Responsible for one of the major suprises 2005, their debut album released by I Hate Records have made a pretty huge impression on me so a interview was needed. Replying my questions are frontman Andrei Amartinesei.

 

Interview with Burning Saviours

 

Its been a while since your debut album came out,how has the response  been so far ?

 

The response has been very good! We have had the honour to recieve quite a few really flattering emails and reviews the past months.It's seems to be a good year for 70's rock music.

 

You made a few demos in the past before the album, fill me in on the background on Burning Saviours ?

 

We did record three demos to be precise. The first two were written during a time of pure development for Us. We were trying to come up with a sound that suited the bands image and intentions.I belive things got better with third one

 

Right before the album came out, you played at this years Doom Shall Rise, how was the turnout for that one ?

 

It was a fun gig to play, and we had a really good time hangin out with the people there. Also, I suppose it gave us somewhat of a kick towards where we are now, since it is quite a big festival.

 

Fill me in on the concept of the band, what concept do you have ?

 

We are a 70's heavy rock band... We do have some doom-influences as well but we don’t consider ourselves to be a metalband.

 

The bandname is right out of that combo that is the main influence here, Pentagram. How much influence are Pentagram for Burning Saviours ?

 

Pentagram along with Black Sabbath was the main influence when we started the band. I'm a huge fan of Pentagram in the 70's. they did some brilliant work in the 80's too though.

 

Fill me on the recordings of your first album, looking back at the recordings, did you made it live or did you made tracking also any cool memories from the recordings that you have ?

 

We recorded the album by tracking it, over about six or seven days which is very little time.So we all felt a bit stressed while recording, but I think the record turned out just fine anyway! People have really liked it so far so we couldn’t possibly be unhappy with the way it sounds. Don’t actually have any particular stories to tell but we Did have a really good time in the studio.I used a megaphone when I recorded the vocals for the chorus of  Pytho” to get the kind of distortion you hear on the album. That was very cool.

 

You hooked up with I Hate Records, how did you hook up with them and how pleased are you with their support so far ?

 

We knew that Ola from I hate records had liked us since the first demo,so we got in touch with him and basically secured the deal. Nothing dramatic really.

 

I have tracked the disc back to back a lot and I must say that this is a brilliant first album, even though your influences are very obvious and crystal clear I must say that you have created a pretty personal album, I dig the passion that is in here, the atmosphere and the visual standpoint, there is also a bit of old folklore as well, how pleased are you with the performance here?

 

Thank you! That means alot. I feel it’s important to say that, even though we play music heavily inspired by the 70’s, we’re still writing our own material and we do write personal songs. Alot of people like to go on about how unoriginal bands like us are, but liking 70’s rock music, and playing it is no different from really liking metal bands from the early 90’s and playing that. Anyways! The more folkish elements came very naturally. We didn’t plan to become a folk influenced band. It just happened. I think It was Mike one day who said that “it would be cool to have some flute on the two more folkish songs on the album”. And As I happened to know someone who knew someone who played the flute it was all easily fixed Erica who plays flute the album did a great job and the songs turned out far better than expected!

 

I guess you are in the process of the following album, how is that going to sound like compare to the first one ?

 

We are! Maybe it will be a little more uptempo. A little more “heavyrock” but I can’t say for sure yet. We still have some songs left to write and finish. So far, we are really pleased with the songs written for the upcoming album.

 

Looking at the very cool album cover, from where came the idea to have that kind of cover ?

 

We didn’t really know what kind of artwork we wanted for the album cover. All we knew was that it had to fit the music. And since the lyrics on the album mostly are about demons and that sort of thing, we were looking for something scary and A little occult. Mike was searching on the internet for some artwork and came across this old churchpainting depicting the devil by an old Italian artist called Taddeo di Bartolo. We all liked the picture so we used it.

 

I saw you live a number of months ago when you supported Witchcraft, now after the release, how has your liveperformance progressed since then ?

 

I believe alot has happened since then! I reckon that was our 6th or 7th

gig ever, so now after a few smaller gigs and an european we are all more secure on stage and more comfortable with what we’re doing.

 

More on the album, beside the brilliant vocals there is also a great leadguitarwork along with a excellent backing section along with hammond and flute arrangements, how pleased are you with the instrumentation and the arrangements of the album ?

 

Cheers! I was actually very pleased with the vocals. Alot thanks to some really useful help from Oscar Cedermalm who engineered the recordings.He’s also a singer and came up with some really cool ideas and angles. Not only for the vocals but for some other stuff aswell. About the guitar solos, I think both me and Mike felt that there wasn’t enough time to get it exactly the way we wanted, but overall we’re both pretty satisfied. I think all the experiments such as the flute and the hammond organ turned out great. We had a really exciting time trying to come up with different ways to make the album more interesting.

 

More on the follow up, are you going to experiment a lot more on that one ?

 

I think so, we have some really cool ideas that we wish to include on the upcoming album. But It’s all about finding the right people willing to contribute...

 

What have happened with Burning Saviours after the album came out, have you made any gigs around Sweden and Europe since that support gig I saw with Witchcraft ?

 

We have. We’re just back from an european tour which we did together we our labelmates Centurions Ghost in Germany, Holland, Belgium, and England. We have done some gigs here in sweden aswell.. for example, we supported Evergrey in our homtown a few months ago.

 

Looking at Örebro, there has been a number of great acts coming from there, Norrsken, Dead Man, Strollers, yourself and Witchcraft that really start to get a following and a number of other combos, what is your views on the Örebro scene ?

 

I honestly think that some of the greatest bands ever, are from Örebro. We have a great scene here for people into sixties and seventies garage/heavy/psychadelic music, so it’s really the right place to live in if you’re into that thing.

 

Looking at your next plans, whats up right now, fill me in, any eps that is coming out, the new album, any livedates etc. etc whats going on ?

 

We’re playing on a ferry the 26th of november together with some bigger

names such as Crucified barbara, Grand magus, and Budgie!Also, we’re going to Holland and Belgium to play three gigs in december. And there will be a 7” single out on riseabove records some time next year!

 

Thanks for the interview, a bit late though but all the best and hope the next album will be another classic just like the first album. Take care

 

Thank YOU see you around!

 

 

BURNING SAVIOURS

70´s style heavyrock

 

Info/Order  www.burningsaviours.com

 

Label www.ihaterecords.cjb.net