Symphonic metallers LYCANIA came back in 2023 with their anticipated debut full-length album My Kingdom Come, which received high praise from fans and critics alike. Rock Out Stand Out’s Lotty Whittingham spoke to lead vocalist Sarah Gorzelitz and keyboardist Peter Lenz about the album, their sound, and mental health. Here is what happened.
For those who haven’t heard Lycania before, how would you describe your sound?
Sarah: I think that’s a question mainly for Peter! [laughs]
Peter: If you say so! We’re a symphonic metal band. We’re kind of old-school-ish, so old Nightwish is a good starting point for our sound, but then also we’re taking inspirations from all over the place.
I was going to touch upon influences. I hear a lot of Epica in the music as well; no complaints from me.
Peter: Yes. I really enjoy odd time signatures and that sort of stuff. That’s a thing I picked up from Epica for sure.
I can tell from ‘The Lone Poet’s Ballad’ that you do.
Peter: That was one of the first songs I wrote for the band. For that one, I was thinking: how far off can I go, and how far can I challenge my musicians? It worked.
If my research is correct, you two are part of the original line-up?
Peter: Yes, the band started with the two of us and our guitarist Julian [Körner Schuchardt]. We started out as friends making music together, covering a bunch of old Nightwish and Visions Of Atlantis, before rebranding.
You have your debut album My Kingdom Come, which is a great album. Before that was your debut EP My Empty Page. Were there songs from My Empty Page that were remastered for My Kingdom Come, or was it all brand new material?
Sarah: The songs that are on My Empty Page are all on the album as well, but they are entirely re-recorded. So it’s not only remastered, but it has been re-recorded with the new line-up and in way better recording circumstances as well.
The songs have not been written recently; most of them at least haven’t. I think we started writing ‘The Lone Poet’s Ballad’ in 2010; it took us a long time to get to a point where we felt comfortable and also financially able to tackle a full-length release. We took the time to dwell on the songs and hopefully make them the best version they could be. Most of it was a long time in the making.
Of course we had COVID. It made me wonder whether October 2023 was the intended release date, as I know lots of bands pushed back their release dates due to COVID.
Sarah: Fortunately, we weren’t really affected by that as we started recording after most of COVID was through already. So that was pretty much as intended. Of course, we would have liked to release it way earlier, before COVID, but there wasn’t a chance to. So it was pretty much on schedule.
Which of the tracks on My Kingdom Come was the most challenging to put together?
Peter: All the songs are challenging in their own way, but for me personally, I think ‘Standing on the Edge’ was difficult to record in some places. Arrangement-wise I had trouble with ‘Majesty of Madness’ and ‘Lust for a Tale’, because those two are the ones that stand out the most. All of the others are typical Lycania songs and those two are a bit out of my personal comfort zone. I am really happy with how they turned out, but especially orchestration-wise, those were the most challenging for me.
There are two very different vocal styles. Do you already have in mind which track is going to have what vocal style, or is it a case of trying them out in the studio and seeing what works?
Peter: We usually start with the lyrics and with the concept of the song, so this is Sarah’s topic; but when I start writing the songs, there are already lyrics finished and we know what vocal style is going where.
Sarah: Exactly; although we did make a bit of a change to ‘Lust for a Tale’ in the recording process, because all of the clean vocal tracks were supposed to have been done by me. Then Peter came up with the idea of letting him record the clean vocal tracks for the chorus, and we’d decide whether to keep it in the track or not, and we did. So there is always a bit of space for experimenting in case someone comes up with something.
In terms of playing and experimenting with the songs, was there anything you decided to try out at the last minute before the track went off for mixing?
Peter: Only very minor details.
Sarah: I remember one line I did in the very beginning for ‘As Beauty There in Shackles Lies’. We were trying to get a good recording and then I realised I couldn’t make it as powerful as everyone wanted me to, as it was too low. I think we changed one note to go upwards so that I could put a bit more emotion into it, but that’s how things were. There were only minor things that we noticed in the recording process that would be better if we changed them a little bit.
Peter: There is a one-beat rest at the end of ‘Majesty of Madness’ which we thought sounded cool. We cut out everything that was recorded for that so the rest was there.
Vocally, who are your main influences?
Sarah: I started out listening to Anette [Olzon]-era Nightwish. I absolutely hated operatic vocals at first and then over some time they grew on me; I then got to a point where I found myself wanting to sing like that. Tarja [Turunen] was the one for me and I wanted to sound exactly like her for a few years. I took lessons in classical singing, and then of course Floor [Jansen] came along; I thought it would be very cool to broaden my horizons on that.
Adrienne Cowan from Seven Spires also helped me broaden my horizons and to look for something completely different. I’ve been trying to incorporate these things into my singing and Adrienne also got me into growling, something that is not on this album but might be on the next one.
One of the things that Rock Out Stand Out does is to continue to spread awareness around mental health and speaking about your wellbeing. What are the most important lessons you have both learnt about your mental wellbeing and looking after it?
Peter: First of all, I think it’s very important to talk about these things, so thank you for your work with Rock Out Stand Out. Usually, I am functioning. It’s important to talk about stuff when you’re not well, particularly if I can’t do my job as well as I can usually, so I communicate that clearly. Have trusted people who will listen.
Sarah: There are a lot of lessons for me at the moment as I am just returning to work after a major burnout. I am actually in the process of restructuring my entire life to adapt to that and for the burnout to not happen again hopefully. It sounds so easy to not do as much as I did; people around me have been telling me for a long time that I need to slow down and not stress about my job as much.
I am a teacher. I started working in the job five years ago, and since then I have been at 100% constantly; and I’d think I would need to work this much all the time. It wasn’t a time problem either, as I was thinking I had all this time off and it’s okay – but it’s not, as I am working all the time.
In my mind, there was a problem. Even when I forced myself to take a break and not be at the desk, my mind was still at work and I couldn’t disconnect from that. I thought I was fine as I was taking breaks and I was going out; I tried to do everything that everyone told me, but it didn’t work. There came a point where my body decided this wasn’t working, and I had to go to several doctors and have several stays at the hospital – all this to try and find out what was wrong – until I discovered that nothing was physically wrong. This was in November last year, and I have only just started work again. I was completely out of action for half a year; I am doing behavioural therapy at the moment and I think that’s so important.
It’s definitely something I have learnt, because before I thought, “Yeah, people need therapy, but I don’t – I know how I work,” and that’s turned around 180 degrees. That is a huge lesson I have learnt about my wellbeing.
I know what you mean; I have been in and out of therapy over the last few years. I don’t know whether you’ll agree with me on this, but I noticed a lot of us don’t know when we are struggling mentally.
Sarah: Yes, definitely. I knew I was stressed, but I saw my regular doctor who advised me to reduce stress, and I asked how as work wasn’t going to slow down. Now I am learning I can do that much but not be switched on 24/7. I didn’t realise that was the problem, and I didn’t know how I could solve that. Therapy really helped with that. That’s a lesson I have learnt about my wellbeing and am still learning.
Is there anything we can do more of, so people feel more comfortable to reach out?
Sarah: That’s a really difficult topic, as a lot of people reached out to me and I dismissed them [by saying], “You’re not in my situation; you don’t know what being a teacher is like.” People told me that I needed to reduce stress, and I felt mocked by that because I wanted to be told how. So it’s really difficult, because I now appreciate that everyone was looking out for me and I was saying, “Sorry, that’s too much; I can’t do it; it’s not sustainable.” In that situation, I completely dismissed it and I’ve been telling people I am really sorry about that.
It’s difficult, as I think you should reach out and say what you’re seeing, but it can also be really hard on the people reaching out as well; especially if they feel they are not heard, or dismissed like I did to them, and I think the key factor is the person themselves realising that something needs changing. The support is golden – of course you need that – but you first need to realise that something is wrong.
Peter: In general, listening helps a lot. Listen to your loved ones and be honest to yourself and to others. That’s general life advice.
Is there anything you like to do to relax and unwind?
Peter: I like listening to music. I recently got myself a garden table so my garden is nice now. So I like to sit somewhere and listen to an album.
Sarah: I used to lie down in bed and watch YouTube until I fell asleep. I am trying to get out of that habit as I have noticed that doesn’t give me back energy; it makes things worse.
What I am doing a lot on those bad days is to take a shower and to do some self-care, even when it’s hard to do in the moment; especially when I have had a bad day where I just want to collapse onto the sofa. I now try to make it a task to be active, like going for a walk; even when it’s difficult, I feel better after doing it.
Who would you take on a quest with you alongside your band members?
Peter: I would probably pick someone who has life experience in general and knows how to get out of difficult situations. So I would say Indiana Jones; he would be a good companion.
Sarah: I would go with a rather unimaginative answer and go for Gandalf. I always feel soothed when there is someone way wiser than me whom I can rely on for judgement.
Do you have a message for LYCANIA fans and our readers?
Peter: Check out our music, I hear it’s really good! [laughs] Also, be honest to each other and talk to each other.
Sarah: Look after yourselves as well.
You can find LYCANIA on Facebook and their latest album My Kingdom Come on BandCamp.
