Rock Monsters Romania

On 18th of September, Trooper, one of the best Romanian metal bands of the 21st century, released “Strigăt”, a new “Best Of” compilation which includes their best songs from 2002-2019.

Formed in 1995 by Alin “Coiotul” Dincă, Aurelian “Balaurul” Dincă and Ionuţ Rădulescu, the band has shared the stage with bands like Iron Maiden, Sepultura and Manowar.

In 24 years, Trooper has released no less than 10 legendary albums, which contain songs as “Destin”, “Corupţia Ucide” or “Două Roţi” (feat. Cristian Hrubaru). They have also released “Mercy Killer”, a beautiful song in collaboration with the ex-Iron Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley.

Trooper also participated at Eurovision Romania in 2019 with the song “Destin”, finishing on the 7th place (and second on public voting).

Now, the band is hoping for a collaboration with the actual Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson. We have talked with Alin “Coiotul” Dincă about this collab and their new compilation album and here is what he says about them:

You have selected your best songs from 2002-2019 for “Strigăt”. How did you choose them and how hard was it?

I don’t know if we chose the best ones, but I am sure that we chose the most loved ones. We analysed a lot the messages that came from the people who listen to us. In the end, it was extremely hard. We have over 100 released tracks… choosing only 18 is very hard.

Why did you choose this year for the release?

We didn’t take the year into consideration. Some time ago we released the “Trooper – 12 ani – Amintiri” box set. We now felt that it would be appropriate to show some older songs to the new fans. We passed along some generations of listeners and I’m afraid that some have skipped a few steps from the discography of Trooper. So we’re giving them a helping hand. We have 9 albums behind. It’s no joke. We think this is the right time for a ‘Best Of’.

A national tour has already been announced. Which is the concert that you’re looking forward to the most and why?

There’s no such thing! All of our concerts are at maximum capacity. We don’t have favourites. I don’t care if we’re playing for 100 people or 10 000 people. We will always give 100%. That’s what Trooper’s always been about.

There are some rumours about a collaboration between Trooper and Bruce Dickinson. What can you tell us about this?

They’re not rumours. They’re real. We’ve been discussing for years. But Bruce’s schedule is infernal. We’ll bring him Romania in February, along Kompas Events. Maybe we’ll manage to get half an hour to go into the studio. We’ll see. I’ve been dreaming of this ever since I’ve started the band. Back then I would think that this would remain a dream. I’d see Maiden only in posters. Now… I can say we’ve played with Maiden, I exchange emails with Bruce and I have the phone number of Chris Harris. They were very impressed by Trooper when they chose us to open their concert in Bucharest.

Are you planning any other collaborations for next year?

We have some in mind, but I don’t know if they will materialise in 2020. We’re not hurrying. Right now we have to promote an important disc. After we’re done with this business, around the summer of 2020, we’ll start thinking of other crazy things. We’ll have time.

What other plans and objectives have you got for 2020?

We’ll play a lot, we’ll work on some new tunes, or I best shut up. Balaurul said I should stop always giving out of the house. 🙂

Do you have a message for the fans of Trooper that will read this interview?

Thank you for sticking with us for so many years. Without them, we wouldn’t be, either. Stay Trooper!

Check the full album here: