We catch-up with Intense vocalist Sean Hetherington as the band unleaseh their new album 'The Shape Of Rage'…

1. What are you currently up to?

At the moment we're promoting our new album 'The Shape of Rage' which came out on Oct 28th (but won't be available at play and amazon etc till the 5th Dec) and I'm also looking at shows for 2012 in support of it.

2. Could you take us through the new album 'Shape Of Rage'?

Overall 'The Shape of Rage' is an album embracing a lot of emotion, Anubis is the Protector of the dead and most people will have an ideal of his role, The Elemental is about a creature representing a race of elementals and how they can't mix with man, For the Fallen was a song Nick dedicated to those who have ended it all from the Golden Gate bridge, One Man's Word is about unity against a common foe, Save Me From Myself.. is about when you're little voice inside your head can't be heard anymore and you need a friend to stop you doing something stupid, Lie is dedicated to a real low life individual I had the mispleasure of knowing, Haunted is about being on the brink .. ready to go over the edge, Skull of Sidon II finishes off Skull I from Second Sight and is very Epic, The Shape of Rage is Nick's tribute to David Cronenbourg and pretty much speaks for itself. Hearing people's perceptions of our lyrics in recent times I really like the fact that people put their own stories to our songs and relate to them in their own way, that's how I'd like to keep it so I try not to break the songs down to much to make them too specific.

3. How did you hook-up with Pure Legend Records? They have done an album taster on YouTube do these bring in new fans to the band? I know a lot of bands and labels do these pre-release teasers to drum up interest.

Pure Legend are part of Pure Steel and they were recommended to me by a friend from another German label. When I contacted them the CEO Andreas knew of Intense and was a fan so it made negotiations very pleasant indeed. I think the album taster is a good bit of PR for the album and the band, we did something similar for AOAG, hopefully it'll help spread the word.

4. The new album was again recorded at Thin Ice Studios with Threshold's Karl Groom. What appeals to the band about this studio and does Karl Groom have much say in the way the music is composed e.g. giving advice on how to change a riff, melody etc?

Karl is very talented musician and producer and after 3 albums now, knows Intense pretty well and what we're aiming for. We trust him and each time we use the studio we think the production gets better. Also the studio is about 30 mins away from me which makes it really easy to pop in even when I'm not recording. Karl always coaches us or makes suggestions as we work through the album and more often that not we¡¦ll take notice of him, I think we have a great relationship with him and we all aim for the same result which is important.

The Crimson Glory show was a real privilege. Most of us are fans of CG with Nick and Steve leading the way and to get to open for them, then get to watch them whilst having a beer was just immense.

5. How did the tour Inmoria go and the date supporting Crimson Glory? Have the gig attendances held up or are you noticing a drop due to the current economic troubles?

The Crimson Glory show was a real privilege. Most of us are fans of CG with Nick and Steve leading the way and to get to open for them, then get to watch them whilst having a beer was just immense. Whilst not sold out it was pretty busy at the underworld and it was a great night and we enjoyed playing the underworld once again, we were pretty pumped up for our set and there are some funny YouTube clips showing how pumped up I was ha ha… The tour with Inmoria was great fun too with both bands getting on really well which was a bonus. Manchester was treated like the last show, party wise and the promoter threw a party for us whilst he djd and we got very drunk awesome lol The official last night was in Birmingham and Inmoria got us up to do their last song with them, first time we¡¦ve been invited to do that and it was great fun and a nice touch. Some of the shows were great, some not so but attendances are hard to judge anyway.. there are a helluva lot of shows going on right now which doesn't make it easy either, especially when money's tight.

6. Has the internet helped you get your music out there or has it in some ways hindered it by websites offering free downloads? Do you still rely heavily on CD sales as opposed to downloads?

I think most people still buy our cd's rather than pay to download, I know cause I've seen the stats! However I think the internet over all is a good promotional tool and can really help spread the word as most people have email/Facebook/myspace/Twitter etc however the amount of torrent sites out there are unbelievable that sucks and feels like daylight robbery tbh.

7. Is rock and metal music in a healthier state now than ten years ago? How important has it been to have specialist magazines Classic Rock', 'Fireworks', 'PowerPlay' in the High Street stores raising the profile of the music and online websites?

It seems strong right now, more and more festivals popping up and plenty of tours coming over to the UK, I think the more magazines and websites raising the profile the better. Whether it's healthier than ten years ago? I don't know

8. Why do you think traditional metal/power metal has never really taken off here in the UK yet it has a massive following in countries like Germany and Sweden?

I wish I knew the answer to be honest. Some bands do better than others in certain territories and I wouldn't say the power metal market over here is weak particularly. Maybe a little niche :)

9. Any good rock 'n'roll tales to tell?

Nothing that I wouldn't get prosecuted for telling or attacked probably lol

10. Read any good books lately?

I'm annoyed at myself that I've moved away from reading and I will be getting back on it after Christmas. Fist book on the list is the Game of Thrones, it's been highly recommended.

Anything else to add and a message for your fans…

Just wanted to thank you Jason for your support and to thank all our fans for their patience in waiting for this album, after a quiet period we've played 11 shows so far this year and are planning a very busy 2012, so see you on the road and don¡¦t forget to buy the album The Shape of Rage J .. Cheers!!

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