Due to the promotion tour for their new album “Cannibalized”, Biomechanical visited Greece for two shows. One day before their show in Athens, Solid Rock had the chance to talk with the “mastermind” and singer, Johnny K, about the changes in the group, the new album, and their plans for the future.

Solid Rock: New era for the band, with a new line up and a new album. What happened with the previous members?

Johnny K: I will give you the brief version of the story, because I’ve said it over a million times in the past year. I had worked 14 months for this album, sometimes for incredibly many hours, and I reached a point where I broke under the pressure and we fought over a tour. The guys wanted me to go. I could not, I was exhausted. So we had two ways we could take. Either give me sometime to rest, or part our ways. You already know which one we took.

Solid Rock: Wasn’t it hard to find musicians that suited you in such a small amount of time, in order to complete the album and go on tour?

Johnny K: I won’t lie about it. As soon as we parted ways, I almost went nuts. I did not know how to find musicians in order to complete the album. These days though, we are fortunate to have internet. And that is how I found them. Of course I got lucky as well. There aren’t a million drummers in England you know. I found Jonno and was very lucky because he is an astonishing musician, I also found Gus Drax through myspace, and Adrian who also communicated with me via internet because he learnt that I was looking for band members. I think that if it were not for the internet Biomechanical wouldn’t exist now.

Solid Rock: You have a new album, Cannibalized. Were the first reactions as expected?

Johnny K: Of course. The first reactions were perfect. Above expectations I might say.

Solid Rock: I have read comments like ``British Heavy Metal found a name: Biomechanical”.

Johnny K: Yes indeed, some comments were fantastic.

Solid Rock: However, Cannibalized is the most technical, fast and with more Cinematic Effects album of Biomechanical. Weren't you afraid how would it be faced?

Johnny K: It is different, that’s true. And that is something that I want in my albums. I would not want us to be another group that puts out just another good heavy metal album. I believe that a band should evolve, not remain still, musically that is. The truth is that many told me that the album was a bit “weird” and not easy for the listener, so naturally, as you understand, even when you are sure for your work there will always be some kind of artistic insecurity. Thus I did not know how it would go when it went out for reviews. Fortunately however it went out and went very well.

Solid Rock: The production of Chris Tsangarides also helped for this result. How was it to work with a producer of so many successful albums?

Johnny K: Yes, Chris was a big part of its success so far. I had Cannibalized in my mind for a long time, I wanted a specific sound for it, and that was not the sound of Andy Sneap. Andy has his own sound and made a fantastic work in “Empires Of The Worlds” but it was not what I wanted for Cannibalized. I was considering 3 producers in the beginning, Chris, Colin Richardson and a guy from America. I spoke with the record company and they suggested Chris. I called him and I faced a very friendly person, straight, sincere, and after our discussions, we realized that we wanted the same things for the album. That’s why the result was good.

Solid Rock: “Cannibalized” completes the trilogy that begun with “Eight Moons” . That’s something that not everybody knew. Tell me a few words about the concept.

Johnny K: The concept is nothing more than my daily concerns. I am yet another person that wakes up in the morning and reads a chaos in the newspaper and watches a chaos in the television. Everywhere you look you see a chaos. I wanted to express this through my music. Nothing more, nothing less.

Solid Rock: Should we expect something similar in the future?

Johnny K: Something different for sure. I don’t know which albums will have a concept, but there is an idea for the next album which is the complete opposite of Biomechanical, and this is very interesting. It has to do with the first A.I (Artificially Intelligence), and how it conceptualizes humanity, God, existence. And this is very interesting because in the first 3 albums you saw somebody going from the biological being to a machine, while in this you will be able to see the exact opposite.