BRAINSTORM – Rock You Like A Hurricane, Or Tornado…
January 11, 2008, 16 years ago
Andy B. Franck, the jovial frontman for German power metallers BRAINSTORM spoke exclusively to BW&BK; about the title for their forthcoming Metal Blade release, Downburst (available January 21st). The one-word moniker is seldom used in English. Possessing a negative connotation, it tends to be reserved for either teeming rainstorms or a sudden, violent wind that plays havoc with aircraft. “I thought the music must come over the fans like a hurricane, or a tornado. After almost three years (without new music), when the fans turn on the speakers, a hurricane must come on in their living room! Yeah, but we didn’t want to call the album ‘Hurricane’, or ‘Hello, this is the new Brainstorm album…Tornado!’ (laughs mockingly). A hurricane stays for hours. When you have a blizzard, a downburst lasts 45 minutes to an hour. A guy from Budapest told me, ‘Last year we had such bad weather over here. We had something we call a ‘downburst.’ I was like fucking Hell, thank God for that bad weather in Budapest! That’s a cool word! I asked Toddy (guitarist Torsten Ihlenfeld) and he said, ‘I have no idea what it means, but it sounds amazing.’ I explained it to him and he said OK. It doesn’t make any sense (in relation) to the cover, I know, but it makes sense with the music.”
