CROWGRRL’S PERCH 01-30-05

CROWGRRL’S SPOTLIGHT:

Mercenary’s new album, 11 Dreams, is getting ready to hit the streets here in the U.S. (it’s been out for awhile in Europe), and The Crowgrrl suggests the minute it does for everyone to grab a copy. It’s not just an album, but a total EXPERIENCE, especially if you listen to one of the bonus tracks - 11 Dreams (3-D Mix) - under headphones. It’s really mind-blowing when heard that way, to say the least.

Hailing from Denmark, Mercenary’s line-up is Mikkel Sandager with the clean vox, more vocals from bassist Hans "Kral" Andersen, stellar fretwork from Jakob Mølberg and Martin Buus, keyboards/piano and backing vox provided by Morten Sandager, and Mike Park kicking the skins. The Crowgrrl caught up with Kral to discuss the new album, upcoming tour plans, and other news from the Mercenary camp.

We really try to make it sound larger than life -- really just going into every detail, just adding a lot of vocals and a lot of layers; a lot of keyboards underneath all of the guitars.

This monster of an album was hard to make. It took like only 45 days. That’s a pretty short time compared to all the layers we had to deal with. It was really a tough album to make. It just developed all the way through the recording process because when we went into the studio, we had 70% of the material ready, and 30% was not ready at all. So a lot of things came up in the studio and really worked out great. It all seems to fall into place on that album. We we’re really lucky to have the material out on the streets.

That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Some people I’ve been interviewed by didn’t realize that for the 3-D version, you have to have headphones on. So, they just listened to it through normal speakers, and then it doesn’t work. It’s cool that you really got that. It’s kind-of amazing; a very new thing.

We really hope that maybe Century Media would put out a budget for us to make a video. It’s not really up to us. It’s up to Century Media if they think that the album does very good in Europe and the U.S. Maybe in the future they’ll put some money into it because obviously it’s very expensive to make a very good video.

But just yesterday we launched a homemade video on our website, www.mercenary.dk

It’s a really funny video because it was all recorded on cell phones - the mobile phones. Nokias have cameras and stuff like that. We just cut it all up in Windows Music Maker, and just put it out there. So, there’s a video up now, but it’s very, very low-budget.

We also may be planning to a video if Century Media is not up for putting all the money into it, maybe we can make a cheap video somehow. But I think the album deserves a good video.

There are three songs I would like to pick. It would be 11 Dreams, Firesoul, and then maybe Sharpen The Edges.

But did you know the 3-D Mix is not out in Europe?! It’s only the Japan and U.S. editions that have the 3-D on it, which I think really is a shame because it’s so amazing!

I don’t know. Maybe we’ll do a Digipak or something with bonus tracks on it. I don’t think we’ll release it as a single. I don’t think that’s in the Century Media guys’ minds. But I still think that when the U.S. discovers this 3-D amazing thing, it will spread out and people will hear it somehow. It’s really interesting - the new technology. So I’m hoping it will spread throughout Japan and the U.S. and come to Europe somehow.

I haven’t gotten the official numbers or anything, but I know that Century Media told us it was better than they expected it to be because of the good radio it’s had. So, it’s doing very good in Europe. We hope also in the U.S. it will do good.

I think it’s the best we have done. It’s Album of the Year for 2004 in Europe, so some people really like it. We also do ourselves. We’re really proud of that album.

Our live show, we always strive to recreate the sound we have on the album. Also, all the vocals, all the choirs and stuff like that - we have 5 people singing on the stage. Morten, Mike, Mikkel, Martin, and me all with microphones. We can really recreate the vocal stuff live. It is way more intense live than people expect because we like to freak around onstage. People always come up after the show and say, "Hey, man, the album is killer, but the live show is way better!" I think that’s a big compliment.

We also won Second Best Live Band in Denmark just recently at the Danish Metal Awards. It was pretty cool. We won Best Album, we won Best Vocal Performance and Best Guitarist. We really took some prizes there.

Hopefully! We’re really working our asses off to get that done. Of course we played in ProgPower in Atlanta 1 ½ years ago. The American audience was just mind blowing I think. They were just so cool! They were just embracing the music like we always wanted it to be because I think we’re really inspired by American Metal. So, it really broke ground over there.

We would love to come back and play the U.S. The future will tell. If the album does good, in the U.S., of course we will come over there and tour. But still, nothing is confirmed.

I think the Danish Metal scene is thriving right now. It’s almost as cool as the Swedish scene right now. Comparatively, this is a small country, with like 5 million people. We have bands like Mnemic, Raunchy, Illdisposed, and a lot of new, good, upcoming bands also.

The scene has been taking off the last two years. If you had asked me the same question two or three years ago, I would have said the scene is pretty boring and pretty dead, kind-of. But in the last two years, foreign labels have discovered Danish Metal, and there are a lot of bands being signed abroad now. There is a lot of focus on the Danish scene now.

Also, when we play concerts here, many more people show up now than they did three years ago. I don’t know why. I think that the quality of the music we make here has just been better. People like that.

Yeah. We do all the stuff ourselves. It’s really hard; it’s like 24/7 just doing something related to the band. You can say me and Jakob are the bosses doing all of the promotion, doing all the booking, just everything. It’s really hard.

But right now we’re looking for a new management deal and a new booking deal, and I think within the next few weeks maybe we’ll have something. We’re just negotiating a deal right now. So, the future looks brighter than ever.

Absolutely! We really need some more time. Every time we meet up at our place, there are 3,000 things we have to discuss before we can play because we make all the decisions. It’s like we talk for three hours and jam for one hour. It should be the other way around.

It’s going to be great to get a good management and good booking agency because we can’t make another album if this continues. One hour of playing a week is not much. We have to rehearse a lot more than we do now.

Of course, it was out in Europe the 23^rd of August. It was 6 months ago, although it’s not out in the U.S. The U.S. edition is improved in terms of the 3-D Mix and the Radio Edit.

We have material for the next four songs. We’re already thinking about making a new album. It’s going to be great! It’s going to be at least as good as 11 Dreams or maybe better. I don’t know.

It’s very hard to top that album! We really have to be creative to make an album that will make 11 Dreams just fade. I saw the review from Brave Words Bloody Knuckles. It was 10 out of 10 from Martin Popoff. It’s going to be really difficult to top that. Then it would get 11 out of 10.

They’re not entirely written now, but we have our licks. We have to combine them and make them into 4 songs. I think the new material is going to be even more melodic, more aggressive, even more broad than 11 Dreams. The next album will be much more experimenting - going all the way from Pop to Death Metal or something. It’s going to be more Progressive also, I think.

There is really tons of stuff going on at the moment!

We’re going to play the Wacken Festival in Europe. It’s going to be the biggest festival we’ve ever done. That’s going to be really exciting for us. I guess like 45,000 people show up each year. That’s going to be great!

Also I’d like to add that ProgPower was the most amazing show we’ve ever done in our entire career! We played at ProgPower IV in Atlanta in September, 2003. We would love to come back and do ProgPower again!

I would say to the fans or coming fans: Go on out and buy the album! Be open minded to it because it will really blow you away.

Especially the solo in the song - it just rotates 360 Degrees around your head. It’s really awesome! We all really love it.

But there’s not many people who have discovered it. It’s very important to get that message out to people: "Hey, try t listen through headphones because this is totally new and totally not done before. It’s really mind blowing!"

We spent 5 or 6 days in post-production just doing this one track - taking all the recorded stuff from the studio, going into another studio and rendering all the tracks to 3-D, which is a very complicated thing to do. We used 5 or 6 days making sure the effect would be there and people would experience it.

It was really great to have the honor to be the first ones doing a full-blown track in 3-D. That’s really amazing!

So, we’re just happy guys in Denmark right now. We’ll just keep on playing until I can’t move.

I just love to play! I founded the band back in ’91, and I’m the only member left from that period. There were some line-up changes -- some people didn’t have the patience and didn’t want to be too serious about the music, whereas I really wanted the band to be something. My dream is kind-of coming true right now. This is an amazing time for me. I’ve been waiting for this a long time.

It’s pretty funny because the first five years when we played, we were just trying to learn to play the instruments. We started all the way from scratch. I had never touched a bass before. When we started the band, it was 4 people who had never played anything together. Then we got better and better. Then after 5 years we thought we had some good material, and we made and MCD. Then we signed to a Danish label afterwards. From there we became better musicians and better songwriters. The culmination of that is on 11 Dreams.

Yeah, I think so. It’s amazing. I’m still very surprised every time I put on the album (which is like once a month right now because I had been listening to it for 400 or 500 times). "Whoa! Did we really do this?!" It’s a great album! I’m so proud of it! I think also it is in my own personal Top 5 of last year. I can’t find 10 albums of last year that were better.

I really love the album. It may be wrong to say that you like your own music, but for me, I will do it. I can’t help myself.

We are really proud of it. Also, the Danish press has embraced us finally after all these years. In Denmark, people are very skeptical here. "If you’re from Denmark, you’re no good." And you take it from there.

You try to convince them for years and years and years, and "No". Then we made 11 Dreams, and suddenly they all love us now. So, it’s really strange! Now we’re in national papers and really just getting a lot of exposure right now in Denmark. National papers normally don’t write about Metal, but now they suddenly do. So, it’s just a big change for us.

Legends of crows and ravens? What exactly do you mean by that?

Oh, cool! OK, I will have to think a little bit more about it, but maybe you could write me in e-mail, and I will come up with something. I just have to have a little more time. I would love to be in your book!

Denmark’s a pretty obscure country, huh?!

Yes, Denmark is Legoland, and now suddenly it’s Metal Land also. It’s really amazing what Danes are doing right now. It’s a very happy-go-lucky country. LEGO and Metal.

I know we will not disappoint you guys with the next album. We’re just perfectionists for every riff and everything we do when we make songs. We’ll not disappoint, I promise! In 1 ½ years from now it will be out, I think.

In the meantime, you can check out Everblack also. It’s not as good as 11 Dreams, but almost.

MUSIC:

* In THOR news, there is a story on Fangoria.com about the upcoming rerelease of Rock & Roll Nightmare by Synapse Films !

If you haven’t visited www.thorcentral.com since Jan. 13 - GO THERE! There’s a whole new look for the New Year, and it looks FABULOUS! Explore the entire site! Including the Merch section. Copies of the movie Graveyard (which features Jon Mikl Thor and Joey Shithead of D.O.A.) are not only back in stock at www.thorcentral.com, they’re Special Numbered, Limited Editions! Go here http://www.thorcentral.com/mp_redesign/html/merchandise.html#graveyard to order!

* Wouldn’t it be awesome to see Thor as part of the line-up for OZZfest 2005?! There’s an online survey at the OZZfest site asking who you’d most like to see included in this year’s line up. Go to http://promo.cc.com/ozzfest/survey/thankyou.aspx?cfc=1 and let your voice be heard.

* The NEW Blazed website is now up - www.blazedrocks.com. Check frequently for the latest news (like live appearances), and to hear MP3’s of the new EP Now The Party Starts (then buy a copy from http://www.skrew.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=110)!

In other Blazed-related news, VH1 has wrapped filming of the reality show Meet the Sniders.

Blazed frontman Jesse Blaze commented in the Blazed newsletter, "My family finished filming months ago, actually, and now VH1 has been editing and reediting the footage over and over again. Is it any good? I have no idea. Is it ever going to air? I think so, but I have no idea. Do I really care? Only if it gets more people to listen to Blazed."

* Bassist Dave Pybus has left Cradle of Filth. In an official statement, the band says, "We are sorry to say that as of yesterday [1/20] , Dave Pybus is no longer with Cradle of Filth. Dave has decided, for personal reasons, that he is unable to continue with the band. This will not endanger the tour dates we currently have in place or future recording commitments, as a replacement will be found to complete these.

"We are all very sorry that Dave has made this decision and he will be missed."

* Norma Jean have released a track from their upcoming album O God the Aftermath (Solid State Records). Entitled Vertebraille: Choke That Thief Called Dependency, the track has already reached the #1 slot on www.Purevolume.com

* Thine Eyes Bleed have signed to The End Records. This Canadian extreme metal band’s debut album, In The Wake of Separation, will be released on April 26th, and there is sure to be a tour following that.

Glenn Danzig has also finished work on solo album, Black Aria II , which is slated for release this summer on Glenn’s own Evilive label. He is also working on the screenplay for a film adaptation of Gerouge, which is one of the titles distributed by Glenn’s comic book company, Verotik. This film, about zombies in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th Century, will mark Glenn’s feature film directorial debut. The film is being produced by Rainstorm Productions, and the release date has not yet been announced.

Danzig tourdates include:
Feb. 18, 2005 - St. Louis, MO; Pop’s
Feb. 19, 2005 - Detroit, MI; Harpo’s
Feb. 21, 2005 - Chicago, IL; House of Blues
Feb. 22, 2005 - Minneapolis, MN; First Avenue
Feb. 24, 2005 - Toronto, ONT; Guverment
Feb. 25, 2005 - Cleveland, OH; Agora Theatre
Feb. 26, 2005 - Covington, KY; Madison Theatre
Feb. 28, 2005 - Boston, MA; Roxy Theatre
Mar. 01, 2005 - New York, NY; Spirit Performance Center
Mar. 02, 2005 - Philadelphia, PA; Electric Factory
Mar. 04, 2005 - Norfolk, VA; Norva Theatre
Mar. 05, 2005 - Atlanta, GA; Roxy Theatre
Mar. 06, 2005 - Orlando, FL; House of Blues
Mar. 08, 2005 - Dallas, TX; Gypsy Ballroom
Mar. 09, 2005 - San Antonio, TX; Sunset Station
Mar. 11, 2005 - Denver, CO; Ogden Theatre
Mar. 12, 2005 - Albuquerque, NM; Sunshine Theatre
Mar. 13, 2005 - Tucson, AZ; Coconuts
Mar. 15, 2005 - Anaheim, CA; House of Blues

SCREENS (Large & Small):

* The Crowgrrl didn’t pay too much attention at first to the news about the upcoming

Phantom of the Opera movie, until I found out who was in the title role - Gerard Butler, who also had the title roles in Dracula 2000 and Attila Now it’s on the Must See list.

* Alien vs. Predator was released this past week. A copy’s already in the Crowgrrl’s dvd library, review is coming soon.

PRINT:

* Aspiring Writers, listen up! Author Steve Alten has a program called Writing Coach which is designed to help you complete your story and get it ready for a literary agent.

Two slots have recently opened up in this program. Go to www.stevealten.com and click on WRITING COACH for more info.

"We welcome submissions from serious writers only," Steve says. "Students and others are encouraged to go to WRITING TIPS on the website."

Also, check out the new poster for sale at Steve Alten’s website - proceeds from the poster’s sales is going to benefit schools!

* Chapter One of my own book, Under Her Black Wings (yes, the title is with Glenn Danzig’s permission - I never would have used that title otherwise) is available to all my readers in the "Print" section of this site.

The chapter list (the actual titles of the chapters may be renamed, but the subject matter’s the same) includes:

1. Overview (Check out the First Chapter here!)
2. The Real Thing (a look at the real birds)
3. Norse Mythology
4. Celtic Mythology
5. Other European Mythology
6. Native American Mythology
7. African Mythology
8. Oriental Mythology
9. Other Asian and Middle Eastern Mythology
10. Australian/Pacific Mythology
11. Corvids in Popular Folklore
12. Influence of Poe’s "The Raven"
13. The Dark Side
14. Influence of James O’Barr’s "The Crow"

All chapters are in progress, and as I research and as people share their stories, they’re included in the appropriate chapter. These should be available soon (to Crowgrrl's Flock Members only) to watch the work in progress.
Sign up here!

* Gothic Beauty Issue #15 is NOW OUT! And it looks AWESOME!

Gothic Beauty Magazine has revamped its website, and it’s fantastic! Go to www.gothicbeauty.com and check it out.

Anyone in the UK interested in being part of Gothic Beauty’s new UK Street Team should email street@gothicbeauty.com with your brief details and mailing address!

Ad space is available for future Gothic Beauty issues. For specifics, go to www.gothicbeauty.com/ads and "be sure to mention that Athena sent you."

* David "Avocado" Wolfe, author and foremost authority on raw food nutrition, will be making a number of live appearances, both with seminars, and performing with his band, The Healing Waters Band. For more information on any of these appearances, check his website Nature's First Law www.rawfood.com under "Events".

Some of these include:

• Feb. 5, 2005 - Atlanta, GA
  
• Feb. 6, 2005 - Atlanta, GA
  
• Feb. 8, 2005 - Wichita, KS
  
• Feb. 10, 2005 - Kansas City, MO
  
• Feb. 12-13, 2005 - Chicago, IL
  
• Feb.14, 2005 - Denton, TX
  
• Feb. 16, 2005 - Albuquerque, NM
  

For those of us not in the San Diego area, the Nature's First Law World Headquarters has an online superstore at www.rawfood.com where many of the items mentioned in David Wolfe’s books can be found. You can also sign up there for a great e-newsletter. This is also a great place to purchase items hard to find elsewhere (and they do mail order!) Blue Manna (wild blue-green algae), raw organic cacao (chocolate), upcoming special events, and new items available from that website.

The Crowgrrl recommends that readers order some yummy Organic Vanilla Beans!

* The Crowgrrl’s current reading stack includes:

Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare. I’ll be sure to fill readers in on all the delicious details!
	"Mind of the Raven:Investigations & Adventures With Wolf-Birds" by Bernd Heinrich,		"Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard" by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart,
	"Norwegian In 10 Minutes A Day’, "Norwegian Verbs & Essentials of Grammar" by Louis Janus,		am re-reading an old favorite, The Rites of Odin by Ed Fitch,
	I am even re-reading Meg by Steve Alten(to write up quiz questions for my son’s home-school literature class - he requested reading this book next).

Also added this week - two workbooks for helping kids and teens with anger management: How To Take the Grrrrr Out of Anger by Elizabeth Verdick and Marjorie Lisovskis and A Volcano In My Tummy by Eliane Whitehouse and Warwick Pudney, also to be added to my son’s curriculum.

OTHER NEWS:

* Readers, there are 800 ferrets in Denmark whose lives are on the line! There is a breeder there who is going out of business, and although rescue groups have offered to find homes for his 800 ferrets, he refuses to let anyone do so. He is determined to gas each and every one of these precious little beings.

However, there is an online petition to the Danish government and other officials to stop this from happening! The Crowgrrl herself is signature #1,432 on this very petition. Go to http://www.petitiononline.com/nogas/petition.html to sign as well, and HURRY!

(Thanks, P.A.W. Letter Writers for alerting me to this!)

* I’m sure we’re all making donations to Tsunami Relief for the human victims. But let’s not forget other species as well.

"Despite unconfirmed reports that many wild animals survived the flooding in Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park, it may be too early to gauge the impact on all populations there," said HSUS Urban Wildlife director John Hadidian. "Any animal welfare advocates working in the midst of human tragedy have three immediate goals: to remove animal carcasses to prevent the spread of disease, contain the starving dogs scavaging for food; and preserve the lives of farm animals needed by subsistence farmers. In addition to preventing suffering whenever possible, these goals are the agenda for human survival as well."

(Thanks, P.A.W. Letter Writers for alerting The Crowgrrl to this!)

* The Baltimore Ravens have a very special way to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Send the Ravens fan in your life a special Poegram where Ravens mascot, Poe, will personally deliver gifts including flowers and candy.

* Hey, Readers, you’ve gotta check out a product called Body Balance by Lifeforce. My family takes Body Balance every day! It’s much better than a daily multi-vitamin, that’s for sure! And another "plus", if we feel down or over-tired, a little more Body Balance does the trick to pick us up.

It’s a liquid, ionic, phytonutrient dietary supplement made from whole foods, and it contains a mix of over 120 vitamins, minerals, and phytronutrients that your body needs on a daily basis to keep healthy.

Why am I telling you about this because an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I felt I had to share this as one thing most of my readers may not know, in July of 2003, The Crowgrrl was diagnosed with breast cancer. This is something I don't want anyone to have to go through what I did. I’ve refused the "conventional" paths of chemo/radiation/surgery, and have taken a holistic naturopathy approach instead (which I’ll go into in more detail in future Perch editions, or readers can e-mail me). I’m supposed to stay on a specific holistic protocol for two years. Withing 14 months the tumor was supposed to shrunk to half of its original size. Much to our surprise as of December, 2003, the lump (tumor) is gone! I’m fine! I firmly believe the Body Balance helped accelerate the healing.

Another Lifeforce International product in the online store, The Crowgrrl and family regularly use is Colloidal Silver. Silver is a natural antibacterial element that can be used both topically and/or internally.

* For those of my readers who experience annoying computer (pc/mac/linux) problems (or those of you techies who are annoyed at friends and relatives expecting you to be their personal tech-support 24/7), go to einnovations.juvio.com for around-the-clock help. I’ve personally done so, and my computer’s working like a dream since getting help from there.

* Anyone who hasn’t already done so, check out the Gallery section here on the Crowgrrl’s site. Prints and some originals are still available. So, buy ‘em already!