Interview Leaves' Eyes

Celebrating 20 years, Leaves' Eyes discusses their symphonic metal journey with "Myths of Fate." Explore Norse mythology, captivating visuals, and upcoming surprises in this enchanting interview with Elina and Alex.

1. Congratulations on the upcoming release of "Myths of Fate"! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the album and how it continues the band's journey in the symphonic metal universe? 

Elina: As the title of the album already hints, this album is about magical and mystical topics. The Last Viking was a concept album and included a lot of battles and sagas connected to the life of Harald Hardrada, so with this album we wanted to concentrate on slightly different side of the Norse mythology such as Goddesses, magical creatures and myths.

2. The first single, "Realm of Dark Waves," has a captivating medieval theme. How did the concept for this song come about, and how does it fit into the larger narrative of the album?

Alex: Well, “Realm of Dark Waves” is actually our second single. The first single was “Forged by Fire” which was released already last year in december and we made a videoclip with fantastic film sets with historical background and a horde of Viking warriors. “Realm of Dark Waves” tells the story of Ran the goddess of the sea in Norse Mythology. A very special character as she is taking drowned seamen to her realm under the ocean and turning them into water spirits. It's just a perfect topic for the “Myths of Fate” album and does represent the atmosphere of the album very well!

3. Leaves' Eyes has been known for incorporating diverse musical elements. In "Myths of Fate," how did you approach merging traditional metal genres with folk, gothic, and classical music to create a captivating sonic masterpiece? 

Elina: It’s always a challenging yet exciting process to combine all the elements in the songs. Leaves' Eyes is known for the organic and natural instruments which are also used on this album. There are also more rock oriented songs, but in these we also combined the sound of an orchestra which is a very interesting combination. There has to be a reason and room for every instrument, so every song has its own atmosphere and at the end the songs still create a whole that's unified but varied.

4. The band has a rich history of exploring Norse and Eastern European mythology in your lyrical concepts. Can you share some insights into the themes and stories we can expect to encounter on "Myths of Fate"?

Alex: Norse mythology has been a great source for our music as well as powerful nature, the ocean, great landscapes and epic sagas. This is fitting perfectly to our sound and the listener can always experience a musical adventure with Leaves' Eyes music. I don't want to spoil too much, but we have great topics just like in the our first single “Forged by Fire” about the magic sword Tyrfing or the more mystical song “Elder Spirit” about the spiritual side of Norse mythology. We also included a song connected to Slavic mythology “Sons of Triglav” where we have guests from the Polish Viking and Slavic re-enactment group Triglav. So a lot to explore on the new album.

5. "Myths of Fate" marks the band's 20th year of existence. How has Leaves' Eyes evolved over the years, and what do you believe sets this album apart from your previous works?

Alex: Unbelievable, it's been already two decades with Leaves' Eyes. This sounds almost surreal! And this whole journey feels like being on a Viking ship going through a lot of adventures, sailing through storms and wind and discovering new horizons in music and art. I'm very grateful to our fans for joinung us on this amazing ride. On the new album we have some really exciting songs and we brought in some really epic and fresh ideas. Also the cooperation with Jonah Weingarten who contributed with his great orchestrations and gives the songs a cinematic touch. Elina's vocals are just outstanding on “Myths of Fate”! 

6. The music video for "Realm of Dark Waves" was filmed in impressive locations in Iceland, Germany, and Poland. How did the choice of these locations contribute to visually representing the myths explored in the song and the album?

Alex: Like mentioned before the song “Realm of Dark Waves” is about Ran, the Norse goddess of the sea. So it was a perfect sorrounding to film at these breathtaking landscapes close to the sea in Iceland. We got great help from our friends Egill and Daniel from there. I know Egill from the Viking scene. And stay tuned, there is more to come! We could also film some great scenes over here in Germany with a great film set and actors which was awesome, too!

7. You've produced five music videos for this album. Can you talk about the creative process behind translating the album's themes into visual storytelling, especially considering the magical creatures and enchanting warrior queens mentioned in the press release? 

Elina: Since the songs have such visual and exciting topics, it was actually quite easy to come up with a lot of visual ideas. However, then everything needs to be streamlined and the videos need a specific idea/storyline. Otherwise it can become a mess of too many ideas. We had the opportunity to have some incredible locations for these videos, so it was a privilege to create the stories using these breathtaking sceneries. We also had some great actors and people to co-operate with and the results really speak for themselves. 

Alex: For me also being the director and man behind the camera it's a great opportunity to virtualize some great ideas I had in mind when writing the lyrics of the album. I do really like story telling in music and video which has big meaning to me personally. People told me the videos are like little short movies. Well, that's actually true, haha. We put a lot of effort into the videos and it's fantastic to see the amazing feedbacks of our fans! 

8. Leaves' Eyes has always been known for breath-taking live performances. How do you plan to incorporate the new songs into your live shows, and can fans expect any surprises during the upcoming tour in support of "Myths of Fate”? 

Elina: When there’s a suitable venue and setting for special shows (like Wacken, Metal Female Voices Festival etc.) it’s always great to be able to bring a lot of elements on stage. During a long tour this might not be possible, but I believe that the music itself already paints a very strong visual, takes people to a whole other world so to say. The new songs will work perfectly live and we will see what surprises we can come up with for our tour!

9. The band has a strong connection with Viking re-enactment groups, as showcased in the documentary film "Viking Spirit." How does this connection influence your approach to both music and visuals, and how has it contributed to the overall Leaves' Eyes experience?

Alex: The Viking re-enactment scene is amazing. I'm member of Jomsborg which is the biggest Viking group world wide. And as I go to trainings and events regularly I know a lot of the people sharing their passion Viking Lifestyle and history. And of course we also talk about the band, concerts and our ambitious projects like music videos or our Viking workshops. With our Leaves' Eyes Viking Crew we have also people directly involved into Leaves' Eyes activities from over 24 countries and our head of the Leaves' Eyes Viking Crew Sebastian Wilms is doing a great job just like at Wacken where invaded the stage with almost 20 Vikings.

10. With the album releasing on March 22, 2024, what emotions or messages do you hope listeners take away from "Myths of Fate" after experiencing the entire album? 

Elina: This album was a true co-operation, where everyone again gave their 100% to get the best result possible. For me personally, this is the most challenging and varied album I’ve recorded and I’m incredibly proud of it! It’s a little bit different in many ways, musically, vocally and yet still sounding like Leaves’ Eyes. I hope people will love the variety of the songs, catchy melodies, heaviness, fragility and enchanting stories!

11. Can you share some memorable moments or challenges faced during the recording process of "Myths of Fate," and how did the band overcome them? 

Elina: For me the whole process of making this album was quite different as I was involved at every stage a lot more this time. It was completely incredible journey and really forced me to dig deep vocally as well. There were moments where I thought I was pushing my limits, but that’s exactly what creates something great! We had to overcome some illnesses which postponed things a bit, but all in all everything went according the plans.

12. Looking beyond the album release, what are the band's aspirations and plans for the future? Are there any new directions or collaborations you'd like to explore in the coming years?

Alex: First of all the new year starts with a bang as we will join the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise and presenting also new material of “Myths of fate” onboard! After the cruise we will finally go back on tour across Europe! We have great support acts with us, Nothtale, Metalite and Catalyst Crime which I'm also the producer of. So the live on stage experience is now in focus but of course we always have new ideas in mind. We hope to play some more Special Viking shows, too. So let's see where our next adventure leads us to. See you on the road!

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