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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Cage (04.07.2007)
HH: Hi Sean! How are you?
Sean: Really good! We just got done shooting footage for the Hell Destroyer music video.
HH: First of all congratulations to your new record Hell Destroyer! How are the reactions up to now?
Sean: So far the overall word is that we pulled off the impossible which was to top our last CD Darker Than Black. It was a lot of hard work and a long time writing it so it is good to have such fantastic reactions from the fans and press. It makes all the time and money spent worthwhile. People are really getting into the story and that is really cool. Now we have to somehow top this one!
HH: What do you think, where is the most different point between Darker Than Black and Hell Destroyer except the lyrics?
Sean: Well I know my vocals are far beyond what I could do last album and producer Rick Carr thinks it is his best work from a production standpoint. Overall the songs are a bit faster and the thrash elements are there at times as well. I used a lot more vocal layering and learned to use my voice in amazing new ways!
HH: Lyrically Hell Destroyer is a concept album, can you please explain in a few sentences what this story is about.
Sean: Well it follows Revelations from the Bible a bit but it also centers around the Hell Destroyer which is God's most fearsome battle angel created to destroy Hell after Satan is killed in Battle on Earth. I took some liberties in the story and added some conspiracy theory in it like in the song Bohemian Grove. It follows the battle of good and evil through biblical times up through the modern day new world order and to an eventual demonic invasion of Earth. I did not stop there as it goes 100 years past that time to the resurrection of the Metal Devil at the end of the CD. I have always made it a point to put one of our strongest songs at the end of every album.
HH: So, is there a context between the lyrics and the cover artwork?
Sean: Absolutely. I Iove the cover and think it is one of the best metal covers going. It shows the massive Hell Destroyer in mid battle against the remaining demon army firing their hellfire weapons at him. I am currently working on producing the story for a major motion picture. The artwork inside the booklet is excellent as well. Marc Sasso did the cover. He has done Dio and now does all Halfords stuff and Forrest Butler did the interior drawings to make it the first ever Heavy Metal Graphic Novel. A lot of work went into providing the fans with a lot of music and artwork to stare at while headbanging furiously. It is going to be hard to do both at the same time!
HH: Who came up with the idea for the cover artwork?
Sean: It was my idea and Marc (www.marcsasso.com) really took it from there. I had him tweak some stuff but we are really good at designing stuff together. He loves this kind of metal and had not done demons with guns yet so he really sunk his teeth into this one. I am having a bed spread made of it I like it so much! Ha!
HH: Was it your intention from the beginning to have some interludes between the songs?
Sean: Yes I always wanted to do a concept CD but wanted to make sure it could rival Mindcrime or Abigail. In order to do that I wanted it to be as if Painkiller was a concept CD and just have the whole thing rip from start to finish. The interludes had really good character acting that I did not have to do all the voices like normal. That made it authentic sounding. I also put them on seperate tracks so people could skip them if they wanted to and go straight to the rocking if they wanted. We considered releasing a version without the interlude pieces and then just said the hell with it and threw everything on the CD for maximum value. We could have done a double CD or an EP also but the fans get it all and a 20 page booklet as well.
HH: How long did it take to do the song-writing this time? Who are the main song-writers?
Sean: I came up first with the title Hell Destroyer and then began formulating the story. When I ran it by the guys they loved it and we ran with it. I write all the lyrics vocal melody lines and arrange all the songs. I also write a lot of the guitar parts like in the song "Hell Destroyer" and "Legion Of Demons". We all collaborate and write together in the same room as we live in the same town and practice three nights a week minimum. We do not trade tapes across countries and shit like that. I believe that our song writing is one of our strong suits.
HH: The song "King Diamond" is a bonus track on the European edition, is it right that this is a kind of homage to him?
Sean: Yes it was one of the first songs we wrote for the new CD and it really goes over great live. There seems to be a huge King Diamond fan base all over the world and they really react to it when we play it. I thought it was a clever idea and the chorus is great and the song references some of his CDs as well as Mercyful Fate stuff. Next I might honor Halford in a song who knows?
HH: Could you please tell the most important stations in your band history for those who don't know about Cage yet.
Sean: Well we have accomplished quite a bit. We have opened for almost every major metal band there is so it has been an honor to share the stage with the metal masters like Priest and Maiden. Our travels have recently taken us down into Mexico where we are really starting to get big. I am still working on playing more in Europe as that has really hindered our development there. We have our websites at www.cageheavymetal.com and www.myspace.com/cageheavymetal where we love to hear from our fans and new people as well. We always personally answer everyone.
HH: Are you full-time musicians? Or do you have a fix job?
Sean: We all have full time jobs. I am almost retired and made a lot of money in Real Estate as I am a broker and own my own company. Dave Garcia has done real well and owns a large estate and the other guys all own there own houses as well. Now I can spend more time and money on my metal!!!
HH: Do you have a tour in the making? With which band would you like to go on tour?
Sean: I would love to tour with Iced Earth or Priest. Gamma Ray or our friends in Primal Fear would be cool. We have some stuff in the works and just got a new booking agent so things are more likely than ever. We are a live band and anyone who has seen us live before can tell you we are something special. We are at our peak right now and I would put our live performance up against anyone's right now. We have amazing backing vocals as four people sing and that really adds to the power!
HH: Thanks a lot for the interview! Do you finally want to say some words?
Sean: Thanks for the attention! All of you Cage fans out there, please tell a friend about us and help the metal spread!! All the best!
Andi