In a new interview with music writer Joel Gausten, Norwegian hard rock/metal singer Jorn Lande discusses a variety of topics including his new album Heavy Rock Radio and stepping in for the late Ronnie James Dio to front Heaven & Hell at their last-ever show in 2010 at the High Voltage Festival. Excerpts from the chat appear below:
 
On working with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler:
 
Lande: “These guys are obviously one-of-a-kind musicians. Tony doesn’t only take care of the playing; he really takes care of his sound. He spends a lot of time developing his guitar sound. Maybe the diehard fans do, but I don’t think most other people who like Rock and Metal in general are aware of how great the sound he has is, and how powerful it comes out when he actually plays it. The combination of his talent and that sound that he has developed… I never heard anything like it before. I never stood in a rehearsal room with anything near that kind of sound and power; that was really massive. The same goes for Geezer; the bass playing is so good. It’s like an extension of the heart when they play. They just know exactly how to do it…These guys really have something special, and it’s really inspiring. Also, there’s no compromise musically [with them]. I think most other people today are compromising a lot with everything they do – what the record company wants, what’s a smart move for the market, what’s modern in the Metal and Rock scene. I think some of these old school guys do it in a more nature way.”
 
On his love of '70s Rock:
 
Lande: “It was a golden era for quality music that came from the heart and was really performed with feeling. If you didn't have the ‘Elvis Presley’ factor, you wouldn’t succeed back then; you wouldn’t get a record deal. That resulted in so many great performances and great bands. I think people were more honest towards themselves back then when they wrote music. They weren’t as focused on the market and not as calculating. It’s not right to say that everything that happened back in the ‘70s was the only way to do it. That’s wrong too, but at the same time it’s very hard when you grew up with that quality to actually put new bands and artists on the same level as some of these people you really look up to. They just give you something personal in a way and do something really natural, and it just hits you like an arrow.”
 
The complete interview can be read at this location.