Interview: Avian (Germany)
8–12 minutes
The Nwothm
Avian have carved out their own corner of southern Germany’s metal scene, steadily refining their sound while pushing themselves into new creative territory. What follows is a look at the band as they stand today, shaped by years of growth, shifting line‑ups and a clear sense of purpose, but still hungry for what comes next.
Interview
TheNwothm: To start things off, could you introduce the members of Avian and share where you are all from?
Christian Langhorst (Guitar): Friedrichshafen, Germany
Johannes Peter (Guitar): Baienfurt, Germany
Christian Kaiser (Drums): Wangen, Germany
Can Sahin (Bass, Vocals): Uhldingen, Germany
TheNwothm: You began in Ostrach and Burgweiler before later settling in Ravensburg. How did those places shape your early years as musicians?
A: Both founding members knew each other through their guitar teacher. In my opinion, building a band was the next step at that age. But since there is no longer an “original” member of Avian in the band, we don’t want to shed too much light on this founding phase of the band
TheNwothm: Germany has a strong metal tradition. Has the culture or local scene influenced the way you write or perform
A: Each of our band member is a strong concert/festival goer and so everyone is influenced heavily from the different venues they’re going to. Especially the metal genre is strong were we all grew up, although it’s since the 2010s way more Metalcore than the traditional Heavy Metal. Anyway even the small differences in taste about the music genre allows us to implement different styles and patterns into our songs.
From a musical point of view this variety is very prosperous. On the other hand the stage performances especially from smaller venues allows you to decide what you want to do on stage, what you think is cool and on the other hand what you don’t want to do. So yes, the metal culture has had and still has much influence on how we write or perform smaller and bigger venues each to their part.
TheNwothm: Outside of music, what personal interests or experiences feed into your songwriting or stage presence?
A: Many of our song lyrics come from books, films and/or personal views on various topics. The best example of this is our new single “Expired”, which closes with the situation in which the world as a whole currently finds itself and there is no improvement in sight. I (Christian Langhorst) myself like to read history books from different eras (Middle Ages, Viking Age, First World War, Second World War, Cold War, etc.) and get many ideas from them.
The stage presence (how we dress and what accessories we have on stage) is partly inspired by the great players of the game from the 80s/90s, without any kind of disguise, as is currently seen in many venues by different bands and increasingly. We try to keep it mostly plain black and show our band symbols on stage, but we think the focus should be on our music and convey the fun we have playing through good interaction within the band on stage and with our audience.
TheNwothm: When you look at the current wave of new heavy metal bands, what stands out to you about the direction the genre is taking
A: The production quality is getting higher and higher. And you can also feel a return of traditional heavy metal in terms of stage presence, playing style and song structure. Some drive it over the cliff by sounding too sterile or too perfect, if I’m honest, but I guess that comes with the tools and methods now accessible where you can get completely lost in the details. But also the technical versatility increases a lot, and the compositions become more complex and with more layers, which is pretty good, and we ourselves try (keyword “try” :-D) not to keep our compositions too simple in terms of song structure. But this is a learning process, as you may have heard when you compare our older songs with newer ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDc56VYwm0g
Since the first two eras pre‑date everyone in the current formation, the band’s active story for you really begins in 2017. With that in mind, what did the 2019 single “Decision of the Apocalypse” represent as the first release created entirely by the line‑up that exists today?
A: That was the first record after the “original” setup and was more or less a way to find our way of making music and to adapt input and preferences from each “new” member. At that time we were trying out many technical setups and were still not so sure in which specific direction/genre of music we’re heading. With the following member changes that way was became clearer each time until we’re here with our ideal member situation.
TheNwothm: Your self-titled EP “Avian” also arrived in 2019. What were you aiming to capture with that release?
A: At that time we were writing songs pretty fast and wanted to put out some sort of a life signal with that EP and establish something were you can also put out there in order to apply for concerts and venues. Most of them songs were written by our other guitar player (Mario Düssel) and therefore reflect that phase of writing style and song structure.
TheNwothm: You released “Ready Player One” in 2020 and later returned with “Stormwarning”, which began as a single before becoming a full album. What inspired those releases, and how did the singles help shape the album’s direction?
A: Two completely different songs which is mainly owed to the fact that is was written from two different persons. Ready Player One was written (music and lyrics) by our fromer singer Armin who was heavily influenced by the digital world (also through the respective movies such as TRON) and the idea of losing yourself to a digital image of yourself or at least how you want yourself to be seen and in the meanwhile totally neglect the real world out. No matter what the real cause for that escape really is.
The song Stormwarning was written (music and lyrics) by myself (Christian Langhorst) and has its main idea from a book that I’ve read some years ago. The book is called (surprise) “Storm Warning” by history fiction author Jack Higgins and has its historical background in the last months of WWII where the allies and especially the Russians are closing the circle around Nazi-Germany.
A group of, in Argentina stranded, Kriegsmarine personel fear about their respective family/partner/children and try to make the big passage over the Atlantic on an old three mast schooner. On their journey the experience several horrific situations and in the end, a very typical story line in books from Jack Higgins, there is no heroical end full of glory instead hard, sober reality.
After that I wrote several other songs with a similar background that were put on that album. But since the image of that big, old ship in the middle of a storm and strafed by our mascot, the grief, was loved by every member we put it on the album cover and named the album after it.
TheNwothm: Your most recent singles “Black Trade” and “On The Run” came out in 2025. How do these tracks reflect where Avian is heading?
A: As I’ve mentioned before we constantly are trying to improve ourselves especially in terms of song structure and playing “together” to accentuate the ideas that we have for certain passages. From an objective point of view you notice more twin guitar parts a bridging part that smoothly leads to a accelerating guitar solo and of course an alternation in the end to keep the crowd and ourselves excited 😊 especially the part of staying excited and add parts to the song that aren’t following a strict scheme are on our focus more and more. And furthermore the production evolved heavily. After hard learned lessons I think we found “our” way of recording, mixing, producing etc. which makes a big difference and allows you to establish your trademark sound.
TheNwothm: Your new single “Expired?” has just landed. What can you share about the track, and does it signal that more new music is on the horizon?
A: From our point of view this song is a continuation of our songwriting. At first there’s always a 70% version of the song with an initial structure but then ideas from every direction are flowing into it and we’re trying many different settings. But in the end, if everyone of us is happy with the arrangement and agrees to leave the song at it’s current setting we start recording. To answer your question if one can expect more songs like “Expired” I would definitely say “yes” in terms of production quality, AVIAN trademarks such as twin guitar leads, solo maybe also some slower parts.
TheNwothm: What have your recent live shows been like, and are there any moments from the stage that have stayed with you?
A: Great interaction with the fans and some turbulences on the stage. The greatest moments which we’ve experienced very often, especially when you’re the support slot or the only band that’s not fitting the main genre of the evening, is when fans come up to us after the show and tell us that the initially weren’t fans of Traditional Heavy Metal but our show got their attention and they could feel our passion and joy in it. That’s more or less the greatest compliment that you can receive when I think about it.
On the other hand I guess the typical band experiences that happen only on stage like broken strings just seconds before a solo, broken guitar strap and a hectic change of guitars and so on and on are some key memories. But in the end those experiences only let you stay calm in such moments in the future and you learn from every mistake. That’s for sure.
TheNwothm: What touring plans do you have for the rest of 2026?
A: Play more shows in the closer area and maybe slip as a replacement in some festivals in summer. But main focus is in the end of this year and the festival season 2027.
TheNwothm: How can our readers buy your music and merch?
A: Check out our website www.avianmetal.com where you can see our merch or directly via www.brandsxbands.com/collections/avian
TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you online?
A: Also on our website www.avianmetal.com where you also can join the STAHLPAKT. By joining this elite force of metal fans you won’t miss any future infos, events or merch from Avian.
And of course you can follow us on the social media platforms like Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/avianmetal/ ) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/avianmetal/ )
TheNwothm: Finally, what would you like listeners to take away from Avian as you move forward into the next phase of the band
A: Expect more songs like the last ones and stay excited about future releases and give us a comment/feedback if you feel like it. Every feedback we get is very welcome and keeps us motivated to get on and also to stay connected with our listeners and fans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8geqnHF_JA
links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avianmetal/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avianmetal/
Bandcamp: https://avianmetal.bandcamp.com/
Website: https://www.avianmetal.com/
Photo Credits: Cindyfototante
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