Dushan Petrossi hails from Belgium and is the lead guitarist in Iron Mask and Magic Kingdom. We caught up with the talented guitarist to get an insight into his music, his influences and much more.

Dushan, Thanks for agreeing to the interview. How did you get into music?
Well, I received my first accoustic guitar at age 8, I started to play solos even before I knew how to tune it, it was a very old guitar but I passed hours on it every day. Very ‘anarchic’ way to learn.

Whats your earliest music memory?
The beautiful sound of the acoustic guitar of my older brother, I was 5 year old, and it was like a revelation to me. I loved this sound so much,the guitar was talking to me, and I immediately thought this instrument was the best way to express my feelings.

How did you get into the guitar?
Later(9) , I got my first electric guitar; listening to a lot of different guitarists, but at the same time I also learned drums and bass guitar, it was very helpful for the rythmic sense.

Who are your main guitar influences?
When I compose my music I try to be 'influence less' and create something original, even if it’s really hard to write ‘original’ music nowadays. When I was younger my guitar heroes were of course Yngwie, Gary Moore, Paul Gilbert, Steve Lynch (Autograph) for the tappping stuff , Michael Schenker, Jeff Waters, later Michael Romeo, Al di Meola. I recently discovered Michael Angelo, this guy is really fast! but ‘speed’ is not the most important thing for me, a good song is far more essential.

What was your initial goal when you started playing?
Trying to play what was in my head, very hard at the beginning. I never took lessons with a guitar teacher, I learned all by my self.

Can you give the readers some info on your early bands etc.
My first ‘professional’ band was Magic Kingdom, before I was playing guitar in underground metal bands without a deal . But we had fans all over the country coz I played a lot of gigs with different bands. Now,I have no time to find out gigs due to writing stuff for and leading MK and IM, we really need to think twice before doing a gig, that’s why I have a gig manager now.

Magic Kingdom was to the best of my knowledge your first release. Can you describe the band and is it still a going concern?
MK is more symphonic speed metal (with some opera songs including a few extreme metal and female soprano and classical baritone vocals). The band’s members are the same for IM exept the singer, I got the best drummer and bass player here in Belgium for this kind of music and there are good friends of mine; so why not take them for IM as well? The new Metal Kingdom album -Metallic Tragedy- will be released on LMP early 2004 (after more than a year of juridical proceedings against our former label, which we have won recently)

Iron Mask is very much in the traditional neo-classical vein, is this your true love?
IM is more neo classical hard rock,and I of course love the classical stuff which I put into metal. A lot of reviewers wrote I’m doing Yngwie’s stuff but I try not to sound like him and I think my music is much more agressiver. Don’t get me wrong; I respect and love Yngwie’s stuff a lot (especially the early albums),and I admit the way I use classical music may remind you of Yngwie’s approach. Neo classical metal has been deeply rooted in my heart and mind for years, so when I’m composing new stuff I don’t say ‘Sh.. it’s sounding like Yngwie, let’s put it in the trash , no never coz it’s the way I love doing music, otherwise I don’t do music.

Revenge Is My Name came out last year on Lion Music. How has the response been to it?
I think Lasse (Lion Music boss) is happy with the response. A lot of people liked the album, especially in Russia, Spain and Germany, intelligent people can see the difference, they understand I'm doing the music I love and I don’t care about the fashion and the fucking nu shit metal. A few have said I'm an Yngwie clone coz I have a small physical resemblance with him, but it would be better for these guys to get a few more spins to the album. I don’t really care about it, Yngwie was compared to Ritchie Blackmore at the beginning of his career, I accept the thing we are a kind of twins’ but the most important factor is the music. Let stupid people talk, it makes more promo about Iron Mask.

Musically its a pretty complex album with rich textures, great bold orchestrations and more than its fair share of drama and power. What was your intial aim with the project?
Doing some more instrumental tracks with some really good neo classical metal songs, not only focused on soloing, this album comes from our heart. We only record music we love. If people like it, that’s a bonus !

If we can I would like to discuss the tracks on the album, please give your thoughts on the music, any information on composition, what your were looking to achieve etc.

Enemy Brother Overture Short intro based on a Handel theme, cool baroque sound.

Revenge Is My Name A fast neo classical hard rock song with lyrics dedicated to our former label. Symphonic arrangement; really cool to play.

March Of Victory I really like the chorus on this one, melody a la Dio with heavy guitars.

The Witch Burner Another speedy power metal track with epic lyrics,v ery short solos, right in your face.

Alien Pharoa Slow and heavy progressive song with a superb guitar/keyboard unison melody in the middle of the song.

Dimension X Small interlude with futuristic sound and talking.

Morgana's Castle A really good fast neo classical instrumental with a cool ‘horror movie’ intro.

You Are My Blood Ballad I wrote for my son, very melodic and simple, a gift for my son.

The Wolf And The Beast A 8 min long Epic song with a cool ‘holywood’ intro, progressive parts and a lot of shred.Good orchestral arrangements.

Secret Tunnel Of The King A short neo classical instrumental ,baroque and melodic.

Hold The Light AOR sounding song with flasing guit parts and a lot of feeling in the guitar solo,the MK singer sings it.

Warchild Requiem Instrumental accoustic melodic outro, I love this one ,really cool to play and catchy.

The artwork on the album by Eric Philippe is cool, is album artwork an important element into an album for you?
Of course,it’s the first thing that people see in the shops, it must be attractive. Eric is one of the best for ‘Epic’ front covers.

I see that you are doing a few gigs supporting Reign Of Terror. Are you looking forward to the gigs and what can people expect?
Well, it seems ROT will tour alone, there’s one gig confirmed in Belgium at the moment, but I heard they will only tour in Holland. I would like to do more gigs of course, we are a live band first of all, and I really want to defend this album on stage. It could be a good package for the fans - Let’s wait and see.

You also contributed Yellow Raven to Lion Music's Uli Roth tribute, what does Uli mean to you?
The funny thing is that I never heard Uli’s playing before Lion asked me this I like most of his stuff now. I slightely changed the intro melodic solo of the song and of course recorded a totally different solo later in this song.

You are also contributing Gates Of Babylon to Lion's upcoming Ritchie Blackmore tribute album, how did that turn out?
Lasse asked me to choose a song and record it with the band, I choose Gates Of Babylon coz I love this song, I changed the intro, the solo section and I add a keyboard solo instead of a 3 min long guitar solo ,but don’t worry the guitar solo is also very long and melodic.

Sounds great! Lets turn to guitar playing. Iron Mask showcases a great neo-classical style, very Yngwie but with enough of a original voice to avoid rip-off cries. What does the Neo-Classical style mean to you?
As I told you, it’s the way I feel the music but I like a lot of different style of metal, even some old Annihilator and Slayer.

Who do you feel are some of the leading exponents in the style?
There are great new bands,but you need to get a really good singer, if not I don’t like it. I like some songs of Symphony X, Rhapsody create something very unique, but I m not into bands with female singers except Arch Enemy wich is not neo classical metal. Of course Yngwie, I hope he will work with Dio in the coming years, that’s would be a fucking album!

I see from the photos on the Iron Mask inlay that you are predominatly a Strat man. What models do you own and what modifications do you make (if any)?
I use Fender Stratocaster's with DiMarzio HS-3 pick ups most of the time for the soloing, but also ESP and Lag -master series for rythm guitar.

What led you to the Strat?
The incredible sound, it’s the best guitar for my playing, I tried a lot of different guitars but I always return to Strat.

Amplification - what do you use?
As always, Marshall JCM 900 and a MK2 100watt superlead from 1974 with 4 cabs; also a JMP-1 preamp, sometimes a Boss GT-5 and different amps, depends on the studio equipement but I hate pod line6. NOW A Marshall JCM 2000 series directly from the amp without mic in the hard disk (for the new IM), sounds f ..great !

Is this the same live?
Yes, JCM 900+ MK2 100w 1974 with YJM Dod 308 PEDAL. And the JMP1 pre amp ,no wireless system….

What do you look for in guitar TONE?
Good sound which means a lot of bass and enough mid range for the solos, it also has to stay tuned without a floyd rose system, a fast response is necessary, I need to hear each note even when I play really fast.

I see Lion Music the second Iron Mask slated for release in 2004, have you started writing for it yet? If so how is it going and what can fans expect?
Yes, we are recording the next IM album at the moment, everythings going fine. We finished the drums, bass and rhythm guitars + some melodic harmonised guitar themes. Lance King (Balance of Power,etc) will record the vocals and maybe Oliver Hartmann (ex At Vance) for a few songs, depending of his time schedule. It’s one of the best albums I have wrote, with very catchy songs and great melodies, neo classical hard rock at his best. The album will include 13 or 14 full vocals songs and 1 instrumental and the video clip of ‘revenge is my name’ as bonus. Title: Hordes of the Brave.

Any tips on how to deal with the music industry?
Wow that’s a hard question. If you mean the current state of melodic metal, it’s still hard for bands like IM ,there’s no real support on tv or national radios, we really survive thanks to the melodic metal fans and the underground metal world. If you mean label stuff, be careful only sign something with a minimum money in advance, I’ve been crooked by my former label, they released the album in a lot of countries without informing me of this and they made problems with our new german label without having any legal option for a second album. Now I m really happy with my 2 labels (LION music and LMP) they are both really professional and honest.

Anything else you would like to say to the readers of virtuosityone.com?
Please check out one of my bands cd's or the next albums. If you’re fan of good melodic metal,you will enjoy it and please come to the shows for a high dose of energy, we all live for the music we love!

Dushan, thanks for taking part in this interview.
Thanks for this interview ;it was a pleasure, METAL RULES !

Interview by Andy Craven