presence has rejuvenated the trademark Iced Earth spirit that made albums like Night Of The Stormrider, The Dark Saga and Something Wicked This Way Comes so popular amongst the fans.

“I’ve always known that Stu could save any band from going under,” says Roth. “There’s no limit on his vocal range. You know how some people, when you ask them to do something they’ll give you 10 reasons why they can’t? With Stu, if you ask him to do something, he’ll say yes. He’s motivated, he’s got the image, and he’s got an insane vocal range. No one can touch him. I can hit the highest note on my guitar and he can hit it with his voice. Any note we’ve needed Stu to do, he’s done it.”

“He was something of an underdog, I think,” Roth adds, referring to when Block replaced Chris Krall in 2005. “People would be mocking him online, and when we played live there were people in the crowd trying to do these fake falsettos to make a joke out of his voice, but Stu really can pull it off. He powers those notes with his diaphragm, but then he’ll add a rasp or a vibrato. He’s got total control over his voice, and it’s amazing.”

Block is still a member of Into Eternity, but Roth is a realist. Iced Earth isn’t a disposable weekend warrior garage band, and it’s very possible that Block will be forced to ditch Into Eternity if he wants to keep what’s now his day job.

“That’s how it could end up,” Roth agrees, “but we don’t want to close the door because you never know what’s going to happen. Maybe in two or three years Jon Schaffer will decide he wants to work with someone else. Or maybe Stu will go off and do a solo thing rather than come back to Into Eternity. I mean, he’s at that level now where… why would he really have to come back? At the same time, he loves Into Eternity’s music and he has an emotional attachment to the songs that he helped to write. We’re hopeful, but at the same time we have to move forward because Iced Earth is blowing up now with Stu up front.”

“Stu now has a real job playing music, which is what we were always working towards, so that’s another reason we’re so happy for him. We had shows booked in Calgary and Edmonton, but Stu was in the US recording the Iced Earth album, so he literally had to fly back to Canada just in time to make it to those shows. But, Iced Earth paid for that flight to accommodate Stu, so they showed us respect, which was great. It’s different now because Stu is with them full time, so things are operating separately. His full time is with Iced Earth now.”

The ‘Fukushima’ single is the band’s first real sign of life since mid-2011. According to Roth the song has been sitting on the shelf for quite some time waiting for an official release

“The song was done before Dystopia came out, back in February 2011 when we did ‘Sandstorm’. So ‘Fukushima’ has been on the backburner, but we’d planned to release it right away. Our plan was to release ‘Sandstorm’, then release ‘Fukushima’ two months later, but Stu got the Iced Earth gig and that kind of shut us down because we were going to release the singles and then go on tour. We found ourselves without a singer, so everything stopped.”

Fans should find comfort in the knowledge that a new Into Eternity album is in the works, as is the required business surrounding the release. There’s just a question of who will be singing what on the record.

“We have five songs recorded, but what we’re doing now is rebuilding the band,” says Roth. “We have Amanda in the band, we’ve done some live shows with her, and we’re getting ready to sign with management and two different booking agents, who will hopefully be shopping us a deal. That’s the plan, anyway. From there I’ll have a better idea of what’s going to happen with the next release. We thought we’d be releasing singles to keep it going and then start to tour, but that’s all changed and the music we have will become an album.”

“I’d like to get Amanda’s vocals on there. When she was in town Troy (Bleich / bass) had a whole acoustic song – lyrics and melodies and everything – and Amanda went in and demoed it. I got to hear her voice in the studio and it’s cool. I want to use Stu, of course, and I’d like to get our old singer Chris to come in and do a song as well.”

Reactions to bringing Kiernan on board have been mixed, naturally, but there has been a large outpouring of support in her favour. The fans want to know, however, what made Roth and his bandmates decide she was the one that should stand in for Block.

“The registers that Stu goes into are more in a female vocal range, so we were kind of limited that way. No matter who we get, nobody can replace Stu, but Amanda’s voice is just naturally in those ranges. She could hit the ‘Timeless Winter’ notes, which is what we needed. That song was the deal breaker because a lot of the guys that did it, they could hit those notes but they couldn’t do the death vocals. We would have had to get two new singers, plus these were people from Europe or the US, which means we would have had to worry about flight costs. Another great reason to get Amanda is that she’s only eight hours away (in Edmonton). Bryan (Newbury), our drummer, had recommended her, and they’re both from the same city so they can travel here together.”

“Amanda is a hybrid singer. She does these higher pitched death vocals as well as clean singing, so Troy backs her up with the lower death vocals and so do I. We’re really working as a team. We just need to tour with her and spend some time with her, because this is just so fresh. We’ve had two weeks of rehearsals with her and four shows. Amanda is an easy fit on a personal level; she’s friendly and she has our sense of humour (laughs), and the fans really seem to like her. She can do this; we’ve just got to get out there and show the public so they can see and hear it for themselves.”

Kiernan has taken any negative criticism on the chin and her enthusiasm hasn’t been the least bit stifled. As for any backlash he may have received as Into Eternity’s founder, Roth is confident the band made the tight choice.

“When we changed from Chris Krall to Stu Block, people would not accept it for a long time. It was tough on Stu at the beginning, and he’s actually going through the same thing right now with people asking about Matt Barlow. Those types of fans will always be there, but maybe if they can just trust our judgement… we’re not going to steer them wrong. Our band is going to have everything now: female vocals, the clean male vocals, and all the different death vocals. It’ll be good for the listener.”

The same goes any Into Eternity’s live performances with Kiernan in the driver’s seat.

“People forget that I also sang on the first two albums,” says Roth. “My vocals are on ‘Fukushima’ – the line ‘Rebuild and overcome…’ – and the really high vocals are Stu’s, so my voice will be there with Amanda on stage. It’s cool to have a female voice harmonizing with a male voice because now there are two distinct tones. Stu was at the rehearsals and he liked the sound of it.”

Bottom line, however, is that the fans need a new Into Eternity album on top of the reassurances that all is well…

“That’s why we released the singles,” says Roth. “To show the fans that something is happening. Judging from the meetings we’ve had, it’s probably not going to happen this year because by the time we finish writing, getting Stu back after he’s done the Iced Earth tour in April, we’re looking at 2013. I know people don’t want to hear that, but we need to be realistic.”

Check out Stu Block singing ‘Boiling Point’ from his Iced Earth debut here. Footage of Amanda Kiernan’s first show with Into Eternity can be found here.

Check out my interview with Amanda Kiernan here.

Photos used with kind permission of Tim Roth and Amanda Kiernan.

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When former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske announced the launch of his new band Unisonic in 2009, the buzz that followed was minimal at best. Having ex-Gotthard guitarist Mandy Meyer and the Pink Cream 69 rhythm section of Dennis Ward (bass) and Kosta Zafiriou (drums) on board did little to sweeten the pot, largely because Kiske had built a dubious track record for lack luster solo albums and making one-shot guest appearances on other projects since his 1993 departure from Helloween. Add to this his rather vocal disdain for the metal scene and many of his fans felt they’d been stabbed in the back. He redeemed himself somewhat with the Kiske / Somerville album in 2010 and his continued participation in Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet’s popular ongoing metal opera band, Avantasia – dating back to 2001 – but expectations surrounding Unisonic remained painfully low.

Enter former Helloween bandmate Kai Hansen, a long standing friend and fan of Kiske’s vocal talents. Hansen infamously left Helloween mid-tour in 1988 and went on to form Gamma Ray a year later, calling on Kiske to do guest vocals on the song ‘Time To Break Free’ for the Land Of The Free album in 1995. Since then the pair have crossed paths on various projects, with things coming to a head on Avantasia’s world tour in 2010, when Sammet called upon them to reprise their studio roles for the stage. Both Kiske and Hansen agreed, doing a string of shows together for the first time in 20 years. A few months after the tour Hansen announced he had joined Unisonic as a full time member.

“I didn’t actually expect this to happen,” Hansen admits, “mainly because Michael’s way of being in contact with the scene, saying that he wasn’t active in the metal side of things. I always liked the idea of working with Michael again, but when I heard him say things like that I thought ‘It would be nice, but forget it.’ When he formed Unisonic, I was very happy to hear it because I always thought it was a waste of talent when Michael did his little side-projects. But, I still didn’t seriously think about the two of us doing something together. Honestly, I never considered it. When we did the Avantasia tour together in 2010, it felt good working with him, and I could see that Michael was happy being on stage. He’s loosened up a lot towards metal. We had a lot of time to talk and enjoyed performing together, and we eventually started considering doing something together very seriously. And it wasn’t only talk, saying ‘Yeah man, we’ve gotta do something…’ and then nothing happens (laughs). This time it was for real and we started discussing the possibilities we had. There were three options: a new project, bringing him into Gamma Ray, or bring me into Unisonic. Since the first two didn’t make sense, Unisonic was the logical choice.”

Kiske’s return as a full-on frontman has been a long time in coming when one considers the number of metal-oriented side-projects and guest appearances he’s made over the last 10+ years. At the same time, he’s caused plenty of confusion in doing so by simultaneously badmouthing the metal community in the press.

“I was always wondering about that a bit,” says Hansen. “I think he just got it wrong for a while. Maybe he was trying to provoke people in some way, I don’t know (laughs). It’s cleared up now, but I think there are certain things in the metal scene that Michael just doesn’t get along with. That’s basically everything worshipping violence and all that kind of stuff.”

For his part, although Hansen came in well after the band had been formed, he’s responsible for tying all the loose ends together and kicking Unisonic onto the path they’re taking now.

“The songs ‘I’ve Tried’ and ‘Souls Alive’ were actually done before I came in, and there wasn’t anything about the songs that needed to be changed. I added some heavy guitars and some solos, but there was nothing more to say about those two tracks. Beyond that, there were three million ideas and rough cuts and bits and pieces to sort out, and that’s what we did. There were some rough demos, sometimes not even half a song, and we went through the stuff together to decide what was cool and what wasn’t. That was one of my points coming in; I told them I was going to be quite strict, and that I was going to say what I like or don’t like, what I think is shit and so on, and if they could accept that I was in. They were happy with that because it’s actually what they wanted. We eventually found the songs and ideas we wanted to work on, brought them to the rehearsal room, and parallel to that I started writing songs myself.”

If not for Hansen coming aboard, it’s quite possible Unisonic would have remained in Kiske’s basement. The band certainly wouldn’t be getting the buzz it is now.

“Michael has put it nicely, saying that I was the missing link in Unisonic,” Hansen laughs. “They had planned to put an album out in 2010, but Michael says the reason it didn’t happen is because the music wasn’t ready. Something was missing, and that was me, because when I came in things really started moving forward. It felt really good working together, so when we found something in the material we liked we focused on it to nail it down.”

“It was kind of refreshing” he says of stepping away from Gamma Ray for a while. “Things are great with Gamma Ray, but you get into a certain routine after a while and you burn out a little bit. Honestly, it happens. With Unisonic it was a different thing because it was new and the people I’m working with are different when it comes to creativity. Dennis was my man on this; we played ping-pong with a lot of the song ideas, which was absolutely brilliant. Mandy joined in with his ideas on the side because he lives in Switzerland, so he couldn’t always be with us when we were working.”

Hansen remained conscious of the fact he wasn’t writing for Gamma Ray or Helloween and censored himself accordingly.

“I actually did pull myself back a bit. The first idea I had was for the chorus of ‘Never Too Late’. I was coming home from a Gamma Ray rehearsal and this idea for a song came to me, and it had Michael’s voice. I started producing demos at home and getting my shit together, and for sure, I tried to avoid getting into the Gamma Ray vibe or copying what we did with Helloween. It was a new approach for me, and the cool thing was that, at that time, things were completely unclear. The only thing that was clear was that the music shouldn’t be too metal. It was meant to lean in a rock direction, have some pop elements, and I took it from there. I do have ideas going in that directions, and sometimes they come out in the Gamma Ray stuff, but with Unisonic I have more freedom to jump on it and go in that direction.”

In other words, Hansen can write songs for Unisonic that don’t have that aggressive Gamma Ray edge and not feel guilty about it. Courting a rock direction under the Gamma Ray banner, he agrees, would get him crucified.

“Yeah, in some ways it is like that. If somebody says to me ‘Unisonic is not real metal!’ I can say ‘Well, this wasn’t planned to be real metal, so fuck you…’ (laughs).”

‘Never Change Me’ is the perfect example of a Hansen-penned feelgood rock song…

“That’s a cool song,” says Hansen. “When I first joined the band and heard the ideas for it, I thought it was very cool on the one side, but on the other hand it could be a Miley Cyrus song. Maybe that has something to do with my daughter because she liked Hannah Montana for a while and used to watch it all the time (laughs). Maybe something from that got stuck in my head.”

On the other side of the coin, the ‘Unisonic’ single was a blatant tip of the hat to Hansen’s and Kiske’s past.

“This production was done in a way that says we’re not forcing anything, but we’re not really avoiding anything, either, except for 180 beats per minute and growling vocals.”

With Hansen and Kiske sharing the same airspace once again, some media outlets have been hinting at the possibility of a full-fledged Helloween reunion. Kiske shot down the suggestion in a recent interview with Greece’s Rockpages, stating that there was no need to reunite seeing as he had “the best part of Helloween in my band.”

“I’m thankful for his credit, but sometimes he’s a bit overenthusiastic,” Hansen laughs. “I still feel the chemistry we had back in the old days, though, but it was only partly me. The other Helloween guys also did a lot to make it what it was.”

“Michael’s voice inspires me,” he continues, “so when I write songs I can have his voice in mind. Just like when I write for Gamma Ray, I have my voice in mind. When I wrote songs for Gamma Ray while Ralf (Scheepers / Primal Fear) was in the band, it was still my voice. The way I write for Michael has changed a bit, because in the Helloween times it was his voice that inspired me to come up with those melody lines. Now, since I’m a bit more experienced as a singer, I can’t avoid putting myself into it, so when I sing the demos it’s kind of for me as well. But, for some reason, Michael has got a great way of doing an interpretation of that in a different way. I do hear his voice when I sing those parts, though.”

Speaking of Kiske’s voice, he sounds just as good as he did during Helloween’s ‘80s heyday with the Keeper albums. Unlike a lot of aging singers, he still has the chops that earned him a loyal fanbase.

“Isn’t it amazing? I actually think his voice sounds fuller now, more mature, but he can still do those high parts. He was doing that in the rehearsal room just for fun sometimes when we were working on the album, and it’s like ‘Fuck you, man…’ (laughs). He put it on the album in a couple places, like on the extra track ‘Over The Rainbow’ at the end. I just have to take a look at myself. I could sing higher when I was younger, but I think the 3 million cigarettes since then had an affect on my voice (laughs).”

At this point, Hansen is looking to divide his time evenly between Unisonic and Gamma Ray, with this year dedicated to the former and 2013 focusing on his Rayniac responsibilities. Some folks are doubtful Hansen will be able to stick it out for the long haul, however, given a similar scenario played out in the late ‘90s with vocalist / guitarist / producer Piet Sielck’s band, Iron Savior.

“I thought of that, of course, but this time it’s a bit different. Iron Savior was Piet’s band and I was just sidestepping into it. With Unisonic it looks different. It’s not anybody’s band, it’s our band, so there really isn’t a mainman or a leader. I’m doing this with Michael, which makes it very special for everyone, including me, so I’m going to try to continue dancing at two weddings and see how long I can actually do it. I hope this lasts a long time because I’ve seen that other people can balance being in two bands – like Peter Tätgren (Hypocrisy / Pain) and Tobi Sammet (Avantasia / Edguy) – and they’ve proven that it works as long as you take enough time with both instead of rushing things.”

For the present, Hansen’s plate is full with Unisonic live dates booked for the course of 2012, with more to be added along the way. Old school Helloween fans, Hansen says, won’t be disappointed.

“Of course we’re going to play some old Helloween stuff; only material that Michael or me wrote at that time. It’ll be a welcome thing to play it, especially for me. I’ve been playing ‘Future World’ and ‘I Want Out’ with Gamma Ray for years, I see Helloween doing those songs as well, but when it comes to the voice Andi (Deris / Helloween) and I can compete, but it still has to be Michael. When I hear those songs done by Michael, they’re done right. They’re perfect.”

And in spite of his initial misgivings, Hansen believes that for all the hype surrounding his reunion with Kiske the fans will embrace Unisonic for what it is rather than past glories of its members.

“In the beginning I was a bit skeptical, and I remember saying in a few interviews in the beginning that if people are expecting to hear old Helloween they might be disappointed. I don’t see it that way now, because I think Helloween at that time was about doing something different all the time. If you compare Walls Of Jericho, Keeper I and Keeper II, they were so different from each other. Even if I’d stayed in the band, there’s no way to tell what the next album would have been like. There’s a lot of great music on the Unisonic album, and I think even an old Helloween fan can really enjoy it.”

Check out the video for the first single, ‘Unisonic’, here.

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