Symphorce

Posted on Oct 26, 2005

by Anders

The German band Symphorce has developed quite a lot during the years, after starting out as a pretty traditional melodic metal band, they have incorporated more and more modern sounding elements into the music, without losing the melodic flair. Not all has worked perfectly, though it seems like the band have hit the nail with their new album "Godspeed". I had expected this interview to be answered by mainman and singer Andy B. Franck, though it ended up being bassist Dennis Wohlbold who answered the questions, and he did pretty well, when thinking of most of the questions was directed at Andy. The rest of the band consist of guitarists Cedric "Cede" Dupond and Markus Pohl and drummer Sascha Sauer.

 

Hi there, how are things in Germany and how's the state of the German metal scene as we speak?

Well we saw a lot of metalheads (even young ones) on our tour with Sonata Arctica. So I think the scene is good.

Will you please start off by introducing yourself and tell us how you keep your passion for metal up high?

I am Dennis Wohlbold playing bass guitar for Symphorce. Well music is my passion and I do not need to get motivated anything but music itself.

Your new album "Godspeed" has just been released, how do you feel about it?

We really love the album.

Have you gotten any reactions from your fans yet and how has the press received the album so far?

Of course we have. The reactions so far are really great. Better than expected because we thought that the diversity of Godspeed could worry some reviewers which would have been 100% satisfied if they would have heard 10 'Everlasting Life' songs...

But it seems that people love the album, a lot of them even think that "Godspeed" is our best album yet.

What do you expect from the album?

What I've learned through the years, is that it is better to expect nothing at all.

When you started out to write the material for the new album, what did you then have in mind and wanted to accomplish with it?

Oh to be honest I don't think so much about other things while writing new songs. One day I could write a fast song and on the other day a ballad... at least you never know what is going to happen and I don't think about it. Just let the music flow you know…

You have chosen the album title "Godspeed", what are your thoughts behind the title and what does it symbolize?

Well it was just Andy coming around with the idea to call the next album "Godspeed" and we all thought… wow - that sound great. But what does that mean... Sadly the explanation of "Godspeed" is quite boring... It means something like "to wish someone a good journey" or something like that. Well… we enjoyed the "sound" of the word "Godspeed"... so we decided to take this name for the title.

I guess the title is connected to the cover artwork, do you care to tell what the ideas behind the artwork were and what the different elements symbolize?

You know we just told Travis Smith the album title and told him to work on something around that title. So there might be some ideas in it but I am not the type of guy who asks an artist about each detail. I think it's much more exciting to build up an own Image of an artist's work.

Which lyrical topics have you touched this time?

Hmm… I guess the same shit as every time hahaha... No honestly... I don't like talking about Andy's lyrics, because it's always just an interpretation of what he originally thought of.

Are there any specific events or happenings that directly have inspired the lyrics this time around?

Hehe well... Cede's working title of 'Haunting' was 'vampire'... For some reason the final lyrics are about vampires too. Maybe Andy thought… "Hmmm vampires?... why not... let's do it"…

How do you work when you write the lyrics, are you locked into your apartment for days, do you have to be in a special mood or?

Well… I am just writing music for Symphorce. But yes... I have to be in a special mood to create new songs. It really doesn't work if you are saying "Tonight at 9 PM I will be writing a new song"... Writing music needs a lot of spirit and spirit needs a good mood....

How important is the lyrics compared to the music in Symphorce?

For me lyrics are never as important as the music. Maybe that's a shame, but it's the truth.

You have started to experiment more with your vocal, that you did in the start speaking of Symphorce, why do you feel it's necessary to experiment?

I guess it's the same as with the music… it's just pretty boring to do the same thing again and again.

Which vocal parts on the new album are you most satisfied with?

I love the chorus of 'Everlasting Life' and 'Haunting', and all vocal parts of 'Nowhere', 'My Cold Embrace' and 'Crawling Walls For You' the most.

The music of Symphorce has also changed a bit since the beginning of the band, how would you describe the progression of the music?

It was a natural process, we grew up as musicians and songwriters and our sound was getting heavier since we started using 7 string guitars on "PhorcefulAhead".

You have become heavier and more groovy, bordering to nu-metal elements, without loosing the great melodies, have your musical influences in the band changed during the years, are you listening to "modern" metal?

Yes we do listen a lot to modern metal bands like Soilwork, Nevermore and even Korn.

I have seen some of your fans commenting quite negative about the modern inspirations Symphorce has picked up, how does that make you feel?

I haven't seen or met much fans which commented that negative. Anyways I really don't care about it. We will continue our way of working no matter what the fans say. You know… you can never satisfy every fan. With every album you lose one and you win some.

How far do you think you can take Symphorce progression-wise and do you have any idea of how the band will develop in the future?

I have no idea, with every album I thought "that's our final style"... and at the end of the day each album sounded different. So I have no idea about what the future will bring.

How do you look upon the future of Symphorce?

I just live for the moment, so I don't care that much about the future.

Which albums have you listened a lot to lately?

Soilwork – "Stabbing The Drama", King's X – "Ogre Tones", Steve Walsh – "Shadowman" and Pagan's Mind – "Enigmatic Calling".

Symphorce website