Chad Bowar: How did you come to join Weltenbrand?
Dina Zambelli: I did not do a lot of music for a long time. So I put this little announcement on a website that I was looking for a band to sing in. After some feedback from bands that did not fit Oliver (composer/keyboardist Falk) contacted me because he was looking for a singer for Erben der Schöpfung. In December 2005 Simone (she was singing on the past CDs of Weltenbrand) told us that she was pregnant. After a lot of back and forth Simone decided to quit the band and Oliver decided that I should sing for Weltenbrand. I was with them right away because I liked the sound of Weltenbrand a lot. Now I sing for two awesome bands fitting my personal likes!
Did you participate in the songwriting, or was everything already finished when you joined the band?
The band was already in the studio recording. Even Simone had recorded one song already when she quit the band. Everything was set. But Oliver knew that I am able to write music too and he was not happy yet with the female vocal lines. So he gave me free reign over these parts. I changed almost all the female parts into harmonies and choir parts. What I wanted to achieve was to create a bridge between Ritchie(Wenaweser)'s vocal parts and Oliver's compositions. On the next album we will all work all because the time will be there.
Were you intimidated or nervous about replacing someone who had been in the band for so long?
I was nervous because I did not know how the rest of the band would react. But after a few minutes it turned out to fit. The band seems like a big family now. I think that we are the right people working on the right thing. But what makes me feel nervous too is the reaction of the fans. The only thing I can say there is to hope for a chance. Either they like me or they don't. I will give my best!
What are the lyrical themes of The End Of The Wizard?
The lyrics are all out of the book of sagas of Liechtenstein. The band used the sagas out of this book for all the CDs. The basic Idea was to represent the country Liechtenstein and this turned out to be a good idea because it fit with the sound and the image of the band. So Weltenbrand continued to use the sagas. Now that the myths and sagas of Liechtenstein turn to an end I hope that we will use some of the legends and sagas of the small village where I grew up in Switzerland (Glarus).
For those not familiar with Weltenbrand, give us an idea of your band's sound.
Weltenbrand sounds like a movie soundtrack with female and male vocals. It has a dramatic and dark thrill yet sounds sweet and mystic. We want to open a door for the listener to another world where romantic, mysticism and feelings have more meaning than in this world full of reality.
With so many new band members for this album, did it change the band's sound?
It definitely did. Oliver already changed the compositions compared to the past albums. He wanted to make it easier for the listener to understand the music. The old songs are all very dynamic and changing and not easy to listen to. The songs for The End of the Wizard seem to be easier but still contain a lot of classical elements. We never want to lose this classical ambience. The drum and the bass add some dynamics and a little rough and heavy notes to the songs and make them danceable. You can play some of the songs in a club and people like to dance to them. It is great to watch people dance to your music! And all the vocal parts vary more than in the old songs.
What does the album title signify?
There is a title song on the CD also called "The End of the Wizard". We used this title for the album because it represented the lyrical content of all the songs the best in a few words. The title song is all about a woodcutter who made a contract with the devil to cut wood faster and better that the other woodcutters. The devil gave him a hazeltwig (also on the cover artwork of the album) whitch he could do magic on the wood with. But when the devil wanted his part of the contract fulfilled the woodcutter tried to flee. So this was the last time the lumberjack has been seen alive and this was the end of the "wizard".
