We catch up with the incredible Israel based symphonic metal band StormbounD....
StormbounD band was formed in 2018 in Tel-Aviv, Israel by bassist Pavel Kleiman and guitarist and vocalist Ofer Friedman. Next to join were Ofer's wife Shani Friedman on guitar, Yuval Partush on drums, Rotem Sadia on the keyboard, and Yael Horwitz as lead singer. All members of the band are well-established professional musicians. Their latest album, December, was released on August 5th 2022. We caught up with the band to find out a bit more about them….
Please tell us about your band, who’s in it, when/where did you form etc?
Ofer Friedman: Pavel, our than guitarist now bass player, contacted my "Looking for a band" add on Facebook, and we became good friends shortly after. We first tried members from Pavel's previous band, December, but things didn't go along.
Gradually we begun adding new members - Rotem Sadia (keys) and Yuval Partush (Drums). Next to join was my long-time life companion and wife Shani, who first joined as a bass player and after a while switched roles with Pavel. Last to join was our phenomenal lead singer Yael who I've known for many years because to my great fortune, I own a well renowned music school and she was a student on mine, its very early days.
Do you remember the band or artist that made you want to pick up and instrument and learn to play?
Rotem Sadia: Nightwish, Epica, Amaranthe, Evanesence, and maybe Lacuna Coil.
How would you describe your sound in five words?
Shani Friedman: Diverse, Harmonic, Dark, Heavy & Orchestral
What kind of listening experience are you trying to give fans with this album?
Yael Horwitz: We want them to follow our journey that goes from gloomy and despondent to kickass, to high and victorious. We believe this is how music connects people.
Describe your writing style for the band?
OF: For the most part, someone would bring a certain idea for a song and from there we would each have our contribution one way or another.
How did you decide on the tracks for this album? How much more music can fans expect?
Pavel Kleiman: We kind of got the sense of what songs work better during our shows and recording. When you've done something right, you immediately get that awesome feeling.
RS: We are now working on our second album and some other cool stuff. You can expect a lot more!
What can people expect live from your band compared to other bands?
SF: Our shows are a lot of fun, and the crowd's reaction is outstanding.
OF: When we practice our live shows, we check our egos outside the rehearsal studio and all we care about is the crowd. We want to make sure they get a well-crafted experience that doesn't go out of focus at any point.
Where do your lyrics come from? What inspires your writing?
OF: Our main inspirations are processes we see in modern society, our views of religion, global warming etc on one hand (For songs like December and Fragments). On the other - relationships, be it romantic (Songs such as Away from Here and Shadows) or others (Desert's Roar, Child's Play).
How does the music affect the lyrics and vice versa?
OF: Text and composition always go hand in hand, and what's written first will lead the way.
YH: During the recording we noticed that on "Flying High" all the "Irish" elements made the original chorus we had for it sound a little depressing, so it made us write new lyrics and compose a new chorus. That instantly became a winner. We almost cut this song out of the album and now it’s one of the leading singles.
How would you describe the evolution of the band’s sound?
SF: It took a while, but we managed to get a great result that has a very unique atmosphere and depth.
OF: We are very proud of our orchestration and the fact that it's all about the music and not egos. We worked to serve the songs. The focus isn't about us as performers but on the listener experience.
YH: The main orchestrator was our first producer Ian Post has done an amazing job, and Alex Zvulun's final mixes had put everything in the right place sonically. That's awesome.
Name the Top 5 band influences of the band/ Top 5 Bands that your band sounds like that fans like.
RS: Nightwish, Epica, Amaranthe, Evanesence, and maybe Lacuna Coil.
We’d like to thank the band for sparing the time to open up and let us into their world, to keep up to date with their sonic whereabouts, head to the socials below;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMTRAvZBhtpTHUrRLQ_U2zQ