Celebrating 20 years, Leaves' Eyes discusses their symphonic metal journey with "Myths of Fate." Explore Norse mythology, captivating visuals, and upcoming surprises in this enchanting interview with Elina and Alex.
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1. Congratulations
on the upcoming release of "Myths of Fate"! Can you tell us about the
inspiration behind the album and how it continues the band's journey in the
symphonic metal universe?
Elina: As
the title of the album already hints, this album is about magical and mystical
topics. The Last Viking was a concept album and included a lot of battles and
sagas connected to the life of Harald Hardrada, so with this album we wanted to
concentrate on slightly different side of the Norse mythology such as
Goddesses, magical creatures and myths.
2. The
first single, "Realm of Dark Waves," has a captivating medieval
theme. How did the concept for this song come about, and how does it fit into
the larger narrative of the album?
Alex: Well,
“Realm of Dark Waves” is actually our second single. The first single was
“Forged by Fire” which was released already last year in december and we made a
videoclip with fantastic film sets with historical background and a horde of
Viking warriors. “Realm of Dark Waves” tells the story of Ran the goddess of
the sea in Norse Mythology. A very special character as she is taking drowned
seamen to her realm under the ocean and turning them into water spirits. It's
just a perfect topic for the “Myths of Fate” album and does represent the
atmosphere of the album very well!
3. Leaves'
Eyes has been known for incorporating diverse musical elements. In "Myths
of Fate," how did you approach merging traditional metal genres with folk,
gothic, and classical music to create a captivating sonic masterpiece?
Elina: It’s
always a challenging yet exciting process to combine all
the elements in the songs. Leaves' Eyes is known for the organic and
natural instruments which are also used on this album. There are also more
rock oriented songs, but in these we also combined the sound of an orchestra
which is a very interesting combination. There has to be a reason and room for
every instrument, so every song has its own atmosphere and at the end the songs
still create a whole that's unified but varied.
4. The
band has a rich history of exploring Norse and Eastern European mythology in
your lyrical concepts. Can you share some insights into the themes and stories
we can expect to encounter on "Myths of Fate"?
Alex: Norse
mythology has been a great source for our music as well as powerful nature, the
ocean, great landscapes and epic sagas. This is fitting perfectly to our sound
and the listener can always experience a musical adventure with Leaves' Eyes
music. I don't want to spoil too much, but we have great topics just like in
the our first single “Forged by Fire” about the magic sword Tyrfing or the more
mystical song “Elder Spirit” about the spiritual side of Norse mythology. We
also included a song connected to Slavic mythology “Sons of Triglav” where we
have guests from the Polish Viking and Slavic re-enactment group Triglav. So a
lot to explore on the new album.
5. "Myths
of Fate" marks the band's 20th year of existence. How has Leaves' Eyes
evolved over the years, and what do you believe sets this album apart from your
previous works?
Alex:
Unbelievable, it's been already two decades with Leaves' Eyes. This sounds
almost surreal! And this whole journey feels like being on a Viking ship going
through a lot of adventures, sailing through storms and wind and discovering
new horizons in music and art. I'm very grateful to our fans for joinung us on
this amazing ride. On the new album we have some really exciting songs and we
brought in some really epic and fresh ideas. Also the cooperation with Jonah
Weingarten who contributed with his great orchestrations and gives the songs a
cinematic touch. Elina's vocals are just outstanding on “Myths of Fate”!
6. The
music video for "Realm of Dark Waves" was filmed in impressive
locations in Iceland, Germany, and Poland. How did the choice of these
locations contribute to visually representing the myths explored in the song
and the album?
Alex: Like mentioned before the song “Realm of Dark Waves” is about Ran, the
Norse goddess of the sea. So it was a perfect sorrounding to film at these
breathtaking landscapes close to the sea in Iceland. We got great help from our
friends Egill and Daniel from there. I know Egill from the Viking scene. And
stay tuned, there is more to come! We could also film some great scenes over
here in Germany with a great film set and actors which was awesome, too!
7. You've
produced five music videos for this album. Can you talk about the creative
process behind translating the album's themes into visual storytelling,
especially considering the magical creatures and enchanting warrior queens
mentioned in the press release?
Elina:
Since the songs have such visual and exciting topics, it was actually quite
easy to come up with a lot of visual ideas. However,
then everything needs to be streamlined and the videos need a
specific idea/storyline. Otherwise it can become a mess of too many
ideas. We had the opportunity to have some incredible locations for these
videos, so it was a privilege to create the stories using these
breathtaking sceneries. We also had some great actors and people to co-operate
with and the results really speak for themselves.
Alex: For me also being the director and man behind the camera it's a great
opportunity to virtualize some great ideas I had in mind when writing the
lyrics of the album. I do really like story telling in music and video which
has big meaning to me personally. People told me the videos are like little
short movies. Well, that's actually true, haha. We put a lot of effort into the
videos and it's fantastic to see the amazing feedbacks of our fans!
8. Leaves'
Eyes has always been known for breath-taking live performances. How do you plan
to incorporate the new songs into your live shows, and can fans expect any
surprises during the upcoming tour in support of "Myths of Fate”?
Elina: When
there’s a suitable venue and setting for special shows (like Wacken, Metal
Female Voices Festival etc.) it’s always great to be able to bring a lot of
elements on stage. During a long tour this might not be possible, but I
believe that the music itself already paints a very strong visual, takes people
to a whole other world so to say. The new songs will work perfectly live
and we will see what surprises we can come up with for our tour!
9. The
band has a strong connection with Viking re-enactment groups, as showcased in
the documentary film "Viking Spirit." How does this connection
influence your approach to both music and visuals, and how has it contributed
to the overall Leaves' Eyes experience?
Alex: The
Viking re-enactment scene is amazing. I'm member of Jomsborg which is the
biggest Viking group world wide. And as I go to trainings and events regularly
I know a lot of the people sharing their passion Viking Lifestyle and history.
And of course we also talk about the band, concerts and our ambitious projects
like music videos or our Viking workshops. With our Leaves' Eyes Viking Crew we
have also people directly involved into Leaves' Eyes activities from over 24
countries and our head of the Leaves' Eyes Viking Crew Sebastian Wilms is doing
a great job just like at Wacken where invaded the stage with almost 20 Vikings.
10. With
the album releasing on March 22, 2024, what emotions or messages do you hope
listeners take away from "Myths of Fate" after experiencing the
entire album?
Elina:
This album was a true co-operation, where everyone again gave their
100% to get the best result possible. For me personally, this is the most
challenging and varied album I’ve recorded and I’m incredibly proud of it!
It’s a little bit different in many ways, musically, vocally and yet
still sounding like Leaves’ Eyes. I hope people will love the variety
of the songs, catchy melodies, heaviness, fragility and enchanting stories!
11. Can
you share some memorable moments or challenges faced during the recording
process of "Myths of Fate," and how did the band overcome them?
Elina: For me the whole process of making this album was quite different as I
was involved at every stage a lot more this time. It was completely incredible
journey and really forced me to dig deep vocally as well. There were
moments where I thought I was pushing my limits, but that’s exactly
what creates something great! We had to overcome some illnesses which postponed
things a bit, but all in all everything went according the plans.
12. Looking
beyond the album release, what are the band's aspirations and plans for the
future? Are there any new directions or collaborations you'd like to explore in
the coming years?
Alex: First of all the new year starts with a bang as we will join the 70000
Tons of Metal cruise and presenting also new material of “Myths of fate”
onboard! After the cruise we will finally go back on tour across Europe! We
have great support acts with us, Nothtale, Metalite and Catalyst Crime which
I'm also the producer of. So the live on stage experience is now in focus but
of course we always have new ideas in mind. We hope to play some more Special
Viking shows, too. So let's see where our next adventure leads us to. See you
on the road!
Leaves' Eyes – Official Website (leaveseyes.de)
Leaves' Eyes (@leaveseyesofficial) • Photos et vidéos Instagram
LEAVES' EYES - NEW SHOP ONLINE (youtube.com)
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