Austrian symphonic metal band Edenbridge are set to release their twelfth studio album entitled Set The Dark on Fire on January 16th. Edenbridge’s vocalist Sabine Edelsbacher and guitarist Arne “Lanvall” Stockhammer spoke with Metal Express Radio about their upcoming album, their upcoming European tour with Flyleaf, the longevity of Edenbridge, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Edenbridge are set to release their twelfth studio album entitled Set The Dark on Fire on January 16th, what can you tell fans about the upcoming release?
Edelsbacher: We live in a time where collective shadows are becoming visible, and we welcome this with our album. Only what comes to light can be seen, recognized, and consequently changed by everyone. On our current album, we explore the dark, or rather, what often lies in the dark, meaning what is hidden. We’re not only concerned with what is traditionally seen as “threatening” or “evil,” but also with the unconscious, including our shadow sides, and above all with our abilities and inner resources.
It’s important to us to perceive what is truly happening around us. We’re convinced that constructive change can arise when you observe what’s going on around you without becoming too emotionally entangled in things you cannot directly influence. Only in this way does the mind remain clear and our strength is preserved to grow from within and to make the right decisions individually.
Many people know the feeling of powerlessness. We experience this partly because we are not always aware of our own creative power, i.e. our creativity and creative possibilities. When our inner connection weakens, we feel more easily influenced or discouraged. Conversely, trust arises where people feel safe, and with trust comes the courage to take responsibility for their own lives in order to “enliven” them or to say NO.
On all of our albums we therefore describe a personal development path, which for us is a central part of collective change. Music that touches and strengthens you emotionally can help you find your own strength and take action where we can actually make a difference. Anyone who knows our previous texts probably knows that we are not advocating an escape to Cloud 9. We’re more interested in how you can keep both feet on the ground and still grow internally.
At the same time, we are aware that every person has an individual view of the world, shaped by culture, experiences and their own history. Our texts are often written in metaphors because the poetic sounds nicer and leaves out the raised finger.
Currently, a lot of things that have been running in the background for a long time are just becoming more visible. For us, this feels like a time of clarification.
MER: How was the writing and recording process for your twelfth album?
Lanvall: I was writing a lot of low tuned riffs for this album on the 7-string guitar. Our standard tuning is in Bb, so even a half step lower and these riffs had a lot of drive and set the foundation for many of the songs. It is only logical that the overall sound tends to go into a heavier direction then. The important aspect is already rooted in the arrangement process. All of these elements need space and therefore not everything can always happen at once.
A fat riff will only seem fat if it isn’t covered up by a number of other instruments. If you want to focus on cinematic orchestral parts, the guitars also have to take a step back. Karl Groom then took our sound to another level. When it comes to mixing, it’s often really a matter of millimeter detail work to determine how a part appears. Since we have been working with 7-strings for more than 15 years, the goal was to force that Dream Theater-like Mesa Boogie rhythm sound in the lower midrange.
The bass also has a lot more distortion and this makes the guitars seem heavier. When I work on the mix with Karl, there are no egos involved, it just helps a lot to achieve the best possible result. Just last week Karl wrote to me saying how proud he is to be part of this production and I am proud that we have been a team for 20 years.
MER: How would you compare Set The Dark on Fire to your other albums?
Lanvall: I think it is certainly heavier than our previous ones and I always try to explore new musical territories with every release. Of course, by keeping our musical trademarks.
MER: You’ve released three songs from Set The Dark on Fire, do you feel those two songs give the fans an idea of what to expect from the full album?
Lanvall: The singles are what they are meant to be and the catchier side of Edenbridge, but if you want to explore the full bandwidth of our sound you need to listen to the whole album.
MER: You’ll soon be touring Europe with Flowerleaf and Miracle Flair, what are your expectations on the upcoming tour?
Lanvall: We had tremendous fun on our last two headline tours. Both of our supports seem to be great guys and gals, so I am sure we will have a good tour together. Musically we will have a great setlist covering all the diversity of our sound, so we are looking forward to it.
MER: What do you see as plans for Edenbridge after the European tour?
Lanvall: Nothing is confirmed yet, but we are working on some exciting plans. We also inked a deal with the Japanese major label King Records, the album will simultaneously be released there, so hopefully we can also tour there, if not 26 then 27.
MER: Is there anyone that you hope to tour with that you haven’t yet and why?
Lanvall: Not anyone particularly. Of course, it would help to raise our status touring with the big names in our genre.
MER: Is there anywhere you hope to play live that you haven’t yet and why?
Lanvall: As just mentioned definitely Japan. We had quite a lot of tours in Asia (Korea 2x, China 2x, Taiwan, Indonesia and Vietnam), so it would be time now for Japan.
MER: Is there anywhere that’s been your favorite place to play live and why?
Lanvall: There are many. One of the greatest shows we ever had concerning the hearty atmosphere was in Moscow in 2004. Sabine and I had goosebumps simultaneously. Korea was always great too. And the 70000 Tons of Metal festival in the Caribbean is always great fun to play.
MER: Edenbridge has been a band for almost thirty years, what has been the key to the band’s longevity?
Lanvall: First of all, it is the music itself that keeps us going and that we never stood still and always moved forward. If I repeated myself over and over again with the same kind of songs and music we would surely not exist anymore because I would have died of boredom.
Edelsbacher: We started with a new genre, Angelic Bombast Metal. We located ourselves there because it was difficult to categorize ourselves. It described the powerful as well as the melodic and the mystical – characterized by the lyrics and my bright voice. You shouldn’t forget that Edenbridge emerged from a previous project where I was the singer back in 1996. With our debut album we fell into a time where Female Fronted Metal was suddenly declared a style.
As a result, all bands with women at the microphone were lumped together and compared with each other. However, there was no differentiation between what was actually happening musically, which was a shame. It wasn’t easy for us to define ourselves because we didn’t want to be lumped together. At some point we accepted it, especially since the feedback from the fans was more important to us and we always followed our intuition to continue on the chosen path undeterred.
Looking back, we went from being heavenly bright to becoming more earthy with each album and still retained our trademarks. Edenbridge – a mix of symphonic, quite bombastic and heavy, sometimes ballad-like, with a dash of progressiveness, sometimes doomy.
MER: Out of Edenbridge’s twelve albums, what is one you would suggest to a new fan and why?
Lanvall: For sure the new one Set The Dark On Fire because it represents where and who we are in 2026. For the important albums in our career besides the new one, I would mention our debut Sunrise in Eden, because it brought us from zero to 100. Shine because it offered a lot of new elements, MyEarthDream, which was the first one with a real orchestra and The Bonding cause it was a healing album for me after a difficult period in life.
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