WOLFCHANT (Eng.)

– Hello and thanks for your time. First off and with your new album between your hands, what’s the band currently up to?
Nortwin: Hi there! We are currently enjoying the feedback for the new album and of course we are looking forward for the next shows to present several of the new songs live to our fans.

– And how has been the feedback for «Call of the Black Winds» so far»?
Notwin: Mostly great. The peoples attention for Wolfchant  seems to be increased by the new album, which is of course very enjoyable for us.

– When I listened to the album I thought it was «happier» than your previous works. Is there any concrete reason for this? Does your life affect in any way to your sound or mode while composing?
Notwin: Yes, Determined Damnation has a maybe darker atmosphere compared to the new stuff. Anyway for Call Of The Black Winds it seemd to be the right way to return to a more catchy approach. I wouldn’t call it happier but maybe more anthemic.

– It’s also quite varied, and that’s one of the things that caught my attention since the very first moment. Did you set any aims to get with this album before starting to work on it?
Nortwin: The songs were written over a longer period. So basically every song developed it’s own atmosphere over the time, which I think is important and it unmderlines the impression that the album is like you call it varied. Due to the fact that I was contributing several of the the lyrics and clean vocal lines, from the beginning on we did not know exactly what the result will be in the end. It was very exciting for all of us to find it out.

– Maybe due to this variety in your sound, do you think you will open to a broader audience?
Nortwin: It’s not so easy to answer, as it is always a risk to change some fundamental elements in the style in a band. Here for example having a bigger part of clean vocals might  scare off some of the older puristic fans of Wolfchant, but on the other side it can of course also bring a lot of new listeners who didn’t pay attention to Wolfchant up to now. Time will tell us in the end.

– For example, beside the overall Power Metal influence, I also noticed some Death, Black, etc. elements. So that makes my wonder what are your influences? Have you been listening lately to something new that has influenced you too?
Nortwin: I think it’s simply a question of writing songs with less genre barriers. There is a strong interest in the band to develop something new and not to repeat everything over and over again. The second point is, that every member brings some individual musical backround in the band which maybe influences our songwriting now more than it did before.

– «Call of the Black Winds» sounds more mature than «Determined Damnation». Though have passed just a few years since it’s release, how do you see your evolution since then?
Nortwin: I think it’s quite normal to reach more matureness with each new output. This is on one hand the increase level of experience and on the other hand the strong will to improve and to go come further.     

– Production is also a highlight this time, it sounds quite powerful. How has been woking with Markus Stock? Are you happy with the result achieved?
Nortwin: Of course we are very happy. In the end it was the perfect constellation to work with Markus. We expected it to sound great from the beginning because of his great reputation. However, by the end – yes, we are really happy with the result.

– I read several times where did your name come from but, could you please explain it to all our readers who don’t know it yet?
Nortwin: I’ll try to explain it in the short version. Lokhi lived close to a big national park. During the night he often heared the howls of the wolves from the wolf bawn. It seems that it was a good inspiration to him to hear those nighly chants when he couldn’t fall asleep. The name Wolfchant was born.

– And how could you say it’s connected to your style and some of your lyrics?
Nortwin: There is a clear focus on nature related lyrics, so wolves fit well in this context. Our music is rough but also folkish melodic and sometimes melancholic. The name Wolfchant is just the perfect description in my point of view.

– I said some of your lyrics because not all of them fit with pagan subjects. Could you explain us some of the themes they deal with this time?
Nortwin: Speaking of this album several of the topics can be carried to this time as well as to past times. Eremit is about the despair for civilization, religion, and society and mankind. True enlightenment can be only found in solitude and in accord with nature. The title track is about the fact that mankind interferes the balances of nature and we have to face more and more natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes ect. Mankind is like a discord in beautiful song.

– An example of this could be «The Last Farewell». What can you explain us about this song and it’s lyrics?
Nortwin: It’s a very personal song  about the loss of loved ones. Lokhi wrote the lyrics in memory of his grant parents.

– Almost one year ago Daerrmorh left the band. Did his departure the band you in any way?
Lokhi: Derrmorh was a very good guitar player and good friend but he wasn’t really involved in the songwriting process. So it was not a huge cut in the wolfchant sound.

– His replacement was found in guitar player Ragnar, and your this brand new «Call of the Black Winds» is your very first album featuring him. What has Ragnar brought new to the band?
Lokhi: We know Ragnar since 3 years because he plays also in a band named Nothgard and we met very often. So we asked him after Dermmorh’s decision to go to the states to replace him. He agreed immediately. Ragnar was not ivolved in the songwriting because as he entered the band the songs was
Already finished. But he played the Solo in EREMIT.

– Another trademark of your sound is the vocal variety, of course thanks to having two different voices. How positive is this for WOLFCHANT?
Lokhi: We tried that the first time on the last album Determined Damnation. Also Nortwin made the clean vocals for some songs. The fans loved it and specially the live show increased in power cause of the two fronted vocals. We felt that this has to be the future for all the Wolfchant songs and so we started the songwriting for call of the black winds with two vocal lines in mind. I think this style will make the Wolfchant sound very special and we are really happy about that fact.

– You’re the founder of the Walpurgis Metal Days. What can you advance us about the upcoming edition of the festival? Any more confirmations to be announced?
Lokhi: Unfortunaly we left the Festival organisation team because of time problems. But please take a look on www.walpurgismetal.de to find all the news about this great unique festival.

– And, finally, what can we expect from WOLFCHANT in the near-future?
Lokhi: We will make a Re-Release of our first album “Bloody Tales of disgraced lands” in the middle of this year. We will make new recordings of the complete material in the new style, means with two vocal lines. Markus Stock from Studio E again will make the Mix and Mastering of this album. Further you can see us on many festival shows and club gigs. You can find all information on www.wolfchant.de.

– That has been all. If you want to add any last thoughts, feel free to do it.
Nortwin: Cheers to all friends and fans! And all the others please check out Call Of The Black Winds..
Lokhi: Thank you Tanja and Queensofsteel for the interview. Thank you to all your readers for raeding it. See you on Tour!