Former MARDUK Frontman Says His New Band Has 'Better Dynamics And More Variations'

South Africa's Make Some Noise recently conducted an interview with former MARDUK and current DEVIAN frontman Legion. A couple of excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow:

Make Some Noise: How did you end up in [DEVIAN]?

Legion: I founded it. It didn't take long after I stepped off MARDUK to miss the whole thing so much that I started to think about doing the band thing again. It was never the scene or the life that I got tired of, it was the band I was in. So Emil and me spent 2005 trading ideas back and forth, visiting each other's cities and tried to lay the foundation for something new, we didn't wanna be stuck in the same old tracks but yet we wanted to play the kind of music that we knew exactly how to kill.

Make Some Noise: How would you classify your style compared to MARDUK?

Legion: More versatile, there is better dynamics and more variations, definitely more melody. The MARDUK thing was great to do back in the day because I had so much pent-up aggressions and no matter how much we poured from that there was just more waiting to come out, eventually it started to feel watered down though and it was time for me and Emil to try something new out. So we agreed on that all influences that we have should be welcome as long as we can fuse them into good music.

Make Some Noise: What bands are your personal biggest influences as a musician?

Legion: I guess what I've been listening to the most is the stuff that run deepest underneath the skin. That for me would be IRON MAIDEN and SLAYER, but there is so much great music around and some stuff just get stuck in your head and it comes out in what you create maybe deliberately, that you are so in love with some sounds that you feel it should just be in there, or subconsciously, that you are not even trying but you tend to write in a way someone else has done before you regardless.

Make Some Noise: I see you recorded "Nightwinged Serpent at Art Decay Studio" with producer Rickard Kottelin and Fredrik Nordström mixed it. How was the experience and how many hours were spent in studio?

Legion: It was a great one, really thorough which was a new way of working for me. Three months was spent all in all and I think the result turned out killer. We went into the studio with the material ready but took the time to record and feel if there was any improvements that could be done somewhere and then we did them and just didn't give a shit about the days passing, we just let the recording grow into its own beast that we fed with everything we could. Having the opportunity to work with the guys on top of the heap was great and we'll most likely use the same team for the next DEVIAN.

Read the entire interview at www.makesomenoise.co.za.