.: Elitarian Music Webzine :.

Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

[Vultur’s worthy debut album Corona de Frastimus was but a pretext for this e – mail interview with leader, vocalist and guitarist Attalzu, who disclosed to the readers the ever present protagonist of their uncompromised and shamanic Old School Black Metal assault: the archaic and spellbound island of Sardinia. Fasten your seatbelts!]

Finally, your debut Corona de Frastimus saw the light of day. In hindsight, do you have any remarks to make on it?

“First and foremost, thank you for the interview, and for the support! The release of our first, official album undoubtedly brought us a great deal of satisfaction; we had the chance to report true stories – of curses, rituals and characters given to Black Magic, all of them happened in Sardinia in the past, although some of the related practices have persisted until nowadays. It would have been superfluous and overdone to keep talking about the usual traditions, legends or pagan Gods, even if we could not disown such subjects, so we wanted to push the boundaries a little further, delve deeper, and as a result, we unearthed stories which have been forgotten or simply ignored by the majority… and we are going to continue along these lines. Sardinia is a mine of mysterious and macabre tales (of true events!), intertwined with old and new religions and magic, and occultism. We still have plenty of things to tell, given my obsessive passion for this kind of stories, and hopefully we’ll get to know many more people who will agree to unveil the countless mysteries of our arcane and wonderful island of Sardinia. In the future, we’re also intentioned to include the lyrics in the booklets of our next albums, assuming we’re going to release any other. The working on this album took place in two different locations and two separated moments and states of mind: the first stage has been very slow and distressing, while the second one was more offhanded, chaotic and filled with issues… Each Vultur recording session has always been an adventure full of tension, imbued with curses, hard work and misfortune. I hope for the next recording process to be more focused, flawless, and subjected to a greater discipline, as all of these factors were sorely missed during the recordings of Corona de Frastimus. The insecurities related to this album were mostly due to a notable lack of internal cohesion, which represented a rather strong issue at that time”.

You’re most welcome, it’s a pleasure for me to host you on these pages! I totally second your statements, it’s impossible not to absorb the charm of such place as Sardinia. I remember reading that your ‘obsessive passion’, to quote your own words, was aroused from certain unusual experiences, would it be a nosey question if I asked you to mention something in regard to that? Has the title of Sleeping in Domus de Janas got something to do with it? … And, by the way, what was ‘assuming we’re going to release any other’ supposed to mean!?

“A long time ago, I experienced some particular events related to Sardinian magic, and even beyond… Read the rest of this entry »

[I’ve been hugely impressed with Svarti Loghin’s second output Drifting Through the Void, and the curiosity to ask them some questions came naturally. Below, the interview with bass player Raymond N.]

According to the band’s own words, the meaning of the bandname itself holds a ‘spiritual’ significance, implicitly meaning that all people has a vein of the ‘Black Flame’ (Svarti Loghin) in them, which manifests differently for each person, and is therefore up to humans to know themselves. What does this ‘black flame’ identify with on a spiritual level and how would you say you’re influenced by the spiritual side of existence in everyday’s life? Through which means you believe self – knowledge can truly be achieved by man?

“This description is not familiar to me (Note of the Editor: I’ve actually taken it from a 2008 interview of the band which can be read at this link. Literal quote: ‘The meaning of the name itself is for us spiritual in the sense that all people has a vein of the ‘Black flame’ in them, but how it manifests is different for each person, so that’s up to humans to know themselves.’). However, we want people to see a deeper meaning behind what we do, that is why we leave much unsaid and open for interpretations. It’s the listeners own feelings that matter, not if we try to tell them what they should feel. Kind of a cliche, I know, but it’s true.”

Read the rest of this entry »

[Imago Mortis, the Italian band discovered by Noktu of Celestia through his label Drakkar Productions, have recently released their latest offering Ars Obscura. We’ve been delving under the surface with this interview answered by frontman Abibial on behalf of the band.]

Many thanks for accepting to answer my questions. Being Imago Mortis a band with a strong cultural and conceptual basis, I’d like to start this conversation with an interrogative that has been arisen by this aspect since the very beginning. In order to motivate your ideological background, you tend to make a large use of such terms as ‘sacredness’, ‘spirituality’, when not ‘esoterism’ straight away, and nonetheless your inclination seems to lean towards the more clearly ‘occult’ side, morbidly focused on the idea of the unknown, symbolized since the monicker, by Death in her various folds and connotations (the ‘initiatic’ death, and so on), so I would like to know the reason of this emphasis placed on certain attributes of the esoteric side rather than on an hypothetical accomplishment, coinciding with the illumination and insight of ultimate truths? What does ‘Lombard Gothic sacredness’ consist in and how does it affect your spiritual path?

“Imago Mortis offer their thanks for the consideration. As you remark in your question, our propensity towards the invisible is embodied by the great Epilogue, by its mysteries and Archaic Rituals. Both our spiritual and physical essence are the direct aftermath of what comes from afar, commonly known as Tradition. We’re the living expression of all that is despised by the society of vanity and matter. Initiate on our own accord or by fate’s will to the Cult of the Dead, tragic prophets of Religio Mortis. But what are the subtle webs of such a Hermetic process? To where do the sombre weaves between the esoteric and spiritual disciplines and our Mistress push themselves? The answer is to be searched within the perennial questions of Mankind. What will come after the last sigh? Many settle for the easier and less troublesome answer… Nothing, a simple end to existence. No other life. We chose the enchantment of that Mystery, and we seek for answers in the wisdom of the Ancients, from the words of the elderlies, through a personal path of research that integrates our Artistic and spiritual architecture. I believe the most suitable expression to define this status of Black expressivity generated by our heritage is actually ‘Lombard Gothic Sacredness’. With this expression we aim to define the indissoluble bond existing between spirit and ground, earth and blood, sacred and profane, an indissoluble duality that belongs to us and flows inside us like water from a spring.”

You’re heavily influenced by the folkloristic wealth of your lands, and repeatedly reasserted, in various occasions, your aversion to the so-called ‘cultural crossbreeding’: do you feel more inclined to an Italian identity in the holistic acceptation of the word, or is your feeling something related to a circumscribed area, the Lombard one, excluding the rest? In short, do you find the prealpine territory from which you draw your ‘human essence’ to be somehow incompatible with an ideal of unitariness of such fragmented nation (on various levels) as the Italian one?

“First of all, I’d like to take the opportunity to make clear a fundamental aspect to understand what we aim to express: Imago Mortis are often associated to the word ‘folk’ due to their pathway. In order to settle our position from a terminological standpoint, I start by saying that we define ourselves as part of the ‘‘Völkisch’ feel. Folklore is mostly interpreted as a pure aesthetic expression, often farcical, thus not justified by elevated and superior components. Starting from such premises, it should be plain to see how we intervene between the other realities with a totally different standpoint and a well pondered logic. We deeply despise the process of ‘cultural crossbreeding’ perpetrated by Italian state and the European Union. This process has always tried to wipe out the cultural identities, by shifting, migrating people in the interior and from the outside, generating creatures without history, nomadic idolaters of unrestrained materialism in the name of an hypothetic historical and cultural unity. Everybody forgot that Italy is a land of different cultures, and it has to be respected and honoured as such. Arabians, Greeks, Samnites, Siculans, Sardinians, Latins, Etruscans, Celts, Longobards, Goths, and so on… We love the Italy of the differences and of reciprocal respect, and we hate the Italy of people without motherland and of colonialism. We’re first and foremost Lombards, sons of the ancient lands of Padus river, and successively Italians for institution. I believe the right solution in order to establish a right balance between the various parts might be a revolutionary and radical system, that is to say a federal order that might reckon with all these components… “Tradition is the soul of a people, people perishes without it or even leads a miserable life at worse”.

You define yourselves as ‘etnonationalists’, explaining that with such term you mean a will of preservation of local realities and identities opposed to modern standardization and materialism. What meaning does the word ‘identity’ hold to you? Do you believe the context to be decisive to the understanding of what might be the identity of an individual? What are the presuppositions to a correct cultural integration that is not aimed at a destructive extermination and with which attitude should an individual approach other cultures?

“Identity is the indissolubile result of the union of spirit and matter multiplied by time. Identity means being conscious of one’s self and understanding where does one come from, the conscience represented by the spirit that must manifest in the matter (traditions, idiom, culture, cuisine, economy, political forms and so on) and conjugate with time within the sacred triad Past-Present-Future, the eternal cycle, birth, life and death that lasts and echoes in eternity, the Triskele of our tradition. It’s essential that the ways to the Sacred Return are made by those who are part of it, or else it doesn’t make sense at all, the bond between the blood and the earth is essential in order to make tradition an active voice of the evolution process. Respect and Silence are what it takes to integrate with another culture, just as beholding a work of art… Behold it, taste it, dissent or misunderstand but never corrupt or mutate it.”

For what reason a genre such as Black Metal proved itself to be, throughout the years, the ideal vehicle to express a personal sense of sacredness, of identity, of belonging, identification and interiorization of certain principles? What bond do you see between the circumstances that led to the birth of this musical genre and the use that has been made of it afterwards?

“I think that since its offsets Black Metal movement has been an antagonism of spiritual rebirth against materialism. For this reason it became the cultural reference point to the establishment of a common spiritual front which developed philosophies, identity and militancy. This kind of extreme and provoking attitude surely arose during early Nineties as a simple will to shock and provocatively differentiate from the rest of metal trend. No peace, radical Satanism, social insensitiveness and thus support to the world’s negativity, war, racism, suicide, perversion and so forth… These prerogatives subsequently turned into precise philosophies that are represented by the current subgenres.”

If I asked you to talk about your lands to a person that never ever visited nor knew them, which words would you choose to evoke in this person a clear and representative vision? I’m referring to your specific perception of your territory rather than to objective reality.

“Forget what you know… Move silently and do not cause disturb. Each view, each opus, bears a luminous and a darkened side just as the mystical duality of cosmos… Ancient walls, valleys, mighty nature, mystery, mysticism and tradition. Let your senses join these calls and be an echo of the memory…”

Beside the deep-rooted sense of belonging that your homeland stirs up within you, are there other traditions and cultures you’re fascinated and attracted from?

“I’m currently exploring the analogies between prealpine and padan witchcraft and that of the central France area with the consultancy of someone from beyond the Alps. I’m very fond of Ancient Europe civilizations and I like to study the way they developed throughout time, and I’m also fascinated by Oriental civilizations as it’s the case with Tibet and Japan.”

You play quite a traditional brand of Black Metal, yet claimed several times to have a personal and unmistakable style. In what aspects you think this is more noticeable and in which way do you think your music sticks to this genre’s tradition?

“I think that at this point of our conversation one should be aware that Black Metal is not a simple musical genre to us, but rather a sacred union of art and spirit meant to explore the mystery on the path of tradition. In this prospective, our personality emerges in the lyrical themes and the sincerity of our studies that are fully expressed in our arcane theatricality. My vocals, rather than certain riffs, compose our personal recognizable trademark that brings us to state such sentence.”

Where is the line of demarcation set, beyond which Black Metal can’t be named as such anymore?

“There are material and spiritual dictates. If this wise equilibrium is spoiled, Black Metal does not sussist. Material factors are easy to grasp I think… And it’s not up to me to list them, but I can sum them up with the clasping of the unbridled materialism in the name of the economical principle of existence. As for the invisible side, it’s not just about reading a couple of books about magic or dream the world to be engulfed into an Hollywood style apocalypse. You have to watch your own step because Black Metal is a spirit vocation and so it can destroy you from within and carry you to madness, it’s a dangerousness that can lead you inside the abyss of the soul… Don’t take the black side too easy.”

Do you find Black Metal scene to have underwent significant changes since the band’s start to nowadays’ period?

“No doubt. To be honest, I miss how things were once very much. But this is more like a personal thought. What scares me the most nowadays is that things are really too easy nowadays. It just takes a pc, and anyone can build up a fake identity. Black Metal is becoming a virtual genre, I’d like to see more people sweating blood over their own ideals.”

Several months have passed since Ars Obscura has been released, did you resolve upon further goals already? Are you taking a break or did you start working on its follow – up?

“We’re focusing on the upcoming live dates, on May the 29th at Black Lake Festival in Lonato del Garda (BS) at Olden Live, and June the 13th in Bergamo’s Live Keller with our brothers Grand Belial’s Key (USA), a completely free gig. After these dates we’re going to dedicate ourselves to a period of concentration to start writing the follow up to Ars Obscura.”

How do you set about your audience in the live situation? What kind of audience can best assimilate your message?

“During our officiations, we try to transmit our feelings to the adepts, just as in that situation entities and energies were set free lacerating the souls of the bystanders. There is not a typical audience… you just have to let yourself go in the dark incantation.”

Which albums had the biggest influence on you?

“Each one of us has his own taste in this regard. Concerning the whole band, our points of reference are surely to be found within the old Northeuropean and Hellenic scene. I think the most influential albums to us have been Welcome to Hell by Venom, Bathory and The Return by Bathory, To Mega Therion by Celtic Frost, In Death of Steve Sylvester by Death SS,  A Blaze in the Northern Sky by Darkthrone, Aske by Burzum, Dark Medieval Times by Satyricon, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem, Passage to Arcturo by Rotting Christ, Necromantia and  Varathron split Black Arts Lead to Everlasting Sins, rather than Impaled Nazarene’s Tol Kormpt Norz Norz Norz , and many other albums from that period.”

Who are you in your everyday life, and in which way do you try to integrate the beliefs that motivate your musical experience in your daily? Is it possible to face the reality of nowadays’ society once one has discovered what lies beneath the surface, managing not to be taken over and succeeding in overturning the situation at one’s own advantage?

“In their daily lives, Imago Mortis are spiritually advanced entities who have chosen the path to walk, and place this spiritual essence before the material bonds of daily life itself. We all have very simple and humble day jobs. I am a graphic designer for an engineering industry, Scighéra is a nurse, Faust is employed in a chemical pharmaceutical business as laboratory analyst, Axor is a workman specialized in the maintenance of implants. Beside jobs, we all maintain our passions, our affections, and we fight against everyday’s problems. I love soccer and I’ve also been in a non-professional team for fifteen years now, beside being involved in music distribution and live shows organization, Scighéra likes to go hiking in his spare time, Faust cooperates with an important association for animals defence, while Axor dedicates a large amount of time to practise and leisure. The faith and the battle we began give us much faith to set against the matter and leads us to live beyond the modern logics. Maybe we already won the fight our way…”

Imago Mortis Official Website
Imago Mortis on MySpace Music

[Agael’s debut album Hybris turned out impressive enough to arise my curiosity about this withdrawn and enigmatic Black Metal one man band. The homonymous member agreed to answer some questions… C.]

Since the music of the whole project seems to present a rather intimate connotation, I believe a good starting point for one to start comprehending its significance would be to delve into the psyche of its creator. Would you please tell us about yourself, your cultural background, about the meaning of your life, your approach towards it? Who is Agael and from which kind of (conscious or subconscious) processes does his music spring out from? What kind of relationship do you have with philosophy, psychoanalysis, religion? Do you manage to find your own key to the comprehension of existence in one of these disciplines?

“I grew up naiv and god-fearing. Fortunately, I received a natural gift to brake out of these structures. I learned through self-reflectation and learned, resultant of it, to analyse the people and the environment around  me. I became autodidact. My musical intensions grew up in a similar  way. In my opinion, art and culture made mankind to humanity. That’s the reason why I choose these multi-emotional music art. With Agael I gave birth to myself and create an ideal of my awareness. Agael is the day and the night, with the music it became light and it became dark and on the last day I create myself and saw that it was good. And when I died, I saw only one man cry about me and that was I.”

I’d like you to comment the following sentence used by your label to describe the concept that lies behind your album Hybris: ‘ A dark and melancholic ambient black metal journey through the empty Planet Earth. Just one human being is left. Will he decide to give the humans a new chance for living?’ Although it provides a valid key of interpretation of the conceptual side of the album, it surely doesn’t explain the whole concept in its totality, would you give us some details?

“Yes you’re right, at first sight it’s the Leitmotiv of Hybris. A descripton of the end of humanity. The Last Survivor reflects over the things that happened. There’s is no hiding, The main character has to face the facts. On second sight, Hybris is portable onto society of nowadays. The Question “why?” respectively “why do things happen, the way they happen” isn’t relevant today. It’s easier to avoid the problems than face and stand them. People nowadays are well trained in this behavior… This second layer is the fundament on which the artistic pretension of Hybris is based. My intention is to show the end, so that the people realize what’s going wrong today.”

I have noticed that the whole album is for the most part instrumental. I personally got the feeling you were aiming to let the Music speak for Herself, as the most immediate projection of yourself, to get the listener to look inside himself evading its conscious Self. Do you agree with my interpretation?

“Regarding to Hybris, you hit the mark. If everyone else get this summary of the album, it has served it’s purpose.”

Agael’s previous incarnation went by the name of Unbathor, and featured a two – piece line – up including yourself along with your brother. What happened, and why did Agael turn into a one – man band? In which way did your personalities complement themselves at the moment of creation of new Music? Do you think Agael will ever turn into a duo again?

“It figured out that the realization of Agael can not be done with two people. The concept of Agael evolved in me and I don’t want to declass my brother, only been the singer, so we split up in a both-sided agreement. Agael will remain as a one-man band.”

I have noticed in your promo pictures that you still wear corpsepaint. What’s the reason of this choice? What is corpsepaint for you and which meaning does it have? Is it just a simple mask, or does it rather suggest an identification at an archetypical level?

“It includes a bit of everything.  It symbolize my connection to nature, protect me as a mask and help me to step outside myself to become one with Agael. But it’s not primary necessary for the music.”

Hybris is an album that shows a lot of different influences, ranging from depressive black metal to dark ambient through a hint of post rock and so on… What represented the biggest influence to you, sound-wise? Could we assume that Agael might have been influenced by certain kind of movies and their respective soundtracks? Some passages on the album kind of reminded me of Yann Thiersen.

“I’ve always been fascinated from soundtracks, but far beyond of the movie itself. Soundtracks help to activate my creative process, but they don’t have a cognizant influence on me. Generally I don’t notice active musical influences in my work, they flow more subconsciously. But a main influence of the kind how I work with music is Mike Batt. His art  connects different styles of music and use them as tools to picture emotions. A thing I have always been impressed of since I was a small child.”

The headline on your MySpace page says: ‘New Observation Will Bring New Music’: what does this statement hint? What are you ‘observing’? Could we assume that Agael currently finds itself in a transitional stage? What’s happening in your world?

“It points to the fact, that I steady observe myself and the enviroment around me. In course of this vigilantness there’ll be a reflective advancement, which leads to new lyrics, new-woven emotions and finally in new music. Agael will always be in transition.”

Hybris got sold out quite quickly, which kind of feedback did you receive from this release?

“The response was quite positive. Previously of Hybris there were many interested people from all over the world. Nevertheless I was quite surprised, how fast the album was sold out.”

What about the Agael logo? It’s quite beautiful, who made it? What about the symbolism behind it?

“I made the logo by myself. It’s inspired by the celtic threefold knot, but not in a religious way. The logo stands for the inseparability of the unity of all being.”

Would you list the last three books you have read?

“I normally read several books at a time. At the moment :

Leviathan – Thomas Hobbes

Ecce Homo – Friedrich Nietzsche

Nutzen wir die Erde Richtig? – Friedrich Schmidt-Bleek”

Is there any past or present Artist you would love to cooperate with? If so, why?

“At the moment, within the context and self-concept of Agael, there can be no cooperation. Agael is self-contained.”

Are you a nostalgic person? Is there any particular memory that left a significant trace in you?

“I’m a very nostalgic person.  Nostalgic in a kind of way that sustainability has an important significance for me. A quality many humans have lost…”

Thanks very much for taking the time to answer my questions. Feel free to leave a final message to our readers!

“Why should I leave a final message, when I just began to speak….”

Agael on MySpace Music

[I accidentally ran into LS, half of cult Avantgarde Funeral Doom act Arcana Coelestia’s creative core along with MZ, therefore I didn’t think twice when it came to asking him for an interview in my magazine. Thankfully, he accepted, so here’s my talk with the duo (not face to face unfortunately, as MZ is currently studying in another town, but it’s well worth your time anyway) about Esoterism, Alchemy, booze, sense of humour, self-realization, Literature, censorship episodes – oh,  and also about the incoming follow - up to Le Mirage de L’Idéal… Enjoy. (C.)]

Greetings to both, and many thanks for your kindness. I’d like to start this conversation from the evolution that took place in the conceptual department, which has always formed an integrant part of the totality Arcana Coelestia is. After an exordium (Ubi Secreta Colunt) built around the vicissitudes occurred to August Strindberg and his conflicting relationship with his mentor Emanuel Swedenborg’s writings, with which he dealt with in his opus Inferno, with your sophomore effort you gradually embraced a lyrical approach influenced by Baudelaire’s writings. I came to know, by the words of LS, that the interest towards these contradictory figures is motivated by a will of psychological analysis of the human side of the Artist, which is meant to originate a kind of cathartic and mirroring self-analysis, a sort of self-individuation… How would you explain the fact that this inner research is stimulated by figures with such a tormented way of life, and with such a tendency towards decadentism, rather than more exemplar individuals which could represent a source of inspiration at a level of identification finalized to the fulfilment of a higher level of conscience through emulation?

LS:“ Interesting question. I personally wondered about that many times myself. I couldn’t precisely tell where does this inner bond I perceive with certain historical/literary figures originate from, although for sure it initially springs from the reading of their works. In the case of Strindberg, the struggle between his earthly side and his spiritual one in search of a balance which fulfilment sometimes seems to be reached only through the unstoppable gait of his lunacy, recalled in me certain distant memories from my adolescence, a length of time during which everyone of us develops sufficient knowledge of him/herself and starts to attach the right importance to the spiritual side of existence. As far as I’m concerned, without dwelling too much on this, I didn’t experience any struggle nor any internal conflict, just the simple awareness that the spiritual side of my life is represented by Art, meant as an abstract motion to the material creation of emotions (that is to say, to compose music and to write, in my own case). In drawing Le Mirage lyrics close to Baudelaire’s writings, I’ve been delving to an even deeper depth in order to eventually comprehend what truly got this proceeding off the ground within me, and I ended up with even many more unanswered questions than I ever had before. That’s because, in my vision, there isn’t but a purely semantic difference between the Man and the Artist: the individual in his/her own totality represents both things, it wouldn’t make any sense to separate them, they depend on each other, they simultaneously coexist and collide, and this gives birth to the tribulations Strindberg tells about in his Inferno and Baudelaire analyzes in some of his finest poems. Therefore I don’t think we could talk about emulation nor identification, but rather we would talk about a starting point for internal research arisen within the very moment I decided to examine such peculiar individuals.“

You stated your music is meant to induce the listener to experience a transition to a higher dimension, while somewhere else you invited (not literally) people to listen to your music in solitude, possibly with a bottle of alcohol, another element that may again refer to Decadence… What’s the relationship between narcotic substances and the reaching of elevated, unearthly dimensions? Do you think that alcohol, by clouding the mind and the conscious Self, is able to expand the perceptive faculties of an individual in the same way isolation and physical deprivation do? Do you personally drink or do drugs?

LS:“ The transition you talk about can and must be achieved in total solitude, as far as my own opinion is concerned. Music is a gateway to an ethereal and elusive existence, which can be reached and experienced in a total peace of mind. The use of narcotic substances or alcohol can facilitate this transmigration as it takes the individual away from reality, thus artificially speaking it’s built on deceit. I don’t do drugs, but at times I allow myself some alcohol; not to give birth to my Art, but rather just to move away a little, albeit just temporarily, from the reality I live, which can turn out quite oppressive at times. Baudelaire’s Artificial Paradises deal with these concepts in the most wise and exhaustive way possible: the lyrics to the song Tragedy and Delyrium take their cue from my thoughts over this masterpiece.”

Let’s now take a step back in time to Ubi Secreta Colunt. The title of your first album can be translated aswhere secrets dwell, and you explained this phrase as the reference to a metaphorical place of pure and untainted knowledge. This explaination vaguely reminded me about the concept of knowledge expressed within theosophy, and especially by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky… Which kind of relation do you have with this esoteric movement? Do you think this enigmatic feminine figure shall someday be handled by Arcana Coelestia as a subject?

LS:“ The only book from Madame Blavatsky I had the chance to read was The secret Doctrine, and this happened during my adolescence, therefore I only have a vague and blurry memory of it. For sure some of the concepts she developed within that opus were deeply influenced by the readings of some eminent theologians and mystics from the past, including Swedenborg himself and his Arcana Coelestia which I recently had the chance to examine. The metaphorical place I referred to within the lyrics of our first album can be identified with the deep knowledge of ourselves, with the constant interior analysis. The rest of the concept branched off from this, from the mist of doubt originated by the relationship between man and faith, from the need to get in touch with one’s spiritual side in order to fully understand one’s role in the surrounding world. I don’t know if H.P. Blavatsky will ever be a thematic subject for Arcana Coelestia, surely she could be approached in my lyrics as a physical figure, but as I always tend to diversify my approach to writing and thus my approach to lyrical themes, this may as well happen in the future, maybe in another context, I really don’t know… The best thing about writing lyrics for this band is the unlimited possibility to range between a large amount of topics: you never know. I’m aware my answer may seem kind of vague to you but I swear it’s the only one I could give you at the moment.”

The cover art of Ubi Secreta Colunt represented a memorial monument located in the monumental graveyard of Nostra Signora di Bonaria, which is situated in our town, Cagliari. Regardless of the Christian connotation of that site, what’s your opinion about the numerous acts of vandalism it has frequently been victim of?

LS:“What can I tell you… For a person like me, who has always been an atheist albeit interested in deepening religious and theological subjects even through the study of religious iconography, these are facts that must always be condemned, because their only purpose is to sate the frail ego of these individuals who feel fulfilled and superior (to what?) on the moment they disfigure a statue. The mother of idiots is always pregnant, you know what I mean!”

MZ:“First I’d like to point out that the choice of the picture was just meant to work as an imaginary reference to Strindberg’s works, as far as the Christian connotation is concerned I just don’t care, we as a band are not willing to spread any kind of religious (nor political) message; so far we just dealt with literary themes and whereas a religious iconography may appear, it’s merely functional to the biographical aspects of the author or to the imaginary recreated within the whole work. Nowadays I wouldn’t place such subject again on a cover, for it’s quite an hyped one especially among gothic bands, but back then we didn’t care about these details and we just made that choice without thinking too much over it; moreover, we came to the conclusion that photographic artwork don’t suit the music and the concept behind AC, for a picture is the faithful reproduction of reality, while our music aims to be an escape to the real world to seek shelter to something that may be described as the imaginary, the ideal, the symbolic, the oniric (I do sometimes have issues myself in describing something that doesn’t have enough clear contours to be commonly verbalized), for this reason, the artwork for Le Mirage de l’Ideal was entirely made of paintings, because paintings are a representation, reconstructed through the canvas, which somewhat transcends reality, when beholding a painting one sometimes gets the feeling of forgetting about anything around and immerging within it just as we would wish to be there, inside the painting, and AC aims to be the musical transposition of this process, of this journey I would describe as “cathartic” yet surreal. I apologize for the digression, to answer the question about vandalism I would just say that people can do what they will, I don’t care that much, that useless mass society is should be the one to question about their deranged splinters.”

Of necessity, talking about August Strindberg (always referring to your first album) is somehow equivalent to talking about Alchemy and relative implications. Normally, right before starting to writing down my questions for a band, I always document myself about previous interviews; in this way I ran into a pretty old interview of yours where you explained your personal concept of Alchemy, described by you as a mean to expression for a Man who considered the world as an endless cage to his ego; you also stated that nowadays people tend to ‘romanticize’ Alchemy, by focusing on some limited aspects while neglecting some others. What did you mean exactly? Can a negative idea of Alchemy be recognized within these statements? Don’t you find that the self-transmutation achieved throughout the Great Work may actually represent the fulcrum to that esoteric path of self-realization you indicate (LS in special mode)?

LS:“Precisely. When I said that Alchemy is nowadays seen as a procedure just meant to subvert Nature’s laws, I actually meant to underline that the true essence of Alchemic procedures has been forgotten with time. Just think that by now such figure as August Strindberg is remembered on purpose more for his theatrical works than for the importance he had in the esoteric/philosophical field. One of the main aims of Alchemy has always been to conquer the omniscience, the defining step towards divinity. But most times one tends to figure out the alchemist as a poor person who secludes on purpose into a damp sombre basement (or in a crumbling hotel room, such was the case with Strindberg), intent in manoeuvring with his alembics in the vain hope to turn steel into gold or silver… This is what I meant with that sentence, that is to say, nowadays the true essence of what Alchemy represented got lost: a constant spiritual growth, finalized to a superior knowledge, maybe utopian, but true and unfeigned. Could we say the same thing about the ‘growth’ in the technological department of the latest decades? Can we say it’s true and unfeigned? It would be foolish just to dare thinking so.”

Do you think your will of thematic exploration and research of yourselves may someday lead you straight to your roots, to delve into the history of your region (which happens to be my region as well since we live in the same place) Sardinia? Are you interested in Sardinian culture and in the study of Nuragic civilizations? Do you think it may be a good way to better comprehend yourselves through your roots?

LS:“I’m personally very interested in the topics that deal with my (our) land. I just started cooperating with a local band called Neravendetta, and the lyrics to our first album are built around these themes. Unfortunately I didn’t handle these lyrics myself as they were ready already when I entered the band, but if this cooperation will last, I don’t deny I’ll probably be dealing with the writing of a concept about Nuragic civilizations myself.”“

LS:“ Well, I don’t know, one could not even say something interesting will not be found in these topics in the future. It’s a cliché that came into being within Black Metal scene, the fact that a band must tell about their homeland, a sort of provincial version of Viking Pride. So I eventually prefer to deal with topics that may draw my interest regardless of their cultural and geographic origin. Nevertheless I want to point out that I adore my land, just as anyone who always lived in the very place where he/she was born, and this kind of drives me mad, the fact that we’re not totally authors of ourselves but rather a cultural product crafted by the numerous colonizations sedimented throughout past ages.”

In the same way you’ve been drawing inspiration from external elements, do you think you’ll ever write a totally individual concept oriented to your personal inner experience?

LS:“ That’s possible, but after all both first and second album featured deeply autobiographical lyrics, albeit filtered through Strindberg and Baudelaire figures. Since I’ve been able to hold a pen in my hand I’ve always written about myself, not for a sort of self celebration but rather because there’s no intriguing riddle as the knowledge of ourselves. We’ll never be able to comprehend ourselves totally, and this brings us to continuously self – analyze ourselves. In Arcana Coelestia lyrics there is already a strong personal connotation about our lives and about my inner experience in particular mode. If I wanted to describe it in a figurative way I’d tell you that Arcana Coelestia lyrics can be described as paintings, where the canvas is represented by my own personality and life experience, and Strindberg and Baudelaire, with their works and the inspiration originated from them, are the beauteous framework.”

You once manifested the wish to compensate the excessive harmonic saturation of your previous works with a more essential album, closer to ‘black metal’ style, therefore, as I recently came to know you’re working on the follow-up to Le mirage de l’Ideal, dare I ask you if is this forecast concretising? What can fans expect from the next Arcana Coelestia effort?

MZ:“Yes, we wrote the songs for the new full – length, we’re going to record drums this spring and the rest of the instruments in summer in order to have the album ready within autumn (hopefully, if the occasional unforeseen events will not delay its release). The new songs have a stronger black metal influence and faster parts, the new album will be more dynamic than the previous ones, but not too much as the multiple layers are kind of a trademark of our sound. The idea was to measure more carefully the various elements composing the album. We’re also thinking about some guest appearances, of course we’ll be announcing them as soon as we’ll be sure about them, as for now they remain pending. Line-up now consists in me, LS, Sephrenel of Absentia Lunae on bass and Master as a session drummer, who already plays with Nox Illunis, a promising Italian band from the North-East area.”

Recently you’ve been courageously sticking up for your own label, ATMF, in the ambit of a diatribe risen up with the famous magazine Terrorizer, which had the presumed political tendencies of your label mates Janvs as a subject. What opinion do you have of the entire event? What was your opinion about Terrorizer right before this all happened?

MZ:“ ‘Courageously’ seems exaggerated to me, all in all it was just about spreading a statement of our label in which they told about the censorious acrobatics of Terrorizer, a despicable behaviour, what bothered me the most is that Terrorizer never censored openly Nazi acts as Taake just because they make them sell some more copies, while such band as Janvs that doesn’t have the same numbers has been childishly boycotted in an unjustified manner. Of course this fact is all water under the bridge by now, the whole episode has been widely talked about even by the concerned band itself so those willing to know something more about it should take Janvs’ official statement in consideration and not somebody else’s opinion; I mostly worked as a sounding board to a label statement I agreed with, as for the rest it’s something we’re personally involved with. As for the courage I’d like to open a parenthesis, we got a large amount of promotion from a glossy magazine with a huge distribution such as Terrorizer is, but I have nothing to lose when I expose myself, I’m not obsessed with fame to the point of fearing to lose a little promotional page on a mainstream magazine. As long as I’ll have hands to play and a brain to conceive my own music, the rest is all except essential.”

I know that you deal with music at a professional level even in your private lives. Precisely you deal with sound engineering. In which way do you approach this discipline? Do you think that even the action of mixing and mastering can have a creative, maybe cathartic meaning as well as the one of creating music? Which advice would you give to a person who (like myself, in fact) is following a course of studies oriented to sound engineering?

MZ:“ Talking about a cathartic experience is probably too much, because you always have to keep your ears open when working on a mixing, so I’d rather talk about an effort in which you focus your energies on physical and real parameters; while I totally agree about the creative value, a sound engineer must be gifted with notable artistic skills rather than just sheer technical knowledge, it’s what makes you stand out among the multitude of insiders who own good technical notions and a scarce capability of finding peculiar solutions and/or have issues in interpreting the thought of the musician they work for. The advice I can give is firstly to ignore the many parvenu blabbermouths around, which only purpose is to bewilder people, I call them the ‘audio sommeliers’ for they try to impress everybody spouting off with fancy adjectives or technical terms they barely know the meaning of (there’s way more ignorance to hide than experience to share in this field), these people are often laughed about during the blind tests on gear. Another advice is to face things with the right humble attitude and will to learn, and also to never stop learning, because certain levels require decades of individual experience, of course the best thing would be to be able to work with more experienced people from whom you can borrow the tricks of the trade.”

Arcana Coelestia monicker is also associated with Urna and Locus Mortis, which news shall we expect from these fronts?

MZ:“About Locus Mortis, this year (next winter probably) will see the reissue of our debut album, it’s going to be totally re-recorded and remixed with Atum (Divine Codex, ex Malfeitor) on drums as a guest performer. Urna is temporarily on hold, after the latest full – length Iter ad Lucem we’re busy with other projects as it’s physically impossible to deal with too many things at the same time.”

Anyway, both the aforementioned bands are – just like Arcana Coelestia – characterized by quite demanding contents. Do you also appreciate bands with a more light-hearted connotation? What meaning do humour and self-irony hold in your lives?

LS:“ When I’m writing lyrics for a band, I do it in the most serious and rigorous way possible, but as far as the listening is concerned, I assure you I often use to take a break of light heartedness. You just have to think that after finishing the recordings of Le Mirage de l’Ideal I had Anal Cunt and Elio e le Storie Tese (a cult Italian joke band with absolutely demential and hilarious lyrics – Editor) in heavy rotation on my car’s stereo! Moreover, irony and humour are to be found in our second album also; I’m referring to the song Requiem, in which a thorny and grave topic such as the self-destructive inertia that has always been accompanying the evolution (or involution) of mankind is dealt with in a tragicomic fashion. In a nutshell, even though I take myself seriously I sometimes let myself go with irony, I think it’s indispensable to my mental health and to avoid weighing down the lyrical context of Arcana Coelestia”

MZ:“Quite a hard question, yes I do listen to ‘ignorant’ music as well, it can be pleasant to listen to such music in certain situations, but, to be honest, these moments are kind of rare and by the way such musical expressions are always on a slightly lower grade, something must own a certain amount of depth and refinement in order to truly leave its mark on me. All in all we judge a work of art according to how much of ourselves we find in it, so despite how much pleasant may be a track from a classic heavy rock band, I’ll never be able to relate the dork ‘sex, drugs & rock’n’roll’ stereotype to myself. I can occasionally listen to it of course, but I take it for what it is, even if some other interesting parameters such as technical aspects can come up as well, but again a band must give me something I could recognize myself in.”

How long have you been knowing each other for, at which point did you decide to form a band? Could we say Arcana Coelestia may also represent a way to seal your friendship, beside being a mean of research and expression?

LS:“ We’ve been knowing each other for about six years now, and we’ve always been playing together, we met with the purpose of making music, and our friendship grew stronger between rehearsal rooms and recording rooms. Arcana Coelestia sealed our friendship. When we decided to start this project we knew it was meant to last and the facts are proving us right.”

Well, I think that’s all for now. Thanks again, end up as you like!

LS:“ Thank you for the space you allowed us, and to all of those who spent words of praise about this project over the years.”

Arcana Coelestia on MySpace Music

[Astoroth are a fairly newcomer band from German underground scene with definitely something to say. Here’s our talk with mastermind Joza.]

’Nature inspired ritualistic music’ is the expression with which Astoroth refer to their own sound. Would you develop this concept? What kind of conception do Astoroth have of Nature? Do you see Nature from a pantheistic standpoint? Did the more idealistic concept of Naturphilosophie affect your concept of Nature? Or is yours an approach more oriented towards Neopaganism?  What about the ‘ritualistic’ part?

“Hey, that’s a whole lot of questions at once. First I should clarify that I was raised in a deeply atheistic way, and I still do not believe in any supernatural deity. For a while I sympathised with nihilism, because I think that’s what total atheism leads to; if your life is just a consequence of chemical reactions, why would there be a need for values? However I realised that this way of thinking does neither you nor your surroundings any good. So I started making my life better – I started listening to what my mind, even to what just my body was telling me.”

“I pretty much got rid of everything civilisation brings about – too many “events”, trying to be “social” et cetera – and instead of having fun I did what made my truly happy. So that’s the one side of “nature”. On the other hand, nature simply refers to my environment. The woods, the rivers, the “Siebengebirge” (a local range of hills); landscapes which give me a feeling of peace, calmness and safety. The “ritualistic” is actually quite important for the whole thing because the music I create is indeed meant to be used as rituals to gather strength and (re)create images of a truly natural world.  Ideally, the listener will experience my music in the evening just before going to bed, when he’s alone and calm enough to embrace the atmosphere. If performed properly, it can put you into a trance-like state of pure feeling. I have nothing to do with Neopaganism and I’m not too fond of it, by the way.”

How does your adherence to vegan movement relate with the aforementioned concepts?

“On the one hand from an objective point of view, the enslavement of other species is the greatest cause of pain and torture in Earth’s history – no judgement intended.
On the other hand, for my share I have decided not to be part of this anymore. I don’t want to support a mindset of self-crowned judges about the freedom and death of other beings. This is also directly connected to what I wrote above: I couldn’t be happy knowing that millions of others suffer for my happiness.”

Do you believe in forms of activism in defence of Nature and environment? Or would you rather keep a more ‘contemplative’ and passive (not meant in a disparaging meaning) mentality under this respect?

“Unfortunately, at the moment I’m forced to keep a contemplative mentality because I still go to school – I’m working on my “Abitur” (the German equivalent of a high school diploma). After school, I hope to get a job at least for some time up in the north, working for the conservation of the North Sea. In the long run, I would like to join a conservation society actually doing something out there, like Sea Shepherd. It does no good to sit here being content with myself as long as the problems exist”

The music of Astoroth shows some audible Black Metal influence as well. Do you consider Astoroth as a Black Metal band? If so, how would you say Black Metal as a form of expression applies to the concept behind Astoroth?

“When I first started writing music for ASTOROTH around late 2007, I definitely wrote Black Metal music without any other influences, hence the name.
Today, I would not use the term to describe what I’m doing. If “Black Metal” is just a name to describe the style of what you’re hearing, then it probably still fits, but today there is so much more within the songs – even music-wise: I have used keyboards, glockenspiel, clean guitars and ethereal singing too. Still, soundscapes of sweeping guitars and screaming were the most fitting stilistic devices for the atmosphere I wanted to achieve on Earthly Welking.”

I’ve also noticed that the sound keeps a somewhat sombre and gloomy vibe to it most of the time, why should Nature – drawn inspiration originate such sad feelings?

“Well, I can just put together notes, sound effects and singing. I can’t affect what you feel, if you get the hint.   For me, this music creates images of a better world, so naturally it has nothing to do with negative emotions. Maybe melancholy and nostalgia would be more appropriate terms to describe the mood.”

In which direction would you like the sound of the band to evolve in the future?

“I would like to include more clean singing and different instruments. I’ve been listening a lot to bands like SIGUR RÓS, AGALLOCH, NYCTALGIA (not the depressive black metal one) and ALCEST lately so that surely will influence me. I’d also like to record a pure acoustic folk album pretty much without the ritualistic background, which would make a nice first full-length album… : )”

Did German metal scene represent some kind of inspiration to Astoroth? Which German bands did influence you the most in both musical and lyrical department?

“Not really. Still, there are two records that basically brought me to writing this kind of atmospheric music: VARGNATT’s Nur ein Traum demo (which is going to be re-released this year, hooray! The first edition was sold out quite quickly) and the neofolk album Wenn schwarzer Regen by SAMSAS TRAUM, which quite surprised me – they had been doing mostly electronic gothic music before. I was completely mesmerized and decided that I wanted to write music to evoke such intense emotion myself. Regarding the lyrics, see below.”

Do you personally nurture a somewhat ‘patriotic’ feeling towards your country? What does the fact of being German mean to you? Do you think the music of Astoroth would sound different if you were born in another country? (Of course, just to make it clear, this question does not necessarily have political implications, as I believe the two things can and should be discerned from each other, do you agree?)

“The fact that I come from Germany means literally nothing to me. It’s just a man-made border. The people living here are as stupid as anywhere else. Of course ASTOROTH would sound different if I lived in Finland, Turkey or South Africa – different landscape, different moods, different society to grow up in. However to some extent I do not agree to the statement that music and politics should be separated. ASTOROTH is a political entity after all, representing everything I’ve written about above.”

I’m particularly fond of the cover art for your upcoming album Earthly Welking. What would it aim to represent? Beside this, would you give us some further details about the album (lyrics – I can’t read German at all, so it would help a lot to get some explanation – and such)?

“I’m glad you like it! I made the cover myself using a work of German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich called Der Chasseur im Walde (“The Chasseur in the Woods”). The photos used in the booklet were mostly taken by myself, they show the forest I use to roam. The artwork has no other intention than setting the right mood for the music on the recording. I think Friedrich mostly used Christian metaphoric symbols in this painting just as in his other ones – I’m okay with that and I’m not that much into interpreting romantic art anyway.
The lyrics were also mostly influenced by Romantic poets such as Joseph von Eichendorff, Novalis and also Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Most of them describe a state of having accomplished your aims and finally laying yourself to rest. Durch den Wald, im Mondenscheine is an exclusion though; this is a poem by Heinrich Heine.”

Ok, I thought it was better for me to ask you some specific questions instead of flooding you with dozens of them. Do you think this interview can give the reader a correct impression of what Astoroth is? What would you have liked to be asked in addition?

“Yes, I was very pleasantly surprised by your questions and I can’t think of anything else I could tell you about my band.  I have just started, when Earthly Welking and maybe the next ritual is released, I probably have more to say. By the way, the working title is Death Song for a Vanished World. It was taken from a novel, go figure out which one, haha.
Thank you for the attention”.

[Interview taken on February the 14th].

EMW: Hello, Despot! How are you? I guess you might have read my review of Dynasty of the Realm Beyond, the split release your band shared with Forlorn Wisp. What do you think of it? Have I been too tough with the description? How would you instead describe Númenor songs on that split in your own words?

Despot:“ Yes, of course, I have already checked out your review since this is first foreign review for this release. I think you were quite correct when it comes to describing the songs, bands and their styles. You have labeled Númenor as a kind of Epic/Symphonic death/black metal band and so far I can agree with you. I can also add that there are even some obvious power metal influences as well, especially in Monarchy Divine song.”

EMW: Why did Númenor debut with a split release, rather than with a demo, an EP or even with an actual Full length? How and when did the idea of a split with Forlorn Wisp spring into your mind?

Despot:“ I think that this split is really nice idea. Since I have met and became a friend with these guys from Forlorn Wisp, I had this idea to have a split with them and finally this split has seen the light of day. Actually, to be correct, Númenor debut was in September of last year when we appeared on The First Ring CD compilation with Once We Were Kings track. In 2010 Fabien is going to release one more chapter of this CD and I have already answered his call so Númenor is going to be part of this Tolkien-based compilation CD again .”

EMW: The band was a long time idea of yours, but you established it in 2009 only. Why did it take so long for you to finally do it, and what meaning to you ascribe to the action of making music?

Despot:“ Actually before Númenor the name of the band was Esgaroth. In the last minute, before our first official appearance on The First Ring CD, I changed the name because (too obviously) there were too many Esgaroth(s) around. But, with the name change I have started a new history. All the years spent with Esgaroth we have been searching for suitable style, but Númenor is completely my own vision and the musical style is already encircled. The main goal is to create  epic metal music with lots of influences from various metal genres. The only remaining members of Esgaroth are Andrej and me, we are were founders of both bands.”

EMW: Is Númenor some sort of concept band? You seem very influenced by fantasy literature, do you think you’ll ever evade this kind of topics to deal with other themes?

Despot:“ I never had an idea to make a concept band or something like that.  From my childhood I am an admirer of German fantasy power/speed metal scene (Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, Iron Savior, Helloween…) so obviously I am very influenced by their lyrical approach. Lyrics are definitely a very important part of Númenor. Lyrics-wise, I am very influenced by the bands like Blind Guardian and Morgana Le Fay.  But again, it’s very hard to speak about them. I mean – track Monarchy Divine is not based on any fantasy novel in particular, while Once We Were Kings deals with a kind of mental and physical metamorphose of one of Numenorean kings who became wraith. Also, other lyrics that will appear on the album also have this kind of doom-like vibe which already became a kind of trademark when it comes to my lyrical style . But, not all the lyrics are dealing with fantasy, for example the closing track A Quest for the Nightsky is based on some nature-inspired lyrics. I have always admired these nature-influenced songs.”

EMW: The split was edited by Metal Sound Publishing, which appears to be your own record label, what are your future plans for it?

Despot:“ The future is yet unclear and it depends on many particular variations. I mean, if any other label will take care of Númenor I will focus less on publishing. Also, it might happen that some label will take Númenor among their ranks, but they will be only interested in releasing regular versions of CD, and on the other part I will take care about some special items like limited singles or splits.”

EMW: Númenor’s actual debut album is going to feature a cover from the mighty Summoning, The Legend of the Master-Ring from Minas Morgul album. First off, congratulations for the choice! What can you anticipate us about this cover? Will you try to add your personal touch and approach to the song or do you rather mean to keep the original vibe?

Despot:“Yes, indeed The Legend of the Master-ring is a great song with lots of authentic Middle-Earth atmosphere. Although that Summoning are ambient Black Metal band they are fantastic when it comes to transferring this specific kind of atmosphere that shrouds Middle-Earth. Nobody so far haven’t done this like Gregor and Richard. Of course, we will try to give our specific touch, but we will also try to keep this particular mystical vibe from the song. Perhaps the song will sound more bombastic in our way.”

“I would also like to thank Napalm Records who allowed me to do this cover under their kind permission and to Ben who has arranged this.”

EMW: Beside playing in Númenor, you’re also editor of the prestigious Serbian magazine Metal Sound. Would you tell us about its history?

Despot:“ I started my journalist career with fanzine Hornburg. It was some time during 2002. Later on I decided to form Metal Sound, I think that it was somewhere in 2005. I was very influenced back them by German Rock Hard magazine and their activities. MS first appeared only as printed magazine, but later it became also webzine and two years ago I started a weekly Metal Sound show. We are also doing some DJ Metal Sound nights here in the local clubs and we are organizing one or two shows per month where some local bands are playing. So, all in all, we are pretty active and Metal Sound become more like a trademark for many activities.”

EMW: It seems like you interviewed a large amount of famous acts, including Summoning themselves, who obviously represented a major influence for your brainchild Númenor. How is it like to get in touch and ask questions to musicians who had such an impact on you? Do you feel some kind of ‘pressure’ when it comes to interview such bands?

Despot:“ Oh no, definitely I don’t feel any kind of ‘pressure’ or anything similar. I mean, I have done maybe a hundred of interviews so far and it has become a routine. So far, I have done 3 interviews with Summoning and two with Protector concerning his solo-projects as well (like DVKE and Ice Ages). Also, I am in every day contact with Napalm Records and with Ben (their promoter). Ben and I are in the contact for ages, now it seems, and I can arrange and schedule any interview. And Ben is really a cool guy!”

EMW: I guess you had enough experience in the realm of ‘metallic’ press to be able to give me some kind of advice about my own “job” here, what would you recommend me (not) to do if I asked you for some suggestions?

Despot:“ Well, to be honest, there’s nothing spectacular that I can suggest you. It actually depends of what you’re aiming to do with your webzine or magazine. Just for example: are you aiming to focus on more underground bands or more on prominent ones? Some people like to have more coherent webzines, to feature only some sort of bands from some specific genres. But, I was dreaming from my childhood to have magazine like Metal Sound and to be active on the metal field in every day life. So my dreams are coming to life.”

EMW: Beside this (band, magazine) how does your everyday life look like? What do you normally like to do when there’s no one around?

Despot:“ Obviously, I like to read a lot. Sometimes I play some games on PC (but I prefer reading). Also, I like to go in cinema with my friends or to travel a lot. Even sometimes I loose myself in the forests. But, I am spending most of my time of studying. I am just finishing Political Science and my notes are pretty high so I am also very active on this field. At this moment I am aiming to start one political TV duel-show and if the things pass well it will start in a month or two. So, as one could notice, I am living two separated lives.”

EMW: Would you say Serbian metal scene has its own peculiarities as it happened in more renowned countries? Do Serbian bands somehow share certain common characteristics?

Despot:“ No, definitely no. For example Númenor and Forlorn Wisp are pretty forlorn exemplars on Serbian metal scene and nobody sounds like Númenor or FW. We have also some other  prominent bands as wel,l like Alogia and Dargoron (more power and heavy based bands-but they are more focused on Serbian population).”

EMW: … and your last words are?

Despot:“I would like to thank you for your review and interview. This is the first interview that I have done for some foreign webzine or magazine so it definitely will take its part in my history.”

For those who are interested in Numenor or Forlorn Wisp I suggest our myspace pages:

www.myspace.com/forlornwisp

www.myspace.com/numenorband