BW&BK; recently hooked up with SAVAGE CIRCUS guitarist / IRON SAVIOR frontman Piet Sielck to discuss the forthcoming Iron Savior album, Megatropolis. During the exclusive interview, Sielck discussed the new Savage Circus DVD, Live In Atlanta, and the reasoning behind releasing such a package after only one studio album. A situation made even stranger by the fact that drummer/co-founder Thomen Stauch didn't play at the show featured due to personal problems.

“We played some gigs last year but we didn’t play as much as we wanted to," Sielck says, "so we thought it might be a good idea to have this DVD. Not necessarily for the people in the central markets, but for people who live in more remote places, let’s say, and might not ever get the chance to see Savage Circus live. The second reason is we like to make money just like everyone else (laughs). And, it was just a good opportunity so we decided to use it. We were playing at ProgPower, they had all the cameras there and the price was right, so we just filmed the show. When we recorded the show we weren’t sure what we were going to do with it; we just wanted to have it.”
“We didn’t like the fact that Thomen wasn’t with us," he admits,"but even though he’s not a part of the DVD it’s still his baby because he was the founder of Savage Circus. This was a way to support him and keep this thing going.”

Asked about the issues that left Stauch more or less disabled, Sielck offers the following:

“I can’t reveal his personal problems because, well, they’re personal (laughs), but they were kind of major. People deal with problems in different ways, and Thomen is the kind of guy who goes right to the problem when something comes up and tries to solve it. This got a bit out of hand, so he was overwhelmed by many different things happening at the same time. That affected his physical as well as his mental condition. He was feeling really weak and couldn’t play drums for more than five minutes at a time, so he was really burned out. It was the best thing for everyone to give him the time he needed to recover and he’s back now, in good shape and ready to go.”

With regards to a new Savage Circus album, Sielck says there is indeed one in planning.

“I think we have a well developed fanbase in Germany and Japan already, because those are the classic Blind Guardian markets. Outside of that, like Spain or Italy, the feedback has been small but it’s growing. It’s like with Blind Guardian; where they sell we also sell. The thing is, fans are waiting for proof that this wasn’t a one shot thing. We have to put out a new album that matches the quality of the first one, that’s for sure. People are waiting for that.”

Watch for the full story on the new Iron Savior album, Megatropolis, in BW&BK; #104.

As previously reported, Savage Circus kick off a co-headling tour with CIRCLE II CIRCLE (and Stauch on drums) in Europe today (April 7th). The schedule is as follows:

April

7 - Flensburg, Germany at Roxy
8 - Osnabrück, Germany at Bastard Club
9 - Adelsheim, Germany at Life Factory
10 - Pratteln, Switzerland at Z7
11 - Villach, Austria at Volkshaus Landskron
12 - Wörgl, Austria at Komma
13 - Eloyes, France at Centre Culturel
14 - Prato, Italy at Siddharta
15 - Milan, Italy at Transilvania
16 - Berlin, Germany - venue tbc
17 - Hamburg, Germany at Headbangers Ballroom
18 - Bochum, Germany at Matrix
19 - Den Bosch, Netherlands at W 2
20 - Zoetermeer, Netherlands at De Boerderij
21 - Aalst, Belgium at Pestpop Festival
22 - Andernach, Germany at JUZ