MNEMIC Guitarist Discusses Singer's Departure

Andi from Germany's Metal1.info webzine conducted an exclusive itnerview earlier today with MNEMIC guitarist Mircea Eftemie. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow: Metal1.info: [On] Monday, September, 12th, we heard that your singer Michael [Bøgballe] left the group due to personal/family-related reasons. Please tell us, how you reacted [to] that. Did you already know it for some time, or came it as suddenly as for the fans to the rest of the band? Mircea: "Well, Michael told us like one and a half week in advance that he was going to leave the band. At that point we where not only shocked by his decision but also very sad, and we didn't really understand his decision. It kind of came out of the blue, and it definitely surprised us. We had to do a band meeting and we had to talk things through. At this band meeting [we never felt] that this was it — on the contrary, the band did revamp and we all saw new opportunites in this, and everybody stated at the table that this is our lives and this is what we want to do for a living, we are here 110% and here to stay." Metal1.info: A new singer was announced with Tony Jelencovich. Is there any singer to compare Tony with? Many people may not know him these days, although he formerly was in TRANSPORT LEAGUE and B-THONG. Mircea: "I hate to compare, and I actually don't want to compare 'cause I can't really think of anyone that sings like Tony. He has a unique voice, and that voice belongs to Tony Jelencovich. The thing is that he can do screams, he can do shouts and he could even be a death metal singer. The guy has his own cover bands, playing both DANZIG and PANTERA. If I really have to compare him, I would say Phil Anselmo, 'cause thats actually the closest I can think of in vocal terms, and in personallity." Read the entire interview at Metal1.info.