Seven Kingdoms Interview
Sara Letourneau chats with lead guitarist Camden Cruz and singer Sabrina Valentine

Sometimes it’s beneficial to put a new twist on a popular style of music. In Seven Kingdoms’ case, that twist is creating a ripple effect through the metal world. Critics have raved about the Florida quintet’s 2010 self-titled second album (read our review here), which shows off Seven Kingdoms’ explosive brand of power metal with strokes of death, thrash, and progressive metal instead of the usual symphonic trends. Other people dig it, too – and not just the fans. Just two months after releasing Seven Kingdoms, the band was invited to kick off ProgPower USA’s Midweek Mayhem festivities. Then in November and December came the true highlight: An opening slot for the North American tour of Blind Guardian, one of Seven Kingdoms’ biggest influences. You know an up-and-coming band is on to something good when big-name bands and metal moguls pay this kind of attention to them.

Kerstin Bischof - Lisa Middelhauve Interview
Performed on the phone in February 2011

I could spend paragraphs writing a mini-biography of Kerstin Bischof and Lisa Middelhauve, the former frontwomen of Xandria, and their guitar-wielding comrade-in-arms, Guido Wehmeyer (ex-Axxis). But who am I kidding? You all want to know what their big secret is, and plan to skip past the introduction. Isn’t that right?