You are a few weeks after the premiere of Your new album, how do
You rate the „Cardinal” after getting some rest and looking back at the
material?
It’s definitely been the hardest album to make as Symphony Of Sin was
such a well received album for us and to better it was no simple task.
This time we really took great detail over all the parts and said „can
we do this better”. That whole process took the best part of two years
as we worked up 30 songs and got them down to the final 12 to record.
Even recording was hard because the songs had some of the most complex
and technical passages that we have ever written and to get it sounding
so cohesive took many hours of hard work. Listening back now we are
delighted on the outcome and having just completed a UK Tour the new
songs went over very well live.
I’ve been following the band since it’s beginning, I was even
reviewing the debut. It’s been 5 albums since then, but „Cardinal” is
definitely the most mature and best album in my opinion. How do You
compare it to the previous ones?
It’s heavier and it has the more technical aspects and epics songs than
we’ve ever done before. There are of course all the Eden’s Curse
hallmarks – melody, riffs, big vocals and sing along hooks, that’s who
we are, but there’s definitely some surprises!
The new album has a killer production and a genuine sound. Was it the most important part for You to achieve?
Writing the songs is always the hardest part, but we really wanted this
to be the biggest production that Eden’s Curse has ever had. We
travelled to Germany to record drums with Dennis Ward at HOFA Studios
where Unisonic, Pink Cream 69 and Place Vendome record and the end
results were magnificent. We also brought back the Dutch Orchestra who
appeared on Symphony Of Sin and we used a Latin Choir too. We threw
everything at this production and the end results speak for themselves.
Tell me more about the album cover – I can’t convince myself to
it, but the girls look very appealing (laughter). What was the message
behind it, except that You like women? (laughter)
We „retired” Eve after ‘Live With The Curse’ and the idea was to go for
something completely different, yet still being a typical Eden’s Curse
cover. We decided on instead of one leading girl, five beautiful girls
to symbolize our fifth album would be highly appropriate. The concept is
part Assassin’s Creed-meets-Game Of Thrones. These five girls are „up
to something”, potentially on the verge of committing a „cardinal sin”
perhaps? The inspiration for the red, also came from the title, as in
the colour cardinal red and also Thorsten bought a new red guitar. It
really worked wonders the CD comes in a sensational triple gatefold
digipack, designed by Thomas Ewerhard (Avantasia, Edguy), making it the
best visual production we have ever had to date.
It’s a funny story.. I don’t know if You’re aware that one of
the girls from the cover of „Cardinal” that also appears in the music
video is not only from Poland, but she was attending to the same school
as a friend from my office. It’s a small world, isn’t it?
WOW, funny indeed! Pati, the girl in red, is a great friend of ours and
her Husband Wojtek took the photographs of the cover and the band.
„Cardinal” is the second album with Nikola’s Mijić amazing
vocals, in my opinion Your best albums were recorded with him on board.
What do You think? Do You ever wonder how would the band look with
Michael Eden still in the band? Do You stay in touch with him?
I produced both vocalists and there is absolutely no doubt who is
better. Nikola is a singers’ singer. I never wonder about it and no we
don’t talk since he left and never will.
Speaking about band members – there is no Steve Williams in the
band anymore. What happened? Did the responsibilities in POWER QUEST
disallowed him to continue the partnership?
Power Quest wasn’t a going concern when Steve was in Eden’s Curse.
However, when we were aware that a reunion was on the cards we knew it
would take up all Steve’s free time, and sod did he. We parted as great
friends!
We have a wonderful new keyboard player in his absence – actually
probably the best keyboard player the band has ever had. Chrism was
pointed out to me by my friend Carsten Schulz (Evidence One) several
years ago and I must have liked what I heard because I bookmarked his
page. I stumbled across it again and checked him out and the more I
discovered his work, the more I really got the impression that he was
technically in a different league from what we have had in the band
before. I sent Thorsten the link and he was blown away with his Chrism’s
soloing and it was a case of reaching out, seeing if he liked what we
did and would he be interested in auditioning, which he was. We gave him
'Utopian Dreams’ and he knocked it out the park! His original audition
is what you hear on the album – no oberdubs! From that point on it was
all about getting to know Chrism on a personal level and thankfully he
was very cool and down to earth. Thorsten worked very closely with him
on the keyboard parts, as we had a lot of them written already and we
pretty much let him do his interpretation, which resulted in in a really
strong contribution to the songs and the sound of Cardinal. We’ve never
had keys that loud and fast!
To
promote the album You recorded a music video to „Sell Your Soul”. I
know that there was an arousing company during the making of the video,
so I guess that the atmosphere was hot. Tell me more about the behind
the scenes of the video and whose idea were the red instruments?
(laughter)
The idea was to record a fun tongue-in-cheek video with a simple plot
and picture and utilise the same five girls who were on the album cover.
They all come from Glasgow and the added bonus is that we could do all
sorts of promotional activities, like the album launch party at Hard
Rock Cafe and they appeared onstage at the Glasgow show. They are a
wonderful bunch of girls and we really had such a great time together
working on the project. And yes, they are gorgeous and shooting a 16
hour video in such beautiful company was NOT the worst day of my life!
As mentioned above, Thorsten bought a new red Dean guitar and we decided
to build on that – red drums skins, microphone stands keyboard – it
really made a great visual impact.
Speaking about arousing company – guest vocals on the album were
performer by Liv Kristine (ex THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, ex LEAVE’S EYES). How
did the cooperation happen and what was the atmosphere during the
cooperation?
I had a meeting with our label, AFM Records, about approaching Liv and
they agreed to speak to her. Two days later, I’m in a bar in Glasgow
attending a leaving party for a friend moving to Australia and Liv walks
in! I think to myself „My goodness, she looks just like Liv, but it
can’t be”. Another five minutes passes and a Tour Manager I know from
England walks in wearing a Leave’s Eyes T-Shirt and the penny dropped –
they must have been in town and I had no idea. Anyway, the TM spots me
and says hello and I share the story of my label meeting and the next
minute I know I am sitting with Liv discussing the song. It was fate! We
swapped email addresses and touched base after the tour and she loved
the song and said she’d be honored to do it. She recorded at her studio
in Germany with her husband and former band mate Alexander Krull. She
did an incredible job and it’s one of my personal highlights on the
album.
I’m aware that Pete Newdeck isn’t a part of EDEN’S CURSE since
2013, but he’s the author of the most songs. Does it mean that the new
material was made when he was a part of the band or do You still compose
songs together?
All of the songs were written after Pete left. We have been co-writing
together since The Second Coming album in 2008 now and we remain very
close friends. Pete leaving the band was so he could concentrate his
efforts on pushing forward his band Tainted Nation, and explore some
other projects like Blood Red Saints and Newman, but it had no bearing
on our friendship and writing partnership. We feel very comfortable with
each other and our writing styles that we were both happy for it to
continue. A good song is a good song in my book – it really doesn’t
matter who writes it.
„Cardinal” is the first album with a new drummer John Clelland. How did he join EDEN’S CURSE and does his style fit the band?
John has been with us for a few years now, he actually played on our
'Live With The Curse’ album from 2015 but this is the first studio
release he has recorded. I actually have worked with John for a few
years whilst producing some other artists and recommended him for the
Code Of Silence album I produced and wrote. So when Pete announced he
was leaving it was very natural for me to approach him as I knew he had
what it took to become a member of the band and integrate successfully
with the rest of the guys. John was also a fan of the band and didn’t
need asked twice.
You are seen as a band that spreads christian values, which
isn’t very popular in the metal world. Do You meet any troubles because
of it? I’m asking because it’s hard not to notice a rising antipathy
towards this religion, even in Europe. Can You comment on that?
We are not a Christian band, but there are Christians in the band. All
of the songs we write are from personal experiences and we tie it back
to the band names in titles only, although we sometimes write about
history like Jerusalem Sleeps or Jericho – but many Metal bands too. We
don’t attract any troubles except the obvious question – “Are you a
Christian band”?
Aside to a few November gigs in UK do You plan to tour in the
near future? From what I know You’ve never visited Poland, is there a
chance to change that?
We are supporting Freedom Call in Germany in February on a 12 date tour.
Beyond that we are looking into all possibilities to tour Cardinal
throughout Europe, especially at some festivals. We would love to come
to Poland, but as of yet we have had no interest from Polish promoters.
So until an invite comes …
I guess that’s all the questions I had, unless You want to say
something special to the readers of ROCK AREA. Thank You very much for
Your time and good luck!
Thank you for your support of Eden’s Curse over the years. Stay Cursed \m/
Conducted by: Marcin Magiera
Translated by Liquor King
