"People think there's some kind of crush between me and Soilwork, which is absolutely not true."

While "Into the Light" was the first present to the 20th birthday of the mighty German label Nuclear Blast, September 21 shall see the birth of the second chapter of the Nuclear Blast Allstars releases, logically entitled "Out of the Dark" andВ described as "the evil twin of its predecessor". This time, the ten songs on it were produced, composed and played by former Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers.

Just like on the first part, the vocals here were sung by different singers throughout the whole NB history, namely Anders Friden of In Flames, Peter Tagtgren of Hypocrisy and Pain, Jari Maenpaa of Wintersun, Christian Alvestam of Scar Symmetry, John Bush (ex-Anthrax), Bjorn Strid of Soilwork, Maurizio Iacono of Kataklysm, Mark Osegueda of Death Angel, Richard Sjunnesson and Roland Johansson of Sonic Syndicate, and Guillaume Bideau of Mnemic, while the skins were handled by Soilwork's current and former drummer, respectively Dirk Verbeuren and Henry Ranta.

More about "Out of the Dark" comes directly from its mastermind, Mr. Peter Wichers...

Vassil Varbanov: Hey, Peter, how are you?

Peter Wichers: I'm doing great! How are you?

V. V.: Good! You are the mastermind of this second Nuclear Blast Allstars CD, "Out of the Dark". Why you?

P. W.: I guess that Nuclear Blast were a little saddened when I left Soilwork two years ago, as they liked the way I write songs. I don't know when they came up with the idea who's gonna do this modern metal Nuclear Blast Allstars CD, as they call it, but I think my name has come up first and I was the first one they asked. I accepted, because it seemed like a fun thing to do.

V. V.: Are you happy with the final result?

P. W.: Yeah, I'm actually very happy - this is the biggest undertaking of my life so far. Of course, you always wanna change a little bit of this and that, but if you do a perfect record, it's time to switch careers, as you cannot top anything that's perfect.

V. V.: After you left Soilwork in 2005, you moved to live in the USA. What have you been doing during these two years there?

P. W.: Actually, I've been living in the USA for over a year before I decided to leave Soilwork, andВ I do what I love to do - producing, recording, writing songs, and hopefully I'm gonna be doing this a lot more after this record comes out... You know, I'm kind of comfortable with the fact that I can stay at home and not go on tour.

V. V.: You've worked with different singers on "Out of the Dark". Did you choose them or it was the label?

P. W.: I was approached with a list of the people they wanted to use on the record. I wasn't too familiar with all of them, so when doing the songs I listened to the singers and their style and shaped the song around their vocals, instead of writing something that may sound like the singer's band.

V. V.: Then probably the song "The Dawn of All" has been the easiest to do, because the vocals there are handled by your ex-mate in Soilwork, Bjorn Strid. What was it like to work together with him again?

P. W.: People think there's some kind of crush between me and Soilwork, which is absolutely not true. I've known Bjorn since I was 16, so "The Dawn of All" might sound like the easiest song to write, but it was not, because it's not typical for Soilwork. I wanted a song where Bjorn would not have the capability to scream on, but do completely melodic vocals. That was my goal, and I think he did it very well.

V. V.: And who's your favourite Nuclear Blast Allstars singer now?

P. W.: Oh, that's a touch question... It changes all the time. Just listen to the songs - there's something for everyone there. I've been listening to these songs so many times that it's hard for me to even listen to them anymore, but I found out that the one I usually go back to is the last one, "Closer to the Edge" (feat. Mnemic's Guillaume Bideau), and also Bjorn's track.

V. V.: The CD shall be released on September 21, and less than a month later, on October 19, the new Soilwork album "Sworn to a Great Divide" will come out, too. Are you still interested in what's going on in your former band's camp?

P. W.: Yes. Recently I met up with Dirk (Verbeuren, Soilwork's current drummer), as he's doing the session drums for the new project I'm working on - the debut album by Nevermore's singer Warrel Dane. I met him in Baltimore and he showed me the new Soilwork record - he just had gotten a copy of it - and I thought it sounded really good. I was really impressed, especially with Bjorn's capability of singing. I spoke with him for two hours a week and a half ago, so you see, we're still very good friends and I wish them all the best.

V. V.: Back to "Out of the Dark" now. This CD celebrates the 20th anniversary of Nuclear Blast. What do you think of the label?

P. W.: In general, I feel proud of being part of that label. So many of the bands they've signed in the past have become forefathers of the sound in metal today. That's great.

V. V.: By the way, where do you live in the States?

P. W.: In Nashville, Tennessee.

V. V.: Why exactly there?

P. W.: We tried a lot of cities. We recently moved to Nashville from Los Angeles, because I feel I need to be in a city with enough studios in it, so there's a lot of opportunities for me to work - LA definitely has that, too, but spending 3-4 hours in traffic every day is not my way of life. Besides, Nashville is close to the East Coast and looks more European, and some of the greatest studios in the world are here.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock