Critical Solution is a Norwegian Thrash Metal band which started in 2005. Things started getting serious in 2010 by playing Norway Rock Festival and in 2011, they recorded the debut EP, entitled “Evidence Of Things Unseen” in Andy La Rocque’s Sonic Train Studios, Varberg (Sweden).
In October 2012, the band returned to the studio from King Diamond’s guitar player and Andy La Rocque was also in charge of the recording, producing, mixing and mastering of this debut full-length album. “EVIL NEVER DIES” is the result of great team-work between Critical Solution and La Rocque and his staff.
EVIL NEVER DIES contains 14 tracks and is a concept-album. It tells the story of Wallace Green: Wallace and his company are sailing to Sad Hill, where he assassinates the king, with his own life to follow. After Wallace’s death, he makes a deal with the devil to live again and becomes the Soulmaker. He does his evil agenda and spreads terror across the world….
The guest appearances of Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe) and Andy La Rocque (King Diamond) are giving this debut an even more special touch .This is Thrash Metal like it is supposed to be !
The band will release a new EP entitled “The Death Lament” and will finish their second album in January 2015.
Moving forward to this date March 21, 2016 fresh off their LP The Death Lament released in 2014 and their most current release 2015 release “Sleepwalker”. I had an opportunity to chat with these guys and have a really cool and honest interview with this up and coming Thrash band and I must be honest I’m very much a fan and very impressed with their body of work.They possess a very unique sound all their own but the influences of other great bands such as Metallica, Testament can not be overlooked and one can say they had a huge impact on The direction Critical Solution was taking and still moving forward with. It’s of great pleasure for me and Metal On Loud Magazine to have this opportunity to talk with Critical Solution and get to know these fine gentlemen a little better. So without further adieu, let the madness begin. Hello guys I would like to start by thanking you for your interest and participation with Metalheads Forever Magazine and I am looking forward to this interview with you guys and getting to know CRITICAL SOLUTION.
Can you tell us about the band name and how it came to fruition and can you tell us a little bit about the band and each member?
The band name came from the Guns N’ Roses song “Garden Of Eden” actually. When we started out we were kind of a Guns cover band so the name kinda stuck with us.
On vocals and lead guitar we have me, Christer. Started playing guitar at age 14 and never looked back. I do most of the writing musically. Founded the band together with Egil whom is the drummer and the main lyric/story writer. Started out as the singer, but when he found the Drums he stayed put and he does a damn fine job at it!
Bjørnar is the other guitarist. We switch on doing solos so you can call him a lead guitarist as well. He was there in the very start and then had a break, but is back full time now and the energy is sick! On Bass Guitar we have Bjørnar’s Brother whom is the youngest member. He started out playing guitar, so that makes him an awesome Bassist as he is a very melodic player!
Who is responsible for the musical direction of the band predominantly and where does the creativity stem from?
For it to sound like us, everyone has their very own touch on it of course. I do most of the music and Egil the lyrics, but in the end we all chip in with story/music ideas, and that’s why we sound like ourselves. The Creativity comes from many places. I can only answer for myself, but it can be anything from a place, photo, Dream or anything that suddenly brings a riff inside my head.
You guys are from Norway, Best known for their Black Metal scene, How are you guys received in Your native Land.
I would say we fit better outside of Norway. Thrash is not the best thing to play in Norway, and add the Horror element we have does not help either. Most of the shows we have done though have been insanely rad. We toured with WASP as main support, and it kicked ass. So in the end, I feel we are received well, but it’s hard to get the gig in this country.
Metallica, Testament have been mentioned as influences on your style and sound, who else can you tell us would fall into this category of musical influences?
We have a ton of different influences. Again I can only answer for myself, and I love King Diamond, Testament and so on, but also bands like Uriah Heep which have that kind of Mystery feel, and also Arthur Brown, Thin Lizzy, I could go on and on forever. Bjørnar comes from a different place, having a love for blues music, Egil is the Maiden man and Eimund love Punk Rock like Misfits etc.
How would you guys best describe your sound and what you bring to the Metal scene and how you differ from other Thrash acts?
Horror Thrash! We only do concept albums, with Horror Storylines. Til now at least we have a main character called Wallace Green whom has been involved in all albums. We are different in the sense that we play Thrash/Metal and include some theatrical stuff in our live shows, I use facepaint, we try to create an atmosphere on our albums as well as live shows. I’m not saying we are the only ones of course, but by “new” bands, I have not heard about others doing what we do.
When recording an album how does the creative process start and where does it fit or translate to your live show?
When all music is written, we rehearse it, songs change, and then changes again. We have a story ready, so we know how the music should feel here and there and so on. We enter the studio and basically records the music. Then put finishing touches on lyrics and sound effects etc and there you go..
How do you guys prepare for your live shows any sort of routine rituals or superstitions involved?
We have an intro song playing before our main intro starts, Arthur Brown’s Come and buy that is. So it’s all about getting into the zone, then we all gather in a ring and say Let’s kick some ass and when we walk onstage we are on fire!
Can you tell us what we can expect in 2016, touring plans, new album, festivals etc?
At this moment no shows are booked. This is mainly because we want to finish the next record. So we will probably be back in the studio in August to finish that, and if everything goes as planned it will be released this year. There is also a video in the planning. As of touring, we hope to do some shows in Europe after the record is finished. We have some offers, but time will tell. We hope to get on the road as soon as possible I can tell you that.
What was it like to work with such great artist as Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe) and Andy La Rocque(King Diamond)? What other artist would you like to work with in the future or are currently working with?
That is the beauty of it all. Getting to work with so many heroes. Andy of course is our main cat, as we have done all recording in his SonicTrain Studios. I remember hearing his first guest-solo on our first record for the first time. Well the feeling is awesome, here we are playing with the best guitarist in the world! Whit Crane is such a great human being. He has one of the best voices out there, and you’ll have to look long to find a happier guy! We also worked with the great Mika Lagren from swedish band Grave. He did a solo on Sleepwalker album and it’s so great I have a hard time playing it live! Also guesting on Sleepwalker’s last track Back From The Grave is Michael Denner and Hank Shermann from Mercyful Fate. They have this specific tone, just like Andy. Whenever they play, you instantly know who is playing. It may be because they Danish (Denner/Shermann), but they are such good people. We are the luckiest band on the planet for sure to have played with all these people which are our Heroes! As for future guests, we will have, I think three guests on this coming record. We already had Arthur Brown in the studio last month. The man is over 70 years old, but he has more energy than us combined. I won’t say much, but “The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown” continues! The other guests are yet to be confirmed so you’ll have to wait and see. There are so many people I want to work with, I could mention King Diamond of course, Robb Flynn and on and on.
If you guys could choose a Festival to play in or headline, which would you choose and why?
Ough one since there are very many great festivals! I’d say Sweden Rock or Donington. That’s because Donington is the classic one and have always been a dream. Sweden Rock because it’s the perfect festival. Perfect location and with the sun shining you are in for a treat!
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions for METALHEADS FOREVER MAGAZINE, There are a thousand more I would like to ask you.Maybe we can do a follow up for a future issue and dig deeper into what is Critical Solution.With that being said is there any final words to our readers you would like to add?
We are the ones to say Thank you! Thank you for being interested, and we will of course speak again! To your readers, Thanks and follow us on facebook.com/criticalsolution for updates on everything! Let’s conquer the world together!
Once again thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions and being very cool and taking the time to be here with us,all the best and look forward to speaking with you again very soon. WORLD METAL DOMINATION.
David Maloney / Metalheads Forever Magazine
