New KillZone Records Signings PowerDrive have unleashed one helluva metal album called 'Freedom Of Speech'. So who is PowerDrive and how did they come up with such huge sounding debut release that just beggars belief? Well, meet Miguel and Rob. You could use the same old cliches and bad metaphors about them being the power behind PowerDrive....but no you won't. Its been done to beyond death hasn't it? But could they be the next metallic dynamic duo?
'Freedom of Speech' was written, recorded and produced by Miguel and Rob as two musicians and was originally named 'Steel Root's' and all throughout this album the serious passion for creating quality metal can be felt in every chord and every riff and every drum beat and every note played. 'Freedom of Speech' has a charisma and authority to it that makes it hard to believe that this is a debut album. With two new members to take over the drum and bass slots recruited, leaving Miguel and Rob the guitars and vocals, and, the band already working on album number 2.
So meet Rob and Miguel in excerpts of a conversation as they talk about the album and their passion to metal.
"We both have our studios at home at Madrid and Stockholm and have been producing/recording music for a very long time, so the long distance was not a problem at all. The recording process was very smooth and the album was completed on less than four months, including 16 tracks ( 5 of them still unreleased ).
I was recording my parts and sending them to Robin while Robin was doing the same on a daily basis...we shared so many ideas, we tried so many different things......... and the most important thing of all, we enjoyed every single second out of it!!!!!
I'd say that studio sessions are something natural for us. You can call us studio junkies.
"The guitar riffs can come from either one of us. We have different styles when playing, different spices we use, that is also one thing that really completes the music. Lets say I come up with a riff but then I get stuck, I send Miguel the ideas and the next day he sends me ideas of his own that match perfect with the vision I had, its like he knew what needed to be done. The same thing will happen if he shows me a song idea, if I feel inspiration from the ideas I record whatever comes to mind whether its vocals, solos, riffs or drums fills and tempos and we move on to the next step until its finished and we are BOTH satisfied. Its all about THE SONG, not the person writing this and that. "I wrote this you wrote that bla bla bla" We don't care about small things like that. The end product is what we are looking for.
"The way we make the album so powerful is simple, we both like powerful productions so we are drawn to have a final mix and master as powerful as we need it to be. We don't have limits in what we think we can do. So we learn the "how to" and then we just do it. I have a good ear when mixing and mastering and Miguel has good judgment on what works. Combining those skills and we have the vision in form of music, ready to be shared. Its a legendary team, no doubt about it.
"We work really hard on our music. It means that every little detail counts.
The key for us is to stay focussed on one objective: writing the best songs that we can come up with. Plain and simple
"No damn egos in this band. If an idea works, it doesn't really matters who brought it up. IMO big egos kill most of the bands. When it comes to lyrics, I always try to express my personal feelings along with my concerns about society,
not much political talk and definitely not the typical "metal stereotypes" about murder, death and so....
"Speaking of the inspiration, well , obviously I love old school metal bands such as Pantera or Metallica but what makes us unique is the mixing of styles...when I first met Robin he was more into Hard Rock and progressive Metal and I was more focussed into more hardcore metal with bands like Five Finger Death Punch or All that Remains... it's been some sort of mutual discovering, he told me about bands really cool bands that I never listened before (Godsmack, Alice in Chains or even Symphony X). Melody plays a very important role in our music and that's the real difference between us and the rest of the bands out there. We do care about making GOOD SONGS not being the fastest, heaviest or angriest MF on the planet."
Metal rocks my world. Period.Even if I am not a closed minded person when it comes to music the energy, the power, the adrenaline discharge that metal pumps though my veins cannot by matched by anything else ....it's pretty hard to describe with words....to be honest ,we all can't wait to start touring to share with our fans all that energy on stage. Our new members, Asier (bass) and Ivan (Drums), are crazy metal heads as well, so you can do the math very easily.......
"Metal music is powerful music, aggressive and brutal, something that moves mountains. I like all kinds of music but metal is what I usually listen to and if we talk about performing, metal is IMO the strongest way to express the anger people feel inside, weather you are singer or screaming your guts out or if you are moshing away in a pit. Anger is a part of life and so is metal, its here to stay and so are the boys of POWERDRIVE. Loads of bands play because its fun and its nothing wrong with that, but we play because its a passion. Its something larger than life. Unexplainable, really.
"Picking up my fav tune from the album ain't easy....I'd say that STARTING OVER reflects who we are at 100% with that blelnd of powerful riffs with melodic vocals....but I can't forget about FINAL CHAPTER , SILVER BULLET; TREAT or SELF DETERMINATION as well...damn, it's one hell of an album, so if you are reading this and you haven't purchased it yet, what are you waiting for?"
PowerDrive 'Freedon Of Speech' out on iTunes
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