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Interview with Angel Of Eden
guitarist Roger Staffelbach
By: Joe Florez |
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If you are a guitar enthusiast who is familiar
with the Shrapnel label, then perhaps you may have heard the name
Roger Staffelbach. If not, here’s your chance to get acquainted with
one of the most under rated neo-classical guitarists in the
underground power metal movement. He’s in the band Artension that has
whipped out an impressive seven records in the span of eleven years.
Since the group hasn’t crafted anything in the past couple of years,
Rog decided to create a new band, a super project if you will called
Angel Of Eden which not only features top notch musicians and guests,
but musically is fantastic and if you are a major Yngwie junkie then I
have your next fix here. This is Mr. Staffelbach’s debut effort and
while there are countless neo-classical power metal discs out there
just waiting for you to shell out your money for them this is by far
worth its weight in gold and deserves your ears and dough. Roger was
kind enough to elaborate the genesis of this band and what exactly
lies on the horizon for this gifted musician
Its obvious that this is a new band of yours. Will it be considered a
one time project or a consistent band that will continue to put out
records over time?
You know I look at this whole thing as a band; we’re a great bunch of
guys just going for it. We’re all into this kind of sound and I really
think it shows if you listen to it. Of course it’s important to sell
records in order to keep putting out records and to grow as a band,
but hey, so far everything looks really good at the moment, people
really seem do like what we’ve done here. Anyway I already began with
the song writing for AOE Number 2.
Since Artension hasn’t put anything out in at least three years, was
forming Angel Of Eden a result of that?
Certainly this was one of the reasons but not the only one. I wanted
to this a long time ago and here it is, finally.
I was absolutely floored by the musicians that you have on here. It’s
an all star cast. Furthermore, the guests on here too made my jaw
drop. Please explain briefly how you chose the following artists to
partake in your adventure: Carsten-vocals, Steve Di Giorgio-bass,
Mistheria-keys, David Shankle- guitars, Ferdy Doernberg-keys.
I was contacted about 3 years ago by Carsten and I checked out his
stuff he’s done with Domain and Evidence One and I really liked what
he’s done there, especially the job he did on the Evidence One Record
‘Tattooed Heart’ which really is outstanding, so I really wanted to do
the whole thing with him on board. Furthermore we get along very well,
which was for me equally important regarding a future collaboration.
Steve is simply the man if it comes down to playing the bass. I know
Steve for quite some years already, dating back to the Artension days
in America. If I know someone who is into Metal wholeheartedly, it
must be Steve. So I asked him whether he would play on the record and
he just said, let’s go for it. So here we are, furthermore he’s a
great guy to work and hang out with. Mistheria is the maestro, it’s
that simple. His sound and his playing is out of this world, he’s a
world class musician and he did an outstanding job on this record.
Furthermore he’s a great guy and very easy to get along with. I’m
looking very much forward to our future collaborations and to our songwriting session which will take place soon for AOE Nr. 2. David
Shankle is known to me first hand as the former guitar player for Manowar. We got into contact via Myspace and I liked his instrumental
‘Etude’ on his first DSG Record, and he liked the stuff I did with
Artension, so I asked him to play a solo on my record and he did.
Great stuff. Ferdy Doernberg was recommended to me by Carsten and also
I liked his stuff. So he played on the 4 tracks we recorded for the demo, which scored me the
deal for Asia with Marquee/Avalon. So I
transferred these 4 tracks for the final recording, a very talented
and hard working and heavily touring musician.
When I first listened to the disc, I was sort of impressed with
Carsten’s voice because he steps it up several notches and really
belts out the songs here. I say this because from what I have heard
from his other band Evidence One he’s a bit more laid back because it
has more of an AOR/rock feel.
I don’t really see Evidence One as AOR, but rather as a Melodic Metal
band, but however I think the blend of the really heavy and fast songs
I wrote and the style of my guitar playing, together with Carsten’s
melodic approach and Mistheria’s keys sounds and playing is what makes
and defines the AOE Sound.
I must admit that when I first received the package and saw the name I
thought that this was going to be some gothic metal band. To elaborate
further, when I read the bio and it stated that this was neo-classical
metal I was a little apprehensive because I thought this was going to
be exactly like the countless other bands that I have heard this year
playing this type of music. However, once I started this disc I had a
smile that went on for miles.
The cover doesn’t seem to have a gothic touch to me, I really think
it’s great, and I think one gets the idea of this being a Metal Band.
I wanted to have a ‘eye-catcher’ sort of and I think that’s exactly
what we got here. Regarding the music we play, I don’t and never did
think about what other bands are doing, I really never do that. I just
did what I wanted to do and this is what you get on ‘The End of
Never’. Am very glad you like it.
Was this a no brainer to create a neo-classical power metal record or
did you have something else in mind before ending up with this?
As I am into this kind of sound of music, this just happened
naturally.
Was Yngwie an influence of yours because let’s admit it that when a
fan puts this on, this is going to be pointed out right away?
Yes, Yngwie is a big influence on me, he’s the reason I started
playing the guitar. |
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The first track “The End Of Never” is a really explosive opener. It’s
full throttle power metal with all the main ingredients: fast double
bass drumming, melodic yet catchy riffs that contains some major
shredding, Ferdy’s impressive and slick finger work on the ivory keys
and Carsten’s voice that is mean and aggressive, but he can also hit
the high notes as well. This song alone really sets the tone for the
rest of the album, no?
Yes, it very much does, it is a great opener for the record. Although
there’s enough diversity on the album, as there are instrumentals,
there are tracks in the mid tempo groove like ‘Keys to Avalon’ etc.
But what it is, it is high energy all the way through.
The music on here is not always quick because “The Battle Of 1386” is
sort of epic sounding. It almost sounds like a soundtrack to a movie
at least in the intro and there is more power in this composition.
John West also sings on here too, right? Obviously, John West is your
partner in crime in Artension and he is on board here. Did you pick
him for this track specifically because he has such a dramatic voice?
I wanted John to sing one track on the record; this was part of my
concept from the very beginning. So I figured that this one would fit
best, and it did. John did a great job as you would expect. Regarding
the track, I really wanted it to sound big and to sound somewhat like
a movie soundtrack and it does with the Orchestration and the Intro,
it just worked out great, just about how it wanted it to be.
The disc concludes with a mind blowing version of Yngwie Malmsteen’s
“You Don’t Remember, I’ll Never Forget. It sounds very much like the
original and Carsten’s lungs replicates that of Mark Boals who did the
original version.
I tried to keep it as much as possible close to the original, and I
think it worked out pretty good. Carsten did a great job on this one,
as he did throughout the whole record. Also ‘Trilogy’ is one of Carsten’s all time favorites, just like for me.
Now that Angel Of Eden’s disc is out now, could you possibly tour for
this record?
I guess it depends on the album sales. But you know I would love to
tour with this record and we’re trying hard to make it happen, I
really think theses songs are written to be performed live. I hope
this works out, so for anybody interested in having us play live, give
us a shout!
As for Artension, will there be another record?
To be honest, I don’t know. Although I would love to do another one,
so I still hope it happens one day.
How about a solo record of your own of some kind be it an instrumental
or vocal? Will that ever happen?
AOE is what I always wanted to do, and I don’t think I will record an
instrumental record anytime soon, maybe one day.
As much of a die hard fan I am of Artension, I felt that the last
record “Future World” was a bit lack lustre in comparison to the rest
of the back catalogue. It seemed like not everyone’s heart was into
the disc. Would you at all agree with this or not?
I don’t think so. I think it’s a very good album from my perspective
on things. It might not have been the best we’ve ever done, but I
think there are great songs on it, I still like it. But of course this
is always a matter of taste.
Any last words for your fans out there?
Hope you get to check out the Angel of Eden Record. Hope you enjoy as
much listening to it as we had fun doing it. LIVE FOR METAL!
Thanks for your time and best of luck in the future.
Thanks a lot Joe for your support and thanks for having me here.
www.lionmusic.com
| www.angelofedenband.com |
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