There are
some rumors that say that Speed and Thrash metal has lost their audience in the
past few years. In the era of modern metal subgenres there are still those who
bear a strong wave of oldschool Speed and Thrash sound. One of them is a
certainly young band Prisoner from Belgrade who have started their work in
2011. Extreme Review crew has talked about their new album, concerts and other stuff concerning the band
Prisoner.
1. Hi guys! What is the band Prisoner doing these days?
-Hi! At the moment we
are preparing for our gig with Nadimač, Vox Populi and Shovel at KST Garden,
concert will be held on the second of July, we are also finalizing the deal for
our first full length album.
2. You’ve recorded your new album “See
the Scars”, however the battle for finding the label is still on. Has the
situation improved regarding that? Are there any potential publishers on sight?
-Yes, the album is
all done and we have already got a deal with Kieran O’Loughlin from Slaney
Records.It was a little ruff in the beginning because people involved with underground
metal ain’t that rich and can’t release as many albums as they would like to,
so we have encountered a few rejections, although they liked our music they
just did not have the funds to release it.
3. Speaking of the new album, recently
you’ve published your video single “The Beast in the Mirror” which has aroused
some divided reactions and comments. How satisfied are you with your album? How
seriously do you take the criticism addressed to your lead vocal?
I can only say that it left nobody indifferent .We all gave our best for this album to sound as good as possible and we think it came out great. Let’s just put it this way: We respect all opinions but we did everything as WE like and we did everything as WE wanted to, we respect our audience but we became a part of this music scene to do our own thing, if that bothers anyone, well, too bad. Vocals are still not as good as some professional singer’s but they are getting better every day. Some people love the vocals, some people don’t, same as everything else in life. Any negative criticism can only push us to go further.
4. Your new album “See the Scars” has been
recorded in the studio of “Citadela Sound Production” which is under the patronage
of Luka Tower Matković (Space Eater). From the given it can be seen that we’re
talking about some seriously quality sound production. Are you satisfied with
that cooperation and how did the recording go?
-We are really glad
that we choose Citadela Sound Production studio to record our album because
Luka is a great producer and a great guy to work with. He helped us a lot and
made it a lot easier for us, so it was a great
experience and we are very satisfied with how things went.The recording
lasted from December 2014 to March 2015 , we had some minor difficulties but
nothing that we could not bear.
5. Some Serbian magazines have made their
review of the album. Are you satisfied with the reviews?
-Igor Stanić made a
review for Serbian Metal Portal and we are quite pleased with it. He said his
honest opinion and that’s all that we ask for. The rating that we've got was
7/10 , that’s not bad for a debut album.
6. As we can see the album is covered
with some very interesting artwork, can you tell us who the artist behind it
is?
-Our artwork was made
by Željko Manojlović, and we think that he did a great job as always.
7. Unlike your latest album, songs from
your first EP sound a lot more raw and have the tendency to simply throw us
back to the ’80. Now, with the new album finished, what are your impressions
about “The Upcoming Devastation”, do you find that your style and performance
has changed in any matter?
-If you like the 80’s
metal this album won’t disappoint you. We grew up listening to this style of
music and that is what suits us best. The "Upcoming Devastation" was
made with zero budget and zero experience, it was record by our friend Vladimir
Živković, from the band Centurion, in his apartment. When we recorded it we've
just started working in this line-up except we still did not have a bass player
so the bass was recorded by Stefan Dragović also from Centurion. We want to
thank both Vladimir and Stefan for their help and a contribution to this band.We
have all become better and more familiar with our instruments since that EP so
this album sounds much more professional and the songs from the EP that we
re-recorded all got something new in them and now they sound complete.
8. Mentioning your first EP, we should
point out that it has been labeled by “Grim Reaper Records”. Were you satisfied
with that cooperation?
-Yes, guys from Grim
Reaper Records are the first who trusted us enough to release our EP and we are
endlessly grateful for that.They have started something that just won’t stop
that easy. Thank you Grim Reaper!
9. You are also known for having lots of
concerts and performances in the last two years. Which one of them left the
best impressions?
-We must agree that
our best shows were with Rapid Force at Danguba club and with Heller at Božidarac
cultural centre. Can’t decide between the two.
. 10. Thanks for answering our questions.
And for the last, what can we expect from Prisoner in the future, is the album
going to be published this year? Where could we see you playing in the next
period?