Valkyrie’s Fire: When Symphonic Power Metal Ignites! – An Exclusive Interview with Bassist Dave Hale

Valkyrie’s Fire are an American symphonic power metal band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed by bassist Dave Hale. Combining powerful male and female vocals, blazing guitar riffs, thunderous rhythms, and majestic orchestral arrangements, the band creates an epic sound inspired by mythology, fantasy, and the human spirit.

Drawing influences from bands such as Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation, and Amaranthe, Valkyrie’s Fire bring together the grandeur of European symphonic metal and the energy of American heavy metal. Their debut EP, Ascension, was released in 2024, followed by their full-length album Out of Darkness in September 2026.
With their cinematic sound and commanding performances, Valkyrie’s Fire continue to establish themselves as a rising force in modern symphonic power metal.

Interview with Bassist Dave Hale.

Athenscalling.gr: Dave, Valkyrie’s Fire began as a personal vision of yours in early 2020. What inspired you to bring this project to life, and what were your original ambitions for the band? Looking back, how close are you to the vision you had when it all began?

Dave Hale( Valkyrie’s Fire ) : I must begin by saying thank you for interviewing me!! It’s an honor to speak with you!!

In 2020, as you can imagine, many musicians found themselves stuck at home during COVID, and for me, those endless days and nights at home sparked my creativity and I began the process of making my vision for Valkyrie’s Fire become a reality. I have drawn my inspiration from some of my favorite bands – including Nightwish, Epica, and Amaranthe, just to name a few – and I began to see that 2020 was a big reset for the music industry as well as for bands around the world. As such, I saw the opportunity to create the newest band in the Symphonic Metal genre, and I began the process of coming up with the band name, the logo, the website, and more. Finding top tier musicians in Nashville that also saw my vision, and wanted to create epic metal was a bit of a challenge and it took several years to find my bandmates.

My ambition is for Valkyrie’s Fire to become a band that is recognized world-wide and that will one day become a band that carries the torch of my favorite bands that have come before us. Looking back on the process, with the band officially getting started in the summer of 2023, I would say that Valkyrie’s Fire is getting very close to our goals and the vision I have set forth for the band. We still have quite a bit of work to do – such as getting to perform in Europe, and on major festival stages – but I am confident that will happen for Valkyrie’s Fire within the next few years!!

Athenscalling.gr: As the founder and bassist of Valkyrie’s Fire, you play a key role in shaping the band’s musical identity. How important is the bass in creating the powerful foundation of your symphonic power metal sound, and how do you balance its heaviness with the orchestral and melodic elements?
Dave Hale( Valkyrie’s Fire ) : For me, I have never seen myself as THE key person in our band, therefore I see the musical identity of our band as a collboration of all of the musicians in our band. I am simply the coordinator that brought togther a team of the most passionate and skilled musicians in Nashville to create music that we love.
I do believe the bass guitar plays a key role in shaping the sound, and without it, a large chunk of the identity and passion in our music would not exist.
I work closely with our guitarist Joey – who is an absolute maestro on the guitar, and bass concidentally – to perfom our signature sound that he creates. I tend to write lyrics and send simple bass lines to Joey during the creation process, and then Joey takes those ideas and writes a much more complex bass line that really shapes the music and ultimately shapes the song. Other times, Joey or Adam will compose a song and send me the bass lines to learn.
Joey and I both love heavy, melodic riffs so it comes as no surprise that our styles create that same finished product in many of our songs. Joey and I both grew up listening to a lot of Metallica, and as such, our playing styles benefit from that inspiration.
For me, James Hetfield’s relentless downpicking is a signature part of my bass technique, and it has taken many years of practice to shape that into my playing style.
I have always been a HUGE fan of melodic metal, symphonic metal, and power metal, so for me, I knew I wanted those elements in this band and in our music. Joey is a master of blending those techniques and elements together, and as such, I always continue to learn a great deal from Joey because of his many years of experience and training. Joey and I are very much in sync with our playing style, and my bass lines often incorporate very fast, rhythmatic guitar-style riffs mixed with traditional bass guitar techniques, while Joey – as the lone guitarist – carries the lead guitar parts. That is the “method to our madness” so to speak, and it creates a very powerful and dynamic sound that has become our signature sound that you hear today in our music.

With the addition of the harsh vocals from Mikael Sehlin – vocalist for the Swedish band Amaranthe – and his superb mastering skills on our new album, Valkyrie’s Fire has managed to create an epic masterpiece that is very special to each of us, and which is something we are all extremely proud to have unleashed into the world!!

Athenscalling.gr: The combination of male and female vocals is a defining feature of Valkyrie’s Fire. What led you to adopt this dual-vocalist approach, and how does the interaction between the two voices help express the emotions and stories behind your songs?

Dave Hale( Valkyrie’s Fire ) : The dual-vocalist approach was something I wanted from the very beginning, and I was very insistent on making that a reality. It is absolutely the defining feature of Valkyrie’s Fire, and while I was insistent on having a male and female vocalist, it is truly Adam and Bettie who make that approach really come to life in our music.
Intially the idea came from some of my favorite bands with multiple vocalists such as Amaranthe, Temperance, Visions of Atlantis, and even Nightwish. The music that those bands create with that dual-vocalist approach inspired me to create that similarity in Valkyrie’s Fire. I knew the overall sound I had envisioned in my mind, and I could hear it in my thoughts, but it was not until Adam and Bettie performed the music together for the first time, that I came to truly love the dual-vocalist approach on another level.
The way that our vocalists harmonize and work so fluidly together in their vocal parts is directly attributed to how well both of them write, compose, and work together. There are times that I will write lyrics to a song for our vocalists, and they will come back with changes that make it even better than I could have imagined!! The emotion in our music is directly correlated to their ability to work togther and create something epic!!

Athenscalling.gr: Valkyrie’s Fire brings together musicians with different musical backgrounds and influences, including classical music, composition, and power metal. How does the songwriting process work within the band, and how do you ensure that each member’s personality and musical ideas contribute to your distinctive sound?
Dave Hale( Valkyrie’s Fire ) : I am VERY proud of the song writing process within the band. Normally, in most bands, there is typically one or two songwriters or composers.
In our band, every single person contributes and everyone is extremely creative in their own right.
I am extremely proud of how well everyone works together to create such beautiful music, and other bands have also told me how fond they are of how well we get along with each other. Honestly, how well we get along is a direct choice by each band member to not only tolerate each other’s personality traits, but to choose every day to work together to create this music that we love.
I would never say that anything is easy in life, but I would honestly say that this band has found the best way to work together and we make it look easy because of our willingness to actually want to work together. Our process may not be ideal for all bands, but for us, it works very well.

As you mentioned, each band member is uniquely qualified in music, and our unique style of Symphonic Power Metal is a direct result of our individual tastes and styles of composition. When I was looking for bandmates, I was very clear in setting the boundary that all band members will work equally together within our band, and that I was only looking for musicians that are willing to do that. Each band member did not hesitate to accept those terms, and each band member has contributed in lyrics, music, composition, and even vocals during the creation of “Out of Darkness”. You are aware – or have heard – of how your true intentions, your personality traits, and even your mood are on full display during the songwriting process, and even during a live performance… Well I am proud to say that those traits in each band member has really shown through in this new album, as it does on stage, and that genuine connection that we all have with each other is HOW our sound is created. It is rare, but I found some truly amazing bandmates and musicians!!

Athenscalling.gr: Your debut full-length album, Out of Darkness, marks an important milestone for Valkyrie’s Fire. What does this album represent for you personally and for the band as a whole? Can you tell us a little about the creative process behind it, its main themes, and what you hope listeners will take away from this release?

Dave Hale( Valkyrie’s Fire ) : Great question! For myself, this new album is a true milestone obviously. Not only did we create our 1st full length album together, we introduced the world to Valkyrie’s Fire in a way that is not what most people would expect. We took our emotions, our passion, our fire, and our vision for the future of this band, and put it all togther to create a MASSIVE 72 minute epic masterpiece. You’ve heard the saying – “go big or go home”? Well we accepted that challenge and ironically, we cut down the album to 72 minutes instead of making it even longer. Haha!!
Listeners around the world have been captivated, reviewers have been blown away, other bands have praised our work, and musicians have felt the fire of what it means to LOVE the music you create with this new album that Valkyrie’s Fire has launched into the metal community. When I stand back and look at what we have created, I smile so proudly for I know that we have truly made our mark on this metal community, and we did it by exceeding all of the expectations that were laid out before us. I can humbly say that it is indeed one of the best moments of my life, and I can proudly state that this album is just the beginning, and the new music we are already creating for the next album is going to shatter the ceiling once again beyond what we have created with “Out of Darkness”. As I previously mentioned, our creative process for the music creation is a massive collaboration from each band member in Valkyrie’s Fire. The creative process of the album artwork, the themes within the album, and the album title were also a collaborative effort. We all speak our mind to one another, we all communicate, and we all vote for the final outcomes of the album. In sharing that, my goal is to inspire our listeners to not be afraid to be passionate about what you care about, and to be proud of the work you have put into your creation. Life is not always easy, and just as in our songs, it has moments of highs and lows. Through it all, you can be strong and rise again each time you fall, and you can proudly say at the end of your journey here on this earth that you did indeed “Live a life worth dying for”.

Athenscalling.gr: Greece has a rich musical heritage and a passionate metal audience. What do you know about the Greek metal scene, and have you ever had the opportunity to connect with Greek fans? Would you like to bring Valkyrie’s Fire to Greece for a live performance, and is there anything you would like to say to your Greek listeners?

Dave Hale( Valkyrie’s Fire ) : My knowledge of the Greek musical heritage is very limited, but I can tell you that I absolutely want to learn more about the Greek metal scene!!! I hope that with the publication of this interview, that Greek metal fans will reach out to me and also follow our band. Valkyrie’s Fire is very much looking forward to getting to Greece for a live performance, and I would love to hear more from our Greek fans who would love for Valkyrie’s Fire to visit their beautiful country!!
To our Greek fans – and any other fans reading this interview – be sure to follow Valkyrie’s Fire on our website at [https://www.valkyriesfire.com](https://www.valkyriesfire.com) and chat with us on our social media pages as well. We would love to hear from you, and we look forward to seeing you very soon!!!