Dead Rhetoric: Obviously crowdfunding made this record much easier to proceed than seeking out label assistance (raising over $7,500 dollars to aid the cause) – are you surprised by the fervent fan base you’ve established, and what made Power Prog Records appeal to you for a physical international release?
Münzner: The crowdfunding thing I’ve done before, with my second solo record Beyond the Wall of Sleep. That went very well back then, I had set a goal of 4,000 Euro and I made more than 6,000, so that was over 150% of my goal. That really surprised me back then to see what kind of a faithful fan base I had. We did the same thing with Alkaloid, my other band in 2015 and that did really, really well. Extreme metal is really popular of course these days, but I was very surprised with the Eternity’s End campaign because it’s a very different style from what I have done with my previous bands. I do know that kids into the tech death stuff and the more extreme metal are not so much into the power metal and clean vocal kind of thing anymore, especially the newer generation. So even with that project I got the same if not more support than my solo record. I’m very grateful that I have a fan base that I can count on and will support me wherever I go.
Power Prog… I sent the album to a variety of different labels and Power Prog were the ones who were the most enthusiastic about this record. I checked their other roster and they have quite a lot of stuff that fits the style we play. The cool thing was they allowed me to do the crowdfunding thing too- I got my costs back right away because I basically financed the whole album out of my own pocket. In the modern days with the decline of record sales it’s just not possible to get recording advances to cover the expenses necessary to make a good sounding record. They were the most fair in terms of the offers that people made me- I’m really happy with what they’ve done so far for the album.
Dead Rhetoric: Are there hopes to be able to play some live shows in support of The Fire Within – and if so, will there be any challenges to overcome due to your previous hand issues?
Münzner: We are working right now to get the band on stage. There will probably be a couple of shows in Europe in July or August, and we already have a couple of offers for the fall. I really hope that we can get to Japan as well. I can actually play all of it live, even when you have one chance to do it. It’s some challenging material, some of the most technical playing that I’ve ever done. It was already written with my hand condition in mind, as opposed to some of the stuff I recorded with Necrophagist or Obscura. I think my hand condition is better now than it was over the past 8 years or so. It will require a lot of practicing, and there will be a second guitar player on stage as well – a lot of rehearsals to get the sound down well. The hand conditions don’t bother me with that material – it’s already written from the perspective of what I feel comfortable doing right now. Some of the stuff is a lot more challenging than the stuff I used to play, there is always a certain amount of practice required to get the material sounding well on stage.
Dead Rhetoric: Who do you look to as models for success – either in terms of guitar playing or particular bands that you strive to attain their level of respect and professionalism?
Münzner: That’s a difficult question, because a lot of the bands that I look up to came from a way earlier time period where success had a totally different meaning than it does nowadays. My favorite band is probably Iron Maiden, they are one of the biggest bands in the world and it’s pretty much impossible to get to that level nowadays, classic metal. From my childhood it would have been a dream to reach that kind of success but it is not a realistic option. I really look up to bands more for what they express through their music, the actual commercial success is quite secondary to me- I accept the fact that as a musician you have to do a lot of teaching, a lot of session work and stuff. It’s not possible to get to the point where a band like that would really pay all the daily bills.
I have so many favorite bands and players. Guys that have stuck with me through the years are players like Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, and Vinnie Moore- that’s the holy trinity for me when it comes to neo-classical guitar playing, I also love Joey Tafolla, Greg Howe, Michael Romeo. Bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Symphony X- I like the Tony Martin and Dio eras of Black Sabbath. A lot of thrash bands like Megadeth, Annihilator- and I like a lot of the European power metal bands that came up in the late 1990’s, early Dream Theater as well. This is material that has stuck with me through my early childhood years, that left the biggest mark on me in terms of performance, composition, of what they express through the music.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you stand on technique versus feel when it comes to your particular style of guitar abilities? What’s something you feel you’ve been able to learn maybe more so in your 30’s that you never took into consideration when you were younger in these areas?
Münzner: That is a good question. I think that technique and feel, especially are not opposed to each other. People often say once music reaches a certain level of technicality, it lacks the proper amount of feel. I think music can either have a lot of feel, be technical, and be both at the same time or it could be none of the two. Personally feel in terms of melodic sensitivity, composition, and what you express through the music is more impressive than the actual motor skills- that’s really just a tool that is required to be able to get the point across. Nowadays in the newer generation you have so many technically brilliant players, kids play the stuff better now than a lot of the original guys who recorded the material.
This alone just isn’t sufficient anymore as a standout element. No technicality can save a song from a lack of atmosphere and feel and melodic sensitivity- whereas a song doesn’t have to be very technical in order to express something and get a point across. Obviously I am into technical and flash guitar playing so to me both elements are very important. What I really learned in my 30’s compared to when I was younger is I’ve improved a lot in the songwriting and the actual guitar playing, the solos. That is the last thing I think about, I’m way more interested in the overall arrangements and the vocal melodies – except for “White Lies” I wrote all the vocal melodies on The Fire Within and I couldn’t have imagined doing this, but it may have come from the focal dystonia.
I’m not just concerned anymore about playing specific guitar licks but taking music more as a whole and the guitar is just a part of the picture. What definitely improved is my composition skills, my feel for writing melodies, my phrasing on the guitar has gotten a lot more natural. I know the guitar solos for example on The Fire Within, I worked on them for a much shorter time than was previously possible on my solo records or with Obscura. My producer noticed that I stepped up my game, and things are a lot better because the main emphasis is not on the technicality anymore. Nowadays the technical element is a natural thing or addition to my musical vocabulary that I can access when I need it, but not the main focal point of the composition. So I think it’s my ability to be able to step back to improve as a musician. 10 years ago I was mainly just a guitar player so to say.
Part II will post tomorrow night, May 12, 2016.