Dream Theater is by many people considered as the leading band in the prog metal genre. However, many other great bands are capable of releasing strong albums in this genre. One of them is the German based band Philosophobia. They were founded in 2020, and they released their eponymous album in 2022. This year saw the release of The Constant Void, a strong successor and an album that can easily compete with Parasomnia, the recently released album by Dream Theater. Therefore, the editorial staff of Background Magazine thought that it makes sense to give this band a bit more prominence. So, I asked their guitarist Andreas Ballnus to tell us all the ins and outs of the band and their excellent album. He got a little help from their singer Domenik Papaemmanouil.

Andreas, would you please introduce the band members of Philosophobia, and tell us a how the band started?
"Our band consists of vocalist Domenik Papaemmanouil, guitarist Andreas Ballnus, drummer Alex Landenburg, bass player Sebastian Heuckmann, and keyboard player Tobias Weißgerber. Already back in 2007, we started recording the first demos. Back then Alex and I wrote a couple of songs. When searching for a singer we were recommended to listen to Greek band Wastefall of singer Domenik. His singing blew us totally away, and the timbre of his voice seemed to be the perfect fit for us.

So, he flew to Germany, used his voice for the demos, and we became good friends. At the time, I was the guitar player of ex-Iron Maiden singer Paul Di'Anno, and Alex had just joined Annihilator. So, due to this musical obligations, Philosophobia was on hold for quite a long time. It was during the pandemic that we decided to finish what we had started, so we finally recorded our debut album."

Andreas Ballnus

How did the band's name come about?
"Well, the name entered my mind one evening, and I immediately liked the sound. Years later, I found out that philosophobia means fear of philosophy."

Why did Kristoffer Gildenlöw leave the band? How did you find bassist Sebastian Heuckmann, who has been playing live with the band since 2024?
"Kristoffer decided to focus more on his solo career. We all understood that and there was no bad blood at all. Sebastian was our first choice for the vacant position in the band. I have known him for many years, and we played some gigs together in the past. I knew that he's not only an excellent musician, but also a nice guy to hang out with. That is even more important than being a virtuoso on your instrument."

Your music can be described as a mixture of progressive rock and metal. You even included grunts. Who is responsible for the grunts?
"We all have the same musical taste in the band. For example, I had the idea for those harsh vocals at the beginning of King Of Fools. When we recorded the vocals, I had forgotten to tell Domenik what I had in mind, but when the recording started he did exactly what I had in mind! An amazing moment that showed that we had the same ideas about this song. The mixture of soft prog rock and prog metal is due to our influences, and what we like to listen to. I'm a huge fan of Pantera as well as Fates Warning, Pendragon and Pink Floyd. To combine all these musical styles is sometimes challenging, but also very interesting and a lot of fun to do! Actually, we write songs that we wished our favourite bands had written, while all hanging out together in a rehearsal room!"

Domenik Papaemmanoui

Domenik, how difficult is it for you to sing clean vocals as well as grunts?
Domenik: "It's definitely demanding, but it's also one of my characteristics. I have developed a controlled technique over the years, so I can switch between clean vocals and grunts without hurting my voice. The real challenge is in the transitions: keeping the emotion and intensity of the harsh parts and immediately shifting into a melodic, clean passage. It's not just physical, it's mental too, because I must stay completely locked into the atmosphere of the song. That contrast is what gives Philosophobia's music its dynamic character."

Your skills Andreas, and those of keyboardist Tobias Weißgerber are top notch. We regularly hear solos either from you or from Tobias or even simultaneously. How did this strong combination get together?
"We really enjoy playing twin guitar solos! It is quite challenging sometimes, but it is also fun to do! I remember listening to Metropolis Part I by Dream Theater with all those unison guitar and keyboard parts when I thought: wow! one day I want to do that too! It does not fit in every song, though and that's why there are also split solos which we also always have loved: like a guitar and keyboard battle."

You not only wrote the music but also the lyrics. What are your inspirations and how do you work out everything together?
"Lyrically I like to explore the dark sides of humanity. These subjects may be derived from things I have witnessed myself, but also mythological or fictional themes. For example, The Forgotten Part 2 is a combination of the state of humanity leaving this planet for the next generations to come, and a bit of Greek mythology. Since I always have been writing music with a dark atmosphere, my style of writing lyrics seems to fit pretty well. I'm just not able to write happy music and lyrics, but that doesn't mean that I'm not happy. On the contrary, I am very happy with a positive attitude and having a great life. However, the negative side of humanity is what interests me more. Especially to find out how it came to this."

For me, the biggest achievement is how you connect mellow and heavy parts in one single composition. What's the secret behind it?

Sebastian Heuckmann

"There is no secret behind it. It comes out just naturally while writing the song. Sometimes I feel that the heavy metal riffs need a counterpart to slow down a bit or that it fits the lyrics better. That depends on what I have first: the music or the lyrics. But like I mentioned before, I'm just a fan of hard metal riffs and mellow tunes like Pink Floyd. I like the contrast between both styles. It gives the song more depth when done emotionally properly."

The final track of The Constant Void is The Forgotten Part II, an epic of twenty minutes. It features spoken words by Rob Leland. How did he get involved?
"I met Rob Leland during the promotion for our debut album. He did an interview with me for his podcast, and we immediately became friends. We talked for hours. He does TV and radio commercials, so he has a fantastic voice. In the demos I did the spoken words myself, but for the final recordings I felt that it had to be done by a native speaker with a special voice. Rob is an American and a voice artist, so he was a logical choice for us!"

This epic really is a musical roller coaster. In my opinion, it is a prog metal epic of high quality. How did you get it together?
"It all began with the piano parts. At first I thought that it might end as a piano ballad. Then came the next part and at this point it still wasn't clear that it could be the second part of The Forgotten. At some point, the mood of the song was the same as in The Forgotten Part I, and the main melody and chorus fitted perfectly well! So, I rearranged a few of the other parts and that was it, but at the start it was not planned to write a twenty-minute epic. It just happened without thinking too much."

Album Art (click to enlarge)

What does the title The Constant Void mean? Is it a concept album, and if so what is it all about?
"The title The Constant Void summarizes all the songs on the album. Our songs deal with the dark side of humanity, the abyss of the human mind. People who are responsible by their actions and behaviour for the dark sides of their character seem to be ignorant. Talk to them about what they did wrong almost never leads to insight. There is not only a gap between 'us and them', but a complete void which cannot be overcome. That happens in politics, religions and in all other sectors of society."

Who made the amazing album cover and what does it mean?
"Again, the artwork was done by Björn Gooßes at Killustrations. I had a similar idea for the artwork in mind. He asked me if he could play around a bit with that idea and I allowed him tot do so. He came up with the three heads consisting of all the colours of the world, but only brown slime drips out of their mouths. That is exactly what we mean with The Constant Void. The colours symbolize all the valuable information and emotions we can use, but many people spit their unfounded opinions out of their mouths like brown slime! I really love that artwork, it screams for a vinyl copy, don't you think?"

How long did it take to record the album? What was the most difficult part or which part caused a lot of problems?
"We finished the pre-production during the final steps of the recordings. The actual recording sessions at SU2 Studios took about four weeks, and there were no significant issues or problems during the recordings. We were all pretty well prepared before we entered the studio and producer Phil Hillen is a super chill dude to work with. He knows to calm down things when it gets a bit tense. He also knows how to kick your butt when there is work to do. We really enjoyed collaborating with him!"

How did you get in touch with the record label Laser's Edge-Sensory? Were other labels interested in releasing your album as well?
"When the recordings of the debut album were finished, I sent the music to several labels of which quite a few were interested. Before sending, I told the others that if we could make a deal with InsideOut or Sensory I would be happy. Sensory answered the same day to my e-mail. They immediately wanted a video call because they were really

Philosophobia live

convinced of the quality after listening to the album. I felt good about their enthusiasm and the will to work with us since Sensory was one of the labels we had in mind. At home, I have many releases by Sensory that I really love. I'm still very happy with what we together have achieved!"

What has the future for you in store and are you going to play some of the music of The Constant Void live on stage?
"We just finished the songwriting for our third album, and we hope that we can start recording end of this year or early next year. In the meantime, we will try to play as many gigs and festivals as possible. Of course, we will play songs from The Constant Void! The Forgotten Part I is part of our setlist since our gig at Ostrow Rock Festival in Poland in July 2024, so nearly a year before the album was officially released. But apart from that we will perform a fine mixture of songs from our debut album and The Constant Void. We can hardly wait to perform those songs life on stage, and we hope that we will meet a lot of people out there!"

Thanks for answering all my questions and success with your album!
"Thanks a lot, and thank you very much for having us!"