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The last time I talked to Jack Frost was before they played at GrasPop Metal Meeting in Belgium. At the warm-up show they already played a new track, but mainly this was a public rehearsal, coz they hadn't a new drummer at that time and so Kevin from After All helped out. I was curious to hear how GMM was. "It went really well. The response was great. The backstage vibe was great. We played early on the main stage, so people were fresh and everybody loved us. We came out and really explode. Sure, Kevin was nervous, but he really did a good job. He’s a great kid!" Jack told me. And so the next thing to talk about was the new drummer - Jeff Currenton. "Actually a studio guy - Craig Anderson - did the album and Jeff came in later. We had others in mind, but Dennis told us he knew someone from Cleveland. So we gave him a chance. We played the 11 new tracks and he even did them better! Jeff is no metal guy! Actually he plays in an Elton John tribute band." Jack confesses. "Okay, the drums sound different in comparison with the past, It was easier to work in the studio this time." Last time Seven Witches mainman Jack Frost said that Joey Vera is one of his best friends and a really important part of the band... "Yeah, that's right. And we are still best friends, but Joey has Armored Saint, Fates Warning, Anthrax and Engine. Beside that he is producing. He just hasn't the time to do Seven Witches 100%. But we did the demos and we were redoing it and redoing it. I'm glad that we worked together. Passage was a very important album for us. Not just because it was a very personal one for me, it was the best we have done so far. Now it's time to do the next step. This one has to be a bit bigger. Our label sees it that way, too." Year Of The Witch offers different song, partly musically dictated by the concept story of Jacob. "The production and recording were better this time. James and I work together for a while. This is the 3rd album be do and we know each other better and better. We know how the other thinks. We don't need to explain now. The album has a larger diversity. For example one song, a ballad - If You Were God - was written by former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson." So far the band got good reviews for their latest album. It still sounds like Seven Witches, but offers a larger variety. Something special is Jacob. "Jacob... I don't know. It was kinda weird. You know, I love the movie The 6th Sense and I'm interested in the whole afterlife stuff. It came to me.... The vision of a guy who has this dreams. I have dreams... Recovery dreams sometimes... I can't really explain how all this happened. It just happened." Jack also told me that he did the spoken parts of Jacob. "I answer James questions. This Jon Oliva-kinda voice, that's me!" The album is titled Year Of The Witch... So I asked Jack if this will be the year of the Seven Witches. "To me this is the record to make it up after all this years. We gave everything. In the past and especially on this album. We hope that the fans give it a chance and that they appreciate what we did. I think we deserve it to get at least the attention of the fans and that they give us a chance." But there are so many CD releases these days... Especially at the end of September when Year Of The Witch gets into the stores. "Yeah, I know. Jon Oliva's solo album and the one of Chris Caffery. Our label mates Silent Force put out their album. But we will do fine. We sound different and we made fans through the years. The magazines gave us good reviews, so..." The Americans hope to play festivals in summer 2005, but will tour before. "We have now a booking agent for the States and hopefully can tour here. We would like to go out with Iced Earth, but we first have to see how the album is doing, coz bookers are caring about the sales. At the moment nothings booked. A tour with W.A.S.P. would be cool. Do you know that they asked me to play in W.A.S.P. when I was still in Savatage? I turned down the offer. Touring with Silent Force would be fun, too. Alex is a great guitarist and a cool guy. It would be great, too. We want to tour. We want to play live." They played at GrasPop Metal Meeting which is at the same weekend as the BYH, but they got no chance to play there... The last interview I did with Jack was shortly before his solo album was released. At that time he thought about playing some shows, coz he won't mix up Seven Witches and his solo stuff... "I probably won't play shows for my solo album before I have another one out. Another solo album shall be out in 2005, but Seven Witches has priority and so we'll do everything to promote this album. We will come on tour, but there is nothing booked yet. As soon as I have information about a tour, I'll let you know." Jack Frost and his mates are hot to get out on the road. I can imagine that the new songs will do great live. The larger variety will also help to make new fans. Now it's all wait and see.
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