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Legio Mortis have a new album out and as we didn't talk about their 2009 release, it's time to get a few answers. Let the guys enlighten you!
Theatre Of Morbid Visions was 2009, now it's time The Human Creation And The Devil's Contribution. When did you start writing songs for The Human Creation And The Devil's Contribution?
We had already started working on new material even before Theatre Of Morbid Visions was released. After the recordings of the previous album, Matze came into the band and took over the second guitar, while Kalti replaced Eddy as bass player. Matze brought a couple of new ideas which were turned into new songs right away. Steffi and Tommy did the rest of the songwriting as usual. End of March last year we were basically done and pre-recorded the songs to refine the arrangements a bit.
Why did you choose the title The Human Creation And The Devil's Contribution? What inspired you?
It was actually the German title of the movie The Cider House Rules (the German title is God's Creation And The Devil's Contribution). We left God out of the game to explicitly look at what humans do and create and how 'the devil' influences it. We had a few ideas about the title, but we were not really happy with one of them. So when looking for new movies, I came across the above mentioned, and I thought that this - slightly changed - could be the perfect title for the new album. The others agreed, and that's the whole story. A lot of critics think that it is too long, but it just perfectly describes what the album is about, and I guess this is the whole sense of an album title right?
Again you worked with Alex Krull, the perfect producer for you?
Alex Krull actually did the final mix and mastering, the recordings were done in the Basement Media Studio, just like with the last album. Working with Alex is just perfect and we're always having lots of fun. He certainly realizes all our ideas even better than expected. As we were really satisfied with the results of Theatre Of Morbid Visions it was clear that we wanted him again for The Human Creation And The Devil's Contribution. The sound is perfect for the songs; it's a little rougher than on the last album, but so are the songs, therefore it's just a natural development. Also on a personal basis it is great to work with Alex. If everything works out fine, we hope to be able to record the next album completely at his studio.
How long did the recordings take?
We started the recordings end of September in the Basement Media Studio in Schnelldorf and were done end of November, so roughly two months. As we all go to work, we were only in the studio on weekends, but we have taken our time and also experimented quite a lot. We actually had planned to start the drum recordings in June, with a friend of us who is also drummer and sound engineer, and do the rest of the instruments at Alex's studio afterwards. However, the date had to be postponed to fall, and also this date didn't work out in the end and so we had to find another solution. Coincidentally the studio where we recorded the previous album was free at that time, and so we started recordings there end of September. Alex started working on the mix and mastering in January, and in February we were in Alex's studio again to record the vocals for Life Denied.
Was it your idea to add female vocals to Life Denied? Or did Alex had the idea and suggested to give it a try with Liv?
We had planned to do the vocals for the song ourselves, but when we tried it in the studio we just didn't get a result we were happy with. The song is just so melancholic that neither my nor Kalti's voice really fit. So we decided to leave the song as instrumental version as we still really wanted it to be on the album. But you are right, the thought was obvious to give it a shot and ask Liv. We had no idea what she would say, but it can't hurt to ask! We sent her an e-mail, attaching the rough mix of the song, and her positive reply came immediately. It was really great to record the song with her, she is such a great personality and we had a great time. When we heard the result for the first time we were totally stunned, so we're actually quite happy with this.
You have a cover of Paradise Lost's Pity The Sadness on your new album. One of your favorite bands? And what do you think about the latest piece of work from the Bradford guys?
Paradise Lost is a band which all of us really like and which has probably also influenced us in a way. The idea to cover one of their songs therefore was just natural. I think with the keyboards the song gets a whole new atmosphere, which underlines the natural darkness the song itself has. I think we have done quite good work on this.
Paradise Lost have always changed over the years, and no album sounded like the previous one. Certainly, the more electronic albums didn't become too popular with their metal fans, but from an objective point of view no one can say they were bad. With their latest album the guys could tie in with the good old times and put a more modern sound to it. Great album!
Another track which sticks out a bit is the German track Wir brauchen keine Hirten, what's the story of that song? What inspired you to write it?
People keep forgetting that besides right-wing extremists there are many other fascistic groups and organizations who try to force their opinion onto others and take their free will. In the song we are not pointing our fingers to those who have their views and opinions and live according to them. It's just important to accept that someone else might have a different view. Especially politic and religious extremists like to forbid other people's opinions and that just shouldn't be the case. That's what the song is about.
You already did a CD release show in your home town, how was it?
It was really great, there were a lot more people than we had expected and the atmosphere was just awesome. There were quite a few people who came a very long way to be at the release party and get the new album 3 weeks before the official release. We had a great time, and it was just a perfect night. The fans also liked it, and we got a lot of positive feedback. And this is the most important thing, that the fans like it.
With internet you get almost immediately a reaction by fans, are you satisfied with the feedback you got?
We mostly get very good feedback from the fans, and most of them are really happy with the new album. With the press reviews it's a little different. One half was full of praise, the other half hated it. But even those who hated it didn't even have a common reason why. There are those who think the album is way to varied and that it doesn't really fit in one category. And there are the others who think it's boring and everything sounds the same. It's really interesting how different the opinions on one and the same album can be. Still we're happy that there is more positive than negative feedback.
What about a video clip? Which songs would you like to visualize?
Oh I don't think that there will be a professional video clip. This is just a very expensive thing and we're still a small underground band. People will have to buy a lot more CDs to finance that :) But if we had to pick a song we would probably choose Buried Love, Avenger Of The Oppressed Souls or Life Denied. But as we don't play Life Denied live, this song wouldn't be the best choice I guess.
Any more shows on the way? A tour? Or too early to talk about?
The next show will be at the Metalfest Germany in Dessau. After that we have planned a couple of club shows in Germany, and maybe there will be some shows abroad.
A Tour? We'd love to do a little tour, this is always great for every musician. There are some possibilities, but we will have to wait what will come out of it. So no concrete tour plans at the moment.
What's next on your schedule? Any latest news to share?
Of course we will promote our new album and play as many shows as possible :-)
A few weeks ago we bought back the rights for our first album and all remaining copies from our previous label. We were just shocked when we saw that the album is still sold for 20 EUR on amazon.com. We don't want anybody to pay so much for a Legio Mortis album! Therefore we offer the CD for 3 EUR on our Myspace and Facebook page, and those who order our new album will get the first album for free. So check out our MySpace http://www.myspace.com/legio666mortis or our Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Legio-Mortis-Official/163244353705784.
So, if you don't have the their debut album and what to buy the new one, check out their virtual homes! You can make a bargain. ;)
And if the guys hit the road I bet they have another good offer for their fans...
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