BLITZKRIEG

- THE ABSOLUTE POWER IS LOOSE

Mad by: Miggo

Blitzkrieg is one of the absolute classic band s of the NWOBHM, in fact lead singer Brian Ross is sometimes described as "the voice of the NWOBHM". After Years of changing line-ups and other difficulties they reconsidered, brought in some new blood and, at last, played a gig in Motala, Sweden. Guitarist/Manager Tony J Liddle takes time out after receiving an official copy of the new album to answer my questions about the brand new "Absolute Power", the band situation and a quick look in the crystal ball to predict the future.

Not much time to waste here so me and Tony get right down to business, please describe the creative process, the general feeling and the new songs Tony!

- Absolute Power is the end result of 12 months hard work by five people. What you also have to realise is that it was done by some people who until the first rehearsal together, had `never` met before. Brian Ross had called Andy Galloway about being the bass player and Paul Nesbitt had called Phil Brewis about being the drummer in the band. I got a call saying that Brian had a complete line up and we're rehearsing on the following Sunday.

All right, no doubts about the running order there. But what about the songs Tony, I suspect there's a story to each one of them?

"Legion"
- That day we started on an idea of Paul Nesbitt`s that became "Legion". This is the story that carries on after the film "The Exorcist". It's fast and furious and has definitely become a live "krieg" classic. It's the first joint writing collaboration between Paul Nesbitt and Brian Ross.

"Soul Stealer"
Is a song that happened by accident, I was putting some demos down with a friend of mine (Davey Meikle/Nu-Future-Cowboys). He asked me to add some riffs and what I ended up playing and recording turned into the basis for "Soul Stealer". Brian Ross came up with the lyrics and theme about the inner demons in us all in a couple of hours. The fear of things you can't see and what you don't know, evil under your bed when you're a kid.

"The Face Of Death"
"The Face of Death" is a heavy riff idea I'd had for a while, Phil Brewis loved it and saw it as a challenge, it's a very strange song to play as it seems like two different songs together. Brian Ross wrote the lyrics and I don't think I got to hear them until the moment he started laying down the main vocal track for it in the studio. He excelled himself; it's one of my favourite tracks from the album.

"Enchanted Tower"
This is the second Paul Nesbitt/Brian Ross composition. This had been an idea of Brian's for some time; they were lyrics of his that he just hadn't found a home for until Paul gave him the music to help create it into what it is now. The lyrics have an almost Ronnie James Dio feel to them, both mystical and medieval. It's quite a lengthy song that's very reminiscent of "Calming the Savage Beast" and "Take a Look Around".

"We'll Rock Forever"
Is the kind of song that Brian Ross and myself have always wanted to write, it has an effective but, very simple guitar riff with a nice hook and a sing along catchy chorus. We wanted to write something that could be sung by not just the Blitzkrieg fans, but heavy metal fans everywhere. It's a song that we can sing together and it says that if you want heavy metal or heavy rock to Rock Forever, then we should Rock Together. This is the kind of song that you loved when you were a kid, and has the feeling of being at school and you hear "United" by Judas Priest or "Stand Up and Be Counted" by Saxon on the radio. You can bang your head and sing to this song at the same time, it's also popular with the fans live and there are always lots of fists in the air while we're playing it. The song means something to us; we're all joined through metal.

"Terror Zone"
We needed one more song to complete the album and we were to start recording in one week, so I called Brian Ross up and asked him to come over to my place as I had an idea for the last song. I think he was unwell and couldn't go out of the house, so I thought I would give it a go myself and maybe I could get a good starting point for next time we met up. It was strange because the only hard part about writing "Terror Zone" was finding a theme for the song, when I got the theme (my motorcycle) the song was written in minutes. The best thing about it is, it's a great song to play live, and we did it live for the first time at Wacken and the fans really got into it. The music starts off completely and utterly balls out metal, and then goes sedate and melodic with a cool chorus, and then you get more metal. Phil Brewis's drums are what make the song sound very effective, there like a thunderous heart beat and gives the impression of power and speed. The whole song is about fast motor bikes running from the police and the helicopter cameras in the sky.

"Hamunaptra"
This one is the instru-Mental intro to "Dark City".
We wanted an intro that was creepy and weird to possibly open the album. It's done by feeding in and out the volume using a lot of echo to give it an eerie creepy feel. I put some mild keyboards on it and it sounded good, it was just what we wanted it to be, very atmospheric. The title "Hamunaptra" comes from the Movie "The Mummy". Hamunaptra is a fictional city in Egypt, The "city of the dead". When I heard the translation of the name, we thought we should use it as the intro to "Dark City" and it has worked perfectly. It may also find its way into the live set, you never know.

"Dark City"
"Dark City" is a really cool tune, and goes down excellent live. We've even had people sign the guest book on our web site saying that it's there favourite Blitzkrieg song ever which was a real surprise to us. I watched a movie once called "Dark City" (Rufus Sewell and Kiefer Sutherland) and I thought it was so weird and strange that it would make an amazing heavy metal song, if, you could get the right feel and groove into the music and lyrics, so you would be able to reflect the intensity and imagery of the movie. Brian Ross and myself spent a long time working on the track before we approached the rest of the band with it. The riff is massive with plenty of punch and bite and takes off at hyper speed in the middle. The metal heads go crazy; "Dark City" is definitely not for the faint hearted. The song was an instant favourite amongst the lads in the band to both listen too and perform and I think I can say that it will be in the Blitzkrieg live set for some time to come and something that you can identify as a true Blitzkrieg tune.

"Who Takes The Fall?"
This is a song about our inability as a race to control our addiction too, or cravings for, power. If you give a man absolute power he will create destruction and death, the worlds history books are full of examples to prove the point. Therefore if you put absolute power in the hands of a fool (man), you will get Armageddon, hence the whole theme to the cover of the album. The man (fool) and the bird (of Armageddon). On this song it has Phil Brewis our drummer playing a guitar solo, he said he could do it so we let him. I think he got a kick out of it too.

"DV8R"
"DV8R" is a tune that took me a long time to write. I wanted to write a song that would describe the bird of Armageddon on our album artwork as a cybernetic bio-mechan-oid, part metal and part flesh. I've tried to make it a full head on heavy metal song; the riff is very aggressive with an awesome doom thumping guitar section right near the end. There are some cool timing changes, heavy drums and nice solo's in the structure, and it is great to play. A friend of mine said it should have been on a Judas Priest album, he said it would sound like Judas Priest if Rob Halford was singing on it. I actually sent an email to Rob Halfords` web site and signed his Forum asking him to get in touch with me. I thought I would take a shot in the dark and see if he would be interested in singing on my song but, I never got any reply.

"Metalizer"
This is my self and Brian's own personal metal tribute to both Judas Priest and Rob Halford. Judas Priest is not only our favourite heavy metal band but, we think the heavy metal band that has set the standard for how heavy metal is to be played and written. They are "The Metalizer", everything they write turns to metal and by writing this song we're saying thank you to Judas Priest for giving us true heavy metal. Phil Brewis`s heavy as hell drums kick it into gear, then I set fire to the main riff, it's a song that both Brian Ross and myself are very happy to of written.

"Feel the Pain"
Is my own view on the Christian faith and is also my favourite track from the "Absolute Power" album. This song took me several months to write even though the lyrical content is really quite small. The intro is cool and has a nice feel to it, Brian speaks as Christ on the cross and the song is basically Christ's last remaining thoughts. The riff is total metal, the mood changes in the music fit the lyrics so well and I think it is one of the two best songs I have ever written, the other song being "DV8R".
Brian Ross used his voice to perfection to deliver the mood and feelings in the lyrics. Also, my views on religion are not the views of Brian Ross, but he still sang for the song and not for himself, which is not only professional, but fucking cool.
I believe there was a Christ, but I don't think he was delivered here by a God. Jesus was an illegitimate man lead by blind faith, given up by one of his best friends, betrayed by his own people, judged by an outsider and left to die a cruel and painful death crucified on a cross. All he received for his loyalty, pain and suffering was a crown of thorns, an eleven man fan club that took off when the going got tough and, even after he'd just bought them a round of beers and a fish and chip supper (maybe he should of took them for an Indian curry instead). If there is or was a God, then Christ was used and abandoned. It leads me to believe that there's nothing or no one out there that is a "higher being", I think we are all in control of our own destiny's, "we live and die by our own devices". If you were a God would you let the human race suffer? Or would you use your gift to stop people suffering? Do you think God is abusing his "Absolute Power"?

What is the present situation in the band? Does the harmony that I wrote about in the Sweden Rock Magazine article continue? When we did the interview for Sweden Rock Magazine you were in a state of euphoria about the new band, are things equally good at the moment?

- The band situation at the minute is great, in fact, it couldn't be better. This is the only line up that I have worked with were everyone likes each other, in the past there has always been a camaraderie deficiency. This time though it's cool, we like each other and we're writing and playing great songs so, everyone's having a ball.

That's what the fans have been waiting to hear for years, what say ye after gazing into the crystal ball of the future? What are your plans for the coming year and any hints of future gigs and albums?

- We're hoping to fill our calendars with live dates for 2003, I've already arranged shows in Germany and the U.S.A. and I'm aiming to add shows in Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Holland and maybe even Greece, its up to the fans, if they ask for us at venues then the owners have to book us and we can reach as many people as we can, which has always been our aim in Blitzkrieg. The search is also on for a great producer for our next album which we intend to have ready by the end of 2003 or early 2004. We feel that "Absolute Power" is our "Ram it Down", and our next album needs to be our "Painkiller" because there is more metal to come from Blitzkrieg, its time for us to dig deep and deliver.

Cheers for spilling the beans Tony, hope to see you all in Sweden soon, now all we need to do is to buy truck loads of the album to get a slice of the best in-your-face British heavy metal available. Open up your wallets boys and girls!

Miggo