Circus Maximus es una banda noruega de metal progresivo que poco a poco se ha metido dentro del gusto de los fans del género en todo el planeta. Aprovechando el lanzamiento de su nuevo álbum ‘Havoc’, el cual los trae por primera vez a México en unos días, aprovechamos para platicar con el baterista Truls Haugen.
How hard has it been for them to make a name for themselves in the music industry?
It's always hard to make a name for yourself in music, but I guess we've been very lucky. Apparently people welcomed us very quickly after the release of our first album in 2005 and our fan base has grown tremendously over the years. They are very dedicated and we are extremely grateful for that.
¿Por qué se definen como ‘Progressive Power Metal’?
Okay! He couldn't call us that [laughs]. I think we are progressive because we do not follow the specific rules of making music and our sound varies and moves between various genres. We are metal because the guitars have distortion [laughs]. I believe that our early influences have led us to what we are now. Bands like Metallica, Dream Theater, Meshuggah, Muse, Mew, etc. They all have great arrangements and songs with complicated structures and we are very inspired by it.
Han dicho que el tema de su más reciente disco, ‘Havoc’ son las experiencas de la vida que te mueven entre el amor y el odio. ¿Cual de esos sentimientos es más poderoso? Ya sabes, “del amor al odio, solo hay un paso…”
They are both equally powerful in my opinion. They are the two ends of the same line, but at the same time there is very little space between one and the other, and that is what we refer to in the letters. However, in the end love always wins [laughs]
¿Cual es la principal diferencia entre ‘Havoc’ y sus discos anteriores?
No creo que haya mucha diferencia entre nuestros discos, excepto por el hecho de que tardamos mucho menos tiempo en grabar ‘Havoc’. Estabamos muy inspirados y el proceso de creación fue más rápido que en nuestros trabajos previos en los que teniamos todo el tiempo del mundo para mejorar y cambiar cosas de último minuto. Se suponía que tendríamos un productor norteamericano, pero las restricciones de tiempo nos lo impidieron. También eso causó que fuera más rápido.
They did a fundraising campaign for the launch of their next BluRay / DVD that they recorded at the album's launch party at Rockefeller in Oslo. How did it feel to achieve the goal?
We wanted to raise the level of our game with this release and that's why we set aside one of the most prestigious settings in Oslo. We thought it would be reckless not to film it, so we made sure we had more fireworks and extra lights. The result was so good that we decided to launch it. Launching a fundraising campaign was for creative control. It was a success!
Podemos notar una evolución en las portadas de sus discos, que pasaron de ser solamente fotografías a ser grandiosas imagenes abstractas en sus últimos trabajos…
Basically, it was the fact that we believed that we no longer wanted to use those super photoshopped images and wanted to use something else. Something that was simple, but at the same time highly recognizable. Also I think they represent our music in a better way.
La versión de lujo de ‘Havoc’ incluye un track bonus llamado ‘Loath’…
Sí, es una canción que escribí hace unos 5 o 6 años. La grabamos para el disco ‘Nine’ pero al final no sentiamos que encajara en ese álbum. Cuando el proceso de grabación de ‘Havoc’ comenzó, la reescribimos un poco y contratamos a Øyvind Larsen de Withem para mezclarla. Representa una parte distinta de Circus Maximus.
You will visit Mexico for the first time soon, how do you feel?
The truth is that we are very excited! On this tour we have played in many countries and many cities that we have never visited, but we were especially looking to play in Mexico.