Label : AFM Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Fans of Progressive Power Metal rejoice! The new project from Virus IV guitarist Samuel Arkan is here and he is joined by an outstanding array of talented musicians for the debut of Epysode titled “Obsessions”. For 14-songs, totaling about an hour’s worth of music, the listener is drawn into a conceptual story (which sounds like it would make a killer movie) with each singer playing a role as the story unfolds throughout the album. After the opening intro of “File 4180-1” the next track “Silences of Dawn (Poetry)” is a beautiful minute-and-a-half piano peace featuring the vocals of Valentine and Dial frontwoman Liselotte Hegt as this segues into the majestic “First Blood”. This is a multi-faceted dramatic track featuring some cool interplay between all of the vocalists on the album, Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Beyond Twilight), Oddleif Stensland (Communic), Magali Luyten (Virus IV), Hegt and Rick Altzi (At Vance, Thunderstone) all turn in epic performances. From there the album moves forward with a lot of momentum on the equally awesome “Obsessions” featuring some more great vocal work performed by Carpenter and Luyten. “Invisible Nations” is next and features a melodic up-tempo atmosphere with Carpenter and Altzi once again taking the lead role in the vocal department. I must say, the chemistry between the two is breathtaking. This song also includes a pretty cool prog rock style keyboard section in the middle. The next track “Gemini Syndrome” – with Liselotte Hegt and Kelly Sundown taking the lead – is a beautiful piano dominated ballad that allows the listener to catch their breath before the crushing riff of “Fallen’s Portrait” should get those heads banging once again. Other highlights: “Season of Redemption”, “The Other Side”, “One Chance” , “Divine Whispers” but I could on. There is no doubt that Samuel Arkan from Virus IV is the creative force behind this project; he wrote the music, lyrics, story and produced, but he has also surrounded himself with some top-notch talent who also put their unique stamps on “Obsessions”. Doing a concept album on this grand a scale can be quite risky and the possibility exists that it could be viewed as hokey or cheesy, but thankfully Samuel Arkan and the rest of the stellar cast put a lot of care, effort and thought into Epysode. For a concept album this ambitious, “Obsessions” never comes off as overblown or overdone, it strikes the right balance between music and drama which is one of the best things about it.

Rating - 90/100

Tracklist

1. File 4180-1
2. Silences of Dawn (Poetry)
3. First Blood
4. Obsessions
5. Invisible Nations
6. Gemini Syndrome
7. Fallen’s Portrait
8. Season of Redemption
9. The Other SideShadow LordOne Chance
10. Divine WhispersMarch of the Ghosts
11. Last Sunset

Line Up

The Cast

• Kelly Sundown Carpenter – Kallon (The Profiler)
• Magali Luyten – Esh (The Soul)
• Oddleif Stensland – Yae (The Fallen / Killer)
• Liselotte Lilo Hegt – Valma (The Medium)
• Rick Altzi – Maymos (The Ghost)
• Michael – Shawn (The Child)

Musicians

• Samuel Arkan - All guitars on the album (electric and acoustic)
• Christophe Godin - Guitar solos
• Kristoffer Gildenlöw - Bass
• Léo Margarit - Drums
• Julien Spreutels - Keyboards and piano

Links

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Interview by Marc “Peston” Sels

Elis is a band from Liechtenstein and was formed in 2003 after the split from Erben Der Schöpfung. In 2006, on July 8, their vocalist Sabine Dünser died of a celebral hemorrhage. She was replaced by Sandra Scheleret, well known as guest-singer on some Samael-cd’s and ex-vocalist of Dreams of Sanity. It is with this Austrian musician that I had this interview.

How is the Beauty and the Beast tour going?

The tour was really nice! I think it is very rarely that you have so many nice people together without any exception. We enjoyed it a lot. I even had the chance to join Atrocity for the tour as a guest vocalist. This came very surprising as it was a spontaneous idea, but I had lots of fun.

Can you tell us something about the new album “Catharsis”? Some favourite numbers?

“Catharsis” is very important for me, the reason is that it is like a new chapter, a new beginning for me. About a year and a half before I joined Elis I got the diagnosis Morbus Hodgkin which is a kind of lymph node cancer. In the months that followed I had to go through chemo- and radiotherapy, and it was a very hard and harrowing time for me. I completely changed my way of living, and since then I see things totally different. When I started working on the vocals for “Catharsis” all these feelings broke their way to the surface, and so most of the lyrics are very closely connected to what I experienced at that time. All songs are very dear to me but I guess my favourite numbers are “Firefly”, “Mothre’s Fire” and “Das kleine Ungeheuer”.

Was it hard to replace Sabine, emotionally and musically talking?

Yes it was hard, I think for all of us. When somebody passes away so young and so unexpected it is hard to continue. Although we really liked eachother a lot from the beginning on, for me it was difficult to find my own place in the band, and for the guys it was hard to start a new chapter. We took some time to find together. Musically wise it was not that difficult because Sabine’s lines are nice to sing and her lyrics touched me a lot, so I feld connection to the songs very quickly.

Is it easy to produce the same sound on stage as on the albums?

No, I wouldn’t say so. In the end it is very difficult to get a good live-sound. Mainly it depends on the sound engineer, and we are not often able to bring our own one.

“Griefshire” was a concept CD. Isn’t it difficult to play some songs live, or don’t you use these songs on stage?

We are playing the “Griefshire” songs life, but never in the context of the concept. It is not so difficult because we see each of them as an indipendent individual, with it’s own message. For example “Show Me the Way” has a great statement.

With the digipack edition of “Catharsis” comes a DVD from the gig at the MFVF 2007. What memories you have of that festival?

It was very touching because the audience welcomed us so well. The were happy with us that Elis is back on stage again, and we felt very comfortable that evening. I’m happy that this was the concert that was recorded for the live-DVD!

The band keeps the tradition of putting a few German songs on the album? Do you think non-German fans can enjoy this?

We hope so! Just see how people can enjoy Rammstein…hehe In the end the German language simply has a very different sound than English and it is tempting to use it as a stylistic device.

You also sing in Siegfried. How do you keep both bands apart?

As Siegfried was not so active in the last years there was never any problem for me. It is just coincidence that both albums were released at the same time. I do not do the lyrics for Siegfried and just contribute some vocal lines, so there is no “creative problem”;). It is very nice to have the chance to show also another side of my voice, and the guys from Siegfried are really cool people, we have lots of fun when we are working together!

Is Elis, like a red somewhere, from the Greek Elis, land of Helia, or is there another explanation?

The name comes from the poem from an Austrian poet (Georg Trakl) “An den Knaben Elis” (to the boy Elis). Sabine made a successful song about this when she and the guys still were calling their band Erben der Schöpfung. They then decided to rename the band after this song.

What are the plans for 2010? Touring? A new cd? Etc…

So far nothing concrete but we are working on this! Touring would be very nice and of course we have to work on new material.

Links

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Interview by Ed MacLaren

Exploding from Russia’s burgeoning metal scene comes Arcane Grail’s latest concept CD “Arya Marga: Ninefold Path to the Innocence”. Equal parts philosophy and spirituality, “Arya Marga” provokes the mind while assaulting the ears. In this interview, vocalists Demether and Natalie take us down the paths to innocence, divulge the secrets to a cohesive band and give us key insights into up-and-coming Russian metal.

Your new CD, “Arya Marga: Ninefold Path to the Innocence”, is lyrically and conceptually dense but it’s ultimately an extremely rewarding listen. Can you offer some insight into the concept behind the CD?

Demether : Yes, our second album is conceptually like the previous one, “Mysteries of the Ancient Charnel”. But if the first CD has the tale-like fairy story about ghosts, kings, inquisition and love in a King-Diamond-like style, the new CD is more serious and non-fairy. The lyrics of Arcane Grail are latently or directly connected nowadays with mythologems of Russian and Indo-Aryan heathenism. There are various themes on the second album but all of them are united in the uniform concept of finding the true Ninefold Noble Path of Life by the Man (“Arya Marga” in Sanskrit– an esoteric term in Vedism and Buddhism) – the revolt against the present and desire to be cleared from all nasty defects of modern human society. And first of all, returning to the sources of mankind, to cleanliness of soul, thoughts, to natural laws, to ancient beliefs, to wisdom of ancestors and to divine condition of human spirit. Musically, we name our style now – Symphonic Extreme Metal Art, which consists of sympho-black, melodic death, and gothic doom as well.

There are nine tracks on “Arya Marga: Nine Paths to Innocence”. Can you delve into the meaning of each path and what tracks are representative of each path? How does each track contribute to the evolution on the path to innocence?

Demether: Yes, nine songs and nine paths. The Ancient Ones said that men needed – in eight paths to the attainment of enlightenment and perfection – wisdom, morals, pure reason, labour, blood-vengeance, honour, kindness and love. The modern man, wallowed in weakness, idiocy, frights, countless diseases, betrayals and lies, is needed in another path, the ninth and the main path – fight! These nine paths can make the man – light and strong, great and wise! This is the path of warriors, the path of Thulean Legatee – Arya Marga, our trip to perfection, our ninefold path to the innocence. And our way to the gods!

About the songs: “Arcane Grail” – WISDOM. The song is absolutely not connected with the Christian concept of the Holy Grail or with the Arthurian legend-cycle about the search for the Grail. The Grail is a much more ancient religious pagan symbol of many Indo-Aryan nations. It is a sacred boiler, a cup, a receptacle of stars, honey of poetry, an elixir of an eternal life. It is created from the Father of All Stones (Alatyr in Slavonic heathenism). It is also a spiritual image necessary for the achievement of an eternal life (unessential, terrestrial), great wisdom, force and cleanliness. This song is devoted to the search of, by disclosing one’s own consciousness, finding a divine condition of the spirit.

“Of Snake and Raven” – MORALS. It is a song, a conversation of wise animals – a raven and the snake – as though occurring at the top of the Mother-Mountain of the World – Meru. They discuss people as they are weak and insignificant, actually. We from ourselves sing how it would be good to become strong, wise, fair, great and strict in the behaviour and principles of these ancient animals. I don’t think that man is the Tsar of Nature.

“Autumn Wed Us, Sinned and Lone” – LOVE. This song is about the love of a man and woman that even death could not separate. The present love is immortal! And that love is the main thing in the world – only with this feeling is there a world!

“Renaissant the Reverie” – LABOUR. A song about my dream of the revival of pagan consciousness in people. It’s about a great work of a body and soul that should be done in this way - revival! It’s about belief in saving love, in virtue of spirit. A song about the dirt of the modern world, perversions of people, about false monotheistic religions imposed on us by people, thirsted authorities and money. That each person can become the god himself, and the bearded dead man on a rotten cross actually is not necessary to anybody!

“Sorrow of Forgotten Pride” – HONOUR. A song about honour: to continue to be a beautiful, clever, perfect person in the modern world, to remember precepts of the ancestors, to love the native land and culture, and that you can die for beloved ones!

“Imprisoned in the Greatest War” – FIGHT. It is a revolution-song! A hymn to the revolt and revival of the old world on the ruins of the modern rotted bastard-society. Though, first of all, each person should win themselves!

“Die Sonnenhymne” – BLOOD-VENGEANCE. One more hymn - this time to Wotan, to the Sun, the Earth. It is an appeal to the old gods to return and take revenge for their desecration!

“Iniquitous Yoke” – KINDNESS. A song about the lot of the magician. About white magic, about the achievement of cleanliness of spirit. About full self-destruction up to a condition of ashes – then to revive like the sun in the universe. That we twirl the stars, instead they us. At least, it should achieve!

“Святой Грааль” – PURE REASON. On the one hand, it is simply a Russian version of the first song. But on the other, the lyrics differ practically on 70%. It is more about the full cleanliness of the mind from the matrix-perverted chains, about unlimited opportunities of sub consciousness of the person and that, eventually, inside of each person there can be a Sacred Grail!

The first track is titled “Arcane Grail”. How do the nine paths to innocence fit into the Arcane Grail world-view?

Demether : Personally, in my life I try to follow only the best roadsides of these paths. Self-perfection is the most important thing in the life of any person. And I do not sing without adducing any proof that does not interest me - by no means. All these ideas - not simply my ideas, but firm belief!

Is your attention to the lyrics primarily to entertain or educate? Perhaps a bit of both?

Demether : Now, only to educate, maybe, to give people some ways for reflection. I do not apply at all for any absolute truths, but all the same I think that I’m personally on a true way to knowledge – the sense of life, heh! Though, under the greater account, all of it is done for self-perfection - all these compositions of verses. But I shall be madly glad, if many of my ideas will be divided by people. It would be desirable that the music of Arcane Grail did people more purely a little bit, not only to release the thoughts from daily cares, but also to direct these thoughts to a channel of struggle with greyness, weakness and despondency.

Demether rips his throat raw alternating between vicious death- and black- metal vocals. Natalie provides soaring vocal lines and gets an excellent solo turn in “Die Sonnenhymne” in contrast with the brutal chaos of the music. How do you create your arrangements musically and vocally to achieve such a balance?

Natalie: I can’t say that we were especially trying very hard to reach such a balance. It happened somehow automatically. In the beginning (it was 2004), I was invited for only one song. The guys liked my voice and we decided to use it in more songs. On the first album, proposals of how better to include my voice were coming from both sides; I mean me and Demether with the band. On the second CD, it happened somehow easier. When we were making new material, we had to check through lots of pieces, samples and melodies which our musicians performed as the best ones for creating songs out of them. We were improvising a lot, trying to glue them all into a kind of composition. Somehow in this improvisation the right vocal lines came– and mostly they don’t need discussion. Mainly, in each song from the second CD, you hear the vocal parts of ours as they came from somewhere above! I can’t remember that we were seriously debating over “you sing here and I sing here”.

Demether: Hmm, in most cases, certainly, we try to transfer the necessary atmosphere of lyrics to various parts of songs. Certainly, all our creativity is deeply conceptual and we think over every second, each cry, and each note thoroughly!

How do you describe the evolution of Arcane Grail since its inception? Where do you see the group progressing musically as well as spiritually?

Demether: The band certainly has grown very much for eight years of existence both by way of music and by way of lyrics. I love our debut album – he’s very interesting and fine – but certainly “Arya Marga” is more skilful. The concept of lyrics now is pleasant to me much more now than with the entertaining Gothic fairy tale on the first. I wrote those lyrics at 19-years-old. For “Arya Marga”, I wrote the verses at the age of 23-25 years and it is a greater difference! Over the last years, Arcane Grail became a much greater and serious spiritual project – a part of my blood and spirit! And musically, let our listeners judge us. I think for myself we are needed to develop and develop, sure!

Several band members have recently left the band after many years of contributions to the Arcane Grail collective. How does this type of upheaval impact the collective and how does the group recover?

Demether : Yes, the truth is that during the release of an album some musicians left us because of our serious splits by the way of music. They did not wish to play neither metal nor death or black or sympho any more. Therefore, their dismissal, in any case, goes on to be an advantage to our band which is going to precisely continue to play the chosen stylistic direction. Unfortunately, because of their leaving there was some stupor in the concert activity of Arcane Grail while we searched for new musicians and we learned with them the songs and so forth. While we are just in this process, we will recover, and I promise, we shall soon return to kick all!

Natalie: Well, of course it made a kind of damage, we knew that the gone members had other projects, but never expected that they could leave us so suddenly. Demether started to search for new band mates on his own – I was quite far from this – and he never asked for any help. As a result there are new guys from Demether’s second band. I have to admit that the new line-up hasn’t performed the live performance yet.

Moving forward as a collective what are the key ingredients to successful group chemistry?

Demether: Certainly, I think there should be a friendship in a group, the general interests, and a necessary love of each musician for such music. In general, a mutual understanding.

Natalie: I think that it’s also the freedom for the demonstration of one’s own point of view for the music we make. Each member has to tell about any ideas, if he has them. And from the other side it’s pure diplomacy.

Arcane Grail is making an increasing impact outside Russian borders. How do you see your path to world domination?

Natalie: Since I’m married and mostly live in Germany, I guess Demether waits then I will find out how we get to Wacken Open Air or Summerbreeze and make everybody deaf with Demether’s loud and evil screams!

Demether: Seriously, we try as much as possible to promote ourselves in Europe and America so that we can go on a small tour in Europe in the near future. It would be desirable very much to win round some concert promoters. And we do not leave hope to be released on a European label. I think all will be ok!

What can you tell us about the current Russian scene and what other bands should we be looking out for?

Demether : In Russia, in the last five years, the dawn of metal has begun at last. There were enough very decent studios owing to which now it is easy to record at the European level. But the deal is not only in sound. Really, there were many of the most worthy bands playing high-quality, interesting, and original metal music. It would be desirable to name the following bands: Ambehr – Majestic ethnic melodic death with screaming and soprano;  Blackthorn – All-female symphonic dramatic black metal, beautiful and haunting, with a unique soprano; Atoll Nerat – Unique epic sympho-black with an atmosphere of Indian Toltecs; Hieronymus Bosch – Smart progressive-death; Thelema – Jazz-death; Non Immemor Mei – Amazing original post-doom; Kartikeya – Brutal death on the basis of the Indian music; Dorgmooth – Superb melodic death; Astel Oscora – Beautiful and magic sympho-black with the atmosphere of Alice in Wonderland; Welicoruss – Magnificent epic sympho-folk-black; Tantal – They can easy out do Arch Enemy and The Agonist; Little Dead Bertha – Fine sympho-black/melodic-death with screaming and a stunning soprano; Wine from Tears – Excellent doom-death; Fferyllt – Celtic metal with the most powerful female folk-vocal; Id:Vision – Absolutely mad industrial-techno-black; Atra Mustum – Perhaps, one of the best representatives of gothic-sympho-blacks in the world; Skylord – My second band (If you don’t blow your own horn, no one will do it for you!), playing super-blasting and supermelodious sympho-black; Diathra – Excellent gothic metal band; Scrambled Defuncts – Improbable sympho-brutal-death; Crystal Abyss – Mystical sympho-black; Solerrain – Children of Bodoms, playing better than Laiho and company a hundred times; Zymotic Symphony – Original sympho-melodic death with an opera bass vocal and growling; Ruthless Order – An improbable mix of hard-rock and melodic death with one of the best vocalists in metal, five octaves with all possible variants in extreme and classical metal vocal-genres; Arcana Imperia – Very interesting avant-garde sympho-death; Ordalion – Original Russian sympho-black. And, certainly, it is possible to list much of our most interesting pagan metal bands, which similarities in the world are not present: Arkona, Butterfly Tempe, Nevid, Severnye Vrata, Smuta, Natural Spirit, Temnozor, Nebokray, Tverd, Svarga, Kroda and many others. As you see, many good bands. Besides it is not the full list. I’m really a patriot of our metal scene – over the last five years it deserves it.

Where does Arcane Grail fit into the current Russian metal scene? Do you consider yourselves veterans? What advice do you have for up-and-coming Russian bands?

Natalie : Well, from one side we’ve existed already for quite a while – after I joined in 2004 more than five years passed. The band started in 2001 itself. And we can really say that we are veterans, but from the other side there are bands which have existed much longer and play music which in some part touch our style. So, I even don’t know if we should or can say that we are veterans. About the new-comers, honestly, I have no positive thoughts. There are many bands (except the bands in “Demether’s List”) where each new one thinks it’s more cool than all the others, making fan clubs of the band and each member separately and without a shade of shame naming these people of 18- or 19-years-old “Keyplayer-Virtuoso”. Plus, they indeed pay for the possibility to warm up for such bands as Norther, Dark Moor and others. So, I would say to them – less words and more work on your own… But I’m sure they would not listen and will buy another possibility to warm up for next foreign band which will come to Moscow.

Demether : Heh, Natalie is right –but I think that it’s the same in other European countries too. But the real gold will be sifted in the sea of sand all the same – this is metal. So, to good young metal bands (and for some people we are valid veterans – though I do not consider us so) I advise more concentration, professionalism, a thirst to create something new. And still – when hiring designers of booklets, and in general record and cover-artwork, only hire known professionals!

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Interview by Roberta Ilaria Rossi

Unsettling. Enigmatic. Spooky. Claustrophobic. These are the proper words to best describe the new album of the French doom funeral project Grey November, here dealing with a crazy work that exceeds the limits of madness. “The Fall of the House of Usher”, a concept album based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, is presented as a work that results in patches of balance, a work that takes the viewer to live a first-hand experience. In occasion of the official release, FM crew has had the pleasure of analyzing it together with the singer Marieke, who has brought us in a spooky and crazy trip…

Hi Marieke and welcome to Femme Metal.net. First of all, let me thank you for having stopped here and giving us a chance to have a chat with us. How are you doing?

Hello Femme Metal.net! First, we want to thank you for your interest in Grey November. I’m really pleased to answer the interview. I’m doing very well, thank you!

Grey November is a French dark romantic doom band, born in 1998, in France. Would you like to introduce yourself to those people who still don’t know you and/or your band?

I think I am not the best person to talk about the origins of Grey November as I am not involved in this project since long. Grey November is a dark romantic doom band created by Cédric in 1998. Cédric discovered the dark romantic doom movement a long time ago and found it really emotionally powerful. He loves also a lot the authors of the Romantic Movement and the music of Grey November grew with the readings of Cédric. The music of Grey November shares the same themes: life, death, beauty.The dark romantic doom enables us to express an ideal of beauty and sadness or melancholy through the sound of the strings. The rhythms and the guitars had power to the feelings given by the melodies. To summarize, the music of Grey November aims at expressing sensitivity and passion with low rhythms and strong melodies.

Recently your album “The Fall of the House of Usher” has been released. The title, obviously, recalls Edgar Allan Poe and his short story that has the same title. The story tells about the loss of a young girl, Lady Madeleine, that is the sister of one of the two protagonists (Roderick Usher) and the story is based on one of the most essential elements of the story: the house! Poe wanted to represent the contrast between science and the occult, reason and superstition, between the human need for certainty and irrational phenomena that we can’t explain. How come have you made this choice to “develop” your album?

As I said previously, Cédric has an immoderate love for the writers of the Romantic Movement. “The Fall of the House of Usher” became one of his favorite text a long time ago and the French translation of this text which is by Charles Baudelaire has really captured the essence of Poe’s writing. After “D’automne”, the previous release of Grey November, Cédric realized that he strongly wanted to work on the “Fall of the House of Usher”. He decided to create an album based on this text in order to dive himself and the listener into this powerful short story. In addition, dark romantic doom is the perfect style of music to express such strong feelings as those given at the reading of the “Fall of the House of Usher”. I arrived in the project later when Cédric had already decided to put this short story into music. I already knew the story of the “Fall of the House of Usher” and the work of Edgar Allan Poe and I had been really touched by his texts so I decided to get involved in the project when Cédric proposed it to me.

What is your relationship with everything that is decadent, moody? What is your relationship with the decay (the decadent movement)?

The work of Cédric is more linked to the Romantic Movement and romanticism in general: he wants to express himself freely through his music and to pass strong feelings and impressions to the listener. If I don’t make mistake, the Decadent Movement appeared in the late 19th century and Charles Baudelaire is one of the writers of this movement. But I don’t know enough about it and its links with the Romanticism to speak of the relationship between Grey November and Decadence.

How was it working for this album? I mean: working on the single tracks, the lyrics, the music itself, the arrangements…

Here, I will re-transcript what Cédric said since he is the one who wrote the entire album. “The first step in creating The Fall of the House of Usher was a pure musical approach. It was also the most exciting part for me. The challenge was, first, to compose the musical parts corresponding to the beginning of the story. I had to find the right tone, the rhythm and the atmosphere to fit each of the major themes of the novel. For this first part, I wrote mainly keys parts. Then I developped the musical parts, added arrangements… I concentrated on the coherence of each song’s structure.Finally, the writing of the lyrics came with the recording of the instruments. At the very end, we worked on the melody and the phrasing of the lyrics.”.

What was the most beautiful part in recording this album?

I’m not sure of what was the most beautiful part in the recording process. I had so much great moments working on the melodies of my parts; immerse myself in Cédric’s songs, trying to feel like Lady Madeline while singing… The thing I find really extraordinary is that Cédric and I didn’t know each other before starting working on this project. He went on my MySpace page and liked my voice so he sent me an email asking if I would have been interested in working with him. I listened to what he sent me and I liked it a lot, I tried to put some vocals on the first songs and he liked it also. That’s how we decided to work together. During the recording process, we worked only by email sending each other ideas, first recordings and so on. So I found someone with, I think, the same sensitivity as me toward the work of Edgar Allan Poe and with whom it was really easy to work since we had the same view. I’m really proud that people seem to feel our emotions through the music of Grey November though we didn’t know each other before this project. I’m not sure if I’m really clear… :)

As I’ve said, the album is related to Edgar Allan Poe’s short story. Was it hard to work and to write the lyrics for the album?

It is true that it was not a little thing to try to write an album based on an Edgar Allan Poe novel. The novel itself is so well written in the typical flamboyant style of Poe. However the lyrics are in French and Cédric wrote them after composing the music, it enabled him to have a certain distance with the original text. Cédric was interested in a thematic and chronological approach of the text so he developed songs in a chronological way speaking first of the House, then of Roderick and after that of Madeline. He wrote on the mourning after Madeline’s death and finally on the “Fall of the House of Usher”.

Interview by Erwin Van Dijk

An Interview with Nera from Darzamat. Nera (real name Agnieszka Górecka) is the singer of Darzamat, a Polish symphonic death metal band. Darzamat will release their latest album, “Solfernus’ Path” at the 28th of August. 2009.

Did you always want to become a singer?

Yes and no, I mean I’ve been singing here and there since I can remember and I knew that music would be a part of my life this or the other way. But it wasn’t my big plan to sing in a band. I’ve always treated it as a great hobby, an escape from everyday life, a perfect way to express myself. However I am very happy I ended up doing what I do.

And to what kind of music do you listen yourself?

Well, I try not to limit myself to one and only genre. I think it is the only way to evolve and free your mind, which doesn’t mean I can force myself to listening to techno. ;) I always pick music depending on my mood, so the range of it is quite wide: different kinds of rock and metal, ambient, smooth jazz and some classical music.

And who are your favourite bands and musicians?

At the top of my list there are Peccatum, Emperor, Ulver, Opeth, Pink Floyd, Leszek Mozdzer, Satyricon and some soundtracks like from Twin Peaks, Requiem for a dream, Dracula or Bastard.

Did you have any other bands before Darzamat and/or are you active in any other bands now besides Darzamat?

Yes, I started in a doom/gothic metal band I co-founded, but that was years ago. Now I am dedicated to Darzamat, although I have to admit I’ve been preparing my own project called NeraNature, which is very feminine and private piece of music.

What does the name Darzamat mean?

The name comes from Latvian mythology and it denotes garden goddess (“darzs” - “garden”, “mate” - “mother”), which I really like as it seems to me very “organic”, close to the nature and paganism.

And how would you describe your music?

The fact is that Darzamat’s music differs a bit from album to album, but it always keeps the sound and melody characteristic of the band. I don’t like talking about music, as it should be listened to. ;) If you would like to know what we do today, check out songs from the last albums at: www.myspace.com/darzamat

Since you cannot erase more than 40 years of communism within a few decades, what are the differences between Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe and the spoiled West Europe when it comes to metal as music and life style?

Actually, when it comes to music, the differences are pretty blurred now. Luckily we’ve got the borders opened and as you know thoughts fly fast ;) The worst situation is when it comes to economy. The good quality instruments cost a fortune in terms of Polish earnings, so lots of talented people are stopped at the very beginning of their possible career. The other problem is the lack of the social approval towards metal music. We live in a Christian country and as a consequence we’ve been treated as renegats and satanists. But at least we’ve got something to fight for (laugh).

Is there any reason why you used English versions of your names on the Darzamat MySpace?

Those are our nicknames, not real names. ;)

Markus is the session bass player - will he go with you on tour or are you looking for some one else?

Marcus’s been playing with us only for a few months and he’s doing really well. We just need to get to know better one another and then the decision to have him as a permanent member will be made.

You are about to release your fifth album, “Solfernus’ Path”. This album will be released by Massacre Records and it will be your first concept album. Massacre Records is not the smallest label and they are the home of bands like Atargatis, Legion of the Damned, Crematory and King Diamond. Why did you choose for Massacre Records?

As far back as in the late 90’s the band was close to signing a deal with them; unfortunately it didn’t come through. So, after all these years we are all the more thrilled to see that the “Solfernus’ Path” ultimately led us back to Massacre Records door (laughs) and that finally we will have a chance to work together. As far as our expectations are concerned, we’d really appreciate much better promotion of our band than we experienced before. The previous companies we worked with had much, much smaller possibilities. That is why I’m positive that thanks to Massacre Records we will take a leap forward. I firmly believe that the experience which the MR staff has gained over the years will result in the chance for many more to even get a hold of Darzamat’s albums. We put a lot of hope in the promotion and distribution prospects of the “Solfernus Path” album and also we are really looking forward with great curiosity to seeing the fruit of our cooperation with Massacre Records over our future albums.

Concept albums are not the easiest pieces to write. Did you plan to write a concept album from the start or did the album evolve into one while writing the songs?

We had the idea of the concept long time before the music was composed. It just needed some time to be born, some research to be done, some ideas to be put together. This time it was Flauros to take care of the whole story. I found it impossible to take part in it, as it had to be a coherent story invented by one mind.

Speaking of song writing, is this teamwork in Darzamat or is there one mastermind who writes the lyrics and music?

It is a kind of a collective work. The instrumentalist compose pieces of music, then the vocalists write lyrics. I also invent all the melodies I sing. Then me and Flauros make vocal arrangements and in the end we all take care of the songs’ arrangement.

What is the story behind “Solfernus’ Path”?

The story told on the album takes place in a mystic scenery as provided by Countess Josephine von Küchmeister’s manor, the inspiration for which we derived from two truly fantastic places in Silesia, namely the Willa Caro in Gliwice and the palace in Plawniowice. The tale itself is set in the beginning of the 20th century. Our main hero is a young medical student who undergoes a spiritual transformation - he experiences the existence of the incorporeal world and perceives the other side. The whole story is permeated by a fairytale-like atmosphere, full of occult key concepts. Nothing is obvious, nothing is predictable. Naturally, the eponymous Solfernus is not the main hero, he’s just a gray eminence. This character is respectfully lifted from a work entitled “Playing with the Devil”, written by Czech dramatist Jan Drda. Still, this is just inspiration, an impulse which does not mean we take Drda’s story as-is. In fact, his play is grotesque and rather humorous. Our story, on the other - left! - hand (laughs) has a totally different character, closer to horror stories of a Polish classic Stefan Grabinski than to the work of the Czech playwright.

Andy LaRocque from King Diamond (and he appeared on the Death album “Individual Thought Patterns”) also has done a part for “Solfenus’ Path”. How was it to work with him again? Also Andy LaRocque was the producer of the Darzamat album “Transkarpatia” (2005)….

Yes, we did meet during the sessions for our previous album. We’ve been in touch ever since, and when another occasion for cooperation arose, we didn’t hesitate for a second. Him playing a solo on a Darzamat album was a dream come true; it was really supernatural that he agreed to participate in the sessions. This is the most important album in the history of the band, and it took us a lot of work. We poured loads of energy and emotions into it, and the presence of LaRocque on this album is the crown jewel in the whole structure.

Another familiar name is Jonas Kjellgren from Scar Symmetry. Did you look for another producer this time or was it clear from the start that Jonas would be on the job again?

We were well acquainted with Jonas’s previous production work: Katatonia, Sonic Syndicate, Centinex or Steel Attack, to name but a few. But it was our friend Marek Dobrowolski, drummer for One Man Army and the Undead Quartet, who recommended Jonas to us, as he had worked with him before and knows his skills and abilities first-hand. The preliminary talks with the Scar Symmetry guitar player made us feel very optimistic. Jonas mixed one song of ours and the effect was staggering. It only reinforced the idea that it had to be him. The cooperation was smooth; Jonas is very patient and listens carefully to any sort of suggestions from the band. In my view, he is presently one of the best young generation producers, in Europe anyway.

The main difference between “Solfernus’ Path” and it’s forerunners it the fact that “Solfernus’ Path” is a concept album. Are there other differences as well when it comes to the music on the album?

I feel a completely new quality was brought in to our music. Additionally, we realized that this album was supposed to create interest in the record label circles. That’s why we took extra care not only to write and record great music, but also to achieve the best possible sound. Plus, we paid a lot of attention to the visual side of the whole endeavor, working on the photos and the cover. All details of music, arrangements and the artwork were taken into consideration. I’m positive that after getting acquainted with the album, the fans are going to say that it was really worth the wait. Getting back to the music itself, this time around we started working on everything much earlier. Before entering the studio we prepared a very good demo. That allowed us to work out all the small details well before the real thing started. I admit we worked like this for the first time and we are really satisfied with such tactics. When you listen to the practically ready piece which sounds as good as it can at the preproduction stage, you can analyze the arrangements one more time and have less of a trouble imagining its final shape. Entering the studio(s), we knew exactly what we wanted and how the songs were supposed to sound. And our guidelines were simple enough: to record the most thought-out album in the history of Darzamat, on which there would be at least a couple of truly fantastic songs. I know we did just that (laughs), but that’s also for the fans to decide.