Interview with Snoppi, Wizard (May 24th 2009)

With the bands 20th year anniversary this year “Wizard” have released one of metal’s finest albums. Snoppi was kind enough to answer some questions.   First of all congratulations on the release of "THOR".   Snoppi: Thank you very much!   How has "Thor" been received so far?   Snoppi: Most people like the album very much. Only a few can't come together with it. I don't know why. For me it is an absolutely powerful and strong album. When listening to Utgard (false games) or Resurrection I could immediately start banging and drinking beer, hahaha.   With the return of Michael MaaB, Wizard has a much fuller & heavier sound. Is Michael back for good?   Snoppi: Of course it is good to have Maassi back. He is always are member of the Wizard family, I started doing music together with him 22 years ago. So you can imagine that it is wonderful that he is back. The sound on “Thor” is so strong because of the work of Achim Köhler. He did a fantastic job. But live it is much better with two guitars now. Also song writing can be more interesting; with two guitars you can play more individual, if you know what I mean.   On "Thor" you have gone back to a more straight forward and heavier sound after "Goochan". Was that because of fan pressure after "Goochan"?   Snoppi: No. We love our fans and we want to see them happy, but we only do what WE want to do. If we would listen to what people say, Wizard would not exist any more. The album is so like we wanted it to be. The Goochan sound was also very good, but perhaps a little bit softer. But the songs were not softer, listen to songs like "Black Worms" or "Sword of Vengeance". Absolute power metal songs! I like Goochan very much, it is more progressive than "Thor". And a lot of people did like Goochan, we got a lot of new fans because of this album. Especially in the Netherlands (I don't know why). Some people think that it is too modern. I cannot imagine that. For me it's just a great heavy metal album :-) Dennis Ward made a good job on Goochan, I like it very much, but the sound of Achim Köhler is also my favorite. I always wanted to work with Achim. On the Goochan album he was not available, but this time it came true. And I love this album with this sound!   What are your thoughts on a lot of people calling Wizard the new “Kings Of Metal”? Taking the throne from Manowar.   Snoppi: Since the battle of metal we hear sentences like that. We don't care about that any more since over 10 years now, hahaha. In the German Heavy! magazine Arno Hofmann wrote a very good sentence: 20 years Wizard now: The oldest newcomer from Germany! That means that we always were handled as the top of the underground. We never came out of it. And people compare us with Manowar from the very beginning. And I must say, in the beginning we really sounded like Manowar. Nowadays I won't believe that any more. And of course we will not take the throne from Manowar! Nobody will ever be able to do that. And for what? I like very much Manowar songs, but I also love Wizard songs. I can listen to both, I don't have to decide me for only one band. So just listen to every band you like, no matter how "big" or "small" the band is. We will play together with Manowar this year on the Magic Circle Festival III on the Loreley in Germany and I hope that it will be much fun! I am looking very forward to this event!   Is there any plans for Wizard to play any festivals this summer? Snoppi: Yes, as I said above we will play on the Magic Circle Festival, and also on Festivals in Suisse, Tschechy, Netherlands and Poland. For details please have a look on our internet site: http://www.legion-of-doom.de.   Thank you very much for answering my questions. Do you have any last rants for our readers?   Snoppi: I hope that everybody gets the chance to listen to the new album "Thor" and I hope you like it. Would be great to see you live somewhere in the world. For more info visit us on the net: http://www.legion-of-doom.de or http://www.myspace.com/wizardgermany or http://www.myspace.com/wizardband.   I thank you very much for your support! We are all bound by metal! Snoppi
Interviewed by Tye Brown
	Wizard - Thor  Album available on Massacre Records. Website: www.legion-of-doom.de