Three years ago, the EP “Everflame” was released. In September of this year, the debut album “Obscura” followed. Immediately after the release of the EP, I was also able to interview Gallia.
We grew into the genre, mainly because it’s a common interest of the band members.
That was the answer to my question why the musicians have dedicated themselves to symphonic metal. This continued now on the debut. Reason enough to ask again.
Hi, I’m Rainer and I write for Metalheads Forever Magazine. How are you today?
Hi, we’re doing great, thank you!
How did the COVID 19 epidemic influence the work on your debut album?
It actually gave us some breathing room to get into the writing process. All distractions fell away, no shows on the schedule and life stood still for a moment. That allowed us to create something without time pressure but make the album the very best it could be.
Three years ago, I already interviewed you once. There were still five of you then. In the meantime, you are only a quartet. And you have a new member at the battery. What happened in the meantime?
Our previous drummer and rhythm guitarist had other priorities in life come up, as sometimes happens. We parted as good friends and wish them the best of luck. Ties joined as our new drummer, and we’re very grateful to have him on board. He’s insanely talented on the drums and has amazing ideas in the songwriting process. Yannick wrote both rhythm and lead guitar parts for the album, recorded both and during shows he plays lead guitar. So we haven’t felt the need to fill that spot in our band.
Regarding the quote mentioned at the beginning, has the growing into the genre continued? How have you developed musically as a band?
I feel “Obscura” made us evolve even further in the symphonic metal genre, and even exceed it. We now call our music Cinematic Metal. The orchestration now reaches movie-soundtrack proportions, creating a cinematic experience. We’re also all big movie-lovers, which I think you can really hear in this album.
We’ve also all pushed our own limits on this album, reached new levels and grew as musicians. I hope we can continue this trend in future releases!
How do “Everflame” and “Obscura” differ?
In “Everflame”, we were still very much searching for our sound and definition as a band, which I think we really solidified in Obscura. “Everflame” laid a steady foundation, opened doors that allowed us to continue the path of Gallia, but “Obscura” is where we reach our full potential and really show the world what we’re capable of. “Everflame” is our origin story, but “Obscura” is where the real adventure begins.
In the interview you said “…but we’re confident that we can do even better in the future”. Have you managed to do that?
I think we did better in EVERY aspect! The songwriting is so intricate and elaborate that you hear new things every time you listen. The lyrics of each song stand on their own, but once woven into the album, create a fantasy story. The production quality of “Obscura” is so much better, because we went from home studio to professional recording studio. Even the artwork and CD quality is better this time round!
Are you happy with the result?
We are all extremely proud of this album, and we hope the audience feels the amount of love and work that went into creating this.
What were the reactions of the press and especially of the fans?
Absolutely incredible. Friends, family and fans have been thrilled with the result, and the reviews of blogs and magazines are praising the album. We can tell by the amount of views and streams that people are really falling in love with “Obscura”.
You produced “Obscura” again without the support of a label. Isn’t that difficult for a small band?
Very difficult! We had to run a Kickstarter campaign in March to raise money for the recording studio. Managing everything ourselves, from social media to sending out merch, from booking shows to managing the website… it takes a lot of time, energy and especially money. It also gives a lot of creative freedom – so that’s the upside! But support from a label would be very welcome as we continue to grow ?
Thank you again for this interview. Would you like to say something to the fans at the end?
Thank you so much for your love and support! We’re not done spreading the “Obscura” awesomeness! In the week of 10 October, we’ll be releasing our brand-new music video for “Chaos”. We’re also finishing up a fantasy book that we wrote with the story behind Obscura, every song on the album translates to a chapter of the book. So, look out for that!
Gallia are:
Laurens Vandebroek – Bass
Yannick Maris – Lead Guitars
Elyn Vandenwyngaert – Vocals
Ties Jehoul – Drums
Discography:
Everflame – EP, 2019
Cast It All Away – Single, 2020
Once Upon A December – Single, 2020
Obscura – Album, 2022
Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GalliaOfficial/
Website: https://www.officialgallia.com/
Bandcamp: https://gallia.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialgallia/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0rJw0LfdpBVtX7df9gVveT
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCop-BG8ucCJsVUsaXkWwlAw
