Stepping into this week’s Meet The Band spotlight is Changeling, the latest project from guitarist Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger (Obscura, Belphegor, Nader Sadek). Geldschläger fills us in on his band and their self-titled debut.
Chad Bowar: How did you put the Changeling lineup together?
Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger: The short answer would be: “by asking them.” (laughs) For the core lineup of drums, bass and lead vocals, I only wanted to bring in musicians that I knew personally and had already established a common language with. Mike (Heller) was the first person I asked, it just took a while until his touring commitments to Fear Factory left us a time-frame to do it. Morean (lead vocals/lyrics) and I had been wanting to collaborate on something for many years, so it was the perfect opportunity.
Arran McSporran (bass) came into the fold later, as I had originally asked somebody else, who I had spent time together with on tour. So he was the wild card, as I only knew of his amazing abilities as a musician, but not his personality. Looking back now, I really couldn’t imagine anybody else playing on this album, as he is just absolutely phenomenally easy to work with. Once I had the core performances down, I invited and/or hired more and more musicians to perform all the different orchestral and auxiliary tracks. A lot of them were part of my go-to’s with whom I had already worked in different projects, some came by recommendation.
Describe the songwriting process for your self-titled album.
As I always do, I started from writing out song ideas and possible song structures first, then compiled suitable rhythms, chords and melodies until the main motifs of each song emerged. This time, I would also write little storyboards – especially for how certain things would work in 360 degree spatial audio – to exactly lay out what each part should represent and feel like. Only then I would move ahead to actually write out the individual parts until I had written out every note for every instrument. In cases where I didn’t know how exactly a certain part would work, I would make demos to help communicate the ideas to the performers. And then, during the production stage, things would also still evolve further as I kept reacting and tweaking things in reaction to how the performances may have deviated from my original parts, or if new ideas had come up in the meantime.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
There’s so many: recording the lead vocals together with Flo/Morean in Rotterdam was a highlight for sure, as him and I have an awesome creative chemistry. Getting to conduct an ensemble of wagnerian tubes and french horns in the very rooms at Musikhochschule C.M.v.Webern in Dresden where I had been rejected as an aspiring student of music many years prior was another one. Recording an actual church organ in an actual church also comes to mind; in the middle of winter, with the heating broken, no less.
What was the biggest challenge in its creation?
Overcoming the trauma from the Obscura Akroasis album, which I co-wrote and performed on back in 2015/2016. Making that album under insane circumstances, getting most of my writing credits stolen and getting publicly slandered and attacked in various ways after the release prevented me from writing music in this particular style for several years. Once I finally overcame that, the path to Changeling was clear. Then, the challenge was not so much in the “what” but in the “how.” In other words, how to get the necessary budget together, how to schedule all the different recordings and session and how organize and manage such a huge undertaking over several years. Large parts of its production, for example, I had to do while traveling back and forth for other professional engagements. So that was extremely stressful and took a big toll on my health, but it ultimately all worth it.
How would you characterize its style/sound?
It’s definitely firmly rooted in technical death metal, but also offers new and unique things to that style that nobody’s done before. In the 4-chapter musical concept of the album, we start in the genre’s past at the beginning – where there are clear references to my own past works in the genre, but also to the big inventors and role models of the past, like Death, Cynic and Morbid Angel. With each passing chapter, we then go further and further into what I can currently offer as the genre’s future: the song structures get more winding and adventurous, the orchestrations and compositional techniques get more and more advanced and innovative. Ultimately, I’d say it’s for everybody who likes virtuosity and daring musicianship – but loves being taking on a cinematic musical journey even more.
What does the use of a fretless guitar add to a composition?
It gives me the freedom to explore things that lie just out of reach of regular fretted instruments: micro-tones, glissandi, different tuning systems. It’s also a way for me to push further and further in developing my own signature as a player, as well as pushing my physical boundaries further by trying to do things on the instrument that nobody’s done before.
What is the album’s lyrical concept?
It chronicles a person’s intense psychedelic trip, the ensuing journey deep into their unconscious mind and ultimately returning to physical reality with a new outlook and a fresh perspective.
How did you come to sign with Season Of Mist?
By sending them the demo version of “Abyss,” which then got passed around internally at their offices until they offered me a deal. Which is cool because part of my vision for this album was to sign with them, as I felt like they would understand and support what I do as an artist.
What are your goals and expectations for the album?
That’s a good question. It may sound arrogant, but I wrote Changeling to be a future classic of the genre. That doesn’t mean that anybody has to like it, but I think it’s important to strive for sort of a noble goal, so that the pursuit of that stretches one’s abilities beyond what they were previously. And with this album, I set out to provide the same kind of potentially life-changing journey that bands like Rush, Dream Theater, Morbid Angel or Devin Townsend provided to me when I was first discovering them.
A big part of the album is also the Spatial Audio/Dolby Atmos mix, which is something I am immensely proud of, as it’s really the first time that anybody made full use of the format with this kind of music. So that is meant to further enhance that immersive, transformative experience that I want to provide, as well as setting a new benchmark and future reference in the scene.
Do you have plans to play live shows in support of the record?
For now, I’m playing a few shows in Europe in a trio format. As soon as I get professional booking help, I’d love to scale it up to play this music everywhere and involving more of the musicians on the album. If anybody reading is able and willing to help in this matter, please do reach out!
Are you currently involved in any other projects/bands?
Sure. I’m playing show with however wants to hire me. Last year, for example, I played with the band Voodoogods, which is an old-school death metal band featuring the singer of Cannibal Corpse – as well as a German power metal band called Thunder & Lightning. Also, I’m constantly working with and for other artists as music producer, mixing/mastering engineer, provider of guest guitar solos, orchestrator, etc. There’s also two projects that I’m more steadily involved in that will finish full-length albums this year, with are My Atomic Majesty (which is myself and multi-instrumentalist/composer Andrey Sazonov doing a sort of Anime metal fusion of extreme metal, J-pop and electronic music) and Amuse To Death (a band led by Martin Matiasovic, where we mix swing-jazz with metal).
You’ve spoken about mental health issues. What are some of those challenges unique or more common when it comes to musicians?
I think that our mental and emotional health is just as important, if not more so, for our successes and failures as musicians as our actual skill and talent. So many musicians struggle with self-confidence issues, depression, writer’s block, stage fright or abusive relationships in and out of bands – and it certainly doesn’t get any better in the age of normalized narcissism via social media. Addressing and acknowledging these issues and their roots is often connected to deep feelings of shame or fear. After encountering pretty much all of the aforementioned issues myself over the past two decades, I’ve made it one of my missions in life to not only address these topics directly, but also use the knowledge and experiences that I’ve gained along the way in order to help other artists with their internal struggles – either as a public speaker or in 1-on-1 sessions. This work has been one of the most fulfilling things in my life over the past 2-3 years.
What are some of your non-musical interests and hobbies?
Keeping myself alive through running and lifting heavy things and spending quality time with my kids.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
Thank you for asking! Please do give this album a shot beyond a quick Spotify peek – it is made for repeated in-depth listening, preferably on good headphones. There’s also the Dolby Atmos mix coming to streaming services on May 23rd as well as an extremely extensive and detailed transcription book around the same time – both of which are among the proudest achievements of my career so far.
(interview published April 26, 2025)
Watch Changeling – “Falling In Circles” Video
