SATURNUS: New Album To Feature Guest Appearance By MERCYFUL FATE's DENNER

Danish doomsters SATURNUS recently entered Sweet Silence Studios in Denmark with producer Flemming Rasmussen (METALLICA, ARTILLERY) to begin recording their third full-length album, tentatively due in February/March 2006 via Finland's Firebox Records. Evilution Magazine was exclusively invited by the band to spend a day together with them in the studio, where editor Bo Black Christiansen listened to some of the recordings and conducted an interview with singer Thomas AG Jensen and guitarist Tais Pedersen. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Evilution Magazine: You are back with Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios where "For the Loveless Lonely Nights" (1998) and "Martyre" (2000) were recorded.

Thomas: "One cannot wish for a better producer. I don't want to try others 'cause this just works perfect for us. You come down here from the rehearsal facility with doubts about your own performance, just like when you play live: 'Does it turn out well? It just has to be perfect!' When you enter here it's like a free-time club after school where everything is relaxed. There is no pressure from a drill sergeant who whips your back and commands you back and forth, as you sometimes experience in studios."

Tais: "He is a genius to check out when you are tired, and then you just stop there. It's not like 'time is money' in here. He is ice-cold and very relaxed, and I think it is very good that way."

Thomas: "At the same time he is very honest towards you as a musician. He is serious, but he doesn't make you doubt in yourself. He can be serious with a spark in the eye, yet you are not in doubt when he means it and you pull yourself together when he points out some things. Something just happens when you start. One cannot do anything else than respect a guy like Flemming Rasmussen. It isn’t peanuts he has produced so far. A lot of Danish artists, but also names like METALLICA, RAINBOW, BLIND GUARDIAN, MORBID ANGEL are some of the names he has been involved with.”

Evilution Magazine: There will also be a prominent guest musician on one of the tracks, Michael Denner known from MERCYFUL FATE and FORCE OF EVIL.

Thomas: "Yes, it was my idea since Michael Denner, as a guitarist, always was a big icon for me. Especially because I have always been a great MERCYFUL FATE and KING DIAMOND fan — mostly MERCYFUL FATE. I have always loved Denner's guitar solos compared to Hank Shermann's because Denner was able to make his guitar seem to be crying and melodious where Shermann was more technical in his approach to guitar solos. So I thought, now that we are working together with a guy like Flemming Rasmussen who is also some kind of idol to us, why not get a god-like guitarist inside and contribute to the album with a solo? It will only be one solo, he is not supposed to do anything else on the album, but it is a great thing for us as fans of Michal Denner. Other than that we have some loose plans about some violin and cello on the album but it is only a loose plan so far. Now we will just have to see how things develop regarding the timeline in the studio. We are under a time pressure and it is not something we would like to compromise."

Read the entire interview at EvilutionMagazine.com.