Interviews

MR: First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for Metal Reviews.

AM: Hi Marty, I’m very happy to talk with you… A very special hi to all MetalReviews readers.

MR: The Legend Of The Forgotten Reign saga; whose idea was it?

AM: It was my idea. I wrote the Legend of the Forgotten Reign saga many years ago. I wrote it during my military service.

MR: Did you think you were taking a big risk by releasing such a complicated story as a trilogy for your first three albums?

AM: Absolutely not. I love story concepts and all things medieval… Our saga is composed of six (6) chapters, and we’ll release one per year. At the same time I’m still writing this wonderful story. I hope that will be finished sometime….. ahahahahahahhh I hope to attract our fans to buy the next chapter to discover the next events of the story…..

MR: Are you a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi literature?

AM: Yes I am... I love J.R.R. Tolkien, but I love also many other fantasy writers like Robert Erwin Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Catherine Lucille Moore and more…

MR: Does the Forgotten Reign story bear any resemblance to a historic event or is it timeless and universal in its tale of greed and deceit?

AM: No no…. it is only a tale… A big tale like “Lord of the Rings” or similar. The only real thing in my story it is the location…England. I love very much that land, and so my choice was England without a doubt. The rest is only my fantasy….

MR: Are there any plans to do a major tour or just occasional appearances at summer festivals etc.? Also, whom would you love to tour with?

AM: Oh yeah, there are very big plans for the future… At this time I can’t say more, but I hope that in the next future we’ll come in your beautiful country for a big Kaledon show. We’ll do some headliner shows and many others as an opening act. Details will be coming coming soon….

MR: Is it difficult to reproduce your music in a live setting, especially the symphonic elements to your music?

AM: Well… this is a good question. Kaledon’s music is sometimes very complex… I mean the studio version. But at the same time we hate the live samplers and the other electronics delivery, therefore during our rehearsal sessions we make some changes in our music for the live situation. On stage we have two guitars one bass one keyboard one drummer and one lead voice. We must find the way to reproduce everything we have recorded in the studio. Usually we are able to do that perfectly….. I hope that our fans think the same way…. ahahahahahahahhhhhh

MR: Are there any major musical differences between the music on the new album (Part Three) versus the other two? I thought The King's Rescue (Part 2) had a richer sound, a stronger production and showed a maturity and complexity over Part 1.

AM: Oh yes… In the new chapter you’ll find the results of another other year of strong work from the band. We have improved our style, our sound, and of course our writing process. The new chapter will be faster like the speed of light….. For conceptual requirement the new songs will be 70% power epic speed metal always with many orchestral influences.

MR: Is drummer Jorg Michael (Stratovarius) going to be involved with the new album. I know you guys are looking for a drummer and have been negotiating with him to play on the new album.

AM: Oh well… Jorg it is a very nice guy, at this moment we are in the final negotiating arrangements. I think that I can confirm his presence in the next few weeks. Anyway Jorg will be only a session man for our third album. After the release we must find a permanent drummer.

MR: What are your main musical influences? Have some of the other Italian symphonic metal bands such as Skylark, Rhapsody and Shadows Of Steel been any influence to you?

AM: I think that a band like Rhapsody was very important for the Italian scene. We like very much their style, and inevitably we have learned something from their music, but as far as Skylark or other Italian bands, I don’t consider them important for Kaledon’s music. My favorite band was, are and will always be Queen. I think that Brian May was one of the better and complete guitarisst in the world. That’s my thoughts..

MR: As far as the writing process, which band members contribute and are melodies worked out first or some of the songs built around guitar riffs or other rhythms, beats etc.?

AM: Right…. I am the principal songwriter of the band, because all the lyrics are based on the concept that I wrote, but also the singer Claudio Conti wrote many lyrics especially for the second chapter. Also in the third chapter he wrote some lyrics and obviously he gave me some ideas for the music parts. The other guys in the band gave some ideas during the writing of the record, but nobody prevents them to write one entire song. The only constrain is to respect the concept story.

MR: I noticed a big improvement in Claudio's voice on the second album versus the first. Some people may find his heavily accented voice a bit of a deterrent; does he speak English or does he just sing the English lyrics phonetically? If so, why not record a version of your albums in Italian?

AM: Obviously Claudio’s mother tongue is Italian, and for the moment he uses English only to sing our songs. Like you said, he has improved his English very well and on the third album you’ll hear other improvements as well. Concerning an Italian version of our music I don’t exclude that in the future we can do something in our mother language, but for the moment we haven’t the time.

MR: Are you in tune with the new technologies out there such as home studio software, midi interfaces etc. or do you still prefer old fashioned techniques of miking guitar amp cabinets etc.

AM: I think that Kaledon’s music is created 50% with “old” technology and 50% with “new” technology. During the studio session we use a midi technology for the keyboard, but it is all hand played!!! This it is very important. I mean that with the midi technology if you want you can record only one piece of the song and then you can finish all with the famous cut and paste, but we don’t like this kind of work. What you hear on our CDs is 100% the product of our hands.

MR: With the type of speedy power metal that Kaledon plays and with so many bands now having the same sort of sound, do you think it's more difficult to have a sense of uniqueness and originality? What is it about Kaledon that gives it a different sound than the others in the same genre?

AM: Oh well… this is a difficult question? Ahahahahahhh Kaledon’s band members came from very different experiences, and I think that this it is the first point of difference with other bands. In one Kaledon album we can find one speed metal song, but also one very sad ballad, or one mid-tempo song! Do you agree with me? I mean that with one album we are able to satisfy many kinds of metal heads. Do you understand what I mean? To be original is very difficult but I think that our sound is different compared with the tons of power metal bands in the world….

MR: When can we expect to see the new album released?

AM: We’ll start the recording sessions in September, and we’ll finish in November. The new album will be released between the end of the year and the beginning of the next.

MR: I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for us. Good luck with the new album and all the best for the future. Any last comments for our readers?

AM: Thank you to you and all the staff of Metalreviews.com. I hope to come to your city in the future for a Kaledon gig.
See you around

MAY THE DRAGON BE WITH YOU FOREVER.

ALEX MELE

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