Heidi Parviainen & Tuomas Seppälä – Amberian Dawn (2012)

Interview by Alessandra Cognetta

Heidi Parviainen is the lead singer of the Finnish Amberian Dawn. Their latest album, “Circus Black”, has been released on the 29th of February in Europe, USA and Canada. We took this chance to ask her (and Tuomas Seppälä, AD‘s songwriter and keyboards player, as well as one of the founding members) some questions about the band, their latest work and more.

“Circus Black” is yet another step forward for Amberian Dawn. What do you think changed, was added or improved from your previous works?

Heidi: “Circus Black” is the most singable album from AD so far and I really like it.

This is the first album to feature a real orchestra and choir, which I must say is one of the additions I enjoyed the most. Was it already in your plans for earlier releases or is it an element you chose to implement only for “Circus Black”?

Tuomas: To be quite honest…we haven’t afford to use real choir before…now we had a chance to try it and it was great...

The Album Sampler states “strongest line-up so far”: what does every member bring to AD‘s sound as a whole, both in studio and live?

Tuomas: We have gathered the best musicians possible so that we can achieve the very sophisticated and highly techninally advanced sound. Every band member needs to be a true virtuoso with his own instrument. I write all music for AD, including guitar riffs, vocal lines etc. but still there’s always some free space for every musician to color the music with their own way of play.

Another highlight is the once again stellar guest appearances. Can you tell us about these collaborations?

Tuomas: We have always used some guest vocalists or musicians on our albums. I like to to do it, because that’s how I can get more variations out of AD‘s music. Those guest singers on this albums are ”hand-picked” and I tried several different singers and selected the most suitable for each and every song.

Heidi, you write all the lyrics for the band, often taking inspiration from Finnish mythology. What’s behind the lyrics of “Circus Black” and what is your usual writing process?

Heidi: On “Circus Black” there are no Kalevala lyrics at all. I wanted to take a step into a different direction with the lyrical work and this album has a kind of a psychological vibe since some lyrics talk about our fears, bad relationships etc. But there is some folklore too and even light horror. Tuomas always (except once with “Lionheart”) composes all the music first and sends the ready melodies to me and I write the lyrics.

You’ve also recorded songs in your mother tongue (“Virvatulen Laulu” from “End of Eden”), it’s surely a very different experience, for you as a singer and for the fans as well. Do you prefer singing in English or in Finnish?

Heidi: I prefer singing in English because we mostly perform to a foreign audience and it is importat that the audience understand what the lyrics are about. But it is really fun to break the rules sometimes and do something different. Who knows if there will be a new Finnish song someday…

What’s the concept behind the video for your new single, “Cold Kiss”?

Heidi: The story of “Cold Kiss” is a kind of a “Twilight” spirit lovestory between a vampire and a human.

AD recently toured Europe with Tristania, Xandria, Serenity and Van Canto, how was it sharing the stage with all these very diverse female fronted bands?

Heidi: Yes. It was! All the ladies on tour were a great company and it was kind of refreshing to once work with so many women. We had a lot of fun together. The only this I missed was a song together with all the ladies!

“Circus Black” was released for the first time in USA and Canada, too. What do you think this will mean for the band? Are there any plans for an overseas tour in the future?

Heidi: All the plans are still open and we hope to be able to tour soon. It would be lovely to go over seas but let´s see.

What’s your favourite song to perform live and why?

Heidi: From our previous albums I like “River of Tuoni” because it is the most popular song from AD so far and the audience know the lyrics and melody so they can sing along. But ther are many other I also like to sing.

Have you ever thought about pursuing a career as an opera singer, or singing something different from Amberian Dawn‘s repertoire?

Heidi: Not really an opera singer but I do study classical singing at a conservatory and I also do some classical concerts. Who knows what the future will bring, I´m all open to it!

You’re often compared to other female fronted bands, like Nightwish for example. What is your opinion on this matter?

Heidi: Well. As I often say. Maybe ther are still too few female fronted metal bands that people need to compare the bands to the only one who really has reached the big succes in this genre. Still there are much less female fronted bands that male fronted. No one is really wining about their singing styles which sound quite same to my ears in their rock technique. It doesn´t bother me but it is quite weird that is still happens after these six years and four albums with AD. In my opinion there a quite few similarities with Nigtwish and nowadays even less after Nightwish started to work with Anette. Does really the singing techique of the singer make everything- includind songwriting, other istruments- sound similar? I don´t think so.

With the new album and single out since less than a month, what do you see in the future of Amberian Dawn?

Heidi: I hope lots of gigs and touring and hopefully a wider audience too and better sales!

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, greetings from your Italian fans!

Heidi: Grazie mille! Baci a voi!

Credit Photo

Band photo by Toni Härkönen

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Apr 22, 2012

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Amberian Dawn – “Circus Black” (2012)

Label : Spinefarm Records

Review by Tony Cannella

The Finnish symphonic metal band Amberian Dawn has come a long way since their inception in 2006 and their debut in 2008. With their 4th and latest album, “Circus Black” the band continues to emerge from the shadow of fellow Finns Nightwish and maintain a steady path to move onwards and upwards.The bombastic, beautifully lush “Circus Black” starts things off and is followed by “Cold Kiss”. For this song lead vocalist Heidi Parvainen is joined by Stratovarius front man Timo Kotipelto for an amazing duet. For the next song “Crimson Flower”, the band is joined by Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson for a song that really revolves around the remarkable operatic vocals of Heidi. Guest keyboardist Jens Johansson is allowed to go off on his own for a bit in this song, he was also once upon a time a member of Yngwie Malmsteen’s revolving door of musicians and the guitar solo and keyboard part remind me a bit of the Swedish guitar wiz. “Crimson Flower” would make a great video track from this album. “Charnel’s Ball” is a slower paced song with a huge operatic/symphonic feel to it. “Fight” is just a fast paced power metal tune, which once again recalls the past glories of Yngwie as well as Stratovarius. Of course the operatic vocals are what set it apart from those two bands. Other highlights include: “Letter”, “I Share With You This Dream” and the excellent instrumental “Rivalry Between Good and Evil”. I am not really a fan of instrumentals but this is one of the better ones I’ve heard in a long time, and it is a great moment where the musicians are left alone to show their phenomenal talents. “Circus Black” is another strong achievement for Amberian Dawn and may be their most ambitious effort yet. Is it their best? That’s hard to say, each album has its own charm and “Circus Black” is a great addition to their catalog. Time may tell if this is the album that pushes Amberian Dawn over-the-top.