Absolute
Steel
Absolute Steel is a band
from Norway and they deliver 80s inspired classic heavy metal with a great
dose of humour. Their music addresses to those metalheads who understand
that heavy metal is not only serious, but it can also be funny and an escape
from your everyday problems. Read the interview and realize, as I did,
that writing funny lyrics is equally difficult with writing about serious
problems. Why? Simply because they must rhyme and put a smile on the listeners'
face. So, isn't achieving that without becoming ridiculous a difficult
task to accomplish?
1. HELLO AND CONGRATULATIONS ON “WOMANIZER”!
I LOVED IT HOWEVER I’D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF IT NOW THAT SOME
TIME HAS PASSED SINCE ITS RELEASE DATE. ARE YOU CONTENT WITH THE FINAL
RESULT?
Glad to hear you like it. We are proud of
it, but as you said it was recorded some time ago. In fact, we started
to record it two years ago, so the songs seem older to us than to the fans.
We love playing the songs live, but have listened enough to the album ourselves
for some time.
2. IF YOU WERE ASKED TO REVIEW “WOMANIZER”, WHAT
WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
It’s a good album for partying. And that was
our goal as well. It also has some deeper layers as opposed to our debut
album.. The two instrumentals are a bold choice for an album, but we are
proud of them and wanted the fans to hear something else for a change.
The album could have featured more songs, but on the other hand, all classic
metal albums from the 80s have 8 or 9 songs, and seldom more…
3. BY THE WAY, YOU CALL YOUR MUSIC PARTY METAL
AND I AGREE 100% WITH THAT, BUT YOU ALSO CALL IT HARD ROCK AND I HAVE AN
OBJECTION HERE, SINCE I THINK THAT YOUR COMPOSITIONS HAVE A DIRECT CONNECTION
AND SIMILARITY WITH THE 80S CLASSIC HEAVY METAL. GOOD, OLD FASHIONED PASSIONATE
MUSIC. PLEASE COMMENT ON THAT…
Yeah, but isn’t 80s metal also hard rock in
a sense? I totally agree that we are more metal than hard rock, but it’s
all a part of the same stu, isn’t it? As long as it rocks, its fine by
me….
4. ARE YOU ANNOYED BY THE NARROW MINDED AND MEAN
REVIEWS THAT ABSOLUTE STEEL AND SIMILAR BANDS RECEIVE FROM A PART OF THE
METAL PRESS? HOW DO YOU REACT WHEN READING SUCH A STATEMENT?
It doesn’t get to me, to be honest there will
always be people who don’t like what you do. You cannot please everybody.
What bothers me sometimes is that they don’t get us at all, and believe
we are a parody of metal. That hurts….
5. WHICH ARE THE MAIN SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN “WOMANIZER” AND “THE BLAIR BITCH PROJECT”?
Fair Bitch is a 100% party-album, but WomaniZer
has the two instrumentals, and an acoustic track, so it’s a little more
varied, but it’s all about partying of course…
6. I DON’T THINK THE LYRICS NEED A CERTAIN OR
FURTHER EXPLANATION. YOU LOOK AT THE FUNNY SIDE OF THINGS AND WRITE LYRICS
TO PUT A SMILE ON OUR FACES. HOWEVER THERE ARE QUITE MANY PEOPLE THAT CAN’T
UNDERSTAND THAT AND THINK HEAVY METAL IS A “TOO SERIOUS” MATTER. WHAT DO
YOU HAVE TO ANSWER TO THEM?
Metal needs both positive and negative lyrics,
and everyone who grew up in the 80s knows all about that. Our lyrics may
not seem serious, but we take it dead serious to write them. They don’t
drop from the sky, we have to perfect them over and over to get the feel
right for each song. Just because the theme of a lyric isn’t serious doesn’t
mean the work isn’t serious.’
7. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART IN
YOUR MUSIC ACCORDING TO YOU?
The best part is my guitar solos, of course.
The worst part is the silence between the tracks.
8. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COVER ARTWORK? WHY
DID YOU USE THIS BLUE COLOR IN THE HAIR, LIPSTICK, ETC?
Timo Wuertz from Germany made it for us. We
wanted a mascot chick called Lucy, and we got it. She will be featured
on all our artwork for the future..
9. HOW COME AND YOU’VE COOPERATED WITH A GREEK
LABEL? WHAT WERE YOU LOOKING FOR IN A LABEL IN ORDER TO SIGN A DEAL WITH
THEM?
They just seemed more serious than many other
labels. And we got the possibility to produce the music ourselves, something
we hold dear.
10. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT
SHOULD THE PEOPLE ATTENDING YOUR LIVE SHOWS EXPECT TO SEE?
We’ll be doing shows in Norway this fall,
and we are heading into the studio in the winter. Next summer we`ll be
doing some gigs in Europe. Watch out for pyros!!
11. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU COULD INVITE FAMOUS
MUSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR LIVE APPEARANCES. WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE
AND WHY?
I would choose Dee Snider, but only as a speaker
between the songs. Man , he can talk your head off.
12. I’M INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT WHAT IS METAL
FOR YOU… DOES YOUR MUSIC HAVE “SPACE” FOR SERIOUS TOPICS OR DO YOU SIMPLY
WANT TO ENTERTAIN PEOPLE?
We take metal seriously, but it’s all about
having fun. I seriously want to have as much fun as possible, and I take
my time seriously, and devote it to having fun. Metal is all about the
metal way of life. Listening to it, drinking to it etc….
13. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
The painting would be too much for the presses.
14. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION? LEAVE A MESSAGE TO YOUR FANS ALL AROUND THE WORLD…
Be sure to check out our website for details
on our next album. We’ll be doing some live webcam feeds from the recording
of the next album…
Christine Parastatidou
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