Evil Masquerade

Hell-o evil friends!

I was recently asked by several people to tell a bit about the video recordings that have kept me very busy lately. A new album usually asks for a music video to be shot to make some of the new music available also in visible form. It was both hard and easy to chose the song since basically all tunes from “Fade to Black” could easily represent the album and work great as a video. But since I’m easily bored I thought we should pick one of the least expected songs for our first video. I’m not sure if this is a wise decision or not. And honestly I don’t care. It felt refreshing to do it and that’s good enough for me. And even though the song isn’t mainstream Evil Masquerade (whatever that might be), I think it’s an interesting piece of music and certainly the darkest and most heavy we have ever done. I had expected some reactions about my strange choice of music from the other guys, but they were cool with it right away. However, I waited till the last second with telling them where they would be taken for the filming of this video. I already knew what to expect since we had been shooting all the actors at this same godforsaken location one week earlier. It wasn’t a great selling point to tell the others that this whole production is shot outside, at night, in January, with temperatures below 0 Celsius, and very windy conditions. But fortunately this lineup aren’t some whiny guys that just wanna be rock stars. They are in this for art’s sake - and they thought it was the perfect place for performing the song “Desire and Pain”. We had the best crew ever to make everything run as smoothly as one could ask for in those conditions. All in all I would estimate the whole team with actors, crew and musicians to at least 40 persons – which makes this a pretty large scaled production. We owe them big-time for spending so much time on Evil Masquerade just to allow us to realize any strange idea we come up with. It is very rewarding to work with such professional people that also understand the importance of art and are willing to do their very best for it. Camera rolling; and as we stroke the first chord I knew that this was the strongest lineup I have ever had the opportunity to have by my side. I can’t wait to perform a full gig with Apollo, Daniel, Johan and Mikkel. We did all the shots the director Morden Wolter asked for. We also managed to do a quick photo session with Thomas Trane – and as an extra bonus for you all, there have been several smaller cameras rolling around the set during the whole production to let you in behind the film camera and some of the things that have been going on. I haven’t seen any of the raw materials yet, but I have been told that there are tons of great stuff caught on film so it might be pretty interesting for the hardcore fan. When the filming were done we headed back to civilization and my place where we enjoyed the rest of the night together with a countless number of local beers and music till sunrise. Even though this was two days ago, my place still looks like a bomb exploded here with beer cans and cranial parts (yes it is true) all over the place. Now you know a little bit about what we’ve been up to recently. Unfortunately I can’t publish any pictures from the shootings. It would spoil the element of surprise for the video. But I got a camera snap shot from our friend and backliner Kim Damkjer that don’t reveal too much from this Saturday night. Enjoy & Cheers! /henrik

PS. Full production creds will be announced as soon as we have all names.

the band

For those who don’t already know, there is a new and exciting project underway, in the form of a fanzine.

Fans are being urged to get involved and to come forward with any Evil Masquerade creation that they may have and would like feature in the magazine.

One of the magazine features currently under discussion, is a section where fans can put forward their own questions to the band.  It will then be up to the band to decide what question/s are the best and that they’d be willing to answer, and will then feature in the magazine. These questions are requested to be sent to the special fanzine email address:

This new creation is gonna be a must for any fan of the band and hopefully, as well as the new album release, will become very popular and help build up the fanbase even further. Please everyone, help support this and leave some feedback on the EM FANS PAGE.

So, what’s happening in evil wonderland? Well, I had to make another trip to Sweden yesterday to record one remaining song that we couldn’t fit in the schedule last time. Today I’m back in Copenhagen - and it was all worth this additional Scandinavian sightseeing. Now everything is done – and to both Apollo’s and mine full satisfaction. To be completely frank, this album turned out even better than I had dared hoping for. We have spent a lot more time experimenting and trying out “less common ways of thinking” just for the fun of it. I have always been a big fan of that kind of workflow, and this was certainly no exception. I think an album should offer both what people have come to expect, plus elements never (or rarely) heard before. This album (formerly known as Album No.4 – now known as Fade to Black) does just that. The 3 first albums were released almost on an annual basis – but this one took twice the time to make. It wasn’t possible for me to do it any faster without compromising with the quality, which would never happen. I’ve been in composing mode since 2003 and have basically never left the studio since then. Fade to Black has been, and is, a very important album to me - and I couldn’t really put the artistic spotlight at the precise right place until I realized that this album should not be lit on with a spotlight. It should be treated the other way around. It should fade, and at times all the way to black. But not in the sense of creativity or melody – darkness has lots of beauty and excitement to offer. It’s more about exploring the dark side of Evil Masquerade. And while doing this, I came to realize how comfortable and natural this felt to me. I know this probably sounds like gibberish to people that are fortunate enough not seeing into my brain, but this is what gives Evil Masquerade’s 4^th album the perfect atmosphere and fresh feel. This is also what reflected my reality during the making of this album. Sometimes without me even knowing. Sometimes with me knowing it too well. Another cool thing with this album is the buzz and high expectations it seems to have created lately. Never before in my career has an upcoming album done this already before people have had a chance to hear it. Much of this is thanks to all the amazing people that have teamed up with the band in a common goal of Evil Masquerade World Domination. While some record labels seem very sleepy, this has never reflected the always-fighting troop of fans of the band. Without them/you I’m 100 % sure that music like Evil Masquerade’s wouldn’t stand a chance in this world to survive. I could of course play much safer while composing the music, and thereby make it more appealing (read: economically less risky) for the bigger labels to sink their teeth into our evil orchestra. But this will never happen until “appealing” means “what-ever-Evil-Masquerade-feel-like-doing”. So what’s next? Well, artwork and mix. Both are being prepared for right now. What about the line-up? It will be revealed soon. Anyone feel to lend a hand? Then feel free to spread the message about the upcoming album anywhere possible/impossible. And to you that are already doing exactly that: Thanks a lot! CHEERS! /henrik

Apollo recording the Fade to Black album.

Chrissie has done it again!!

Yes my friends, the action continues at galloping speed at the Evil Masqurade front. Thanks to Christine Krusewitz from Germany, we now have Evil Masquerade at Facebook too.!! If you have a Facebook account please join us there, and if you still are not a member of Facebook, you might consider getting an account there and become a part of this very fast growing community. Many facebook friends of Evil Masquerade have already joined us there and it continues to increase in popularity.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Evil-Masquerade/20556283062?ref=nf

Thank you Chrissie for bringing Evil Masquerade to Facebook!!

YOU ROCK!!

Can there not be any MORE Evil on myspace? Well yes there can, and the more the better we say! Yes Myspace is getting more and more Evil, what with another wonderful site that has been set up in the form of a group. Anyone who belongs to myspace and loves a bit of Evil, is welcome to join. There will be new topics set up, which you can enter into a discussion with other fellow Evil fans, and of course feel free to start your own. Come join and help us turn myspace into our own little Evil land!

http://groups.myspace.com/evilmasqueradeworldfans

 Big thanks to Alex Matos, who is responsible for this.

Evil Masquerade continues to grow and expand their fanbase all over the world.  It was not too long ago when a group of great and very dedicated fans from several parts of the world created fan sites dedicated to Evil Masquerade and their fans.  These were created in the  areas of Japan, France, Mexico and Holland. 

Now, we have the pleasure to announce that our friend Chrissie from Germany has done a fantastic job with the creation of another fan site for Evil Masquerade in Germany.   Creating an even larger and stronger fanbase for Evil Masquerade. 

Please join us in thanking Chrissie for her great help and the great support she is giving to Evil Masquerade.   Show your support to Evil Masquerade and to Chrissie as well,  by adding her new created site GERMAN EVIL MASQUERADE FANS to your list of friends at MySpace.  

http://www.myspace.com/evilmasqueradegerman 

Thank you Chrissie!! And thank you all for your great support to Evil Masquerade

Thanks to Chrissie - another devoted fan and friend of Evil Masquerade, a new fangroup has been born. You will find it here  http://www.lastfm.de/group/Evil+Masquerade

Now, everyone who has an account there can join this group, but even if you aren’t part of it, then now is the perfect time to sign up there. Not only is it another place where you can share your favourite music and meet friends with similar tastes in music as yourself, but you can also join this new group and support your favourite band further…thus helping the Evil army to continue growing.

See you there!

I just returned from Sweden where Apollo and I have recorded the first tracks for the upcoming album. This will be a wet dream for metal lovers who are into powerful vocals that hit where it hurts and performances that don’t play safe, but still win every time. We had a blast while recording these songs and I’m sure you will hear it without doubt when the album’s out. I’m also 100 % sure that Apollo will get worldwide acclaim for this release. And I feel much confident that this album will be remembered by many for a long time. CHEERS! /henrik

As you might be aware of, Evil Masquerade recently came out with a competition in which every person entering the contest would send a recorded sound clip to a specified Evil Masquerade address.   The winner of this competition would have their sound contribution added into the new upcoming Evil Masquerade album #4.  Fans were asked to be creative and to record an audio file with a microphone where they would say something that they thought would carry the greatest message ever on a metal album .  Every participant would have an equal opportunity to be chosen.  Henrik Flyman would decide, based on the recording itself, which one was the best to be included in the new album.  

Many brave and enthusiastic fans stepped forward into the “Be part of the Evil” contest and they sent their contributions to the Evil Masquerade address that had been assigned for that purpose.  Their contributions were posted publicly on the Official Evil Masquerade Forum for everyone to listen and enjoy.  This was great fun for everyone!  We were finally able to hear  the voices of those friends we had only known through pictures and through their written words.  The competition came to an end,  and now all that was left was the waiting for the day in which we would find out who the lucky chosen was. 

 Well….the amazing news came to us yesterday at the Official Evil Masquerade Forum.  Henrik Flyman announced that all those fans who so bravely recorded and sent their contributions for this contest, they ”ALL” will be included one way or another within the new album.  Henrik Flyman will make some of his magnificent magic recording work to include those sounds in very special different ways.  He will use his amazing creativity to make Album #4 one of the best albums ever created.

It’s well past midnight and the perfect hour to add some haunting keyboards. I’m pleased to say that you can expect a very unique sounding album. You have not heard Evil Masquerade this way before, but still it sounds more Evil Masquerade than ever… just a whole lot darker, more powerful and… evil. No sleep for the wicked. CHEERS! /henrik