In January 2009 their second album called 'Rewake' will be in the stores.  The band made a big style change and will be going on tour with the mighty Kreator. For us enough reasons to ask their bassplayer Mario some questions.

Your new record is called ‘Rewake’ is that because you had to search for a new label and a new singer?

Mario: Well, this is also a reason for this name... the second reason - we play a new style of music. After Fabian left the band, we want to go a new way in our music. We wrote songs in a more aggressive style and we searched for a singer who does both styles 'scream and clean'. With Matthias we met the right man for this job... 'Rewake', it means "Reborn but still Awake".

The sound on the new record is better than on ‘Nightly Ray’. Still happy with the sound of the first release

Mario: Of course we like every song on the 'Nightly Ray' album. We are musicians from birth and 'Nightly Ray' is also by our own hands.

Can you tell our readers who is responsible for the production of ‘Rewake’ and are you happy with it?

Mario: I did the production and the recordings myself. I learned engineering from Spike Streefkerk and I think the production is on the highest level you can do, if you are not Metallica, In Flames or an other world-band with a huge budget. Yep and I am very happy with how it sounds.

On the new record, the band has made some style changes compared with the first. What is in your opinion the biggest change?

Mario: We changed so much - Emergency Gate sounds more modern, more powerful and now we have the shouting voice mixed with the clean voice.

From what other bands is Emergency Gate influenced by?

Mario: Well this depends.. I think we play a mix between Children of Bodom, In Flames, Killswitch Engage with a touch of Sentence, so they say. There are often many styles in one song - this is why we are Emergency Gate.

My biggest problem with your new record is, that there are a few weak songs on it (Remains, Lullaby, ..of Stars and the Drifting). Of Course you don’t agree with it, but try to convince me I am wrong!

Mario: From your question I'm guessing, it seems that you have problems with these songs.... but that is kind of exactly what we want! An album needs tension and personally I hate it if an album leaves no surprises left. "Remains" is a ballad with a big tension on a great musical level. "Lullaby" should bring you down after this CD, to push the play button again. And if you listen in a quiet minute to all songs you will find even more surprises. You can't realize all little things after just one hearing.

What’s the message of the cover (at least if there is a message)?

Mario: The head appears out of a shell, like a small chicken, but the shell is made of metal. The mechanical things show that we are a machine like a tank... now we are here and nothing can stop us - we want to go our way in music - hard work, discipline, good music and great shows.

The band already toured with Mercenary and now you will join Kreator on their upcoming tour.  Can every band member go on tour without losing their daily job?

Mario: It was great to do the shows with Mercenary, it was the first step and for that I want to thank these guys. Kreator is a great band, the first time I heard Kreator was when I was going to school and we are happy to be on this tour. No one as to cancel his job. Vlad takes all these days off, Daniel is studying, Udo finished school a few weeks ago etc. And even if we have had to cancel our jobs - we love music, so it would have been no problem... And I am a professional in music - so it doesn't matter.

Are we going to see you at some Summer-festivals, and if so, which ones?

Mario: Well we are already confirmed to the Rock Mania Festival and the Summer Nights Festival. Some other Festivals are interested. But I hope we can play some big festivals in the upcoming years.

Which 5 records would be in your best albums of 2008 list?

Mario: Avantasia, Serenity, Slipknot, Metallica, In Flames.

Anything more you want to say to our readers?

Mario: Visit our website, listen to our new album - see us live on tour and stay heavy. Many thanks for the interview.