On its debut album, Chicago-based Consensus Madness fills a rather large void in today’s punk rock scene. Certainly there are more than a few contemporary bands that could trace their spiritual and stylistic lineage back to The Clash, Sex Pistols, Stooges, Buzzcocks, or Black Flag. There’s a whole subgenre devoted to worshipping at the church of the Ramones. But when was the last time you heard a new band and thought, “This is like a modern-day Bags”? Well, Consensus Madness slots into that space nicely with a powerful, rapid-paced sound that meets at the intersection of first wave punk rock and early hardcore with a touch of post-punk/new wave to boot. On Endeavors (out on Iron Lung Records), the band breathes new life into a classic sound. OG California punk vibes co-exist with a distinctly Midwestern sensibility, and you can feel the urgency in the music, vocals, and lyrics. A younger version of me would have been won over simply by a band attempting this sound. But what impresses me is how well Consensus Madness pulls it off. These tunes are killer, and the band sounds tight and energetic. And lead singer Sarah is the real deal. She may be following in the footsteps of Alice Bag and Poly Styrene, but she’s no copyist. She’s an original in her own right with charisma for days. If you’re looking for a band that’s got something important to say about life and the world in 2026, crank tracks like “Let’s Go To War,” “Living and Dying,” and “Superfund” as loudly as possible and join the resistance. At a lean 10 tracks, Endeavors will hit you with everything it’s got and leave you wanting more. A superb debut!
The Night Eternal has announced that their Metal Blade Records debut, Cold Velvet, will arrive on August 21 and has released a new single and video for “Caught in a Spell.”
Of the track, the band says: “‘Caught in a Spell’ delivers the perfect heavy metal soundtrack for a night drive. Driven by a hypnotic groove and a powerful sing-along chorus, the song evokes images of endless highways and a restless sense of wanderlust, pulling the listener towards the unknown. Director Robert Piel underlines this atmosphere with a striking video clip, following a Harley-Davidson–riding knight through a cinematic road-movie journey.”
Founded in 2018, the German melancholic heavy metal band has steadily built a reputation through their previous albums — Moonlit Cross (2021) and Fatale (2023) — earning support slots with Blind Guardian, the Michael Schenker Group, Angel Witch, and Lucifer, along with festival appearances at Wacken, Summer Breeze, Hellfest, and Alcatraz throughout Europe, as well as a spot at Hell’s Heroes in Houston, Texas.
With Cold Velvet, The Night Eternal has deepened their signature blend of darkness, dreamlike atmosphere, and deep melancholy within a framework of driving heavy metal. Hypnotic rhythms, mesmeric guitar riffs, and anthemic choruses propel the record’s eight tracks, which the band describes as weaving “a trance-like state” for the listener.
Cold Velvet was recorded between May and December 2025 at Church of Sound Studios in the greater Munich area. Production, recording, and mixing were handled by Michael Zech — guitarist of black metal act Secrets of the Moon and a producer with credits that include Sulphur Aeon, Triptykon, and The Ruins of Beverast.
The Night Eternal currently appears on the cover of Deaf Forever magazine, which awarded Cold Velvet the #1 slot in their Soundcheck. Writes the publication: “Incredible — where is this band heading next? To the very top, of course. And it would take the devil himself to prevent Cold Velvet from finally catapulting The Night Eternal to the pinnacle of the European scene. Catchier yet even more mystical than before, the German band throws their entire talent into the ring across eight tracks, leaving behind everything else attempting to navigate the dynamic interplay of goth rock, gritty heavy metal, and anthemic hard rock.”
The record has also drawn praise from several respected voices in the metal community. Mille Petrozza of Kreator calls it “gloomy metal from my hometown — beautiful!” Johanna Sadonis of Lucifer says: “With their new record, The Night Eternal cements even further why they are the rightful defenders of the New Wave of German Heavy Metal and a staple of contemporary brutal night-time rocking. Who let the bats out?!” Maik Weichert of Heaven Shall Burn adds: “Genuine emotions that sweep you back and forth, plunging you into the depths and soaring you to new heights. With this album, The Night Eternal fills the gaping void in my musical heart — the gap between rock-infused wave and rousing metal — like no one else can.”
The record will be available on CD-digipak, digital, and vinyl in multiple color variants. Preorders are available here.
The Night Eternal Live:
July 18 – Baden in Blut Festival – Weil am Rhein, Germany
Aug. 20 – Goldgrube – Kassel, Germany * Release Show
Aug. 21 – Bambi Galore – Hamburg, Germany * Release Show
Aug. 22 – Nord Sommerfest – Essen, Germany * Release Show
Aug. 27 – Drums of War Festival – Barcelona, Spain
Sept. 25 – Delta Zinnober – Essen, Germany
w/ Messa:
Oct. 27 – Le Dodu – Marseille, France
Oct. 28 – Sala Salamandra – Barcelona, Spain
Oct. 29 – Sala Copernico – Madrid, Spain
Oct. 30 – Antirouille – Montpellier, France
Oct. 31 – Rock Art Festival – Trier, Germany * The Night Eternal only
Nov. 1 – Petit Bain – Paris, France
Nov. 3 – Cathouse – Glasgow, U.K.
Nov. 4 – Rebellion – Manchester, U.K.
Nov. 5 – Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, U.K.
Nov. 6 – Thekla – Bristol, U.K.
Nov. 7 – The Garage – London, U.K.
Nov. 9 – 013 – Tilburg, Netherlands
Nov. 10 – Kavka – Antwerp, Belgium
Nov. 12 – Franz Club – Berlin, Germany
Nov. 13 – Logo – Hamburg, Germany
Nov. 14 – Rockpalast – Bochum, Germany
Nov. 15 – Artheater – Cologne, Germany
Nov. 17 – Das Bett – Frankfurt, Germany
Nov. 18 – Backstage Club – Munich, Germany
Nov. 19 – Dynamo – Zurich, Switzerland
Nov. 20 – Sunset Bar – Martigny, Switzerland
Nov. 21 – Live Club – Trezzo sull’Adda, Italy
The Night Eternal is Ricardo Baum on vocals, Robert Richter on guitar, Henry Käseberg on guitar, and Aleister Präkelt on drums.
The Invite, the new tense dinner party comedy directed by Olivia Wilde based on a script by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, was a Sundance hit and has been earning rave reviews. We mentioned it before because Dev Hynes composed the score, and now there’s another music angle.
The acoustic guitar and chord progression convey the atmosphere of “Chance Encounter.” It establishes a genuine and direct ambiance, tinged with nostalgia and introspection. This artist has the ability to express emotions in music without any filters. The song begins with just guitar and vocals. At one minute and five seconds, the bass and drums join in, accompanied by pads that enhance the auditory atmosphere. The song gradually builds, with the vocals growing more insistent alongside the keys and strings that enrich the sonic space.
What stands out about this artist is the vigor with which they sing, along with the infectious passion they convey. The syncopated rhythm of the song effectively supports the lyrics, adding depth to the overall experience. Jay Hope, the mastermind behind this musical project, demonstrates skillful songwriting. The song describes the moment when you meet someone who might help you take that crucial step forward to overcome obstacles. This person has the potential to aid you in becoming a better version of yourself.
The acoustic guitar plays a significant role throughout “Chance Encounter.” It sets the tone and retains prominence without overpowering the other elements. The simplicity in the initial progression allows the listener to focus on the raw emotions projected through the artist’s voice. The gradual introduction of additional instruments creates a sense of anticipation, enhancing the lyrical themes of growth and connection.
Chance Encounter – Sound and Atmosphere
The bass and drums elegantly enter, establishing a solid foundation that lifts the song. Their interplay adds a subtle complexity, allowing the vocal lines to shine. The pads enter at just the right moment, supporting the unfolding narrative without distracting from the main elements. This layering adds a richness that invites listeners to immerse themselves fully in the music.
As the song evolves, so does the intensity of the vocals. They resonate with a sense of longing and hope. The artist’s ability to convey these feelings feels authentic and relatable. The chords remain consistent, creating a stable environment for the emotional journey. The strings weave through the mix, adding an atmospheric quality that heightens the sense of introspection.
The lyrics reflect the struggle and desire for connection. They illustrate the transformative power of relationships. The artist captures that fleeting moment when a chance encounter leads to personal change. The theme of self-improvement is universal and speaks to the yearnings that many experience.
Chance Encounter – Performance and Production
What makes “Chance Encounter” particularly moving is the combination of lyrical depth and musicality. Each section of the song builds on the previous, creating a cohesive narrative that is easy to follow.
Jay Hope’s songwriting shines through in the precise yet expressive lyrics. The acoustic elements ground the piece, bringing a sense of raw honesty that resonates deeply.
Slayer/Exodus guitarist Gary Holt and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian have offered their support to Yungblud after the English pop-rock star shared an emotionally raw social media post detailing what he says was a “breakdown” following his Bludfest headline show in Czechia last week.
The Yorkshire-born musician played to 20,000 fans in Hradec Králové at what was the first international staging of his bespoke festival. Alongside a video clip showing him sobbing onstage, the 28-year-old singer-songwriter born Dominic Harrison issued a statement admitting that he has been “struggling” with his mental health in recent months.
“Honestly, I’ve been debating whether or not I should post this clip because I don’t want it to feel disingenuous like I’m doing it for a reason like clicks or personal game but at the end of the day this is what happened and it’s genuine so I thought fuck it,” he wrote in a new post titled ‘Warning. Truth incoming.’
“To be truthful. Recently, I’ve been really struggling and this moment is a byproduct of my body releasing the wave of emotion that has hit me in the past year that I’ve been unable to process. I’m not gonna lie to you when I got off this stage I felt elated but 20 minutes later when I was in the shower on my own I had a breakdown.
“Being an artist in this day and age is so strange because everything moves so quickly. You never get to sit in what happens for more than a couple hours therefore you fail to navigate or process anything you feel both good or bad at all.
“In the past 10 years I’ve been on a million different journeys tried a million different sounds trying to figure out who I am or what I can mean to the world everyday whilst the world shouts back.
“The amount of hate and disbelief around me from strangers on the internet or bitter musicians really weighs on my heart as all I’ve been trying to do for the past 10 years is spread love, build something I believe in and unify people in a safe space.
“I should really say nothing about this because it would makes me seem cooler and like it isn’t affecting me but deep down but I don’t think that’s who I am or why we all connect to each other.
“I read an article yesterday morning that felt validating to me. It’s strange because the press don’t usually like to compliment me. Writers and influencers get more clicks out of negativity around me. I don’t complain about it because I think that’s just the space that I take up for them, that’s the kind of artist I am and that’s the way of the world.
“This article said ‘Yungblud isn’t an industry plant. The internet just missed the grind.’ This made me feel happy. I think when things appear to happen so quickly and you get millions of eyes upon you that didn’t know you existed there two hours before of course it feels unbelievable, of course it feels disingenuous, of course it feels inauthentic.
“I think that’s why I’m so grateful to have all of you. We relish in a journey together that started nearly 10 years ago in 100 seater venue upstairs in Amsterdam. I think this is why I got so emotional when I saw 20,000 of you in a field in Czechia on a festival we started from scratch two years ago in the UK now it’s first International year.
“We’ve been moving so fast that I haven’t really been able to process anything at all but in this moment my emotions got the better of me. I needed that. Thank you for providing a space that makes me feel safe enough where I could express myself truly. This community is created by us, for all of us.
“I think the most beautiful thing about this festival is that WE built it. This place is a house that is ours. Here, I feel like I’m like standing in front of my girlfriend or my mother. I can’t hold it in. I can’t hold anything back. I can’t be ‘“’professional.’”’ I can’t hide.
“Right now, deep down, I know I need to do a bit of work on myself to process everything I’m feeling and attain the a strength I need to keep going at this pace as we move into another chapter together. I feel good about the next couple months before I hibernate and take the time to prioritise that work.
“To all my beautiful community reading this I just want to let you know how lucky I feel to have you all. This day reminded me of why I do this and how special what we have is. I love you with all my heart and I am truly thankful. What an honour it is to spend this life with you.
“If you are a journalist reading this, please don’t twist it. This is how I feel.”
Holt and Ian replied with posts expressing support for the star.
“An industry plant cannot do what you did at Back to the beginning,” Holt wrote. “Genuine and real and convinced a horde of headbangers of this. Not easy to do.”
“I stood side stage at BTTB and watched you breathe rarified air the way you elevated Changes,” Scott Ian posted. “You’ve earned it all Dom. Cheers brother.”
For more than three decades, Enslaved have explored the cross between history, spirituality, and progressive extremity. Their latest release, “Spirit Helper,” pushes that ethos into new territory, pairing the Norwegian legends with Kevin Kicking Woman, an Elder of the Blackfeet Nation, in a collaboration born from friendship and cultural exchange rather than a one-off studio experiment. The song emerged through the band’s ongoing relationship with Montana’s Fire In the Mountains festival, where conversations with Blackfeet community members gradually evolved into a creative partnership built on trust, respect and a shared interest in the ways music can preserve memory and meaning.
At the heart of “Spirit Helper” is a traditional Blackfeet morning prayer song that Kicking Woman entrusted to Enslaved as the foundation for a new composition. Instead of simply sampling the original, the band reshaped its own sound around the prayer’s cadence and spiritual weight. The result is less a cross-cultural collaboration for its own sake than a meditation on connection, and one that Enslaved describes as among the most profound artistic experiences of their career. Decibel caught up with Ivar for an in-depth look into “Spirit Helper” and 35 years of Enslaved:
Decibel: Enslaved marks its 35th anniversary this year. The band has been such a key part of your life since you were a teenager. After all that time, what made “Spirit Helper” feel like uncharted territory instead of just another collaboration?
Ivar: I think what made it different was that it didn’t actually begin as a musical collaboration. Looking back, the song probably started years before there was any thought of writing it. It began with meeting people. First through Fire in the Mountains, then through By Norse and our management, and eventually through getting to know members of the Blackfeet Nation. I met Nick Rink at Fire in the Mountains in 2025, and through Nick I got to know Kevin Kicking Woman. For me, that’s really the key. Usually collaborations begin with music. Somebody says, “Let’s write something together,” and then you see where it goes. Here it was almost the opposite. The relationships came first, and the music emerged naturally from those relationships. That also meant there was a responsibility that felt quite different. We’ve spent thirty-five years using mythology and old traditions as a language in Enslaved—not as something nostalgic, but as a way of exploring what it means to be human. Then suddenly you’re invited into a dialogue with another living tradition that has been carrying those same kinds of questions for generations, albeit in a completely different cultural context.
I never felt we were making a “cross-cultural project.” Honestly, I don’t think any of us were interested in that. It felt much more like meeting fellow human beings who happened to have inherited another way of expressing something we’ve been trying to understand through our music for decades. So yes, after thirty-five years, it genuinely felt like new ground. Not because we were trying to do something different, but because something different happened to us first.
Kevin Kicking Woman and Ivar Bjørnson PHOTO CREDIT: Tomoko Inoue @TheTinfoilBiter
Decibel: Kevin Kicking Woman entrusted you with a traditional morning prayer song as the foundation for the track. How did that shape your writing process, and did it force you to approach composing differently than you normally would for Enslaved?
Ivar: Completely. I don’t think I’ve ever started writing an Enslaved song from that point before. Usually, I begin with a riff, an atmosphere or maybe a rhythmic idea, and then I gradually discover where the music wants to go. Here, there was already something there. Kevin’s morning prayer wasn’t simply a melody or a vocal line—it already had its own identity, its own pulse and its own purpose.
Quite early on, it became clear to me that this couldn’t be one of those collaborations where you write an Enslaved song first and then invite someone to participate. To me, that would have missed the whole point. Instead, I tried to understand what was already happening in Kevin’s singing. I spent a lot of time just listening to it. Not analyzing it in a technical sense, but trying to understand its natural movement—where it breathes, where it settles, where it builds. It gradually became obvious that if this was going to work, our music had to adapt to his song, not the other way around. That actually made the process both more difficult and more liberating. Difficult because I had to let go of quite a few musical ideas that I liked, simply because they belonged to another song. But also liberating because once I stopped trying to control where the music was going, the song began revealing its own identity.
Decibel: You said you wanted the music to adapt to Kevin’s cadence and vocal performance rather than the other way around. What did that mean in practical terms? Were there riffs or arrangements you had to rethink to make the song work?
Ivar: Oh yes. Quite a lot, actually. I am kinda used to building things around fairly defined structures. Even when Enslaved gets quite progressive, there’s usually a rhythmic architecture that everything grows from. Kevin’s singing comes from a completely different place. It’s guided by language, by breath and by intention,
That sounds a bit abstract, but it became a very practical way of working. There were riffs I really liked that simply didn’t belong in this piece. They weren’t wrong; they just belonged somewhere else. Once I accepted that, the arrangement started falling into place much more naturally. I suppose that’s one of the things I enjoyed most about writing “Spirit Helper.” It reminded me that composing isn’t always about adding things. Sometimes it’s about removing your own expectations and letting the music find its own balance.
Decibel: Fire in the Mountains seems to have played a huge role in bringing this together. What is it about FITM that transcends your typical metal festival in 2026?
Ivar: I’ve been fortunate enough to play festivals all over the world, and I love festivals. But Fire in the Mountains has always felt like it was trying to become something more than just another weekend of concerts.
People actually spend time together there. Musicians, artists, organisers, Indigenous community members, audiences… You find yourself talking about things that don’t normally come up backstage at a festival. When the festival moved onto Blackfeet land, that feeling became even stronger. Suddenly, there was another layer of meaning to everything that was happening. It wasn’t simply about bringing a festival to a beautiful place. It became a meeting between communities. And perhaps even building of a new community?
Decibel: Enslaved has always drawn inspiration from Norse history and mythology. Did working so closely with Kevin and the Blackfeet community give you a different perspective on how traditional cultures preserve their stories through music?
Ivar: Very much so. One thing it reinforced for me was that traditions only stay alive if they’re lived. They’re not preserved because somebody writes a book about them or puts them in a museum. They’re preserved because people continue to sing the songs, speak the language, perform the ceremonies and pass them on to the next generation. That’s something I found very moving about spending time with Kevin and the Blackfeet community. At the same time, it also reminded me to be careful about drawing too many comparisons. Every tradition has its own history and its own identity. I’m not interested in saying, “This is just like Norse mythology.” It isn’t, and it shouldn’t be. What I do think they share is something more fundamental. They both remind us that we’re part of a much longer human story than our own individual lives. That’s something Enslaved has been exploring from the very beginning, and this collaboration gave me another perspective on that. It didn’t replace anything we believed before; it expanded the perspective and the conversation.
Decibel: Looking back over Enslaved’s evolution, from the raw early records to where the band is today, where does “Spirit Helper” fit? Does it feel like a one-off collaboration, or could it point toward another direction for the band’s future?
Ivar: I honestly don’t know, and over the years I’ve learned not to make too many predictions about Enslaved. If you’d asked me after almost any album whether it pointed towards the next one, I’d probably have been wrong. The band has always developed in a fairly organic way. We don’t usually decide on a direction first and then write music to fit it. We write, we explore, and eventually we begin to understand where we’ve ended up. I suspect “Spirit Helper” will become part of that process as well. Whether it is likely that we will make another collaboration like this isn’t really the question for me – I think what stays with you are the experiences themselves. Once you’ve worked this closely with people you respect, and once you’ve had the privilege of being invited into a collaboration like this, it inevitably changes you in some way. As a musician, as a composer, probably as a person as well. So I don’t think of “Spirit Helper” as a new chapter or a one-off experiment. I think of it as becoming part of Enslaved’s vocabulary. How that vocabulary will express itself in the future… We’ll discover that when we get there.
Lord Of The Lost definitely put the ‘industrial’ in industrial metal. Formed in 2007 by frontman Chris Harms, the hardworking German industrial-glam-goths have released 12 studio albums including a covers album, plus a seemingly never-ending procession of new material in the form of orchestral records and live releases.
They’ve taken part in Eurovision (they came last), toured with Iron Maiden and recently graduated to arenas over on the continent. How’s that for the defiant, triumphant spirit of heavy metal? Hammer caught up with Chris to give him the grilling our readers felt he deserved. To quote one of their songs on 2022’s Blood & Glitter album, leave your hate in the comments.
If you were to show someone that has never heard of the band your music, what song would you show them first? loganthecorekid, Instagram
“Right now, I Will Die In It from Opvs Noir Vol. 1, because it has a nice riff but also a nice singalong chorus. It has a great message, which is very positive, but still sounds sinister.”
What is the most difficult song you have written?Ziekmanpaula, Instagram
“I think it was See You Soon [from 2012’s Die Tomorrow]. It was one of our early ballads; a friend of ours had a girlfriend who was suffering with cancer. Luckily she’s still with us, but she nearly died a couple of times.
I’m agnostic, atheist or somewhere in between, but in those moments I could understand why we’d want to believe in something greater, that when we leave this world it’s not farewell – it’s ‘see you soon’. It’s very different to a heartbreak or something, which are champagne problems – you’re not going to die from them.”
We’d do Eurovision again.
Chris Harms, Lord Of The Lost
Which country would you like to play where you haven’t performed before? Alexandracarla15, Instagram
“We’d love to tour Japan. Iceland too, but I’m less interested in playing a show there than shooting a music video.”
Did that Eurovision last place affect you in any way? Dylan Dunn, Facebook
“Hard as it might be to believe, we really enjoyed Eurovision. When 200 million people watch you on television, that has a big impact. Even if just 0.1% like you, that’s still a lot of people! Our numbers went through the roof for a while afterwards, but of course there was a peak to that and it’s levelled out. Our streams and sales have tripled since we did it. We’d do it again.”
How do you deal with depression? Mo Jo, Facebook
“I’ve never had it. I’ve felt depressed in the colloquial sense but really, I don’t know shit about what depression is. Our bass player Klaas [Helmecke] has been very open about how his depression has highly influenced him and has gotten worse over the years. We support him in every way we can. It’s taken me a few years to realise it’s not the kind of thing that’ll just go away if you’re like, ‘Pull yourself together.’ That’s like telling someone with a broken leg, ‘Walk it off!’”
If you could collaborate on a song with anyone, who would it be? Liz Caomhánach, Facebook
“Lady Gaga. I feel so connected to the way she does art. She’s a chameleon, a female David Bowie where she doesn’t just do straight pop, she’s so genius in what she does. For one of our recent songs, Bazaar Bizarre, we shot the video near Mexico City in the ‘Island of the Dolls’, Isla de las Muñecas.
It has a haunting, weird story and there’s broken dolls everywhere; there was a guy who lived there for 50 years and put dolls up to scare ghosts or whatever. The director pointed out two dolls that had been left just two weeks earlier, by Tim Burton and Lady Gaga, because she’d also shot a music video there. It was funny that when we put our video out, she also put her video out around the same time. I could see her singing in the same place I was!”
Hammer: You’ve already done a lot of collabs. When are you going to pull a Babymetal and do a full collabs album?
“We should give it some time! Opvs Noir is 33 songs across three volumes and, of those, I think we’ve got 15 or 16 guests. We wanted to give different spices to our songs. I’ve had the idea to do a collabs album with indigenous people from around the world – like Māori people for New Zealand, Aboriginal people for Australia, Native Americans… Try to do bands who have their own rich folklore.
We could call it ‘Cultural Appropriation’. Or maybe just ‘Culture’. But it’d be great to do that with bands like Bloodywood or The Hu, travelling around the world.”
Will there be another concept album similar to Judas in the future? Or any continuation of the story? Hovelskull, Instagram
“I don’t know how to continue the story, because it wasn’t really one in the first place! It was a bunch of songs to explore the shades of grey between light and darkness using the character of Judas. But I’m pretty sure we’ll do more concept albums in future. In fact, our next big thing is going to be one, if we don’t change plans. I’m sure we’ll do an acoustic or classical album in between too because they’re fun to do.”
Which one of you is most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse? Emma Kitty Opheliac, Facebook
“Nik [Kahl, drums]. He can build stuff out of pretty much anything.”
Steve Harris said, ‘If you’ve got a problem, don’t ask the crew – talk to me.’
Chris Harms
What was it like touring with Iron Maiden? James_Akrigg, Instagram
“Awful. Come on… it was amazing! Being asked the first time was like, ‘What the fuck?!’ Then they asked us a second time and it felt even greater, because it’s not like they’re gonna go, ‘The first time didn’t really work out, but let’s give it another try.’
The most impressive thing wasn’t the size of the venues, the crowds or whatever, it was getting to know them. Their crew too – they’re all so tight-knit, they’ve been together for decades and you can really feel that. They made us feel at home and had our back. Steve [Harris] came up a few times like, ‘If you’ve got any problems, don’t ask the crew – talk to me.’ He still writes on WhatsApp or will give us a call. Maybe we can have a third run with them someday.”
If you could have written any song from another artist, what would it be? Tina Wyles, Facebook
“Bohemian Rhapsody. It’s a spectacular song, and from a composer’s point of view it’s a piece of art. It’s a hit, but somehow no part ever repeats. How do you do that?!”
Do you have your make-up done by pros? Erick Ancillary Theorem, Facebook
“Sometimes. When we do important photos for album covers, posters etc, where you can see every detail, we have people we’ll work with. We credit a few artists in our albums – there’s one girl in particular who knows exactly what we want and somehow always makes it better.
Obviously sometimes you work with a team that you don’t know, and then there can be some adjustment: ‘No, I look like a sad clown today. Let’s try again.’ But on tour we do it ourselves because it’s gone after one song.”
How do you manage to rise above hate comments and general negativity on social media so gracefully? Helen Forsyth, Facebook
“Mostly by ignoring it. I haven’t been on social media for almost a year – I have an email address where I can put anything I want to post so I don’t see the feedback. After all these years, I rise above it. It’s not hurtful anymore, just annoying. I bet there were a few hate comments among these questions!”
Why do you choose English instead of German for your songs? Cristina Medina, Facebook
“Growing up, I listened to bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. So music for me, for years, was in English. Later I discovered artists like Roxette and Michael Jackson and they also sang in English, so it never occurred to me that I should sing in German.”
Will there ever be a Lord Of The Lost X David Hasselhoff collab? Adam Bendickson, Facebook
“I hope so! Gerrit [Heinemann], our keyboard player, actually played with him for two tours, so we’ve got a contact there. I doubt he’s in the mood to collab with a German metal band, though. We will try. We’ve tried already, but he’s not actually said no yet.”
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