{"id":34643,"date":"2015-07-10T16:19:03","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T16:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=34643"},"modified":"2015-08-04T16:38:10","modified_gmt":"2015-08-04T16:38:10","slug":"feature-chaos-magic-07-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-chaos-magic-07-15\/","title":{"rendered":"CHAOS MAGIC – Passion Flowing (July 2015) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHAOS MAGIC – Passing Flowing<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nJuly 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

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Caterina Nix<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nInternational symphonic metal outfit Chaos Magic pairs guitarist Timo Tolkki \u2013 formerly of Helsinki, Finland-based power metal ensemble Stratovarius \u2013 and vocalist Caterina Nix. Born Caterina Torrealba in Santiago, Chile, the frontwoman originally met Timo during a meet and greet with Stratovarius. The two spoke and developed a friendship, and so the pair kept in touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome time later, I decided that I wanted to show him my music,\u201d Caterina continues. \u201cI sent it over to him, and he was quite taken by my voice. The idea of working together started a few years ago, but we didn\u2019t have an opportunity to realise this idea until Frontiers came upon the idea of having a female singer for a solo project. He forwarded my name along with the names of other female singers that he knew, and then finally Frontiers said \u2018Yeah.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Certain quarters in the metal community might not be familiar with the singer. \u201cI started singing when I was very young,\u201d she informs. \u201cIt has always been very cathartic for me. I was always really involved with music; I participated in school bands and the school choir, and I had a few bands also in my adolescence. I\u2019ve always been into rock (laughs). I\u2019ve always liked this kind of music, and then I started a band where we played Nightwish covers, which later turned into Aghonya.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the tracks \u2018High Above Me\u2019 and \u2018Angels Of The Apocalypse\u2019 \u2013 which featured on May 2014 full-length Angels Of The Apocalypse<\/em>, the second from Timo-led project Avalon \u2013 introduced many within the metal community to Caterina. \u201cWe were already recording Chaos Magic by then,\u201d she reveals. \u201cFrontiers and Timo came up with the idea of me singing these two songs, because they thought it would be good for me to be a little bit known before we released the Chaos Magic album. So, the idea was borne from Frontiers and Timo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaos Magic\u2019s moniker happens to be spiritual in intent. \u201cI came up with that name since I wanted a name that was universal, because I believe that we are all energy,\u201d the vocalist shares. \u201cI wanted to sort of show that we have a connection with you name it, whether it be God, nature, spirituality. We are all parts of a mass of energy, or whatever you call it, or whoever you pray to, or whatever your beliefs are. You can focus on something and achieve that through your energy, so that\u2019s what Chaos Magic is about. It\u2019s about finding your own magic within you, and materialising it somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaos Magic\u2019s self-titled debut jaunt arrived in July 2015, for which Timo wrote all respective compositions. \u201cI worked here, and he was in Finland,\u201d Caterina divulges. \u201cWe worked through the internet. Basically now, we have the opportunity to do that, and it wasn\u2019t hard at all. I thought it was gonna be much more difficult because we were on different continents, but it was great. He sent me his material \u2013 the demo versions \u2013 I listened to them, I sung the songs, and sent the tracks out to him. I was quite pleased with the first takes I sent him of the songs. There wasn\u2019t much that he wanted to correct or anything, and so it went quite well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have the chance to write any songs this time, but probably if there is a second album, I will write some of the songs . This time, we didn\u2019t have time. We had a schedule that we had to fulfil, so it was gonna be hard for me to write a couple of songs. For sure though, if this goes well and there is another Chaos Magic album, I will definitely be showing my material.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The duo\u2019s inaugural affair mainly exhibits symphonic ingredients, although this isn\u2019t the sole ingredient. \u201cI think you can find several styles,\u201d the frontwoman critiques. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely heavy metal there, but symphonic metal mostly. You can find a little hard rock sometimes, and the songs are pretty catchy. There\u2019s something there that I would say is similar to Amaranthe, or a little bit of Within Temptation. This is quite representative of that genre, of female-fronted bands. When we were planning how the album would sound, I proposed to Timo bands like Amaranthe, Within Temptation, Nightwish. I think he was already aware of these bands. You have to remember that he was the one who wrote the album \u2013 I didn\u2019t have a chance to write anything \u2013 but that\u2019s what we discussed. We knew beforehand how we wanted each song to sound.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s people who think this might sound like Stratovarius because Timo\u2019s involved (laughs), but it\u2019s not like that. I think if people listen to this record though, they are gonna like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to authoring the musical passages for Chaos Magic\u2019s initial material, Timo penned all of its corresponding lyrics. \u201cI made minor changes, where I thought things could sound a little bit better or I thought would fit my voice a bit better,\u201d Caterina augments. \u201cThe lyrics were written by him, though. We had a few ideas beforehand, which we talked about. I came up with a few names for the songs, but the lyrics this time are all him. <\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the lyrics and the spirit of the album are quite uplifting. We didn\u2019t want to make anything apocalyptic nor did we want want to warn the world that humanity is coming to an end or anything, so most of the lyrics are things that people could relate to in everyday situations. They talk about trying to get out of a gloomy place, and going to somewhere where you can find yourself, and find positive things in your life. The message of the album is quite uplifting, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording was undertaken in the members\u2019 respective native countries. \u201cI recorded my vocals here in Chile at a studio of a friend of mine, who I actually work a lot with,\u201d the singer discloses. \u201cThey were recorded more than a year ago. Yeah, it took a long time for the album to be released. I can\u2019t remember exactly when, but it was more than a year ago. I think we took two weeks to record the voices, and also, Timo took two weeks to record the album \u2013 he did engineering and production, as well. It was very fast. As I was saying earlier, it wasn\u2019t difficult at all. Timo liked the things that I sent him right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having befriended Timo as well as having cut material with the axeman, Caterina has gotten to know the man somewhat. \u201cTimo is a complex guy,\u201d she describes. \u201cWhen I met him, he was friendly. He was eager to interact with the fans, but some things have happened in his life, and he\u2019s not that person any more. I just think he\u2019s trying to heal himself. I\u2019m not saying that he\u2019s not friendly any more, or anything like that. It\u2019s just that there are certain circumstances in his life. I hope he will become better. He was a brilliant musician, and he\u2019s still a brilliant musician.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vocalist has also suffered from depression in the past. \u201cNot as much as him, but yeah, we\u2019ve both been in dark places at some points in our lives,\u201d she confesses.<\/p>\n

Chaos Magic<\/em>\u2019s artwork was designed by Caterina in collaboration with Frontiers. \u201cI designed that along with Frontiers Records. I mean, I made a drawing of what I thought should be the artwork,\u201d she clarifies. \u201cI sent it to them, and they liked it very much. It was an interesting idea, mixing magic, religion, and spirituality.\u201d<\/p>\n

A music video was filmed for the track \u2018I\u2019m Alive\u2019. \u201cWe picked that song, because of what I was saying about,\u201d the frontwoman references. \u201cIt has a very uplifting message. I think it\u2019s kind of helpful if you see it that way, because it talks about being in a dark place and trying to get out of it. We just shot the video here in Chile at an abandoned train station. We had so many problems; we were attacked by Murphy\u2019s law (laughs). Everything that could go wrong, went wrong, but I stand by it (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

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At the time of writing, the recording of further video clips isn\u2019t planned. \u201cThat\u2019s gonna depend on Frontiers, but for now that\u2019s the only one,\u201d Caterina explains.<\/p>\n

The singer and Timo have discussed the possibility of crafting a second Chaos Magic affair. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about it, but it\u2019s gonna depend on how the fans react to it,\u201d she observes. \u201cAfter all, this is a business. If it does well and it\u2019s worth releasing another album, we\u2019re definitely gonna do it. For now though, it\u2019s too early to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musically speaking, Caterina currently has a sole focus. \u201cRight now, I\u2019m focusing on Chaos Magic and the future of the project,\u201d she states. \u201cI\u2019m trying to get shows here locally; I\u2019m trying to find venues and interested people who would like to participate. I don\u2019t think Timo\u2019s gonna be able to play live shows for the moment. If I play in Chile, it\u2019s gonna be me and other musicians. So, for the moment we\u2019re not having Timo considered for live shows. I\u2019m gonna see how we\u2019re gonna distribute the album in Chile and South America, because from what I know, Frontiers Records is only gonna distribute in Europe and the US. I still have a lot of work to do, and so I don\u2019t have the time for another project. I\u2019m focusing all of my energy on Chaos Magic right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chaos Magic<\/em> was released on July 3rd, 2015 in Europe and subsequently on the 10th in North America, all via Frontiers Music Srl. <\/p>\n

Interview published in July 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHAOS MAGIC – Passing Flowing Anthony Morgan July 2015 Caterina Nix International symphonic metal outfit Chaos Magic pairs guitarist Timo Tolkki \u2013 formerly of Helsinki, Finland-based power metal ensemble Stratovarius \u2013 and vocalist Caterina Nix. Born Caterina Torrealba in Santiago, Chile, the frontwoman originally met Timo during a meet and greet with Stratovarius. The two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2390,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chaos-magic","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34643"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34651,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34643\/revisions\/34651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}