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As far as Symphonic Metal goes they don't come much
bigger than Edenbridge. With the release of their latest album 'MyEarthDream'
later this month we catch up with founding member and guitarist/keyboard
player Lanvall to find out more ...
MM -
Tell us about your song writing
for ‘MyEarthDream’, what experiences inspired you to write the songs
behind this album?
Lanvall
- The whole process took about 1.5 years from the very first note
composing till the final master. One year was just composing and last
September we started with the recordings. Drums were done in Vienna, the
orchestra in Prague, choirs in Germany and Netherlands and everything else
in my studio. Then Karl Groom mixed the album in England and finally the
mastering was done by Mika Jussila at Finnvox. Of course the orchestra was
something very exciting on this new album. It was my long time dream to be
able to work with a real one sometimes and now this idea came to life. So
we hired the 65-piece “Czech Film Orchestra” which also did recordings for
Hollywood movies in the past and recorded all the orchestra parts within 9
hours at the Czech Television in Prague.
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A
big change is the use of 7-string guitars. We tuned them down a half step
to Bb to be able to use the Bb keys which sound much more melancholic and
in the end heavier. This was a good decision cause due to the low guitars
they blend much better with the frequencies of the orchestra, so you don´t
always have to make a decision which one should be louder. During the
songwriting I tried to keep one thing in mind. Not to overdo the
orchestral thing. So you will find parts where you find the riffs only
with just drums and bass and when the orchestra comes in it sounds huge.
This is bringing in a lot of diversification into the sound. And you must
not forget that in the end every song had between 100 and 200 tracks to
mix.
Back
to the orchestra. This was the most time consuming
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process in arranging. Sometimes you find yourself sitting a couple of
hours for just 8 bars to orchestrate till everything is to your likes
but in the end it´s just the
result that matters and this is overwhelming. |
The
inspiration to write music can be of different origin. Music itself,
nature, movies, life itself. But nature is very important. Being in the
Austrian mountains (skiing or mountain hiking) gives me the energy back to
create new music.
MM - Can you tell us a
little bit more perhaps of the story behind the title track ‘My Earth
Dream’?
Lanvall -
The title “MyEarthDream”
symbolizes, if the earth opens itself for higher energies that are
filtered through the human mind it can reach salvation through
consciousness. This is also represented on the cover through the spiral
and carried in the title track of the album.
MM - Was there some
time-pressure throughout the production, regarding any deadlines? Or did
you have all the time you needed to fully work out everything?
Lanvall - Thankfully I have my
own studio where I can record everything except drums, so we had plenty of
time and we also needed the time. The recordings went on for 2.5 months
with some little breaks only. We wanted to finish the recordings before
Christmas.
MM
- Can you give our
readers an insight into the making of the album, its history and your
promotional plans?
Lanvall -
The making I
explained in your first question. About the promo: We are currently on a
big European tour with Rage. I think this is the perfect promo for the
release of the album on April 25. Our new record company Napalm is doing
its best to promote the album with big advertising and sampler tracks.
MM - The sound of the
new album is huge. What were you trying to achieve sonically with the
album?
Lanvall -
Well, if you have a
real orchestra you definitely have to integrate it to your music. We spent
a lot of time in the mix to give everything its room. First you have to
find a good basis setup for drums, bass and guitar and then you have to
work in all the different other elements to make it work. It´s all about
searching for frequencies and Karl Groom is a real master in that. What
Mika Jussila did in mastering is simply amazing and you´re right, the
sound is really huge.
MM
-
What is plainly apparent to me is that you have stumbled onto a winning
formula for these last couple of albums, which is slightly different to
the bands previous output. What were you striving for musically and
lyrically with ‘MyEarthDream’?
Lanvall -
I think this new phase of the band
started with our 4th album “Shine”, where we first worked with
big choirs and backing vocals. Now we have the orchestra and still the
huge choirs but
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we never forgot our trademarks so it´s still Edenbridge
but always on the search for new forms of expression. I hate still stand.
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MyEarthDream is not a concept album but
there is red line through the album.
But lyrically the songs can
also stand for their own. “Shadowplay” deals with an episode of Star Trek
DS 9 where a genius is creating his own holographic world on a planet. A
long time they don´t realize that they are holograms till people are
disappearing going beyond the frontiers of the holo emitters. “Whale
Rider” deals with the equally named New Zealand movie.
It´s about the unexpected
female power, symbolized through a young girl. She is showing up the way
of the group, although she is facing the unbelief of the spiritual leader,
who is her father, cause she is the chosen one to ride on whales. She is
handling that without any fights, just with her inner power and her
belief.
“Fallen from grace “ is
about the movie “A.I. – Artificial Intelligence”, I think most of the
people know this movie about a little robot boy. “Paramount” is my tribute
to Mother Earth, the love to nature.
“Adamantine” is about the
iron will. “Undying Devotion” speaks for itself, the love and devotion for
something in everybody´s life, in my case the music. “Place of higher
power” also speaks for itself. Many people have a special place where they
regain energy. I was one of my places when the title came to my mind.
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MM
- When first
starting this band, did you have the intentions to create the kind of
sound that you are producing now? How has the sound of the band changed
from when it was first formed to how it is now?
Lanvall -
This is an interesting process. I could never imagine to where the music
has led us, because you never know how you develop as a human being. With
the musical development it is the same. Do you know what you will like in
10 or 15 years ? So when you compare our debut “Sunrise in Eden” to our
actual album “MyEarthDream” you will find the development of 10 years.
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MM - Your sound, image
and lyrics have a strong identity to them. Is this something you've
strived to achieve or something more organic?
Lanvall - This can only come
organic cause it´s a direct connection to our music. We cannot go on stage
or make photos with jeans and normal t-shirts cause this would not
represent our music at all. It´s the same with the lyrics. When I see how
many shitty lyrics are around in the metal scene I get a crises (haha).
Music, lyrics and image should be one.
MM - The Introduction
of a real orchestra has really enhanced the whole Edenbridge sound, what
was it like bringing it all together?
Lanvall -
A lot of work, sweat
and money (haha). But it was all worthy in the end and there is nothing I
would do differently, looking back. The best samples in the world can
never compete with the organic sound of a real orchestra. It´s this kind
of magic when 65 people are playing together and this was an incredible
feeling in the studio in Prague. I know so many bands that use all those
crappy digital amps, lifeless keyboard orchestra sounds. On our album you
won´t find this. Real valve amps, real orchestra, real choirs, no
bullshit.
MM - This is now the
sixth album released by the band, how do you feel the whole Progressive
Metal scene has changed since your debut album ‘Sun Rise In Eden’? Is it
more acceptable or do you feel it perhaps become too commercial in some
respects?
Lanvall -
Well, I wouldn´t
consider our band as a progressive metal band, maybe progressive in its
real sense, discovering new musical territories. But I wouldn´t say that
the scene became too commercial. I mean what does commercial mean ?
Selling albums, this is what we all want. But I wouldn´t change my music
to sell more albums, never !!!!
MM - The band are now
signed to Napalm Records, how did this alliance come about and what are
your hopes for the future with the new label?
Lanvall - I have only positive
feelings about Napalm Records. We lost a lot of ground with the last 2
albums on Massacre, cause they didn´t do a good promo. Napalm is known to
give all their bands the best kind of promotion and we can already see
this now. We´ve been in touch with Napalm since the tour 2003 where we did
a co-headlining tour with Sirenia and Trail of Tears. After our album
“Shine” we talked the first time about a future collaboration and when our
deal with Massacre expired we talked with a couple of record labels and
Napalm made us the best offer.
MM
- The tour is due to
start later this month, what can the fans expect from these live shows?
Will you be concentrating mainly on the songs from the new album or will
it be a mix of older and new material?
Lanvall -
We are currently on
tour with Rage and I am sitting in Marseille right now doing this
interview. In our 45 minutes set we do 4 old songs and 4 brand new songs
from the new album. Although the album will come out later this month we
decided to play a lot of new songs cause we wanna promote the album of
course.
MM - Finally what does
the future hold for Edenbridge have you even thought about the next album
or are things focused on ‘MyEarthDream’ for now?
Lanvall
- I have not thought
about the next album. When MyEarthDream was done we directly started with
the tour preparations and we will return home in May. And then I need a
time out, recharging my batteries before I can even think of writing new
music. Of course I hope for some more touring at the end of the year, we
will see what the future will bring.
Thanks for the
interview, Lanvall
www.edenbridge.org
www.myspace.com/edenbridge
MM - We'd like to thank
Lanvall for taking the time out during the tour to chat with us today.
The band are currently on tour so if you haven't caught them in action
before then be sure to check them out this time around, you won't be
disappointed! |
