First, can you introduce the band and tell something about the band-history?

Well, Martin Steene, Jakob and I live in three very small villages (Slagslunde, Knardrup and Ganløse) about 30 km. from Copenhagen, so we met each other little by little, and we began playing metal in 1995 or something like that. As the band became more and more serious we decided to record a demo-cd to get some more gigs around the country, but we also sent it to different record companies all over Europe, and suddenly we were in contact with 5-6 companies, and after almost one year of negotiating we signed a deal with Noise records.

How would you describe Iron Fire to people who haven't heard of you?

I would say we are a Heavy Metal band with strong influences from Thrash metal, Rock ’n Roll and of course Power/Speed Metal. I don’t know if it’s possible to call the new album original at all but we have hoped to diverse a bit from all of these typical HammerFall copies out there.

About the line-up changes... what happened? Did the new members participated anyhow to the writing of the new album?

Martin Slott entered the band in June 2000. We parted with Kristian "Iver" Iversen a few weeks before, and then we were hired for some gigs in Germany. We asked Martin to help us performing these two gigs, and when rehearsing with him we got the chance to play some of the new songs, and he really liked it so we asked him to join the band. He’s a great guy and his way of playing is much different from mine. We parted with Gunnar shortly after, and we tried some different drummers, but two weeks before entering the studio we asked Morten to join us, ’cause we knew his great work from other bands like Push and Saturnus. Unfortunately Morten has already left the band again, as he’s having some problems with his right arm which prevents him from playing drums at all. He can’t even hold a bottle of beer! I really hope that Morten’s arm will be fine again some day, ’cause he is one of the best metal drummers in Denmark, and one of my best friends.

How do you compare the new album with the first one? Did you approach the writing of it differently?

The first album was a typical "True Metal" debut album with alot of fast songs and one ballad, but the new album has got alot of different feelings and untraditional sources of inspiration, and I hope it diverses our sound a bit from all of the others. We didn’t approach the song-writing differently, Martin Steene is still the song writer. He’s just changed his influences a bit. Now he’s not afraid of being inspired from Testament on one song and Bon Jovi on the next, and I think it’s great

You have changed lyrics theme... why did you decide to do this?

Martin got very tired of writing about Dungeons and Dragons, so after writing 4-5 of the new album, he decided to change the lyrics. They are all about being on the edge in some way whether it’s because of war, love or anything else.

Tommy Hansen has been your producer once again... how has his work contributed to the band?

Tommy is a very experienced guy, and whatever we ask him to do, he can do it! But at the same time his way of working is very relaxed and cool, so it’s been great working with him again. He contributes to the band with a lot of knowing about melodies and harmonizing, and of course some really great backing vocals and keyboards.

How did get Andreas Marschall to do the work of the cover? What was the main idea? Did he listen to the songs or...?

We asked Noise if we could have the cover designed by Andreas, so they contacted him and he was cool. Actually Martin Steene is the only person in the band who’s been in contact with Andreas, and I think he just him to illustrate "On The Edge", and I think he’s done a great work. He didn’t listen to the songs, ’cause the cover was finished before we ended the recordings, but anyway it fits quite good with the music. It’s not that typical "True Metal" like his work for HammerFal and Blind Guardian, just to mention a few.

How is the response for the album being? Is it more or less what you and your label was hoping for?

Almost everybody says that the new album is much better than the debut. There are some people who doesn’t like it because we don’t play fast all the time anymore, but most reactions and reviews has been positive. We didn’t know what to expect at all, ’cause it’s different from the first album, and I think it’s not a typical "True Metal" album at all.

How are the composition duties shared in Iron Fire? How would you describe your initial process when writing a song?

Martin Steene is the songwriter, and when he comes with an idea of a song we all try to put it together. Me and Martin Slott comes up with some ideas of guitar melodies and solo’s and the drummer figures out some cool noise to make on his cans.

Is the band a full time job for you or do you have regular jobs as well?

We all have regular jobs, 'cause we almost don't earn any money from this band. It sucks!

How is the scene in Denmark? Are there any bands you can recommend in your area?

We don’t have many good metal bands here in Denmark. Most bands play Death or Black metal, and most of them are really bad. We have a cool Rock ’n Roll band called Pride, a cool Doom/Gothic metal band called Saturnus and a few others...

Finally, what are your plans for the future? Are there shows programmed over Europe?

No shows have been planned yet, but we are burning to come out and show the world what IronFire is really about.

That's all Kristian, but feel free to give a last message...

Hi Heavy Metal fans around the world! I hope that you like our new record, ’cause we really do. I hope we’ll meet you all out there on the road soon, so we can share a beer or a hundred, and have a fuckin' wet time!

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