MYSTIC PROPHECY
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 22nd December 2011.
Mystic Prophecy - R.D. Liapakis, Markus Pohl, Constantine, Connie Andreszka, Tyronne Silva - have just released their phenomenal new album "Ravenlord". I caught up with front man Roberto to find out more.
Hi Huys, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. Hope you are well?
Roberto: Hello, and thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share some information about our newest release, "Ravenlord"!!! We are fine and feel so excited and proud of it!!!
Last time I interviewed you guys was around the time of "Fireangel". How did it end up doing in terms of sales, airplay and feedback?
Roberto: Fireangel entered the German charts in 77th place, went fantastic in terms of record sales, despite the fact of many illegal downloads ... We are very pleased about that, and we hope "Ravenlord" goes even better ...
What are your thoughts on "Fireangel" now? Anything you'd have done differently given the chance?
Roberto: We wouldn't have changed anything, all our music is a result of musical maturity, clarity of vision, and an ever-burning flame for making great music, and having the chance to share it with our fans, who we love so much ...
Your new album "Ravenlord" is out now. How did the writing and recording process compare to previous albums? Was this an easier or harder album to make?
Roberto: This time it took us 2 years to make this album ... it was reasonable that, after touring with Stratovarius in early 2010, the band needed some time to write new songs ... but I think that this time everything was so much easier and fun to create the music, because in this album the songs were written by 3 people, me, Markus and Connie, instead of me and Markus in the previous ones ... I believe that the new album has versatility and freshness, because more than two people worked on making it ... a new, good musician, always adds something fresh in the band ...
You've changed drummers to new guy Tyronne Silva. What happened to Stefan Dittrich?
Roberto: You know, sometimes life makes people change their paths, and it's alright to do so, so Stefan had to go his own way, try to make some good stuff for himself, and now we are happy to have Tyronne with us as the drummer of Mystic Prophecy ...
The drums sound amazing on the new record. Do you feel Tyronne has brought something new to the band?
Roberto: The new album was recorded with TYRRONE SILVA, he gives all the energy the band needs, and he is 100% our drummer in Mystic Prophecy ... he is an amazing drummer, and everybody can hear this in our new album ...
Your voice was amazing on 'Fireangel' and sounds even better this time. What's the secret?
Roberto: There are actually no secrets in singing on some great music ... ... the most important thing in a song is the way it's arranged, how it's played and the feeling it gives you ... the song's message is very important to me ... and once we have all these combined in the best way possible, then it's very easy for me to sing and give my very best in every song ...
Why the title Ravenlord?
Roberto: I think that if I give you some clues about the lyrics on "Ravenlord" you will have a better image on why ... first of all it's a concept album ... we have 11 songs and each one represents a warrior who takes place in the last battle... The Ravenlord is the above all and, of course, the only winner of the battle ... Death ... Each warrior has his own perspective of the battle, and they describe it in their own way... one fights for his faith ... another is a mercenary and does it for the money ... one other is a natural born killer and wants to quench his thirst for blood ... if you look, even these days everything is still the same ... for thousands of years war prevails for the same reasons as I mentioned above, nothing has changed ... and the only true winner in the end is Death ... in the album, the Ravenlord takes the form of Death in the battlefield ... there's no winner in war, there's only Death ...
What techniques do you use to get the Mystic Prophecy sound? Few if any metal bands sound better.
Roberto: As always, I and the rest of the guys in the band did the production ... I think that a mixture of good ideas, clear vision on composing and great performance on recording is the answer here ... Prophecy and Factory Studios are the same studio facilities in which I work with Christian Schmid. I work as the producer and Schmid is the sound engineer ... we work together for the last 10 years and we know exactly what to do to make an album sound always strong ... you can hear the results on all the previous albums, as well as in "Ravenlord", which has great powerful sound and quality ... Fredrik Nordstram does the mix for the last 4 albums and is the right person to do the mix for Mystic Prophecy ... he always does the right stuff to achieve the Mystic Prophecy sound ... so, this is our great team, we work for the last 7 years together, and we totally trust each other on our work ....
What are your favourite moments on the album?
Roberto: We feel very proud of each and every song in the album, we know we are perfectionists and take our job very seriously, but I personally think that "Hollow", "Eyes Of The Devil", "Ravenlord", "Endless Fire", "Wings Of Destiny", are amazing songs, and I really like the way we covered Ozzy's "Miracle Man" ...
What are your current touring plans?
Roberto: Our European tour has already been announced, we have confirmed tour dates in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in March and April, it's being advertised in all German magazines ... we tour with Powerwolf, Stormwarrior and Lonewolf ... I truly believe this is a fantastic Power Metal Tour Package ...
Here are the tour dates so far:
30.03.12 DE Lindau Club Vaudeville
31.03.12 AT Wargl Komma
01.04.12 DE Ludwigsburg Rockfabrik
05.04.12 DE Hannover Musikzentrum
07.04.12 CH Zizers Eventstage
06.04.12 BE Kerkrate ROCK TEMPEL
08.04.12 BE Mons PPM Festival
09.04.12 DE Augsburg Spectrum
13.04.12 DE Langen Stadthalle
14.04.12 DE Berlin C-Club
27.04.12 DE Speyer Halle 101
28.04.12 DE Geiselwind Musichall
29.04.12 DE Hamburg Markthalle
30.04.12 DE Bochum Matrix
...plus we have confirmed our participation in the US Prog Power Metal Festival, along with Symphony-X and Pretty Maids, this is our first time playing in the US, and we're really happy about it !!! We're also planning some shows in Asia, we 'll announce them as soon as they 're confirmed. See you on tour!
What have been the highlights of your musical life so far?
Roberto: Without any doubt, what satisfies me the most is that my band managed to stay strong for more than 10 years into the music business, and I feel great about it because this gives us the chance to play our music in front of our die-hard dedicated fans, we owe everything to them, we couldn't have made it without them!
Any question you love being asked that I've missed? If so, what's the answer?
Roberto: Well, let me see ... do I feel sexy on stage ?... yes I do hahaha ... ok, joking aside, I would like to speak about our fans ... they are the band's biggest asset ... without them we wouldn't manage to keep it together ... we owe it all to them, for supporting us warmly for all these years ...
What are you up to once you've finished answering these questions?
Roberto: We are very busy at the moment, trying to promote the new album, and prepare things for the upcoming concerts, besides that, you know we have an everlasting flame for making great music, so our mind is always focused in that direction, but we also like enjoying some family moments to give us the strength to carry on ...
Anything else you would like to mention?
Roberto: I believe that everybody who knows Mystic Prophecy and watch the band's career they know that we always show our best in every new album, actually better every time ... for us, quality in songwriting and sound is absolutely crucial, and there 's not a chance that we let our fans down with any musical experiments ... The new Mystic Prophecy album has got balls, power, melodies, fast and mid-tempo songs ... anything a metal fan needs to be happy ...
Thanks for your time!
Roberto: Jon, thank you so much, hope to see you on tour soon !!!
Label: Massacre Records
Artist's website(s): Mystic Prophecy | MySpace | Facebook
