Something before we start: Rumors that EDGUY left the stylistic ways of their successful albums VAIN GLORY OPERA and THEATER OF SALVATION and changed to a more serious or experimental style are not true.
Edguy - 2001
The new EDGUY album MANDRAKE is doubtlessly a typical EDGUY album, plus a few little extras, sound-technical bonbons and liven-up style variants. The song "Pharaoh" covering more than 10 minutes of playing time is the longest track on the album. This song flirts with oriental sound sequences, the opener "Tears of Mandrake" contains the sound of a Hammond organ, while the softer "Wash Away The Poison" and the song "Jerusalem" become special by means of a piano intro or rather by means of an acoustic guitar. Singer Tobias Sammet is absolutely right to say: "Friends of us who already listened to a few of the songs said that the material is absolutely typical for EDGUY without that one gets the feeling that EDGUY repeat themselves or re-recorded songs from former albums in a similar manner. I believe that we never sounded as versatile as on MANDRAKE."
You can check this already at the end of August when the single "Painting On the Wall" will be released, including a few bonus tracks. The complete album will be released approximately 4 weeks later. Responsible for the great strength of the band over the last years is on the one hand the consistent line-up of the band, which consists of Tobias Sammet, furthermore the two guitarists Jens Ludwig and Dirk Sauer, bassist Tobias Exxel and drummer Felix Bohnke. On the other hand, EDGUY again used their production team, sticking to the motto "never change a winning team". The album was recorded at the Rhön Studios in Fulda, supported by engineer Norman Meiritz. The songs were then mixed and mastered in the Finnvox Studios by Mikko Karmila and Mikka Jussila. Guest musicians on the album are piano player Frank Tischer and as background singers Ralf Zdiarstek, Markus Schmidt and (Attention here, ladies and gentlemen!!) Rob Rock, who spent a few of his hours off during the tour of his band with Axel Rudi Pell to support Sammet and Co..
There are still two things left to be explained. First the title of the album: Mandrake is the English expression for the German "Alraune", the root of a poisonous solanum. As it has the shape of a human being the root has been considered magic since the ancient times. "The title Mandrake is a synonym for magic, for the supernatural, which lives in us creatures and which can't be seen with the naked eye," explains Sammet. What supernatural features are possibly going to be developed by the band in the future, will be shown in November when EDGUY are going on their first own headliner tour. Surprises for the fans are already planned, the stage set is being worked on diligently. Because: "After five support tours it's time to present ourselves to the fans as headliners. We will definitely present a show that is worth seeing and won't get boring for the whole time. However, we won't tell you any more than that." Nobody knows what will happen until the release of the album, but one thing is already clear: From 24 September onwards, at the latest, the day that MANDRAKE is released, the remains of the year will belong to EDGUY!!
