Rockezine.com interview with Zandelle on Dec 07, 2002

with George Tsalikis on Dec 07, 2002


		First of all congratulations with your new album "Twilight On Humanity", it is an absolute true metal masterpiece! Thank you very much. That means a lot.
		Until recently Zandelle was totally unknown to me, could you tell us a bit about the history of the band? The band was formed back in 1996. It started out as a solo project of mine (George). I simply wanted to record some material I had written. It then began to grow with each passing month and before we knew it, we had a full band and were writing and performing on a regular basis.
		As time progressed, the band got more and more serious. This unfortunately led to us having to replace certain members who were not willing to go to the next level. Finally, after a second independent release, we finalized the line-up of the band and began working on Twilight on Humanity.
		The music on "Twilight On Humanity" reminds of great bands like Helstar and Fates Warning. How would you compare Zandelle to these bands? Like these bands, Zandelle is concerned with good music and not being trendy. We don`t care what the latest style is on MTV or what is going to make us an overnight success. We simply care about putting out music that we feel is great and true to the genre which we love so much. Musically, we like to incorporate melodic vocals and vocal harmonies along with powerful guitar riffs, captivating solos and intense rhythms.
		Although the vocals are traditional power metal, they sound very original. There`s an edge to them that makes them very authentic. What singers have influenced you most and what does it take to become a good singer? The singers that influenced me most are: Bruce Dickenson of Iron Maiden, Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Geoff Tate of Queensryche, Joey Belladonna of Anthrax, Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, and Steve Perry of Journey.
		As far as what it takes to become a good singer, that is simple... practice. Almost anyone can become good at anything as long as they put their mind to it and work hard at perfecting it. In addition however, it also takes a strong desire. You simply have to have the passion for it.
		The name Zandelle doesn`t really sound American in any way, where does it come from; and does it mean anything? "Zandelle" is actually a word I`ve completely made up. About ten years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the game Dungeons & Dragons. For many of you who are familiar with the game, you have to create a character and consequently a name for the character. I named my character, who was an Elven Warrior by the way, Zandelle.
		When I then began my solo project, I needed something to call it. I kind of liked the name I had used for my character so I decided to call it the same thing.
		The lyrics are fictional and fantasy oriented, where do you get your inspiration for them? I actually love the fantasy genre. I read a lot of fantasy books and watch just about every fantasy movie that comes out. I just saw "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" the other day and I thought it totally kicked ass. That genre has always fascinated me and I find it very easy to write lyrics involving those topics.
		Who is your favorite writer and what is your favorite book? My favorite writer is R.A. Salvatore. His books are very captivating. The storylines are complex enough to make it very interesting, however, he does not get too wordy and boring. He writes in such a way as to really make the reader connect with the characters. Also, his fighting scenes are very descriptive which is something I really like.
		It`s hard to narrow it down to one book, so I`ll say that the Icewind Dale trilogy (which consists of "The Crystal Shard", "Streams Of Silver", and "The Halfling`s Gem") is my favorite trilogy.
		Nowadays American metal bands play mostly some form of crossover metal while in Europe bands seem to go back to their roots and heavy metal is once again extremely popular. How do you see the future of Zandelle in the American metal scene? First off let me say that the American bands which play that crossover crap are false metal and they should not be called metal of any kind. There are bands from America that play true metal and to those bands I give credit. Those bands include Iced Earth, Nevermore, Symphony X, Virgin Steele, and Kamelot.
		But for Zandelle in the American metal scene, I really don`t see us doing very well unless the scene actually changes over to True Metal. Fortunately, with bands such as Blind Guardian and Dio having such successful tours in the U.S., perhaps it is a sign for better things to come for Metal.
		There seems to be a very distinct difference between American power metal and European power metal and personally I`m a much bigger fan of American power metal bands. What is your opinion about the power metal scene in general? The Power Metal scene in the U.S. is not very strong at the moment. Bands that are true to the Power Metal genre are not getting the recognition and promotion from the music industry that they deserve. As far as American vs. European Power Metal bands, I really don`t categorize them in that way. I take each band individually when I`m deciding what I like and what I don`t.
		Some of my favorite bands include Iced Earth and Symphony X which are American bands, but also Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian which are European bands. Although I must admit that the majority of the bands I listen to are from Europe. I guess perhaps we want to hear that which is more difficult to reach.
		Which European bands do you like and which American bands? American: Iced Earth Dream Theater Dio Symphony X King Diamond Merciful Fate Wasp European: Blind Guardian Helloween Hammerfall Rhapsody Stratovarius Gamma Ray Edguy
		Many people within the metal scene seem to think that power and heavy metal only recycle old material, yet these people actually have never listened to much more than one or two bands. What do you think of these hypocrites? Although I feel everyone has a right to their opinion, I also feel that before anyone makes a judgement on something they should research what they`re commenting on first and then make a more educated opinion. To say that power and heavy metal only recycle old material is very stupid and close-minded. You can make that comment about any form of music.
		There is always one band in each genre that breaks ground. That doesn`t mean that every other band should simply give up doing what they love to do simply because it has similar characteristics. So if someone makes a movie about a dinosaur, should no one else ever make a movie about a dinosaur?
		Thanks a lot for this interview! Any final words? I want to thank you and everyone out there who have supported us and continue to do so. I would also like to say that we look forward to putting out more albums for our fans, we hope to one day see you on tour, and Zandelle does and always will stand for one thing and one thing only... TRUE METAL FOREVER!!!
(Frank van de Voorde)