From the bones of Majestic rise Time Requiem. With a brand new sound and a highly acclaimed debut album (also called Time Requiem), this Swedish band are out to turn heads. Reviewers are already praising keyboard maestro Richard Andersson's new brainchild band, which features several Majestic members (Peter Wildoer {drums}, Apollo Papathanasio {vocals} and Magnus Nordh {guitars}) and focuses on hard-hitting, experimental, tightly performed neo-classical metal in the manner of Rising Force and Dream Theater.
Andersson is hardly a stranger to this sort of music. As well as writing, playing and performing on two popular Majestic CDs (Abstract Symphony, 1999 and Trinity Overture, 2000), he has lent his not inconsiderable keyboard-playing talents to such progressive projects as Zool (2002), Adagio's Sanctus Ignis (2001), Silver Seraph (2002) and has also toured with Yngwie Malmsteen.
With Time Requiem it was Andersson's intention to 'create music totally free from interruptions like business ship, record contracts.' Andersson is keen to move beyond the boundaries so impressively established by Majestic to create music which is 'more aggressive and powerful but still with strong and beautiful melodies ... (music which) will take this neoclassical-progressive-metal music into a new dimension.'
As Richard explains: 'Iīve chosen to continue to work with Apollo Papathanasio, Magnus Nordh and Peter Wildoer because Iīm really happy with them. Why look for other players? Appolo is about the only great lead singer I know who totally lacks
an ego. Magnus Nordh is a guitarist that I have a lot in common with music-wise. We like the same sort of music and we both have a lot of knowledge when it comes to harmonies and chord chemistry. Magnus is able to play those very difficult keyboard written parts I give to him. A lot of guitarists would refuse do that -- insist on playing them their own way, the way normal guitarists do. And Peter Wildoer is a monster drummer. I donīt think itīs confusing or strange that Iīm using a few of the guys from Majestic for this new band. Look at Whitesnake, Rainbow, Sabbath, Dio; all those British bands in the old days; it was the same bunch of people from one band to another. Plus, of course, itīs not easy to find good people.
'I thought our European label Massacre did a crappy promotional job on Trinity Overture. They didn't go for it. Massacre just put it out and hoped it would sell with no effort, no real promotional push. It was sort of the same thing with our management and production company Roastinghouse; they too did very little for Majestic. The whole thing got stale. We didn't reach the next level. I wanted to move on with more dedicated people, but was stuck in all those contracts. So I decided to put Majestic on ice, locked myself away and started to write on something I've had in mind for a while. A bigger, more progressive, more Symphony X/Dream Theater sort of album. Sort of a continuation of Majestic, even though it's a brand new project. That's important to understand. I'm extremely happy with the result, as I've been able to make the decisions every step, especially as regards the use of studios etc. Maybe it sounds like I'm a dictator. It's one man's vision and it's worked out very well. I've signed new deals with Regain Records for Europe and Marquee for Japan.'
Combining dark, epic melodies with aggressive, complex riffs -- not to mention outrageous keyboard runs -- Andersson has given fans of melodic progressive metal exactly what they demand. Fans of this type of music don't want to be mollycoddled; they want to be seared with in-your-face rhythms, challenging time signatures and muscular metal, bound together with OTT soloing. From the funereal opening of the epic title track via the Majestic-like 'Milagros Charm' to the Dream Theater-inspired 'Visions of New Dawn', Andersson and certainly live up to expectations.
'I just wanted to go on with my music to another level,' he states. 'I think you have the same kind of melodies and song structures as Majestic. The main difference is that everything is tighter, more progressive, harder arranged.'
As with Majestic's Trinity Overture, the songs on TR are quite varied, one minute reminiscent of Rising Force, the next early Apocrypha while making occasional forays into Dream Theater-inspired complexity. However, Andersson is keen to emphasise that he isn't influenced by other bands. 'I have no influences from the music scene nowadays. I never buy any records and never listen to music. I really don't know what's happening around me. Does that sounds strange? I play the music I want to hear. I only listen to classical music such as Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart etc. Why? Because, in my opinion, there haven't been any good bands these past five years -- except perhaps for a select few such as Dream Theater, Symphony X and Ayreon.
'When I grew up I'd only listen to guitar players like Yngwie, Steve Vai, Van Halen and Satriani. There weren't that many interesting keyboard players so I had to turn to the guitar masters instead. I ordered my first CD -- Mozart's Eine kleine nacht music -- when I was 9 years old . I didn't grow up with Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Accept; all that other shit. The few and only rock bands I listened to -- Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake etc -- were inspired by classical music.'
It's refreshing to hear progressive, neo-classical rock that is keyboard as opposed to guitar driven. In fact, I can't think of another rock band that does this (aside, perhaps, from the purely instrumental Planet X). 'I haven't heard a single bad word about keyboards taking the front position,' replies Andersson. 'Keyboards have traditionally been more laid back compared to guitars. I think it might sound a little bit new and fresh not having the guitar sound all over the place.
'It seems the main thing nowadays is to play as fast as you can with no vibrato and feeling at all -- full shred all the time. I fucking hate it! The sound of the keyboard seems to come second. Sometimes it sounds like every single effect in the synthesizer is switched to "On". Urgh! Thankfully there are a few good keyboard players like Jens Johansson.'
Keyboard playing doesn't get any crazier than the instrumental 'Brutal Mentor', five minutes of keyboard shred that confirms Andersson's position as one of the world's top rock keyboardists.
'Actually The Brutal Mentor is Yngwie,' confides Andersson. 'That's an extremely Bach influenced song, in the neo classical way. Itīs dedicated to Yngwie, though I havenīt told him yet! I regard Yngwie as a genius. We share a lot of the same musical influences. I've sent him a copy of the CD so I guess I have to call him soon.'
As for his live playing, Richard is quick to reiterate 'I always improvise! Otherwise I get bored. When we're recording shows (as we will be in Japan and February next year), I usually figure everything out before just to make sure everything is going to sound OK. You know: "safe mode"'.
And the question of many Majestic fans' lips: Will TR be playing any of the old Majestic tunes live? 'Hughes and Turner for an example play a variety of their old songs, from Rainbow to Purple. Thinking about it, Iīm positive we'll play some of the Majestic songs -- if we do headlining gigs, that is. If we're only supporting, which I guess is what we can expect, then we might just do an hour of Time Requiem songs. Thatīs more or less the whole album anyway. We're actually doing one Majestic song on the Time Requiem album, the Japanese bonus track "Losers Shades Of Hell" (which has only been released as a European bonus song on the first Majestic album Abstract Symphony). I wanna give that one to Japan as well. I suppose the Majestic fans will like Time Requiem because, as with Majestic, Iīm writing all the music.'
With music as challenging as this, the band really have their work cut out live, as Andersson confirms. 'When I compose my music I always have in mind that it should be possible to play these tunes live. I usually put together rehearsal CDs for my musicians. They have to practice a lot from this CD and, of course, the real Time Requiem CD. We plan to perform some warm-up gigs in Sweden and Denmark as well as doing one week of production rehearsals in a real concert hall, so I don't anticipate any problems.'
The future looks exceedingly bright for Richard Andersson. 'Right now I'm in the middle of completing my Space Odyssey Project (featuring ex-Rising Force members Marcel Jacob {bass} and Mats Levén {vocals}) which has to be finished before Christmas. Then it's time to start composing for next Time Requiem epos, which we're probably going to record summer 2003. In between we're doing some Time Requiem live shows (taking in a short tour of Japan in February 2003). My plan is to do one Time Requiem CD a year just to show the world that I am serious about my music.'
Email: info@anderssonmusic.com
Matt's Playlist:
Alessandro Benvenuti -- Sonic Design
Lale Larson -- State of Mind
Joel Rivard -- Demos
Symphony X -- Odyssey
Time Requiem -- Time Requiem
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