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Monday, December 21, 2009 - Astral Doors - New Song Streaming Online
Astral Doors will release their new album, Requiem Of Time, on January 15th (Europe) and February 16th (North America) via Metalville. The band are currently streaming the new song, 'Call Of The Wild' on their official MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/astraldoors

The album will include the following tracklist:

'Testament of Rock'
'Power And The Glory'
'Rainbow Warrior'
'Call Of The Wild'
'St. Peter's Cross'
'So Many Day So Many Nights'
'Blood River'
'Anthem of the Dark'
'Metal DJ'
'Fire and Flame'
'Greenfield of Life'
'The Healer'
'Evil Spirits Fly'
'When Darkness Comes'
Posted by: Steen

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Band profile

What is your name and your current position in the band?

My name is Mika Itaeranta and I play bass.

Tell us about the history of the band. More specifically, when was the band formed, how did you meet, and have there been any particular highlights or low points in your career, any crucial events that have taken you where you are today?

Astral Doors was formed in 2002.
Johan Lindstedt and Joachim Nordlund started writing some songs
in the spirit of oldschool hardrock.They asked Nils Patrik Johansson to
write some melodies and lyrics in the same spirit.
A few songs were written and the natural thing was to make a complete
band of it.

All the members of Astral Doors knew each other from earlier days as we
live in the same city so finding the "right" people wasnīt very hard.
So far everything has been running smoothly for us and one highlight
was playing at Wacken open air in 2004.
That was a great gig, great crowd.

Was there ever a time when you wondered if your band would remain just a local outfit and never make it in the industry?

No not really, when I joined the band the doors to the industry were already open.

What is your latest album and why should people buy it?

Well, the latest fullenghtalbum is "Evil is Forever" and itīs a natural
extension of our first album "of the son and the father".
It has a darker undertone and I think that people that like classic hardrock with a modern touch will appreciate the album.

We also released an EP called "Raiders of the ark" at the end of september this year containing bonustracks from Japan , an unreleased track, an new track from our forthcoming album and a videoclip from the tour.

We wanted to give our fans something extra in wait for the next album.
Something to still their hunger......

How would you categorize the style of the band? And did you ever consider or try playing other styles of music than the one(s) you are playing now?

True hardrock. I mean all six members of the band grew up listening
to bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and so on so for us it feels natural to play this style.
So I guess the answer would be: This is the "Astral style"

Can you share with us one or two of your favourite moments with the band?

Sweden rock festival in 2004 and the European tour in 2005, supporting Grave Digger.That was some party......

How is the writing process in the band?

Itīs quite the same as in the beginning, Johan and the two guitarists Martin and Joachim get together with Nils Patrik and work the magic.
Then we all get together to add our own individual styles to make the song as interesting and great as possible.
Each song is given as much time as needed and nothing is done in a haste, every song is arthandicraft.

What brought you on the path to becoming a musician? Did you ever consider or take any other paths through life besides music?

Music has always played a big part in my family so for me it came naurally that way so I guess I have to thank my parents for getting me into this.

Do you have any idols? If yes, who?

Hmm....I canīt really say that I have idols, only people that inspire me and who I respect for their talent.

Do you have any regrets looking back at your career? For example any songs or even full albums that you regret recording? If so, what made you regret it?

No, I cant think of anything

Are there particular songs in your catalogue that the fans love but you're not particular fond of yourself?

No, every Astral Doors-song is unique for me and itīs great playing them
live.

How important do you rate the lyrical side of your albums?

Well, lyrics are very important in our music.
Every song tells its own story whether they are political or inspired by an historical event.

What do you think about the state of the music industry today?

It feels good to be in the heavy metalindustry today, meeting great
people, fans, playing the music you love. I know thereīs a lot of labels controlling the artist, actually created the artist through tv-shows and so on but that "industry" doesnīt appeal to me at all.

We are in this "industry" because we love what we do and I believe
that people that listen to our albums or comes to see us live also feel
that this is made from the heart.

What do you think is the best way to fight music piracy?

I think itīs hard to actually stop people from downloading music.
I mean the technology is in everymans home so what can you do ?
Of course it sucks knowing that people download your music instead of buying the cd but like I said ," what can you do...." ?

Do you have a life philosophy? If yes, what is it?

"Life is not a rehersal, live it to the fullest........."

Can you describe a typical day in your life?

During recordingsessions itīs something like this:

I get up, make some coffee, check the news before I jump in my car
and drive off to our studio. We start up by listening to last nights recordings to see if itīs ok or if I want to change something.
I check my bass and ampconfiguration just make sure that nothing has been changed during the night, in case our studio should be "haunted"....he he.

Then itīs time to get down to serious recordings and make some Astralhistory.

After a few hours we break for lunch and then itīs back to the "bunker".
We usually try a number of configurations like different basses, amps and alternative ways of playing to the songs before someone breaks out:"thatīs sounds cool man, letīs stick to that!".
Some members usually come by during the day to check things out or just to hang around.
We try to quit before midnight but you know, if itīs rocking why stop?
This is an example of a typical recordingday in the life of Astral Doors.

What do you like to spend your time with besides music?

Videogames, watching movies, reading books...

What's the craziest thing that has ever happened on a tour?

A lot of crazy things happen on a tour.......driving through the Swissalps
during nighttime in the winter trying desperatly to get some sleep but itīs
impossible because of the rocky "rollercoasterride".......
I felt like a ball in a pinballmachine.

You're heading off to live on a deserted island for a couple of years with your portable entertainment system... Which albums, movies or books would you bring? (Max. 3 of each)

Hmm....thatīs a tricky one...."Lateralus" and "Undertow" by Tool, the Aliensaga, Nilecity and some books by the wise Dalai Lama.

What is your favourite joke?

Iīm not really a "storyteller"...sorry...but I just canīt get enough of comedy movies.
Movies like Three Amigos and Spies Like Us with Chevy Chase
or anything with Jim Carrey always makes me laugh my head off.

Can you tell us about any future plans for you and your band?

We are currently working on our third album and then we will take it
from there, hopefully playing some cool festivals next summer ........

Thanks for answering these questions. Now you are free to write a few lines to our readers.

Make sure you check out the Astral Doors discography and hopefully we will see you on tour. Take care!


Added by Steen - 1/19/2006


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Album Review - Evil Is Forever
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CAN I SEE BIG PHOTOS OF THE DOORS







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