The authors of the excellent “For Centuries Alive,” Firmament, here in full force, tell us a lot about their new album, but also about the band's past, present, and future (in the best tradition of the Star Trek series, as also mentioned by their singer Marco Herrmann)...

(Jonas): Hi, the reviews and the overall resonance for the record were quite positive. So that made us really happy and confident because the whole process of creating this album was quite exhausting at some point. But it turned out to be worth it in the end, haha! But there is no reason to slow down! We're already working on new stuff and there is a lot happening in the background. So, I guess next year is gonna be busy!
(Stefan): Hi Sergio
(Philipp): Ciao Sergio! Thanks for the opportunity of giving this interview.
Since the release many things have happened, we got a lot of positive feedback and played some shows, excited for what’s to come next year, once the album release has settled a bit. As Jonas said there’s a few things happening we can't tell you about yet.(Jonas): Yeah, you're right. We're all part of the local metal scene here in saxony for a long time and that's how we got to meet each other. When the band Tension was over, our guitarist Phil, me and our then singer, Maik wanted to form a new band because we were kind of upset about how things went and ended. So we got back together with former Tension guitarist Tom and jammed out for a few months. That was in late 2020 and in early '21 Stefan joined on bassguitar. We knew Stefan from his past band, Prisma, already and we were already buddies at that time. Shortly after, we already recorded our debut record, which was released in March '23. By that time our then new singer, Marco, was already in the band for a while. So this line-up is now around a little more than three years.(Jonas): The first guess is right in this case. When we parted ways with Maik in '22, it was clear that we needed a singer with a lot of (new) identity, because Maik's voice was a huge part of our sound at first. We were really lucky to find our new singer Marco quite quickly because his voice fitted really well from the beginning and was also a lot different from Maik's vocal approach. The new album came out more heavy because we realized that the songs that got the best resonance of the first album were the heavier ones and that fits best our overall playing style. But of course, Marco plays into this a lot. He brought new influences to our sound and with that the songwriting changed also in a more focused and heavy, yet dramatic direction. Still in the end, there was never a masterplan, we just wrote the songs as they came out and the decisions to make the songs more heavy were more subconscious.
(Stefan): Marco's entry definitely played a part in making the songs heavier. But the fact that we had more time for songwriting and definitely didn't want to remake a second “We Don't Rise, We Just Fall” are certainly reasons for this as well.(Jonas): Thank you! The claim we have with our music has risen quite a lot since our first record, so with that, our approach also changed a lot. The record was written in a timespan of roughly 18 Months. In that process we always modified the songs over time but also gave them a chance to rest, if we couldn't finish them at first. In the past, we mostly worked on the songs together while jamming in our rehearsal space and all was really spontaneous. That time not all ideas started out as a jam or were finished as that. So that gave us an opportunity to work on parts at home and let them grow over time. So all came out more detailed and thought out.
(Stefan): In the end, the songs are still created in much the same way as in the early days. Someone has an idea for a riff, a double guitar lead, or even a special drum beat, we want to use. We then build the songs around these ideas in the rehearsal room. The biggest difference, however, is the time we give the songs to mature. Often, changes are made afterwards, things are shortened, restructured or even discarded if we get stuck.
(Marco): Some songs — especially the quieter moments in "Pulsar" or "Swear by the Moon" — needed a kind of focus we just couldn’t get in the rehearsal room. Those parts needed a bit of solitude, a calmer atmosphere, so they got some special treatment. With the lyrics, it was sometimes necessary to adjust certain lines depending on how they felt or how the phrasing carried. A lot of that fine-tuning happened over the Christmas break, actually. Can you feel it?

(Jonas): Thank you again, we take that as a compliment, but it's interesting: some reviews said our sound was just pure oldschool worship and they are maybe right in the way, that 70's Hard Rock and NWOBHM is the foundation of our sound. But the album turned out the way it is, because of influences, bands and genres that come more to light in the songwriting as in the overall sound of the instruments. Marco brought a more epic feel to the songs and that comes from his love for stuff like Virgin Steele, Savatage or Meat Loaf. So that is maybe not that far out but it's not the stuff you think about first, when you listen to a band like us. We also like a little touch of New Wave and Post Punk here and there. We definitely don't sound like a new wave band but stuff like the intro for "Anthem…" or the chorus of "Legend…" was influenced by stuff like the Cure or maybe Pink turns Blue. Another important point is, that we all grew up listening to classic rock and classic metal but for most of us, we learned to play in much more extreme bands. So the love for that comes also through in some way or the other.
(Philipp): Thank you for saying that. I do think that each and everyone of us has certain unique bands they love to listen to in their private time, from various genres. But of course, there’s also many similarities and all of those are influencing the way you approach songwriting/ideas/playing, which makes some of those influences shine through in the songs. That makes working together so interesting and creates a certain dynamic/outcome in the end.
(Marco): Some sections had been lying around in our musical attic for quite a while. We dug up ideas we thought were basically buried alive, never to return. Who even remembers what originally inspired them? Going back to those old fragments turned out to be a really joyful little time-travel.(Jonas): Like I said in a previous question: in the past we jammed a lot of the songs together and we still stuck to this way a lot. So all five of us contribute their own parts which makes the song in the end but there is a lot more homework these days, haha. Marco presented us some ideas/songs that were pretty much finished and just needed to get more “firmamentized”, haha. So that was a new thing for us, even if most bands work like that anyway. We also tried out a few other things here and there, like for “Realms”: I composed the drum track pretty much alone before there were any riffs or melodies. Of course, that final version is way different from the initial idea, but still that's the foundation of the song. (Jonas): Since the record’s release we finally played every song live but never in the order of the record or all songs in one show. “Into the Realms...” was the first song we played way before the record was recorded, the first time in late '23. But we had to replace it, when more “Centuries” songs came to light. Maybe we will play it again at some point, but right now there is not really the time or the space in the set. I really looked forward to playing “The Empress...” for the first time at our release show. It's my favourite song on the record and I'm still excited when we play it, even at rehearsals, haha! There's a lot going on with my drums and I like the overall drama in this song. A song I really couldn't believe that it will make the set is “Brother...”. Because it was really hard to nail it down in the studio and I thought it would end in chaos live. But we really worked on the performance, and it turned out to be a highlight in the current set.
(Stefan): Of Course, "Brother of Sleep"! Especially because Jonas initially declared that the song as not playable for him live. So I am glad that he can now play it live with some kind of ease. I also really enjoy playing "Swear by the Moon" live. Both songs are very well received by the audience.
(Philipp): For me it’s definitely "The Empress..." and "A Legend Of The Fall". Both tracks are in my opinion pretty epic and there’s a lot of twin-guitar stuff going on, so that’s always fun. And both songs are very well received by the audience too, which makes it even more fun to play these.
(Marco): Definitely "An Anthem…", "The Empress…", "Starbeast" or "Pulsar". Those tracks feel very theatrical to me and have this great sense of dynamics. My whole body reacts to that tension — I’m right in the middle of it — and I love leaning into that energy, almost like stepping into a role on stage.(Marco): Kyle McNeil from PhantomSpell and Seven Sisters appears as the second voice on "Starbeast". The idea of a guest spot started more or less as a joke, but if we were going to bring someone in, it had to be Kyle — and it had to be this song. Thematically and musically it just clicks. We’re really happy with how it turned out, and Kyle was just as excited. Light the beacon!(Marco): The first impression is actually a bit misleading, indeed. Even though the band name, terms like pulsar and starbeast or the artwork might suggest a space or fantasy concept at first glance, the themes are very human: longing, change, journeys, relationships, identity. I use cosmic imagery more as a vessel, a vehicle, really. It’s quite similar to how stories in the Star Trek universe work. Inner states, existential transitions, and the forces that separate or reconnect people are the main themes on For Centuries Alive. The lyrics revolve around cycles: light and darkness, birth and ending, memory and forgetting, loneliness and connection. Through this contrast between vastness and an inner journey, a mythological-cosmic perspective often emerges—one that makes human experiences stand out even more clearly. I try to make a human core visible in all these song landscapes. You could say: I use the cosmos to describe the heart.(Marco): The artwork was created by the English artist Ryan T. Hancock. We exchanged a lot of ideas with him — really a lot — and quickly found a shared direction. We wanted something mythic and cosmic, something that forms an image in your mind, almost like the end of a dream-journey. Working with Ryan was incredibly inspiring and at the same time really relaxed. A perfect match.(Jonas): Well, that's nice to hear! When our first record was finally released, we weren't really happy with the decisions we made due to songwriting and also the overall sound. Since we had invested so much time to write our second record, it only made sense to invest also on the other side to record the album and get more professional with that. A few years back, I was recording some drum tracks for a friend at Off the Road Studios Leipzig and I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the studio. Chris Häntzschel, our producer, turned out to be a great choice as well. He concentrated really on the sound end of the things but also on our performance and pushed us way more than we were used to in the past.
(Stefan): Thank you for these kind words. We know Off the Road Studios through our friends of Goat Explosion or Max from Lunar Shadow who had already recorded there themselves. Working with Chris was truly a win. As an external producer who isn't part of our circle of friends or the scene in general, he had an unbiased view of the songs and their sound, was able to contribute his own input, and had a strong focus on the end result.

(Jonas): For me that all goes hand in hand. My Dad is a musician as well and at our home my parents were listening to a lot of rock music back then. Since there was a drum kit at our home I got to play the drums really early on. Like when I was three or so. So with that environment my taste in music and my desire to play came very naturally. I learned to play the drums more in a rock or blues context but when I discovered bands like Slayer or Morbid Angel, I really wanted to play more in that vein and I had practiced the drums a lot in my late teenage years to reach that. Ironically, I had always ended up in bands that were more on the rock/heavy side. Maybe that's because my old roots still shine through.
(Stefan): For me, it all started with classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits and Deep Purple, and then in the mid-90s, I got into more contemporary bands like Marilyn Manson, Fear Factory, Turbonegro, and then 2nd wave black metal bands like Satyricon and Dimmu Borgir. Basically, bands that parents didn't like so much, haha... Then I got to know like-minded people who were already making music and playing in bands. So I automatically slipped into a local scene, started picking a guitar and later joined my first band.
(Philipp): I got into Metal maybe like 20-21 years ago, when I accidentally stumbled upon this MTV show called “Rockzone”. They used to air a lot of music videos from Hard Rock/Metal bands. That got me digging deeper, reading magazines, buying CDs, etc... For me it came pretty naturally with the growing love for the harder music, that I wanted to play an instrument as well. So I got myself a guitar and the rest is history…
(Marco): The first time I listened to Alice Cooper as a teenager, everything changed. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to become a musician. So I eventually bought myself an electric guitar and became completely obsessed. Music was my first love.(Jonas): Like I said before, I'm a huge Morbid Angel Fan and of all that goes that goes in hand with that. But I'm also big on classic rock like Blue Öyster Cult or Thin Lizzy as well. So Death Metal and 70s Rock were always my favorite kinds of rock music but I have a lot of love for all that is in between that as well. Like Prog, Thrash or US Metal. Since I got hooked on the latest Blood Incantantion Record, I found myself also getting a lot more into oldschool ambient stuff like Klaus Schulze and all those classics. Besides that, I also dip into NYHC like Crumbsuckers or New Wave Stuff like Talk Talk from time to time.
(Stefan): Puuh, bands on a playlist is difficult for me, because I don't consume any music via streaming plattforms. The last 3 records I heard recently are Grave "Into the Grave", Darkthrone "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" and Therion’s "Lemuria"
(Philipp): I've been obsessed with X-Japan “Blue Blood” recently, as well as the French band Blasphème after seeing them live again a few weeks ago. Allman Brothers is also on heavy rotation again!
(Marco): I don’t have a playlist. The bands I’m listening to the most at the moment are Ghost, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac, Meat Loaf and Phantom Spell.(Jonas): Of course, the 80s will always be glorified as the ultimate decade for Metal but besides from the shitty state of the music business these days, I think the scene is very vital since more than 15 Years. So that's already longer than the 80's itself haha!. Of course everything is really underground these days but again, that makes it pretty easy to concentrate on the things you really want to do. There are always two sides, so it's pretty easy to release a record these days but then you also have to cut through a lot of other stuff that is released at the same time. But that's more on the international end of things. For the local scene, we feel pretty lucky to come from the same area and as our buddies from Acid Blade or Sintage. Without a scene and all those other bands it would be much harder to play concerts or festivals like we usually do. So there is no serious competition at all.
(Stefan): I think there are still lots of young new maniacs coming along. Whether they make music, just listen to heavy music or both of course. So I think you can say that the scene is healthy in general. As far as the scene is concerned, I find it to be more supportive without any kind of exaggerated or fierce competition.(Jonas): I don't really have an opinion on that. There have been a lot of new fans in their late teens in our scene for a few years now. So it seems to grow at least here and that's really nice to see. But I think it will remain pretty much underground. Another interesting question is, what will happen when all the huge bands like Maiden or Priest are gone? Some say, newer bands will replace them but I think, that's more in a modern and commercial sector. So eventually our scene will be shrunk to its core. But again, maybe that makes it even more passionate in the future. So I'm pretty curious what will happen in the next few years. For now, we as Firmament do everything to be a part of that without getting burned out too fast or to sell out. (Tom): As you know, heavy metal bands has very similar setups (guitars, bass, vocals and so on…) so you need to have a fingerprint like a distinctive guitartone or vocals. And besides these elements, catchy hooklines which cuts through the mix are very important.
(Stefan): That's hard to answer cause it's a quite general question. I think the most important thing is live performance and leaving a lasting impression. If you can achieve that, you'll be at the point where you get booked more often, which gives you more good content to offer on social media which is maybe essential nowadays. If you're good live and play often, then you're also good at your instrument and gain confidence, networking with other musicians or labels and so a solid base for working on song materials and produce new records.
(Jonas): Another important thing to me is a unique identity overall as a band and also as the sole musicians behind that. Of course, that's maybe a strange thing to say for a band that plays a more “Oldschool Sound” but I think if you play with heart and honesty, that will develop to a more unique sound in the end. And that's the way I see success for an artist or musician in the end.

(Marco): Let me stick with the sci-fi angle and quote Picard — or at least how he might sound if he were a composer: "In the end, it’s the unknown that defines us. The unwritten line or the space between notes. We are seekers. Explorers." And that’s exactly how I understand this music: not as a final answer or a finished product but as an invitation to ask new questions.
That’s the pulse behind this ongoing striving — and it’s something musicians and listeners share alike. Hook up, stranger our journey here is far from over.(Stefan): We are basically writing new material, but the focus is clearly on live performances right now. 2025 was a year dominated by the production of "For Centuries Alive", and in 2026 we want to play more live shows and, of course, perform the album. A collaboration with WE Live Booking Agency should make this easier and we are excited about what is coming next.(Stefan): We love you! Thanks for your support so far. It's great that there are still so many traditional heavy fans out there giving Firmament the opportunity to be where we are right now.
(Philipp): We really appreciate each and everyone. The people who come to our shows, want to take pictures with us and get their stuff signed. It’s a huge honor to be able to do what we like and people appreciating it.
(Jonas): We'll see you on the road! Thank you for listening to our music, no matter if you stream it or crank it on your Set Up!
(Marco): “Engage!” (Picard Quote)Grazie Sergio, we wish you all the best too, and hopefully we can play for our Italian fans sooner or later!