In the early 2000s, at corporate parties in Germany, nine-year-old Jennifer Haben could be seen belting out Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You and AC/DC’s Back In Black, backed by her brother and some schoolmates. Word had got around that the kids were entertaining and they were booked solid. “People wanted to see a super-, super-young band playing covers!” she laughs, still somewhat bewildered.
Today, she fronts rising German symphonic metallers Beyond The Black. Since forming in 2014, they’ve opened for Scorpions and Within Temptation, played Wacken, have charted in their home country and have just released their fifth album. Their devoted fans are affectionately called ‘Ravens’ like the goth version of Swifties or Deadheads, and their live show is excellent – having eschewed tropes like the overlong orchestral intro track, they let the irresistible melodies of their songs speak for themselves.
At the heart of it all, smiling her dimpled grin
