Astral Doors

Posted on Nov 12, 2005

by Anders

Astral Doors, a band that has made quite a impact on the heavy metal/hard rock scene with their first 2 releases "Of The Son And The Father" and "Evil Is Forever", one of the few bands that producer Peter Tägtgren finds time to record and produce, in his busy schedule. A scent of old times mixed with the playing techniques and flair of today and great songwriting skills and musicianship. The band is right now ready with the mini CD "Raiders Of The Ark", which contains a track from the forthcoming album "Astralism", a previously unreleased track, 3 tracks only released on japanese editions of the band's albums and a video for the track 'Time To Rock'. A good opportunity to catch guitarist Martin Haglund and get some info about the upcoming album.

 

Hi there, will you please start off by introducing yourself?

Hello, Martin, one of the guitar players of Astral Doors here!

A small introduction of the rest of the band will be great as well, together with a bit about what they contribute to the band with!

Well, Joachim Nordlund and me handle the guitar playing in the band. Then we have Mika Itäranta on bass, Joakim Roberg abuses the organ, and Johan Lindstedt bashes the drums and finally Patrik Joahnsson who makes his voice heard. I'm not going into details but we are running this ship together like a united force.

You are soon ready with your new release, how do you feel about it?

We are of course very exited. We are reaching the end of the writing process now and we have a rock solid bunch of great new songs. It's been very hard work as always when writing an album but nothing comes for free. In the end of December we will go to The Abyss and Peter Tägtgren and make the shit sound like a record.

What do you expect from it?

Of course reach out to more fans and get out on the road and play as much as possible. Some more attention in the Swedish media would be nice, because there are a lot of people in our home country that don't know jack shit about us and they would love our music. USA has showed some attention and hopefully that attention will grow and result in some gigs over there.

When you started out to write/compose new material, what did you then want to accomplish with it?

Our goal is to always make a better album then the last one.

Do you feel that you have accomplished that?

Of course!

Where do you find inspiration when you write music?

I get inspiration from enterprising and impassioned people. When I see, meet or read about a person that really "burns" for something no matter what it is, when I see their passion I get inspired to do what I love to do, make music. The old heroes that I listened to when growing up and new bands are of course also a source of inspiration.

Is there anything specific that have influenced the writing process to the new album?

Not really I think. We just carried on from where we left you with the "Evil Is Forever" album. We write from the heart and what comes out comes out, and hopefully it is good.

Can you mention 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant the world to your way of writing music/singing?

Accept, King Diamond and Iron Maiden has definitely left their mark on my soul. To mention particular songs is too hard but after I heard 'Fast As A Shark' for the first time I wanted to play the guitar.

What do you want to bring the world with your music and how do you want people to receive your music?

We want to bring the people music that is quite rare these days. I mean there are a lot of bands out there but originality is hard to find. People always mention Rainbow, DIO and Black Sabbath in reviews of our material, which is really flattering. I can say for what I know, there are no other band that can say sounds like Rainbow etc. without being laughed at.

Will you initiate us in the lyrical universe of the band, which themes do you touch etc…?

Pretty almost everything. Patrik has great fantasy and can write about anything that hits his mind.

Where is the inspiration for the lyrics usually found?

In life it self, historical moments and things that goes on in the world right now.

Will you pick out your 3 favourite tracks from the new release and guide us through the music and lyrics, and tell us how you got the idea for the music and lyrics, etc…?

Oh shit, well since not all songs are finished and I only know there are some "killers" on the way, I cant get you a fair picture. But we have a track called 'Black Rain' which is a personal favourite, usually songs that I have written and been involved in, never become personal favourites, but this one is a strong bastard. Patrik's lyrics are strong and emotional and make goose bumps on my skin. It is about the Hiroshima bombing and all that fucked up shit that went down that day in august 1945. Musically… hmm let's see, Pretty Maids meets Queensrÿche.

How important is the lyrics compared to the music?

Lyrics can really enhance the feeling when listening to a song so I guess they are really important.

Do you have any touring planned in support of your new release?

Yes, we have some really interesting things coming up. Unfortunately we are not allowed to speak about that yet so keep your eyes on our website for announcements.

How do you look upon the future of the band?

Positive, I mean we are in the beginning of the career and have still much to give so I guess we will be around for some time.

Will you share your 5 all time favourite albums with our readers?

Impossible but here are some old goodies in no particular order:

Accept – Balls To The Wall
King Diamond - Them
Metallica – Master Of Puppets
Tool - Aenima
Queensrÿche – Operation Mindcrime

Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!

Well my friends prepare yourselves for another ride to the astral kingdom. This time we will invite you to "Astralism", let's see if you can resist the powers. To get yourselves ready for the forthcoming journey I suggest you pick up our latest release "Raiders Of The Ark".

Astral Doors website