Pic courtesy of: Roberto Guerra "We could definitely feel the kindness of the Costarrican people from the beginning of the show until we left. The people that organized the event were very nice to us and they did everything in their power to make us feel comfortable"

CR: Thank you for time, it’s always a pleasure to speak with you, how are you?
Alberto Rionda: Very good thanks for asking.

CR: If I’m not mistaken, Avalanch is currently touring Spain to promote the new material, how’s that going for you guys? How are the fans responding to the new material?
Alberto Rionda:You are right, until now we have only done 4 gigs, and the crow response to this material couldn’t be better. The people already know all the songs of the new album, and they singe them very well in every gig is amazing, we are very happy.

CR: Any plans to come back to America ?
Alberto Rionda: We are very anxious to go back, but we have to wait a little bit, we want the people to first discover this new material, but probably next year we will be touring over there.

CR: In July this year, we had the pleasure to have you guys here in San José , the gig was amazing but you guys got here a little late, what happened?
Alberto Rionda: Well it was very simple, a delay in our flight but beyond that everything worked out perfectly for us.

CR: How was the crowd that night?
Alberto Rionda: Unbelievable, we could definitely feel the kindness of the Costarrican people from the beginning of the show until we left. The people that organized the event were very nice to us and they did everything in their power to make us feel comfortable.

CR: Lets talk a little about the change in Avalanch, has the fans and you guys finally feel totally comfortable with your new singer Ramón Lage or those the process of assimilating him into the band still continues?
Alberto Rionda: We have always felt very comfortable with Ramón; we knew from the beginning that Ramón was the singer for Avalanch. With two records already out we think we have proven to our fans that we took the right decision when bringing him over. But of course we are every day getting to know each other better not only as persons but musically too, so the band is every day getting more and more solid with him.

CR: Avalanch has clearly left begging the power metal sound is the new route the band has taken by playing hard rock a way that we can expect many albums to come or do you think at some point you guys will change again of style?
Alberto Rionda: You are right; the power metal era is over. We are always fighting to do something different and to never repeat our selves. From commercial pop to very heavy metal, we are influence by all of it, so we try to do something different every chance we get, we have achieve that point in our career were we can do anything we have in mind, and we will.

CR: In this latest album “El Hijo Pródigo” I can hear or I’m remained of a couple of death metal riffs hidden  in the background of every very melodic song you guys play, is that intentional or just a coincidence?
Alberto Rionda: Well the record does have a couple of very heavy riffs to it, personally I don’t listen to death metal, but the comparison doesn’t surprised me, because now days almost all heavy music have something in common.

CR: What did you guys tried to achieve with this new album?
Alberto Rionda: Well first of all a sincere and from the heart job; we try to give a positive and sincere message, and always letting people know how important the lyrics are in our work. We also want to achieve a status of always being in the heart of our fans, we don’t want to be a fashion band, we want to last more than a trend.

CR: Why having English versions of your work, are you planning on doing that for this cd?
Alberto Rionda: No we haven’t thought about it for this album, and yes we have done a couple of English versions for our previous work…

	Pic courtesy of: Roberto Guerra "All that we have right now is because we work hard for it, because we earned it, no body ever gave us anything for free. I’m very proud of all this and very happy to be able to dedicate my life to do what I love"

CR: Why don’t you tell us something about your DVD ?
Alberto Rionda: The DVD is divided in several parts; there is a live performance that we did in Oviedo, our home town which was incredible. Then we have two documentaries shoot during the Latin American tour of 2003 and the tour in Spain the same year. This ones show the band in the daily activities so it was very fun to shoot that side of the band, plus the traveling and the work were fun by them selves. The DVD also has a acoustic session and a couple of videos.

CR: The record “Las Ruinas Del Edén” has been question by the fans for not containing all the classical Avalanch songs, what do you have to say about this?
Alberto Rionda: The first reason why we recorded that album was so that we could have fun with the best songs of our entire career, and also we wanted to hear them with the new line up. We did that album for all those persons that stick with us while we changed singer, and because we wanted to present in a proper way the new Avalanch. We also establish that we have nothing to be ashamed of, speaking of our music past.

CR: Avalanch has a live cd, a best of cd, a DVD and six full length albums, are you satisfied with all this achievements
Alberto Rionda: Of course. All that we have right now is because we work hard for it, because we earned it, no body ever gave us anything for free. I’m very proud of all this and very happy to be able to dedicate my life to do what I love.

CR: Which songs are the ones that people ask you to play the most, are there a lot of differences in the request from Spain to America?
Alberto Rionda: Right now in Spain people are asking a lot for the new songs, but naturally there are songs like Lucero and Xana that people ask to hear all the time. In America is very similar, but maybe because some have never seen us before, they ask for older and new songs alike.

CR: Avalanch owns its record company, is there something uncomfortable about that situation?
Alberto Rionda: The truth is that the liberty that we have has no price. Maybe sometimes the work is too much for us to do it, and the promotion is not like a big company will provide us with, but I wouldn’t change our situation for nothing.

CR: Because you guys sing in Spanish, and you are surrounded y countries that don’t speak the languages, would it be correct to say that the success the band has is because mainly of the Spanish and Latin audiences?
Alberto Rionda: Well in Europe we have some fans; we actually were in Wacken Open Air in Germany and in Switzerland, but nothing like the Spanish and Latin fans.

	Pic courtesy of: Roberto Guerra "There is no doubt in my mind that "Llanto de un Heroe” is the most Power metal album that we have; and maybe "Los Poetas han Muerto” is the one farthest from that definition, the most different one at least"

CR: According to what criteria do the band picks the songs that will end up in a record?
Alberto Rionda: That responsibility pretty much falls on me, as song writer and composer. It always has to go hand by hand with the global message that you want to give.

CR: Lets talk about old albums and songs, in El Ángel Caído you can begin to see the new route the band is taking in terms of the global sound of it, with more ballads and melodic riffs; do you think that album is one of the pillars of the actual sound of the band?
Alberto Rionda: I think all the records have contributed to my development as a composer; I have mature thanks to all this records. El Ángel Caído was very representative of an era, mostly here in Spain. Thanks to all those records Avalanch is what it is today.

CR: What album do you think was the most “Power metal” and which one is farthest from this definition?
Alberto Rionda: There is no doubt in my mind that "Llanto de un Heroe” is the most Power metal album that we have; and maybe "Los Poetas han Muerto” is the one farthest from that definition, the most different one at least.

CR: Could you please talk a little about these songs Lucero, Cid and El Mundo Perdido?
Alberto Rionda: Lucero was inspired by a blind kid I met once. I picture him trying to describe the woman he loves but without seeing her, that’s why he can only dream her every night… She leaves at dawn.
The Cid campeador tries to decipher the feelings of Rodrigo Diaz De Vivar, medieval Spanish hero who fought against the Arabs. In the album “Llanto de un Heroe” there are a lot of songs about different kina of characters like Pelayo, Cambaral and No me pidas que Crea en Ti.
El Mundo Perdido is a very old Topic; it’s a critic to those big powerful countries that look down on the little ones.

CR: When you guys were playing here in Planet Mall, you mention some things about the United Status presidents, is that always your position, to express your political point of view?
Alberto Rionda: We are against all types of violence, no matter what philosophy is provoking it. That’s why we have in this latest album a lot of songs criticizing the position of the United States government towards Iraq and the Arab people.

CR: What cd World you recommend to someone that wants to hear you guys for the first time?
Alberto Rionda: El Hijo Prodigo.

CR: What do you think about mp3 file sharing and piracy in general?
Alberto Rionda: Piracy has existed for ever. If someone doesn’t have the resources to buy our records, well they can burn it or downloaded it s up to them. Everybody has the right to listen to our records.

CR: What do you see in Avalanch’s future?
Alberto Rionda: A lot of records, a lot of concerts in Costa Rica.

CR: Thank you for the time and patience, if you will like to add anything please do
Alberto Rionda: Thank you; and I will like to add that soon I´ll be in Costa Rica with a folk music band called Asgaya, we will be from the 14 to the 21 of November, its going to be great!