One of heavy metal’s underground guitar extraordinaires has gone solo since parting with Rage last year, and now has swiftly spread his wings in the form of his new band Almanac. We speak to Victor Smolski about the new project and the intricacies involved in developing the band.

If you are familiar with Smolski’s compositions of past, you will know that some have been relatively complex in guitar work, while writing the themes and ideas of the particular band that has been in. For the first time in his career, he has completely free reign over the compositions, and decided to throw his wealth of musical talent into the concept of Ivan the Terrible in the grandiose new album ‘Tsar‘.

We cover all the details of the Almanac project, from finding members, to composing the music, to Smolski’s acclaimed guitar playing style! Listen to the interview or read the entire transcript below.

Hi Victor how are you?

Good good everything is fine! So many interviews today!

 

Yes of course I’m sure it’s a really busy day today!

Yup. Rehearsal day in the first half and then the second half – interviews. You know an hour live on air in America… It’s been crazy!

 

Wow! You must be tired!

Yeah you know it’s the last week before release…so a lot of things…photos, rehearsing…

 

Well anyway thank you so much for speaking to us today.

No problem, no problem.

 

Well the first question is would you mind explaining little bit about the Almanac project and its new sound?

 Yeah well it’s a new band that’s been around for exactly 1 year. We started at the beginning of last year when I stopped with Rage. I wanted to build a new band of the concept like we did with LMO. Some more singers and an orchestra behind and I started thinking about new singers and orchestra and the old lineup we do with LMO.

I brought the same singers in Jeanette Marchewska, same orchestra in Andy Garcia. But yeah I was looking for a new musicians, I’ve known Armin,the bass player for a long time. He was on my last solo CD, he’s a fantastic player! I’ve known our drummer Michael from doing some workshops together at Wacken and it was great.

And our two other singers… Andy has always been my favourite singer. For a long time I was thinking of doing a new solo CD, I was thinking of inviting some guest singers, and my favourite singers were Andy and David and we started talking about doing something together. So I asked them if they were interested in forming a band together…and they said yes!

So my first choice was all those guys, and it’s just perfect! I’m really happy! We got this idea together and then we did one test show to check how it feels together. And then we did a show together last year in Frankfurt… just a short performance to try ..because David and Andy had never done something like this before. They had never worked with multiple singers before, so I said ‘let’s try and see if it feels good’.

Everybody loved the show, and almost directly after this we started recording new material.

 

So was after the first show you realised it clicked, and you said straightaway, ‘yes we have to record some material together!’?

Yeah! It was just a kind of fun jam together! Just a couple of my old songs and a couple of songs from LMO…and we had so much fun on stage everybody loved it! We started to compose, and it was so easy and so much fun, for me it was really incredible.

I don’t remember when I had so much fun recording!

 

It sounds like it was a really good feeling going into the album!

Yeah, it was really teamwork. For me this was really important. I didn’t want to make some sort of project with guest musicians. I wanted to have a real band! I wanted everybody involved in the arrangements, to bring some ideas, and that’s exactly what happened! It was really fantastic influence from everybody.

 

So we’ve heard the new album ‘Tsar’, and while on the subject of members – it’s a very complex project as it sounds – did you already have material written before forming the band?

No no no. It’s completely new material which I composed especially for this lineup.

 

The project itself sounds like it’s got quite a story to it, even though you’ve got some great music there. What’s the story behind the album?

Well when I started to think about new songs, I want to find some cool story behind them. I very much like history, and then I wanted to search for something very historical which is good to compose some power metal songs. You know, blood sweat and tears sort of thing.  It always perfect! [laughs].

I was kind of looking into wars, like first and second, but they are all related. So many bands have done this, it’s become kind of boring. I was talking together with Nuclear Blast, ‘Hey why not check out Russian history? There is so much cool stuff out there, and we don’t know too much about this…’

… And nobody had done anything about this! So everybody knows Ivan the Terrible – he was the first Tsar in Russia. But not so many people really know what happened in this time.

 

No, I don’t either! So is this going to be a lesson in history?

Yup! It’s really history about Ivan the Terrible, and his rule at the time. About how he was a victim of the government and the Tsardom of Russia, and the Russian Empire. It has really interesting historical parts – his life was very special…his personality was very complex…very violent and very brutal…but he was also highly intelligent and very clever.

It’s very interesting how his personality changed when he was born to when his mother and his wife were killed. It was a tough time and thousands of people were killing each other. It’s a really interesting subject to see him change, as it has relation to modern history as well. We see it all the time! We can start to learn something from history and not make the same mistakes! [laughs]

 

So in composing this music maybe you’re trying to highlight an issue, maybe not making the same mistakes as this man did? 

Yes! [laughs] But I liked this concept very much, and then I started to compose by reading books, and then I had this theme in my head. I gave the concept to the singers, and then they started to compose lyrics around the themes and my melodies.

 

You explained that Ivan the Terrible had such a complex personality, and there are some parts on the album that are very complex. Did you write the music and melodies pending on the complexities of that certain point in history?

Yes! Yes! I wrote according to these points, and I composed just like the concept… It’s difficult because when you compose normal songs, you can mix them up later and put the track listing wherever …but when you’re composing like a concept it’s very difficult. Every song must fit into the next one.

 

It’s amazing…from what I’ve seen from the web trailers you have composed every note yourself?

Yes I composed everything myself! Only one song ‘Nevermore’ composed with Michael the drummer.

 

That’s absolutely amazing. How long would it have taken to compose the whole album?

I was surprised how fast I managed to write, how fast I got ideas, and how fast the songs were ready. I started at the end of April last year, and in June I had already brought the ideas and we started rehearsing and jamming and making arrangements to the songs. August we started recording! So quite fast!

 

So you had so much creative energy that you could compose very fast?

I think it was this positive feeling…you know this atmosphere helped a lot! It was so much fun playing music with these guys without any compromise. It was something completely new for me, this kind of freedom, writing what ever kind of songs I like without any limitations.

I always had this kind of limitation, I couldn’t do anything too complicated. I always needed to write a certain way, no rehearsing, I had to write melodies in a certain octave…with Almanac, there are no limitations, no compromises, and we talk about music. We talk about playing the right string on the right fret, we talk about the groove… It’s just so much fun.

When we did the arrangements in the rehearsal room, we quickly found the way how we like it.

 

Yeah, the live orchestra on the album really adds something special. It really brings out the atmosphere. Was it difficult to work with a live orchestra?

With the live orchestra I already have a lot of experience. I had already done the orchestration for Rage, and also for different bands. I’ve done a lot of jobs for recording arrangements, so this experience helped me a lot in finding the right balance.

In Almanac I find the right balance – The really powerful metal songs, The really aggressive style but with a lot of deep arrangements – A lot of power, bombastic symphonic stuff with the orchestra behind.

It was quite hard work to make all these arrangements and write all the parts for the orchestra, but in the end it all sounded good and I’m happy.

 

It’s a very impressive piece of work for a debut! So my next question is do you plan to take Almanac on tour? I know it’s quite a big line up and it’s difficult to arrange…

Well next week we’re going out on tour! We actually plan to tour a lot. 18th March is the release, and the same day we start three weeks of touring. And we play every day I think there’s no stopping, 17 shows in a row.

 

Oh wow so you are going on tour straight away!

Yes! We play every day. And I don’t just want to wait! I want to bring the songs on stage and gain experience from the live shows. See how the new material comes out on stage… As soon as your play as a band you start to get the band feeling and this is what I want. It’s an opportunity to prepare for really big shows like Summer festivals.

In May we are playing Switzerland at the Masters of Symphonic Metal, in June we go to the Czech Republic to play Metal Fest Open Air, and then we play Summer Breeze in Germany and a couple more festivals coming up in summer.

In October we are planning to take on headlining tour and doing more shows through Europe. At the end of the year I already got offers from Russia and Japan, so we will really play a lot.

 

So Almanac is a full band and not just a project. A band that will continue into the future?

Exactly. This was very important to me from the beginning. Didn’t want to have any guest musicians, or any feeling as a project. It’s a full band, to present live the same power with the same lineup and the same sound on CD.

 

So we can expect more music and tours from Almanac in the future?

Sure!

 

So my last question, and it comes from me, is that your one of my favourite guitar players of all time! I’ve been a big Rage fan for 15 years. How did you learn to play guitar and what were your influences growing up?

Thank you, thank you very much! My musical education started with the cello and piano – I started really young! At six years old I started playing cello, and it helped me a lot for my fingers, all this classical education helped me a lot from the beginning. 

When I was 11 I switched to guitar… I found out about it in music school!

 

And that you prefer heavy metal?

[laughs] I got all these ideas in jazz and rock college, and then I really started to train a lot. I got a lot of private teachers… I went to America to take lessons, I started playing everywhere doing house of blues touring… And yeah… Train every day for hours and hours…and it got to a point where from me it was better with a guitar than without. I was really crazy.

But I always tried to find my way of playing! I didn’t try to copy anybody else. I like a lot of great guitar players like Yngwie, Steve Vai, Brett Goss and/or kind of crazy guys. So many good guitar players. But I always tried to make a fusion from different styles!

 

It sounds like a classical influences have always been there as well.

Yeah, I’ve always tried to mix scales and find something new with a lot of experiments. I also do a lot of improvising – I never prepare any solos before the recordings. I prepare songs, and all the riffing, but when it comes to the solos it is always improvised. I never know before what I will play! This is the way for me to find something new.

 

So it was the same with Almanac when you went into the studio… You just improvised?

Yes it was improvising and jamming. When I just hear the song it easier for me to find the right solo.

 

Wow. So when you play the solos live do you remember what you recorded?

Yes…but sometimes I need to cover myself! [laughs]. But also sometimes I really like to improvise. When I play 10 shows in a row the solo gets uninteresting, and then I start to mix it up a little. [laughs]

 

That’s great!

I was really happy as a child to have the right teachers. Is very important when you start to learn an instrument that you have good teachers from the beginning. This was so good as when I was young teachers infected me with music. And I come from school at home and then start to train again and play… It was so much fun.

 

So music is in your blood, and it comes out on the new Almanac album!

Yes! It’s all about fun in this music. I hate to do any compromises. I find incredible fun with Almanac, and I think it’s going to be a really great band in the future.

 

A brand new start with no restrictions! Victor thank you so much for speaking to us today! Really appreciate it, and good luck on the tour next week!

Thank you very much!

Almanac’s new album ‘Tsar’ is available today in Europe via Nuclear Blast!

If you need any convincing, read our review of the album here.