Taken by a rock storm… that’s how I felt when I listened to Eclipse’s newest album. It’s surely one of the Best hard rock albums of 2012… and a personal favorite, of the genre, so far. I always knew this band had it and that was a matter of time to release a pure hard rockin’ dynamite. So, the time came… that’s the reason why the guitarist and songwriter, Magnus Henriksson, has been “interrogated” by Grande Rock… Read this actually cool & rockin’ interview and have fun…
Hi Magnus… You did it once again with “Bleed & Scream”. It’s an excellent hard rock album… thus, we’ve added it on Grande Rock’s “Gems” category.
M: Thank you for that! We are truly flattered.
It took you some four years to come up with a follow up to the superb “Are You Ready to Rock”, that’s some pretty long time! How come? Was it writers block, or was it your involvement of various eclipse members in other projects, (WET, the solo album of TH etc.) that meant that Eclipse was out of focus for a while?
M: I can tell you that it was definitely not writers block! We started writing for “Bleed and Scream” about a year ago. Before that we have been involved doing writing and playing for the W.E.T. project. Erik wrote and produced Toby Hitchcock’s solo album which I co-wrote 2 songs and played some solos on.
Besides that, Erik and I wrote the upcoming Jimi Jamison album at the same time we wrote the new Eclipse-album. So it’s been quite hectic. It’s hard to make a living as a musician, so we have to keep all doors open for work opportunities.
Weren’t you afraid that being away from the scene for several years would affect the band fan base? Especially nowadays, that the market is full of new releases every month…
M: I don’t think so. We were never the flavor of the month or a hype, so to speak. So those who liked our previous album have just been drooling for this one. (i.n.: sure there’s no doubt about it…)
What are the differences that you can spot among your previous works and “Bleed & Scream”?
M: Sound-wise it’s a huge improvement. More diversity and sounds more original. More guitar-riffs. I’d say it has more of everything! Simply our best record so far. (i.n.: I totally agree with you dude…)
So, where’s the title “Bleed & Scream” referring to? What are the connections with the cover artwork which has the skull with the crown, the two Flying-V guitars, the wings and the planet that’s exploding at the back?
M: The title actually has nothing to do with the cover-art. We just thought it was a cool title and that the song was the best to represent our album. When we came up with the cover-art we just wanted to have something that looked like a real hard rock-cover that the old-school rockers could relate to and that would look great on t-shirts and merchandise.
Please give us a hint about each one of the songs…
M: “Wake Me Up”: A quick, classic Eclipse rocker with a contemporary sound and a contagious chorus. Classic chunky steroid-riffs that will appeal to all you hard rockers! Lyrics is critical about religious fanatics.
“Bleed & Scream”: A dark, dramatic mid-paced song with a slight symphonic touch in the main riff. An uplifting and very melodic chorus. Lyrics is about broken hearts and relations.
“Ain’t Dead Yet”: A homage to the classic Scandinavian hard rock with a hint of Swedish folk-melody. Will appeal to those of you who liked “Under the Gun” from the last album. Contains the highest vocal note on the album and this is my personal favorite.
“Battlegrounds”: A true classic gem that will probably out-live the most of us. Timeless melodies that will make you dream of Kings and Queens from a long lost kingdom. A tribute to the late and great Gary Moore.
“A Bitter Taste”: The last song we wrote for the album. Started out as an instrumental piece which we added lyrics to. It quickly became a favorite to us. An epic song that starts out as a ballad then turns into an anthem and ends up with a frenzy guitar solo.
“Falling Down”: Inspired by Whitesnake. We wanted a song like “Bad Boys” or “Children of the Night”. Just a kick-ass party tune with frantic guitar-riffing.
“S.O.S.”: We wanted a contemporary, moody pop song with a heavy riff and a strong chorus. A potential radio-hit.
“Take Back the Fear”: Double bass-drum hell!! Robban’s bass drums are on fire here!! A fast, heavy and furious rocker that will make the neoclassical metal fans go nuts. I went “Yngwie all-in” for the guitar solo.
“The Unspoken Heroes”: Contains loads of classic Eclipse steroid-riffs, with a chorus that will stick on you for a long time. I actually stole this riff and re-worked it, but I won’t tell which riff I stole
(i.n.: so, you actually “borrowed” the damn riff…)
“About to Break”: Our very first attempt to write a classic power ballad. We thought we’d increase the population a little. Hence a ballad.
“After the End of the World”: This song initiated a new approach to songwriting for us. We tried lots of stuff we’d never done before. Impossible guitar-riffs with weird tunings. This is the song for the apocalypse! We strongly believe this song is cursed, and we urge you not to listen to it! Don’t even read this!!!!! Oh no. You’re doomed… (i.n.: hehehe…)
You did pay extra attention to the production and that’s something that adds extra points to the final outcome. Who’s responsible for the mixing, the recordings, the production and the mastering of the album?
M: Erik is responsible for mixing, mastering and engineering and together we are responsible for the production. We worked hard to get the right sounds from the start and therefore not having to “save” it in the mix. Everything you hear is more or less how it sounded from the beginning.
What did you have in mind while you were recording this album? Was it to make it sound catchier and more melodic?
M: The masterplan for this one was: Heavier guitar sound, more diverse, more minor-key songs (not as happy as the previous). Still as catchy and melodic as the last one, but more refined. Just better!!
“Bleed & Scream” is indeed the band’s best album to date. Does that thing cause you any kind of pressure for the band’s next music steps?
M: Not any pressure yet, but we have definitely raised the bar so it’s gonna require more work on the next album for sure. We haven’t started writing for next one yet so we’ll see.
You have also released a video for “Bleed & Scream”. Are there any plans for a second video? I think that youtube… is a good promotion tool, generally, but some bands do not like spending money and making a video only for youtube nowadays so they prefer to upload only lyric videos. What do you think?
M: Yeah, this video has really helped us in doing promotion. We have been talking about maybe doing a second one, but it’s all about our budget. We’ll see.
So far so good… You have released some very good albums and you go on… It’s like Sweden is also strong on the melodic hard rock game… not only in the extreme music, right?
M: Yes. We have a strong tradition of melodies here. Mainly from our folk-music, classic music and the “Schlager”, so maybe it’s in our blood.
Are there plans about a tour? Could Greek fans ever hope to see you?
M: There are plans absolutely! Nothing confirmed yet. But when we go on tour you can definitely count on us in Greece. We wanna come down and have an ouzo with you guys! (i.n.: ouzo, souvlaki & mouzaka…huh!)
Can you quote your influences as a songwriter? Favorite players etc.
M: My personally biggest influence would be Ritchie Blackmore. Certainly one of the best guitarists of all-time, but more important, an outstanding songwriter. Just look at his back catalogue. Songs that will live forever. Other than that I’d say that as a guitarist I have been mostly influenced by players with good tone, vibrato and technical skills. John Norum, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker, Uli Roth, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Gales and many more.
What is Eclipse, to you?
M: The best melodic hard rock band ever, of course! (i.n.: haha… it came out so naturally…)
M: Thank you for that! We are truly flattered.
It took you some four years to come up with a follow up to the superb “Are You Ready to Rock”, that’s some pretty long time! How come? Was it writers block, or was it your involvement of various eclipse members in other projects, (WET, the solo album of TH etc.) that meant that Eclipse was out of focus for a while?
M: I can tell you that it was definitely not writers block! We started writing for “Bleed and Scream” about a year ago. Before that we have been involved doing writing and playing for the W.E.T. project. Erik wrote and produced Toby Hitchcock’s solo album which I co-wrote 2 songs and played some solos on.
Besides that, Erik and I wrote the upcoming Jimi Jamison album at the same time we wrote the new Eclipse-album. So it’s been quite hectic. It’s hard to make a living as a musician, so we have to keep all doors open for work opportunities.
Weren’t you afraid that being away from the scene for several years would affect the band fan base? Especially nowadays, that the market is full of new releases every month…
M: I don’t think so. We were never the flavor of the month or a hype, so to speak. So those who liked our previous album have just been drooling for this one. (i.n.: sure there’s no doubt about it…)
What are the differences that you can spot among your previous works and “Bleed & Scream”?
M: Sound-wise it’s a huge improvement. More diversity and sounds more original. More guitar-riffs. I’d say it has more of everything! Simply our best record so far. (i.n.: I totally agree with you dude…)
So, where’s the title “Bleed & Scream” referring to? What are the connections with the cover artwork which has the skull with the crown, the two Flying-V guitars, the wings and the planet that’s exploding at the back?
M: The title actually has nothing to do with the cover-art. We just thought it was a cool title and that the song was the best to represent our album. When we came up with the cover-art we just wanted to have something that looked like a real hard rock-cover that the old-school rockers could relate to and that would look great on t-shirts and merchandise.
Please give us a hint about each one of the songs…
M: “Wake Me Up”: A quick, classic Eclipse rocker with a contemporary sound and a contagious chorus. Classic chunky steroid-riffs that will appeal to all you hard rockers! Lyrics is critical about religious fanatics.
“Bleed & Scream”: A dark, dramatic mid-paced song with a slight symphonic touch in the main riff. An uplifting and very melodic chorus. Lyrics is about broken hearts and relations.
“Ain’t Dead Yet”: A homage to the classic Scandinavian hard rock with a hint of Swedish folk-melody. Will appeal to those of you who liked “Under the Gun” from the last album. Contains the highest vocal note on the album and this is my personal favorite.
“Battlegrounds”: A true classic gem that will probably out-live the most of us. Timeless melodies that will make you dream of Kings and Queens from a long lost kingdom. A tribute to the late and great Gary Moore.
“A Bitter Taste”: The last song we wrote for the album. Started out as an instrumental piece which we added lyrics to. It quickly became a favorite to us. An epic song that starts out as a ballad then turns into an anthem and ends up with a frenzy guitar solo.
“Falling Down”: Inspired by Whitesnake. We wanted a song like “Bad Boys” or “Children of the Night”. Just a kick-ass party tune with frantic guitar-riffing.
“S.O.S.”: We wanted a contemporary, moody pop song with a heavy riff and a strong chorus. A potential radio-hit.
“Take Back the Fear”: Double bass-drum hell!! Robban’s bass drums are on fire here!! A fast, heavy and furious rocker that will make the neoclassical metal fans go nuts. I went “Yngwie all-in” for the guitar solo.
“The Unspoken Heroes”: Contains loads of classic Eclipse steroid-riffs, with a chorus that will stick on you for a long time. I actually stole this riff and re-worked it, but I won’t tell which riff I stole
(i.n.: so, you actually “borrowed” the damn riff…)“About to Break”: Our very first attempt to write a classic power ballad. We thought we’d increase the population a little. Hence a ballad.
“After the End of the World”: This song initiated a new approach to songwriting for us. We tried lots of stuff we’d never done before. Impossible guitar-riffs with weird tunings. This is the song for the apocalypse! We strongly believe this song is cursed, and we urge you not to listen to it! Don’t even read this!!!!! Oh no. You’re doomed… (i.n.: hehehe…)
You did pay extra attention to the production and that’s something that adds extra points to the final outcome. Who’s responsible for the mixing, the recordings, the production and the mastering of the album?
M: Erik is responsible for mixing, mastering and engineering and together we are responsible for the production. We worked hard to get the right sounds from the start and therefore not having to “save” it in the mix. Everything you hear is more or less how it sounded from the beginning.
What did you have in mind while you were recording this album? Was it to make it sound catchier and more melodic?
M: The masterplan for this one was: Heavier guitar sound, more diverse, more minor-key songs (not as happy as the previous). Still as catchy and melodic as the last one, but more refined. Just better!!
“Bleed & Scream” is indeed the band’s best album to date. Does that thing cause you any kind of pressure for the band’s next music steps?
M: Not any pressure yet, but we have definitely raised the bar so it’s gonna require more work on the next album for sure. We haven’t started writing for next one yet so we’ll see.
You have also released a video for “Bleed & Scream”. Are there any plans for a second video? I think that youtube… is a good promotion tool, generally, but some bands do not like spending money and making a video only for youtube nowadays so they prefer to upload only lyric videos. What do you think?
M: Yeah, this video has really helped us in doing promotion. We have been talking about maybe doing a second one, but it’s all about our budget. We’ll see.
So far so good… You have released some very good albums and you go on… It’s like Sweden is also strong on the melodic hard rock game… not only in the extreme music, right?
M: Yes. We have a strong tradition of melodies here. Mainly from our folk-music, classic music and the “Schlager”, so maybe it’s in our blood.
Are there plans about a tour? Could Greek fans ever hope to see you?
M: There are plans absolutely! Nothing confirmed yet. But when we go on tour you can definitely count on us in Greece. We wanna come down and have an ouzo with you guys! (i.n.: ouzo, souvlaki & mouzaka…huh!)
Can you quote your influences as a songwriter? Favorite players etc.
M: My personally biggest influence would be Ritchie Blackmore. Certainly one of the best guitarists of all-time, but more important, an outstanding songwriter. Just look at his back catalogue. Songs that will live forever. Other than that I’d say that as a guitarist I have been mostly influenced by players with good tone, vibrato and technical skills. John Norum, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker, Uli Roth, Joe Bonamassa, Eric Gales and many more.
What is Eclipse, to you?
M: The best melodic hard rock band ever, of course! (i.n.: haha… it came out so naturally…)
I recently had the chance to listen to your debut, which is pretty nice, but super hard to find. Any chance it sees a re-release?
M: Hmm. We’ve been thinking about re-releasing it but we are not happy about that album. Maybe we’ll just let it die and be forgotten. We’ll see. Maybe one day.
Do you think there has been a resurrection/resurgence in the melodic rock genre? How does it feel that there are so many Swedish and Scandi bands in general, active in the genre? Is it noble competition, or dogged fights for chart supremacy?
M: Yes, something has definitely happened. Hard rock and metal have never been truly accepted or respected in Sweden before, so it’s good to see that some of these talented musicians finally get a break. There’s absolutely no competition. I think we are just all glad to see good music rise up and gain attention.
What do you think about the internet as a) a means of promotion b) a means of distribution c) a way to get music illegally? Do you feel that it has influenced the popularity of your band and if so in what way?
M: Well, I’d say it’s good for all these things you mentioned. Good for promotion, distribution and illegal downloading. I guess it has helped us gaining attention for a lot of people, but the problem is the illegal way of getting music. Too many people are downloading or listening to Spotify, which absolutely does not generate any money at all, no matter what the business people say. Mind you! (i.n.: Spotify totally sucks, you’re so right dude…)
With both the worldwide financial crisis and the illegal downloads, music seems to be a commodity for which most people are not willing to pay?! What do you think? How do you think this could be reversed?
M: Don’t know. If artists do not get paid for their productions, we will see no new music in the future. Because you simply cannot afford producing records on your day-time if you don’t get paid for it! Then the downloaders can continue downloading the same old records for the rest of the eternity because artists has no interest making music for free. (i.n.: that’s true guys… downloading music without carrying for the bands/artists that produce it… is improper & very dangerous for the music itself…)
It’s time for the Weird Questions now!!! How did you come up with the name Eclipse… whose idea was it back in the day?
M: We had no name in the beginning. It was just Erik who sent a demo to a record-company which name I won’t say here. He got a deal and they asked if we had a name for it. We didn’t, so they actually had a list of names to choose from which they thought would be appropriate for our music. Eclipse was the best of their suggestions so we went along with it.
Which music kind can’t you bear to hear at all?
M: Latino-pop music, boy bands, world-music and all the shit that’s on the radio basically. (i.n.: hahaha m2…)
Which are the top 5 A.O.R./melodic rock albums of all time according to you and why?
M: I’m not a big fan of traditional AOR at all so I’m gonna list melodic rock/hardrock/metal instead.
- AC/DC - “Powerage” (the best rock’n’roll… there is really)
- Rainbow - “Rising” (Epic album! The songwriting of RB & RJD is pure magic!)
- Yngwie Malmsteen – “Marching Out” (Great melodic and heavy hard rock from the king of guitar!)
- Loudness - “Thunder in the East” (Some of the most massive riffs and guitar sound I’ve heard)
- John Norum – “Face the Truth” (Norum just has the best tone and vibrato. His guitar bleeds!)
If you could put together the best AOR/melodic rock band in the world who would participate and why?
M: Supergroups somehow always ends up as a fiasco, and for me, the ultimate would be to see the classic AC/DC line-up with Bon Scott. (i.n.: I want the same thing too…)
If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?
M: I’d look like a complete bimbo with huge tits, just to get drinks for free.
You have the opportunity to sleep with the movie-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?
M: Marilyn Monroe.
If Eclipse’s career was a movie… which movie would it be and why?
M: A movie by Roy Andersson maybe. Quite silent and not much happens really. Haha…
You’re standing between God and Lucifer… the situation is weird and you must say something in order to save humanity… What would you say?
M: I’d say: Let there be no more religion! Too many have died in the name of god! (i.n.: and will die too…)
Which is the record you wish you had written and why?
M: I wish I had written “Bleed and Scream”. Wait a minute... I have!!!!!! (i.n.: heheh niceee…)
Supposing you could experience an adventure in an unreal-horror world of a fantasy writer (Poe, Lovecraft etc.)…which one would that be and why?
M: Maybe “The Talisman” by King/Straub. That was a great fantasy story!
If you had the chance to travel in time… where would you choose to go? To the past or the future and why?
M: Future is scary. I’d go back to the 18:th century in Vienna to watch a Mozart concert.
Beautiful or ugly woman? For girlfriend or for wife?
M: I have a beautiful girlfriend already, which I intend to be my wife soon. (Don’t tell her yet!) (i.n.: Let’s hope she won't read the interview…)
Imagine that your girlfriend/wife is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react?
M: I’d sell her and buy a new car.
Ok Magnus! I wish you the best for the future. If there is anything else that you would like to tell to Grande Rock readers, just do it!
M: Thanks for the support! See you after the show in Greece with a cold one, of course!
Love, Magnus...
PS: Special thx to Rockavlon for delivering some of the questions.