With 74 minutes of runtime, Theater of Dimensions weighs in as a symphonic metal heavyweight. No tracks were left on the cutting-room floor as B-Sides, which proves the band’s confidence in their songwriting. Gothic, power and doom metal influences are still dominant but are joined by death metal and Gaelic folk music. We interviewed Dianne before the release show in the Matrix in Bochum. Guest singer Björn Strid (Soilwork) was sadly not present, so his guest part We Are Murderers was done by bass player Steven Wussow and the audience.

It is the first time performing your new album, Theater of Dimensions. Did it meet your expectations?

Yes, and beyond! I totally love the songs.

And it’s your biggest production to date.

It’s not just the biggest production, but also the best production. I am obliged to say that, but I truly believe it is. For this album, things were so much more in order. We had the full production done by Joost van den Broek, so all of us could focus on our instruments and studies to come up with cool things. We work pretty well when everyone does what he does best.

What do you do best, as a singer?

Maybe… singing? (laughs) But I’ve also been a big part of the songwriting. We did it with the three of us, Marco Heubaum, me and Joost. I mainly focus on the vocal parts. This is something you hear on the album because my voice is much more on a central position and it gets the chance to shine. The arrangements work with my voice. The band benefits, because they don’t have to hold back to give me some room. They just go ahead and do whatever they want.

Gerit Lamm on the drums (Photo: Khanh David To Tuan)

Are you talking about solo passages?

Not precisely. It’s more that the tonalities now really fit my voice. Our previous album Sacrificium was already written and recordings already started. We couldn’t change any key, which would have been nicer for my voice. Now for this album, we had loads of time to test things out.

Is your vocal range different from Manuela Kraller, your previous singer?

Definitely! I don’t know her voice well enough, but I think Manuela is a Mezzo-Soprano, whereas I am a Soprano.

Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t both reach the highest notes; it’s just that the most beautiful notes lie at different points.

Steven Wussow. Photo: Khanh David To Tuan

You mentioned you write with the three of you. Do you pass the ideas around, or does everyone work on their own?

We all went to the Sandlane Recording Facilities in the Netherlands where our producer is based. We wrote there in his studio. It really helps to focus. Writing on tour works for some bands, but we have so many disciplines to take care of, that it would be too chaotic.

When does the orchestral arrangement come in?

It comes meanwhile.

Did you feel any pressure from the schedule?

No, because we had a very good timeframe and managed to keep every deadline. So there was no pressure, which is nice! The music totally benefits.

Who organized the schedule?

It was Joost. He was the boss pushing us around.

Do you prefer to be pushed or to work at your pace?

I don’t need a lot of pushing. I am organized and tend to have my stuff done way before it needs to be done. Other people, I won’t mention names, certainly do need the push.

Some songs, like Céilí, have Irish influences. Whose idea was that?

This is Marco. He’s the folky guy. I really love having an instrumental track; it’s a good party song. It won’t be on tonight, but in the future, it will be. It gives me a chance to have a few minutes in the set to calm down. The songs are growing heavier and heavier for me to sing. So it’s nice to have a breather.

Marco Heubaum. Photo: Khanh David To Tuan

Is it difficult to translate the studio version to the live version?

Not with the newer songs. There are some Sacrificium songs that are really, really hard to sing on stage and I have to keep my focus. Stardust is really heavy. The chorus is high, and it’s full power. It’s OK at the beginning of the tour, but in the end, when you didn’t get so much sleep, and the voice gets tired, the songs are really hard.

Do you take any special measures to protect your voice, like honey tea?

(raises tea cup) I am having honey tea, but I just like it. It’s studied and keeping your focus and technique up.

You also had some guest singers. How was working with Henning Basse?

I love Henning! He’s a fantastic singer, I know him from a different project. We sang together on Karmaflow. When we were composing the title track Theater of Dimensions, we were discussing names and voices that would be perfect for the role. I mentioned Henning, and everyone was really into him! So we asked him, and he joined.

He joined in at a very heavy part of the song. The song is very different in every section.

It’s built around different sections, indeed. It’s like a mini opera. The are different Aktes (Acts), as we say in Dutch. It’s a long story about a girl who is trapped in a different dimension and finds that humanity is led by an evil leader. She sets out to free the world of him. In the end, it turns out she can only do this by making the ultimate sacrifice of herself being trapped. But the world gets to live on happy ever after.

Photo: Khanh David To Tuan

So, no happy ending.

Of course, we don’t do happy!

How was working with Bjorn Strid?

Nice, I think he lifts We Are Murderers up to a new level. It’s a different style from what we usually do. I am not sure if it’s titled death metal or heavy metal. I know symphonic metal, but is it like heavy metal, trash metal, black metal, doom metal? There’s so much metal that I don’t know which sticker to apply!

It’s a very heavy song. Who wrote it?

Again, Marco! Whenever things get emotional, it’s me.

There’s also a music video out.

That’s me! We have a full music video that’s called Call of Destiny. That’s my advice to all the singers who come to me and ask me “How did you do it? I want to be famous, too!”. It’s not about being famous.

It’s this whole idol, new top model, new star model contest thingy coming from the TV. It tells people that stardom is a thing without actually doing something. This is my answer to everyone: It’s very important to recognize a talent you have, but it’s up to you to answer to this talent. If you don’t set out to do something with it or if you don’t study, then you won’t develop. Only you can make sure it gets somewhere and then maybe it gets picked up. Maybe you meet the right people. But you’ll never do so if you don’t answer the call yourself.

Philip Restemeier. Photo: Khanh David To Tuan

You’ve had a great music career so far, right?

Yes, but it didn’t just fell out of heaven, like “Here, sing!”. I had singing lessons for 25 years!

How do you improve now?

When you start singing lessons, you go up, up and up. Now I think I am not going up, but wider and more diverse. By going diverse and learning vocal styles from different techniques I sometimes can implement them in my classical vocal style and find different headrooms or sounds.

There are also acoustic versions on the album. Were they hard to arrange?

I love them! We did them together with Joost and Philip. Some songs we just jammed through. Two songs were already studied by Philip and me because we did acoustic sessions on earlier shows. It’s not hard at all; these are just fun.

Whose idea was it originally?

We were doing the two acoustic songs before the album and one of us, Philip or me, said: “We should keep this vibe and record and release it.” Then we couldn’t decide which of the songs should be the bonus track. All 13 tracks we wrote made it to the album, so we still needed bonus tracks. So we thought “Aha! Let’s do the acoustics”.

So everything made it onto the album?

Yes, that’s why we have such a long album!

Dianne van Giersbergen and Marco Heubaum. Photo: Khanh David To Tuan

Are the choirs and orchestrations all real?

Of course, there is some sampling, but the choirs we real. We also had violins, cello and lots of wooden flutes, tin whistles and in Forsaken Love we have bagpipes. We had a big production, but still it wasn’t big enough to hire a complete orchestra.

Is it a german or dutch choir?

Dutch choir, of course! It’s the Padam Chamber Choir from Amsterdam. I think Epica also record with them. It’s a professional choir, they are amazing and read so quickly.

How many people are in the choir?

It depends, they come in different sizes. I think we had 18 people. The thing is you don’t want to go too big; it’s better to have fewer people with more takes so you can still understand what they are saying. With more than 30 or 50 people you can’t hear what they are saying anymore. It becomes more of mass.

Are there plans to do a live show with an orchestra?

Maybe, I don’t know! Many people ask… I am up for it!

Photo: Khanh David To Tuan

Who did the keyboard parts?

Joost! (laughs) He did a lot; we are just lazy! It’s a different dimension we didn’t use so often yet, it sounds nice.

Any last words?

Of course a word of thank you to your followers and our followers. I hope to see everyone on our tour with Theater of Dimensions!