Julien studied composition at a French conservatoire until a Blind Guardian concert made the decision for him. He has spent the years since writing about the parts of metal that care about arrangement: power metal, progressive metal, symphonic and folk, dressed for the occasion in velvet and rings.
He reads scores, he counts bars, and he will tell you exactly which key change a chorus depends on. His articles are long, technical when they need to be, and dry in their humour. He has strong views on choirs.