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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Manticora (26.08.2007)
Manticora with The Black Circus Part II - Disclosure released a power progressive metal album that just rocks. Lars, the big singer of Manticora, took time to answer a few questions about music, tools and the upcoming tour with King Diamond.
HH: Hi Lars, how are you? Congratulations to your last album The Black Circus Part 2 - Disclosure. How were the reaction of fans and press?
Lars: Thanks, I'm doing ok right now. Have had some problems with my back, but I guess it will pass before new shows. The reactions to the new album have been very very good from the fans, pretty good from the smaller press and up/down from the larger magazines. It's the usual story, where the journalists from the big magazines don't have the time to sit down and listen carefully to the album, since they have 70 albums to review per month. This means that they have no way of getting into the music, and the music of Manticora demands that for you to appreciate it fully. There are too many layers, to just listen once and give it a judgment. We have learned to live with it, so it doesn't really matter - only the opinion of the fans matters.
HH: In between Letters and Disclosure you have managed to lose all Blind-Guardian-Trademarks in your sound so finally your very own style could emerge. Was this due to a conscious effort or did it just happen?
Lars: The two albums were written at the same time, but I think that we unconsciously made the 2nd album darker then the first. It's much more in minor tones than in major, and maybe that has gotten rid of the Hansi & Co. similarities? Mind you, I have no problem, being compared to one of the greatest power metal bands ever - I have just never been able to see the comparison myself. I think that maybe we have had so many new influences that the traditional power metal has been weeded out, and we are closer to prog/power metal now than we were before.
HH: What would you describe as your very own style? What does a song have to have to be Manticora?
Lars: Energy! We have a lot of material lying around that is completely written, but where we found ourselves thinking "This song doesn't kick our own asses - there's no energy in it". These songs never make the albums and never will. It's not enough just to pump away on the e-string, to call yourself a power metal band. You have to find emotions in the song structure and you also have to find a bit of yourself in it. If you have no more to offer than pumping on a single string (yepp, this is a highly simplified example, hehehe), then you shouldn't be making music. What I can guarantee you is, that nothing gets out of our rehearsal room, unless all the guys in the band agree that the song kicks ass. Since we are five guys in the band with various tastes, this should ensure that it is a quality product coming out.
HH: Why was Disclosure released by an other label than Letters, the first part of the two-piece The Black Circus?
Lars: Massacre let us know that they couldn't pay the same advance that we got for the first album, and they also told us that if we wanted to look for another label that wanted to throw in the advance, we were free to do so. Since Locomotive did a very good job with The Black Circus - Part I - Letters in North America and they had been trying to sign the band already on 8 Deadly Sins, we spoke to them and they wanted to sign the band. It's actually very simple. I have no problem with changing label ten times for ten albums, if the labels don't do their job properly, or other problems arise. It's always looked upon with stern eyes, when a cooperation ends, but I see it as a new path that we are travelling down. If this new path, called Locomotive doesn't prove to be the right one, I'd rather take a new path than staying with a label that is not interested in promoting me properly. Well, only time will tell...J
HH: The story told on The Black Circus is quite a frightening one. It is said you based it on Lovecraft's work. Is it just inspired by the great horror author or did you convert a specific piece?
Lars: It's just inspired a bit by Lovecraft and the whole Cthulu myth. Mads thought up the story, without having any Lovecraft in mind, but then Kristian and I got our ideas into the plot and the evil mythology was introduced. Then Mads and I began the job, writing and re-writing all the lyrics for it.
HH: How did the tour with King Diamond come up?
Lars: Well, the tour has actually been postponed!!! It will not happen until 2008, unfortunately. It's our typical luck here in Manticora. It seems that no matter what we touch, it turns into delayed, deleted, cancelled or postponed. I guess that we just have to keep on going until we find the lucky way. Our management (Intromental) was contacted by King Diamond's manager, who offered us to put some bands on the tour, since Loch Vostok and Secret Sphere had supported the King on the last Scandinavian tour and everything had worked out very well, so we got the chance together with Loch Vostok for the European part of the tour this time... well... in 2008...
HH: You've already played in Germany in the last years. Hamburg, Aschaffenburg, Lübeck... what do you think of the German fans?
Lars: Alfeld, München, Berlin... Well, the rumours have told us that the German fans are spoiled with so many concerts that they don't care to move around and headbang. This is not true. It all depends on how much energy you as a band provide to the fans from the stage. I have not played a concert in Germany (except for München, where we only had seven people attending in 2003 hahahaha) where people didn't bang their heads in front of the stage. So, I think it's all about attitude from the band that is playing. You can't expect people to react toward no action. Another cool thing about German fans is that you guys are not afraid to support the bands by buying merchandise and CD's. It's SO important for smaller bands on tour that they sell some merchandise every night, so they can make just a decent amount of money.
HH: Is there a difference between German fans and Spanish/French/Danish fans?
Lars: I am a bit biased on the Danish fans, since a lot of the people attending our concerts here in Denmark are friends, so I can't comment on that. The French fans are VERY committed and they are in general also interested in supporting the band, by shouting along, stage diving, buying merchandise etc., whereas the Spaniards have been a bit more reserved towards us. I think we sold three CD's in all at three concerts in Spain on our last tour with Angra. I am not saying that these people don't want to support the band, but maybe they simply don't have the money for the CD's or maybe they just wanted to spend their money on the Angra stuff, hehehe. It's hard for me to tell the difference overall between the fans from different countries, since the people within the countries are also different. Let's just say that all people are unique, and they should all buy a Manticora album immediately, hehehe.
HH: What do you do when not writing songs?
Lars: I am working as a fitness instructor in a gym + I am working as promotional director at Intromental Management here in Denmark, so my days are filled up with a lot of work. Luckily, both work places understand my situation with the band, so I am free to go on tours etc. when I want to.
HH: What kind of album can we expect next?
Lars: As of now, I have absolutely no idea. We have only begun discussing whether it should be a normal album or a concept album again. Maybe we'll do a theme album with ten songs that are connected by a certain theme, but not a story. One thing you can expect is a quality progressive power metal.
HH: Where do you get your influences? Is the Blind-Guardian-presumption I mentioned above at all true?
Lars: Well, I'd be lying if I said that we are not influenced by the Krefelder's, but we take inspiration in so much different music that it would be unfair to just mention BG. There's Metallica, Savatage, Nevermore, Iced Earth, Overkill, Slayer, King Diamond, Testament, etc, etc. It's all a big melt pot of various artists that we have been brought up with. Martin (lead guitar) is all the way into the Yngwie Malmsteen, Marty Friedmann and Steve Vai area, so I can't pin point the exact influence.
HH: If the two albums The Black Circus would be two craftsmen's tools, what would they look like?
Lars: A sledgehammer and another sledgehammer... they both hit you in the face when you listen to them!
HH: Thanks for answering the questions and have fun on tour with King Diamond! Last words?
Lars: Thanks for the interest in the band. We will definitely have fun on the King Diamond tour next year... in the meantime, we'll see what kind of tour we can come up with. Last word???? Warum gibt es niemals genug bier???