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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
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METALIUM
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Lars Ratz
April 2005
http://www.metalium.de
Metalium has always been one of my favorite German power metal bands (not counting Brainstorm as simply power metal, and I really don't like the typical Helloween/Gamma Ray type of bands much), and I applaud them for sticking to their guns, their own recognizable style and their own recognizable image. Nico and I always had a good contact to mastermind Lars Ratz, so it was a pleasure to have a chance to chat again :) Time and place were Sunday April 10, 10am, a cosy hotel in Landgraaf, the Netherlands (hometown of promotor Theo of Rock Inc). We talked about Metalium's new record "Demons Of Insanity" and other band stuff, and about Lars making his own basses. I now know what is the best wood for basses... and windows :)
I like it how the music didn't really change a lot, but it has matured over the years, more layers, more detail.. what would you say changed between "As One" and "Demons Of Insanity"?
Definitely with "Demons Of Insanity" we made a step back to the roots a little bit, a more warm sound. Also, on the last release we didn't have so much input from all the members, because Henning was setting up his vocal school, Mattias was getting married... Now with "Demons Of Insanity" we have again four songwriters, fully involved, so that's a reason why we have again four styles of writing. A piano ballad from Henning, me for the fast songs, Mattias for the guitarriffs and Michael for the epic style, like the last song. It has helped, because this is the very first Metalium album where all four bandmembers are satisfied with the sound and the production and the songs, hehe!
I know you wanted to have a balance in the songwriting, to have everyone equally contribute to it. Did you find that balance?
Almost. Henning and Mattias didn't write as many songs as Michael and I did. But on the other hand, because Henning is singing on all the songs, he's also putting his melodies to it, so he's doing that part at well. And Mattias does the guitarsolos, so in the end it evens it out.
Another difference is that you have recorded parts of it in Majorca, did it change your approach of the music?
The reason why we split up for the recordings was that we got the offer to play on a Japan tour when we were still in the beginning of the production. We waited 5 years to play Japan and it could be the first and last possibility, who knows. So we said, we definitely want to play Japan, but then we have to hurry up. We split up in two teams. We did the drums and I made a copy of the harddisk and went to my house on Majorca with Henning where I can record, and Mattias stays at the same time in my studio in Hamburg. When we came back we mixed it. It was a good solution for Henning, because when he's in Hamburg he always has so many things on his mind, the vocal school, girlfriend, going back and forth between work and home.. singers always think a lot, they're sensitive ;) So I took him out of the city and put him in the country of Majorca, where there is only sun, sea and freedom. And you can hear that.
So you're going to do that again.
I'm working more and more on Majorca anyway, also for the label and the studio. Armageddon signed the very first Spanish band, Forever Slave, with a female singer, I'm producing bands, and we also signed Goddes Of Desire from the Netherlands! Not the most spectacular band from the music side, but you know what to expect and that's what I like, you know! It's sometimes good when a band stands for something and does it without changing. Kind of like with Metalium, we wouldn't start to play grunge or anything ;)
You have people like Don Airey and Ken Hensley playing on your records, how did you get them to do that?! Or even in general, you started out with Chris Caffery, not your average musician either.
Because I'm so sexy! Hahaha!
Ken Hensley is just a personal friend of mine and Don Airey I know through my work with the booking agency (Monster Productions) I used to have and we were sitting in my garden at some point, having a BBQ, and I said (doing the not-worthy thing the whole time) "well you might not know, but I also play in a little band and would it be possible that you play with me for one song..?". It turned out he liked the stuff and Don Airey became one of the biggest Metalium fans I guess, so everytime I ask him, he's like "sure, let's do it". It was a big honour for me, because he's my master of the old analog keyboard sounds of the world - when I hear the Mr. Crowley intro (hums the melody), you know? Gives the music the last icing on the cake. I don't think I'll sell more records with 
Don Airey on it, because the younger kids don't know him, but it's something I want to have on my baby for me to be proud of. It's pure luxury.
Old farts like us realize the value of it ;)
I just spend that money for us, when I listen to it, it's great :)
You didn't have any guest vocalists this time?
My father.
Your father??
My father! :)
Tell me about that!
In "Endless Believer", the slow song, we have in the bridge (sings) "listen to the call of your heart"... the very low voice, that's my father. He was in Majorca at the time and he's a tenor singer and a teacher, directed a school choir all his life - he has a very dark voice. Henning couldn't sing so low, I can sing lower than him, but we wanted a really strong voice, so we asked my father, it's the lowest voice on the record, hahaha!!
Can't believe you never used him before then?
Well he was never near, I come from Heidelberg in the south of Germany and I moved to Hamburg for Zed Yago in the 90's.
But yeah, now it's a double-Ratz, haha!
You are behind the whole Metalium concept, you have let the Metalian fight, reincarnate with several historic personalities, then you invent Metaliana and let her do the same. And now on the new album, modern issues come up, only betrayed through the eyes of Metalian and Metaliana. Do you have more in store for them? Or are you slowly letting go of the characters?
The characters are more symbols for fighters for what you believe in, like you and me. We believe in heavy metal and the spirit of it. On this album we're touching reality more than ever before, because we're not 25 anymore, we see things differently. We have families, we see a lot of strange things happening in the world, so it was time for us to make our statement. Michael and I write the lyrics and he just became a father as well, so on "Demons Of Insanity" we're very dark and critical with mankind and ourselves. Because human mankind is supposed to be the most intelligent race on this planet, but at the same time it's the only race that will annihilate himself. We kill each other in wars and we clone and don't respect nature, we kill our own environment. So in the end it
means that ironically our own intelligence will kill us. Mankind always thinks that because they have money and power, they can do whatever they want, it's their place. But it's not, happenings like the tsunami waves show us that. The earth strikes back and wipes us away like flies. When you read the lyrics and listen to the record, in the last song, "One By One", you have to realize, who are the Demons Of Insanity? It's us. So it's very dark, but still I have hope for us, I don't think that heavy metal will save the world, that would be very naive to think, but at least in our little circle we can still have the faith to keep the spirit. That's why on the cover the Metalian and Metaliana are lifting up this earth which is dangerously falling apart.
The artwork is done by a Dutch artist, Frans Mensink!
Oh, I didn't recognize it, I thought it was done by Markus Mayer again.
No, the first was done by Frans, then Markus did number 2, 3 and 4, and now it's Frans again. Why? I was Markus' best man at his wedding, we are pretty close friends, but when we work together we both have a very strong vision and sometimes it doesn't go well together. With "As One" we had a moment where he thought the Metaliana should have no bra and all, and I said, "hey for us it was already a big step to have a "her", not a "him", you know, and we cannot have a pin-up!" and he's like "But it's the best cover I ever did in my life!" etc. So we had the armour put on top afterwards and then we decided that it's best for our friendship - because I don't want to lose the friendship over a cover - that we wouldn't work together anymore in a creative area.
But still, in the beginning the characters were more like a main characters of a comic book type of thing, and now they're more like symbols telling other stories..
It's more like Eddie of Iron Maiden, he was there, but he was not playing the main role. I just don't want to lock myself in the corner, you know. A lot of journalists feel we have locked ourselves in the corner with this concept, they don't get behind it so much, they think the cover is corny and stuff... I don't want to lock myself in a corner, I'm doing exactly what I want to do with Metalium. There's no reason why I would change the way I want this band to be and there's not even a label anymore who can tell me, I have it all in my hands.
I think the whole concept gives you a recognizable image that makes you stand out from all the other power metal bands (besides with the music) and you've proven that you can go in pretty much any direction you want with it.
Ok, about Metalium, the band, again... what are your live plans?
We've just been in Japan for the first time..
How was that?
We had a blast! We didn't know what to expect. We've been there supporting Dream Evil, they sell very well there and we've been distributed there from the beginning by the Marquee label, but they never got us over. So now we've changed to King Records, which is the biggest label there and they got us over. We didn't know what to expect, but surprisingly in Tokyo we sold more t-shirts that Dream Evil! Everybody was like "What? How come?" So that was very motivational.
Was the culture shock very big?
It was cool! Such nice people. When they came for the signing session, they lined up automatically!
I heard from I think Arch Enemy, that the people would go crazy during the songs, but then in between be very quiet to listen to what their singer Angela had to say.
We played a ballad, "Prophecy", and than we fade out and we're used to it that everybody then after 2 seconds starts to cheer, but there... (stays quiet for a bit)... so we said "song's over" and then they'd go "oohohoh!" hahaha! Totally, totally different.
What about future live plans?
For the very first time we're getting interest from Moscow and the USA, so we're working on that, we're also talking about South-America for the very first time..
I think you have a lot of fans there..
Yes, we have fanclubs in Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Mexico, but we've never been there. There are just two promotors you can work with and even less you can trust ;) Also we're thinking about a European tour like every year, we're talking about different solutions, but it's not confirmed yet.
But you have been confirmed for Bloodstock.
Yes, we've never played in the UK before, so we're looking forward to rock the United Kingdom :) And then we'll play Wacken again..
What has been your favorite band to tour/play with? Which bands would you still really like to tour with?
Maiden would be cool! I'm an old Maiden fan, from the early days, not anymore. But to be honest, I also like to play alone in a club, like in Verviers :) There's good and bad with big and small shows, I like to have contact with the people. I don't really care who I play with.
And in what countries?
In Europe the favorite country is definitely Spain, the Spanish people never cared about the politics behind or in the band, doesn't matter who's in it, as long as the music is good. To some it matters too much, but I was the same when Peter Criss left Kiss, I was like "mmm it isn't Kiss anymore", even when Eric was a better drummer than Peter was. So what I now find stupid, I was the same, so I can't blame them. But in the beginning people wouldn't even ask, just decide on their own that Metalium would be a project from Chris. He came in the band as the last person, he brought two songs, "Revelation" and "Pilgrimage". All other songs were written by me, Mattias and Henning, but it was labeled as a project and it was hard to get this monkey off my back. And then Chris Caffery, who is in Savatage, had no time for the first tour and people said it didn't sound like Metalium anymore. Well, I think that after 5 records we proved it's not a project ;) The strength of this record is that we now did 3 records in the same line-up and we're all growing together. I know exactly when Henning is serious about something, he's like a girl sometimes (laughter, Nico cracks up, then to Nico while pointing at me: ) You know like when she says something, you know exactly when she is serious or not and others may look strange. Well it's the same with bandmembers.
Nico: it's like a marriage, being in a band together and now with 5 people in this case.
4... I really feel so much more comfortable with 4 than 5. 5 is a strange number. You'll easily get a group of 3 and of 2. It starts with waking up and where should we go for breakfast. 3 will go this way and 2 that way. With 4, and I never found out why, but with 4 it's so much more overviewable and it doesn't happen. That's why I want to keep it a four-piece. Henning is always saying how he would like a second guitarist, he's younger than us and more into the two guitar thing, but we grew up with Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, and well, one guitarist can do all that stuff too, so.. ;)
I never missed it in Metalium live, with some bands you do miss it. Do you use any backup live?
Keyboards, they come from the MD. But live is live anyway for me, live is not only for the music but also for the vision and how it comes across, so I always said we don't need it live. Henning always says, during the solos I miss the guitar.. and then they bang their heads and they don't listen hahaha!
In the Special section on your website are some graphics and you are united with the element fire. Are you the most passionate member of Metalium?
As you can see I'm a flame freak (points to his shirt with flames and his tattoo)! Somehow we didn't have to think about which element suits who. It was logical. We wanted to use the 4 elements we already talked about in the music because we are with 4 bandmembers. It was clear that I'm fire, somehow. And Henning says, "I'm water." because he loves the sea, and Mattias says, "I'm the air, I'm a tornado" and it totally fits. Michael is learning to become a teacher, he's totally down to earth, from the countryside just outside of Hamburg, it fits perfectly. There was no discussion at all :)
You make your own basses, do you ever play with other basses?
No, in '89 I made my first bass. I did start with a normal bass, it was 400 Deutsch Marks, a very cheap Explorer, it was not very good. It looked killer, it was an Explorer like Nicki Sixx, I was a big Motley Crüe fan, but it wasn't very good. It was plywood, really cheap. So I took little parts, put on a new neck, so I was always the guys who did a lot of drilling and carving and stuff like that. And when the time had come I went to my uncle who is a carpenter and asked him to give me a good piece of wood because I wanted to make my own bass. He gave me the wood and I made the LR bass. It looked cool, I put the pick ups in and then it sounded so shitty! I took it to the guitar shop and they asked what kind of wood it was. I said, "what do you mean what kind of wood, it's wood." And he says, "yeah, but what kind of wood?" So I went to ask my uncle and he said, "well it's the best kind of wood I have, for windows." (laughter) "it's beechwood". So I went back to the guitarshop and they were like "noooooo it's not possible, you can't have beechwood for your bass?!!" So then I learned about the different sorts of wood and that it really matters the most what kind of wood it is. So it was a total mistake, but after I finished I learned this, so I learned the hard way. I have this great looking bass that sounds like shit hahaha! But at least for one or two songs in the live show it does the job. And then I started to read and educate myself about wood and for the next bass, my first Monster Bass, I used alder wood and then I learned a bit more and for Monster Bass II I used maple. And this is the perfect instrument for me. I will never go on stage with a bass from the store, it's not for me, I'm a way too individual person. If I couldn't make my own, maybe I had to, but it's not for me, no.
(check lots of pics with descriptions about making his Monster Bass II during a workshop on Formentera, Spain, in July 2002, on http://www.metalium.de/Bass-report/bass.shtml)
Nico: You're on your own, but you're also in a band, isn't that hard?
Well, I cannot sing as good as Henning so I need him hahahaha!
I think you can be an individual and a good team player at the same time.
It's always great to work with great people. We are totally different people, Henning and me are the opposite...
Nico: fire and water :)
But when we get together once a year to be creative, something comes out in the end and we all go "hmm that's not so bad!" ;) There is no song, and no record, I have to be ashamed for, I like all of them, all my babies. Each record has its own little flavour, even "As One" I like because it has an aggressive drumsound, every record has its own identity.
How do you juggle everything with Metalium, the label (Armageddon Records) - Monster Productions you don't have anymore?
No I don't have any time for Monster Productions anymore ;)
No kidding hehe!
After I founded Metalium and then the label I had to.. and my studio in Majorca and I also have a publishing company. And then I'm still a father to two kids and I have physical limitations hehe. This year is going to be so much work, I've started to gather a team of capable people around me that work towards me. For the label I got Sabina Classen as a product manager, she has been in the business even longer than I. In Spain she's called the female Lars Ratz ;) Because we are both capable of multi-tasking ;) We can work at 3 total different things at the same time. We team up very well. And the same with the studios, I have two engineers and when I e.g. produce Forever Slave, I do the drums and I fly one of my engineers to Majorca for the bass, guitar and keyboards and violins, while I fly back working in Hamburg and then two weeks later I fly back to Majorca to do the vocals, because the vocals are always my most important thing, vocal recording is great. And then I mix in Hamburg again. This whole year is already planned more or less with work, but now I have to see if touring comes up, where I can squeeze it in. But at least I'm doing my own thing and I work in the area I want to work in, heavy metal.
Do you still listen to other music, you're still a fan?
Yeah, but to be honest, I'm sticking to my old "Powerslave" and "Number Of The Beast" shit, for my personal taste I don't listen to many modern styles. I listen to In Flames or Children Of Bodom as a producer, to learn about the sounds, when I listen to a Fredrik Nordström production, I think "how does he do things", you know. But for my own taste I'm still more in my old... I listen to Ozzy Osbourne etc.
Oops, our time is up. Do you have any last comments for our readers?
Of course I'm looking forward to come to Holland again and I want to see a lot of Dutch, banging heads in the front row, hahaha!
submitted by Marlies 13.04.2005
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