Michael Klein

Wicked Sensation

Think about "what if". Also imagine that perhaps everyone could have gotten away with this pandemic, which has been a part of our lives for the past two years. Now, let's imagine that there is a hero out there, which was sent down to Earth to correct history. With all the Marvel universe going on, this is not that far-fetched of a story, or a glimmer of hope, even if impossible. Wondering about it, and the German Wicked Sensation comes up, raising the flag for a better future, which was altered in the past, through their new comeback album, "Outbreak". Steinmetal had the chance to understand more about the concept, the band's return, and more by talking to founder Michael Klein.

By Lior "Steinmetal" Stein

• December 20, 2021

Wicked Sensation's Michael Klein: "Stay with the hooks…. don't make things sound too complicated…" interview

Hello Michael, it is a pleasure to have you for this interview for Metal Temple online Magazine, how are things going on your end?

Hi Lior…. thank you very much, my pleasure to do this with you. I´m doing fine and as you can imagine we`re very excited about our upcoming new album, which will be released Friday the 17^th of December.

It has been quite a while since the last time I heard about Wicked Sensation. I believe that it is obvious to ask if it was a hiatus, or rather inner problems within the band, that caused this somewhat long silence of nearly seven years? What happened after "Adrenaline Rush"?

Well… you`re right since Adrenaline Rush it`s about 7 years of our abstinence, at least regarding a new album. But it´s not that we were not active or split up, we had a couple single shows in our area and just needed a break from certain things. I also started writing songs for this album already in middle of 2019. It was our plan to release a new album in beginning of 2020 which marks our 20^th anniversary, but then as we all know, something unexpected had a huge impact on our lives and plans and it still does. We realized pretty early that this pandemic situation would make it hard to play live to promote this album. This was a situation that completely slowed down our production as we just had no interest at all to release the album in such a bad time. Then we also had a line-up change on the bass and the drums.

We wanted to work again with more local based musicians, at least the instrumental part of it, so we first welcomed Alex Hlousek who is a good friend of the band since years on the drums, and Mitch Zasada on the Bass, our youngster. Also, we weren`t really interested anymore in working with a record label and had plans to do this on our own. As it came up that we will work again with David on our new album, we had a couple of conversations regarding this, and he tried to connect us with his label. It wasn`t really what we expected and so we came back again, to our plan to not sign with any label.

Due to a podcast with Ritchie Newton we came in touch with ROAR (Rock of Angels Records) and their label boss Aky, and we had a couple of telephone calls and skype conferences and we all felt very comfortable with the idea to work with the guys from ROAR…..so here we are, back again with a not so brand new album for us, but for all fans and friends of this band.

Thankfully, you guys are back, with a slight difference, which we will talk about later on. How does it feel to get back in the saddle, creating new material after a period of time?

Sure it always feels great to come out with something new. I did a couple of other productions as well, I did 2 albums with Khymera together with Dennis Ward, Eric Ragno and Pete Newdeck in this break since our last album Adrenaline Rush, also a couple studio jobs like Place Vendome with Dennis Ward and Michael Kiske. But yeah, it`s more exiting to work on your own stuff, where you can do everything you want, regarding the songwriting, the arrangements and so on. We are all happy to finally come out with this…. it`s our "Outbreak" to call it like that

With a lot of artists out there, releasing new material, finding ways to escape the ongoing pandemic, looming into different worlds set in imagination, you did the opposite with the new emerging Wicked Sensation album, "Outbreak". In general, why not take that route out of these troubled times? What made you so interested in this newfound concept created on the record?

When we started to work on new material, there was no corona and we just wrote our songs as we always did. We had no idea how big this pandemic situation would hit us all, we did not even think about a pandemic situation. The artwork idea with the Timewalker who was sent back to 2019, where it all started, happened while we were working on an intro for the album.

We wanted to come out earlier with this song material, but like I said we didn`t want to release anything that we cannot promote at all. Now, 2 years later we`re still in the same kind of situation, but as of course no one can really say for how long we will still have these troubled times, we decided to bring this to an end, and finally release it, before we talk about 10 years or something else. Then we had the idea with the Timewalker, who should bring a bit positive vibes in these bad times, some hero from outer space to rescue us…. well… we all know it`s not that easy, but it might be a good Hollywood story

I liked the fact that there is a time traveller, a passenger in time from a future where the pandemic is not just global but galactic, crossing beyond the borders of Earth. Without getting into the reasons of how the pandemic sustained itself for so long, the time traveller, heading back in time right before the pandemic hit, what was expected of him?

The concept of the "Timewalker", who comes from an outer space future to intervene in the history of time, because the corona virus already had intergalactic dimensions…. came pretty late while our production was almost done. Like I said we worked on an intro for the album and tried out many space sounds with keyboards, it was a funny and also very inspiring time, that me and Bernd, our Keyboard player, had. I suddenly had this space cowboy kind of guy in mind…. who should come to change this crazy situation, we`re all living in right now. Basically, this intro and the artwork around, was the only concept of this, the songs were already there. However, this Timewalker story will end or go on…. we`ll completely leave it up to the imagination of anybody out there…..so it depends on your own inspiration what was expected from him, but surely to bring this to an end finally

When you think about, and of course I can understand the wishful thinking and imaginative spirit, would you say that this pandemic could have been prevented? Looking to the future ahead, would we ever come out of it?

I know that our generation haven`t seen something like this before, so it is still unreal to see what`s going on our planet, we are not used to this, we haven`t expected that. Many confusing things, changes, regulations and news on a daily dose hits us every day. We are surely all tired of this corona virus and it has a huge impact in the whole world's environment, but yes…. I believe we will come out of this, we need to be strong and I hope we see better times soon…..easy to say…I know but to believe the opposite, is not really an option for us.

Back to "Outbreak", the artwork of the album had me a little bit amused, in a good way. Though I can understand the time traveler, yet, the landscape, and imagery of the person and the car, could have been noted as figures and shapes from a Mad Max movie. What can you tell about the vision behind these images and general artistic declaration?

Ok…. like I said before, the idea and concept about the Timewalker was basically from me. With Aurelio from designlara.com.br, I found the perfect graphic design partner to bring my ideas into the graphic style, as I had it in mind. On the artwork of the front cover, you can see the Timewalker and his space car time machine on a Mars or Mad Max kind of landscape.

There is also a portal which stands for the "real world" that leads him to our world and the year 2019, inside this portal you can see a big western city skyline. In the booklet we have a few other nice images, like ourselves trapped inside of big guitar tubes standing in this landscape, as well as the same Chevy Truck that you can see on our "Starbreaker" Video single. In the inlay of the vinyl version, is another great artwork with us trapped in these guitar tubes. Aurelio did an amazing job here, and I got to say that he captured my ideas, just like they were spinning around in my head….we are all very happy about it.

Following these past seven years, when it came down to the musical direction of Wicked Sensation, would you say that the change of seasons, going a little bit colorful there, had an influence on the Hard Rock nature of the band?

Hard to say, actually I`m not very up to date what is going on out there with other bands of this genre. So at least I don`t feel very influenced by other music when it comes to my own music…. sure we`re all influenced by some of our favourite bands and music always, and you will notice these influences any time, even you`re trying to pack them in some kind of more modern sounding production. The only thing which probably had a big influence on the way how I write and arrange nowadays, is the fact that I worked on a couple of other projects with Dennis Ward. So…. yes, that might be the best point to describe this. Learning about the process of other people productions and their knowledge, always leaves inspirations on yourself. I would say it helped me a lot.

The general blending of your melodic approaches on "Outbreak" sounded like those paid off immensely. Whether crossing Hard Rock with proto-Heavy Metal, sharing qualities of AOR and Classic Rock, the record has a potential to capture the attention, and ears, beyond the mere 80s fans. Earlier I asked about how the times influenced the band's music, yet now I ask how did the perception, and vision, of "Outbreak", enhance your musical capabilities to mix this bowl of soup so well?

I have always been worried a lot about melodies, especially catchy choruses, bridges for vocals. Of course I always give my best as a guitarist to create cool riffs, but then the vocals need to have room to surround this instrumental parts in a way that it will stick in your ears.

In my early years I had other projects with also great singers, and I always cared more about the vocal harmonies…. you can sing any melody to me and straight on I would be able to sing the second harmony as well as other voices. The Beatles were the first important band in my life and as you know, they weren`t big because of their great guitar riffs hehe, it was all about those amazing choruses / melodies and their multiple voices on it.

On Outbreak I came up with most of the melody ideas, which is always easy for me on my own music, because I always have the complete vision and atmosphere of a song in my mind. Some of the AOR stuff like Khymera suits my vision of melodies also very well, so you can also hear those AOR styles here and there, like on a song "Hide Away". Then, on the other hand, I might have an idea for something more "Metal like"….at the end of the day we always know how to give these different styles the typical Wicked Sensation stamp. Outbreak is the best example for this, we all feel very pleased with the outcome of this album. I think it`s full of great songs and in my opinion there is not one filler on this album.

Even though there is a concept as an overhead for "Outbreak", the songs felt to me like standalones, some sharing different qualities than others. In your opinion, what are the connecting dots between the tunes that makes them a kind of a single unit, telling the same tale?

You are right…. all songs are standalones, because they were written before this Timewalker concept came up. Although, a song title like "Starbreaker" sure fits to this space concept….and a song like "Child of Sorrow" also starts with an spacy Keyboard Sound.

We tried to give this album a good mix of different styles and atmospheres, covered in our typical sound. But there is no concept of this Timewalker story in our songs, it is only the intro and the artwork, all other songs are standalones and can be mixed as desired in your personal playlists.

In your view, what are the key elements of "Outbreak" that make it such a strong feature within your long-time legacy of album making? What makes it a special kind of fiend so to speak?

The melodies, the hooks and the performances from each of us. I mean David's vocals are just amazing on our songs, I think it`s a perfect fit and you can easily hear that this is something where David feels very comfortable with and that's an important thing I would say. The guitars are working very well together, Sang and myself are a twin guitar duo since now 27 years, there is nothing that we have to explain to each other, we just exactly know, what the other wants and how he would play it. Such a long time is better as any practice. Alex on the drums and Mitch on the Bass captured all this with a solid rhythm basis, while the Keys from Bernie lays down the right atmosphere on the songs.

Also, important to mention is our guest musicians like the great Gus G. who played an amazing solo on the song "Light in the Dark" and of course my good friend Eric Ragno, who is also part of Khymera and other projects…he also laid down some nice keys. Then Dennis as our long-time producer and friend, brings everything together in the right sound….working with him for so long is a privilege for me….he is incredibly talented.

As an experienced songwriter, and even though at least for me the songwriting of "Outbreak" is more or less straightforward, what did the record teach in regards to your approach towards a song, arrangements and melodic flavors?

Stay with the hooks…. don't make things sound too complicated. If you cannot whip your feet, it`s probably not good enough. Most music listeners like easy song structures or at least a clear structure. If you write a song with so many parts and breakdowns that you could make 3 more songs out of it, it`s getting difficult. I know, there is a couple of great prog stuff out there, but only a few bands are able to make these songs catchy without only showing off their artistic playing style.

Teaming up again with ex-Accept / ex-Bangalore Choir vocalist, David Reece, after being fronted for so long by Robert Soeterboek, gave you an edge no doubt. Nevertheless, why did things end with Soeterboek in the first place? Is it a simple case of loss of interest?

We are still in contact with Robert and we have a very good relationship with him. Robert had some bad luck with his voice at the time of the Adrenaline Rush production. He needed a throat surgery and everything was not looking good for him at that time. This is when we came up to find another singer for Adrenaline Rush. David was absolutely perfect for this, although it was a hard decision for the whole band. Today, Robert is recovered and he can sing again without any problems at all….as we worked on the new songs we first came together and we met in Germany to discuss things…but Robert wasn`t interested in this "band kind of thing" with playing single shows here and there, he only offered us
to do the studio recordings. That wasn`t really what we were looking for, because in the current line-up we all would like to play live, as far as this Covid problems allow it.

I contacted David and he was interested to do it again, and also said that it would not be a problem to perform live with us, as long as it don't cross his own Band's schedule. In this process of studio work together and then also the video filming, we got to know each other better as before and we had a great time doing this with David. A true professional pioneer of rock…and man can he sing; he hasn't lost any of his voice. We are excited to see where this is going to leads us to

Reece provided the "Outbreak" songs with his soaring voice and roughness, which contributed to a measure of Blues, alongside a form of richness. In your view, how does Reece fit the Wicked Sensation legacy? Is he in the band to stay or merely as a session vocalist?

David is not a session vocalist, even if he`s a busy singer. But he also needs to do something, music marks his main income, so you might hear him on some other projects as well, but to say he is a session vocalist would not be fair and he always gives a 100%. For us, David feels like the perfect singer and he could easily sing the older songs as well, we might discuss some of them when it comes to gigs. Also, I doubt that he would have a problem with this, he is a Pro.

I never expected anything less from Dennis Ward, his efforts ended up with Wicked Sensation sounding larger than life. True that the sound is polished and in modern form, yet it is made in finesse, nothing exaggerated or too much. How do you find the new sound of the band and Ward's venturing the sound waves of the record?

Dennis knows how this band needs to sound like. He knows our music since years and knows what it needs. I cannot imagine to work with somebody else to be honest, especially after such a long time of 20 years. We always share our opinions with him regarding the sound of the drums, bass, guitars and so on, and he always leads it onto the right track, best producer for Wicked Sensation.

It was hard not to get caught by the web of catchiness, heralded on pleasurable songs as "Hide Away" and "Face Reality". The former is easily one of the best songs by the band, a pure melodic celebration, while the latter is a heavier dose of what you guys are capable of with writing in your face tunes. What is your appreciation of these great tunes? How do you find their impact on the overall record?

It is a fantastic feeling when you hear a song that you had in mind while you were writing it, on the final product. This is very exciting and due to the talent of Dennis as a producer, it very often happens that the outcome of it, is even better as you expected it. We love every single song on this album and we believe that this is our strongest album to date. We also love the fact, that the taste of "a favorite" song from this album is so various from person to person. This shows me that we have a song for every bodies taste…. from straight heavy Rockers, to AOR, to more bluesy sounds, even to gothic sounding stuff like the verse of "Light in the Dark" you can find everything on this album.

Whether the concept of "Outbreak" or the output of the music, when you listen to the record, what does it make you feel? Where does it take you to in your mind?

Pure desire…. that this long and hard work came out so great. We are now hoping that it gets the attention that it deserves. We gave our best and now the people out there can get this great album and we hope they love it as we do!

Michael, salute to you for this interview and for your time. Thank you for returning with Wicked Sensation and offering this arena of pleasures for grabs. All the best

Thank you very much Lior, and thanks to all rock music lovers all over the world, support bands, buy their albums especially in these bad times, we all need it, otherwise another great culture goes down the sink. Let`s do the "Outbreak" together and let`s hope the Timewalker can help….at least a nice thought I would say. Stay strong and healthy everybody!!!!!!