'The Grand Design'

From the left: Bassist Kurt Bednarsky, guitarist Roland Navratil, vocalist Sabine Edelsbacher and keyboardist Lanvall will introduce Taiwan metal heads to the softer sounds of the genre. PHOTO COURTESY OF ROCK EMPIRE

What happens when you mix heavy metal instruments with atmospheric keyboards, add an attractive soprano vocalist and have the resulting combination play upbeat music that encompasses various fantasy themes? You get the European genre called symphonic metal, one of whose most influential practitioners is coming to Taipei for a concert tonight.

Austria's Edenbridge, who joins fellow symphonic metal act Visions of Atlantis at Taipei's Armed Forces Cultural Center, was the brainchild of guitarist and keyboardist Arne Stockhammer, who goes by the stage name Lanvall. Rounding out the band are vocalist Sabine Edelsbacher, bassist Kurt Bednarsky and guitarist Roland Navratil. They have released five studio albums, including this year's The Grand Design, a concept album that deals with the beginning and the end of the world.

Lanvall, who was interviewed by phone from Linz, Austria, said he grew up listening to classical music and started playing the piano at age seven, but as a teenager "totally lost" his "heart to hard rock and heavy metal."

Performance Notes: Edenbridge performs with Vision of Atlantis at 6pm tonight, at the Armed Forces Cultural Center (國軍文藝活動中心戲劇廳), 69 Zhonghua Rd Sec 1 (台北市中華路一段69號). NT$1,100 upper deck to NT$1,600 floor tickets are available at the door or on the Web through Rock Empire, at www.rockempire.com.tw. For more information call (02) 3765-1861

After a two-year stint studying economics, Lanvall, now 35, realized it was not for him and decided to become a professional musician. "It was always a dream for me to write my own songs," he said, and "at a certain point there was no other way for me than to do this."

In 1995 he met Sabine, then a backup singer and guitarist in an all-female band. She didn't want to be just a backup singer, and Stockhammer liked her voice. He invited her to join his band Cascade, which then became Edenbridge, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Lanvall described Edenbridge's sound as "bombastic" and "melodic." As influences he lists guitarist Neal Schon, formerly of US rock band Journey, and keyboard player Tony MacAlpine's 1987 solo album Maximum Security. He's a fan of Star Trek and Lord of the Rings. His band's new album, The Grand Design, is full of catchy ballads that pair Sabine's crystalline voice with Lanvall's textured keyboards and catchy guitar hooks. This is music for reflective listeners who like movie soundtracks, not people who jump around at concerts and bang their heads.

According to promotion company Rock Empire, each Edenbridge album sells around 200,000 copies in Europe, and 100,000 in Japan. But symphonic metal and the related genres of melodic and opera metal are not as popular in Taiwan, where youths tend to go for harder-hitting styles like dark metal or the crossover appeal of nu metal.

"We hope that on this tour they can open the market in Taiwan," said Space Chen (陳征), CEO of Rock Empire, which has been handing out free tickets for the concert at music schools because students of opera might find something to like in Edenbridge's sound. He's predicting a modest turnout of around 300 people for tonight's concert. "Actually our focus is in Beijing and Shanghai," he said. "I expect about 1,000 people" at those two shows. "But we have to do a Taiwan show because it's one part of this tour. Also, I cannot give up on Taiwan because I live here."