All Interviews
Mystic Prophecy
Mystic Prophecy
Posted on Apr 26, 2006
by Anders
The German power metallers in Mystic Prophecy released their new and fourth album "Savage Souls" a couple of months ago, a strong and diverse album pounding their name into the minds of metal fans with a sledgehammer. I hooked up with guitarist Markus Pohl (who you might know from Symphorce), who had his first album apperance on the new album, even though he has been a part of the band for years as their live guitarist, though now his a full fledged member and he's done good! The band also got another new guitarist in Markus Grimm (Headstone Epitaph), after Gus G left the band, and a new drummer in Mathias Straub (Sacred Steel) who replaced Dennis Ekdahl (Raise Hell).
Hi there, will you please start off by introducing yourself?
Hi, I'm Markus… I’m one of the guitar players from Mystic Prophecy. I was in the band from the first tour 'til now. So it is not really new for me to play with the guys.
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!
First of all, Lia (R.D. Liapakis, ed). He's the singer. He's the leader and the battery of the band. His powerful voice harmonizes perfectly with the raw music of Mystic Prophecy.
Martin Albrecht, the bass player. He's the organizing chief from hell….
Martin Grimm, the fast hand on guitar. He's the one and only for playing solos and having painted flowers on his guitar… but he promised to buy another one. The whole band is waiting….
And then there is Mathias Straub. He's the only drummer I know who can ruin a whole drum-set during a 45 minutes show.
You are soon ready with your new release, how do you feel about it?
We all feel very pleasant about the new album. It's the first album for me and Mystic Prophecy in which I was involved in the songwriting. And it feels good to play the songs live. I think we made a good mixture between roughness, hardness and fine melodies. And we demonstrated that we're not a typical German power metal band.
What do you expect from it?
A lot of money, thousands of chicks and a headliner position at the Rock in Rio Festival 2006 hahahaha…..
To be honest: We make music because of our passion. We would be lucky to sell a few albums more than the last one, that's it. Just to see a progress. But indeed there is one wish everybody in the band has: Going on tour and having a good time with the band, crew and the fans.
When you started out to write/compose new material, what did you then want to accomplish with it?
The first target was writing good songs and bring rawness onto the album. Sometimes good songs are good in a rehearsal room or on stage, but if you hear them on an album, they're to smooth. Then they won't be a picture of us, which is very important, especially for me. Every song's got to be a part of me. Otherwise it's soulless…
Do you feel that you have accomplished that?
Yeah… We did it!!!!
Where do you find inspiration when you write music?
I get my inspirations in life. The feeling in a song is the most important thing, not the speed or the technical challenge. These are just mediums which you can use. But first of all it's the most important thing to describe your feelings in the music, and to make an acoustic picture of it.
Is there anything specific that have influenced the writing process to the new album?
Lia became a father. I'm sure that he was influenced by that during writing the lyrics…
Especially I was under high pressure because of making a lot of things parallel. Everything was rotating on my job and I had a big potential of aggression in me. Well…. As a matter of fact, I felt like that all the time… hahaha…
Can you mention 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant the world to your way of writing music/singing?
Pantera, Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Testament and Judas Priest… every band I like. All music I hear influences me particularly… but there is not a special song. More the bands themselves…
What do you want to bring the world with your music and how do you want people to receive your music?
If you wanna read the lyrics, think about them and perhaps discuss a few lines, then do it. You will read a lot of interesting things about the way we think about the world.
But I think you can just have fun with the music as well. Put the CD in your CD player, drink a few beers, sing along the songs, meet people to the concerts… this is the great thing in music: It's your decision what happens with it…
Will you initiate us in the lyrical universe of the band, which themes do you touch etc…?
In the past all albums were a part of a story about the monk on our covers… it was a fantasy story with relations to the reality. This time Lia wrote all lyrics from the real life. I mean… go out in the world and keep your eyes open. Then you'll see that you don't need do invent brutal stories. Life writes these stories right next door to you…
Where is the inspiration for the lyrics usually found?
There are a lot of abuses everywhere. Why shouldn't we bring them to light by making a song about such. Only one example: The world got a new pope… everybody was talking about him and the changes he will bring to the world. But nearly nobody realized that the pope is only a puppet, controlled by forces like industry, politics and a lot of advisors. Is he really able to bring changes??? Think about that and don't believe everything the media say…
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…?
I like every song on this album… I have to say this, I'm a band member… hahahaha
Well, 'Nightmares Of Demons' is my favourite song. I love the two different guitars in the refrains, the aggressive riff and the modern part in the middle of the song. The next one is 'Evil Empire', the mixture between the fast riff and the mighty refrain makes it very powerful. 'Savage Soul' is one of my favourite songs as well. It's very dark, with low guitars and a groovy riff…
How important is the lyrics compared to the music?
What do you think? To be honest, do you buy an album just because of the lyrics? I think, the first impression of an album is the music. But the lyrics come right after that. If you work seriously, you can't ignore the lyrics. And I know that Lia cares a lot about good lyrics.
Do you have any touring planned in support of your new release?
We'll play a few shows with Majesty and a few single shows around Europe in March. But we're looking forward and keep the eyes opened for getting a whole tour over Europe. Who knows…
How do you look upon the future of the band?
Nobody knows how what's gonna be in the future. But I hope we'll grow up a little bit and can make our albums, go on tour, have some chicks and a lot of money and will headline a big festival… hahahaha! The most important thing is that we can make our music and share it with the fans. If this will increase, we're happy.
Will you share your 5 all time favourite albums with our readers?
First of all: The whole "No Rest For The Wicked" Album by Ozzy Osbourne. It brought me into heavy metal and to the guitar, obviously because of the guitar god Zakk Wylde. He played perfect guitar on this album.
Right behind that, I have Pantera "Vulgar Display Of Power". Great musicians, hard riffs, tight ryrhms… great…
Of course, Nevermore's "Dead Heart In A Dead World" is a milestone in music history.
Then Testament's "The Gathering"… This album blows me away. They found a groovy way to play hard riffs… very cool.
Last, but not least: The whole Guns N' Roses collection until the "Use Your Illusion" albums. I can't exactly explain, but I love this bluesy way of playing rock music. You can hate them, but you can't deny that they're different…
Hi, I'm Markus… I’m one of the guitar players from Mystic Prophecy. I was in the band from the first tour 'til now. So it is not really new for me to play with the guys.
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!
First of all, Lia (R.D. Liapakis, ed). He's the singer. He's the leader and the battery of the band. His powerful voice harmonizes perfectly with the raw music of Mystic Prophecy.
Martin Albrecht, the bass player. He's the organizing chief from hell….
Martin Grimm, the fast hand on guitar. He's the one and only for playing solos and having painted flowers on his guitar… but he promised to buy another one. The whole band is waiting….
And then there is Mathias Straub. He's the only drummer I know who can ruin a whole drum-set during a 45 minutes show.
You are soon ready with your new release, how do you feel about it?
We all feel very pleasant about the new album. It's the first album for me and Mystic Prophecy in which I was involved in the songwriting. And it feels good to play the songs live. I think we made a good mixture between roughness, hardness and fine melodies. And we demonstrated that we're not a typical German power metal band.
What do you expect from it?
A lot of money, thousands of chicks and a headliner position at the Rock in Rio Festival 2006 hahahaha…..
To be honest: We make music because of our passion. We would be lucky to sell a few albums more than the last one, that's it. Just to see a progress. But indeed there is one wish everybody in the band has: Going on tour and having a good time with the band, crew and the fans.
When you started out to write/compose new material, what did you then want to accomplish with it?
The first target was writing good songs and bring rawness onto the album. Sometimes good songs are good in a rehearsal room or on stage, but if you hear them on an album, they're to smooth. Then they won't be a picture of us, which is very important, especially for me. Every song's got to be a part of me. Otherwise it's soulless…
Do you feel that you have accomplished that?
Yeah… We did it!!!!
Where do you find inspiration when you write music?
I get my inspirations in life. The feeling in a song is the most important thing, not the speed or the technical challenge. These are just mediums which you can use. But first of all it's the most important thing to describe your feelings in the music, and to make an acoustic picture of it.
Is there anything specific that have influenced the writing process to the new album?
Lia became a father. I'm sure that he was influenced by that during writing the lyrics…
Especially I was under high pressure because of making a lot of things parallel. Everything was rotating on my job and I had a big potential of aggression in me. Well…. As a matter of fact, I felt like that all the time… hahaha…
Can you mention 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant the world to your way of writing music/singing?
Pantera, Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Testament and Judas Priest… every band I like. All music I hear influences me particularly… but there is not a special song. More the bands themselves…
What do you want to bring the world with your music and how do you want people to receive your music?
If you wanna read the lyrics, think about them and perhaps discuss a few lines, then do it. You will read a lot of interesting things about the way we think about the world.
But I think you can just have fun with the music as well. Put the CD in your CD player, drink a few beers, sing along the songs, meet people to the concerts… this is the great thing in music: It's your decision what happens with it…
Will you initiate us in the lyrical universe of the band, which themes do you touch etc…?
In the past all albums were a part of a story about the monk on our covers… it was a fantasy story with relations to the reality. This time Lia wrote all lyrics from the real life. I mean… go out in the world and keep your eyes open. Then you'll see that you don't need do invent brutal stories. Life writes these stories right next door to you…
Where is the inspiration for the lyrics usually found?
There are a lot of abuses everywhere. Why shouldn't we bring them to light by making a song about such. Only one example: The world got a new pope… everybody was talking about him and the changes he will bring to the world. But nearly nobody realized that the pope is only a puppet, controlled by forces like industry, politics and a lot of advisors. Is he really able to bring changes??? Think about that and don't believe everything the media say…
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…?
I like every song on this album… I have to say this, I'm a band member… hahahaha
Well, 'Nightmares Of Demons' is my favourite song. I love the two different guitars in the refrains, the aggressive riff and the modern part in the middle of the song. The next one is 'Evil Empire', the mixture between the fast riff and the mighty refrain makes it very powerful. 'Savage Soul' is one of my favourite songs as well. It's very dark, with low guitars and a groovy riff…
How important is the lyrics compared to the music?
What do you think? To be honest, do you buy an album just because of the lyrics? I think, the first impression of an album is the music. But the lyrics come right after that. If you work seriously, you can't ignore the lyrics. And I know that Lia cares a lot about good lyrics.
Do you have any touring planned in support of your new release?
We'll play a few shows with Majesty and a few single shows around Europe in March. But we're looking forward and keep the eyes opened for getting a whole tour over Europe. Who knows…
How do you look upon the future of the band?
Nobody knows how what's gonna be in the future. But I hope we'll grow up a little bit and can make our albums, go on tour, have some chicks and a lot of money and will headline a big festival… hahahaha! The most important thing is that we can make our music and share it with the fans. If this will increase, we're happy.
Will you share your 5 all time favourite albums with our readers?
First of all: The whole "No Rest For The Wicked" Album by Ozzy Osbourne. It brought me into heavy metal and to the guitar, obviously because of the guitar god Zakk Wylde. He played perfect guitar on this album.
Right behind that, I have Pantera "Vulgar Display Of Power". Great musicians, hard riffs, tight ryrhms… great…
Of course, Nevermore's "Dead Heart In A Dead World" is a milestone in music history.
Then Testament's "The Gathering"… This album blows me away. They found a groovy way to play hard riffs… very cool.
Last, but not least: The whole Guns N' Roses collection until the "Use Your Illusion" albums. I can't exactly explain, but I love this bluesy way of playing rock music. You can hate them, but you can't deny that they're different…
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