AHRCANA
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Ahrcana is a new band from Milan, which managed to impress many people with their debut album “Into The Prophecy” and the different sound they have, if we compare it with most of the Italian bands. That’s the reason, that we decided to make an interview with Franz Montonati, the guitarist of the band… |
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F:
Hello my friend and a big “Ciao” to every true fucked heavy metal
fans from Greece! I spent five consecutive summers in Greece so you can
easily understand that I really love your country! I’m really glad to
have the possibility to talk to someone who comes from the land of the
great myths and ancient Gods… it really makes me shiver… great! Well,
let’s go on! First of all, thanks a lot for your compliments. The
response has been positive: many excellent reviews from all over the
world and many fans are showing appreciation for the work done. The
sales aren’t satisfying yet, but for other reasons…
First
of all, tell us a few words about the band’s history and what does
Ahrcana mean. F:
The band was formed in 1998. After many line up changes the band came up to a definitive formation and recorded three demo CDs: “Gates to Realm” 1999, “Promo” 2001 and “Stormmaster” 2002. In 2002 we signed with Northwind Records and we recorded our first album, “Into The prophecy” at New Sin Studios (Domine; Labyrinth; Dark Moor etc.) on December 2002. The album has been launched on May 2003 but in the same time, the singer, Halley, left the band. After almost one year of tests, Ahrcana finally found a new great singer: Paolo Carboni.
What
are your influences as a band? F:
Our influences are really various. As each member of the band has
different music tastes, the result is a really personal style. We pass
trough Iron Maiden, Manowar, Halloween, Blind Guardian, but also Angra,
Symphony X and others…
Why
did you name the album “Into the Prophecy”? F:
As you surely already understood, it is a concept album. The story
talks about a prophecy in which five metal warriors begin a journey for
the conquest of a Realm occupied by a mysterious enemy… and the title
introduces… “Into The Prophecy”.
Now
I would like you to tell me a few words about each one of the songs.
Just a line or two for each song. F:
“The Prophecy” is, as I said before, the narration of the prophecy
about five metal warriors during the journey to the enemy Realm. “The
Travel” . As the title introduces is the beginning of the travel. “Gates
To Realm”. The Gates are the final target of the five warriors, just
like the freedom of the realm. “Immortal”
. This is the battle hymn… who’s fucking destroying you? Nobody:
you’re immortal! “We’ll
Reborn” is a prayer for the Gods before the beginning of the war. “Long
Life To Dark Elf”. Another hymn, but this time it is addressed to the
men of Dark Elf’s army. “In
The Village”. Here we have the five warriors in the valley where the
men of Dark Elf’s army are lying dead and transformed into stone. With
the help of the Spell of Light, they are going to make them turn into
their natural human aspect. “Tears
In The Wind”. A man of the army dies after being caught in an ambush.
Pain, but desire to react on the faces of the fellows. “Stormmaster”.
The time for the battle has come, the fight is near. Will the
Stormmaster listen to the warriors’ prayers?
Which
song do you consider as the best of the album and why? F:
I think the best song is “In The Village”. We can find in it all the
elements that characterise the sound of Ahrcana: melodic acoustic parts
and more aggressive patterns; guitars’ rides and majestic choirs of
great impact. It’s the most complete and emblematic song; it has a
fantastic compositional research that will be more evident in the songs
of the second album.
What
are your plans for the near future? F:
For the near future, now that we finally found a new valid singer, we
are going to support the first album with a tour all over Italy. After
that, we will surely be in a new recording studio for the second album.
Unfortunately, not before the end of this year.
Are
you satisfied with your label or are you looking for a bigger one? F:
Obviously Northwind Records has only been a beginning step and not the
end of our personal travel. We are very very disappointed at the
behaviour of the record company that promised a lot and carried out very
few. We didn’t obtaine any advertising spaces and any interviews in
any fanzines or magazines all over the world, and any live showes
organized too. Obviously these are all things that the record label
proimised us. The promotion of the album has been of no value and we
only have to thank our personal efforts for the popularity we obtained.
We felt absolutely abandoned to ourselves, I think we’ll no longer be
under this record label.
What
would you say to someone who hasn’t listened to your CD or any track
from Ahrcana in order to convince him to buy it? F:
Well, I think: “Heavy
metal played with soul, body and heart, and if it is not enough… well,
there’s always Merylin Manson there for you”!
I
have spotted that most power metal groups from Italy sound like
Helloween and others sound like Rhapsody. What do you think about this
and how do you see the metal scene in Italy? F:
I don’t think we should overgeneralize a much more complex topic. In
my opinion, there are many bands, in Italy and all over the world, that
really stand out from the two you quoted. The problem is that those bands, even if really valid, are
not supported from the labels that prefer to produce a genre (Rhapsody,
Stratovarious etc.) on which they can immediately capitalize. So they
produce only those kind of bands and the market becomes full of trash
while we have really valid bands that, as proposing something different,
are very rarely taken into consideration. The result is finally that the
metal world knows only the Italian bands clones of Rhapsody and others
like them… but it’s not true they’re the only ones!
How
difficult is for a new band to sign a contract with a label, nowadays
that lots of groups are formed every day around the world? F:
I think that nowadays it is not so difficult for a heavy metal band to
sign a contract. What is really difficult is to stand out from the
melting pot! Many record companies produce only to gain from your first
work, leaving you alone after a while. The only way is to throw
ourselves into this job and constantly believe in it, against every
adversity; never stop even if the situation becomes unbearable and it
seems that the only thing to do is to leave everything!
What
are your favourite guitarists? F:
I haven’t got a favourite guitar player in particular. I simply try to
listen and understand the essence and the peculiarities of every
musician because I think that if I fix myself on someone in particular,
I’ll tend to imitate him, precluding me the possibility to create a
style which would be mine, unique and that could respect what I feel
than what others inculcate in me. If I would have to give you some names…
well, I was born with the notes of Dave Murray’s solos and grew up
with the ones of Malmsteen. I love the warmth of some 70s guitarists
like Page, Blackmore, Randy Roads; but also some flamenco players like
Paco De Lucia. For what more “actual” guitar players are concerned,
I like Louriero and Romeo very much.
And
now just a couple of “weird questions”… imagine that your wife is
selling your whole album-collection just to buy for her an expensive,
good ring. How would you react? F:
Well, I think that, in the same way of Gollum with Frodo, I would rip
away her finger and precious ring… with a bite! I would resell it and
buy my collection back!
If
you were living in Middle Earth (I hope that you have seen or read
“the Lord of the Rings”) which character would you choose to be and
why. F:
I know it could seem a little banal, but I’ve always identified myself
into Aragorn (…before the coming out of Jackson’s famous trilogy…).
I like his roaming spirit very much and I really appreciate his regality,
majesty and wisdom. His adventurous and warrior spirit pushes him to
throw himself on the battle field together with all his soldiers,
risking his life with them.
Ok
Franz! My questions are over! I wish you good luck and success! So, say
anything you want to the fans. F:
I’d like to greet and thank you, George, and Grande Rock for the opportunity to talk with the fans in your fantastic country Greece! We love you all!
by George Kouvelis |
Hello
Franz and congratulations about your first full-length CD! What is the
response of the media and the fans so far?