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Black Majesty

Melbourne progressive/power metallers Black Majesty are one of Australia’s most-loved metal acts and their new album In Your Honour is about to hit store shelves. Brendan Crabb talked to guitarist Stevie Janevski about the new material, their influences, building their profile in Europe and more.

-In Your Honour will be available from Utopia records next week!

Q: The band seems to have adopted a faster, slightly more metal-oriented approach on this album. Was that the aim from the outset or something that just occurred organically during the writing of the record?

A: Honestly, things kind of happened and fell into place. Our aim was to write a strong album. We’ve been blessed with some great reviews from the press and great sales during the past few years, so it was always important to write an album’s worth of strong material to keep a good consistency. I think this is the most balanced album we’ve written in terms of fast tunes, mid-tempo and slow heavy stuff. We’re pretty satisfied about the way the songs came up, and with the production. Fingers crossed it goes over well with everyone.

Q: Indeed. Every band says their latest album is their best thus far, so why is this the case in this instance?

A: In Your Honour is our fourth album so we had to make sure people would want to get the new one and the best way to do that is continue to write good tunes. We also took a bit more time with the songs this time ‘round. With the Tomorrowland CD we had to meet a deadline and have it done before the European festivals. This time we’re playing headline shows of our own so we kind of worked to our own schedule. I’d be happy to play any of these songs live. There’s no real fillers. But let’s see what the people think....the buying public will determine that for us!

Q: Great stuff. What are your three favourite tracks from the new album and why?

A: I really like the opener ‘Far Beyond’. It starts with a heavy melody that sets the scene and then builds up into the more typical Majesty kind of thing. It’s a catchy tune that has good dynamics. ‘God Of War’ has an old school thing about it which will please the Manowar, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden armies with its time changes and vocal acrobatics. ‘Further Than Insane’ is probably the fastest song of the album and has a real driving, edgy thing about it. Definitely a tune we’re all looking forward to playing live.

Q: How was the experience of working with Masterplan’s Roland Grapow as producer of In Your Honour and are you completely satisfied wit the finished product?

A: Yeah we are. Roland was really easy to work with. He captured a slightly heavier sound and we’re really happy with the end product. With Roland being a guitarist himself, both Hanny and I were always confident in how the guitars were going to sound. He also gave us some great production suggestions which worked out well. He’s a very cool guy.

Q: Can you tell us about the artist who did the new album’s cover art and how it fits within the “story” told by the band’s first three albums? 

A: Our artist’s name is Dirk Illing. We were suggested to work with Dirk back in 2003 by our label and we’ve been more than happy with his work ever since. Dirk created the Black Majesty character and has continued the Sci-fi theme on each CD. He also integrated the majestic lion and ‘Leo’ symbol on each cover art which has been great. As kids we always loved the cover art from bands such as Iron Maiden and Dio, so in many ways we wanted to have a similar kind of ongoing theme. Each CD cover shows the Black Majesty as a protector for mankind. The lion is overlooking things on Silent Company although on the Tomorrowland cover art we see things have taken a bad turn as the world looks pretty grim. On the new one things seem to look a bit brighter as the Black Majesty has her sword up and ready to fight. It was also cool to learn that our artist Dirk did the art work for the new Scorpions CD.

Q: Interesting. Black Majesty’s influences seem firmly rooted in 80s metal and hard rock. Did any more modern bands influence either the music or lyrics on In Your Honour?

A: Not really. We’re quite influenced by 70s and 80s hard rock and metal. Rainbow, Dio, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Manowar, Helloween and Queensryche are many of our faves. Having said that, we are still interested in new productions and stuff. I guess we kind of do our thing and stick to it, which is another reason I think we’ve continued to gain more and more fans. We’re not a bandwagon type of band that changes too much stylistically.

Q: Where did the band derive its lyrical inspiration for the new material?

A: Our singer John (Cavaliere) handles most of the lyrics. He mixes past experiences and stories from medieval, mystical themes and legends to come up with a lot of lyrics. There’s some good subject matter on this album such as living in the now, afterlife, etc, with a positive spin.

Q: Interesting. Now, Black Majesty has done a considerable amount of touring overseas and has a series of European shows already lined up for later this year. How has the reception been to the band overseas and is it growing for you over there with each subsequent visit?

A: This will be our third trip to Europe and our first set of headline shows. Our first Euro shows in 2005 included supporting the likes of Edguy and Hammerfall as well as playing some of the smaller festivals. Our second tour in 2007 featured us playing at some big festivals such as Wacken Open Air Germany, Masters of Rock Czech Republic and Metal Universe Slovakia. This time we’re going out and playing some of our own headline shows in Germany, Switzerland and a number of Czech Republic dates. Things are really building up! It hasn’t happened overnight. We’ve definitely put in some hard yards which makes us appreciate things even more. We’re looking at doing the same kind of thing in Asia by building on our last visit to Indonesia, which was a great success.

Q: Good to hear. Do you think more Australian metal bands need to get the right backing and label support and take their music overseas?

A: I think we have a great bunch of bands here in Oz that are definitely world class. Unfortunately, some labels get scared off because we’re so far away on the world map. We’ve had some great new bands such as Orpheus and Vampora support us in the past and kick ass. Sedition who are playing on the bill at our Brisbane launch are another great band. I don’t think it will be long before these bands get overseas and do really well.

Q: The new album is being released in Australia, Europe and parts of Asia by Just Say Rock. Have you got a distribution deal for the album locked in yet for other key markets, such as Europe and the US?

A: Of course, we’ve been signed with our German label called Limb Music since 2003. They distribute our album throughout the remainder of the world. We’re really buzzed to have the support we have. We’re also very excited to be working with Just Say Rock. They are going to be a big player in the metal scene in the next few years.

Q: Do the band have many Australian shows scheduled in support of the new album?

A: We play at Monstrothic, Rosies in Brisbane on Friday, June 4 with Sedition, Alpine Fault and Axis. On Saturday, June 5 we play in our hometown of Melbourne at the Hifi Bar with Eyefear and Orpheus. We’ll be announcing some headline shows for Sydney, Adelaide and other parts of Oz after we get back from Europe in August.

Q: Final question – any famous last words?

A: We hope people will come out to one of our shows and checkout our new CD In Your Honour. Just Say Rock are working hard to get the new album in all good music stores so I hope people get behind things and support it. You can find us on the web at www.blackmajesty.com and  www.myspace.com/blackmajesty