• I think MANTICORA is power metal band that has a lot to offer to this genre and a great time to metalheads. I advise you to CHECK OUT this band. Here is an interview with the vocalist of the band Lars F. Larsen, who is very interesting and kind person.

1.GIVE A BIOGRAPHY OF THE BAND. HAVE THERE OCCURED ANY CHANGES IN THE LINE UP?
 

• We started out in ’96, when Kristian (guitars) and my old band split up. We decided to continue playing music, and since we wanted to play power metal, I contacted Mads (drums), whom I knew from another band. He was unhappy with his current band, and as soon as he heard the word power metal, he agreed to try out with us. On our first rehearsal night together, we did the title track for our MCD “Dead End Solution”, and we all knew that we had something big going here. It surely was the first time for me, that I just clicked with 2 musicians and felt that all 3 of us was one mind thinking the same way. 2 months later, we enrolled Rene on the bass, and we had a steady line-up. We recorded the “Dead End Solution” MCD in ’97 and hooked up with Intromental Management because of that CD. They got us a record deal with Greek label Black Lotus records in ’98, and we recorded the first album “Roots Of Eternity” in ’99 – the year it also was released. However, things weren’t really working out well between Black Lotus and us, so we parted ways. I’d love to give you the reasons, but my mom told me to shut up, if I only have bad things to say about people….hehe. In the summer of ’00, our manager took a trip to Italy, and got us signed to the Italian label Scarlet records. They signed us for 2 albums, of which the first was released this April. We haven’t really had some changes in the line-up before this year, but we have added a second guitarist (Flemming, who joined us in August’98) and Jeppe - keyboards, who joined us in January ’99. The only real change is that Rene left the band in November last year (right after the recordings of our new album), and we have enrolled a young talented guy called Kasper Gram (ex.- Wuthering Heights).

• As a mixture of the 80’ies American power metal/thrash metal and the 90’ies European power/progressive scene. Add some minor influences in classical artists as well as some pop/rock/alternative music, and you’re almost there. It’s really hard for me to describe, because we’re influenced by so many things. Maybe I just ought to describe our music as ENERGESTIC.

• Our main influences are the bands within the genres I mentioned before – Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Nevermore, Savatage, Testament, Forbidden, Metallica, Slayer, Overkill, Flotsam & Jetsam, Bach, Beethoven, Radiohead, Dream Theater, Queensryche (I could go on for hours).

• When we did the band in ’96, we continued with the old band name for a while, but after 6 months we decided to change it, because our music had changed drastically from Thrash/hardcore to power metal. We tried out several names, but we found out after 14 days that all of them were taken already. We ended up with the choice between Manticore and Morannon, and we chose Manticore because there were already so many bands out there with names from “The Lord Of The Rings”. In ’98 Manticore became Manticora as another band had the legal rights to the first version of the name. The Manticora is an evil Indian fable creature (part lion, part man and part dragon) that eats human beings – mostly children. It doesn’t have any greater meaning to us, other than being a kind of identity. You know after some years you grow attached to the name, but there is no greater meaning behind it.

• I wouldn’t say that we have a leader, but I’d definitely say that some people have more of the saying than others. Since most of our decisions are being made in the rehearsal room, the guys that spend most time there are deciding the most. That would be Kristian, Mads and I (who also started the band), so I guess we are the ones who decides the most. We have always worked from a single riff brought to the rehearsal room by either me, Kristian or Flemming, but it appears as if we’re in the progress of changing our ways of doing songs. Nowadays we demand from each other that we should bring the concept of a song instead of just one riff, as we tend to get stuck with working from only that single note. If I for instance bring riffs for both verse and chorus and having built a bridge between those, it’s much easier for the other guys to shape the music, and put their ideas into it. And of course the song is completely changed whenever we’re finished with it, but the main idea that was there from the beginning is still present – just altered. I don’t believe that a band should be democratic! In a band of 6 people there are always big differences between those 6, be it intelligence, discipline, energy, focus or whatever. What I’m saying is that you have to earn your status in the band – just as in real life. Our new bass player has grown into the band in 6 months, and is a FULL time member of the band now. He’s more in the rehearsal room than others in the band, so there’s a guy with a lot of energy. He will be a decision maker in the future.

• Differences; Definitely the keyboards, and the fact that we were 6 guys writing the music instead of 4. When we recorded the “Roots…” album, Flemming and Jeppe had only joined in, so they didn’t write any of the music on that album, whereas on the new one they both participated in the writing process. Of course there’s also the maturing of Manticora as musicians and friends (I consider Kristian my best friend in the world, for example – not that I’m not friends with the other guys, but Me and Kristian have been writing music together/drinking/having fun/experiencing life together since 1992, so I know him the most). The similarities are in the dark mood of both albums. They are very sinister and gloomy, both lyrically and musically. We have lyrics that deals with H.P. Lovecraft (Cthulu Mythology) on both albums.

• As written above, the Cthulu Mythology inspires us a lot, but also reading books makes us write lyrics. “The Saga Of The Exiles”, that we began on the first album, and which we are finishing on the new one, is based upon the books of the same name by the American author Julian May. Other authors as Dan Simmons, Erwin Neuttsky Wulff, Tolkien and some other Sci-fi writers inspires us a lot. But we also write about stuff as dictatorship, aggressive religion (and the devastation it causes), evolution and meaning of life. Our next album will be a concept album based upon the novel “Hyperion” by Dan Simmons.

• I think my answer above said it all. Having said that, I believe that fiction is a good way of being able to live your normal life. If we weren’t capable of imagining things when reading a book, we wouldn’t be able to have dreams of our own.

• For me, it was an incident of luck. I had these 2 friends back in ’89 that played drums and guitar in a youth club. One day, I went down to the rehearsal room just to sit there and smoke a cigarette while listening to them rehearse. They began playing “Born To Be Wild” like all beginners can play, and I grabbed the microphone and started bleating (I really couldn’t sing back then) and since these guys were my friends, we decided to form a band. After 3 years of playing and creating own stuff, they threw me out of the band, and from that moment I only had one thing in my mind: I’ll show those motherfuckers…. My only goal in life had become a record deal, to prove them wrong in throwing me out of that band, so I took singing lessons and found a new band (with Kristian). Since then it has become an obsession for creating music, and here I am today with a record deal, and those MF’s are not even playing music anymore… I guess something good always comes out of something bad – that’s evolution!!!!

• Funny, that I answer your questions before you ask them! The biggest dream inside music is an ever-changing one. In the beginning as a demo band, you just wish for a record deal. Having obtained that, you begin dreaming of a tour with a bigger band. And so it continues, with higher aims and bigger wishes. That’s what daydreaming and goals of life is all about. Reaching your goals and setting new ones. My personal dream is to be able to live off my music, and having the chance of totally focusing on only playing music and nothing else. Wouldn’t that be great? To live off your hobby? I don’t think I’d begin considering it my job, and thus being bored from it. I only dream about the freedom it would provide me with.

• We have a very unique style inside of the power metal. You will never be able to say “well, this sounds like..” when you listen to our stuff, because it’s so very different to other power metal bands, since we have all these strange influences. However, if you like power metal in general, you wouldn’t want to miss out on Manticora.

• Definitely “The Chance Of Dying In A Dream” from the new album. It’s got it all: fast drums, powerful riffing, guitar solo, keyboard solo, and myself in a very strong role as well.

• I must say that right at the moment I’m totally freaked out by the “Avantasia” album (by Tobias Sammet from Edguy), the band Volcano from Japan, and also a lot of our colleagues on Intromental management. Bands like Antithesis, Beyond Twilight, Wuthering Heights and Meduza… Just wait to you hear that Beyond Twilight thing (released on Massacre in 14 days) It’s AMAZING.

• Absolutely nothing. There’s a lot of bands, but the audience is non-existent. MTV and the Danish televison has killed Heavy metal in Denmark. All the big bands don’t stop by in Copenhagen anymore. Iron Maiden Plays for 1200 people in Denmark, and Helloween would probably play for 500 at the most. Iced Earth and Nevermore have never performed in Denmark!!!!!

• He has been playing in some demo bands called “Human Factor” and “Rip ‘n Tear” as well as having played in The Danish Megadeth Jam band. But yes, he is very fast and powerful. What I like about him is his variation, so he’s not just pounding away in the same rhythm all the time. Try to listen to the way he’s changing bass drum patterns all the time!

• We have done some live shows in Denmark and a single one in Holland. The problem has been the lack of tour support from the label, and the fact that when our management finally was arranging this tour in the fall of ’99, I was attacked by 3 assholes with the result of a broken chinbone and a broken nose. This caused that I was unable to sing for over a month, so all plans of touring was cancelled. I definitely hope to get something going for this time. There’s a possibility that we will go on tour as support act for Royal Hunt in October.

• My favorite songwriters when it comes to lyrics are Warrel Dane from Nevermore and Erik Ravn from Wuthering Heights. These 2 people make me think “whauw”, when I read their words. It’s hard to tell of lyrics, which expresses my character, because the only lyrics that tell about myself are my own. So I’ll have to pass on that one.

• “The Lord Of The Rings”, of course. The problem is, that we need to be able to work full time, as a day job on such a thing, so in order to do so, we need to sell like a million albums. If you just mean a single song for a soundtrack CD, we’d be able to do it. Nevertheless, it’s too late for that now (unless Peter Jackson needs some music for number 2 or 3 in the series – I really can’t wait till December, when the first movie is released).

• As mentioned above: Favorite writer is Dan Simmons who wrote the books “Hyperion/The Fall Of Hyperion”. If I could chose to be a character from a book I’d be Joshua Calvert from the “Night’s Dawn” series (6 books) by English author Peter F. Hamilton. This guy is a starship captain who saves the whole world (hundreds of planets), and he gets to bang all the beautiful babes.

• I’m the one thanking you, Nick. By doing this, you’re helping to promote my band, so the pleasure is on me. To all the Greek fans: Let’s make this world a Heavy Metal world together. Manticora forever.