Austria and metal, the combination will always sound a little odd. But there are plenty of bands though, who take of their stereotypical “Lederhosen” and prove they can do a lot more then just yodel away. Just think about famous little orchestras like Belphegor, Hollenthon or Dreams of Sanity. Also Dignity, the new melodic band from keyboardist Frank Pitters and ex-Edenbridge drummer Roland Navratil, wants to climb the Austrian metalmountain and they will do so, packed with their debut, ‘Project Destiny’.

“We’re not a fully Austrian band”, clarifies founder / songwriter Frank. “Next to myself and Roland, the band consists of fellow Austrians John Boy Bastard (bass) and Martin Mayr (guitars), but with Jake E (also Dreamland), we have a Swedish singer in our ranks.”

Could that be an explanation why the melodic hard rock on ‘Project Destiny’ sounds kind of Scandinavian?
 “Jake’s style of singing indeed colours our sound a bit Swedish, but that’s not the only explanation. This type of music is just the thing we like the most. Other aspects that definitely had an impact on our sound, are the facts that the album was mixed in the Black Lounge Studios (also Scar Symmetry,…) and mastered in the infamous Finnvox Studios. Anyhow, I think it’s a compliment that journalists often call our sound ‘international’ or ‘Scandinavian’.”

Together with you, Roland Navratil was responsible for the birth of Dignity. What made him quit Edenbridge, a band with quite a name in the European scene, to start this new and therefore perhaps a little uncertain musical adventure?
 “Well, the past few years, the relationship between Edenbridge and Roland was comparable with a marriage where the gap got wider and wider, ending in a logical divorce. He was “just their drummer”, while Roland wanted more influence and responsibility. But I also have to say, everybody separated as friends, without hard feelings. For example, Edenbridge-mastermind Lanvall helped us out with some business issues and as for myself, I did the recording for their last two albums.”

Who’s idea was it to name the band Dignity? Because it’s not that obvious for new fans, to ‘google’ some extra info about you guys.
“You got point there, but did you try to put ‘band’ behind it? That should give some better results. Anyway, the band name was Rolands idea. He preferred not to use common terms like ‘sword’ or ‘dragon’, but opted for a short, powerful name. And who knows, perhaps it will be easier to find us on the net in the future, when we are more famous, haha.” ‘

Project Destiny’ proves you can write powerful, catchy songs. Is this also the path Dignity will follow in the future or are you going to explore your musical boundaries?
 “I can tell you that we’re already working on some new material and the songs are in the line of this album, but a little bit more riff-orientated. But the band consists of musicians with very different backgrounds (John for example, originates from the punk-scene), so it’s kind of hard to say how our music will evolve in a later stadium. What I can say about our future, is that the album also will be released in the US. I know the market for our type of music is rather limited compared to Japan for example, but it would be cool, should we, thanks to this album, ever get the chance to play overseas.”

Next to the names of the band members, we can also regularly see that of Olof Mörck (Nightrage, Dragonland) in the credits. What is his link with Dignity?
 “Olof is Jake’s best friend. Jake, who by the way writes all the lyrics, asked him to help with the song “Icarus”. Also with the rest of the band, it just clicked. Because I really love his guitarwork, I asked our guitarist Martin if he thought it was ok when Olof would play a guest solo. Luckily Martin thought it was a good idea, so now you can hear him in the song ‘Edge Of The Blade’.”

 For the last question, I have to mention the last number of the album, namely the cover of Chris DeBurghs “Don’t Pay The Ferryman”. Not an evident choice, I think, but you guys really managed to make it your own.
 “Thanks! We had some very different reactions to that song: some like it a lot, others think it’s rubbish. It was Roland who came up with the idea to play this song, just for fun. At first, it wasn’t even planned to put it on our album. But when we recorded it and Jake’s vocals joined the whole thing, we thought it was too good to just leave it off. So finally, it’s a nice tune to wrap up ‘Project destiny’.

Denny Drossaert Mindview (Belgium)