In a few days, the Ghostlands & Ravenlands Festival will take place in Athens, Greece, featuring Dragony among other bands. As we prepare for this exciting event, we had a great conversation with Dragony and their vocalist, Siegfried Samer. Myth of Rock is already in a power/symphonic metal mood—why not join us?
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
Last year you released your fifth album, “Hic Svnt Dracones”. How do you see this album now? What would you change to it, if you had the chance?
Well the album is still very new, so right now, I’m super happy with the result! Let’s see how I feel 2 or 3 years down the line, haha! – usually I always find something to criticize. But so far, I feel it’s our most well-rounded album with the most refined songwriting as well as best individual performances and production, so overall I’m very happy.
How has the band’s original concept as “The Dragonslayer Project” evolved into what is now known as Dragony?Originally the band was planned to be more of a studio project, hence the original band name. But once we had found a fixed lineup it became apparent that we wanted to play live as well, so in the course of producing our first album “Legends” back in 2011, we decided to also change the band name to something that’s a bit more simple and easier to communicate – and finally came up with “Dragony”, as it reflects the style and also the tongue-in-cheek attitude of the band really well.
Your music deftly blends power metal with symphonic elements .What bands or musical genres have been the most influential in shaping this unique fusion?
Definitely the “classic” power metal and symphonic metal bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s for me! I grew up listening to bands like Hammerfall, Rhapsody, Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Nightwish, Edguy and Avantasia – and I think all these elements really shape the sound of Dragony to this day.
Dragony is known for its thematic depth and narrative-driven lyrics. Can you elaborate on the storytelling techniques you employ and the inspirations behind your lyrical content?
It’s a bit different from album to album, as we had very “single-song” centric albums like “Masters of the Multiverse”, which take inspiration from various pop culture themes like books, TV shows, movies and video games, but also concept albums like “Viribus Unitis” or the recent “Hic Svnt Dracones”, which both took an “alternate history” approach, retelling some real-life historical events with a certain fantastical twist.So the lyrics were more focused on telling these stories on the two most recent albums, and each song forms a part of the whole overarching story.
How do you translate the complexity and grandeur of your studio recordings into the dynamic environment of a live performance, and what challenges have you encountered in doing so?
That’s a bit challenge for every kind of “symphonic” band I think, so as most of these bands, we rely on the use of backing tracks to “boost” the performance, meaning that orchestrations and additional choirs will be provided from samples to create that “big” sound in the live situation. Instruments and vocals are of course always performed live, everything else would be quite boring!
“Hic Svnt Dracones” translates to “Here Be Dragons”. Could you explain the significance of this title and how it encapsulates the themes explored in the album?
I always wanted to use this phrase in the context of the band, as it fits very well for a band named “Dragony”. So when we decided on this for an album title, it also became pretty clear that the album topic should have something to do with seafaring or pirates, as the phrase designates uncharted territories on medieval sea maps. I then came up with retelling the story of the infamous “Lost Colony” of Roanoke, the British settlement in the New World which disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and decided to mix that up with some Jules-Verne-like elements as well as Vikings and Norse mythology – so basically all the most popular power metal clichés these days – to create the “most power metal album” of 2024, haha!
Can you provide insight into your creative process during the production of “Hic Svnt Dracones”, including how you integrate new influences while remaining true to the band’s established sound?
In recent years, our songwriting process has more and more heavily involved our friend and long-time producer Frank Pitters, with whom we’ve been working since the early days of the band, and who has basically become the seventh band member, working more behind the scenes. Nowadays he contributes a lot to the songwriting process, as we work with him on our song ideas directly in the studio, and in many cases, some song ideas also come directly from him and I work out the details and vocal lines together with him. So the core songwriting team for Dragony has been pretty consistent over the years.
How do the individual personalities and talents within Dragony contribute to the collective songwriting and recording process, and what role does each member play in shaping the band’s musical direction?
In the past it was mostly me and our former guitarist Andreas doing the songwriting within the band, finishing the songs together with Frank Pitters in the studio. Now that Andreas has left the band, our new guitarist Matt and new drummer Chris have started to contribute to the songwriting, so that adds a new flavor and dimension to our sound, which can be heard on the song “The Einherjar” on the new album, which has some folk elements that we didn’t have before.
Reflecting on your journey from 2007 to the release of your fifth album, in what ways do you feel your music has matured, and how do you balance innovation with the expectations of your long-time fans?
I think we’ve developed a better understanding of songwriting and what makes a song work. We’ve of course adapted new influences into our sound, so while we were pretty much a very “old school” Power Metal band in the beginning, we now have developed a healthy mixture of old school stuff, but also modern sounding elements inspired by current bands like Beast in Black or Powerwolf. I think we strike a good balance there, and that should appeal both to long-term fans and new fans alike.
In today’s music industry, how do you see the global metal scene influencing your work, and what role do you feel Dragony plays within this community?
I think we are a more or less small cog in the wheel; we are definitely not the innovators of a new sound or anything of the like; we just like symphonic power metal in all its facets, and that’s what we’ve been doing for almost 20 years now – no matter if it’s “old school” or “new school”. I think we add to the community in the way that fans of this sort of music can discover us next to the “big players” and find a lot to enjoy and get some entertainment out of our brand of Power Metal.
Every band faces its own set of challenges; could you share some of the significant obstacles you have encountered as Dragony and the strategies you employed to overcome them?
I think for every band, us included, lineup changes are the hardest part. A band is a bit like a relationship, so making a change to that can be quite difficult and painful. But lives change, people move on, priorities change… so from time to time, it just becomes necessary. Apart from those challenges, of course keeping a band going in this day and age, especially if it’s more of a passion project and not really a “job” that yields any money, is always difficult, as you need to balance your personal and work life with a very time- and money-consuming hobby. The fact that we’ve managed to do it for almost 20 years now is quite astounding to ourselves as well, haha!
Looking forward, what can fans expect from Dragony in the coming years, and are there any upcoming projects or conceptual directions that you are particularly excited about?
For now we want to focus on promoting our new album “Hic Svnt Dracones” as we feel it’s our best to date, so we haven’t really thought much about the future. One step at a time – so 2025 will be very busy for us in terms of touring, as we’ll do a European tour in March together with Serious Black, and then play a few festivals in the summer. We’ve also got an anniversary for our second album “Shadowplay” upcoming this year, so we’ll probably do a little something in that respect later this year!
You signed a deal with SPV Records. Are you satisfied with the label? Will your next album be released via SPV?
Absolutely! SPV have a 40 year history and therefore a lot of experience in the market. They are a very trustworthy partner, and working with them has been really easy and they’ve been very helpful along the way. It’s still a bit early to speak about the next album though.
Have you started writing new songs for your next album?
It’s a bit too early for that as we’ve only just released “Hic Svnt Dracones” last October, so it’s not even been out for half a year. I think we’ll look into the future in the beginning of next year.
In a few days you are playing live in Athens, Greece in the Ghostlands & Ravenlands Festival. How are you feeling about that? What are you preparing for the Greek fans?
I have quite a few very good friends in Greece and Athens specifically, so I’ve been here frequently in the past! I always enjoy visiting, and since I’ve also attended some shows at Kyttaro in the past, it will be very cool to be playing there ourselves as well this time around! Can’t wait!
Send your message to the fans!
We hope that our friends in Greece enjoy our new album “Hic Svnt Dracones”, and that we see many of you guys at Kyttaro on 23rd February for Ghostlands & Ravenlands festival! Stay glorious!
