News | MAYAN: Track By Track Analyse

MAYAN: Track By Track Analyse

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13.07.2011 | 14:21

Vor kurzem ist die erste MAYAN-Scheibe"Quarterpast – Symphonic Death Metal Opera" erschienen. Nun hat die Band um EPICA-Musiker Mark Jansen die Songs ihrer Scheibe in einer Track By Track-Analyse kommentiert:

Track 01 | Symphony Of Aggression

“The most complex song, guitar-wise & the easiest to record. Frank [Schiphorst, guitarist] used a Bo-El MC7 with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge, and for the clean part a different MC7 with a thicker neck. We have Floor [Jansen of REVAMP, ex-AFTER FOREVER], Simone [Simons of EPICA], Henning [Basse of SONS OF SEASONS], Mark [Jansen, MAYAN & EPICA guitarist/founding member] and Arien [van Weesenbeek, MAYAN & EPICA drummer] already singing in this opening track. During the recordings, we were very open minded and used all singers' qualities.”

Track 02 | Mainstay Of Society (In the eyes of the law: Corruption)

“Originated from the outro guitar lick of track one’s ‘Symphony Of Aggression.’ Frank jammed this lick at the end of ‘Symphony’ and Mark wrote the base of ‘Mainstay’ in just one afternoon, based only on this lick. This one also includes the hardest guitar riff to play. It's a track with mainly grunts, just some female vocals by Simone in the chorus.”

Track 03 | Quarterpast

“The boys choir was recorded in London for our album, originally to be used in another song; however, the way they performed made us decide not to and put different music underneath, to give it an extra eerie feel.”

Track 04 | Course Of Life

“Typical spontaneous song written at Mark´s place around the same time a multi-track fart-song was recorded. You don’t wanna know. Mark pressed ‘play’ on that certain recording later on, windows open. Great to see the faces on those people on their bicycles passing by!”

Track 05 | The Savage Massacre (In the eyes of the law: Pizzo)

“Ariën [van Weesenbeek, MAYAN & EPICA drummer] was drenched after recording this one! He had no time to practice; he only listened to the pre-production in the studio and nailed it in no time! Laura [Macrì], the opera talent from Italy, has a big role in this song with her Italian lyrics. It's a heavy song with a atmospherical mid-part.”

Track 06 | Essenza Di Te

“Just pressed ‘record’ and let Jack [Driessen, MAYAN keyboard player] play something spontaneously, then let [guest vocalist] Laura [Macrì] do her thing. This is what happened in the end. The demo version was called ‘Perfume.’ Check out the movie [here on YouTube], as it inspired us for this song.”

Track 07 | Bite The Bullet

“Only now did Frank’s guitar need a new set of strings. Used two sets for the whole album, didn’t need more. About 30 picks were used in total, though. This is the song where [guest vocalist] Henning [Basse of SONS OF SEASONS] shines. We call it, therefore ‘The Henning Song’ as well. He shows in this song what he's able to do with his voice: raw parts, soft parts and choir harmonies.”

Track 08 | Drown The Demon

“First studio song ever on which Floor Jansen [REVAMP, ex-AFTER FOREVER] and Simone Simons [of EPICA] sing together! [Drummer] Ariën’s voice got put after the song, recorded as a joke, but we decided to keep it. Sorry Ariën!”

Track 09 | Celibate Aphrodite

“Sascha [Paeth, producer] was fooling around while Henning [Basse, guest vocalist] recorded his vocal parts. He put a pitch-shifter on Henning’s voice and turned it into this high-pitched chipmunk voice, but Henning could not hear that himself. It’s on YouTube here.”

Track 10 | War On Terror (In the eyes of the law: Pentagon Papers)

“Mark [Jansen], Jack [Driessen, keyboard player], Ariën [van Weesenbeek, drummer] and Frank [Schiphorst, guitarist] shouting together in this one. ‘Sir, Yes Sir! Sir, No Sir!’ It's the most heavy song on the album dealing with the so-called 'war on terror' which is actually a war to create more influence in the region and keep the oil coming, but it won't work as we'll all have to speak Chinese in 20 years anyway. ;-) ”

Track 11 | Tithe

“No coins were harmed in this song! The church didn't actually earn any money from us.”

BONUS TRACK: Sinner’s Last Retreat (Deed of Awakening)

“Frank improvised the guitar solo in the studio for fun. Didn´t think, just yanked that whammy bar. Technically seen the worst, but the result made us grin big time. In this song everything and everybody comes together one more time. It's the grande final! The lyrics are co-written by Najla, she gives her vision on Middle East conflicts.”