Lonewolf
With "March Into The
Arena", their debut album LONEWOLF showed us a rawer version of their music.
Now with "Unholy Paradise" things seem to work even better in all parts.
More mature, they combine raw metal power with good melodies, creating
an album that every true metaller will love. A true paradise for the fans
of 80's.
1. FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATIONS FOR "UNHOLY
PARADISE"! IT'S A GREAT ALBUM!
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Hi ! Thanx a lot for the compliment, I’m happy
you like it that much! I really can’t say which album is my favorite, the
only thing I’m sure about is that there’s the same passion for true Heavy
Metal on both of them. That’s the important, music from the heart, no futile
experiments, no trend following, just music strongly influenced by the
80’s. That’s what we stand for.
2.SO, WHAT HAPPENED TO LONEWOLF FROM THE RELEASE
OF YOUR DEBUT ALBUM TILL NOW?
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We got good response from the underground, it
helps us a lot to spread our name in inner circles. This gives us the opportunity
to hail all those who work so much in the underground with the zines, contacts,
etc…And really help little bands like us to get a bit better known. Official
magazines and so nearly never talk of us, all what happened we have to
thank people like you who do fabulous work in the underground. Also, two
very important things, since M.I.T.A. were that we supported Grave Digger
for one gig here in France, and the most important thing in Lonewolf’s
life was the opportunity coming to Athens and playing a gig there. We’ll
never forget our trip, the concert, everything… We met great metal brothers
and sisters and had a fabulous time. Also, M.I.T.A. gave us the opportunity
to play some very good gigs here in France and gave us the pleasure to
meet plenty of true metal heads who know what true heavy means.
3.IF I ASKED YOU TO PRESENT THE ALBUM YOURSELF
TO THE FANS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE "UNHOLY PARADISE"?
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Oh…what would I say? It’s simple and straight
heavy metal. For those who know M.I.T.A., I’d say that U.P. is more mature,
with guitars sounding more aggressive, due to the fact that all is tighter
this time. Felix recorded the drums with click this time, so it was easier
to put straight and aggressive guitars on it. Also, if M.I.T.A. has a very
strong German connection (R.Wild, Grave Digger, etc influences dominated).
I think that U.P. has also a stronger NWOBHM connotation, and a bit more
epic influences à la Omen, like it's already the case back in ’95
for our demo “The Calling” and I’m pretty happy that we found such feeling
back again. Nevertheless, the German influence dominates as ever.
4.I WROTE IN MY REVIEW THAT YOU ARE A RARE BAND
SINCE YOU MANAGE TO SOUND FRESH AND AT THE SAME TIME YOUR MUSIC COMES STRAIGHT
FROM THE 80S CLASSIC METAL BANDS, SUCH AS IRON MAIDEN, RUNNING WILD AND
OMEN. I THINK IT'S DIFFICULT NOWADAYS TO SOUND SIMILAR AND YET SO DIFFERENT.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON THAT COMMENT? DO YOU AGREE?
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I totally agree we sound like an 80’s album, and
that’s, as I noticed now with review etc…, the problem of this CD : there
are one side those who are totally in the 80’s metal who like our sound
‘cause it’s absolutely not “overproduced” and they like to find a sound
like ours, straight and raw with differences from all the big productions
of today. On the other side, we have the ones who are not into the 80’s
metal, live only with the productions of today and tell our sound is total
shit. I believe that the sound doesn’t leave anyone indifferent. You’re
right telling that we sound similar to the old R.Wild, Omen, etc…production.
You know, we have our amplifiers, the jack in the guitar and we go on :
there are thousand effects, we don’t work with keyboards, don’t trigger
the drums etc… it’s like it was in the 80’s : no thousand effects to get
a better sound. That’s why we sound so and actually different of lots of
bands of today.
5.WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRODUCTION? IT HAS
AN OLD FASHIONED TINGE AND A STRONG RESEMBLANCE TO THE 80S SOUND. DID YOU
DO THIS ON PURPOSE, IN ORDER TO SORT OF "REVIVE" THAT LOST FEELING AND
TOUCH?
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One thing is sure, we wanted this kind of sound,
old schooled, ‘cause it fits well to what we stand for. Now I have to say
that the sound could have been better (despite), especially the drums sound
which is not enough powerful in my ears. I have an impression of “it could
have been better”, if you want so. But we have this old feeling that we
wanted and that’s very important. I know that many people don’t like the
sound, but I also know that most of true metal heads who like Lonewolf
like this sound, very raw, this kind of “lost feeling & touch”, like
you wrote it very well and that’s what matters. It’s them we hope giving
fun with our music, not anyone else. And if “Unholy Paradise” didn’t disappoint
those who liked M.I.T.A., it’s the most important thing for me.
6.WHERE ARE YOUR LYRICS REFERRING TO? WHICH TOPICS
ATTRACT YOU AND INTRIGUE YOU TO TALK ABOUT? WHAT DO THE INITIALS S.P.Q.R.
STAND FOR?
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S.P.Q.R. means : Senatus Populus Que Romanus (Senate
is the voice of Roman People) Dryss came with this Roman Sounding
intro and told me he’d like this song to be called S.P.Q.R. This initials
were always to be seen on the banners the Romans held high, a symbol for
their power, I guess. This song deals with thegrandeur and decadence of
this era. We have some topics which have always been close to Lonewolf
concerning the fact that you should always fight for your beliefs, like
in “Stronger than Evil” and “Wild and Free” or some mystics stories based
in middle ages like “Medieval Witchcraft”. This time also have historical
topic: “1789” talks about the French revolution, “Erik the Red” about this
proud Viking who discovered Greenland after he was banished from Iceland.
One actual problem is told in the title track “Unholy Paradise”, which
talks about Earth and man. What could be a paradise slowly turns to hell.
“Snake & Eden” talks of the dark side every one of us has in himself,
and that sometimes it comes through. “Phantom ride” is about the eternal
fight of good and evil…hmmm, don’t take the lyrics too seriously, there
so old, haha. They just went perfectly on the riffs, so we kept them. These
are not the lyrics I’m the most proud of, haha… But don’t get me wrong,
I love to play this song live. And “Behind the Cross” from our demo “The
Calling”.
7.NOW TELL ME WHO CREATED THE ARTWORK AND
WHAT IT REPRESENTS. HOW IS IT RELATED TO THE LYRICS? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO
SUGGEST WITH IT?
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The artwork was made by JP FOURNIER, I guess you
know him thanks to his works with IMMORTAL, EDGUY, NIGHTMARE… He already
did "March…". Basically, we wanted the cover to show a dark and a light
side, good and evil. On the right side, rays of light are passing through
trees above a woman, she represents innocence of human feelings, she seems
very vulnerable against the demon but the wolves are here to protect her.
It's definitely a stand for hope, Darkness won't take it away. The Demon
stands for Evil, the snake for treason and corruption and the woman and
the wolves for hope and life. All isn't lost in our "Unholy Paradise".
8.YOU HAVE STRONG RELATIONS WITH THE GREEK HEAVY
METAL FANS. HOW WAS THIS CONNECTION CREATED? HAS THEIR SUPPORT HELPED YOU
AS A BAND? WHICH OTHER COUNTRIES SUPPORT LONEWOLF?
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This relation began in 96 when we made the "Holy
Evil" 7". We had amazing support and very good reviews from Greece. I remember
receiving tons of letters from your country! It was really great for us
to have such support. I think you Greek Metalheads have always understood
the 80's feeling we were carrying in our music. I must say that I'm very
proud of this relation and still today, it's an honour to be connected
to you all. As we reformed in the end of 2000, we realized that Greek fans
never forgot us and supported "March…" immediately. Believe me, such a
friendship between you all and LONEWOLF is worth all the shit a little
band like us ever met! Your incredible support really helps us to go on,
it's a full part of our motivation. Besides Greeks are our best support
worldwide, Here in France, we also have great support. Several true and
loyal Metal fans who really help us spread the name. Poland and Germany
also have great people, they're the most supporting countries after Greece.
9.JUST A WHILE BEFORE RELEASING "UNHOLY PARADISE"
YOU ALSO RELEASED A 7'' ENTITLED "HELLENIC WARRIORS" THAT CONSISTED OF
2 SONGS AND IT WAS RELEASED UNDER THE GREEK LABEL EAT METAL RECORDS. HOW
DID YOU DECIDE TO DO THAT?
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It's a big thanx for the eternal support to the
Greek fans throughout the years. We decided to do so after our gig in Athens
last year. As the words are not enough, "Hellenic Warriors" is a true gratitude
gesture and a way to shows how Greeks love Metal!
10.WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC
BETTER FOR YOU? WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR CAREER THIS FAR?
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I don't think the word "career" fits to our little
band, we don't live thanx to our music ha ha! A title for LONEWOLF? Good
question… maybe "True and loyal to Metal" or something like that…
The description of our music should be "True Metal played with our heart,
simple and straight, without any futile experiments or trendy influences
that have nothing to do with Metal".
11.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? HAVE
YOU PLANNED OR ARE YOU PLANNING A TOUR? WHICH WILL YOUR NEXT STEPS BE?
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In September we have a great concert with STORMWARRIOR,
PARAGON and MOONSTONE, we're really impatient. We can't say we have a tour
planned, we have some dates here and there, that's all. Our next step is
to defend "Unholy…" on stage then, we'll begin to work for the new album.
We planned a pre production for end of October (but we won't release
anything before summer 2005). Something that could really help would be
a good distribution for us in France but it's very hard for an old-school
sounding band like we are…
12.ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK YOU GOT THIS
FAR? WHICH REVIEW YOU RECEIVED YOU THINK DESCRIBED YOUR MUSIC THE BEST
POSSIBLE WAY? WHICH ONE, ACCORDING TO YOU, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR
SOUND?
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Yeah, we're really very happy with it. We have
incredible and faithful support in the underground and that's a big chance
for us. I really hope to never disappoint any of them with our albums,
this is the most important to me, more than being more popular. Sure, a
little more success will make me very happy but, if we're still here today
it's thanks to the worldwide support we received all that long. We're very
proud of this loyal feedback. The reviews that describe us the best are
those who share our 80's feeling about Metal. We don't create anything
new, but it comes from our guts! We just keep that 80's flame alive. The
others are those that don't understand this struggle and say we're "has
been" and "lost in the 80's"… It is definitely what we stand for!
13.IF YOU COULD BE AN IMPORTANT PERSONALITY FOR
A DAY, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AND WHICH PERIOD OF HIS/HER LIFE WOULD
YOU LIKE TO HAVE A TASTE OF?
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Ha ha, good question… Well, I don't know, I'm
not that kind of guy who'd like to be someone else… You know, I'm pretty
happy with my life, I have a fabulous girlfriend, I have friends and LONEWOLF
(and all the Metal Brothers worldwide…). Sorry but really, I cannot answer…
14.WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO
HAVE?
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Chains, leather, Metal till death !! he he… Something
like that, they perfectly explain what is LONEWOLF's philosophy ha ha ha
!!!
15.THANK YOU! LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE TO THE LONEWOLF
FANS ALL AROUND THE WORLD...
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Thanx for all the support, I hope "Unholy…" doesn't
disappoint you and I promise there's a lot to come with the third album.
Feel free to write to us, we enjoy receiving new contacts! Eternal Hail
to you all, our faithfull Metal brothers and sisters. And last but not
least, a special Hail to your zine, thanx for your interest in LONEWOLF
and your nice interview, it was great answering it! Keep on Metal!!!
Christine Parastatidou
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