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Interview with R.D. Lia of
Mystic Prophecy
June 2009 by Joe Florez |
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Mystic Prophecy is not new to the power metal
movement. They’ve been slugging it out for the past nine years and
with each release they’ve gotten stronger and faster. If you are a
fan of the underground metal scene, you may have been seeing their
name and product being plastered everywhere especially in the last
four plus years on a bigger scale. Unless you are new to these
Germans, Greek guitar great Gus G. was around for the first four
releases before departing to concentrate on Firewind fulltime. Front
man Roberto Dimitri Liapakis or R.D. Lia has been around since day
one when he formed the group and despite the fact that MP has gone
through a lot mostly dealing with constant line-up changes the band
has grown stronger with each release and the music got even more
sinister despite the fact that it’s melodic power metal with an
edge. Fireangel is the sixth offering overall and it’s the most
intense release to date as R.D. will verify. Mr. Lia lays it all on
the line here explaining what happened with the previous members to
what keeps the fire burning inside this man’s heart.
Hey Rob, this is Joe Florez from www.Live4Metal.com. How are you
today? I hope Europe is treating you well. How's the weather in
Germany? Chicago has been very unpredictable lately. It's been
cooler many more times that it has been hot and humid for this time
of year. What part of Germany do you live in? I have been to
Stuttgart and love it there. Let's begin with the interview.
Hey Joe! Me and the boys are just fine man and hope you are too as
well! Europe couldn't be more than welcome for our new album by
putting us in the German chart positions at place #77 in the first
week!! We are so happy that we managed to achieve that and we are
more than thankful to our loyal fans that keep supporting us almost
these 10 years of our career! I actually live in Bad Gronebach and
the weather it's very nice at this very time we speak for Germany..!
On your new release Fireangel all guns are
blazing with the opening track "Across The Gates Of Hell." The
signature heavy duty riffs are intact, along with your one of a kind
voice that's packed with emotion and passion, melodies, killer solo
work and thunderous rhythm section. We you at all pissed off when
you went into writing this release?
Hahahahaha! Something like this I suppose! As you can probably
notice each member of the band has performed its parts with a lot of
eager and ambition! We all said before we record the album that this
is gonna’ be the best MP album so far and eventually I think that we
pretty much succeeded that in my opinion!!
Would you say that Mystic Prophecy was put on
hold when you basically lost everyone from your longtime partner
Martin Albrecht to Markus Pohl, Martin Grimm and Mathias Straub? I
mean since 2006 with the release of Savage Souls things looked to
have been stable. What happened to everyone?
As you probably know and I think everyone knows that when you mix
music with work or family things may get a little bit difficult to
made in time and have everything done! It's really difficult indeed
to try to catch up with everything! Martin Albrecht became for his
3rd time a father and he is dedicated to his baby and family at this
point! Martin Grimm needed to focus more on his work and by that it
meant that he had to work 3 weeks back to back every month so it was
really difficult to make music and rehearse with the band! Also,
Mathias Straub decided to study at law school and devote himself to
his studies! Under this circumstances the band had to find new
members so it would continue it's course! So, the new guys that also
appear on the "Fireangel" album are Constantine, Stefan Dittrich and
Connie Andreska which are obvious very talented and excellent
musicians as you can see by yourself in the album!
The one thing I have to say about this group
is that while you are a full on metal band packed with explosive
power, you can slow things up a bit to a mid pace and "Demons Crown"
is a perfect example. The track begins rather slow and somber, but
slowly build up into something passionate and sinister at the same
time. Was it always in you to write music that combines both
elements to prevent things from being boring?
Of course yes! This was something that we always wanted to do in an
album...I mean that "Fireangel" is the best MP album in the variety
so far...We have 3 ultra fast songs (including "We Kill! You Die!"
which is our fastest song ever!!), a lot of mid-tempos and also
different approaches in songs that you can definitely hear in
"Father Save Me" and "Forever Betrayed" but always in the vain and
style of Mystic Prophecy!!
Once again, you produced this record like you
do with every one of them. You do a mighty fine job at each record
because they are so clean, thick and rich in the rhythm department
and the guitars are very punchy and meaty. I think it's a smart move
to have more than one talent just in case something happens with one
of them. How did you get into producing?
As you can see it's not bad at all to have more talents in a band!!
hahahahaha!! I believe that I'm the only one that knows what Mystic
Prophecy need in order to be heard in that way and to have something
special in their sound comparing with other bands! I’ve been
producing for many years so I know exactly what is necessary for a
bands sound depending on its style! There are many "tricks" to get
good sound on the guitars and in general as well! But believe me on
this subject it would take me the whole magazine to explain
everything on the production...hahaha!! Besides everyone has its own
secrets and tricks how to make a good sound and nobody ever goes out
in public to explain how he creates it because these are the "secret
tools" of the producer!!
Greek guitar God Gus G. was mentioned to you
from American guitarist David T. Chastain and he was a part of the
band on the first three releases. Did you feel it was a blow to the
band and sound when he decided to leave? I must say that your band
or sound never suffered because you seemed to have come back
stronger and harder.
Actually by the time that Gus decided to part ways with the band I
would say that I was in difficult situation because Gus is a very
hard act to follow, not only as a musician but as a personality as
well... so I had to find an equally good guitarist and songwriter
that would fit actually to the sound and chemistry of the band and
this was hard believe me! But, on the other hand I don't think that
his departure led us to a downfall or anything like that, if you
judge by the fact that now we sell even more comparing to the
Gus-era everything's now is completely ascending I would say and
that means that most important and above all what is necessary to a
band are the good songs and the right chemistry of the musicians!! |
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I love the fact that with the release of
Fireangel you created a limited edition version with a second bonus
disc. Who was responsible for that killer idea?
Every time on an album release we have a special release edition as
well…In this way we want to thank our fans that keep supporting us
for so many years...Besides if you think that all these years we
have bonus-tracks only for the Japanese editions of the CD’S it's
also fair for our European fans to get a taste of them as well! As
you can see everyone is happy with this idea if you think that in
the first week the band managed to enter the German charts at the
#77 place! And that means a lot and also that our fans couldn't wait
to get the new album!!
It would be Satanic Curses where things were taken to the extreme.
From the opener "Back From The Dark" on down, it would contain
heavier and darker riffs and the pacing was much more furious. What
lead to recording the record as such?
I actually can't answer you what exactly led to this approach on
this album because our songs were written on the spot and they just
came out naturally on their own..!! Bottom -line I think that "Fireangel"
is both very melodic and dark album in opposition with Satanic
Curses which is really brutal!!
The one thing that sets this band apart is
your vocal style. It's about as distinct and original as Jon Oliva
or Udo Dirkschneider. The one advantage though is that you are able
to mix it up vocally from going high to low, sinister to passionate
and emotional in one felt swoop. I believe it's your voice that
makes the band so unique.
I can't say if my voice makes Mystic Prophecy one of a kind to the
metal music…this can only be judged by the fans... I believe also
that if I wouldn't have the same musicians as well in the band my
voice wouldn't be the only characteristic element in the MP's
music..! There are many things that matter to how band sounds and
actually performs...besides I'm not interested in working with the
top-musicians in the world but with those that actually fit to the
sound of the band...there's no point of having a musician no matter
how good he is if he's not aware how to write a song in the band's
style…as far as the Udo and Jon Oliva comparison, I don't know but
it's the first they compare me to them actually! All the vox of Jon
Oliva are amazing and I'm really flattered but I can't say that UDO
was a singer with a great voice...I'm not saying that he is bad or
shit like that all but I believe that I have a much more flexible
voice and I can say that I sing more in a blues/rock style and that
gives another flavour to the Mystic Prophecy style..!! I have also
in my hook lines some melancholic elements that fits to the riffing
in general in the style of the band...By the way thank you for
comparing with such great names but I would personally choose Jon
Oliva!! hahahahahaha!!! |
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Your
career pretty much began with Valley's Eve. The first time I heard
you was on Deception Of Pain which was your third and last release
in 2002. Martin Albrecht who was your bassist and keyboardist would
be the only other member to join you when you formed Mystic
Prophecy. Is that band on hold or is it finished? I ask this because
when I go to the website it simply states…"to be continued."
At this point Valley's Eve are put a little bit aside because of the
fact that the Mystic Prophecy's engine is working right now in
full!! There are songs ready for a full-length album but I think
it's too early to make a new album with Valley's Eve at this point!
The band still exists and when it's time you we will let you know
when the new stuff is coming...
Since your first two records were on a smaller
label and are pretty much now impossible to find, do you know if you
will ever re-release them again in some sort of capacity?
If you mean "Vengeance" it's still in the market I think and you can
find it..! It was re-released from Nuclear Blast...also there will
be 3 re-releases as I heard for the first 3 albums from Metal Mind
Productions (Poland)...
There has been a trend within the past 10
years plus where a well established band would basically experiment
with their sound in the middle of their career and it would be a
flop with both the critics and fans and |
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then they would eventually go back to
what make them famous. MP has never folded under the pressure. In
fact, you guys just get more intense with each release, but mix in
just enough melody and tempo changes from being a predictable
record. Has there ever been a time that you wanted to mess with the
groups sound?
I know that through the years there were several changes in the
line-up of Mystic Prophecy but never the one that had the vision of
the band left so far and that's why the band sounds still like
that...When I first created the band I didn't want to experiment at
all with other elements in the music...Only true metal in your face
man...and nothing more!! No keys, no choirs and most of all no gay
twin guitar melodies that make you sound like a pop metal
band...Once I had a vision for the style and the sound of the band
and from the very first day I kept it like that..! Our fans loved us
with that sound and they keep supporting us because of it..!! In
other words I don't want to let down all those who keep supporting
us throughout these years in order to sell more albums...I never
liked that fact in bands...I won't change for anybody and neither
would I ever let any label to put pressure on me to make something
different and try to sell more as a band...We have survived for 9
years now and 6 albums and that shows that the band was always
making the right thing until now because if it wasn't like that it
would be dead already.. I always believed that just like life is,
the music business is as well...Only the strong survive!!
How is the touring and fanbase in Europe? What
makes me upset is that you are a strong power metal band that hasn't
become a household name or bigger than the underground scene. You
should earn the same success as a Hammerfall or Manowar.
Unfortunately, the market at this time doesn't let any band to have
the success like those above that you mentioned... everyone burns
CD’s and in that way the scene gets destroyed and in general the
bands keep selling lower and lower every year…for me the most
important thing as a band is to survive in the metal scene and this
is the most important thing..!! We are not a band with a made-up
hype but we sell really what we sell with honesty and we are not
like the one's that put on every commercial in every magazine, in
covers and stuff...If you know some stuff of the business you would
probably know that sometimes the underground bands sell some times
more than a band that is very well-promoted..!! Just like I told you
before, Mystic in 9 years had 6 albums which every time each new
album was stronger than the previous and we are very proud that we
managed to survive these difficult times with the download shit and
all these problems...so, as I said before only the one who fight and
has the inner flame can achieve something even on the underground
scene.. Only the strong survive and nothing else!!
Do you have anything to say here to your fans?
Hello brothers!!! Thank you for all of your support all these years
and your faith and trust that you show to Mystic's Music!! Without
you we would never be in that level that we are now! And last but
not least, please don't burn the CD’s because you kill this
wonderful music!! Take care and see you soon on tour!!
Roberto, I just want to say thanks for taking the time out to do
this with me. I've been a fan for years and will continue to do so.
My pleasure Joe!! Thanks for the interview as well!! See you soon in
the States (hopefully ;-) and take care man!
www.mysticprophecy.net |
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