When it comes to making power metal, Brainstorm is one of those rare acts that avoids the whole giddy Helloween cliché and forges their own distinctive style.  The first thing that struck me was just how heavy this band is and how they manage to work some progressive elements into their sound without losing any power.  With several quality albums already under their belt, I caught up with guitarist Torsten Ihlenfeld to get his thoughts on their recently released masterpiece Soul Temptation…

What has the reaction been so far to Soul Temptation?
Overwhelming. We got fantastic reviews from everywhere, especially Europe was amazing and helpful, as it is our biggest market. We got #1 in the Sweden rock magazine, #2 in the Metal Heart Magazine, #3 in the Rock Hard Magazine and had many top 10 rankings like for example in the Kerrang and Hammer Mag. But all this gets topped by the #73 entry in the German longplay charts and #2 in the Greek metal charts.

What is your best gauge for what the fans think about Brainstorm - is it mainly from talking to them at shows or keeping up with them on the Internet?
Both, I like it more talking to the fans directly, but anyhow, the Internet is a very good opportunity to keep in contact frequently and spread today's news quickly.

Soul Temptation was produced solely by Brainstorm.  What led you to do it yourself this time?  Was it more challenging?
We always produced or at least co-produced our albums, because we know best what a Brainstorm song should sound like. And all the songs are completely pre-produced by ourselves before we enter the studio. Means all songs are almost 100% finished when we start the recordings.

Are you guys perfectionists in the studio?  How much time did you spend recording the new album?
We always try to do the best job possible and this takes its time. But we try not to over-produce our albums. There has to be enough human touch and most of all enough heaviness remaining between all that technical processes.

Soul Temptation as a whole seems to be more diverse than any of the previous albums.  Would you agree?  If so, was it intentional to create a more varied album this time around or did it just turn out that way?
I agree totally. It is the most diverse album we ever did, but it just turned out that way. The only thing we had been talking about before we started writing the new songs was that we wanted to write that eastern influenced trilogy. And that's an important reason why this new album sounds more diverse than the previous one, I think. But still I think that the Ambiguity album is very close to the new Soul Temptation album, when it comes about the diversity of Brainstorm albums. The Metus Mortis album was very hard, fast and direct compared to these two ones. But it is some kind of natural process I think, and an exact reflection of how we felt when we wrote the albums.

The Eastern influences that show up in the trilogy on Soul Temptation are very cool and match the lyrics well.  What inspired you to write these songs in this style?
We often experimented with eastern influences also on previous albums because we like the eastern harmonies and the instruments that are played there. Very interesting is also the history and the culture with its mysterious stories and tales from 1001 nights and all that kind of stuff. (nothing political - just historical, by the way.)

When you are writing songs, do you ever throw out ideas that simply don't fit with Brainstorm?
No. As long as we like it, it is ok for us.

How about with lyrics - are there subjects that you steer away from or is anything fair game?
Same goes for that. As long as we think it is worth writing over, we will do it.

I notice you don't have a full-time keyboard player in the band.  When you guys play live, do you employ a keyboard player or just leave those parts out of the songs?
We usually use keyboard samples or write such parts in a way that they can be played on guitar also.

I see that when you started out, you spent several years recording demos before releasing your first album.  Do you think that helped you guys really perfect your sound before moving into the limelight?
It helped a lot on several things. I think the most important thing was and still is that we had the time to become very close friends and not only musicians that make music together. This helps a lot when you go through bad times and we know we can get through everything together. And, as you mentioned already, it helped us growing together as songwriters and getting experienced step by step. We also played countless live shows everywhere possible in those years. Which also helped a lot and made us becoming the strong live-band for what we are known now.

Ever since heavy metal starting to slip out of the spotlight here in the US, I've heard lots of tales of its continued and increasing popularity in Germany, as well as the rest of Europe.  How strong is the scene there in 2003?  How does it compare to when you first started out with Brainstorm?
When we started the scene was very strong but lost a bit of popularity due to that grunge thing in the mid-nineties. But since 1997/98, metal is back in the public eye and very strong 'til yet. We have frequent chart entries of metal releases and many big and cool festivals especially here in Germany but also in whole Europe, which is really great.

With several releases now on Metal Blade in the US, do you get a lot of response from American fans?  Any plans to tour the US for this album?
Oh yes, we get a lot of response from American fans and many of them would love to see Brainstorm coming on tour to the US. We are working very hard to make it happen, so hopefully we get the chance to do so. We really would love to play in America and we are ready to come over whenever we get the chance.

Brainstorm has a lot of melody in its music, but you guys also seem to  make a point of keeping things a lot heavier than many power metal bands out there at the moment.  Has that always been important to you, to have that balance of the heaviness and the melody?
Yes, that's what it's all about. Heavy but still melodic, melodic but still heavy, however you like it. Music with passion and anger.

When it comes time to record a new album, do you find it harder or easier to come up with new material than when you first started out?
That's hard to say. We always had enough material to work with, so we never had to use ideas we didn't like as much as the rest of our ideas when we started working on a new album. We just try to let our music develop a natural way and try not to limit us on certain topics. As long as it sounds good for us, we are happy with it.

When I did a web search on Brainstorm, I came across several articles related to a Latvian band with the same name.  Have you guys had any contact with them about this or taken any legal action against them?
We had contact and everything is cool. It's us and them and we both are fine with that situation. We are very different musically, so we hardly will play the same venues, festivals or tours and do not have to share the same kind of fans.

I always think it is cool when I see bands like Deep Purple or Judas Priest still out there making albums and touring, still going strong.  Do you see yourself still doing Brainstorm that far into your career?
Never say never! But I am far away from thinking of or about what will be in 20 years. I live here and now and I love what I am doing personally and also what I am doing with the band. So, right now there's no reason to change anything about it.