Industrial/Electronic Realms Interviews : Dina Falk-Zambelli – Erben der Schöpfung

Interview by Ed MacLaren

After an extended hiatus, Erben der Schöpfung has returned with the excellent “Narben der Ziet”. The new music seamlessly combines metal and electronica in an industrial cloak of dark melancholy. Femme Metal gets personal with vocalist Dina Falk about the making of “Narben der Ziet” and her approach to music.

“Narben der Zeit” is finally out and it’s definitely worth the wait. How has the response been to the CD so far?

Since we’ve still been fighting for the rights to finally release it – even if we got the rights to do so – we did not reach as many people as we could have. The response of those who we’ve reached is actually very good and we are happy about it.

It’s been eight years since “Twilight”  but many could say this is a new band. How did you and the rest of the new members get involved? Is Oliver still the creative center?

On “Narben der Zeit“, he still composed all of the songs but with a little help on the ballad “Homeless” which I personally wanted to get done and on the album. On everything else, he did the structuring and composing and we just put our stuff on top. So it’s still his project but with a band around him that is helping out on some stuff.

The current band has been together now since 2005. When starting “Narben der Zeit” was there a conscious attempt to start in a new direction or to continue Oliver‘s original concept of the band? How did “Narben der Zeit” evolve during that time until now?

We just started without any plan but knowing that we would be a little metal, a little electro and dark. That was it. We can’t force the project towards a particular direction. We just start working and watch the results. One of the things we also knew was that we are getting away of this symphonic-female-metal image that a lot of people still put us in.

“Narben der Zeit” (or “Scars of Time”) is an interesting title considering the tumultuous history of the band. Time heals all wounds but you still can bear the scars of the past – looking forward to the future while remembering past lessons. Is there an autobiographical reference within “Narben der Zeit”?

The album title has nothing to do with the band’s history but with any lifetime. I guess that everybody has his wounds and scars of time and I guess this will keep on going like this for a lifetime. We chose this title because everybody has got his own and personal scars.

“Narben der Zeit” has evolved the Erben der Schöpfung sound considerably since “Twilight”. The metal sections are heavier, the EBM sections are more danceable and the overall feel of the CD is much darker. How did the music for “Narben der Zeit” develop?

This is just a natural development of Erben der Schöpfung through changing members, through Oliver‘s personal development and through time. We didn’t force anything because we think that forcing development does not work. Development is something working independently and in need of time and different phases. You need to develop yourself too otherwise your project is standing still as well.

I’m having a tough time figuring out how to categorize your music for my iPod (which is a good thing in this case). Metal has progressed to a point where it incorporates many different genres to keep the music fresh and moving forward. I see Erben der Schöpfung as a metal band at the core but then again others might argue that you’re a very heavy EBM band. How do you view the band’s sound?

This is difficult to answer. I’m not a friend of categorization and categorizing our own music is giving me a hard time! Well, I know that people need categories in their whole life to get a certain order to it but I like things that drop out of the usual schedule. Maybe Erben der Schöpfung is just something not fitting in anywhere or even better: fitting any mood. If you feel metal you’ll hear metal and if you feel EBM you’ll hear EBM.

Having that inherent uniqueness in your music lets you stand out from other bands and helps you carve out your own niche. Musically, the rewards are many but are there any drawbacks to following a distinct musical vision?

We don’t fit in anywhere! Of course, you’ll have a hard time doing something unique or new that people are not used to. There are some that just don’t understand our music and act very different because of that. The worst case is if they fit you in a certain category that we don’t fit in and then tell us that we’d done an awful job. Also, we are always kind of unsure – even if we are not up to fulfilling expectations – but doing something unusual is making us scan a lot of reactions. We have to find our place and maybe settle down or maybe not.

There is a recurring theme running through “Narben der Zeit” dealing with children and child-like qualities. Tracks like “Jane Churm”, “Homeless”, “Leaving” and “Your Lullabies” are told with a child-like innocence but at the same time from a perspective of innocence lost. How did the lyrics develop for this CD and what experiences did you draw from while writing them?

While writing the lyrics to “Narben der Zeit”, I mostly wrote down the first thoughts that came upon my mind. I didn’t play a lot with words and I didn’t think about them for a long time so it’s just my first thoughts and feelings. That was a good way for me to write the first lyrics but they were also very open to attack and very personal. If I now look at the lyrics it is a lot about looking back and discharging childhood or a certain piece of my inner child. I would say that I’ve lost a lot of innocence in my childhood and early teens to twenties but I’m gaining it back now in a whole other quality. There was a lot of reformation and inner cleaning going on during the last two or three years and I guess that the lyrics to “Narben der Zeit” were doing their part.

Your ethereal and melancholy vocals are a perfect fit to the dark gothic mood of the music – it makes for a diverse listening experience with headphones in the dark. How did you develop your vocals when recording this CD?

Developing vocals was a similar process to writing lyrics for this album. I just sang whatever came upon my mind and it was fitting the mood; I came in listening to the plain composition, writing the lyrics and even now listening to the songs. It’s a strange mood but it was the only way for me to do the vocals on this album. Anything else just didn’t feel right.

What are your tour plans for supporting “Narben der Zeit”? Are there any international dates planned or touring overseas?

We definitely want to present “Narben der Zeit” live and play gigs but we don’t have any dates planned yet. Right now it’s very difficult to tour if you are starting or restarting a project and next to it three of our band members have to attend school so we do have to plan very tight. But we are working on it and hope to play live soon. Dates overseas are depending on how many people would like to see us playing and on getting in touch with a good fitting booking agency.

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait another eight years for new music from the band. Is there any new music in the works or a remix album?

I hope so too! We are working on new songs right now and for now it’s looking very good to record a new album soon. We are very productive and industrious since Christmas but a lot of work is still waiting to be done.

2009 is gone and we’re into 2010. Does the band have any musical New Year’s resolutions for the new decade?

We’ll see!

“Narben der Zeit” is rapidly becoming one of my favorite CDs of 2009. What were your top CDs this year and what made them standouts for you?

Ouph… Actually, I didn’t listen to a lot of music this year besides our songs…maybe Devil Driver’s “Pray for Villains” and Rabia Sorda’s “Noise Diary” but I’ve missed all the other good releases in 2009. I’ve rather been listening to old ones that year.

Links

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Döxa – “Once… and for All” (2010)

Independent Release

Review By Tony Cannella

From Spain, the band is called Döxa. On their debut, “Once… and for All”, they present a mish-mash of styles ranging from symphonic metal to Gothic Metal, Folk Metal, Power Metal and even some Death Metal.You would think that with such a wide scope, “Once… and for All” would be an unlistenable mess. Thankfully, that is absolutely not the case. Döxa manages to record a coherent and infinitely enjoyable debut and one that in good conscience I would highly recommend to anyone who might listen. Döxa is the brain child of ex-Darksun members Victor Fernandez and Juan B. Rodriguez. Shortly after their formation the band was joined by female vocalist Dina Nasser. “Once… and for All” features a wide list of guest musicians and the band features several different singing styles (I counted at least three… maybe four). The input of the guests is quite big and it gives each song it’s own individual feel. “Eternal Awakenings” kicks things into high gear with a power metal vibe. This song reminded me a bit of Kamelot and features predominantly clean male vocals. Döxa brings the tempo down a bit with the piano opening of “The Devil in Love” before the song gets heavier and evolves into a like-able power metal tune. The vocals are split between the operatic style of Dina Nasser and the aggressive Death Metal delivery of Victor Fernandez. This song is also quite melodic, which is a common thread throughout the majority of the CD. The Gothic “Standing For Your Wishes” is next and has a bit of a Moonspell vibe. “The Spirit of the Misteltoe” is where Döxa show off their Folk-ish influences. This is a fast paced up-tempo and musically appealing track that is impossible to stand still for. Döxa continues to deliver some solid and interesting music on the tracks: “To Die Only Once”, “Heaven Is Frozen”, “One Evil Song for Mrs. Goodness!” and “A Drop of Eternity”. Spain has become such a great country in producing top-notch metal in the last few years. Döxa are a band that doesn’t rely on one style of metal and that is a huge strength on their stellar debut.

Rating – 87/100

Tracklist

1. Eternal Awakenings
2. The Devil in Love
3. Standing for Your Wishes
4. A Very Strange Agony
5. To Die Only One
6. The Spirit of Mistletoe
7. Sins of Symmetry
8. Heaven is Frozen
9. One Evil Song for Mrs.Goodness!
10. A Drop of Eternity

Line Up

• Dina Nasser – Vocals
• Daniel González Suárez – Vocals
• Juan B. Rodríguez – Guitar
• Victor Fernández – Keyboards, Vocals 

Links

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Industrial/Electronic Realms : Erben der Schöpfung – “Narben der Zeit” (2009)

Hailing from Lichtenstein Erben der Schöpfung have been in existence since 2000 and have just released their second full-length CD titled “Narben der Zeit” and it features 10-songs and 56-minutes worth of some pretty good goth/electronic metal with an emphasis on melody. Usually whenever this band is mentioned, it is in conjunction with fellow countrymen Elis, since Elis includes several former members of Erben der Schöpfung, but this band is good enough to stand on their own and the music contained on “Narben der Zeit” is a testament to that. “Frequency” is the first track and it combines the heaviness of metal with modern electronic sounds, it is a good opener that is very catchy. The band follow that up with the track “Jane Churm”, a good melodic track that sets the right tempo and is one of the absolute highlights. The third track “Homeless” slows things down a notch. It is a stirring ballad and the vocals of Dina Falk are nothing short of breathtaking on this one. The song also feature some nice orchestration and it has a different tone than the other songs on this CD, making it another track that definitely stands out. “Der Tote See” speeds things up a bit and brings back the electronic elements. Other highlights include: “Leaving”, “Locked”, “Your Lullabies” and “Twisted” closes the album. It’s amazing to me that Erben der Schöpfung have been around for as long as they have, yet still have gone relatively unnoticed. This band has a lot to offer the metal world and after listening to their newest output “Narben der Zeit” one can only hope that they get the attention and support that they so richly deserve.

Rating – 80/100

Tracklist 

1. Frequency
2. Jane Churm
3. Homeless
4. Der Tote See
5. Leaving
6. Freeze My Soul
7. Locked
8. Krähenaugen
9. Your Lullabies
10. Twisted

Line Up 

• Dina Falk – Vocals
• Rino Vetsch – Guitar
• Florian Riederer – Guitar
• Oliver Falk – Keyboards
• Jens Wagner – Bass, Vocals
• Pady Margadant – Drums

Links 

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