Hi, please introduce yourself and your band for those who may be unfamiliar with you ? 

L - Edenbridge were formed in 1998. Sabine, Kurt Bednarsky (our former bass player) and myself played together in another project before and when drummer Roland entered the band the line-up for our first CD-production was complete. We recorded “Sunrise in Eden” in 1999 on self-finance basis and sent it to about 30 labels around the world. Two weeks later Massacre records offered us a deal. The album was licensed to all important markets of the world (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, South and North America) and was a great success. In late 2000 we were on European tour with our label mates Pink Cream 69 and Axxis. In 2001 we recorded our second CD “Arcana” which marked a big step forward. Then we went on tour with Metalium here in Europe which led us from Spain to Scandinavia. Right after we went to Korea to play a show on the International Busan Rock Festival in front of 20.000 people and a double-headliner show with Sinergy in Seoul. In January 2003 our third album “Aphelion” saw the light of day followed by a triple-headliner tour with Trail of Tears and Sirenia through Europe. A show on the famous German “Summer Breeze Festival” in front of 12.000 people followed. In April 2004 we played our first shows in Russia, Moscow and 2 shows in England on the Bloodstock festival which were a huge success. Then our first live-album/DVD “A Livetime in eden” came out. In October 2004 our 4^th studio album “Shine” was released followed by a tour through Europe supporting Angra. In 2006 the first cover version saw the light of day, the release of a single with the famous James Bond title song “For your eyes only” (originally sung by Sheena Easton). The single was followed by the 5^th full length studio album “The Grand Design”. In 2006/2007 Edenbridge toured in Europe and Asia (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong). At the end of 2006 we signed a new record deal with Napalm Records. In 2008 the 6^th album “MyEarthDream” saw the light of the day, the first album with a real orchestra followed by a big European tour with Rage. 

Edenbridge have been around for a decade now. What have been the highs and the lows so far? 

L - The highs surely our two Asian tours and the show in Moscow and the collaboration with an orchestra. The lows were definitely the years 2005-2007 with all the troubles with our old label. 

     

Edenbridge

You often find yourselves compared to Within Temptation and Nightwish. Do you think this is because of you have a female singer or is it just journalistic laziness? 

L - Both, there are thousands of bands with male singers. Some people can't stand if there are more than three bands with female singers. You must not forget that we were among the first bands working with female vocals and we didn't even know Nightwish or Within Temptation when we recorded our first album back in 1999. 

What does Sabine bring to the table in terms of her voice and what is it like to write lyrics for somebody of a different gender? 

L - Sabine is an absolutely unique singer. You would recognize her voice out of a thousand singers, because she doesn't have this typical soprano voice and also not this opera style voice. On the new album we have some lines that are going quite low and she proved that she can also bring that perfectly. It's not very difficult to write the lyrics because they are not specially from a male point of view so gender neutral. 

Your new record is released by Napalm Records. How did this deal come about and how do they compare with your previous labels? 

L - We've been in touch with Napalm Records for many years. When our deal with Massacre Records expired we negotiated with a couple of labels and Napalm made us the best offer, it's also great to work with an Austrian label because of the same mentality. Napalm is known to give their bands the best possible support and marketing. 

Steve Williams from Power Quest told me that he’s been impressed by how Napalm have raised Power Quest’s profile, have you found the same? 

L - To answer this question I have to wait a couple of more months, but it's without doubt that especially in the Gothic press we have moved forward a lot. I can also say it's great to have a label in the US again and our new partner in Japan is Marquee Avalon. So I think we will make a real step forward with the new album. 

How would you say that the new CD differs from the previous albums you've released? 

L - A big change are the use of seven-string guitars. We tuned them down a half step to Bb to be able to use the Bb keys which sound much more melancholic and in the end heavier. This was a good decision cause due to the low guitars they blend much better with the frequencies of the orchestra, so you don´t always have to make a decision which one should be louder. During the songwriting I tried to keep one thing in mind. Not to overdo the orchestral thing. So you will find parts where you find the riffs only with just drums and bass and when the orchestra comes in it sounds huge. This is bringing in a lot of diversification into the sound and you must not forget that in the end every song had between 100 and 200 tracks to mix. 

  

To come back to the orchestra; this was the most time consuming process in arranging. Sometimes you find yourself sitting a couple of hours for just eight bars to orchestrate till everything is to your likes but in the end it's just the result that matters and this is overwhelming. 

Could you describe the writing process for us? 

L - The whole writing process took me over one year. Normally I start collecting ideas and at a certain point I start to work them out to the real songs. This time it was more work of course because of the orchestra. You find yourself sitting a couple of hours just to orchestrate eight bars and this is immensely time consumptive. 

How is the tour with Rage going so far? 

L - The tour is running fine so far, most of the venues are really full. Of course it is a total different audience but the reactions to our shows are very good. 

How would you say British audiences compare with those in mainland Europe and is there any chance that you will promote MyEarthDream with more UK dates? 

L - I would love to play more shows in the UK. We just had a show in London and the audience was fantastic. It was great to be able to see fans coming from Scotland to just see us playing in London. Playing in the UK is simply fantastic and I really hope we can return soon. 

So you enjoyed your short headlining UK tour back in 2006? 

L - Oh, that was amazing. It was organized by our great fan club manager Craig Gilbert and we had such a lot of fun. 

You seem to have somewhat of a revolving door policy for band members except yourself and Sabine, so how settled would you say the current line-up is? 

L - Well, things are like they are and sometimes changes are necessary if somebody is not happy in the band and the other way round. But the new line-up does great and is the absolutely best one. Max and Dominik are doing great and it is a great energy on stage. 

Any finally is there anything else you’d like to say to the readers of HardrockHouse? 

L -Thanks for all your support and I hope you will have a listen to the new album. Don’t forget to visit us at www.edenbridge.org or www.myspace.com/edenbridge. Thanks for the interview.

Edenbridge's new album MyEarthDream is out now via Napalm Records and you can check out the HRH review via this link

Simon Bray