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 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.
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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 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.
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.
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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! |