MAINOS:
Kazakstanista tuleva Holy Dragons vastaili MEtalliluolan kysymyspatteristoon. Tutustu yhtyeeseen alla.
| Bändin nimi? | Holy Dragons |
| Yhtyeen genre? | Jürgen – In fact, our reference point is old school metal, without much understanding of stylistic boundaries. Some of our albums were in the territory of speed metal, some were almost hard rock, especially the early albums. The main thing was to distance myself from pop music, from pathetic symphonic metal and other too commercial music that I never liked. Now I see our style as a mixture of what is called USPM, NWoBHM, Speed Metal, ”Teutonic” metal with a solid Heavy base. At the same time, excursions towards, for example, German power metal, hard rock of the 70s or retro art progressive are not forbidden. |
| Ketä yhtyeeseen kuuluu? | Chris ”Thorheim” Caine – guitar, vocals Jürgen Thuderson – guitar, back vocals Ivan Manchenko – bass Zabir Shamsutdinov – drums |
| Mistä yhtyeenne on kotoisin? | Jürgen – Geographically, we are located in a place that will seem to many the most distant from the world’s ”capitals”, be it Europe, Asia or America. Our city Almaty is located at the foot of the Tien Shan Mountains, the snowy peaks of which can be seen from the window even in summer. This is the southern part of Kazakhstan, the largest landlocked country, and our city is located only 350 km from the northwestern border of China. This area of China is perhaps the most sparsely populated. But our city is a real oasis among mountains and steppes! |
| Yhtyeenne esikuvat? | Jürgen – Hello to everyone! The name of our band – Holy Dragons – is primarily rooted in old music, in the music of Ronnie James Dio, in Led Zeppelin’s album ”The Houses of the Holy”, which came out in the year that three of the members of the current line-up were born. But it is also important that our name, related to the traditions of medieval poetry, alludes to the most powerful, chthonic and furious creature that could be found in medieval mythology – the dragon. In the world of the Middle Ages, this is an approximate analogue of the atomic bomb – an irresistible fire-breathing force. What could be better for a band that has the ambition to play heavy and firestorm-like music? It’s a bit of a joke, but it’s a very logical thing to name a band – from people who loved classic mystic metal and an idealized medieval vibe, he-he! |
| Kertokaa yhtyeenne taustatarina? | Jürgen – Actually, the group was formed on the ruins of the group Axcess, which I consider the first attempt to do what has been done under the modern name. Except for the prehistory of the band under the name “Axcess”, the formation of the group began in 1995. When me and Chris ”Tora Thorheim” Caine started making a band together. A lot of people have gone in and out of the band. In terms of the frequency of vocalist changes, it looks like we have challenged Ritchie Blackmore and Yngwie Malmsteen, as it turned out! |
| Minkälaiset tavoitteet yhtyeellänne on? | Jürgen – We plan to be the first humans contacted by aliens when they want to visit our solar system, which is far from all mainstream galactic paths! And in order for these guys to choose us for contact, we need to meet two conditions – firstly, play interesting cool music to interest them, and secondly – we must be an extremely, VERY famous band, so that from all the ”digital noise” for contact, they chose not Alice Cooper, not Paul McCartney, and not even Ozzy Osbourne (even though he is the ”King of Darkness”) but us! As you understand, our mission is not an easy one…! He-he! Thora: well… If we to speak seriously, our goals are to never stop developing, never stop doing something, composing new songs, new ideas and never stop believing in ourselves! |
| Minkälainen työnjako musiikin tekemisessä on? | Jürgen – Our wonderful bassist thumps on four strings, the drummer pounds the drums and cymbals, Thora sings and plays rhythm and lead guitar, and I’m trying to make it all start working together! Well, sometimes I sing along and add solo parts in the spirit of BB King, who imagined that he was Yngwie Malmsteen!Thora: All the music and arrangements in our band are done by the band’s mastermind Jurgen. By coincidence he also plays lead guitar in the band and drives or flies our band to the gigs. He also plays a very important role at the studio mixing console. Should I mention that he also writes lyrics? I’m doing the vocals and second guitar duty since 2015. I also write lyrics for most of the English language tracks as well as the Russian language ones. Band management is my responsibility too. Our bassist Ivan Manchenko and drummer Zabir Shamsutdinov are our backbone of rhythm and driving engine of the band! |
| Millainen kokemus bändinne on livenä ja miksi yhtyeenne keikoille kannattaa tulla? | Jürgen – We try to play extremely fast, clearly, fun and technical! Many believe, and I hope it’s true, that live our gigs are just a huge and powerful flow of energy! In principle, we are equal in live performances to such bands as Iron Maiden and Gamma Ray in their best years, of course we do not have expensive pyrotechnics, scenery and Spitfire flying over the stage, but I hope that everything will be in the future! We are working on it. I can say – it never gets boring at our concerts! |
| Uusimman levynne nimi: | Jürgen – ”Jörmungandr — The Serpent of the World”! Our band has always had something to do with Norse and Celtic mythology, but a few albums ago we delved into 20th century military history, the history of the Cold War and nuclear weapons! And now we have moved back from that, to more ”legendary” topics, because singing from album to album about the same thing is too predictable. Especially at a time when the ”pandora’s box” of militarism is open again. There’s too much of that on TV news. People need good emotions and not just negative ones. |
| Avatkaa uuden levynne taustoja. Mikä on toiminut levyn inspiraationa? | Jürgen – There are several sources and several lines of narration. One of them is, as I said, the Scandinavian legends, the elder and younger Edda. The second line is more mundane, these are the reflections of a modern person about life, about his place in society, about the world that surrounds us. The album is not conceptual, and here the fabulous and absolutely real go side by side, alternating like dreams and waking up, going to work and solving life problems. |
| Minkä bändin kanssa lähtisitte kaikkein mieluiten kiertämään maailmaa? | Jürgen – Iron Maiden. Gamma Ray. Saxon. Accept. Unisonic! Too bad this band no longer exists. I would also really like to return to the big scene of the Metal Church, but to play with them on tour would be fantastic! Zabir – I would say Annihilator. |
| Jos uudelta levyltä/vanhasta tuotannosta pitäisi suositella kahta biisiä, niin mitkä ne olisivat ja miksi? | Jürgen – Two songs from the new album are Jörmungandr and Shadows of the Past! I like all the songs on the album, but these are perhaps the most reflective of the spirit of this particular album and its two incarnations – ”fabulous” and ”real”. The case of Jörmungandr brings them together, and it is not for nothing that this is the ”root” song of the album.From the old albums – I can’t even tell. Too many songs and too many of them I could call my favorites!
Thora: My two personal faves are “Loki” and “ Jormungandr”. I love those two for their musical component and it was very easy to write lyrics for them. For the song “Loki” I wrote all lyrics in half an hour. |
| Mikä musiikki kolahtaa yhtyeellenne juuri nyt? | Jürgen – Interesting question! Well, probably, almost any NWoBHM or USPM band! Naturally, such iconic bands as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon, Americans – Savatage and Metal Church, Canadians Annihilator and Exciter, I would separately mention old music, such musicians as Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio. Well, the German scene – Gamma Ray, Rage, Primal Fear, Scanner, Iron Savior, Accept and so on!Zabir – Bring Me the Horizon and such like music. To cut the long story short, something what the young people listen to nowadays.. |
| Muita asioita, joita haluatte kertoa yhtyeestänne: | Jürgen – An almost ideal band that appeared in the wrong time and in the wrong place, and it is developing in spite of what is happening around it, and not because of it. Big perfectionists in everything.Zabir – We still have a lot of work to do. Thora: we are a living, breathing power and energy on stage and we want to unleash that power on big and small stages and festivals! |
| Minkälaiset terveiset haluatte lähettää lukijoille? | Jürgen – Stay Metal! Be open to new music and if you like it then give it a chance to find its way to your heart!Zabir – Congratulations to metal fans that finally the borders are finally open and they can visit concerts of their favourite bands all over the world!.
Thora: Be open to new bands, new music. Lots of great uncovered bands are out there, waiting to be discovered. And listen to your favourite music, it has answers for all the questions that life may have in stock for you. Your favourite music is also a great support in all the life situations whatever happens! |
| Linkki yhtyeen kotisivulle: | https://vk.com/holydragons |
| Linkki yhtyeen somekanavalle: | https://www.facebook.com/ |
| Linkki yhtyeen musiikkivideoon: | https://www.youtube.com/ |
| Linkki yhtyeen Spotify, Bandcamp tms. kanavalle: | https://pitchblackrecords. |
Kuva: Holy Dragons
Metalliluolan uutistoimitus. Tällä hetkellä uutisia ja tiedotteita julkaisevat Ville Krannila, Pete Alander, Mikko Huuhka ja Joni Renko.