One of this year's best releases was Evil Masquerade's debut release, a fantastic combination of progressive power metal with neo-classic of almost operatic proportions, the band's guitarist/producer/mastermind, Henrik Flyman, also of Wuthering Heights fame, took the time answering my questions:


A: Hi Henrik! Can you please tell us about the birth of Evil Masquerade, how was the band created?

H: Hi Alon! Evil Masquerade was actually born without me even knowing it. It all
started when I was writing a whole bunch of music as kind of a therapy thing to forget about the music biz. The idea was to keep the songs for my self to enjoy. Not to start a new band or releasing more records. But as you understand one thing led to another. I ran into Henrik Brockmann one late night in Copenhagen at this local blues club. We started talking and decided that we should try his vocals on the music I´d written. Said and done. We continued the night in my studio and recorded vocals on a couple of the songs. I believe it was "But You Were Smiling..." and "Lucy the Evil". When we were done and heard the outcome it was pretty obvious that it couldn´t end with this. I contacted Dennis Buhl (drums) and Kasper Gram (bass) to
hear if they were interested in join forces in a new band. They listened to the pre productions and jumped right onboard. Rehearsals began so that we could record an entire album. We started the cooperation with our management Scandinavian Metal Agency and they shopped the album around to some good labels. And it wasn´t long
before contracts were signed.

A: Where did the band members originate, their former bands and such?

H: Henrik Brockmann was the original vocalist in Royal Hunt. He did 2 albums with them.
They are still active today, but now with John West as their front man. Our bass player Kasper Gram originates from the epic folk metal project Wuthering Heigts and then high speeders Manticora. Drummer Dennis Buhl has a history in the Danish progressive act Sinphonia.

A:What is the meaning of the band's name and concept?

H: I´ve always had somewhat of a musical and theatrical feel present in the music I´ve written through the past. The last 4 years of the 90´s I actually made a living out of composing theatre music. I have a draw to that way of creating. Therefore it came natural for me to focus on those elements when I wrote the songs that ended up being
Evil Masquerade´s first album. Since the music had that theatrical touch, it became the focal point for our image as well. That´s why we chose to present the band in theatrical surroundings. But we have no intentions of making a very big deal out of it either. It´s just to spice things up a little. The music will always have its clear roots in metal music. As for the band name Evil Masquerade. I wanted a name
that was easy to pronounce, since my earlier bands were not. I also wanted a name that was pretty clear about what to expect. Evil Masquerade couldn´t really be anything else than metal, right? And of course we chose the name because it sounds right.

A: What were your influences musically, and what kind of an album were you trying to create?

H: When I write music I usually try to free my mind and write whatever comes naturally.
That usually leaves me with more music than I need for an album. I pick the songs that fit together and enjoy each others company. The reason why I chose the songs I did, was because I wanted a slightly more modern touch to the album than I´ve had on earlier releases. I also wanted to try a bit more up tempo whole than I´d done
before. My influences are basically any good song or melody. That´s probably what forms most composers. You hear music you like and store it somewhere in the back of your mind. It becomes a part of your memory and experience bank. And by spending time inside your head it has an influence on everything you do. Both non musical and musical doings. I´m fortunate enough to not be able to remember things that don´t interest me. Therefore my MAEB (Memory And Experience Bank) is quite useful. But I have of course more concrete influences as well. Some of them would include most chapters of the Ritchie Blackmore catalogue, RJ Dio, Black Sabbath, Benny Andersson, Swedish folkmusic, Les Miserables, Yngwie Malmsteen, Frank Zappa, Phil Lynott, Queen, WA Mozart, Lv Beethoven, JS Bach, H Purcell, C Orff and I could go on and on and on....

A: What live shows did the band do as of now?

H: We didn´t do that many gigs actually. We decided that the best thing for us to do was to make our 2nd album as soon as possible. That because we wanted to show everyone that Evil Masquerade is a real band with every intention to continue making albums. But also because another album gives us the benefit of more songs to choose
from when we play live. We will focus much more on playing live this time. When the new album is mixed at the end of November we will prepare for the rehearsals in December and start working on the live act in the beginning of next year. Then we´ll try to get as many gigs as possible. We have already gotten requests from some clubs and venues, I´ve heard.

A: What's up with the band's second album?

H:I started writing for that one as soon as the debut was released. I completed the track list last month and we´re now recording it. I expect us to have laid down all tracks before the end of October. The final mix will take place in Jailhouse Studios together with Tommy Hansen as mixing engineer. You probably know him from his works with Helloween, TNT and Pretty Maids. We start the mixing sessions in the middle of November and we will be finished before it turns December. When we get a release is very much up to the record labels to decide. But hopefully it shouldn´t take long.

A: How will it sound, in comparison to the first one?

H:I would say it´s a bit less neo classic and more dynamic. It´s a wider spectra of songs and they touch the edges even more. Everything is based around the songs and the melodies this time as well. And for all those into technical stuff, there are lots of goodies to be found. But the important thing is, and has always been, the songs. I think the 2nd album will stand the test of time even better than our first.
The production will be clearly improved. Now when we know each other a lot better, it´s much easier to get the absolute best out of everyone. And by doing the final mix with Tommy, we´ll surely get an improvement on the final result. So back to answering your question. It will sound even better!

A: Are there any guests playing in the album, as in the first one?

H:Yes. We´ll feature some great special guests on this one as well. But I wont say anything about who they are just yet. Info will come on our web site (www.evilmasquerade.com) before long.

A: Tell us about yourself, your musical background, what projects did you play in before, and are you active in other bands apart from Evil Masquerade?

H: I started out with Moahni Moahna [moa:ni moa:na] which was a very progressive kind of band. The music was some kind of cross mix between older Rainbow/Black Sabbath/Dio oriented stuff and ... god knows what. We did 2 albums and 2 maxi singles and had a thing going for some years. Moahni Moahna became a rather big underground act. Thereafter I did an album with the singer from that band under the
name of ZooL [so:l]. This was more kind of classic hard rock. A great album with many good songs, I think. I´ve also been hired to play lead guitars for Wuthering Heights on their 2 last albums. That´s also progressive metal but with an Celtic folk feel to it. My earlier bands are not active now, since I was pretty much the driving force. What happens with me and Wuthering Heights is for the stars to
decide. That´s always been on an album to album basis for me and I never was a permanent member. My only band right now is Evil Masquerade and I´m very happy with that, because it takes and deserves all my focus.

A: How did you acquire your knowledge as a producer?

Trial and error I guess... hahaha. I´ve always had a pretty clear view for my music.
I don´t like writing songs without having control over the final result. Every recording has its possibilities and limitations. And that´s very much what producing is all about. Making the right choices. But it´s also a social psychological thing, since it´s also about getting the best results out of the other musicians. I learn
along the way and get new ideas that I want to try next time. That´s probably what keeps me going. The will to improve and develop.

A: Tell us about your recording studio?

H: Digital Bitch is a computer based studio as you might guess. It started out as my composing studio, which it very much still is today. But I have now modified it to be better suited for recording my own musical doings. I basically record anything except for drums. That´s more cost effective for me to do elsewhere, since I never
record more than 1 - 2 own albums per year anyway. The studio is located in central Copenhagen where I also live. I spend most of my awake time in my studio writing and recording music. Mostly my own works.

A: What bands did you produce or do sound for?

H: All my earlier bands and some theatres I´ve been working with. I´ve recorded all my lead guitars for the two most recent Wuthering Heights albums at Digital Bitch. I also recorded bagpipe, violin, banjo and flutes for the latest WH album "Far from the madding crowd". Evil Masquerade of course. Everything on "Welcome to the Show",except for some lead keys and drums, are recorded at DB. The new album is being recorded here. I also have some other interesting things coming up after I´m done with the new Evil Masquerade. So I have no problem keeping busy.

A: How did you contact all the guest musicians on the Evil Masquerade album?

H: It wasn´t such a big deal since they were old friends and band mates. We asked and they were happy to contribute.

A: Since you had some bad experience with labels, can you tell about the problems that you had in the matter in the past, and what are your impressions with your current label, Frontiers?

H:Yes, that´s right. I´ve had issues with some earlier labels. To put it clear. They stole our royalties and refused to give us any sales reports. I always tried to ensure that this wouldn´t happen, but it ended up the same way many times. It came to a point of actually killing the joy of continuing. Same story as for so many
other artists. The only of those labels still existing today is Lucretia Records and they´re still selling my former band ZooL. The good thing that came out of these sad stories was however Evil Masquerade. There is nothing bad without some good in it.
Frontiers is a completely different kind of label. They´re much more professional and are doing their job alright.

A: What are your plans for the future, with the band, and otherwise?

H: The immediate plan for Evil Masquerade is to get the album ready and to come out and play live. Besides that I have some interesting things coming up, but it´s a bit too early to tell about that right now. I´ll get back to you with more information a bit later on. The future looks bright!


Alon Miasnikov

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