Dear Shawn thank you talking to Metal Perspective. I would like to congratulate you about your new release and ask you what your initial thoughts were when you finished the recordings and concluded the production.

Thank you. My initial thought when I heard the finished product was just how great the record sounds, and how strong the songs turned out. This is certainly the best record we have done, and I am extremely proud of this record.

It is common for anyone to talk with enthusiasm about his latest work, but is it actually for you the best album that you have made?

Absolutely!!!! Ya, I know musicians always say when they have a new record that "This is our best record" and maybe they believe that, which is a good thing. The thing with Eidolon, is that this statement has always been true. Each record we have released has been better than the previous record, and with our new record I think that we finally achieved what we have wanted to do as a band since we started over 10 years ago.

Can you repeat once more -for the sake of our readers- the recording details of "The Parallel Underworld"?

The record was recorded in 3 different countries ( Sweden, Norway and Canada ) over the time span of about 1 1/2 years - the reason for that was right after I recorded the drum tracks in Sweden, both Glen and I were asked to join Megadeth, so that pushed the recording back about 1 year, which turned out to be a good thing, as we really had time to listen to the songs to make sure they were the way we wanted them to be. The results speak for themselves.

According to your opinion, what are the key differences between "The Parallel Otherworld" and your previous releases?

Nils K. Rue is the big difference. He is such an amazing singer he can do anything we ask him to do - there is no limits do what this dude can sing, so that really opened up our musical creativity. I knew that we could write anything and he could sing great on it. That is a great weapon to have in any band, I believe. Also Glen as a producer has become better with each record.

Do you believe that Nils K. Rue, your new vocalist, contributed to your sound? Did he make actually difference?

He sure did!!!! In my opinion, a vocalist can make or break a band - you can have the best musicians on earth, but if your singer is not so great, it can hurt the bands popularity, which is not a good thing. Great singers are not so easy to find - even harder to find a singer who is a good person and wants the same things from a band that the other band members do, so after several records we released over the years, we knew that we had to get a world class metal singer to go to the next level. Lucky for us, we found Nils.

I like asking this question. Many artists say that with each record they have gained something new, that something innovating was added to their sound. Do you think that you lost something from your sound in "The Parallel Otherworld"?

No, no, we gained many different elements in Eidolon's sound now. "The Parallel Otherworld" is certainly our most diverse record that we have done. It is more progressive, darker, more dynamic and heavier all in the same record, which is what Eidolon is all about. We don't like to stick to onecertain sound and this record shows that we are very capable of doing many different things musically.

Do you think that "The Parallel Otherworld" is an easy to get and understand record? Does someone needs to listen to it several times before knowing every aspect or is it a straightforward release?

No, it is not an easy record to get right away, and that's the way we like it. For example, I remember when I first bought "Operation: Mindcrime". I wasn't sure what to think of it, but after listening to the record many times, I started to realize what an amazing record it was, and still is to this day, In my opinion. To me, it is very easy for me to write simple music with boring rock 'n' roll lyrics, but it has been done 10.000.000 times already. I want to challenge myself, the band and the listener when they hear our music.

I always considered Eidolon as a band with strong political identity. Do you think that in our days it is risky to talk about politics?

Honestly, we are not political at all. We do write about dark subjects, but they are mostly horror based things or things like that.

The new cover depicts the shore of a big city, which reminds me a lot of an American city that suffered very much. Does it have anything to do with New York?

Not at all, it is more about our mascot (the chain guy) who is trying to break free from the nightmare world to become a human, but if you look below the water surface, you can see that he is only half way there. It has nothing to do with a city which has suffered like you suggest.

What exactly is the point you want to give with this cover?

Honestly, it was just based on the song "The Parallel Otherworld", which we gave to our artist, Jan Meininghaus, who has done the artwork for five of our records. We just share ideas based on the title and he goes crazy with his great artwork.

I have a strong admiration about the Canadian scene. Really I can find a band from Canada that has disappointed me. There must be something in the water. Seriously I think that context plays an important role. So are there any privileges that a Canadian band has over other bands?

I don't know. There are certainly many great bands in Canada. I do think a lot of the bands seem to want to push the boundaries musically. Bands like Cryptopsy I really like now, as they are so extreme, but they are very talented at the same time, which is very cool to me. I think Eidolon is one of those bands as well in Canada that try to push the envelope, musically.

If there was a scale that reflected the actual value of metal bands, where do you think that Eidolon would stand? Would it be reflecting also the "popularity" stand?

In terms of the value of Eidolon, I would say very high. In terms of how popular Eidolon is, I would not say very high. HHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Touring is the next thing after a release. What are your plans for this summer and the next winter period?

We do not have any tour plans at the moment, but you never know what can happen in the future.

Although it is very early to talk about it, do you have any plans about the future?

For Eidolon, that's hard to say. We all have so many other things going on that it is hard to say when the next record could be made, so its hard to give a proper answer to that right now.

That's all from me Shawn. Thank you very much for sharing your time with us. I wish you all the best with "The Parallel Otherworld".

Thank you!!!