METALIUM
At the verge of his 35 years,
Lars Ratz the bass player, producer and main man of Metalium, gave to Behind
The Veil the last interview before his birthday and it proved to be a really
pleasant and informative one! “As One” is about to be released, so let’s
give the pedestal to Lars to tell us what there is to know…
1.FIRST OF ALL WHAT HAPPENED TO
METALIUM FROM THE RELEASE OF YOUR PREVIOUS ALBUM TILL NOW?
I started to build up my own studio
in Hamburg which is called Tornado Studio, so I have totally a free mind
and a total source of inspiration for doing my own products, my own records.
I can work as long as I want on my records without any time pressure, without
anything, so I can create exactly what I want and make the strongest record
I can, according always to my own belief.
2.THIS IS THE FOURTH ALBUM FOR METALIUM
AND PRETTY MUCH THE SOUND HAS REMAINED THE SAME. WHY? IS IT BECAUSE PERHAPS
YOU ARE AFRAID OF CHANGING OR DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE FOUND THE SOUND THAT
REPRESENTS YOU?
Every album of Metalium has its
own character and a bit of its own sides. No record of ours sounds exactly
like the others, but we have without any doubts our own flavor. So, on
one side you can say that this is Metalium playing, on the other side you
always discover new sides of the sound. Especially on this new record I
wanted to have more depth in the sound and in the arrangements, so in particular
in the very long song called “Illuminated” on the cd we have the middle
part where Ari is playing this great keyboards and the whole mood and atmosphere
is totally changing from the previous songs and so this is where I wanted
to reach… To have more atmosphere.
-SO THESE ARE THE NEW ELEMENTS THAT
YOU ADDED IN “AS ONE” THAT DISTINGUISHES IT FROM YOUR PREVIOUS RECORDINGS…
On the other side besides the atmosphere,
the first song of the cd is the fastest song Metalium has ever recorded.
So, you see we have widened our range on this record, reaching from the
bottom to the top!
3.WHERE WAS THE ALBUM RECORDED? WHO
WAS THE PRODUCER?
It was completely recorded at my
own studio, the Tornado Studio and as in all the Metalium records I am
the producer.
-HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED THE FACT
OF USING ANOTHER PRODUCER, JUST IN ORDER TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW,
A NEW TOUCH OR DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE BEST VISION FOR METALIUM?
I think in every band there are
some key musicians, like Kai Hansen in Gamma Ray, Joey De Maio in Manowar,
Luca Turilli in Rapsody, so maybe it is Lars Ratz for Metalium. So these
persons are the ones who have the vision and who have the best opinion
about how this band should sound. Of course there are all the other members
who give their input, but without the captain the ship wouldn’t go anywhere.
-SO DO YOU WRITE ALL THE COMPOSITIONS?
I wrote the half and Mike the drummer
wrote the other half.
-WHAT ABOUT THE LYRICS?
The same… I wrote the half and
Mike wrote the other half and the singer is always doing the vocal lines.
-HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO RECORD
THE WHOLE ALBUM?
We were planning on 3 months, but
it tooks us about 10 months after all! Hahahaha!
-10 MONTHS? THAT’S TOO LONG!
Yeah because I can never stop!
-SO I SUPPOSE YOU ARE FULLY SATISFIED
WITH THE FINAL RESULT…
-ARE YOU SURE YOU WOULDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING
NOW?
No! Maybe I would make the bass
guitar sound louder! Hahahahaha! No! I am kidding! I am very satisfied
with the production and its sound. From the first results I received the
album was made album of the month in Japan already and we are having very
good points so far, so I hope everybody will like it, but if not, it’s
not the most important for me that everybody likes our music. I do this
music first of all for myself!
4.THE PROMO CD HAS ENHANCED A LIVE
VIDEO TAKEN FROM WACKEN OPEN AIR, SOME STUDIO SHOTS PLUS SOME INTERACTIVE
GOODIES FOR YOUR FANS. WILL THOSE THINGS BE ON ALL THE COPIES OF “AS ONE”
OR WILL IT BE LIKE A LIMITED EDITION FOR THE FEW?
No it will be on all records and
in Europe you will be able to get this cd in a full digipack including
very rare live photos, video and screensaver, wallpaper, interactive parts
and all for a regular price of a regular jewel case cd. This is kind of
a philosophy we have in Metalium. We want to offer value for money, so
we want to offer a good product for a decent price and since I am now having
my own record label, Armageddon products, I have the control to get it
in the market like this.
5.ON THE NEW ALBUM YOU INTRODUCE A
NEW FIGURE METALIANA. WHAT HAPPENED TO METALIAN?
The Metalian is standing behind
her. Haven’t you seen the cover?
-YES! I SEE METALIANA IN THE COVER…
Look carefully in the shadows behind
her. This is Metalian.
-I DIDN’T NOTICE!
Yes! This is the tricky thing with
the cover! You saw only what’s on the surface! I got you! Hahahaha! The
Metaliana is the key figure on this record because we have seen so many
dramatic characters in the whole history of the human beings and there
are so many females, but you can’t have Metalian, who is a male, dressed
like a transexual and represent all those female characters. Hahaha! He
would look like a drug queen or something! So we said ok let’s bring Metaliana
to transport this tale and by coincidence most of the female characters
are from Greece, Pandora, Athena, etc which are all reek tales! So, the
Greek ladies are pretty evil! Hahaha!
-HOW IS METALIAN CONNECTED TO METALIANA?
The Metalian and the Metaliana
in the beginning of the record they feel each other, but they can’t see
each other. They are in parallel universes and while the record goes on,
she hears him more and more but she doesn’t know what this means yet and
so
the feeling grows stronger and stronger and in the song “As One” they finally
get together.
-WILL THIS CONTINUE ON YOUR NEXT ALBUM
TOO? WILL THEY HAVE COMMON STORIES?
All our records are chapters, that
are bonded together so it’s an forward going story so I am pretty sure
that chapter 5 will be the continuation of this story.
-AND WILL WE SEE THEM BOTH?
It’s a secret! Maybe they’ll go
to Athens and have a pita gyros (note: Greek sandwich)! Hahahahahahaha!
I LOVE pits gyros. I have a Greek friend here, Lambros, he works near my
studio and he takes me from time to time and we go and eat pita gyros with
tzatziki and he always calls me hey malaka!
6.AREN’T YOU AFRAID THAT SOME PEOPLE
MIGHT GET TIRES WITH THIS CONCEPT WITH METALIAN?
The thing is that it’s something
that you can read if you want, but it’s not a must. When I was young I
wasn’t interested why Dickinson was singing “Run To The Hills”, because
I didn’t know what he was singing about, I was only the melodies and the
guitars. This is fair enough for me. I don’t expect people to be all digging
into the concept. I like it when this happens, but I don’t ask for it!
I do it for me, because I like to wrap up interesting things in little
stories. I don’t expect the fans to read all the lyrics and get tired because
of that.
7.IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN YOU DISTRIBUTED
ALONG WITH YOUR DVD A COMIC WITH THE METALIAN STORY. RIGHT?
-ARE YOU THINKING OF CONTINUING THIS
IN THE FUTURE ON A REGULAR BASIS, FOR EXAMPLE LIKE KISS DID THAT THEY HAVE
THEIR OWN COMIC BOOKS?
No! I don’t have any idea on the
comic market…
-YOU COULD GIVE THE IDEA TO SOME COMIC
CREATORS TO DO IT…
Yes! You are right on that, but
I am a musician and not a comic creator. This is a thing we did to help
people that don’t speak good English to get a better idea of the Metalian
concept. In some countries they don’t speak good English and we thought
that maybe this way we can show a bit better the story of the Metalian.
I don’t think we will do that in the future. We don’t have a vision on
that…
8.IF I AM NOT MISTAKE YOU USED TO BEING
A MEMBER OF VELVET VIPER, WHO WERE THE EVOLUTION OF ZED YAGO…
Zed Yago had to change their name
because the singer left the band and even thought Zed Yago was the singer’s
mental child, the others were 3 persons and she was alone, she was stupid
and she didn’t get the name registered, so the others got the name and
so she had the change the name into Velvet Viper. That’s what we did and
we did 2 records under that name and up to today I am in very good contact
with Utta the singer and she sings also on the second Metalium cd
and she went on stage in Wacken with us.
-SOME OF THE VELVET VIPER SONGS APPEARED
ON THE RECENT ZED YAGO DOUBLE CD COLLECTION…
-USUALLY WHEN SUCH THINGS HAPPEN, THE
BANDS TEND TO REUNITE. ARE THERE ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT FIELD AND IF YES,
ARE YOU THINKING OF JOINING VELVET VIPER ONCE AGAIN OR ZED YAGO?
-NOT EVEN JUST FOR LIVE SHOWS?
No, no, no! Utta and the guys are
total enemies so there would be no chance for them to get back together…
well of course you should never say never, but I don’t think she will reunite
with them. Actually they have invited her to join Zed Yago for a reunion
and they offered Utta the place but she denied, she said no way, I don’t
want to be in the same room with you ever again!
-SHE IS RIGHT! THEY TOOK THE NAME FROM
HER!
Yeah! This was a very bad thing
for her and she definitely suffers till today after all those years.
-ZED YAGO’S TRADEMARK I THINK WAS HER
VOCALS!
Exactly and I strongly believe
that up till today she is the best female metal shouter of the world. This
is my opinion of course! Actually she did a new record now, after 10 years
that she wasn’t involved in metal, we went on stage with Metalium with
her for one show, she was as a guest appearance and we played 3 Zed Yago
songs as well and then she was so excited about this that she said she
wanted to do another metal record and she did another metal record and
it is a killer record!
-UNDER WHICH NAME?
It’s under her last name. It’s
not released yet, they don’t have a deal yet, but I can tell you it’s killer
and I hope it can make its way to Greece. She sings better than she ever
did!
-IS IT CLASSIC HEAVY METAL?
Yes, it is classic heavy metal
a bit blues oriented. It’s fast heavy metal with very good musicians and
her voice is just unbelievable!
9.TILL YOUR PREVIOUS ALBUM YOU BELONGED
TO MASSACRE’S ROSTER. NOW YOU HAVE ARMAGEDDON PRODUCTS, WHICH IS YOUR LABEL.
WILL YOU CONTINUE WITH BOTH LABELS?
No! Already on the first record
you could see in the back Armageddon Products, which before was only a
productions company. I was producing bands for different labels. When the
time has come, the contract with Massacre expired, we did the 3 albums
we had to do. They made me an offer to continue, but sometimes in life
you have to decide to make your own steps and so I transformed Armageddon
Products into an active label. Together with the Wacken Open Air promoter,
I formed this company and so I also produced “Armageddon Over Wacken” double
cd and now “Armageddon Over Wacken” dvd comes out in a 5.1 dolby surround
sound. Yeah the Metalium will be released under this label and we will
have a worldwide very strong distribution set up…
-SO CAN YOU SAY THAT YOU AVE AS GOOD
DISTRIBUTION AS MASSACRE OR ARE YOU NOW BUILDING THIS FIELD FURTHER?
No! We have better distribution
than Massacre. Yes! I have now all the control and we already have a partner
for America and South America, which is Century Media and Massacre never
had any distribution in South America. It’s a big step for us! Hopefully
in the right direction! Hahahaha!
10.DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR SIGNING
OTHER METAL BANDS AS WELL?
I have already signed 5 artists!!
-WHICH BANDS? WHAT KIND OF METAL THEY
PLAY?
You know one band is called Seventh
One from Sweden, which have been in Massacre before too! Hahahaha! And
they are now recording their second record at this moment and you have
heard the girl singer on the new Metalium cd…
-I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT HER. SHE
HAS AN INCREDIBLE VOCE!
Yes! She has just left the studio,
because I am recording her new album at the moment.
-WHAT KIND OF METAL WILL SHE PLAY?
-YEAH I MEAN WHAT KIND OF HEAVY METAL?
Oh! Hahahaha! I don’t know! You
have to decide about that when you hear it! I don’t know! If you ask me
what kind of music are Metalium doing, power metal or heavy metal, I can’t
tell you… I have no idea! I label as heavy metal everything that is harder
than Scorpions. Hahahaha! But Saiko (note: I am not sure I caught her name
right!) has a very strong voice and what you hear in the Metalium album
is only the 20% of her range. She has an unbelievable unique touch in her
voice! You will hear the cd. It will come out June 21 and you will do an
interview with her and before you’ll listen to the promo cd and you will
discover everything yourself!
-SHE HAS A UNIQUE VOICE INDEED! BY
THE WAY HOW DID YOU MEET WITH HER?
Very funny! It’s a very funny story!
This is the typical story of life… I was sitting in my studio mixing and
the doorbell was ringing. I opened and in front of me was standing a good
looking black haired Japanese lady, I have never seen before. In the beginning
I thought she was a tourist that she got lost or something, because in
Germany we have a lot of Japanese tourists, so I said “Hello what can I
do for you?” and she said “Hello! I am Saiko from Osaka Japan, I listen
to heavy metal!”. Hahahaha!
-SO SHE FOUND YOU!
She found me because she came from
Osaka Japan with only one suitcase not knowing anybody, but willing to
come to Germany, the heavy metal city of the world as she thought it is.
So she looked at the back covers of many cds and she realized that Hamburg
had a huge metal scene, so she came here just with one bag and she went
to the concerts spreading flyers and saying “Hello! I am a girl from Japan
and I am looking for heavy metal musicians” and some friend of mine got
one of her flyers and she told her if you want to do something with
heavy metal and you are in Hamburg go to Lars Ratz’ studio and she came!
I said “Ok! Go down to the celler, put the headphones on, stand in front
of the microphone, I’ll play you a song and you just sing what you want!”.
That’s what she did and I was like “Wow!!!”. Hahahahaha! Was really
amazed and this was the moment I was looking for a voice for the Metaliana.
I wanted to have a new voice for the new figure of Metaliana. I could ask
Utta, because she is a great singer, but I wanted to have a fresh voice!
There she was! Like heaven sent her!
11.METALIANA INCARNATES VARIOUS MYTHOLOGICAL
AND HISTORICAL FIGURES MAINLY INSPIRED BY ANCIENT GREECE. COULD YOU TELL
US WHICH THESE CREATURES ARE?
The Greek creatures are Pandora,
Athena, Medusa…all these evil malaka (note: this is a Greek bad word) women!
Hahahaha! The funny thing is we have never been to Greece to play live!
-YES! I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT THAT!
HOW COME YOU’VE NEVER BEEN HERE?
Don’t ask me! We had offers from
Europe promoters, but somehow the offers were not strong enough to get
the cost paid for us. The first time we didn’t even ask for much money…Metalium
now are confirmed to co-headline the Wacken road show through the whole
Europe, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Scandinavia, etc…
but not Greece, because you are so far away!
-WITH WHICH BANDS WILL YOU GO ON TOUR?
We will tour with Primal Fear,
Freedom Call and Dark Age. Dark Age is a small new band from Hamburg on
Remedy records, but they play black or death I think…
-REALLY?
I don’t know, I don’t know! I am
not good with labels! Hahahaha!
12.IF YOUR MUSIC WERE A PAINTING, WHAT
WOULD IT SHOW?
Ohh! Hmm… abstract colors!
13.WHICH WORDS DO YOU THINK COULD BEST
DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC?
I’d say…hmmm… 100% power!!!!
14.WHICH IS, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE
BEST ELEMENT IN YOUR MUSIC?
Our music is strong because every
instrument is the same important and if you take out one it won’t be the
same!
-WHICH DO YOU THINK IS YOUR WORST ELEMENT
AS A BAND?
My big mouth! Hahahahaha!
-WHICH IS YOUR TRADEMARK AS A BAND?
Hmm… I don’t know! It’s hard for
me to say… For me it’s important that I can be very proud for my 4 productions
and 5 if we also include the dvd and I can wake up in the morning, look
myself in the mirror and say yes you did something you can be proud of!
15.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU’D LIKE TO MENTION?
Yeah! That pita gyros tastes even
better in Greece, so I want to come over and drink a lot of ouzo with our
fans over there!
16.LEAVE YOUR MESSAGE FOR THE FANS…
I’d really LOVE to come for the
very first time to Greece, because I could promise 110% pure heavy metal
show!!!
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
Special Help: Christine Parastatidou
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