NIGHTMARE (FR)
\r\nMetalzone had the chance of talking with one of the most\r\nimportant groups in the French Metal scene, Nightmare. We got to talk\r\nwith Franck Milleliri - guitars (ex-Dark Light), Alex Hilbert - guitars\r\nand Yves Campion - bass, about their latest release, the Dominion Gate,\r\nthe difficulties they face being a French power metal band and also the\r\nchances of coming to Greece for a live show. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Hello Yves, this is metalzone calling how are you?
\r\nYves Campion: Fine.\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: You come from a very important band called Nightmare..
\r\nYves Campion: Well, if we are big I don’t know\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone:\r\nYou ’ve been around since the eighties, and it is a very respectable\r\nband. Do you want to tell me a few things about your latest release,\r\nThe Dominion Gate, (November 7th 2005)?
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nWell, this album is a slight turn from the previous ones Cosmovision.\r\nWe tried some different approach, to the music, definitely with the\r\nvocals and the melodies and the way we composed the album, the arrival\r\nof the new guitar player, Frank brought some new approaches to the\r\nmusic, new atmosphere, we made it differently when it comes to\r\npreproduction, this time we wrote a lot of songs in the live act, we\r\ndidn’t do what we did the last time when we recorded before we go into\r\nthe studio, we recorded in a home studio, a lot of the songs, we made\r\nthe pre production with the q base. That means that before we go into\r\nthe studio, we didn’t read together the songs, it was like going into\r\nthe studio and composing there. This time everybody bring their own\r\nideas and when we went into the studio it was almost finished and we\r\nhad a lot of possibility to put some good atmosphere in the\r\narrangements. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: What were your influences into putting in new elements ?
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nI would say a lot of different influences like playing a little into\r\nthe new styles Scandinavian like In Flames and such stuff, but we stick\r\nalso to the 80s influences. We wanted to make a mix of many influences,\r\nto make it something interesting, to be very various about that, and\r\nmake some various songs. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Tell me a few things about the review you are getting and the impact it has on people.
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nWe get a lot of good response especially abroad which is good, because\r\nit’s much better from the album before, in Germany and a really goo\r\nreaction from the press, with the reviews etc. We are quite happy about\r\nthe reviews we have so far, and we hope we continue. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Are you going to tour in support of the album?
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nYes, we will start to tour on the 27th of January in Belgium, and we go\r\nto Holland and England, then we go to Italy, Spain, and France,\r\nSwitzerland and hopefully we are talking to expanding the tour to May\r\nJune but we don’t know yet. Nothing is confirmed of course it’s only\r\ntalk yet. We are talking about coming to Germany and maybe Greece. We\r\nare now in talks with two promoters in Greece.\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Do you feel it’s a difficult time for a band such as yourselves playing power metal in the current metal scene?
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nThere are a lot of styles, in metal today, which is dividing the\r\naudience, that’s not an easy time of course, a lot of the fans don’t\r\nknow really what they listen to because they are lost in this death\r\nmetal, symphonic, black metal, speed metal, you know really that’s too\r\nmany.\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Subdivisions?
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nand it’s not really a good thing for the scene because I think we are\r\nmixed up in the middle of all that. But we are not in a bad time\r\nbecause I think heavy metal always has it’s space, the 80s are not an\r\nold fashion style. We don’t play music just to follow the trend, we\r\nbetter quit than doing what we don’t love. We play this style because\r\nit’s the music we want to play. If we wanted to be trendy we would just\r\ntake a female vocalist and do some gothic thing and maybe sell more but\r\nwe are not into all that.\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: You’ve been around since 1983?
\r\nYves Campion: Yes. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Since then what changes have you seen to the fans and the scene in general?
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nIt was totally different in the past. More people were going to the\r\nconcerts, it was much better than now for the audience. It was totally\r\ndifferent, like I’ve said, there are too many styles now, and the\r\naudience is totally lost. Before it was only metal we were playing,\r\nthere was no downloading and people were buying more the cds, they\r\nwanted to go more to the concerts, they were more rich maybe, it was a\r\nbetter time but totally different time. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Do you feel you are still progressing as a band?
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nI think so yes because when you are true to your ideals and also try\r\nsome new experiments in the music that means you’re progressing as a\r\nband, you don’t stick to something and do the same thing over and over.\r\nWe are not able to do the same album every year. Every year we make\r\nsomething different, we made three albums and they are different from\r\neach other. When you have that in mind that means that you are\r\nexploring new things.\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Tell me a few things about the themes you have on the Dominion gate.
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nThere’s many different topics. It’s not a concept album; the songs are\r\nnot linked except that is a concept. An epic song it’s the Dominion\r\nGate. Otherwise we have songs that deal with different topics like the\r\nlast song of the album is for K141 it’s about a submarine in Russia, I\r\ndon’t know if you know the story, a submarine that all the people were\r\nkilled by a torpil they don’t really know what happened and they were\r\nhiding the truth from the families of the victims, and we made a song\r\nabout that, we made a song called Secret Wolves that is about the mafia\r\nin Sicily, a secret society which was very controversial, it’s still\r\nactive nowadays and people don’t know if they were the very beginning\r\nof the mafia. We made a song about that. Also we made a song about the\r\nDressmaker it’s about a serial killer in the movie the silence of the\r\nlamps, the killer who killed his victims and took their skin, to make\r\nsome coats. As you can see there’s many different themes. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: And tell me about your favorite song
\r\nYves Campion:\r\nMy favorite song is maybe the Dominion Gate. There is a nice duality\r\nwith the vocals and the theme is very strong. But I also like very much\r\nthe song Armageddon from the album, very strong chorus, nice melody and\r\nit’s about the diabolic list and the planet’s revenge on mankind. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone:\r\nSo after Yves Campion we will now get the chance to talk with Alex\r\nHilbert, hello Alex, we are calling in from Greece how are you?
\r\nAlex Hilbert: Very fine..\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: We would like to know your opinion on the Dominion Gate. Your newest release.
\r\nAlex Hilbert:\r\nI think that for this record we went further that the last album. We\r\nhave expanded the sound of guitars, they are stronger from the former\r\nalbum, and I think we managed to find our own sound. I think that we\r\ncan sound like Nightmare, more than ever before. I think we managed to\r\nmake a good combination between classical metal, power metal and maybe\r\nmore influences, maybe stronger and a little bit more aggressive and a\r\nbit dark but still with more melodies. I think that when we recorded\r\nSilent Room ther was a little of a little change from the recording of\r\nCosmovision, we wanted less keyboards, and maybe more aggressive things\r\nbut we went too far in the other way and there were no more keys too\r\ndark influences in singing. But now when you listen to this album after\r\ntwo hearing sessions you will discover things you don’t listen to at\r\nfirst listen. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: what are your influences ?
\r\nAlex Hilbert: I like old thrash, like Maiden, Judas Priest, and more aggressive things like black metal or maybe death.. a lot of things.\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Do you feel that you bring in your influences to the sound of Nightmare?
\r\nAlex Hilbert:\r\nIn a way yes. Everyone is really open minded in the band and we don’t\r\nsay we want to make this kind of songs. We bring in everything and\r\neveryone listen to them and the one more in the 80s thing but now we\r\nare more open to influences, in aggressive metal, we try to bring\r\neverything and we manage to make a good mix between the voice which\r\nreminds you of DIO with music that is more aggressive not just pure\r\npower metal. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Tell me what’s your favourite song in the album
\r\nAlex Hilbert: The Watchtower maybe. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Why?
\r\nAlex Hilbert:\r\nCause it’s very out-front during the song writing, and I wrote the\r\nguitar we had a lot of fights during the song writing, and I think it\r\nturned to twenty versions of the song, and it was never good and in the\r\nend we went back to the very start. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone:\r\nDo you feel it’s a difficult time for a band who comes from France and\r\nis playing heavy metal to survive in terms of promotion and media\r\nsupport?
\r\nAlex Hilbert: I think\r\nthat in France if you want to be heard when you play music you don’t\r\nplay heavy metal at all! In France if you want media support you have\r\nto play r’n’b or pop. But if you play metal, you will never be on the\r\nradio, there is no metal on tv. Maybe it’s better to be a French band\r\nthan in the other countries cause there are not many bands from France.\r\nStill in the reviews from the last album they talk about the French\r\nband and it’s interesting that there are not many French bands. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Do you want ot send out a message to the Metalzone fans?
\r\nAlex Hilbert:\r\nDo you know the French band called Lonewolf? They are friend of ours\r\nand I talked to them a few days ago and they came in Greece a few years\r\nago, and they were so amazed by the people and the metalheads in\r\nGreece. They always talk about it and I really hope we come to play\r\nthere. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: At the other end of the line is Frank Milleliri newest edition into the group of Nightmare. Hello Frank
\r\nFrank Milleliri: Hello fine\r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: You have just released the Dominion Gate how do you feel about the new album?
\r\nFrank Milleliri:\r\nI am very happy because it’s my first experience with the group. A\r\nreally good group. I know Nightmare since many years and it is a dream\r\ncomes true, I am very happy. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: What is your favourite song of the album?
\r\nFrank Milleliri: The Dominion Gate. \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: Why?
\r\nFrank Milleliri: Because it’s a song with very strong emotion, and I was working a long time on this song, and it’s my favourite. \r\n
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\r\nYves comes in to help since Frank’s English are a little pour \r\n
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\r\nMetalzone: I am trying to ask him how he feels being a new member in the group.
\r\nYves translating Frank: An honour, he is our slave all the day, he kiss our feet. (laughs) He is very proud.\r\n
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\r\nΕλÎνη "Blackie" Μιχαηλίδου\r\n