Lanvall, founder, composer and multi-instrumentalist for Linz, Austria-based metal act EDENBRIDGE, is featured in a new interview with Sonic Cathedral. He discusses the band's new album The Bonding, the staggering personal losses that shaped the album, working with Erik Martensson (ECLIPSE), and much more. An excerpt follows:

Q: I understand that The Bonding was born out of a period of profound loss for both you and Sabine - the suicide of your father, the death of her grandmother, and the loss of others who were beloved. So, what is this album? Is it a form of healing, a memorial, or a statement of faith... not necessarily in a religious sense, but in an ideological sense?

Q: "The interesting thing is that I already had the title The Bonding when not even our last album Solitaire was released, so this was around 2010. This title came to my mind, and I knew that the following album of Solitaire must be called The Bonding. So somehow, it all became sense when all those tragic losses happened around us, and of course, the lyrics were influenced by those losses. So, four songs - 'Death Is Not The End', 'Star-Crossed Dreamer', 'Shadows Of My Memory' and 'Into A Sea Of Souls' - are directly connected to my father. Sabine also recorded 'Death Is Not The End' in the memory of her grandma, who died on her birthday last year.

"The lyrics were a big healing process and also a big process to work this pain and the grief and also the anger off; therefore, it was a very important process for the whole album. In the title track, 'The Bonding', it deals with the universal energy, which is surrounding us... where we’re coming from, and where we’re going back to. Because it was pretty clear from the start that it was going to be a duet between Sabine and a male singer - in our case, Erik Martensson from the Swedish bands Eclipse and W.E.T. - I wanted to bring these thematics of The Bonding into a kind of conversation between a universal energy (embodied by Sabine) and a disbeliever (embodied by Erik), who is only believing what he can see and what he can touch. I think this was a very nice method to underline this whole thematics."

Q: Do you believe that death is not the end, Lanvall?

A: "Absolutely, absolutely. I already felt it; I could feel the energy of my father after his death. Normally, when you go to a funeral... or in our case, the cremation hall... you think you are filled with total sadness. But standing in front of the coffin, this energy went like a stream through my body. It was really something I wouldn’t expect, and I could feel this energy also later on. So, I simply believe that our bodies are only a mortal cover. Also, when we found our father, we found him after two days. It is not a secret that the body is totally cold after, because all the energy is gone. Yeah, this was a very sad process on the one hand, but also a very relieving process because many things became clear to me."

Go here for the complete interview.

Edenbridge have released the first video, 'Alight A New Tomorrow', from their new album, The Bonding.

The Bonding is out on June 21st in Germany, June 24th in Europe and in the US/Canada on July 2nd as limited edition ecol book with a different cover incl. bonus CD, double coloured LP, standard version and download via SPV/Steamhammer.

The standard album artwork can be seen below:

The Bonding tracklisting:

'Mystic River'

'Alight A New Tomorrow'

'Star-Crossed Dreamer'

'The Invisible Force'

'Into A Sea Of Souls'

'Far Out Of Reach'

'Shadows Of My Memory'

'Death Is Not The End'

'The Bonding'

Alternative album artwork:

It’s now more than a decade since Edenbridge first created a stir with the launch of their debut Sunrise In Eden back in 2000. What presented itself as a young but already immensely talented band has evolved into one of the genre’s most independent acts. Their latest album The Bonding sees the group from Austria underline their exceptional status in melodic metal and puts an end to their creative hiatus of almost three difficult years.

“We had to come to terms with a number of personal setbacks, which is why the production of the album took longer than originally scheduled,” explains Lanvall, who among other things suffered the loss of his father due to suicide. In addition, Edenbridge underwent an unexpected line-up change: bassist Simon Holzknecht had to be replaced by Wolfgang Rothbauer (DISBELIEF, ZOMBIE INC.).

Yet the band’s great compositional qualities, the amazing voice of singer Sabine Edelsbacher and Edenbridge’s unconditional determination to not only validate, but to surpass the undisputable strengths of each predecessor album are omnipresent.

“The initial ideas were developed as early as 2010, immediately after the release of Solitaire, but due to our private trials and tribulations it took us until autumn 2012 to conclude the recordings for our new album,” Lanvall looks back at taxing months marked by one ambitious goal: to complement the new album by a real orchestra in order to support the material’s symphonic direction. “Our style has always had an unmistakably symphonic quality,” says Lanvall, “so the only question was: how do we finance a big orchestra?”

At this point, outside help arrived, in the form of support from fans and sponsors. Thanks to a major joint effort, the band succeeded in bringing to the studio the Klangvereinigung Orchestra of Vienna under the direction of Georg Luksch to cap the atmospheric and at the same time dynamic songs on The Bonding.

Lanvall: “When it had been confirmed that the Klangvereinigung Orchestra would come to the studio, I concentrated on writing scores for our songs, so we were able to integrate these additional elements more concisely than ever before. Of course it would be a mistake to drown our songs, which also feature guitar riffs, choirs and rhythmic details, in orchestra sounds. It was all about positioning the orchestra in a way that would create an additional dynamic level. I think we’ve succeeded in doing just that on The Bonding.”

Another outstanding feature is Sabine Edelsbacher’s voice, whose warm, pleasantly melancholy timbre refines every Edenbridge track. “I’ve worked very hard on my voice in recent years to intensify not only expression and power, but also clarity and nuances,” she explains. “It’s very important for me to devote myself totally to my music, to be able to immerse myself 100% in every song.”

Which is probably one of the reasons why The Bonding has turned into the band’s most haunting and ambitioned album so far, including truly impressive numbers such as ‘Mystic River’, ‘Alight A New Tomorrow’, ‘Shadows Of My Memory’ and – more or less as the grand finale – the 15-minute title track, a memorable duet by Sabine Edelsbacher and Erik Martensson (WET, ECLIPSE).

Lanvall: “This song is the culmination of the album’s general theme, which is about universal energy, about birth and growth, about memories and reflection.” In line with this, Edenbridge also present two different sets of cover artwork for the Digipak and jewel case editions, both related but unique in terms of their design. In other words: orchestra, renowned guest vocalists and fascinating themes included, The Bonding is an exceptional release in every respect and a real must-hear.

Watch an album trailer below:

Edenbridge lineup:

Sabine Edelsbacher - Lead Vocals

Lanvall - Lead, Rhythm & Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Keyboards & Piano, Kacapi

Max Pointner - Drums

Dominik Sebastian - Lead & Rhythm Guitars

Wolfgang Rothbauer - Bass, Grunts On 'Shadows Of My Memory'

More on Edenbridge at this location.