Maybe
just another band in the endless female fronted attack in Europe, but
MAGICA from
Romania are basically as good as AFTER FOREVER, EPICA and such, so this is high
quality ff Melodic Goth Metal and their new CD 'Everafter' is a must-have for
fans of this genre, well here's what went down when I talked with the band...
It doesn't happen everyday we review a band from Romania, can you please tell us all about your band?
Hello Strutter! Magica is a melodic metal band born (like most rock bands) from the passion for music and desire to play live. At the begining we were only 3 : Bogdan on guitars, Ana on vocals and Vali on bass but soon we found Cristi for the drummer position and 6fingers for the keys. In 2007 we brought in Emy for as the 2'nd guitarist. Untill now Magica has released 2 albums "The Scroll of Stone" and "Lightseeker". The first one was the very beginning so the sound is not so great but since "Lightseeker" we had the oportunity to better out music and our 3'rd album that is at the moment being prepared for release, "Hereafter" is our best work so far. Of course you will hear this from anyband but I think that is normal that everyone would get better and better as time passes and they accumulate experience and skill.
Even more surprising is the fact your new CD 'Everafter' is a sensational piece which can easily compete with the Dutch competitors of EPICA, AFTER FOREVER, DELAIN, WITHIN TEMPTATION, can you please tell us all about it's release?
"Hereafter" will be released worldwide with the help of AFM Records Germany and should be in stores on 19 October 2007. ALso we are very fortunate that Focusion Production is helping us in the promotion department. We do not want to compete with anybody. We enjoy listening to the bands that you mention, and I do not see a competition. First of all they are much bigger names with a lot of experience. We just want our music to be heard by as many as possible and if they like us we will come and play for them live :).
Which bands influenced you and can you tell me more about your fantastic female singer?
Each member of the band brings his own influence in the style of Magica, and since we listen to all kinds of stuff I would say that I bring the air of bands like Helloween and Stratovarius, 6fingers is responsible for the prog stuff like Symphony X or Dream Theater, Ana listens to Kamelot and Within Temptation, Vali is a Primal Fear kinda guy and Cristi is a fan of Leave's Eyes. About our singer, Ana, she is a classically trained vocalist and I chose her to be the singer of Magica for the simple fact that she was (and still is ) the best singer in my town and she likes metal.
I assume you are quite big in your own country of Romania?
No, In Romania there is no Big metal band. There are a few hard rock bands that are well known but this is just due to the fact that they are singing for more than 30 years here. All metal bands play in the underground because the metal scene is very small. If I was to talk only about the underground I would say that we are preety well known.
On CD you sound quite sensational, will we able to see your band go tour through Europe?
As we did in 2006 when we have toured with After Forever and Nightmare, I am sure that 2008 will catch us on tour promoting "Hereafter". We have no dates confirmed yet but I am sure it will happen very soon.
Lyrically, are there any stories behind the songs?
"Hereafter" talks about death but not from a grim perspective. The whole ideea is that of " one end is just another beginning" and the transmigration of the soul. Of course you can still find some touches of magic in there and even some sad stories but the overall concept talks about the reality of multiple planes and dimmensions of existence and death seen as a doorway.
You already released 2 albums prior to 'Everafter', how did you get in touch with AFM RECORDS, your new label?
The connection with AFM was made through our former label, Underclass-music from France. The album was supposed to be released in June, but when Underclass were about to put it on the market, they received a proposition from the german label. Magica and Underclass discussed this and together we decided that the best thing that we could do is release "Hereafter" with AFM and continue the collaboration with Underclass as our managers.
Finally, do you have anything to share with our readers?
I want to thank them for reading this and ask them to visit www.magicaband.com as well as out myspace page www.myspace.com/magicaband where soon a new video will be added.
Thanks for the interview and success with your band in the future!
Thank you very much for the opportunity of presenting Magica to your readers.
