Xandria: A New Chapter Awaits
It’s always an exciting time for musicians in the new year; the fresh and energetic mood and atmosphere from the beginning of January lasts for a lot of bands and artists, especially those ready to release new material. A new chapter begins for them musically and a new era begins for the fanbase. Despite a recent lineup change, German symphonic metal band XANDRIA are ready and raring to begin this new chapter with their new album, The Wonders Still Awaiting, kicking off the band’s new year with an energetic and heavy album that the band are excited to share with the world. Chatting with Ambre Vourvahis, she described her passion for creating the album, as well as her hopes once the album is released.
“It has been quite a long time. I cannot even believe that it’s finally there,” Ambre begins, showcasing her excitement for the album. “We put our heart and soul and everything in it. It really took a few years. I think with this album, we kind of gathered the whole history of XANDRIA, we like this one song which is called Paradise which has a little bit more Gothic, metal vibe from from the 90s bands that Marco [Heubaum, guitars] loved and I love to that he put little hints from the beginning of XANDRIA. We, on this album, gathered everything, so that’s why I really hope that people can appreciate it.”
XANDRIA started in 1994 in Bielefeld, Germany by Marco Heubaum, and have gone through many lineup changes within their now eight album run thus far. With her first album as vocalist, Ambre can’t wait for fans new and old to hear what the band have created for this record, the band’s first in six years, as she explains. “I really hope that they can enjoy the diversity of it. I think in symphonic metal, sometimes, you can have a lot of different things, different elements, but when a band has a certain image, it’s sometimes hard to go a little bit astray and I hope that they can appreciate the few songs where we did something special just because we really loved it. It might not be a typical song that they could expect but it’s very special to us. So I hope they will also appreciate that.”
“It has been positive of course so far,” Ambre continues, when asked about the reaction to the singles so far. “We had a few people that were maybe disappointed that those songs weren’t full of operatic classical vocals. But overall, I was actually surprised that a lot of people were sticking by us and loving the song. I really hope that this keeps going once the album is out because there’s a lot more songs with more classical paths. There’s more screams, there’s a bit of everything for everybody. Hopefully we can gather more people on board and once they hear the album, old fans could be on board with us again.”
As with many bands, XANDRIA have a release party planned for fans in Germany, which Ambre is excited to share on stage. “We are currently preparing for it as we have rehearsals soon along with a massive setlist that I have to prepare and practise for as well, it’s a lot of different things,” she explains. “We have a lot of songs from the past with a mix of things; It’s classical, it’s screams, it’s clean, it’s pop. It’s a bit of everything. It takes quite a long time to be really ready for these shows, but we are excited for what we have planned. There might be an announcement soon for something that is coming that I know the fans will be really excited about. I don’t want to confirm that completely yet but it’s in the works.”
Taking the topic back to the album, Ambre also discussed how the band created a diverse sound for The Wonders Still Awaiting. “We were all sitting with Marco together and he had all these ideas and then I was like, ‘why not do that?’ I like a little bit more heaviness, sometimes a little bit more Gothic, like in PARADISE LOST, and he loved that too. Putting it in that direction, doing something a little bit different. Sometimes he had idea of his own, like organ sounds from the 70s, sounds he loves from PINK FLOYD. We played around a lot with the music and style to make sure it all sounds amazing and something not expected in symphonic metal. It’s really a combination of everything we love, but it’s very bombastic and epic. It has everything in it.”
To close out the interview, Ambre talked about her hopes for touring in 2023, including places she would love XANDRIA to perform in. “Because I’m half Greek, I would love to perform in Greece because I went once back in 2002 and then never get a chance again. There’s sadly not a lot of promoters, but I would absolutely love to perform because we have a lot of Greek fans. I see a lot of new followers and new people who are Greek, and a lot of them are joining and following because they know I’m Greek. So I would really love to go there and play there.”
The Wonders Still Awaiting is out now via Napalm Records.
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