SVR: Press/Reviews

1. How long have you been playing? i started playing guitar about 14 years ago. i had about 5 years in between there where i lost focus of it because i was doing vocals or bass for other projects. it feels like ive only recently started branching out because of the people im around. ive had to up my game so to speak.

2. Who are your influences? my biggest influences as far as my lead work is concerned would be james murphy and dimebag. i never felt that either was the most technical player out there but both seem to play with a better feel and control than alot of others i have heard. to me its more important to have that then "a bag of tricks". as far as rhythm goes and overall writing growing up i would have to say stephen carpenter of the deftones and both clint and john of sevendust. i think as songwriters all three of these guys are overlooked often. mostly because they are kind of minimalists about how they do things but they construct songs incredibly well.

3. What kind of guitar gear do you like? ibanez guitars. hands down my favorite to play all though i do own others and enjoy those as well. for me the feel of an ibanez has been unmatched and i dont bother with or buy the hype about the bigger brands. as far as effects ive used primarily line 6 and boss all my musical career. they both have worked out great and have survived the beatings i tend to subject my equiptment to. i use solid state amps because i think for the music i do a tube amp is not a must have and they seem to be less delicate than a tube so i like that.

4. Is it true that you and Cyrus from Masquerade of Shadows are doing an instrumental album together? its true. it started as kind of a joke but we decided to green light that project.

5. If so what is the plan behind that? Who is doing what? so far the working title of the project is " virus in the machine ". as far as the name goes, we've tossed around a few ideas but havent set on anything just yet. basically i'm laying down all the rhythm tracks and cyrus is going to fill in the leads. i'll also be doing the drum programming, synth, bass and any sampling. its going to be an instrumental album and im extremely excited to hear what its going to sound like.

6. Do you have any advise for up and coming musicians? dont by into the opinions of others. experience things for yourself and explore all sonic possibilities. to often i think creation dies because its easier to except that the hands wont ever achieve what the mind might concieve. as for originality, dont chase it, except that other things are going to infect what you do as a musician. blend it with what you naturally do and thats where you develop "your" sound. if you over think your style and try to hard to get away from everything for the sake of getting away its going to sound like crap. if you have a sound your own its going to show through believe me.

Thanks for you time.
no problem its been a blast.

1. What has MOS been up to lately?
MOS has been hard at work on some great new material for the upcoming albums. Trying new things and experimenting with different sounds to try to caputre something new, but something that still has our sound. The music has been coming out very very cool.

2. What kind of guitars do you like and why?
When it comes to my instruments, Im very much a purist. I'm not too into the flashy finishes and crazy graphics, mostly because I think the instruments are way too pretty to play, and I'm affraid I will scratch them. I definetly like guitars that are all about feel and sound, as long as it feels great and sounds good in my hands, I don't really care what it looks like.

3. What have you been listening to recently?
Lately I have been listening to the older Symphony X albums, also the early Dream Theater. I have also been listening to a lot of the new Meshuggah and Epica. I just recently dicovered a new band called Operatika. Their new CD has Michael LePond on it from Symphony X, it's what I've been listening to the most.

4. Which guitar of your is your favorite?
Definetly my white Les Paul Custom. It's the guitar I've always wanted, kind of like my Holy Grail :D Lately though I have been writing a lot of music on my Ibanez 7 and 8 string guitars, so for now, those are my favorite.

5. What is the musical direction of the new album The Harvester?
I think we're definetly going for an album that is just going to rip your face off. Very aggressive, rhythmic, and just a lot of groove. I imagine it's probably going to be the heaviest record that we might ever release, maybe.

6. How often do you usually practice guitar?
Nowadays, it's not as much as I used to, I still absolutely put in at least 2 hours a day, so i don't loose my chops. When I was first getting into the guitar, I remember playing as much as 14 hours a day! When I'm rehearsing or writing music, as of late, I have been practicing about 4 to 6 hours. Got to keep the fingers in shape.

7. What's it like to be the MOS band?
It's really cool! The fact that I'm even in the band is a huge honor for me. I always though Cyrus was an amazing guitarist and the chance to write and play music with him and the rest of the band is pretty awesome.

8. How do you like working with NKA in the studio as engineer/producer?
Well, for the most part it's exciting. Sometimes he is brutaly honest, he tells me that I am worthless and need to go play guitar more haha just joking. He is always very nice and pretty much never tells me i'm doing something bad unless it's really really wrong for the part. He is a great producer and engineer.

9. Does MOS have any plans to do any tour or live shows?
Well at this point I think we want to really focus on the new album. Once it gets finished then maybe will will focus a little bit on making a video and playing some shows, but we'll see what happens.

10. Are you working on any projects independent of MOS?
Yea definetly. I actually have my solo album coming out very soon. It's going to be kind of a mixture of middle eastern music, a bit of electronica and progressive metal. Hopefully that will be out sometime durring fall. Also I am a huge fan of dance music, and have been writing a lot of dance songs, and maybe at some point I will release an album of that music as well. I have also agreed to do a few Jazz tracks for a friend of mines album, so, to answer the question, yes there is a lot of stuff going on.

11. How do you come up with ideas for actualizing new techniques?
Most of the time I will listen to guitarists and musicians that I greatly admire. A lot of the time those guitarists will be Michael Romeo and John Petrucci. I just steal from them haha just kidding :D Lately I have been treading into the more extreme players, like Rusty Cooley and Francesco Fareri. Those guys have techniques and ideas that at one point I would have thought would be impossible to play on a guitar, it's very inspiring to see players reach that level of technique.

12. Do you have any preferences as to what kind of amplifiers you play live?
For me, It's really only about Marshall. I do use a lot of processors, but definetly running a Marshall JCM800 is what it's all about.

13. What is your take on Guitar Hero the video game?
I think Guitar Hero is great, It's definetly making kids inspired to pick up a real guitar, and I think it's bringing soloing and playing fast back. I think it's actually kind of funny but for me the game is harder to play than a real guitar!

14. What kind of picks do you use?
My main pick that i use is a Dunlop H3. I have tried everything, and for some reason it just feels the best for me.

15. Where do you see MOS in the next 10 years?
Well, I hope that we have at least 5 albums out, and we are playing and touring all over the world. Hopefully all of that will come true :D

16. What do you do if you break a string in the middle of a song while your in a live performance?
That's a good question, but I use D'addario strings, the best strings in the world, They never break! (Please send me free strings:D) I guess if that ever happened, I would just try to improvise my way around the song we were playing, or just turn my guitar down. Most likely I would just grab another guitar and finish the song, or I could pull the Paganini thing and finish the song on one string...yea that's what I would do.

Alaskan shredder Norman K. Anderson, while considerably obscure, has remained one of my consistent favourites of the style, managing to blend melody, emotion, atmosphere and general heaviness into the usual fretboard fury all without the annoying self-indulgence that so often plagues those with such skill. So naturally I was excited when his personal label finhally released another artist, and one known to him for a long time as well. Masquerade Of Shadows is a symphonic prog/shred band formed around the brothers Cyrus & Tyrus providing the backbone instrumentation of guitar and keys. Symphonic nearly always throws up red flags these days, but they really have only the slightest similarities to Dimmu Borgir or Dream Theater. They're really a lot like Norman's balanced style with a unique edge.

See, every MOS album is a concept based around classic old horror movies, making them the epitome of Rhapsody's self-proclaimed "film score metal". Yet in no way are they the same overdone, overproduced monotony - the album reads like a book more than anything, I guess making this audiobook metal. I can't seem to describe them without inadvertently insulting them, so it'll just suffice to say that they're good.

The closest I could compare it to would be Norman's last opus Master Of Illusion, not only stylistically, but both were recorded in the same studio, having a clear yet somewhat dense and raw sound; the NKA song Vampyre Suite could've fit perfectly on here in fact. And like that album, keyboards and guitar take the stage, yet both equally instead of mindless shredding over 32 tracks of bombastic fanfare. The keys provide an atmospheric background but are as much an instrument on their own, with eerie piano and harpsichord passages giving a perfect counterpoint to the insane leads ripping throughout. But as much an element of the album are the lyrics, which of course would seem important on a concept album, but as narration and dialogue form a sizable portion of the running time, their prevalence can be either an album's greatest advantage or downfall. Luckily the prose is largely written in an elegant, descriptive, very literary tone, largely evocative of Poe's classic grim atmosphere (the haunted manor's description does recall the House of Usher...) and the dialogue interludes are always kept short & succinct, unlike others I could mention (one rhymes with brossharsgrani).

Thankfully, Cyrus's role as narrator actually sounds palatable, a definite rarity and enormous boon, and indeed he narrates the hell out of some passages. Though eerie and forbidding to one can be overbearing and melodramatic to another, and if you can't tolerate any sort of spoken word in metal, then this will still sound like an audiobook to you. But if you can take it, or indeed appreciate it, the album becomes an immersive experience as an actual film, and indeed sounds like the audio track of some old Legosi movie (if it was scored with metal). Even if that isn't your sort of thing, each song is packed so full of riffs that it could rival any modern shred album.

The Overture especially shows the cohesiveness between the keys and guitar, as an eerie choral atmosphere permeates the song while Cyrus keeps banging out riff after riff of shred-laden doom. Though it's all fairly minor key and doomy, the riffs seem more like an extension of the effortlessly fluid solos borne of Cyrus's possessed fingers rather than any traditional metal. If not entirely in concept, this album certainly has a completely original sound to. Cyrus also introduces the story in typical spooky fashion, and his spoken voice if anything sets the perfect mood rather than being contrived and out of place like these intros usually are, with a ghastly, unearthly lead backed by eerie clean guitar ending this 10 minute epic. Indeed, as the song Ghastly Music might hint, a lot of the music is ghastly. Very evil sounding, yet not in the dissonant way traditionally evil metal favors, but by using technicality on unusual scales, as Euronymous or Azagthoth sometimes did. So do the riffs constantly assail you, working in tandem with the keys for the sound so many try for, only abstaining long enough to catch your breath while the story progresses.

These will definitely be points of contention to those who just want some brutal riffs, especially as woodwinds and cockney accents enter the fray, though I think they're an integral part. But then I also like Uruk-Hai and the like; I'm sure there's some kitsch element to it, and if you can take Mortician with a grain of salt, then you'll see the enjoyable aspect of them. The basic premise all these talkins are based on is the going-ons and doing-ofs concerning three doctors summoned forthwith to investigate mysterious happenings at a haunted manor in the moors, again not too far from a classic Gothic horror story.

Rather than go further in depth of the songs and compromise said story, I hope it'll suffice to say that the music is really, really good. Sometimes it gets a little too progressive, throwing crazy licks over the place when a little repetition could've shaped some extremely thrashy riffs, though some screeching, atonal leads courtesy of Nik Sharshak (again recalling Azagthoth) provide the perfect counterpoint to the almost overwhelming melody from Cyrus. But the riffs are but one aspect of the extremely varied music, which runs the gamut of relaxing piano and tubular bells to demented grandfather clocks, the latter of which is absolutely haunting. Much of the album is negligible if you can't appreciate subtler things than ordinary riffs, but if you can it's an experience within itself.

I was in the studio for some of the tracking of this album! These guys rock hard! Their writing style is pretty cool! They have things ready to go and then they kind of improvise to give it a live vibe! Sometimes they even write on the fly!!! I love the guitars on this record. There is lots of fast shred as well as some very nice melodic work. The vocals are pretty cool too. I am the new vocalist for Norman K. Anderson's solo project. I will be singing on the Masquerade of Shadows Harvester record as well. These guys can play subtle and then wail like there is no tomorrow. You should check it out!

This album is amazing. First of all, it's a concept album with a gripping story line. Even more, the music that goes along with the story matches it perfectly; From the opening track "Overture" with it's dark brooding ethereal piano to "Fleeing in Terror" with its heavy shredding guitar lines. I highly recommend this album to everyone but especially lovers of progressive rock and shred music and lovers of Broadway and the theater.

after hearing this, the first part in a trilogy of records from this U.S/EUROPE supergroup i can't wait to hear the next two. from the opening circling, spiraling lead riffage this album amazes! good work boys!!!

YOU SHOULD CHECK THIS ONE OUT IF YOU ARE INTO KILLER GUITAR PLAYING AND OLD BLACK AND WHITE HORROR MOVIES CIRCA 1930'S AND 40'S. I TIP MY TOP HAT TO THE SHADOW ON THE MOORS.

Master of Illusion
A surprisingly great change of direction - 89%
Written by Durandal1717 on April 10th, 2008

(Note: If you want me to shut the hell up and just talk about the music, skip the first 4 paragraphs of wandering ideas)

Though the execution's been a bit varied in the past (sometimes to devastating consequences - never record at Mirror Studios!), Norman K. Anderson's typically had the same formula and style throughout. This is by no means a bad thing - of course, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, as attempts to switch up your personal honed style for no reason other than trying for a more "mature" sound almost always ends in failure. Which is why I was so surprised with this release - it was an unprecedented change, yet it's definitely among his best material. Of course, he had 7 years to plan for it, so something great would be expected. But in all that time he was supposedly working on the next studio album Seasons Of Fire, which was announced before Awakened was even released. So this was pretty much out of the blue entirely, yet still manages to be fantastic.

See, here's what I think the deal with the album is (warning: wild, unfounded speculation ahead, so take all of it as proven fact) - it's essentially an entirely different sideproject. Norman K. Anderson is, pretty much by its very name, a solo band, yet this is the only release where he exclusively does everything. Everything is written and performed by him, even the drums, though unfortunately therein lies the biggest problem: Norman can't play drums. He literally can't. So instead, they're programmed. Not particularly bad or anything, but they're definitely noticeably fake. The whole production has a very solo-project basement sound to it, being a bit muddy, and extremely bass-heavy, in stark contrast to every other NKA release. Not really bad, but it definitely lacks the essential live sound, as well as a significant portion of heaviness, which does a bit of harm to some songs. As for the songs themselves, they're out of line with previous outings for quite a few reasons. For one, they're all entirely instrumental, and while his instrumentals have consistently been among his best, and this could be seen as an attempt to capitalize on that, I think there's a different reason. Like I said, this is a really solo album from a solo band, and released before the release, and thus during the recording of Seasons Of Fire. So, I think that these are all pieces he worked on that were not deemed suitable for regular release on Seasons Of Fire. Not quite an album of outtakes (although it does bear similarity to the solo album from the guy from Nile), but close to it. Lemme explain summore...

By "not suitable", I mean not in line with his other work. All other material was either neoclassical shred from hell, or a surprisingly palatable arena rock/power metal combination with a healthy dose of the aforementioned shredding thrown in for good measure. These are all...well, I don't know how to describe it, but they're definitely not in line with the others. More moody, atmospheric pieces, though still tons of shredding, but they wouldn't fit in on an album with his standard work on it. I think this album is a refuge for those which were either arbitrarily composed during the recording for Seasons Of Fire, or this was just an idea he wanted to get out of the way.

Okay, so how about the actual music worth devoting 3 paragraphs of rant to? Like I said, it's heavily atmospheric, and the keyboards, which were previously used for the stray accent or occasional cheezy synth solo, are now put to full symphonic effect. In fact, on some tracks they're the lead instrument, and in a rare occasion, this does not enrage me like it usually does with Dimmu Borgir. This actually seems like a soundtrack of sorts, and indeed many of the songs are based off of various movies, books, traditional fantasies, etc. Although to perfectly honest, listening to it over and over, I can't get the notion out of my head that it bears far more similarity to a soundtrack from a video game than a film, although this is BY NO MEANS and insult (yet it certainly sounds like one, eh?). It's just the relatively amateurish production and keyboard tones can't help recalling the classic SNES soundtracks of yore, the kind that would be stuck in your head long after playing. Take this how you want, but I think it sounds fantastic. Not to mention instead of the relatively dull score music regularly used in films, these are full compositions, and each exude a certain atmosphere which stands just as well alone from any media counterpart (though thinking about it, they'd certainly go well in some).

It should be noted that these songs are definitely not simply regular songs without any vocals. In fact, adding vocals would most likely ruin the feel of the song. Dragons Rising, the first big song, and only one to retain the familiar neoclassical style, is also the only one to bear any semblance to traditional structure, though I don't know how you could fit in any vocals with all the shredding going on. Out Of The Ashes, its prelude, is typical for many of the shorter pieces here - a nice orchestral backing while the lead simply goes wild. Others take somewhat of a more different direction, such as El Toro being, quite appropriately, a completely acoustic insane flamenco fiesta. Each piece is really unique, actually, though some can be loosely grouped together. Master Of Illusion, The Trance, Glory and Excalibur are all more traditional (in the loosest sense of the word), all having relatively straightforward structures while the guitar goes mental. The title track has some evil riffing under it, while The Trance is expectedly more serene (and even has a really cool bass solo), and Glory, despite starting somewhat minor key, of course has a slow, beautiful feel to it, and Excalibur has a triumphant gallop to it.

Then the more epic, fantasy based ones, which definitely make the album. Night Of The Dragon Riders just screams video game theme to me, and I seriously love it. Almost Maidenish bass gallop while tons pompous Rhapsody-esque fanfare erupts around it. Too bad it's just barely 2 minutes long - it's definitely one of the better ones here. Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde are of course hand in hand, and of course polar opposites. Dr. Jekyl is far slower and more emotional (it actually sounds a lot like Eternal from Awakened), while the synthesizer undertones give it a somewhat eerie scientific feel. Mr. Hyde has much more actual riffing going on, though it would've been much more hard hitting with heavier production (not really any crunch at all going on). 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea actually utilizes the movie's theme, which sounds very cool indeed, and even throws in some nifty thrash riffing to compliment it. Oh, but then, once again the highlight, the second in the mighty Fantasia Suite series, Vampyre Suite in D minor! Like its name would lead you to believe, definitely has an eerie, Baroque feel to it. I could see this playing in a dilapidated castle lit by a single desolate chandelier while ghostly figures dance to it. There's even a frantic acoustic section which gives me the perfect image of a bat's erratic flight pattern through the darkened vaulted ceilings, and the huge symphonic ending with insane violin soloing - just amazing. Again, absolute perfect video game music (what was that one CASTLE game about TransylVANIA?).

And the album ends with 3 of Norman's most emotional pieces, and are my favorites of the album (along with the previous masterpiece of course). I've always said (to myself) that Norman could be described as Yngwie's technicality with Marty Friedman's emotion, and this perfectly illustrates it. Convergence is titled so because heavy, straightforward parts (which could've been so much better with actual heavy production) converge with absolutely amazing, slow emotional parts. Just heartwrenchingly beautiful playing, which never fails to bring a tear to my eye. Possibly his best song ever (certainly it is so far); when it picks up in the final minute, it's just absolutely sublime. Lost In Rain is a short piece with piano playing up and down the scales giving a great image of the cascading rain. Danza De Lose Copos De Nieve of course gives the image of gently falling snowflakes, with this piece featuring no guitar at all - just incredibly beautiful piano playing. Amazing, and my only complaint is right before the end is an absolutely breathtaking passage which is played only once - it deserves at least a reprise before the end! Well, hardly keeps it from being amazing anyway. (And it might be denigrating to the song, but again, I can't help but think to myself it sounds like the end credits music to Super Mario 64...) This is a great album, no doubt, but I'm rating just one point below Awakened just because that seems slightly like the better album for beginners to listen to (and better production). This is a GREAT album, but definitely in a completely different vein. Totally recommended, but be advised for what awaits...

(Note reprisal: This has gone on far longer than intended, but the first 4 paragraphs had been kicking inside my head since I heard the album, and I had to voice them somehow...)

Awakened
6 years after the amateurish but solid debut and 2 after the failed attempt evolution, Norman finally finds the perfect sound, and fully extrapolates on it here. That's not to say the last two albums were bad, as the material on both was top quality as usual, but the first album was a bit shaky and uncertain, however strongly performed, with the complete opposite on the second album, with terrible production and performance. This features the best of both, with his trademark neoclassical compositions and a fantastic production job to cap it off. Even better, every track is pretty much great, with no half-assery that was present in about half the songs from Victory And Valor. In fact, this is probably his best release (only saying probably because he's had 8 years to work on his new one, so it might be better).

First of all, the production is a HUGE improvement to the failure that was Victory And Valor's job. While pretty much anything would've been an improvement to that, this is actually pretty much a thoroughly professional job, everything in balance, guitars incredibly heavy, drums clear, and a razor sharp lead tone. My only complaint would be that the snare sounds just a tiny bit too hollow; nothing like St. Anger, but I prefer the massive sound like from Death's Leprosy myself. The only other problem I have with this is that it's still a bit too long at just over 50 minutes. There's not really any material bad enough to cut, so it's a problem without a solution, but the only other problem I can think of.

Courage starts things out with Norman's typical uplifting style, fairly midpaced but with the keys giving a really cool Kanon-inspired melody. The lead section is of course filled with tons of awesome classical solos, and altogether is a great solid number. However, Among Flames brings back something that was missing from the very beginning - heaviness. Total balls-out heavy as hell riffing and sounds awesome. The chorus is admittedly pretty repetitive ("Among flames/Among flames/Among flames/Among flames/Among flames/Among flames"), but the other singing is just spectacular. He's really coming into his own, and this shows just how well. An absolutely ripping solo too, and sounds amazing how it's woven into the outro singing. Probably his heaviest song yet (so automatically a contender for best ever). Marble And Stone is first of the many songs dedicated to his wife, though luckily no cheezy ballads this time around (with words anyway), instead just another fast-paced uplifting song. A lot of these songs are pretty close to power metal with the happy atmosphere, though more on the heavy side with no overblown singalong parts. Actually reminds me of Finnish power metal... Another great song in any case. Shadows Born Of Moonlight is another dedicated to her, though is an instrumental, and a great one at that. Nothing but harpsichord and piano while shredding all over the place. I would've liked more slower sections actually (if that's physically possible), but still sounds fantastic.

Speak With Truth is fairly slow, but all the better for it. Beautiful, almost dirge-like organ backs it up while Norman gives possibly his best ever vocal performance. Espouses more positive moral values, which I must say is surprising these days in metal, though it isn't suffocatingly preachy and sounds pretty good (the way it's sung at least). Continues fairly slowly until it breaks into an absolutely insane solo and ends as abruptly as it starts. But then comes both chronologically and theoretically the centerpiece of the album, the epically titled epic, Fantasia Suite Opus No.1 In D Minor. There's alright another installment in the Fantasia Suite series, and I hope they continue, since they're absolutely awesome. This one, the Beloved Suite, is of course dedicated to his wife, and might be even better than the previous epic instrumental Dragonfire. Starts with killer riffing and leads before an abrupt change to slow acoustic arpeggios and some almost flamenco-style acoustic soloing. Wait, flamenco? What happened to classical? Well just to punch you in the dissenting jaw, here comes another blazing lead to stuff your throat with baroque before a slow emotional break and closing off with an epic Bach variation. Yngwie can take a page from the new Darkthrone album, THIS is what neoclassical shred is made of.

Eternal is another dedication to his wife, another fast-paced uplifting classic. It actually sounds a lot, and by a lot I mean a LOT like Journey's Faithfully, although probably even better to be honest. If you hate that kind of melodic arena rock sound, you'll hate this (along with half the album), though I personally love it, and given that it's about a thousand times heavier is a huge bonus. The Legend is a bit like Drakkar from the previous album, though with tons more soloing and production that makes it sounds actually good. It's pretty good, though to be honest seems to fall short compared to the rest, which seems to happen with all his fantasy songs (vampires, vikings, and in this case, gargoyles). Not bad, but if there were a song to cut to make it shorter, it'd be this. Out Of The Darkness is, again, dedicated to his wife, and sounds like a cross between Eternal and Marble And Stone. Bit non-descript at first, but some more great leadwork makes up for it. But the next song makes up for any and all flaws - Destiny, perhaps his greatest ever song. Insane neoclassical razor riffs to slaughter you repeatedly before your brain even comprehends what's going on. Alternates between slower sections, even a really cool acoustic tapping part, but then bursts back into that fucking insane monster of a riff. I think I can forgive everything that was wrong with Victory And Valor just from this. This is also dedicated to something, though it's actually not his wife - Destiny was his first strat, so if you want to make classics, start getting romantic with your guitar!

Awakened brings it all to an epic end with more extremely heavy riffs, soaring vocals, and of course truckload neoclassical hoop-dee-doo. The keys actually give some great backing orchestration in tandem with guitars (something he later did with Dragons Rising on the next album). Vocals are a tad repetitive again though ("I have retuuuuuurned!!!"Nightfall is more a coda to everything, simply acoustic guitar against a choral background. And there you go, an amazing album. Perfect? No, not really... But goddamn awesome nonetheless. Seasons Of Fire may or may not be as good as this, but until it comes out (after EIGHT years of waiting), I henceforth declare this to be the greatest Norman K. Anderson album there be.