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1.
Hi, first off I just want to congratulate you on your new album. To
new fans could your please fill us in on the history behind it all?
GOT
-
The band was formed in 1997, and after a few line-up changes we recorded our furst demo in 2000. This gave us a record deal
with Shark Records. Our debut “Edge Of Tomorrow” was released
2001. We got great reviews but decided to end our collaboration with
Shark Records. We ended up on the Norwegian label Face Front next
time around. In January we finally released our second album in
Scandinavia and Asia. This summer we toured Norway and played at the
biggest music festival in the country, the Quart Festival. Now the
album is released in Europe on Massacre Records.
2.
How has your new album been received by the media?
GOT
- Overwhelming!
Both the critics and the fans love it completely. We have developed
a lot as a band, and people definently notice.
3.
I know artists are not happy to categorize their music, but how
would you describe your music to an outsider?
GOT
- We
are usually described as a power metal band, but I feel that we are
closer to straight heavy metal than most power metal bands. Our
biggets influences are proberbly Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and
Helloween. If you mix these bands and add some typical Guardians Of
Time twists to the mixture you are pretty close to our sound.
4.
Where does your inspiration come from, both musically and lyrically?
GOT
- When
it comes to lyrics we get a lot of inspiration from movies,
videogames, comics and whatever has a cool story.
Musically we listen mostly to metal, but some none-metal
albums to off course. I know Bernt listen to all kinds of good
singers from Rob Halford to Anastacia. I listen a lot to the great
“guitar-heroes” that are out there. Right now I’m listening to
Buckethead and Steve Vai a lot. It gives me great inspiration as a
guitarist.
5.
What topics do you deal with in your lyrics and why?
GOT
- “Machines
Of Mental Design” is a concept album and the scene is set to Paris
anno 2047, where we meet Jeanet
Delacroix
and her firm TriOpticon. While her story sets the frame around it
all, themes such as mankinds struggle for eternal youth, alienation
and the dangers of a high-tech society can be found as underlying
themes in our lyrics.
6.
Who has produced and mixed the album, and are you pleased with the
end
result?
GOT
- The
album was recorded, produced and mixed by Endre Kirkesola in
DuB-studio here in Kristiansand, Norway. We are very pleased with
the result. He also did our last album “Edge Of Tomorrow”, and
as you can hear the guy has developed as much as a sound engineer as
we have as a band.
7.
Who has done the artwork? And how important do you feel it is to
have a
great cover?
GOT
- A
russian named Leo Hao did the cover artwork. When we saw his
previous work we immedeately saw that that he was the right guy for
the job. He has also made covers for Iced Earth and Blind Guardian.
I feal a great cover is very important. With so many
metal bands releasing new albums all the time, a bad cover
won’t cut it. When you have spent so much time and work as we have
on “Machines Of Mental Design” the cover should be great to off
course.
8.
Do you have any touring plans?
GOT
- We
did a tour in Norway in May, other than that we currently have no
plans. For the next months we will concentrate on making new
material. But who knows, maybee Massacre can help us get on the road.
There is nothing we want more.
9.
How do you feel about the co-operation with your label, and are you
satisfied?
GOT
- The
album was released in Scandinavia on Face Front Records, which is a
small Norwegian label. This
is a very good label, one of the few who won’t try to screw you
over. But since it is a small label it is limited how far they can
take us. Now the album is licensed to Massacre records in Europe,
and we are very excited to see where that will lead us. So far
things have been running smooth. I have heard a lot of good things
about Massacre, so we are really excitetd about that.
10.
The internet is a very important source for many metal fans - how do
you use the internet and how important is it for you and other
bands?
GOT
- We
have worked hard to get a great looking website. Other than that, we
mostly use the internett for mail correspondance. It is a way of
keeping in touch with both the media and the fans.
11.
How do you see the metal scene at the moment?
GOT
- It
seems like the metal scene is getting bigger all the time, and a lot
of interesting albums are released. But I seldom hear anything that
really blow me away, unfortunately.
12.
To finish things off - could you pls. make a all-time Top 5 or sort
of the 5 most important albums in your opinion?
GOT
- Hmmm…
I’m no expert in the history of metal, but here are the 5 albums
that ment the most to me:
-
Black
Sabbath - Black Sabbath
-
Judas
Priest - Painkiller
-
Queensreich
- Operation: Mindcrime
-
W.A.S.P.
- Live in the Raw
-
Iron
Maiden - Somewhere In Time (or any Maiden album released from
82-89)
All
the best to Guardians Of Time, and do check out their quality metal
as soon as possible! Claus you know the drill .... THANX.
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