Xandria reveals its darker side.
Active since 1994 (with a brief two-year hiatus), the German band led by Marco Heubaum (guitar/keyboards), Dimitrios Gatsios (drums, Stahlmann), Robert Klawonn (guitar, Ally the Fiddle), and Ambre Vourvahis (vocals) is releasing its ninth album, Eclipse, this year in partnership with Napalm Records.
Orchestrations were handled by Lukas Geppert, Ishaan Tyagi, and the Sofia Session Orchestra & Choir, but the album also features McAlbi on flutes, Richard Z. Wang on piano, and Ally Storch (Ally the Fiddle, Subway to Sally) on violin.
The album opens with Syzygy” a rather mysterious introduction that slowly carries us into Eclipse, the title track, with its immediately majestic choruses that reinforce the effective and catchy riffs while awaiting the arrival of the vocals, which soften the rhythm section and lend it a certain grace. The lady effortlessly leads the track, slowing it down for the choruses or giving it free rein to build in intensity, even incorporating a few screams before the finale that leads into Colors, a much more aggressive yet equally contrasting track, as the vocalist is sometimes alone until her bandmates reignite the energy. There are also more roars here, whereas gentleness takes center stage on The Shannon’s Home, the next track, where the vocals dance over a fairly simple foundation with heavy metal roots that are even evident in the solo. After a brief pause, the lively rhythm section kicks in for one last chorus, followed by an almost folk-inspired finale, before The Grand Delusion returns with unsettling tones and a more energetic, jerky feel that becomes almost epic during the choruses. We return to the unifying and relatively joyful elements on Wave of Tanis, which follows suit, alternating between bouncy, accessible passages and a few rougher elements that are still perfect for live performances. Then Northstar takes over, bringing its melodious harmonies, complemented by heady soaring passages that occasionally shift to darker tones and rely on the rhythm section. The band gives us a moment’s respite with Masquerade and its fairly gentle introduction, which suddenly grows heavier before a sharp acceleration and the most energetic elements contrasting with the much darker break and even the final. Another moment of calm comes with The Last Generation, which takes on the role of a power ballad, building energy first through its choruses before letting Ambre lead the charge once more through the solo and into the final section, leading up to The Poetry of the Real World, which returns to orchestral arrangements and its haunting, symphonic roots. The track brings a lively touch before leading into Lore, the final and longest composition, which allows the band to go all out with orchestrations while also flowing seamlessly between the different sections with a special mention to the drummer, who handles these transitions perfectly and then the epic and melancholic final brings the album to a close.
Xandria has regained a stability that serves them well on Eclipse daring to draw on their symphonic roots while also revealing moments that are at times darker or more aggressive. In my opinion, their upcoming concerts are not to be missed!
85/100
A few questions to Ambre Vourvahis, vocalist for the German Gothic Symphonic Metal band Xandria, about the release of their new album, Eclipse, by Raven.
Hello Ambre, and first of all thanks a lot for taking the time to talk with me! How are you?
Ambre Vourvahis (vocals): I’m good, thank you. Everything’s fine. And you?
Raven: It’s a bit difficult with the heat in France, Paris currently, I’m sweating a lot. I’m sorry.
Ambre: I’m going to go there next week to visit my family, and I know it’s like 36 degrees, 37…
How would you describe Xandria’s music without using the words “Gothic Metal”, “Symphonic Metal” or any other subgenre?
Ambre: That’s a good one. Let’s say Metal guitars with orchestral cinematic sound.
Raven: There is definitely a lot of cinema music here.
Even if you were not part of the band at the beginning, how do you link the name Xandria to the music you play together?
Ambre: I’m not, I’m not exactly sure how to answer this because I don’t really think about it. I don’t really know because I did not come up with the name, so it’s like this question doesn’t really apply to me, but I’m not so sure how the name came to Marco 20 years ago, more actually than 20 years, you know, and he had some ideas. That’s a question for him.
Xandria will soon release its ninth album, named Eclipse. How do you feel about it? How would you sum Eclipse’s identity up in only three words?
Ambre: A few words, diverse, that’s the main thing, diverse, I’m gonna say. Magical, because there are quite some songs that have that little magic touch that we really try to capture. And bombastic for the 3rd one. It’s because we usually kind of like to describe the amount of orchestra that we put in it, like to have that bombastic effect. I hope we achieve that, but yeah, that’s what comes to my mind.
Eclipse happens three years after the previous album, and is the second full-length you sing on. Are there any changes you noticed into the composition process?
Ambre: It was actually quite, like, much faster and much easier to come up with the songs. Marco, of course, is writing the music, but we worked together a lot on the songs and how to build them to, like, put them together, the parts and everything. And it was a much more intuitive process. I think that’s really the key word, that it was much smoother, we kind of knew where to go and what we wanted to do a little bit more intuitively, and the ideas came flowing a bit faster and everything. So I think it was a much easier process.
Xandria’s sound is of course rooted in Symphonic and Gothic Metal, are there any bands you could quote as influences? It’s mentioned in the credits that Marco also writes lyrics. Do you know what inspires him to create music and lyrics, and how do you appropriate his ideas?
Ambre: Nightwish is a big influence on Marco and me, of course. So of course, if you see The Shannon’s Home, for example, the first single we released, it has a very Nightwish influence. It’s kind of an homage to it. This is really an influence to us. And after that, actually, It’s mostly bands that are not in this genre of symphonic Gothic Metal. We are very much influenced by Judas Priest for the guitars and Dimmu Borgir and bands like these, and also Pink Floyd: if you hear the solo in The Last Generation, the ballad, it’s a huge Pink Floyd solo influence. We really wanted that. So those are kind of the influence on that album, I would say. This time I did not really participate in the lyrics because he had mostly all the ideas for it, and he had such good ideas.We talked about it and he was telling me that “this song, I want it to be about this and this. I have ideas”. And I agreed, this is all so good, and we get along about political topics and everything, we have the same views. I really love everything he wrote, so I’m happy I did it because I think he’s better at it than me anyway. For the music, he has ideas all the time, and then he records it on his phone or on the computer or whatever in our studio that we have for the band, and then he puts them together. We sit together quite early and I think I connect with the music because I used to love Symphonic Metal since I am 11/12, and I still do. So I do connect with this music and his ideas were so good. I really connected right away and the lyrics also I think it’s exactly what I’m thinking at the moment. He’s very connected with politics and what’s going on in the world. That’s why it’s kind of a main topic on the album. All the songs, except The Shannon’s Home, have a little bit of a political twist or societal or religion, or there is always a little deeper meaning behind so that I’m fully also behind it.
Which song is your personal favorite on Eclipse? And which one was the hardest one for you to complete?
Ambre: I think it’s Colors. Because I’m not into Modern Metal that much, It’s not exactly what talks to me but somehow because this song is a little bit colder, a little bit more modern with the very low tune guitar it has kind of the signature of those more Modern Metal, but there is that warmth at the same time and diversity on it where I can really put the voice in a beautiful way, a little bit more Poppy. It fits my singing voice. What I like to do the best, I think of this song, and I really like the heavier part and then the classical. I love that there’s so much in the song, I think now I can say that this is my favorite. About the hardest one, there was that song, it’s called The Grand Illusion. And at first I was like “hmm, I’m not sure, do I like this?”, but it was really in the early times, you know, it gives a little bit of Pirate of the Caribbean vibe. When the song was really finished and I had to sing, I was like, it was one of the most challenging. While it’s simple in range, meaning that actually this song, I don’t have to struggle so much with the highs and the lows. It’s quite comfortable, but the way the vocal lines are in the verse and the timing and everything, you might not hear it, but when I was singing it, I could not get it. It took me a long time to get it. So it was a tough song to sing, and I was thinking, “OK, this is a little bit weird, like bumpy”, and I had to really get familiar. But then you don’t hear that until you have to sing it.
Before joining Xandria you didn’t have a lot of experience being on stage. Since that, I suppose you have evolved a lot and I wonder what is your most important experience on stage ?
Ambre: Yeah, definitely. In the beginning it was a bit bumpy because I did not have so much experience and actually it’s kind of everything, the experience, and you need to really learn what it is, what it means to be on stage and everything. It was a little bit bumpy, but now that we had so many shows I definitely feel much more comfortable. Everything is better. The stage presence, the singing evolved as well with all the shows that we had and the tours. My most important thing, I could not tell you but there is one concert that is really engraved in my memory and that I kind of changed a little bit since that concert. It was in South Korea. We had a festival and a concert and a show there, a club show. The festival was so amazing, they had a huge platform like if Ariana Grande or Taylor Swift would perform,it was unbelievable, the best stage I’ve ever stepped foot on. So that was my favorite, and you need to fill the space, and you need to kind of go bigger. Since then I learned a few tricks and I will always carry it with me. I thought that it wasn’t so difficult, but when I, for the first time, kicked on stage, I felt very small and you have to really let go of everything, and you have to put on a sort of another kind of personality, not completely, but a little bit to let go of the daily life, because you’re not walking like I’m the queen every day…
Raven: I do!
Ambre: (laughs) But on stage, you have to embody this a little bit. So it was a little bit tricky for me to get there, to really let go and be like “OK,I can do this”. I need to be powerful and all big, but it’s fun once you get into it and the people know that, this is a character thing and they like to see, “if I go see a Pop star, I want her to look as big as possible”.
Do you think you improved yourself as a vocalist with this new record?
Ambre: Yes, 100%, because I worked for a long time, for years now, I worked on my voice with the vocal coach and it really pushes you also to learn faster. So I definitely made really big progress. I can see it, I can feel it, I can hear it. Everything, the expression, there’s a little bit more. The range expanded like this. So on that album I am better as a vocalist than on the previous album. That’s pretty clear, and I hope that people will be able to hear that too. You work on some things and it will take 6 months, 1 year but it works, meaning that if you do it, you will see differences and changes, it takes a long time and some things are a little bit more difficult and take more time. After 3 years, I’m still working on some little things that my body doesn’t necessarily adapt to or the brain hasn’t clicked yet. Sometimes it can take years, sometimes it takes a few months. You need patience and you need perseverance. That’s the only way and if you give up after 6 months, you will not be able to see much progress, unfortunately.
Let’s talk about live shows now, how do you live a Xandria show? What happens inside of you, and in which mindset do you jump on stage? Maybe you have some rituals or habits before or after a show?
Ambre: That’s where it gets a bit funny. I always have a routine on tour, I think this is what keeps you a little bit like “OK, this is going to work”. It’s when that routine is like disturbed that you get stressed a bit. I have two different warmups, one before the sound check, a very easy, soft one, because I wake up late and then one hour later you eat something and then you have sound check and you’re like, “I’m just not awake yet”, so you need to prepare the voice a little bit and then I start getting ready at some point. I do another warm up with a straw and a bottle of water, and then when I don’t find a bottle, I’m like, how am I gonna do my thing? I forgot my bottle of water in the other venue. It’s always the same kind of thing. Almost every show I have the same. But the funniest thing is that my number one thing after the show is that I eat. I will go off stage in my clothes on, I sit down and I eat my cold food because I don’t eat before the show, it’s 6 hours of not eating, and after I am starving because if I eat before the show, even 3 hours before the show, I will sing poorly because it weighs on your stomach. It’s really not comfortable, so I will not eat. I only eat a little breakfast at 1 and then I don’t eat until after the show. So first thing I go off stage, I sit down with my plate in my stage outfit and I eat every single show.
I was unfortunately not lucky enough to catch the band on stage yet, but I know you have a full European tour scheduled for September/October, with Seven Spires and Tulip, how do you get ready for such a tour? How do you work on the setlist?
Ambre: The setlist, that’s a big thing because now there’s quite some songs, and now we have a new album and we want to play a lot of the new songs, so it’s really not easy to manage. But now I figured which songs are the favorite because I’m asking on social media. So I ask the people, please vote for the songs that you want to hear, and then I count them all, I write, and then I put the ones that got voted the most except the classics that I know it’s always going to be Nightfall, you know, those songs, they’re always going to be in there. And then I actually added the songs that were at the top, and then we added the songs that we want to play, the singles, of course, and there’s a few free spots where we’re like, “OK, what of the new album? What else could we play?” And then we put something that we feel that would be a really good life song and we would like to play. It’s a mixture of everything.
Raven: And how do I get ready?
Ambre: I’ve been practicing the setlist for like a few months now already, and I’m continuing, and I will continue as soon as possible. I do it every day. Now I will be in France for some time, so I will have a little break, but after that, I will continue every single day, the setlist, and rehearsing. I’m working with my vocal coach also, lessons every week, if I can. Talking about the classic songs, some songs were quite easy. If I take the Lisa era with Ravenheart, this is right up my alley, this is right up my voice, it matches, and it’s not that complicated to sing because back then they were not as sophisticated with the orchestra. It was more down to earth, a little bit more reduced. When I started, I had to work a little bit more on that but at some point I also really developed my classical vocals, operatic voice. These also became quite easy at some point if I may say, those songs are easier than the songs that we did with me because we pushed it always. I wanted to go higher, let’s go always a bit further and now I’m kind of regretting because I have to sing all of this live and this is very hard. The new songs on the new album, I’m rehearsing the setlist and I’m like “oh my God, what did I do?”. It’s at the top of my range on every single style, and I’m like, “oh my God”. So now I’m relieved when I have to sing the oldest songs because it’s actually much easier. But back then I had to definitely work on it too, to make it my own way, but respecting how the people know the song.
What comes next for Xandria after the album release? Do you already have some plans?
Ambre: Mostly that’s going to be touring, we have the European announced, we are working on the US, of course that’s always the same thing. Latin America will also come and hopefully other continents, and Europesome maybe in Europe or Scandinavia, we will try a little bit in 2027. Let’s see. At the same time as this, I’m definitely starting to work on the next album, this time we want to start a bit earlier, so we don’t make it 3 years. I mean, we did an EP the last time, but we don’t want to do it again. We want to make another full album directly. It will take some time, but we would like to be a little bit faster this time because it was a long time between two full length albums. I think we should really take the time to make a great album.
Have you ever heard of the French Metal scene? Are there any bands you know and like?
Ambre: As I’m born in France, of course I’m familiar with the French bands, but it was never really my cup of tea. I don’t want to offend anybody.
Raven: (jokingly) I’m offended !
Ambre: I’m so sorry. But I used to listen back then when I was really young and I started Metal, there was ETHS, and I was “wow, it’s a girl that is screaming like this this is so dark”. I was never really connecting with the French metal scene that much. But there are some good bands.
Are there any bands you would love to play with? I let you create your dream poster with headlining and three other bands, even unrealistic answers are accepted.
Ambre: Well, that’s a tough question. It cannot be realistic that much because I’m not going to put only symphonic metal or a little bit closer to my genre. I would say, I’d love to tour with Nightwish, that would be definitely the dream thing, and a perfect match. And I would put Dimmu Borgir in the package. And then it’s The Pineapple Thief. I love this band so much, but it will not fit at all.
Raven: I’m surprised you didn’t say Within Temptation.
Ambre: To be honest, I don’t like the recent new material, I love them so much from before the first album, until Resist. Resist was amazing, and after that it got a little bit too cold for me, so I’m not counting them anymore, unfortunately in my dream tour. I would love to tour with them, honestly, that would actually be the dream also, because they still play those songs and they are still Within Temptation, and I love Sharon, I love her voice, so I think that would be absolutely amazing, of course.
Last and funny question: which dish or drink would you compare Xandria music with?
Ambre: Damn. Maybe a lasagna. I don’t eat beef, but we can make it. I make an amazing one. I love to cook, so I make a great vegetarian lasagna, and I would say that because it has so much flavor, It is very satisfying.
Raven: And with different layers.
Ambre: Exactly. There you get it. Different layers, different things inside the layers. I put a lot of little things that add the flavor and it’s quite a good comparison, maybe for that question.
Raven: You’re not the first one to answer lasagna.
Ambre: it’s quite obvious, right, if you think about it with the layers it’s kind of obvious. It’s an easy answer to think about when you’re talking about music and so because every person in the band brings their own ideas.
That was the last question for me, so thank you very much for your time and your music, last words are yours!
Ambre: (in French): Thanks a lot for French fans, I can’t wait to play in Paris and France, we have a lot of shows! It’s been a while since we’re supposed to come to Paris, so I just can’t wait!