Hank Shermann has raised some hell being an original member, along with King Diamond in the legendary Metal band Mercyful Fate. In May 2010, Hank offered his fans a new Thrash Metal band called Demonica. Their first release, "Demonstrous" is out on Giddy Up Records. We had the pleasure of doing an interview with Hank from his home in Denmark.
Buy & listen to Demonica here
LoudTrax.com: Let’s talk about Demonica. This album is killer, it sounds great. What was the approach when creating this album, from the writing to recording?
Hank Shermann: My approach was to kick in a few extra gears from what Im usually doing and known for. So after deciding to form a new band, after years behind the scene, it was well thought thru in every aspect. I liked the challenge of getting the songwriting more brutal. After recording some 3 or 4 ideas I contacted an old friend who had that type of vocals needed for this, we made some demo recs and it just worked out 100%. Good tone to his voice and the attitude was there from the get go, let me introduce “Klaus Hyr”! Then we spent a good year to finish up about 10 songs, during this process Craig Locicero was approached with the idea of joing the band since we knew him from earlier and we are huge Forbidden fans. Mark Hernandez and Marc Grabowski soon joined and DEMONICA was born.
LoudTrax.com: The album was recorded in different cities. Was it hard to capture the live kind of band feel? Did you guys jam as a band long before laying down the tracks?
Hank Shermann: Yep it was recorded in Copenhagen, San Francisco and Denver and in 4 different studios. No we did not play or rehearse before recording the album, we layered it up as almost every band does anyway, and therefore nada difference even if we where recording in the same studio. We simply uploaded the HQ wave files to a dedicated server, damn fast and worked like a charm, goodbye Fedex! . When all was recorded forth and back all files were upload and beamed down to Flatline Audio in Denver Colorado for the final Mix and Mastering by Dave Otero.
LoudTrax.com: You are the guitarist of one of the most respected and long standing bands in Heavy Metal. How have you had to adapt from going from that level to starting off a new project with Demonica? Especially in terms of touring and marketing the release.
Hank Shermann: Its fairly easy transition as I’ve been around for many many years, going from Heavy Metal to Thrash Metal is a small adjustment, but in all its the same set-up with guitar/amp you just need to step it a bit!! Touring and marketing is a team effort with label and band, you just need to work hard everyday if you want results, but too many bands out there makes it tough. You need to play live, you need to be on YouTube, you need to get up early and keep going, nowadays you have all the tools to monitor the daily progress and stats, something Labels have kept secret for 50 years and cheated all along the way!
LoudTrax.com: What are Demonica’s plans after the release of the "Demonstrous" album? A tour?
Hank Shermann: Well we have 3 shows cued up for August, 1 show in Belgium, 1 show in Holland and 1 show in Denmark, after these concerts we’ll play it by ear and see what happens. We are starting from scratch and have to built it up like it was a pyramid!
LoudTrax.com: Have you sent the album to King Diamond? How did he like it?
Hank Shermann: No not yet, but as soon as I get a few spare copies I’ll ship one. I’m sure he'll dig it as it has some familiar elements!
LoudTrax.com: The Mercyful Fate song “Evil” was featured on the Guitar Hero : Metallica game. Do you find that has helped reach a broader audience?
Hank Shermann: I would imagine that young generations might find it interesting, Im sure many many people dont have a clue who Mercyful Fate is, so this might be is a good way to reach new fans.
LoudTrax.com: Have you played the song on Guitar Hero? How did you do?!
Hank Shermann: Nah, haven’t tried it yet, dont have any game controller, but have seen it played on youtubes, I would likely suck big time :-)
LoudTrax.com: Many of the Mercyful Fate albums were released on Vinyl and Cassette. Today there are countless ways fans can get your music, like Guitar Hero for example. Has the creation process for you changed knowing that the means of communicating with the fans have changed?
Hank Shermann: We are certainly aware of how the music biz is changing and the many diff ways to get your music out, but the making of music is the same as in 1982 .-), but much more time is spend communicating the band out via the internet, something we couldn’t do back then, so its almost 24/7 !!
LoudTrax.com: What are the upcoming plans for Mercyful Fate?
Hank Shermann: We have a DVD coming out with the Early years, likely sometimes in early 2011! Should be interesting with a lot of never b4 seen footage and how it all started. I’m sure we’ll record a new Mercyful Fate Album in the future, we just need to get the timeframe framed and then some patience :-)
Hank Shermann-Copenhagen June 14th 2010
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