Discover our interview with Yann Heurtaux, guitarist of Mass Hysteria, on the occasion of the release of the second part of Tenacioustheir new album.
Guitarist, composer and inveterate riffer, Yann Heurtaux continues to carve out the road with Mass Hysteria since all this time. In this interview with the editorial staff, the musician reveals the secrets of making these records and reveals sometimes unexpected influences. It also establishes a sincere and thoughtful assessment of three decades in the service of metal, during which the members knew how to stick together while staying the course, against all odds. Encounter.
Tenace is your 10th album, do you feel like you’ve reached a milestone?
We always said to ourselves that it would be crazy to release ten albums. Now that we’re there, it’s like a consecration. We worked for this record, I really didn’t want to miss it. Sometimes, at the end, you might wonder if it lacks spontaneity, given the in-depth work we’ve done. It is done with passion and sincerity and we are very happy with it.
This disc is divided into two parts, can we see a link there with current modes of music consumption?
Completely. I think people have never consumed so much music, but they take it and they throw it away. This is perhaps less the case in metal, which remains a music for enthusiasts. As for me, I remain keen on music, but with the quantity of releases, I can’t listen to everything. Lately, I had a blast listening to the first tracks of the new Revocation album, but I didn’t have time to listen to the whole record. In fact, if we had made fourteen songs available at once, only two would have been released. We didn’t want that. So by releasing two shorter parts, we allow people to listen to them in full and fully appreciate them. This process reminds me in particular of what System of a Down had in 2005, for Mezmerize And Hypnotizewhich were released six months apart.
This second part is more direct than the previous one. How did you balance it all?
We have not particularly sought to distribute the titles. The pieces on Tenacious 1 are the ones we released first. Looking back, the first part includes our more experimental side, while the second is actually more inward. We didn’t put the B sides on Tenacious 2each half has its own identity.
Tenacious is not an innocent title, we can easily draw a parallel with your career. How do you interpret it?
Mouss (singer) often takes his time to find his lyrics, but the title generally arrives quite quickly. When we talked about it, he told me he had the word “Tenacious” in mind. I found it great, for his part he saw a double meaning with “10 ace” in English. Anyway, this title speaks to me, it is in line with our longevity, the fact that we are still here despite what we have been through.
Find this interview in full in WECB l’Hebdo n°134, available via our online store.
