Frederik: Hi! I have been great so far thanks! This year started pretty smoothly for me. I hope the same goes for you! Actually you´re right regarding my current focus, at least earlier on. Since we were very busy with Sinbreed by release in November last year, I have now more time again for my drum school and of course for Blind Guardian.

Florian: A friend of mine pointed my attention to Nick, as we were looking for a new singer. It was quiet clear that Nick would fit, also that he has a different voice and style of singing. We all knew we were not looking for a clone of Herbie but wanted to have the option to still to the old songs but also head to other directions. Nick is the perfect match

Florian: Yes, I agree, with the line up changes especially on the Lead Vocals it is always a big thing once a new album is out. Since a lot of people already saw Sinbreed live with Nick on Vocals and checked some videos online, the fans already knew that it's going to be great. However, I understand that the people out there need a bit of time to get used to the new line up. But we are very comfortable with "IV" and also with the situation in the band itself.

Frederik: Replacing the vocalist is never an easy task and might have the highest potential for fans to disagree with. That´s why we decided to just go with our personal liking and whether Nick is blending into the band as a character. I personally love his clean and bright sound, which never seems to give him a hard time also singing the highest pitches and he still sounds relaxed and confident. When we played a couple of live shows with him already before starting to work on "IV", he completely blew me away with his incredibly steady pitch also when running around on stage. Very impressive!

Frederik: Basically I would say, bringing in something new would be saying a bit too much, since on the new album you will find again the traditional trademarks of Sinbreed and Power Metal genre in general. Also in the new band line up every one contributed some songs and ideas and it turned out to be the fast and intense melodic Metal style and sound once more. The kind of style we are known for. Of course one can find a few small time experiments i.e. such as new scales and lines brought in by Manuel or some sounds like the organ. So to sum it up we kept our path and brought in a new color with the brighter and cleaner vocals of Nick.

Florian: Yes, I concur. I would also add that we used tuned down guitars on two songs for the first time and also the little clean section on "Wasted Trust", which came from Manuel, was something we did not have on previous albums.

Frederik: Well it is not a concept album and each song tells its own story. The title "IV" refers to our 4th output and we simply liked its short sound and on the point message.

Frederik: That is always a tough question, so since I am forced, I will pick "Pale Hearted". It has the nicest melodies, nice drum fills, is overall very smooth to listen to and was a lot of fun to record! Bam!

Florian: I would also pick "Pale Hearted", especially because it was the first song we composed. And it was a composition like back in the days: Manuel and I were actually in the same room while writing and recording the demo, and so it was with Nick and Alex for their parts and then Frederik with the drum arrangement. Like back in the days, haha.

Frederik: I don´t want to talk and think too much about a future sound. Fact is, we have always put a lot of effort into the background choirs and we see them as important aspect of the band sound. But every production has its own place in time and therefore will have its momentary sound of what we found best at that individual time. So for the next album we are not planning to just reopen our templates from the last production and redo the same sounds again. This will be puzzled together again when the new time is right.

Florian: I agree what Fred says but want to add that we are very happy that a question like yours shows that we did right in putting hours over hours in arranging the choir parts. Yes we always had this in our sound but this time with Markus Teske giving a lot of input to it we are extremely happy with the outcome. It will always be a big part of the Sinbreed sound but like Frederik said, let's wait for a future release.

Frederik: Of course we want to work on new material hopefully in the same line up, since it works out so smoothly and we´re all very happy with each other We wouldn´t mind playing the one or other show or festival either of course. Time has to show if that will work with our different other obligations, which is usually the biggest problem to solve.

Florian: True. I feel that the metal scene and especially the live scene is changing and drifting in a somewhat direction. We in Sinbreed will do our best to continue releasing albums and also present them on stage!

Florian: In addition to the question before we are currently working on shows but nothing is confirmed yet.

Frederik: Thank you so much! Have a great time too and all the best for your online magazine!

Florian: Thanks a lot from my side, too. Have a good one and greeting to all at Metal Temple! Thanks for your support.