Lars Chriss Lion's Share
Interview February 2008

by Derric Miller
Staff Writer

Hardrock Haven: To start with, I’d like to congratulate Lion’s Share on being nominated in the 2008 Swedish Metal Awards. Although Lion’s Share didn’t win, I’m sure it was an honor being recognized in this way.

Lars: Thanks! Yeah, I never turn down free promotion and the event had great exposure in the Swedish media.

HRH: Let’s get into the new CD, Emotional Coma, which is just being released here in the States on Locomotive Records. I’ve been a fan of yours since hearing songs like “Sins of the Father” and “Unholy Rites,” but I gotta tell ya … Emotional Coma is a hell of a lot heavier that the Lion’s Share of 10 years ago. Why do you think the band has continually gotten heavier over the years; was this a conscious decision or did it just happen naturally?

Lars: I was always the biggest metalhead in the old lineup so when I decided to put together a new lineup I made sure everybody was into the same direction I was heading for. I feel I have returned to my roots with this album. I mean my riffing style and way of writing melodies was there in the past too, but now we decided to use a minimum of keyboards and left out the progressive stuff we did in the beginning. We wanted to bring more energy to the songs. This album has more uptempo songs than any other LS album. I knew exactly what kind of guys I wanted on the album so everyone was handpicked for a reason.

HRH: What’s the cover art on Emotional Coma about? It’s freaky, but how does it tie in to the album?

Lars: We wanted a mascot like Iron Maiden’s Eddie. A figure we can use on future covers, on merchandise etc. We had the artist come up with ideas until we were happy.

HRH: To me, one of the songs that shows how heavy you guys have become is “Clones of Fate.” When I listen to the song, I actually hear a little Twisted Sister “Burn in Hell” in parts of the song. Have you heard that comparison before?

Lars: No. I could buy “Rapid Fire” by Judas Priest, but this was a new one …

HRH: When I compare current singer Patrick Johansson to former vocalist Andy Engberg, it’s impressive that he can bring the same type of softer, melodic delivery, but he’s also got this throaty menace that Engberg didn’t offer. How hard was it to find someone who could sing the tracks Andy recorded and yet be heavy enough for the new music?

Lars: I have my way of writing riffs and melodies that call for a certain kind of voice since I usually hear my all time singer Ronnie James Dio in my head when I write the songs. I like singers that have this kind of voice like Russel Allen, Jorn Lande, Tony Martin etc.

HRH: The band shot a video for “The Edge of the Razor.” Why did you choose that for the first single, and are you planning another video for the next single?

Lars: We couldn’t agree on a song, so it was our European label that picked that song. We were more into doing “The Arsonist” or “Cult Of Denial.” We were invited to play Manowar’s own festival called Magic Circle Festival last summer so we have two songs from that show on their new DVD if people wanna see more Lion’s Share videos. I’ve also seen a couple of bootlegs on YouTube. At this point we have no plans for another promo video from this album but I’m sure there will be one for the next album.

HRH: Since I’m in the States, I just received the promo copy of Emotional Coma. So, I was completely surprised to read on your MySpace page that you guys have the whole next CD written, and are recording vocals this month! So, what can you tell us about the new album, and will it be a concept album?

Lars: We are finishing up writing the last couple of songs as we speak. We will mix the album at the end of June and hope to release it in October if everything goes according to plan. Patrik started writing lyrics that reflected things that happened during 1968, so this is probably why he said it would be something more towards a concept album. Since then I believe he’s been covering other events as well, but I think all lyrics will reflect things that happened during the 60s, even though it’s not a concept album like for example “Operation Mindcrime.” We don’t have any plans to play the album from start to finish or have a stage set built around this theme. I think he was only telling the closest fans on his MySpace what he was up to and then it got picked up by media. We had no intention to break the news now that we are still promoting Emotional Coma in USA, Russia and South America …

HRH: Another song that rips is “Hatred’s My Fuel.” It doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard from Lion’s Share before. It’s semi-industrial at times, both musically and vocally, almost reminding me of Static X. Is that a fair comparison; do you listen to those kinds of bands at all?

Lars: I’m not familiar with Static X, but yes we wanted to combine our classic metal influences with some more recent stuff we enjoy listening to like Rammstein, Marilyn Manson etc. Many seem to enjoy “Hatred’s My Fuel” and especially “Trafficking” so we will continue to develop this side of LS on the new album as well. It’s always fun to try to blend different influences and hopefully come up with something more original than just to rewrite some old Black Sabbath and Judas Priest riffs.

HRH: As a guitarist, are you impressed with anyone currently playing, besides the obvious players? I mean, when was the last time you heard a new guitarist and say to yourself “Holy shit, that guy is good!”

Lars: There are soooo many great guitar players out there. We’ve been touring with Nevermore and Jeff Loomis is amazing. I also must mention Glen Drover from Megadeth that was kind enough to do a guest solo on “Emotional Coma”. Otherwise it’s of course the legends like Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Gary Moore, Marty Friedman and George Lynch that I’m into.

HRH: Will Lion’s Share be playing any of the European summer festivals, like Sweden Rock, as you did last year?

Lars: We will do some European festivals but I don’t think we can play the same ones two years after each other. Hopefully we can come back to Sweden Rock, Magic Circle etc. next year after the new CD is out. It’s weird the release dates got so spread out for this album. We released it in Europe in June 2007, Japan in November, USA January 2008, Russia in February and in March it’s gonna be out in South America. We are doing promotion for one album when we are in the studio to record the next. Hopefully it will be a more compressed schedule for the new CD.

HRH: Is there anything I left out that you’d like to leave with all of our Hardrock Haven faithful?

Lars: We hope you’ll check out our latest and greatest CD Emotional Coma, E-card with samples at: www.fanbay.se/buy/index.asp?movie_id=1897&company_id=39

Keep an eye on our Web sites www.lionsshare.org and www.myspace.com/lionsshare for news and other info.

Thanks a lot for supporting us!! Hope to see you on tour!!