Elvenpath
Elvenpath is an up
and rising heavy/power metal band with a strong epic feeling, containing
some of the best elements and sounds of the aforementioned genres. Till,
the band's mastermind and main composer, is here to offer us some insight
on the new and powerful Elvenpath, who face future with much confidence
based on their very good and catchy new compositions. I think this is a
band that all the power metal maniacs should check out, so let's read what
Till told us...
1. Congratulations on “Spyrol”! How do
you feel about it now that it’s ready?
Thank you for your kind words. We’re really
glad that the demo is finally out, it took longer than we had expected.
But we’re really satisfied with the result, and we hope that it will take
us a step forward (= make our name better known and get us a deal).
2. Give us in brief an Elvenpath bio by pointing
out the most important moments and achievements of the band. Please also
present the current line up.
The band was founded in winter 01/02 and the
first years were really good. We released two CDs on our own (“2002” and
“Gateways”) and played a lot of shows in Germany. In late 2004 we had a
split with only Christian Flindt and myself remaining from the original
line up. Since then we had some line up problems, people came and went
and we had to start from zero again and again. That’s why it took so long
to release something new. But we managed to record a new album and we had
the chance to go on tour with Skyclad in 2006 which was just great. Skyclad
are heroes of ours and they gave us such a great time on the road, it was
also the first time we had the chance to play abroad. We’re now looking
for a label which will be interested in releasing our new album.
The current line up is: Tim Zahn (vocals),
Christian Flindt (bass), Markus Weitzel (drums), Anastasia Schmidt (guitar)
and myself, Till Oberboßel (guitar).
3. What’s the highlight of “Spyrol” and what
part or element do you think needs further improvement? In which ways have
you evolved? How has your music changed all these years?
Our music changed a bit during the years but
not much. I believe we have become heavier; we used more keyboards in the
beginning and on the first two CDs, there are only few keyboards on the
new album. And the line up changes have also left their mark. We now have
a better singer and better musicians and we are more mature songwriters.
The production on the new CD is a lot better than on the previous recordings
(and it was also a lot more expensive, haha).
My personal highlight is “Northern son”, I
feel it’s the best song I’ve ever written, and though one should not praise
himself: I must say I’m really proud of it.
As for further improvement, there’s always
room for more. You should never stand still but continuously try to get
better, and that’s what we’re trying to do. Some songs for the next album
are already written and to me they sound even better. But this is another
story to be told another time.
4. The production is very good and powerful.
Did you have a say on the end result or did you trust your engineer’s experience
on the matter?
Thank you for the compliment. We were able
to work with an experienced producer who really knows his job, that’s why
the sound is so good. But we also could tell him what kind of sound we
wanted, that’s why the CD sounds how we like it. Kai is an easy guy to
work with, there was a good atmosphere and he’s done a great job, so I’m
already looking forward to recording the next album with him.
5. If you were asked to write a review about
it, what would you say trying to be as objective as possible?
“Another Hammerfall copy, who needs this?”
– Haha, I can’t really answer your question. I’m so involved with the band
and I wrote the songs, there’s so much of my heart blood in the music,
so it’s impossible for me to be objective in this matter. I leave this
to the reviewers. What they mainly said so far is “a good band but not
original”. I agree. We never tried to be unique or to invent anything new,
we just want to play the music we love. And when it comes to Melodic Power
Metal, it’s really hard to do something new. It’s all been there before
but that’s okay for us…we love it anyway.
6. You have some other releases before this
one. Please tell us about them and pinpoint the main similarities and differences.
“2002” and “Gateways” were rather similar,
although the songs on “Gateways” were better, I think. Both of these CDs
were recorded and released by ourselves, the line up was almost the same,
we used keyboards and were mainly influenced by bands like Helloween, Blind
Guardian etc. I still like both CDs but they don’t really represent Elvenpath
in 2007. Nevertheless, we still play a good deal of the songs live and
“Gateways” is a good buy for Power Metal fans (“2002” is sold out).
7. What kind of procedure do you follow whilst
composing the songs? How do you keep this balance between the epic power
metal parts and the melodic lines?
Normally the songs are written by one person
alone and arranged together by the whole band. I write most of the songs
and do the main work, but the bass lines, vocal lines, drum lines etc are
arranged by the band member in charge. This way we can ensure that really
everybody is happy with the songs. When working on a song, I don’t really
think too much about it or try to keep a balance between the styles you
mentioned on purpose. It just happens. Music should come directly from
the heart, without too much thinking involved. So the songs are simply
my feelings put into music, although this doesn’t go for the lyrics, here
I try to cover different subjects.
8. Who are those musicians and which are those
bands that made you realize this is the kind of music you are destined
to play?
I credit Helloween, Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden
and Manowar as our main influences. You can also hear Progressive Metal
and US Metal influences in our sound, but Power Metal and Epic Metal made
in the European style is what had its biggest impact on us. This is the
kind of music I love most and I still need like food or sleep, and I don’t
believe this will ever change, despite of people telling me to grow up
and listen to “real” music, haha. I should also name some smaller bands
like Freternia, early Dark Moor, Stormwarrior or Wizard whom I love and
whose music inspires me every day.
9. Which are your sources of inspiration? Which
are those topics or situations that “force” you into putting them down
on paper? Tell us a few things about the lyrics, which seem to be surrounded
by an epic feeling.
When we started it was mainly fantasy, nowadays
it’s mainly topics of reality. But this might change again, who knows.
I’ve always been heavily into fantasy but these days real events that move
me make me want to write lyrics about them. The songs on “Spyrol” are good
examples for this:
“Burning skies” deals with a catastrophe which
happened near my birth place a few years ago. Two planes crashed in the
air, the wrecks and the passengers fell down to the ground, no survivors.
For the people living below this must have been a sight of pure horror,
as if the apocalypse had begun.
“Priests of war” is a song dedicated to politicians
who are more interested in their own bank account than their people and
who think that starting a war is the best solution to a problem – it certainly
isn’t. Especially it’s a song for George Bush, who else…
“Northern son” is a tribute to Quorthon. I’ve
been a huge Bathory fan (especially the epic albums) ever since I fell
in love with Metal, I worshipped his music so much, then he suddenly died
and I was shocked. It felt as if a member of my own family or a close friend
had passed away. This song is an attempt to honour him and to thank him
for his great music. I hope it’s worthy.
10. Have you got any plans for live shows or
for a possible tour? How do you plan to promote your new album?
The latest show we did was in early summer
as support for Sabaton (great band and cool guys). So far there are no
fixed plans yet for live shows but we really can’t wait to get out on stage
again. It would be nice to go on tour again but for a newcomer band it’s
hard. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll try to play live anyway, both as support
for bigger bands or small shows with fellow underground acts. Playing live
is the best way to promote a band and it’s also the best fun, haha.
And of course there’s the internet which does
wonders for promotion. Every day you get 26528 e-hails from bands writing
“buy our album, come to our shows, visit our website, vote for us in all
contests, get our band logo as a tattoo, tell your teacher/butcher/gardener/undertaker
about us etc.” - Great idea, we do it the same.
11. What kind of feedback have you received
this far? What was the most flattering and what the most unfair comment
you read about your music?
So far reactions have been mostly good. The
reviewers acknowledged our skills in playing and composing and criticized
our lack of originality. The best comments were those that said we were
more than ready for a deal and labels should sign us as fast as possible.
Cool, that’s what we want to hear, haha. The negative highlight was a review
where the quality of the music was hardly mentioned but the reviewer only
spoke of our lack of originality. Among other things, he wrote: “Even the
production isn’t surprising – it’s good.” Well, what does he expect? An
“original” production that sounds as if we had recorded the album in the
backyard using an old tape recorder?
12. Are you under negotiations with any labels?
What do you want to be offered in order to sign a deal with any of them?
We’ve now sent out the demos and we’re awaiting
the replies. So far there are no negotiations but this will hopefully begin
soon. What we wish for is of course lots of money, tours with Iron Maiden
and Metallica and a huge budget for the next album. Should this not be
possible, we might also be content with something smaller…well, what is
most important for us is artistic freedom. We don’t want somebody trying
to change our music, lyrics, image, outfit, logo etc. And a good distribution
is also important. Money is of less importance; the main thing is that
people are actually able to buy our album without difficulties. We want
to make the name Elvenpath known as far and wide as possible, therefore
it would be great if the label had connections with a good booking agency
that can get us more shows.
13. If you had a huge budget to shoot a video
clip, which song of yours would you choose and how do you imagine it to
be?
I don’t think we would do this. I’m not much
of a video fan because it takes the emphasis away from the music. I don’t
like to watch video clips and there are hardly any chances that the video
would be played anywhere on TV. Maybe on the internet, but if we really
were offered this huge budget, I’d rather invest it in touring and album
recordings, it just makes more sense for a Metal band.
14. What kind of emotions do you think your
music creates to your listeners?
When I listen to the music I love, it makes
me feel great. Bands like Manowar, Virgin Steele or Majesty fill me with
a great power, I feel invincible and ready to take on the world. Bands
like Blind Guardian or Dark Moor take me away from reality to worlds far
beyond and enchant my mind with their magic. Other bands stir other feelings
in me, but they all do something great. And I would be proud if our music
could do the same to somebody. Occasionally I get something like this back
from fans or reviewers and I’m always extremely flattered.
15. What thoughts or ideas pass through your
mind whilst playing or listening to your songs?
I must confess that I’m too much involved
in the music to simply enjoy the songs. Listening to the early releases
always makes me think of what we could have done better and after being
occupied with the new album for so long, I currently don’t listen to it,
some time must pass there first. There are all kinds of feelings contained
within our music and sometimes they catch me when I play the songs live.
The songs fill me with energy and make me bang my head, the power of our
music fuels me on stage and is a motor for an energetic show.
16. You come from Germany, perhaps the most
important country for heavy metal music. Is it harder for a newcoming band
to stand out because of the abundance of groups there?
It certainly is harder than in a country where
there are only few bands. Here in Germany there are so many concerts and
festivals, people sometimes cannot decide where to go and which bands to
see. And there are plenty of fans who are only interested in bigger bands,
they don’t go to underground shows at all. So as a new band you don’t get
an easy time; either you work hard and persist or you perish. We chose
option no. 1 and we’re trying to follow the path we chose. Write better
songs, record better CDs, play more and better shows, always try to improve
and not stand still.
17. What’s the ideal title to sum up the whole
Elvenpath essence?
“Power Metal ist Krieg!” hahaha…
18. Thank you! Leave a message to our readers…
Fist off, efcharisto to you Christine and
Behind The Veil. We appreciate your support a lot and hopefully one day
we can meet and have a beer together. I’d like to hail the readers of this
zine and ask them to visit our website www.elvenpath.com,
watch out for the new album and hopefully one day we’ll be able to come
to Hellas and play for you. I’d also like to hail some great bands from
your country; Battleroar, Reflection, Bloodstained, Arryan Path, Clairvoyant.
And hails to Greg Varsamis and Theodosis Miras, true Metal Brothers. Keep
supporting Heavy Metal wherever you are and remember that the underground
is the root of Metal…if it dies, the scene will die. Metal Hails, Till
/ Elvenpath
Christine Parastatidou
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