David Grimoire – All Instruments for Opera Diabolicus

1. How did this project come about? Tell us about the name?

DAVID: Opera Diabolicus was formed as a concept in 2006. It all began when I met Adrian (de Crow) during a stage play of Umberto Eco’s "In The Name Of The Rose" in Gothenburg Sweden in 2006. We began to talk about music and theater and what it would be like to combine those two things together. I’ve always been into musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables and theatrical metal bands so I was very pleased when I met Adrian who had almost the same conceptual ideas.

The name Opera Diabolicus can more or less freely be translated as "devilish works" which refers to the thought that each album should be a musical/lyrical work of its own and with a devilish, mystical and gruesome feeling to it. So therefore, the term "Opera" is used as its meaning in the Latin language and not as the operatic music style.

2. What is the basic story?

DAVID: The main part of the album deals with the life, death and whereabouts of the 17th century Hungarian Countess Elisabeth Bathory who’s most famous (or infamous one should say) for trying to reach eternal beauty by bathing in the blood of young virgins.

3. Who are the main songwriters?

DAVID: I write all the music while Adrian (de Crow) writes all the lyrics.

4. Was it hard trying to blend the clean, female, and black metal voices?

DAVID: The choice of vocal style in the different parts of the songs and the arrangements of them is all depending on what’s going on in the story lyric-wise (we put a lot of focus in trying to tell a story). It was a little bit of a job trying to fit it all together so that the vocals shouldn’t feel that they were out of context music-wise, but we had a general idea what we were striving for.

5. Combining different voices, especially female with a death metal growl, has become commonplace in heavy metal. Did you try to do anything different with this idea?

DAVID: The inspiration for combining different vocal styles was not inspired by other metal bands really, but instead the influence came from musicals, theater and the story itself. We’re very pleased with the vocal arrangements that we accomplished. We didn’t put more emphasis on the female vocals compared to male vocals. All vocal parts are equally important in order to be able to tell the story.

6. How involved are Snowy Shaw, Mats Leven, and Niklas Isfedt with composing the songs?

DAVID: None of them has been involved in the actual songwriting. Snowy has contributed with different drum arrangements and some vocal arrangements for his parts though. It’s needless to say that they turned out great as that’s implied by the nature of his talent.

7. What has been the reaction from fans of this type of metal, and critics?

DAVID: The reaction has been really awesome and we’re very humble and pleased that so many people have taken their interest in Opera Diabolicus. Both fans and critics have embraced this album very well.

8. The video for 'Blood Countess Bathory' is very theatrical and a lot of thought went into the presentation. Clearly there is some kind of budget for this project. What are the goals for Opera Diabolicus?

DAVID: World domination should always be the main goal if you want to accomplish something great and that counts for Opera Diabolicus too. Our focus is to reach out to as many people as possible and take this theatrical piece to the stage. It will be a real challenge trying to convert the album to a stage production, but real challenges is what we feed on. That’s where real culture and creativity comes from.

9. Tell us about Andy LaRocque's part in "1614"?

DAVID: Andy has the part of the producer of the album. He’s been the main man behind the sound of the album. He’s done an immense job coping with this production and the end product speaks for itself.

10. Anything you want add?

DAVID: Thanks for the interview and I would really recommend people to go to YouTube and look up the video clip for the song ‘Blood Countess Bathory’, put it on HD and with full screen because it’s a real thrill to watch. And of course if you like the music, buy the album. That’s the best way to ensure that there will be a sequel.

Official website: http://operadiabolicus.com