Finally, it’s time to share some news with all of my followers. April 2018 sees the release of the re-recorded/rewritten version of my debut album Memorial for a Wish through Battlegod Productions. Why have I chosen to do this? Well, take a step into my thoughts and see why….
May 2010: A head full of dreams, an impressive budget and a desire to create something grandiose. The writing of my debut album Memorial for a Wish had begun, a dream was about to become reality. This particular dream was to write an album featuring some of the artists that had been monumental inspirational sources to me from my childhood years and up until then.
Now was the time to take action and make these ideas come to life. Positive feedback from three amazing singers; Göran Edman, Åge Sten Nilsen and Tony Mills really kick started the writing. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to work with some of my childhood heroes, people that had lead me onto the musical path that I am still on today.
I was so eager to get the album finished I could hardly wait. However, it would take three long years before the album would see its release. Why? Memorial for a Wish was a hard-earned experience in how not to make an album and how to throw away precious time and money. An experience I benefited on when writing and recording the follow up A Bit Closer to Heaven. It was the first professional album I ever wrote and recorded. I was inexperienced and didn’t quite know how to embark on that mission. Besides writing songs that I am very proud of I didn’t manage to create half of what I wanted with that album, it became a shadow off the original idea. The task simply became too big to pull through with the little experience I had at the time.
Spending three years on that album would have been justified if the product was great but I’ve always felt that I could have done better. It wasn’t the songs that bothered me. The songs obviously needed some improvement, which they get on this re-recording, but I would never have revisited this album if it wasn’t for the poor recordings … and the mix, which felt both right and wrong at the time. A lot of the recordings didn’t have good enough quality and much of it wasn’t played well enough. It made the overall sound very chaotic in my opinion; too many melodies, riffs etc. intertwining at the same time. A lot went wrong with the actual recording but at the end of the day it was the mix that bothered me enough to make me want to re-record it. Being inexperienced and working on this album for so many years eventually made me a little blind and tired. I needed to get that album out of my head and start working on something different.
After its release, the album launched Nergard on a small but expanding platform that has been a great foundation so far. For that I am very grateful, much of it thanks to the great promotional work done by my label Battlegod Productions. There were a lot of positive reviews and feedback from fans worldwide, and though that of course made me happy, I knew that the album could have been ten times better.
I guess many will say that it is a waste of time going back to re-record an album that is only four years old, but I felt very strongly that for the sake of the songs, the performances from the guest artists that put their mark on this product and not least all my fans I had to do the album all over again. I also felt that this was something that needed to be done before any new music was released. Pete at Battlegod Productions gave me the thumb up and I went straight to work on it.
Dissecting Memorial for a Wish
The only things kept from the original recordings are the performances delivered by the guest singers as well as some guitar solos. All the guitars, drums, bass, keyboards have been re-recorded, and there are some new guitar solos, new guest singers, and even two completely new songs made out of one of the old ones. Every song got some big or minor changes during the rewriting, I even changed the title on some of them. When rewriting the album, I got the chance to cut away some parts that I felt crippled the songs instead of pushing them forward, especially the long ones.
The opening track “Twenty Years in Hell” is left out of the new version. It was a hard decision to make because I really love that track and its dark, storytelling atmosphere. However, in the big picture it only left people confused. It was written in the early stages when the project was supposed to be a heavy metal musical. As the writing and recording progressed the rest of the songs took a different path and the song stood out as a loner on the album. Instead “The Haunted” from my debut EP, The Beginning, will take its place in a new version with female vocals on it. I’m extremely proud of the new Memorial for a Wish and can’t wait to let you hear this monster.
One should not forget the past though. I don’t re-record this album to bury the old one. I know the first release has a lot of fans so old and new will be united on this release as a double album, the old one attached as a demo version + some extra snacks. Release date, full track list and the new guest singers will be revealed very soon. Below you can find the ones that are already on the album.
Memorial for a Wish line-up
Andreas Nergård – Drums/keyboards/bass
Henrik Karlsvik – Rhythm and lead guitars
Ørjan Halsan – Rhythm guitars
Sanne Mieloo – Vocals
Göran Edman – Vocals
Mike Vescera – Vocals
Nils K. Rue – Vocals
Åge Sten Nilsen – Vocals
Andi Kravljaca – Vocals
Tony Mills – Vocals
Michele Luppi – Vocals
David Reece – Vocals
Ralf Scheepers – Vocals
Ole Martin Moe Thornæs – Vocals
Tore Andre Helgemo – Vocals
Kim Sandberg – Vocals
Helge Engelke – Lead guitars
Stig Nergård – Lead guitars
Tomas Nergård – Lead guitars
Anders Jordbrekk – Lead guitars
Siver Græsli – Lead and rhythm guitars
Jon Einar Hektoen – Bass
David Åkesson – Backing vocals
Eskild Kløften – Backing vocals
Tracklist
1. Angels
2. The Haunted
3. Hell On Earth
4. Stay
5. A Question Of God
6. An Everlasting Dreamscape
7. Nightfall
8. Requiem
9. Inside Memories