Interview by Danny Robertson

We spoke to Cristina Moreno, frontwoman for Spanish gothic metal act Alchemists of Darkness, to see how everything first came together for this group.

How and when did the band first get together? Who started it initially?

Truth is we can’t consider ourselves a band until the first rehearsal we did together, and that happened after recording the “Laments” EP. We were just a musical project, not really a band. The first time we all met together was at the photo session, back in January 2009, after having recorded and released the EP. It was strange, as we had recorded it together without knowing or having met each other at all, hahaha. I was the last one to join the (by then) musical project, and Manu started it all, as he had already tried it during mid-2006 but seems things didn’t work fine with the people he gathered. He tried it again some time later, and here we are now.

Who first influenced you to become a vocalist? Were there other vocalists you looked up to?

I had been singing for many years, you know, I started growing in this field since I was very young, and the dream of my life was, from the beginning, being able to reach anywhere related to music. There were many vocalists that I admired, but they were always faces on magazine covers and, eventually more music to listen. There are no vocalists that really influenced me in entering the world of music, only the people who supported (and support) me to achieve my dream.

Who/what are the band’s main influences as a whole?

One of the things I really enjoy of being in this band is diversity and variety in terms of influences. When Manu gathered us all, I was surprised of how open-minded we were in musical influences. We all listen to every kind of music: rock, metal, jazz, blues, swing, progressive, pop, electronic, etc. As an act, we can say our influences are bands like: Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Dark Tranquillity, Dream Theater, Anathema, Nightwish, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Fields of the Nephilim…

What’s your local scene like? Was it difficult to get noticed in the beginning?

There aren’t many gothic bands in the regional scene. Just one band or two… Most of bands around here are metalcore, indie/alternative rock, and spanish heavy metal bands.Not many bands are well-known at their start. Even though, we have a small group of people (mainly people who are closer to us) from the beginning that are always there at every gig, supporting us and enjoying our music. The best thing is that, as time passed by, more people joined that group, so I think we’re on the right way.

What would you say has been your biggest non-musical influence?

My family, but specially my father. He has been a very important person in every music aspect of my life. He has taken care personally of distributing my recordings apart from the band, and showing everybody how proud he was of her daughter. He is the one who supports me more and is the one that’s moved every time he listens to me singing.

What are your future aims and ambitions?

I have to admit that my ambitions and future expectations have always been related to music. I struck up a very special union with music some years ago, and I feel I want nothing else but to keep playing with my band, sharing with them the good and the bad moments, and doing my best to make people enjoy what we do, filled with feelings. That’s my dream, in the end, and achieving it is another dream. However, as a teenager, I see it necessary to study a university career. Who knows what fate holds in store for us?

What’s next for the band? Any tours or releases in the pipeline?

We’re still writing new stuff for a future full-length album, to be recorded around 2011, though some of those songs will appear on the future setlists for sure. Meanwhile, we’ll release our latest single “The Light Ends” (You can check it now at our MySpace) during 2010, and we’ll try to do it as soon as possible, but studies may keep us very busy during the following months. The CD single will feature the full track, the radio cut, a remix by electronic band Com.Pulsion (whose vocalist, Luis Alcázar, has produced the single - http://www.myspace.com/compulsionband), and a little acoustic surprise. We hope you’ll enjoy the whole CD, we’ve devoted a lot of time on it.

Are there any other new acts back in Spain you’d like to recommend to people?

I haven’t gone deeply into the Spanish scene, I’m not good at it. My influences are American and British rather than Spanish. However there are very good Spanish metal acts like Forever Slave, Helevorn, Embellish, Goddamn, No:Code, or the pop band Vetusta Morla.

Any last messages for people?

I’d like to say (we’re) proud for the whole band to share our music and feelings with all of you. We thank everyone that keeps supporting us, we’re making possible a dream we never thought we’d be able to, we are lucky that life has offered us the chance to be together. We’ve clung to this hope and we won’t let it go. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Links

MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook 

 Interview by Marc “Peston” Sels

Caladmor is a Swiss Folk Gothic band that released an their interesting debut cd called “Midwinter” this year. Earlier they released three demo’s and an EP under the name Pale. Singer Barbara can explain a lot what happened and will happen with the band.Can you introduce the band to us?

Caladmor from Zurich, Switzerland, is: Maede (drums, growls, clean vocals, synths), Nick and Plaeschy (guitars), Mäcka (bass) and me, the vocalist. Our music could be described as Gothic Folk Metal, though you can find much more influences in our songs than ‘only’ Gothic and Folk. Can you give us a brief history of the band?

The band was formerly known as Pale, founded by Nick, Maede and me in 2001. Our early years were dedicated to Alternative Metal and then the sound developed more and more to what it is now. Mäcka joined the band in 2005. By writing and recording our album “Midwinter” we decided to look for a new name which would represent our music in a better way. Caladmor (meaning “dark light” in Tolkien’s language Sindarin) is just perfect in that sense! After having finished the recordings of “Midwinter” in spring 2009, Plaeschy joined the band as the newest member.

I do but unfortunately I hardly ever find time for them ;) I love designing and sewing my own clothes or having a good glass of red wine and draw a picture. Further I’m strongly interested in history of our past’s rites, beginning in the ancient past to modern times. Switzerland for example holds a chest full of magic tradition! Have you got some affinity with other female vocalists like Tarja, Floor Jansen (ReVamp)?

There are several female singers I consider Goddesses! In Metal there is Anneke van Giersbergen (Ex-The Gathering) and of course Floor. Their voices are just perfect in every single aspect – intonation, expression, warmth … amazing and a true inspiration! Further I love the stunning voices of Tori Amos, Loreena McKennitt, Malena Ernman and opera legend Maria Callas.

Is there a song you wish you had written?

No, I cannot really think of 

If you had to go to a deserted island, which book, movie, cd, comic, music dvd would you take with you? And why?

Hard question! Only one of each?? ;) As a book, I’d probably take the full collection of Grimm’s fairytales – as a student of German language and linguistics I have a great affinity to the Brothers Grimm and their work, also to fairytales on the whole because they’re witnesses of old traditions and beliefs. And I have to admit that I’ve never grown up regarding fairytales, I’m still fascinated by their magic and mystic like a child.
As a movie I’d take “Braveheart” with me - I know this movie is quite pathetic and doesn’t stick in all cases to historical facts and yes, it’s Hollywood, but in spite of all these facts there has never been a movie touching me the way like “Braveheart” did.
But still, I’d need a CD on my Island ;) So I’d choose “Nighttime Birds” by The Gathering, an album which has already been inspiring me since years and it seems it’ll never stop doing so. Also it creates a certain magical atmosphere when listening to it, what makes the album even more special.

How is the CD selling? Are you pleased with the reviews so far?

Considering that we are still a quite unknown band in a country like Switzerland where Metal doesn’t really have a platform, the CD selling works surprisingly well, also thanks to our label Twilight Zone Records in Germany. The reaction to the album was really positive! We didn’t expect that mixing such a lot of styles like we do would find any recognition, but it did! So we’re truly pleased and motivated to make a further album.Sean Killey (Alice In Chains-drummer) once said :”All good singers are freaks”. Are you a freak?

The question is: What behaviour or attitude is significant for a freak? To me people doing absolute nonsense jobs like bank managers spending more money than they earn (which is definitely crazy regarding their incomes) are the true freaks. Compared to them, I’m quite normal… (which would then mean I am a bad singer ;) But to be honest, I often experience that people don’t get my very black sense of humour and then they glance at me thinking “oh what a freak” ;) If you called someone a freak who likes being dressed differently from the main masses and who doesn’t and didn’t always choose the straightest and most easy way in life (in order to be more free and pleased), then yes, I’m definitely a freak. Can you live from your music or do you all have “regular” jobs?

We all have regular jobs, Maede and me even have part time jobs and study at the university. The band work also takes a lot of time and it is sometimes difficult finding enough time for everything. I’d love to give priority to the music but I’m afraid we’d starve if did so ;) Therefore we need to do normal jobs up to now.How would you describe Caladmor to someone who’d never heard of you?

Caladmor – Gothic Folk Metal from the middle of where darkness meets light.After, or during intense touring, can you remember witch day it is, and where you are? And can you see something from the town you’re in?

I’d love to answer: “Well no, not really, you know, touring can be sooo exhausting!” ;) But unfortunately we’ve never been able to afford doing a tour so far. There were some offers for the opening slots of quite well known bands but the prizes we’d have had to pay were breathtakingly high and it’s a fact that as a small band you just get screwed after having signed such contracts. But still we’re open for any offers! Please contact us, we’d love to play at the venues all around the world! ;)What was the first record you bought? Your all time favourite? And what do you sing under the shower?

My first record was a compilation with some pop songs from the 80’s – nothing really worth to talk about ;) I have several all time favourites, accompanying me since a lot of years: “Who cares a lot?” by Faith no more; “Tuonela” by Amorphis; “Bestie in Menschengestalt” by Die Ärzte; “Nighttime Birds” by The Gathering; “Under the Pink” by Tori Amos; and a compilation of Celtic Songs – actually there are a lot more. I often use the time under the shower to do some exercises for my singing technique, as I hardly find any other time for them ;)What are the plans for the future?

We’re already about to write new songs for our second album which is planned to be out next summer. It’ll show again a broad variety of styles, beautiful melodies, thundering riffs… I can’t wait to enter the studios! Also we want to play some festivals next summer or do a little tour. Stay tuned!

It’s great that there is a platform like Femme Metal for female fronted bands! Keep up the good work and thank you very much for the interview ;)

Links

MySpace * Facebook *  Site

Interview by Claudio Grippi

This time we let the guitarist and mastermind, Anastasia, intruduce this young German band symphonic metal caressed by JRR Tolkien’s symphonies and some real kick ass girl power (hahahahaha men this time you’re the minority). Well, hail to the girl power, isn’t?

Hello Anastasia! Thank you for taking the time for this interview. Let’s start immediately. First of all, How are you?I would like to start with a simple question. Where does the name Arven come from? What is its meaning? Is it somehow related to the name Arwen from the movie trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”?

Yes, you got it right. We named the band after the female character from the book “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, we are certainly not the first band to look for a name in his book but Arwen seemed perfect for us because the beautiful story of an she-elf, who gives up her immortality for a love of a mortal man, represents very well everything our music stands for: intense passion and strong emotions.

How did this project start?

Before I founded the band Arven, I have already played in a couple of metal bands, where I always was the only female musician. I thought it’s a bit sad that metal music is so men-dominated and on the other hand I was personally acquainted with 2 girls, who also played in metal bands. So when I started to compose songs and wanted to found a band it seemed only natural to me to try and form a female metal band. But finding capable female musicians, who would be interested in playing metal turned out to be a real challenge. The search for musicians lasted almost a year and at times I was so frustrated, that I almost gave up. It seemed to be impossible to find what I was searching for, no matter how hard I tried. But in the end I’m really happy that I didn’t give up, because finally I got lucky and Arven finally came into the world. I can say that for me it’s a big pleasure and an honour to make music with the girls of Arven and it’s one of the best things I ever experienced in life!

Why did you choose “Music of Light” as the title of the album? Does it have a special meaning for the band since it is also the opening track of the album?

On the one hand “Music of Light” was a title of one of our early songs, that represents our musical style really well. On the other hand “Music of Light” seemed like a good description for our musical style in general, as you can associate “light” and “clear” or “ardent” with our sound. This double meaning seemed interesting so we choose it to be the album title.

Arven is mainly composed of ladies with several musical backgrounds: from classical music to metal. Which musical backgrounds or bands do you mostly inspire to when it comes to song writing? Is it a specific choice you made to hire female-only musicians and singers? Or it just came as it is?

Yes, like I said earlier it was a choice. From the beginning I wanted the band to stand out of the crowd in some way. There are very many metal bands out there with a female singer and sometimes you see a girl play an instrument in a metal band. But I know of only very few metal bands, where the song writing and the whole musical concept has been done by female musicians, so from that perspective Arven creates a feminine version of metal.

In your opinion, what are the main differences in terms of song writing within a group of five girls and one boy? Do you think ‘female song writing’ is more detail-oriented?

I don’t think that the song writing process itself is different in a female band but our tastes may be. In general our music seems to be softer, than the most men-dominated metal bands are, but actually we didn’t plan it to be this way. Our desire was (and still is) to explore different styles of metal from soft to hard and create our own version of it: there is a distinct soft and feminine side to our album but we also like to contrast it with powerful aggressive energy, that you could call our masculine side.

As far as the lyrics are concerned, what are the main topics that inspire you?

In our song writing process music always comes first and lyrics are created after the song is almost finished. This way we have to find a theme for a song that fits the mood created by the music. Basically we try to write lyrics that mean something to us, we put a lot of our very personal experiences in the lyrics, though it may be not so obvious sometimes. As a songwriter I put a lot of myself into my music and with Carina I’m very lucky to have found a singer, who us able to express the feelings that I put in the music in a genuinely way. She really “means” what she sings about. Typically for a female dominant band there are a few love songs on our album: in “Music of Light” we tried to capture the euphoria of being freshly in love whereas “Till Death do us Part” is about a painful experience of a breakup. The song “My Dear Friend” is the song that means most to me, I wrote it after the death of a close friend of mine. But not all songs on the CD are earnest, “Raise your Cups” is a cheerful party-song, for example and “Midwinter Nights” is a fairy tale with reversed gender roles.

Your new album has been released recently. This is a very delicate time for new female-fronted metal bands to come out with new, interesting material among the greatest female-fronted metal bands. How do you think “Music of Light” may find its way into the listener’s heart?

Considering the great number of the female-fronted metal bands on the market it’s indeed a difficult time for a new band that plays this kind of music. Often times we get the: “Please, not yet another female-fronted band out there” message, even before someone even listened to our music for one second and it can be very frustrating, after you put so much passion and energy into the songs. But in the end, we just have to accept that fact and we certainly wouldn’t change our musical style because of that. No matter what, we will stay true to our style and hope that there are enough people our there who follow their hearts instead of just being in line with the musical trend.

This album features many well-known names in this genre. Stefan Schmidt from Van Canto and Sascha Paeth (producer) are among these, for example. How did their experience help contribute to the production of the album? Did they influence your sound somehow or did you already have a clear picture of the album?

Working with Stef (Stefan) Schmidt was a great experience for us. He met us at one of our live-shows and he liked our music and offered some great ideas, so that we ended up doing some kind of a “song writing workshop” with him, where we took some new song material of Arven and experimented with different arrangements and song structures. He is a real professional and a very skilled and experienced musician and we enjoyed to work with him so much, that we decided to record the choirs for the album in his studio. You can hear Stef among the male voices in the choirs. We think that he did a great job and would like to thank him one more time for supporting us along our way. Finally Sascha Paeth did the mastering of the album and gave the sound of “Music Of Light” it’s final touch.

How would you describe the new album in terms of genre? It seems you are fond of Medieval/Celtic music.

I was always fascinated by medieval music because of it’s background and history. Every music tells it’s own story,and I am very interested in this time. I love the instruments and the sound of medieval melodies so it became one of the main musical influences for the album. We are often asked the question about genre but for me this question is not one the really important ones.

Do you think your sound is going towards symphonic or power metal in the near future?

Actually right now we are experimenting with both. We have a couple of new up-tempo power metal songs that are a lot of fun to play life. On the other hand I’m thrilled by the idea of using more orchestral arrangements in future but it’s a relatively new approach to me and will certainly take time to get the results that I’d like to have in this area.

What are your plans for the future?

Our greatest wish right now is to play live-shows as often as possible because playing live in front of our fans is what a metal band is all about in the first place. This year a number of live-concerts are already planned and we are very much looking forward to the shows. On the other hand we are working on new material for a second album and we hope that it wont be long until we enter the studio one more time and go on the musical journey and find out where it would lead us to this time.

One last question. Are you planning to tour in Europe supporting other bands or are you looking for promoters for your own tour?

As a young band it’s not quite easy to get the opportunity to play great live shows, but we hope that we will be able to play more live shows in Europe in near future. We already played in France a couple of times last year and we got excellent feedback from our fans there, so we are curious to see more countries, visit new places and get to know more people who are interested in metal.

Anastasia, thank you very much for your time! Is there anything you would like to say to our readers?

Thank you for your interest in our music and the band and also thanks to our fans all around the world! We didn’t expect that much positive feedback and we are happy to find that our music is so well received. Best wishes for all of you, and who knows, maybe one day we can meet at a live show ;-).

Credit Photos

Photos by angst-im-wald.com

Links

MySpace * Facebook * Site

Interview by Claudio Grippi

This time we let the guitarist and mastermind, Anastasia, intruduce this young German band symphonic metal caressed by JRR Tolkien’s symphonies and some real kick ass girl power (hahahahaha men this time you’re the minority). Well, hail to the girl power, isn’t?

Hello Anastasia! Thank you for taking the time for this interview. Let’s start immediately. First of all, How are you?I would like to start with a simple question. Where does the name Arven come from? What is its meaning? Is it somehow related to the name Arwen from the movie trilogy “The Lord of the Rings”?

Yes, you got it right. We named the band after the female character from the book “Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, we are certainly not the first band to look for a name in his book but Arwen seemed perfect for us because the beautiful story of an she-elf, who gives up her immortality for a love of a mortal man, represents very well everything our music stands for: intense passion and strong emotions.

How did this project start?

Before I founded the band Arven, I have already played in a couple of metal bands, where I always was the only female musician. I thought it’s a bit sad that metal music is so men-dominated and on the other hand I was personally acquainted with 2 girls, who also played in metal bands. So when I started to compose songs and wanted to found a band it seemed only natural to me to try and form a female metal band. But finding capable female musicians, who would be interested in playing metal turned out to be a real challenge. The search for musicians lasted almost a year and at times I was so frustrated, that I almost gave up. It seemed to be impossible to find what I was searching for, no matter how hard I tried. But in the end I’m really happy that I didn’t give up, because finally I got lucky and Arven finally came into the world. I can say that for me it’s a big pleasure and an honour to make music with the girls of Arven and it’s one of the best things I ever experienced in life!

Why did you choose “Music of Light” as the title of the album? Does it have a special meaning for the band since it is also the opening track of the album?

On the one hand “Music of Light” was a title of one of our early songs, that represents our musical style really well. On the other hand “Music of Light” seemed like a good description for our musical style in general, as you can associate “light” and “clear” or “ardent” with our sound. This double meaning seemed interesting so we choose it to be the album title.

Arven is mainly composed of ladies with several musical backgrounds: from classical music to metal. Which musical backgrounds or bands do you mostly inspire to when it comes to song writing? Is it a specific choice you made to hire female-only musicians and singers? Or it just came as it is?

Yes, like I said earlier it was a choice. From the beginning I wanted the band to stand out of the crowd in some way. There are very many metal bands out there with a female singer and sometimes you see a girl play an instrument in a metal band. But I know of only very few metal bands, where the song writing and the whole musical concept has been done by female musicians, so from that perspective Arven creates a feminine version of metal.

In your opinion, what are the main differences in terms of song writing within a group of five girls and one boy? Do you think ‘female song writing’ is more detail-oriented?

I don’t think that the song writing process itself is different in a female band but our tastes may be. In general our music seems to be softer, than the most men-dominated metal bands are, but actually we didn’t plan it to be this way. Our desire was (and still is) to explore different styles of metal from soft to hard and create our own version of it: there is a distinct soft and feminine side to our album but we also like to contrast it with powerful aggressive energy, that you could call our masculine side.

As far as the lyrics are concerned, what are the main topics that inspire you?

In our song writing process music always comes first and lyrics are created after the song is almost finished. This way we have to find a theme for a song that fits the mood created by the music. Basically we try to write lyrics that mean something to us, we put a lot of our very personal experiences in the lyrics, though it may be not so obvious sometimes. As a songwriter I put a lot of myself into my music and with Carina I’m very lucky to have found a singer, who us able to express the feelings that I put in the music in a genuinely way. She really “means” what she sings about. Typically for a female dominant band there are a few love songs on our album: in “Music of Light” we tried to capture the euphoria of being freshly in love whereas “Till Death do us Part” is about a painful experience of a breakup. The song “My Dear Friend” is the song that means most to me, I wrote it after the death of a close friend of mine. But not all songs on the CD are earnest, “Raise your Cups” is a cheerful party-song, for example and “Midwinter Nights” is a fairy tale with reversed gender roles.

Your new album has been released recently. This is a very delicate time for new female-fronted metal bands to come out with new, interesting material among the greatest female-fronted metal bands. How do you think “Music of Light” may find its way into the listener’s heart?

Considering the great number of the female-fronted metal bands on the market it’s indeed a difficult time for a new band that plays this kind of music. Often times we get the: “Please, not yet another female-fronted band out there” message, even before someone even listened to our music for one second and it can be very frustrating, after you put so much passion and energy into the songs. But in the end, we just have to accept that fact and we certainly wouldn’t change our musical style because of that. No matter what, we will stay true to our style and hope that there are enough people our there who follow their hearts instead of just being in line with the musical trend.

This album features many well-known names in this genre. Stefan Schmidt from Van Canto and Sascha Paeth (producer) are among these, for example. How did their experience help contribute to the production of the album? Did they influence your sound somehow or did you already have a clear picture of the album?

Working with Stef (Stefan) Schmidt was a great experience for us. He met us at one of our live-shows and he liked our music and offered some great ideas, so that we ended up doing some kind of a “song writing workshop” with him, where we took some new song material of Arven and experimented with different arrangements and song structures. He is a real professional and a very skilled and experienced musician and we enjoyed to work with him so much, that we decided to record the choirs for the album in his studio. You can hear Stef among the male voices in the choirs. We think that he did a great job and would like to thank him one more time for supporting us along our way. Finally Sascha Paeth did the mastering of the album and gave the sound of “Music Of Light” it’s final touch.

How would you describe the new album in terms of genre? It seems you are fond of Medieval/Celtic music.

I was always fascinated by medieval music because of it’s background and history. Every music tells it’s own story,and I am very interested in this time. I love the instruments and the sound of medieval melodies so it became one of the main musical influences for the album. We are often asked the question about genre but for me this question is not one the really important ones.

Do you think your sound is going towards symphonic or power metal in the near future?

Actually right now we are experimenting with both. We have a couple of new up-tempo power metal songs that are a lot of fun to play life. On the other hand I’m thrilled by the idea of using more orchestral arrangements in future but it’s a relatively new approach to me and will certainly take time to get the results that I’d like to have in this area.

What are your plans for the future?

Our greatest wish right now is to play live-shows as often as possible because playing live in front of our fans is what a metal band is all about in the first place. This year a number of live-concerts are already planned and we are very much looking forward to the shows. On the other hand we are working on new material for a second album and we hope that it wont be long until we enter the studio one more time and go on the musical journey and find out where it would lead us to this time.

One last question. Are you planning to tour in Europe supporting other bands or are you looking for promoters for your own tour?

As a young band it’s not quite easy to get the opportunity to play great live shows, but we hope that we will be able to play more live shows in Europe in near future. We already played in France a couple of times last year and we got excellent feedback from our fans there, so we are curious to see more countries, visit new places and get to know more people who are interested in metal.

Anastasia, thank you very much for your time! Is there anything you would like to say to our readers?

Thank you for your interest in our music and the band and also thanks to our fans all around the world! We didn’t expect that much positive feedback and we are happy to find that our music is so well received. Best wishes for all of you, and who knows, maybe one day we can meet at a live show ;-).

Credit Photos

Photos by angst-im-wald.com

Links

MySpace * Facebook * Site

Interview by Marc “Peston” Sels

Anabioz is a Russian band from Oktyabrsky in the republic of Bashkortostan. (for those who don’t know where Bashkortostan is, look it up, you lazy bastards!!). They play, according to the Encyclopaedia Metallum folk/doom/death metal. For me they just play good metal, you can listen to it on their latest album “…The Light” (2010) The following interview is with singer/violinplayer Olga.

Can you introduce the bandmembers to us (musical influences, professional occupations…)?

The band’s line-up is: Olga - vocal, violin; Anton - guitar, vocal; Damir - guitar; Dmitry - bass; Alexander - drums.  We’re all into different kinds of music. For example, I like folk and viking metal, Damir is into progressive and progressive/death metal, Dmitry is into doom-metal and sympho-metal and Alexander and Anton are listening to everything from math-metal and grindcore to jazz. All members of our band have a work, excluding me - I’m sitting at home with my baby. Damir and Dmitry are electrical engineers, Alexander and Anton are working at musical stores.

How’s the Russian metalscene? Any interesting new bands?

In terms of development of metal-scene, Russia is still behind Europe. There are certain moves ahead, though. Several interesting new bands I was listening to in the last time - Der Galgen, Fangorn, Grai (all are playing folk-metal), Armaga (dark-metal), Eclipse Hunter (prog-power metal).

Is there a special meaning in the band’s name?

We got this name as a some kind of heritage. Earlier Anabioz consisted of totally different people playing different music. The band was reborn in 2003, the musicians of former line-up were gone and the new line-up was completed in 2006. We wanted to change the name a few years ago, but at that moment our band was confirmed on several festivals, and we decided to stay with this name.

Is there, for you personally, a big difference between touring and recording? And what do you prefer?

These are two sides of life of every musical formation, and they are equally important and interesting! I can’t choose just one of them.

Do the recent terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro have any influence on the life as a musician in Russia?

We live far away from Moscow and we know about these terrible events from news on TV. You can’t absolutely defend yourself from terrorism, you know. People have to use metro every day, they just can’t not use it. As far as I know, life keeps flowing its usual way - and for russian musicians too.

Do you read your album reviews in mags and webzines? If you do, do they have any impact on you or the other bandmembers?

Yes, I try to read all reviews and opinions I can get. Of course, we listen to people’s responses about our music, but we keep moving on our own way. For example, nothing and no one can force us to change our style drastically.

Haven’t you ever thought - Why didn’t I become a waitress?

Funny question! No, I’ve never thought about it! I got a job as a waitress when I was 18, though, but I’ve worked there just one day. It isn’t my cup of tea, you see!

How would you present Anabioz to someone who haven’t heard of the band?

I’d say, we play heavy but melodic music with violin and the stirring folk motives! But I doubt I can name some really similar bands, maybe just the distant similarities… Amorphis, Eluveitie…

Any favourite violin players/componists ? I myself like Paganini. Did you have a classical schooling?

Paganini is a greatest violin player! Also I really admire D.Oistrakh, L.Kogan. My favourive composers are Vivaldi, Mozart and Bach. Also, what I like very much is the violin in celtic music. I have finished musical school in violin class.

How’s the new CD selling?

New album is selling just for a few days at this moment, and we even didn’t touch it with our own hands! So I can’t tell you anything about the sales numbers.

After the release of a CD, most bands start a promo-tour. Can we expect you on the European stages this summer?

I have a doubt about this summer. We’re going to send our new album to the foreign labels. Maybe in the next year we’ll have an opportunity to play at some European festival! Now we’re making the gigs here and there in Russia, maybe in some time we’ll make a little tour in Ukraine.

You (the band) describe your music as folk metal / doom / death. Isn’t that a bit confusing for the fans?

It’s the most accurate description of music we are playing. We have already thought about some way to shorten it, but decided to not change it.

Which book, CD, comic, movie would you take with you when they dropped you on a deserted island ? And can you give us a short explanation why?

Book - “The Lord of the Rings”, it’s a fantasy classic, I’ll never get bored with it! CD - Amorphis, I think. These guys always make the interesting and qualitative music, with a lot to learn for us! If I could take several CDs, not just one, I would take Blind Guardian, Turisas, My Dying Bride and Epica and be pretty happy! There are many movies that I like… I think I would take “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and watch it from time to time. It’s a timeless classic, just like “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”.

Any “famous last words”?

I wish all the best for your magazine, and real spring mood and more of good music for your readers! I hope you’ll like our new album! So far so good.I hope the band has got a great future, they deserve it, and I hope to hear from them very soon with more new, fantastic material.

Links

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Independent Release

Review by Tony Cannella

Italian purveyors of Rock Noir, Belladonna returns with their 3rd album of ‘emotionally charged rock-n-roll melodrama’ titled “And There Was Light”. Belladonna are a pretty unique band and their music, I am sure will not appeal to everyone, but should still find its niche amongst rock and metal fans who like their music to be somewhat adventurous. The 1 hour’s worth of eclectic music begins with the intro “Last Night I Died” which segues nicely into “Morning Star Blues”, which gets things off to a solid start. “Stiletto” is next and has an almost heavy pop vibe to it. This song is helped out by a great chorus and melody. This is definitely one of my favorites. The 7-minute heavy ballad “I Feel Life” is next and is definitely one of the biggest highlights for me and features lead vocalist Luana Caraffa turning in an absolutely stunning vocal performance. Other highlights include: “My Sweet Nepenthe”, “Ballerina”, “You and I Are One”, “Be My Star” and “Spirit Dancer”. Personally, after listening to this album a few times, I found myself liking it more and more. Make no mistake about it, Belladonna is an acquired taste and some may find their brand of avant-garde, eclectic music tiresome to listen to in one sitting. Others will surely come to love and admire the chances that this band is willing to take in their music. One thing you can never accuse Belladonna of being is ‘run-of-the-mill’ and that holds true on “And There Was Light”.

Rating - 85/100

Tracklist

1. Last Night I Died
2. Morning Star Blues
3. Stiletto
4. I Feel Life
5. The Origin of All Evil
6. My Sweet Nepenthe
7. You and I Are One
8. Song For Tania
9. Ballerina
10. Be My Star
11. Icarus Blues
12. My Forlorn Flight
13. Spirit Dancer
14. Let There Be Light
15. Sirens
16. Violet the Light
17. A Pyromantic S…

Line Up

• Luana Caraffa – Vocals
• Dani Macchi – Guitar
• Alice Pelle – Piano
• Tam Scacciati – Bass
• Alex Giuliani – Drums

Links

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Label : Massacre Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Following on the heels of their excellent 2008 5-song demo, you would think it was only a matter of time before some label came calling, right? Well it took a few years but Massacre records made the wise move in signing the German Epic, Symphonic metal outfit Arven. On their debut album “Music of Light” Arven proves that their demo was no fluke and has released an album that captures the band in all their metallic, melodic glory. Arven is compromised of six members (5 females and 1 male) and the composition and execution of the material on “Music of Light” is well done and never fails to deliver upon the promise of the demo. “Music of Light” is introduced with a violin intro and a folkish sounding beginning, before the band joins in and the song becomes heavier and forceful with strong choir parts and the great operatic vocals of Carina Hanselmann. The classic metal of “On Flaming Wings” is next and Arven shows just how diverse they can be and the chorus to this song is quite memorable and remains in your head long after you’ve heard it. “Raise Your Cups” is next and it has a great up-tempo medieval vibe to it, this is easily one of my favorites. “My Dear Friend” is a ballad that I really loved; the main part of the song is Carina’s vocals – which are just dripping with emotion – accompanied by piano before the rest of the band joins in later on in the song. Arven follows the ballad with the hugely metallic “World of Hatred”. Other highlights include: “Dark Red Desire”, “Midwinter Nights”, “Ruined Castle” and the excellent “A Stranger’s Story”. With “Music of Light” Arven is something of a revelation in the metal universe. Make no mistake about it Arven is not re-inventing the wheel or symphonic metal with “Music of Light” , but who cares, it’s all about the songs and quality of the music and based on that, “Music of Light” is a thunderous, majestic and huge success. Arven is fast becoming one of my favorite bands and “Music of Light” will make my top 10 list for 2011 for sure.

Rating - 94/100

Tracklist

1. Music of Light
2. On Flaming Wings
3. Raise Your Cups
4. My Dear Friend
5. World of Hatred
6. Dark Red Desire
7. Midwinter Nights
8. Till Death Do Us Part
9. Ruined Castle
10. A Stranger’s Story

Line Up

• Carina Hanselmann – Vocals
• Anastasia Schmidt – Guitar
• Ines Thomé – Guitar
• Lena Yatsula – Piano
• Lisa Marie Geiß - Bass
• Till Felden – Drums

Links

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Label : Pirames International/Massacre Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Melodic Symphonic Metal and Gothic Metal come together on the debut album “Human Maze” from Italy’s My Black Light. “Human Maze” features 11-songs and close to 45-minutes worth of music that boasts tons of melody and blasts of heaviness at certain points. Vocalist Monica Primo has a clean, soaring vocal style and she also has the ability to hit some rather high notes on “Human Maze”, that she is only too willing to display. “Human Maze” also features its share of complex numbers, elements of prog metal and virtuosic musicianship. Aside from the strong vocals provided by Monica, My Black Light also showcases some great lead guitar playing by Emanuele Rossi.  Highlights include: “Inner World”, “A Lie for Eternity” “Guiding Light”, “Ti Sento” and “Being Human”. In the end, My Black Light is another promising band to come from Italy. “Human Maze” is a very good debut for this Italian band. They don’t mind taking the listener on a vast musical journey with a few surprises along the way. 

Rating – 82/100

Tracklist 

1. Inner World
2. Detriny
3. The Abstainer
4. A Lie for Eternity
5. Noise for Sale
6. Guiding Light
7. Ideal
8. Deadline
9. Ti Sento (Matia Bazar Cover)
10. Energy Core
11. Being Human

Line Up

• Monica Primo - Vocals
• Emanuele Rossi - Guitar
• Rudy Coda Bertetto - Keyboards, Vocals
• Marco Peraldo - Bass
• Edoardo Giordani - Drums

Links

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