JUNE 6th, 2026
AVIAN EXCLUSIVE
MetalTitans had an exclusive opportunity to sit and chat with metal band, AVIAN. Forming around the year 2000 out of Ravensburg, Southern Germany. They have 3 major single releases, their most recent being "Expired", and landing major press coverage, including Legacy magazine. This band is hitting the ground running, and expect to hear more about them in the coming months. For more about AVIAN, check out our interview below by Metal Mom Rita:
MT: How did you come up with the name AVIAN?
AVIAN: Honestly, that goes way back to the band's first chapter around the year 2000, long before our current lineup got involved. The name has always stuck though – it has this weight to it, this image of something soaring, predatory, a bit dark. It also fits perfectly with our crest: a griffin from the Baden-Württemberg coat of arms, which represents where we come from. So it's a name we inherited, but one we proudly carry into our current era.
MT: Yan Leviathan formed the band in 2000, what brought you all together?
AVIAN: Small correction with a wink – the band has gone through different chapters since 2000. The original founding crew kicked it off back then with a demo, but AVIAN today is a completely different beast. Think of the band's history as a saga in three acts: the early years (2000–2003), the revival phase (2018–2024) with releases like our EP "Avian" and the album "Stormwarning," and now Act III – the current lineup, which has been forging steel together since 2024. What brought us – the current four – together was the same thing that brings any group of metalheads together: shared taste, shared work ethic, and a stubborn refusal to play anything that isn't real Heavy Metal.
MT: Who is in the band, and how did they come to be in it?
AVIAN: The lineup is Christian "Lange" Langhorst on guitar, Johannes "Hanni" Peter on guitar, Christian "Kaiser" Kaiser on drums, and Can Şahin on vocals and bass. Kaiser and Lange were already part of AVIAN before the current formation came together. The way the rest of us joined is almost too good to be made up.
Kaiser and Hanni have been friends since they were teenagers and even played in a band together way back. So when AVIAN parted ways with their previous guitarist, Kaiser was literally driving past Hanni one day, pulled over, and asked: "Hey, you in?" The rest is history.
Can originally came in as the new lead vocalist after our last founding member left the band. When the bassist left shortly after, Can just shrugged, picked up the four-string, and added bass to his job description. Lemmy-style, more or less. By the way – we're a bit of a cultural mix too: Can originally comes from Turkey, Lange is from the Baden area, and Kaiser and Hanni come from the Swabian Allgäu. By now we all live in Swabia. We always say: our band reflects our music – a mix of different influences melted into one steel.
MT: Who was the one who decided what type of music to play? I read you were influenced by Iron Maiden, Hammerfall, Savatage and Megadeth, is that correct?
AVIAN: Nobody really decides in that sense – the music kind of decides for itself when four guys with similar DNA get in a room together. Our main pillars are Iron Maiden (those legendary twin-guitar harmonies), Primal Fear (raw German power), Rage (that rough European Heavy Metal soul), and Megadeth (technical bite and sharp politics). Bands like Hammerfall and Savatage are fellow soldiers in the same scene – we respect them deeply, but we'd be lying if we claimed they're at the absolute core of what we do. What unites us all is the love for big riffs, melody, and Heavy Metal that actually means something.
MT: Who was your influence though as you were growing up?
AVIAN: Different for each of us, which is part of why the band sounds the way it does. There's classic Maiden, Priest, and Sabbath in our DNA, of course. But you'll also find Manowar, Metallica, Megadeth, Helloween in there – and even stuff outside metal that shaped us as musicians. The unifying thing is: we all grew up worshipping bands that put craftsmanship and honesty above trends. That's the seed. Everything else grew from there.
MT: Who is the person or persons who writes the lyrics, and where do the ideas come from?
AVIAN: Lyrics mainly come from Can – he's the one who has to actually sing them with conviction, so it makes sense that he writes most of them. Lange has contributed lyrics for a few tracks too. Inspiration is all over the map. "Expired," our latest single, is heavily inspired by the current state of the world – corrupt politics, algorithms reducing humans to numbers, Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But that's just one song. "Black Trade" was driven by dark oceanic and battle imagery. "On The Run" leans into a more cinematic vibe – losing yourself in a virtual world, a bit "Ready Player One." Movies, books, history, and yes – the world we live in. Whatever lights the fire.
MT: Does everyone do their own music, drummer does his, the bass creates his sound, guitarist his own riffs and such?
AVIAN: The initial spark – the riffs – usually come from either Can or Lange. They sit on those riffs for a while, sometimes for ages, until they bring them into the rehearsal room. That's where the real magic happens: we piece the parts together, add what's missing, layer in the twin-guitar harmonies that have become our trademark, and basically "Avianize" the whole thing until it sounds like us and nobody else. So yes, everyone shapes their own parts within the song – but a track only becomes an AVIAN song when all four of us sit there grinning at each other because it just clicks. If we're not all into it, it doesn't make the cut. Simple as that.
MT: Tell me how you start the process of writing a song, then putting music to it? As you can tell I am not a musician.
AVIAN: No worries, we'll keep it simple! Most songs start as little fragments – Can or Lange comes in with a riff they've been carrying around for weeks, sometimes months. We bring those fragments to the rehearsal room. Then it's like building a Lego castle: this piece fits here, that part needs to be louder, this section needs a bridge, this chorus needs more punch. The twin-guitars get layered in, the drums shape the groove, the bass anchors everything. It's puzzle work, but with sweat and amplifiers. Sometimes a whole song comes together in a week. Sometimes a riff sits in a drawer for two years until it finds its missing other half. The lyrics and vocals usually come once the musical skeleton is standing – Can listens to the mood of the song and then knows what it needs to say.
MT: Tell us what you have been up to lately.
AVIAN: A lot. The last 12 months have been our most productive ever. We dropped three singles back-to-back: "Black Trade" (September 2025), "On The Run" (December 2025), and most recently "Expired" (April 2026) – each one with a music video. "Expired" especially has hit harder than we expected: it landed on the compilation CD of the current Legacy Magazine, we got a feature interview in there, and the response from press and fans has been incredible. The forge is burning hot right now – we're deep in writing mode on new material. One thing we can promise: you'll definitely be hearing more from us this year.
MT: Do you remember your first concert as AVIAN? How was it?
AVIAN: Speaking for the current lineup – yes, very clearly. There's a certain magic when a new formation hits the stage together for the first time, that mix of nervousness and "let's just unleash this." What we remember most is the feedback after the show: people coming up to us saying it felt heavier, tighter, more focused than ever before. That was the moment we knew the forge was set up correctly. And the band itself has played plenty of shows over the years – including some absolute highlights like the Aaargh Festival in our home region, which always feels like a massive family gathering.
MT: Do you have any shows planned for the rest of the year?
AVIAN: Honest answer? We're actively working on it. After three single releases and a ton of writing, we're now putting full focus on bringing the new material to as many stages as possible. We're talking to clubs, festivals, and promoters across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. So watch our website and Instagram – the moment a date is locked, you'll be the first to know. If anyone reading this books shows: hit us up. We travel light, we play hard, and we leave the stage to play right in the middle of the crowd whenever the room lets us.
MT: Do you have a favourite band? Have you seen them in concert?
AVIAN: Picking one is brutal – it's like asking which one of your kids you love most. But if we had to: Iron Maiden, hands down. They are the template for everything we love about Heavy Metal – melody, storytelling, twin-guitars, and a live show that's still mind-blowing decades in. Yes, we've seen them live. Multiple times. Every time it's a reminder why we're doing this in the first place. Honorable mentions: Megadeth, Primal Fear, Judas Priest – all giants we've been lucky enough to witness on stage.
MT: Is there a band you listen to that people would be surprised by?
AVIAN: Hahaha, plenty. Metalheads have weirder playlists than people assume. We've got everything from Johnny Cash to film scores in our rotation. Honest curveball: Carlo Gesualdo, a Renaissance composer from the 16th century. The guy wrote dark, dissonant choral music that's basically the original metal soul – plus he was an actual murderer who got away with it. If you're looking for "metal before metal existed," that's your man. Less murderous answer: a lot of folk and classic singer-songwriter stuff. Good music is good music.
MT: Is there anything you would like to add that I might have missed?
AVIAN: Just a big thanks to anyone who listens to a metal band from Upper Swabia and feels the steel. The scene lives because people show up – stream the songs, buy a shirt, come to a show when you can, and support the underground press like Metaltitans for keeping real music journalism alive. And if you want to know what we mean by "Schwabenstahl," put "Expired" on, turn it up loud, and you'll get it. Cheers from the forge!
MT: Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, it is greatly appreciated.
AVIAN: Thank you – great questions, real conversation. Stay loud, stay heavy, and keep the forge burning!
AVIAN | Schwabenstahl
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