With Eclipse, Xandria return with an album that balances the band’s unmistakable symphonic metal identity with a more focused, detail-driven approach to songwriting. In this interview, vocalist Ambre Vourvahis discusses the creative freedom of working at Marco Heubaum’s Neverworld Studios, the challenge of delivering the album’s ambitious vocal performances, and the importance of allowing each song to find its own character. She also reflects on the record’s orchestral scope, its timely lyrical themes, Xandria’s recent appearance on German national television, and the band’s forthcoming European tour.
Welcome to Ambre Vourvahis from Xandria
So, Ambre, first of all, I want to welcome you here.
Thank you.
And I wanted to ask you: how are you, and how is the promotional machine for Eclipse going? I imagine you are busy, busy, busy.
Yeah, yeah, I’m really good, thank you. But, yeah, it’s a busy time right now [laughs]. There’s so much every day. I’m rushing all the time because, yeah, there are so many emails and all of this. But this is the deal.
Working on the new album Eclipse
I want to first of all congratulate you on Eclipse. Secondly, it is going to be released today, I think, and there will be a review about the album. And then I wanted to first ask you: how was it, you know, to work on the album? When did you start working on these songs together with Marco and the band?
Yeah, we started, I don’t know exactly when, but it was maybe two years ago—the whole process. Yeah, one and a half, maybe one… No, I think one and a half years. And it was quite smooth. Marco had a lot of ideas, and I found all of them really, really good. So it was kind of easy to get into it.
And, yeah, Marco and I sat together with all the songs, trying to think: how are we going to do that? Where are we going to go with this song? And, yeah, it worked really smoothly, really easily.
“Everything made a little bit more sense together.”
And, you know, what I also found different this time is that, if the previous album marked the debut of the new line-up and of you with Xandria, this time I feel like you went deeper into the songs. You took your time to work on the songs, and I did not feel like everything was rushed. I do not know if, during the listening, I got that right.
Yeah, maybe. The thing is, we had a lot of time for The Wonders Still Awaiting because it was during COVID, which, in a way, maybe was not so good because we started to experiment maybe a little bit too much. You know, as a whole thing, it got a little bit… Some songs were a little bit experimental and not exactly on point.
So maybe it is not so good to have too much time and to want to put too much influence from different genres into it. This album was a little bit more on point. Everything made a little bit more sense together. But we did have a lot of time to perfect the songs exactly the way we wanted.
So, putting in parts that serve the music and that we really wanted to have, creating a movie feeling, a journey—everything was really… We could really think about every single detail.
And maybe that is what you mean: there is nothing left to chance on the album. Every little riff, every little guitar part, every little note is thought through. So I’m glad you have that feeling. Yeah, it is what we wanted to achieve.
Having more time to perfect the vocals
You know, this time you, Marco, and the rest of the band chose to work in Neverworld Studios, which are Marco’s private studios, instead of book a studio, work with an external producer, and work against the clock, because, yeah, it is very expensive.
What did you learn from that experience? Because, when you work against the clock, it means that you have to work harder and faster, while maintaining quality, of course. But this way also gives you the space to take it easier and look at every little detail. At the same time, I think it can also be difficult to choose what is best, because you can become unsure. I think that is also the difficulty with that approach.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was much better. Not because of money. It is only because, now that we had the experience with the first album, we kind of thought, “Okay, actually, we can do this ourselves”. And then we had the studio made, you know, so everything was there for the sound, and now we can do it ourselves.
Having more time to perfect the vocals (part 2)
And, of course, having more time to perfect the vocals… Because, you know, in the studio it is like one song a day, including all the harmonies. In the end, you are exhausted. You cannot really revisit some takes. If you did not like them, well, you kind of have to live with it. Or you can really insist on redoing them, but it is not that easy because everything gets later. Instead of starting a new song the next day, you have to go back to that one, so it is not really that easy.
But here, if one little thing did not work, I could come back with a fresh mind and a fresh voice the next day. And I could take my time on my own to re-record the vocals where I thought I was not really there with the emotion, the intensity, everything. You never know. It is also a matter of mood sometimes, you know. A song requires a certain kind of emotion, and you just cannot grab it.
“Achieving them in the way we wanted”
So, you know, if you get too tired, you do not have to force it. We would say, “Okay, we stop there”. And then, of course, it contributed to better vocals overall, I think.
And also to achieving them in the way we wanted. Not so much technically speaking, but more in terms of whether I was telling the right story. And if I was not, I kept trying until I could really grasp it and listen to it and feel like, This is it, you know? So it is a great feeling.
“We were more focused on serving the song”
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I feel like Eclipse, in a way, is… These songs have their own identity, but at the same time, they come back to the same world, the same universe, in a way. And that is what I like the most about it.
Nice. Yeah, yeah, we love diversity, so we will never follow, you know, a recipe. We do not have a recipe, and we do not want to repeat the same song. But, of course, Xandria has an identity, like every band, and we love to play with that. So, of course, it is going to be orchestral. There are some little things that you can recognize from past songs.
And it comes naturally. It is not an idea like, Oh, we are going to do this song because people like it. No, it just happens to be like this. And then we can take it in that direction or another direction.
But on this album, we were more focused on serving the song. You know, Eclipse reminded us a little bit of Nightfall and Reborn. And I was like, This is quite the identity of Xandria. You know, it is not like we invented a new genre. It is quite the essence of Xandria.
The single from Xandria: The Poetry of the Real World
But we just followed that way. This is what the song—the idea Marco had—was asking for, so we followed it. And in the end, there are one or two simpler songs that maybe we would not have wanted to go in this direction with before, thinking, Okay, maybe we need to make it a little bit more sophisticated.
But in the end, on that album, we just respected what the idea wanted. If it wanted to be a little bit more… There is a song, The Poetry of the Real World. I call it the radio song. You know, we were on national German TV on Sunday, and the boss there chose that song. He loved it, and I know why, because it is very friendly—TV-friendly, radio-friendly. And at first we were like, Okay, is it a bit simpler than we wanted it to be? But no, that is what the song wanted, so we just went with it.
The truth behind the single Eclipse
I need to praise Eclipse, the single. I just watched the video.
Thank you.
My praise goes especially to you for Eclipse, because I can also imagine how difficult it is, within a six-minute song, to switch between different styles of singing. And my question may be a cheesy one, but I will ask it anyway: how do you manage to keep the performance of that song at the same level?
Because, do not get me wrong, switching from clean vocals to growls and operatic endings… Well, to me, it looks like it takes a lot of preparation, but also a lot of discipline and strictness with yourself during that preparation.
Thank you. Yeah, it is a good question. You know what? The switching between the clean vocals, the screams, and the opera is not really the problem. I know people have this idea like, “Oh my God, how do you switch from clean vocals to screams?” Actually, this is going to sound a bit strange, but it is quite easy. Once you know—of course, you need to know both—but it is quite easy.
The truth behind the single Eclipse (part 2)
It is not really something I need to focus on at all. The difficult part is keeping that power when you move from a strong chest voice, a pop voice, to something a little bit more in the higher head voice, and keeping the intensity. Of course, you cannot go from hey to, you know, you cannot do this. You really have to keep it up.
And this is where I have to focus. This is the exhausting part, let’s say: the really high notes, which are in another position in your body. It is not the switching part, but it is having that intensity up there, and this is not always easy.
On bad days, for example, those notes are going to sound a little bit quieter. So, yeah, those are the notes that are really challenging live. And it is not the classical vocals. People think that this is actually quite an easy thing to do.
I wish I were singing more in a classical style—not really, but just technique-wise—because it is easier to reach high notes with a rounded classical technique. But when you do more of a pop-style high vocal, like mixing, meaning that you mix the head part of your voice with the power of the chest, those are the difficult notes. And now we have a lot more of this on that album, and I’m like [laughs].
The challenge for Ambre and Xandria
Oh yeah, you know, in a way, I noticed that from the last album, and I said, It is a step up stylistically and vocally for you. It is also challenging, because the chest voice is here, and then I noticed something much higher, if you understand what I mean. So I think it will be a challenge for you to reproduce this album live, in a way.
I think so, because I am, of course, singing the setlist now, and, of course, as a headlining show, it is very long. And, yeah, I am going to say it honestly: it is very challenging.
And, of course, on this album I was like, “No, let’s go higher. No, no, no, I can do higher. Let’s go higher”. I wanted it really bombastic, not to show that I can do it, but to serve the purpose of having big songs. But then I am like, Oh wow, this is hard.
So I need to be extremely well prepared, and you never know: on some bad days, I am going to struggle. Yeah, symphonic metal is really a challenge in general, I think, compared to, you know, a pop music thing. Some pop music is also challenging, but singing jazz or pop is a little bit easier. Symphonic metal is quite a challenge for singers. I think maybe all the singers think the same, probably. I am not sure, but I think so.
Xandria collaborating with the Sofia Session Orchestra and Choir
And, you know, you said, “let’s go more bombastic this time with the album”, and you wanted to serve the purpose of the song, not vice versa. Because sometimes it can happen that the vocals serve yourself and not the purpose of the show.
There is also the Sofia Session Orchestra and Choir involved in Eclipse. How was that? I mean, probably you start with some demo recordings, then there is an arranger, and then there is the orchestra. But, I mean, at the end of the day, you record with them. What was the challenge there?
Yeah, yeah, it is really interesting. Because, like you said, you have the demo. I record demo vocals and everything. Sometimes I already have the final vocals on the song. Actually, I think I had all the vocals ready for all the songs. I am not sure for the one that is still waiting, but for this one I think I had all the vocals, but not the orchestral arrangement.
Xandria collaborating with the Sofia Session Orchestra and Choir (part 2)
That was on the demo songs, and then, of course, we send it to… We have two guys from Hollywood working on that—so talented. And, yeah, they fill the song with the orchestra. They know exactly what to do. And then you get the songs as they are going to be in the end, and you are like, Wow, this is amazing.
And then, this time, we had the choir recording at the very end, and that is amazing. We watched it through a livestream. So, live, we could just comment, “Okay, let’s do this a little bit differently”, or so we could control it a little bit. But they know what to do.
And then that is the goosebumps part. You know, you hear them—really, I do not know, 20 people or more—singing those choir parts, and you are like, Wow. This is really quite an experience.
The lyrical standpoint of Eclipse
And, you know, I also wanted to ask you: I know there is some sort of red thread from a lyrical standpoint on Eclipse, and Eclipse also represents that because it pulls together reason, empathy, democracy, pluralism, and an open society.
So these are topics that have become really important nowadays, and I wanted to ask you: what was the challenge for you in singing those lyrics, at the end of the day, considering what is going on in the world right now? You know, I want to stay away from politics, but it feels like we need to talk about it in a way.
Yeah, yeah, we do not have to go into too much detail, but Marco had quite precise ideas about the things he wanted to talk about and felt like talking about. And then we talked about it together.
The lyrical standpoint of Eclipse (part 2)
I let him write the lyrics this time because, I mean, he is really good at it, and he had all those ideas for each song. So I was like, Just do it.
And, yeah, the world is not in such a good place, so, of course, it would be a little bit strange to really ignore this. Unless you have a concept, you know, as a—I do not know—a concept band, a costume band, or something like that. They have a concept, and they are not going to start talking about politics, although there are a few that do, and I think it is really great.
Actually, I would prefer that to just empty words. But, yeah, we thought that we needed to speak about these things. They were topics that were really present in our minds, so that is why it is like this on almost all the songs.
Xandria and the partecipation at ZDF-Fernsehgarten
Yeah, yeah, I completely agree. And now for the lighter part of the whole story: I wanted to recall that last Sunday you participated in a German programme. It felt a little bit strange because I live in the Netherlands, and I get RTL on my TV. So I saw Angus McSix, Doro, and you guys playing in ZDF-Fernsehgarten. How was it to be on German television?
Yeah, that is quite an experience. Usually, to be honest, it is not something that we would aim for because we like authenticity and, you know, all of this. You think that, usually on TV, a lot of it is pretending, it is a little bit fake, a little bit over the top. So it is not really what we stand for.
But having this experience kind of changed the way I thought, because it was a really nice experience. Everyone was so nice. We could do what we wanted.
“This was actually a very nice experience”
Yeah, this was actually a very nice experience, and I would do it again. If I were asked, then I would do it again, because it was really something great. I just did not really realize what I was doing. Oh, I am on national German TV. It is 1.5 million people watching at home, or something. And I did not really realize this.
It is Sunday at 12, so they are having lunch and watching this programme. It is so strange [laughs]. But, yeah, later I watched it. We could watch it on the ZDF app, and I was like, We were on German TV. That is so strange.
But it was so nice. All the bands, we had good talks, you know, there was a really good mood, and it was a really great experience. I am grateful to get that chance around the album, you know. This is a nice opportunity for some people maybe to discover us. So, of course, I am going to take it.
The surprise of being on the German TV at noon
Absolutely. I remember that last year there were also your labelmates, Visions of Atlantis, and this year there was also Doro. I was really surprised by it. Sometimes I happen to watch that programme, and I usually see just 80s acts. I really like that, on a Sunday at noon, they bring metal acts, you know.
Yeah, I like that too. They do that once a year in the summer, and it is really nice how they arrange everything. Because, yeah, usually this is really not my type of music. And I do not mean 80s music; I mean more what you would call Schlager music, which is not our thing at all.
So, I am glad that they do rock and metal. It shows you that there is a big community of rock and metal fans in Germany. It is huge—huge enough that they put a programme dedicated to it on Sunday on TV.
In France, for example—you would never have that. Because I am half French, half Greek, you know, living in Germany. In France, you would never have such a programme.
Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. You know, I spoke about the Netherlands, but I am originally Italian. I would never imagine having a programme like that on Sunday at 12. It would be much more normal to have the Mass with the Pope, if you understand what I mean—the whole situation [laughs].
Yeah, exactly.
The upcoming tour for Xandria
So, you know, I know you guys have a long tour that is about to start with Tulip and Seven Spires. And I know you guys are going to conclude in Tilburg for the Kam Fest. So it is, I would say, the cherry on top of a big, big European headlining tour.
It is really long. But, yeah, I am glad we are part of it because we are kind of friends with Kamelot at this point. We just met in Romania not too long ago. We had good talks, and, yeah, it always works with them.
So I am glad that we have this. And I love the venue in Tilburg. I love it. I always love playing in the Netherlands. It is amazing to play there. There are always the best venues, great shows, great food—the catering is amazing. I love it all.
Closing words from Ambre from Xandria
So, saying this, I thank you for your time, Ambre.
Of course, thank you.
And I will see you in Tilburg, then.
Yeah, amazing. Thank you very much. Take care.