ETERNAL REIGN INTERVIEW
One of the most surprising releases for me this year has come from the German band ETERNAL REIGN. I didn't expect this album to be any good, but it totally blew me away with it's "back-to-the-roots" mix of power and semi-progressive metal in the classic way of bands such as Hittman, Lethal and others. Read on and see what Dirk Stühmer had to say about the band and it's influences ...

Interview by Claus Jensen
1. Hey guys, first up CONGRATULATIONS on such a great disc. It's really awesome, and it brings back so many good memories of when I listened to power and early progressive metal 10-15 years ago. Of course combined with a more up-to-date production :-)

Let's start with the questions - first a short band history:

"We started out in 1997 working under the name PERFACT CRIME and won a local band contest in 1999. After that we got the chance to record our first demo CD called "Crimetime". Our song "Perfect Crime" opened the RockHard Magazine's "Unerhört" sampler and we played numerous gigs at small festivals and supported US metal legend BREAKER and the hardrockers from AXE. All this resulted in a contract with TTS Media Music, who, in 2002, released the "Crimes Of Passion" CD. Shortly before the release, we were forced for legal reasons to change the band name to ETERNAL REIGN. The reactions on the album were very positive and after we've recorded our second album "Forbidden Path", we signed the contract with LMP."

2. How did you come up with the band name? It has a double meaning I guess, with the "Reign" also pronounced as "Rain" … ?

"It's a funny story, because after we were forced to change our name, our guitarist Mick was on his way to work and it was raining pretty hard. He thought: "Fuck, this looks like eternal rain!" He thought that would be a cool name for the band, but we didn't like RAIN. So we changed it in REIGN."

3. Your sound is leaning more towards US power/prog metal than towards the typical European power metal sound. Is this where you draw your inspiration?

"Yeah, that's true. Our main influences are bands like Vicious Rumors, Queensryche or Jag Panzer. During the songwriting progress we don't think about sounding like one of these influences, but that's the music we like to listen to and that's why our music might sound not typical European."

4. I've been trying hard to define the sound/influences in your music, and it keeps confusing me (in a good way, haha). I think I hear parts of such underground bands as Lethal, Vicious Rumours, Siam, Metal Church and Hittman … am I right or wrong?

"Yeah, I think you're right. We all like these bands."

5. You've been featured quite well in the German media, with songs on both "Rock Hard" and "Heavy Oder Was?" compilation CDs of newcomer bands … in Denmark this would be highly unthinkable for a Danish band. Why do you think that the German media is so supportive towards it's own underground bands? It's quite unique in my opinion …

"I think that's a great opportunity for underground bands. Our first appearance on the RockHard sampler resulted in our first record deal and after "Forbidden Path" was published on the Metal-Crusade sampler, we were signed by LMP. So for us, everything went very positive. But there are a lot of American and Scandinavian bands on these samplers, too."

6. I keep mentioning the "underground" thing - and that is also my only problem with your disc. I think this music - unfortunately - has a limited audience. How do you see this? Do you dream about making it big-time, or have you realized yourself that there's only so much you can do with it?

"Heavy Metal itself is not mainstream and there are only a few bands like Manowar, Maiden or Priest who became big. We are realistic and don't dream of becoming famous rock stars…HA, HA. We want to write songs, release some good albums and hope the people out there like our music. The latest reviews in the internet showed us that we can't be wrong with our new CD."

7. You've signed with LIMB Music. What are they doing for you? Is that the label you always dreamed about signing with (considering that they always have been working well with classic power metal bands)?

"Our first label was a very small indie label and of course they were a little limited with their support for the bands. We are happy with the contract with Limb Music. The label is well known in Europe and they're doing a lot of promotion for their bands. Of course they also have a lot of experience working with metal bands. I think we made the right decision."

8. Are there any other newcomer bands from Germany (or internationally) in this genre, you think people should be on the look for?

"There are so many cool bands to listen to, but one of my favourite acts is LANFEAR. We played a few gigs with these guys from southern Germany last year. They also have a new album out called "Another Golden Rage". Also the US band ION VEIN is pretty cool!"

9. What's your plans for Eternal Reign now - and if you could choose yourself a band to tour with, who would that be?

"We will promote our album with some concerts during the first half of the year 2005. In autumn we will start writing new songs for our third album and hopefully enter the studio in 2006. If I could choose a band to tour with, it would be JAG PANZER. I really like the band and I'm looking forward to see them at the Bang-Your-Head-Festival this summer."

10. Any last words?

"Check out our website at www.eternal-reign.de for dates and news and listen to "Forbidden Path" - it's gonna kick your ass!"