Heavy as the dark, bright as the sun… Set Your Hearts on Fire!
As the sun gets further away from the Northern Hemisphere day after day, let’s dive deep into a sun of Symphonic Metal to brighten up our daily lives with our metal lady of this month of November. Owner of a powerful and enfolding voice, which even led to her being compared to the one and only Tarja Turunen, she’s the classically trained frontwoman for the rising Swiss Symphonic Metal ensemble Deep Sun, an accomplished vocal coach, and of course, a diehard metalhead who’s always willing to bring her fans endless joy when she hits the stage with her bandmates. Her name is Debora Lavagnolo, and as you might have noticed her official website is called, “die sängerin,” a German phrase that translates to “the female singer” or “the vocalist” in English, already giving you a very good idea about what Debora is all about. She truly loves to sing, and you’ll love to know more about such a talented artist, her career with Deep Sun, and her passion for heavy music.
Born on July 27, 1984 in Brugg, a Swiss municipality and a town in the canton of Aargau, Debora attended the Zurich Conservatory of Music for 10 years studying classical singing, and the FeMale Funk Project Vocal Performance School in Zurich for 3 years studying pop and rock singing. Furthermore, she’s been performing on stage for over 15 years, whether with a band, solo, as a duo, or as a quartet, at various events, weddings, receptions, parties, in clubs, at festivals, and other types of gatherings, and she’s constantly educating herself by attending vocal coaching sessions or (silent) retreats to continually give her voice and mind renewed energy to keep developing her skills even further.
As aforementioned, Debora is the unstoppable frontwoman for the striking Symphonic Metal outfit Deep Sun, who, together with their community called “Deep Sunlights,” offer a musical home for those seeking strength, passion, and positivity. Formed in 2006 (under the name One Hour, while also going through constant lineup changes), and currently comprised of our diva Debora alongside guitarist Erik Dummermuth, bassist Angelo Salerno, keyboardist Tom Hiebaum, and drummer Tobias Brutschi, combining epic orchestrations, powerful metal riffs, and emotional storytelling into a cinematic and unmistakable sound while bridging light and darkness, strength and vulnerability, therefore creating a sonic universe that reaches far beyond genre boundaries, the band released their debut EP Flight of the Phoenix in 2014, followed by four full-length albums, those being Race Against Time (2016), Das Erbe der Welt (2019), Dreamland – Behind the Shades (2022), and more recently Storyteller (2025), all available on Spotify, and you can also enjoy the official videos on their official YouTube channel for songs such as Journey Into the Unknown, Worlds Collide, and Eternal Love, as well as tons of live footage.
Having already performed hundreds of shows across Europe, including tours through the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, the band incorporates several elements from other music styles such as Hard Rock, Power, and Folk Metal into their core Symphonic Metal essence, while always remaining loyal to their foundations from day one. “I deliberately sought out a Symphonic Metal band where I could fully utilize and express my voice. Musically, I come from the realm of Uriah Heep, Pink Floyd, Slade, Jethro Tull etc. I grew up with this music. But classical music also fascinates me. That’s why I also pursued vocal training. When I joined Deep Sun in 2009, the basic sound we know was already established, and I knew immediately that these were the songs I wanted to sing,” mentioned the unrelenting Debora.
The band’s songwriting process, according to Debora herself, always develops a little differently. She said in an interview that she for example only starts thinking about the lyrics for a new album once the vocals for the current album are already finished. She also mentioned that her journey with Deep Sun taught her how to become more flexible and adaptable in her pursuit of perfection, saying their touring schedule showed her many things simply cannot be planned, and yet somehow it always works out. Furthermore, she also mentioned that balancing the band, her career, and her private life requires a lot of organization and structure. “Sometimes I manage it better, sometimes less so. But especially during a release phase, there’s an enormous amount of motivation and energy involved, which provides the necessary drive. And what always motivates me is the interaction with fans on social media,” she commented.
Apart from Deep Sun, and of course from her career as a vocal coach and artist, Debora recorded the lead vocals for the debut album Starwalkers, released in April 2026, by an up-and-coming German Symphonic Metal project named Withering Beauty, the brainchild of Russian guitarist Matt Plekhanov (of bands like Dragony and Red Eye Temple). You can find the official videos or lyric videos for several of their songs on YouTube, like Why Men Lie, Hold Me, and Follow Me, and of course stream their music on BandCamp, Spotify or any other streaming service. No idea if she’ll be a permanent member of the project or not, but her performance in Starwalkers is indeed fantastic.
Moreover, she also collaborated on the release of the 2014 album Das Blaue Amulett, with German Folk Metal/Classical crossover band project Fairytale and renowned musician Angelo Salerno, featuring fantasy-themed, dreamy melodies such as The Elves Land and The Enchanted Butterfly. There isn’t any additional information anywhere about the project, apart from the fact they released another album in 2015 (most probably without Debora on vocals), but their music is so compelling it would be nice to see Debora taking the vocal duties with Fairytale again for another album of sheer fantasy and sonic magic.
When asked about her idols and influences, her answer basically reflects her vocal and music style, also in line with her songwriting where she tells stories of life, of fantasy worlds, of epic adventures and profound emotions, and also stories that perhaps should have never been told. “Through my parents I came into contact with bands like Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, but also ABBA, etc. at an early age. All the different music styles and influences have always fascinated me. But when I met Nightwish and Tarja Turunen, I knew exactly where I wanted to go with my voice. All the early symphonic metal bands were very groundbreaking for me.” She complemented by saying she truly enjoys going to concerts, in special to see Symphonic, Melodic and Power Metal bands, like for instance the great Powerwolf.
An accomplished singer and vocal coach in the Zurich, Aargau, Basel, Bern, Solothurn, Lucerne, Zug, Schwyz, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Valais, Graubünden area and, upon request, also outside of Switzerland and abroad, owning a powerful 3-Octave-range voice (which gets even more powerful through her Neumann KMS 105, Sennheiser e945 wireless microphone), and always collaborating with various professional musicians in different musical projects, Debora also helps her clients in their songwriting process, lyrics, stage performance, as well as other general coaching services including preparation for studio recordings, and tips and tricks for voice problems. Furthermore, the fact she’s a perfectionist is also very important in her line of work, and she’s proud of that. “Either perfection is in my genes, or I absorbed it during my 15 years in track and field. As a former top athlete, especially in the sprint disciplines, everything had to be precise down to the millimeter. Nothing could be left to chance, and technical sequences like the start from the starting blocks were practiced thousands of times—until they were perfect. When the seamless transition from sports to classical singing with its corresponding vocal technique began, my approach and attitude remained essentially the same, only now it was in the music room instead of on the track.”
As aforementioned, one of Debora’s biggest idols in music, if not the biggest, is the one and only Tarja Turunen, and she feels honored to have her music compared to the early days of Nightwish. However, she also likes to mention the uniqueness of her voice and music when such comparisons happen. “Being compared to Nightwish is definitely flattering, and we’re very grateful for such comparisons, especially since Tarja Turunen is one of the greatest singers of all time in my opinion. However, if you listen closely to our songs, you can clearly hear our own unique sound. I, too, am constantly evolving with my voice, for example, always incorporating screams, which Tarja doesn’t do. But what remains constant is the fundamental timbre of my voice, which is perfectly suited to this kind of music. I don’t copy anything; that’s just how my voice sounds, not least because of my classical vocal training. And I love being able to use my voice this way.”
Furthermore, Debora had some very nice words to describe her absolute admiration for Tarja. “Not just because of her voice and her power, but also because of her energy, her commitment to women in the metal scene, and her ability to constantly reinvent herself while staying true to herself.” Debora has the same opinion about Lady Gaga and her incredibly powerful voice, as well as Agnetha Fältskog from ABBA, and Sue Schell from Peter, Sue and Marc. “And in classical music, I could lose myself in the sound of the voices of Diana Damrau or Regula Mühlemann,” complemented our Swiss diva.
As already mentioned, Debora is also a former track and field athlete, a multiple Swiss champion in the 80m, 100m, 200m, and 400m over 15 years, a member of the national team, and a multiple European Championship team participant. “Over time, however, I realized that I wasn’t fully committed to sports anymore and that I had to follow the call of music. Music has been a part of my life since childhood, and I even started classical vocal training during my track and field days. So, after my last Swiss championship title, there was a smooth transition from competitive sports to music, where I also give my all,” she said. And it doesn’t matter if it’s in sports or in music, Debora always does it for the passion. “I don’t make music to get rich. I work so I can fully pursue my passion for music in my free time. And with sports, it’s the same story – it’s never been about the money for me, only about constantly striving to improve.”
A fan of the short stories by Roald Dahl and of Swiss writer Mirjam Richner, saying both have the gift of expressing their creativity and imagination in such lyrical, poetic, yet modern language, labeling their stories as unconventional and always with a twist at the end, therefore getting truly inspired to write her music, Debora has a very active life, usually related to her music career. “When I’m not working with Deep Sun, I’m preparing for other musical engagements, such as weddings, events, parties, and collaborations. My life is already very musically rich.” However, she always takes some time out for herself every day, in which she dedicates herself to Vipassana (an ancient meditation technique that means “to see things as they really are”), yoga, and strength and stability exercises, or to her two tortoises Powerwolf and Steelhammer. Those are very lucky tortoises, having the pleasure of listening to Debora singing basically every single day of their lives, but we can consider ourselves lucky metalheads as well, since we’re able to enjoy Debora’s music with Deep Sun or any other of her music projects. She’s a fantastic vocalist, and I can’t wait to see what’s next in her always evolving and thrilling career.
Debora Lavagnolo’s Official Facebook page
Debora Lavagnolo’s Official Instagram
Deep Sun’s Official Facebook page
Deep Sun’s Official Instagram
Deep Sun’s Official YouTube channel
