Symphonic Metallers LYCANIA Drops By AATR HQ For An Exclusive Interview
24th April 2025From Germany’s Black Forest, where fog clings to ancient pines, emerges Lycania. Their sound? Think of midnight walks through woods where shadows move just wrong.
They’ve built something strange here—progressive symphonic bones wrapped in folk metal flesh. Not content with mere stories, they drag up legends by their roots: shape-shifters, blood pacts, and the beast-self we pretend isn’t there.
When they play, guitars don’t just sound—they hunt. The vocals don’t simply soar—they summon. And yes, blast beats appear, but only as lightning flashes illuminating the storm, never becoming it.
Skip the escapism. This isn’t fantasy. Lycania doesn’t transport you elsewhere—they remind you what was always here: moss-slick stones that remember older gods, clearings where stars pour through leaves like mercury, and places where what’s real and what’s whispered become the same thing.
They aren’t storytellers. They’re grave-robbers of memory, with dirt still fresh under their fingernails.
LYCANIA stomped in for a chat with us about their new EP, and gave us a little exclusive.
Thanks for stopping by to chat with us today!and thank you for the opportunity for this interview!
You are currently in the process of recording your new EP. How’s it going?
It’s going well! We’re all busy with our “non-musician lives”, so it’s not going at hyper speed, but it’s going steadily. We are currently recording guitars and will soon move on to keys and vocals.
What vibe are you aiming for with this EP?
The songs on this EP are in some ways “misfits” that didn’t get a spot on an album for different reasons. They stretch the genre and our sound considerably compared to what was on the last and will be on the next album. The songs and soundscapes will be very diverse.
How does it compare to your previous releases?
From heavier, folkier, and darker than most of our songs (everyone who has heard “Fenrir” live already will agree) to brighter and more playful, there will be a huge spectrum covered on this EP.
What were some aspirations, musical or otherwise, that shaped the songwriting process for this EP?
The backgrounds of each song are very different. “Fenrir”, a live staple of ours at this point, was written entirely by our guitarist Daniel, who felt it was wrong that a band named “Lycania” had no song about a wolf. Since he is from Sweden, he wanted to write something about Norse mythology as well, so that is how this song came to life. I can’t say too much about the other songs yet, but one of them was originally written for another band project but got rejected there and taken on by us in the end. And the third one will be a fun cover – a song that our keyboardist has been wanting to cover for years. So yeah, it is an assembly of “misfit songs”, as I said, but they turned out to somehow really fit together for this EP.
Did you try to evolve your sound with this new music you are currently recording?
I would say we really go a step further in all directions from where we were before.
Regarding the songwriting itself, what’s your typical process?
The classic case would be that Sarah writes the lyrics for a song and Peter composes and arranges around them. However, there have also been other cases where other members wrote parts for songs or wrote the songs entirely – like “Fenrir”. Sometimes, the music comes before the lyrics, too. In fact, none of the lyrics on this EP were written by Sarah, so in many ways this EP is different from what we do album-wise.
Are there any specific themes or narratives running through the new tracks?
It was only halfway planned that the songs all revolved around wolves and/or the moon. This is probably the strongest connecting factor. But I can already spoil that there will be a different guest vocalist on each song as well, which is why we also see some kind of narrative of friendship and teamwork for the EP as a whole.
What challenges did you face whilst writing and recording this new opus, and how did you overcome these?
I think the biggest challenge for us whenever we are making music is that we are all very busy with our lives outside of the band, too. Three of our members have a second band project going on as well, and sometimes it can be difficult to find a schedule that works for everyone. We decided to just give the project a bit more time than originally planned to make sure that everyone can give their best and the EP will be as good as possible.
If your band could be a type of food, what would it be and why?
“QUICHE”. It requires everyday ingredients, but in itself, it’s a refined dish. Its crust is crisp like our production, and the filling is smooth like our orchestrations. If you just want it enough, you can basically explain everything!
Thanks again for stopping by, We appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to be with us and talk about your music.
