Some weeks ago we were quite wild about Lyriel. This Köln-based gothmetalband have delivered with "Paranoid Circus" a very fine piece of art. True is true this female metalgothsound isn't that far away from Lacuna Coil or Within Temptation but as they add some folk and medievalstuff into iheir sound, it gives their sound a much more unique sound...a Lyriel-sound!
The Original Sin found it was time to have Oliver and Jessica on the lap for a chat!
HELLO, PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELVES AND HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC THEN?
Jessica: We are from Germany near Cologne. Lyriel was formed in autumn of 2003. Some of the band members had been in a band called "Sorrowsend". Oliver decided to found a side project with me and the other Sorrowsend-members joined the new project. We chose to add some other instruments and Lyriel was born. Our music can’t be categorized so easily. Lyriel is a little bit Celtic, Rock and Metal, with female vocals and with real cello and violin.
AS FAR AS I KNOW LYRIEL ARE QUITE NEW, AND YET SUCH A STRONG AND SOLID SOUND…..
Jessica: Our first two albums were more an expedition of our own style and sound. Something what can be recognised with Lyriel.
“Paranoid Circus” sounds mellower. Our music gets more folk-influences and less of the Middle Ages. Paranoid Circus sounds modern and different as the former albums “Autumntales” or “Prisonworld”.
I’VE LOST A BIT THE TOUCH WITH GERMANY THE LAST YEARS, BUT IS THE GOTHSCENE AS STRONG AS IT USED TO BE?
Jessica: We are very welcome at the gothic scene and we like the gothics, but no one of us is a real goth.
I think the German goth scene is very strong at all.
NOT THAT IS THAT IMPORTANT, BUT LYRIEL AREN’T A BAND WHICH ARE EASY TO CLASSIFY…THERE’S SURELY THE GOTHMETAL-SOUND BUT THEN AT TIMES YOU’RE LIKE SOME DARKWAVE-BAND…
Jessica: Our sound concept does not fit into any scheme.
We like to play different styles, but without losing the original Lyriel style. That´s why different kind of people, at every age like our music. That gives us the opportunity to play at different types of events, festivals, and concerts.
In addition we are able to play all our songs in an acoustic-version. People who have a fable for commercial music like our music, too. That is very important for us. We don’t like to be a band for a special scene.
NEXT QUESTIONS MAY SOUND STRANGE TO YOU BUT I WANNA ASK THEM ANYWAY….
MANY OF THE USED INSTRUMENTS ARE CLASSICAL ONES, AND AS FAR AS I SAW IT’S NOT COMPUTERISED, BUT ALL LIVE PLAYED…
HOW DO CLASSICAL TRAINED PEOPLE END UP IN A METALBAND?
Oliver: In the end it´s a question of musical taste. Many of classical people are open for metal music as the music styles are similar.
THIS IS SURELY NOT THE FIRST TIME SOMEONE TOLD YOU….BUT ONE OF THE STRENGHTS OF LYRIEL MUST BE THE VOICE FROM JESSICA…HOW DID SHE GOT INVOLVED IN LYRIEL?
Oliver: As I was aware of Jessica´s great voice, we decided to found a side project with her. She was open for metal music and it was clear, that Lyriel would be something different, not like a typical metal band.
YOUR DEBUTALBUM IS CALLED “PARANOID CIRCUS”….THE TITLE ALONE IS LIKE A CRITICISM OF THE WORLD WE’RE LIVING IN…..
Jessica: It should be clear now, that “Paranoid Circus” isn´t our debut album. It´s our third album. The main themes are several situations in life and its consequences and also personnel experiences.
We thought that Paranoid Circus is the suitable title of the sometimes paranoid situations of life which we described in the songs.
NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT SINGING IN GERMAN….I MEAN YOUR INTRO IS IN GERMAN!!!!!
Jessica: The intro is just half German. The intro contains three languages: English, French and German. There is a song in German indeed. It´s from our second album “Autumntales” and it´s called “Regen” (rain).
YOUR CD HAS BEEN RELEASED ON FEMM METAL RECORDS, CAN YOU TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
Oliver: It´s a young British label which are specialized in female fronted metal/goth bands. Our co-operation with them contains just the release of “Paranoid Circus”.
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE SUCCES LYRIEL GOT SO FAR? (IT’S KIND OF DIFFICULT FOR ME TO GET THAT AS I’M NOT AWARE AT ALL IF LYRIEL ARE SUCCESFULL OR NOT…)
Jessica: Yes we are satisfied, as we get known in the scene very well till now. We had the chance to play with great bands and on great festivals since the beginning of the band.
SOMEWHERE I THINK YOU’RE LIKE LACUNA COIL OR WITHIN TEMPTATION (COULD ALSO HAVE COME UP WITH OTHERS….), BUT I ESPECIALLY TOOK WITHIN TEMPTATION BECAUSE I WANNA ASK YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THEM…
IF YOU SEE SUCH A SUCCESSTORY IS THAT SCARY OR SOMETHING YOU WANT YOURSELF?
Jessica: It would be great, to become such famous as “Within Temptation” and that our fan-community will become bigger all over the world. It´s definitely something I want for Lyriel.
LYRIEL’S MUSIC ISN’T THE MOST UPLIFTING THERE IS , BUT DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AS SAD GITS?
Jessica: No, we aren´t sad gits, we all are very nice and normal people. I think our music is uplifting indeed.
For example, there was a fan which has been diagnosed with cancer.
She spends very much time in the hospital and stated that my voice and the music of Lyriel (amongst others) gave her the strength to pass through this hard time.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE MUSICINDUSTRY AS IT IS TODAY?
Oliver: The music industry is very fast moving. But smaller band does have more chances on the market as a few years ago which is great.
CONFESS US SOMETHING….WHAT’S THE MOST ROCK ‘N ROLL-THING YOU DID IN YOUR LIFE?
Oliver: The life of a musician is Rock ´n Roll in itself...
LAST QUESTIONS ARE QUESTIONS I ALWAYS ASK, I CALL IT THE TRADITIONAL ORIGINAL SIN-QUESTIONS… WHAT’S YOUR FAVE RECORD OF ALL TIME AND WHY?
Oliver: “Blind Guardian-Imaginations from the other side”, because I´m never tired listening to it.
WITH WHO WOULDN’T YOU MIND BEING STUCK IN AN ELEVATOR FOR 8 HOURS AND WHAT WOULD YOU DO THEN?
Jessica: I would say Celine Dion and I would beg her for some singing lesions.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM LYRIEL IN THE FUTURE?
Jessica: We hope that we can present Paranoid Circus via a tour but nothing is fixed, yet. We plan to produce a video of one of the songs.
DO YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING SPECIAL TO OUR READERS?
Jessica: Please visit our pages (http://www.myspace.com/lyrielband, www.lyriel.net). There you can listen to our music and hope you like it. We are looking forward to a message from people all over the world.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment