"All About The Album - 15 Questions" - a brand new section at the RockUnited site where any recording artist with an recently released CD is confronted with standard questions (15 of them, duh!). If you'd like to have your material up here, email: urban "at" rockunited.com (simply replace "at" with your standard @ )

DARKWATER: "Where Stories End"

The second album from the Swedish melodic progressive metal band Darkwater is scheduled for release in November (Ulterium Records). "Where Stories End" (awful quite album, huh?) has been mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström and Henrik Udd (In Flames, Hammerfall, Dimmu Borgir) at the rather famous 'Studio Fredman'. All set up to answer our "All About The Album" questions, keyboard player: Mr. MAGNUS HOLMBERG...

How has the reaction to your latest CD been?

So far it has been very well recieved! It hasn't been officialy released yet (november 12th in Europe and november 23rd in North America), so the reviews have mainly come from net magazines and other sites. The response from the audience, when they've heard the new material live and sound samples from our Myspace-site, has been great..

How long did this CD take to make from start to finish, recording-wise?

The recordings went on, more or less active, during a period for about three months.

What kind of 'sound', production wise, did you have in the back of your mind, prior to entering the studio?

We have allways appreciated the work of Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman so we wanted to try out that sound out on the new album. This sound is a bit different from the previous album but we wanted to have another sound because the songs are quite different from the older songs as well.

What kind of input did the producer have during the process?

We more or less produced the recording process ourselves in the studio. We
had quite a clear vision what the end result would be like. Of course the producer & record engineers had their part in the making as well though.

And are you pleased with the final outcome? (sound - production wise)

Yes we are very pleased. Studio Fredman did a great job and we think the production match the ambience of the songs perfectly. The sound is a bit warmer than the previous album and I think it fits the new material perfect.

Did the producer (you) use any (weird) experimental miking and/or recording techniques?

Nothing really crazy or strange went on in the studio, it was quite an ordinary recording session. One thing though is that the record engineer wanted to try to add a microphone outside the door to the studio room when we recorded the drums, to get a kind of distant sound as an effect. But I don't think we used it so much in the finished product.

Please inform us about your favourite songs and lyrical highlights and why?

My personal favourites on this record are "Why I bleed", "In the blink of an eye" and "Without a sound". It's hard to choose really because many songs mean much to you when you've worked so hard with them. I think I have to say that "In the blink of an eye" is my favourite when it comes to the lyrics. It has a quite sad, but yet moving theme.

Any overall theme of mood that you're trying to capture while writing songs?

I think we're not actively trying to capture a certain kind of mood when we're writing music. We kind of put our many musical ideas through a filter and the pieces that we all like passes through. Often the feeling or mood tends to have one and the same direction, a bit to dark and/or epic side. I also think that the pieces puts together and creates a certain atmosphere when each band member sets his mark on the track. We all have our different directions within the band when it comes to musical styles, I think it's those small differences among the band members that forms the ambience of the songs.

Does your vision for coming up with music get affected at all by time?

Hard to say really. We have only released two albums yet, so I think it's hard to see it from any wider perspective so far. Hopefully the material will develope at the same time as the persons in the band develope as musicians, visionaries and human beings.

Did the record company interfere with anything on your "sound" and songs?

No, not at all actually. We had total freedom on this record, for both good and bad I suppose. We'll see how the future records will be handled by the company.

Are there any 'crazy' behind the scenes anecdotes from these sessions that you can share with us?

I must disappoint you and say that nothing really remarkably crazy went on. The overall atmosphere and discussions are quite far from the normal standards during a drawn out recording session, so it's quite hard to mention any special details. You get a little crazy in general after a while...

How would you describe the sound of your new CD to any potential new fan?

It's quite an epic, somewhat melancholic collection of songs with focus on melodies, harmonies and atmosphere, but yet with heavy rythm- & guitar sections. And as said before, with the touch of Studio Fredman well known production as the icing on the cake.

Who are your influences and heroes? (music-wise)

I can only speak for myself because we have quite different influences among the band members. I myself have a quite wide spectra when we talk about band I've listened to growing up and bands I´m currently listening to. For example Dream Theater, Symphony X, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Whitesnake, Toto, Marillion, Queensryche, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Depeche Mode, Koinonia as to mention just the tip of the iceberg. To mention a few musicians (Keyboard players) I've allways looked up to; Mark Kelley (Marillion), Tony Banks (Genesis), Rick Wakeman (Yes), Tony Carey (Rainbow), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater).

If there's anything you'd like to add, say, please do:

I must take the opportunity to say: Look out for our new album release "Where stories end". We have also filmed a music video for the song "Breathe" from that album, whitch I think will be released in a near future. Thank you Urban for the cool interview.
Sincerely,
Magnus Holmberg 

Interview by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
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