Bruder Des Lichts

I spoke with Roel from the Dutch band Soulemission today – if you like your black metal with Dissection and Emperor influences then check these guys out.

* How did your record deal with Black Lion records in Sweden happen?
We sent out quite a few promo packages to metal labels. There were labels, also one bigger one, that showed interest but nothing really materialized. One day I saw someone on Facebook mentioning the band Hyperion. I checked them out, liked what I heard and then I saw they were on Black Lion Records. I just sent them 2 songs and almost immediately got a reaction that they liked our material and wanted to sign us. So that worked out great. It’s cool to have this album finally released.

* How did you get Niklas from the Shining to do vocals on Seas of Emptiness? Did you guys work together in the studio or did you just do everything over the internet? If you did indeed work together how did you find him to be in real life – I know a lot of people get mad at the guy (which he loves)
Niklas is a longtime friend of Benny, they also work together in Shining.

We thought that “Seas of Emptiness” would fit perfect with his type of vocals, and it worked out great! He recorded his vocal parts in Sweden and then send it to us, easy as that.

I understand if people have difficulties with him but he is a good friend of us and a professional in his job.

* Was it a deliberate choice to not have a drummer in the band? How do you plan your songs? Computers? drum machine?
The way this band started out is that Benny and myself had an idea to make some good extreme metal with variety in it. We threw some riffs around and recorded this at Benny’s home studio with a computer drum program. After this we asked Michel to join on vocals. We looked around for drummers but it’s hard in our neighbourhood to find one that fits our style. So we utalized the skills of Menthor (Enthroned), another friend of Benny, and he did an amazing job. Live we will use a session drummer and bassist for now.

* How do you guys write your songs? Does it start with a guitar riff? A lyric? An idea for a mood?
It always starts with riffs, yes. I have a riff library on my computer and I store riffs that could go together in a song. Then I’ll bring that to Benny and we record it decent on his computer. He puts the computer drums under it, then we check if it goes together with some of his riffs and that’s how we write. When the music is finished Michel will come up with the lyrics.

* What made you guys want to play black metal as opposed to say traditional metal or thrash metal?
We already played in Thrash and Death metal bands so now it was time for Blackmetal….just kidding! I don’t really see our music as pure Black metal. I think it also has elements of Death/Thrash and traditional metal. But of course Michel’s voice is pretty Black metal. What we wanted to do is play a style that was not too limited. We wanted to create strong moods, dark melodies and dynamics but still be raw. We especially like the Scandinavian scene from the nineties because a lot of those bands have these elements. So it was just a matter of playing the music we like and not care about being current or trendy.

* Does the name Soulemission mean in English Soul Mission? Do you believe in life after death? in past lives?
We threw around lots of bandnames and Michel came up with Soulemission. It’s Soul and Emission glued together. You can see it as the process of dying, the soul leaving the body which a lot of people believe. But also the outpouring of our souls into our music.

I believe in Live after Death as being an amazing live album by the one and only Maiden haha! None of us believe in religious fairytales, we don’t need that in our lives.

* Michel has been in Cirith Gorgor and Roel was in the classic band Prostitute Disfigurement when you guys formed Soulemission what did you set out to do different from your previous bands?
Well Benny was also in Prostitute Disfigurement. Him and I go way back and we’ve always been a great team. On stage, in the studio and in the bar! We had a great time in Prostitute Disfigurement and experienced a lot of cool things. The only thing I was missing was being able to spread out musically. So now we can use the occasional acoustic guitar, a synth here and there. That’s very important for me. Because I listen to a lot of different stuff.

*Eindhoven has always been a great city for metal – are all of you guys from Eindhoven or have you come from other parts of Holland?
Benny is from Eindhoven, Michel has been living in Eindhoven for a long time now and I grew up and live in a town next to Eindhoven. Of course it has a great metal history because of the Dynamo bar and festival but there aren’t a lot of metal bands from Eindhoven that made it big. Eindhoven is more famous for it’s rock bands.

* Did any of the band attend Eindhoven metal meet in 2016 ? if so what did you think? I used to attend some of the Dynamo metal festivals in the 90s – you dutch guys know how to host a great party!
Benny attends the festival every year, mostly for his job (sound engineer). It’s a great festival and always nice to meet up with a lot of people from the business again.

* Have you guys played many live shows yet? Are you planning to tour? if so what would be the dream cities for Soulemission to play?
We did two try out shows last summer. One with Dutch band Carach Angren which went great. We are hoping to play more. We are signed to Doomstar booking agency so that’s already a step in the right direction. We don’t have a preference for certain cities but of course for certain festivals…because that’s where you can show yourself to a big audience.

* Any final words for your friends and fans?
I know there are a shitload of bands nowadays and it’s hard to be recognized as a new band but if you like some challenging, varied, exciting extreme metal please take a moment to check out our band. Please leave us a reply and spread the word. And we’ll be eternally grateful! www.facebook.com/soulemission

I spoke with the artist Severoth this week read on to hear about life in the Ukraine, conflict with the Russians, his black metal influences and much more

* You are based in the Ukraine correct? How is life there? Please tell our readers what its like
– Hi, Yes, I’m from Ukraine. Well, I don’t lived in other countries to compare, so I’d say all is OK. At least I’m still alive.

* Your province is Dnipropetrovsk Oblast correct? My Ukrainian friends say this is the big industrial part of the country –  Birmingham England (the industrial part of England) has spawned some of the best metal bands in the world ? (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest etc) do you think coming from an Industrial place makes you become more creative as an artist?
Yes, I live in Dnipro.

This is big industrial city indeed, but I don’t think that this inspires me somehow… I don’t very like big amounts of people (and people at all) and prefer to be in solitude or with my family. I feel much better when I go to my special places outside town or in my journeys through Carpathian Mountains.

* One of my favorite bands Drudkh is also from the Ukraine – why do you think so much good Black metal comes from the Ukraine and Eastern Europe these days?
I think this is connected to history of our land. It filled with betrayals and blood. Our language was forbidden more than 30 times (and they’ve done it. Many people here speak Russian…) Countries tried to occupy our lands for generations (and they did it too with soviet union until 1991). In 1920s  Soviets killed mostly all Ukrainian traditional musicians and then many poets who write in Ukrainian language. They did Holodomor in 1932-1933. I think we have much hatred in our hearts. Good reason to play BM, heh?

* Countries like Poland still have a very strong Catholic influence in the society (probably why so many “satanic” bands come from there) is The Ukraine a Catholic strong hold too?
We have strong influence of church on people, but this is orthodox church. Some catholic influence we have too. in Western Ukraine.

* Is there much tension between people from the Ukraine and Russians? Living in America it is not easy to see through the propaganda of the mainstream media to know what is really going on there.
We have war in country. They started this war. I consider Russians as enemies. That’s all.

* What subjects do you sing about?
I’d call it “Nature Philosophy”. Lyrics are just my minds while I walking among forests and mountains. Also Ukrainian classical poetry influenced me heavily.

* Which bands inspired you to become a Black metal musician?
Burzum

* How do you write your songs? Do you start with a keyboard part? A guitar riff? or is it more the idea to create a “mood”?
Definitely a guitar riff. Often I hear some melodies in my head and then I pick them on guitar.  All keyboard layers I do after guitars are done.

* As a one man project do you have any plans to play live in the future? If so would you play with backing tracks or would you prefer a live band?
I don’t think that there would be some live performances of Severoth. My other project MOROK has much more chances to do live shows. I know some good friendly musicians, so gather a live line up would be easy to do. Also I already play live as drummer in Endless Battle.

* Have you traveled to many countries outside the Ukraine? If so what were your favorites?
I was in Latvia once. We play gig with Endless Battle there. To get there we crossed Poland and Lithuania. Good countries. I liked that I saw there.

* Have you ever visited the USA? If so what did you think about it?
No, I’m never been in USA.

* What can we expect from Severoth in 2017?
Third album. I’m working on it right now.

* Any final words to your friends and fans?
Be yourself.

regards!
S.

I spoke to Brisbane Black metal band Graveir’s singer, Gloom on life on the gold coast (Think The Jersey Shore), Black Metal in Indonesia and the wall separating God from Humanity – this was a fun interview to do – so make sure you read it!

* So first and foremost you guys are from the Gold Coast in Australia..What’s it like to live there ?
We are actually from Brisbane, the Gold Coast is a separate city further south. Personally having lived in a number of cities I enjoy Brisbane, despite its humid and unpleasant summer the lifestyle is far more relaxed than other cities and it is close to nature. It has developed its own character in recent years with a number of restaurants, bars and music venues opening.

* Is there much of a metal scene in Brisbane? I would imagine its predominately techno party music there..no?
It’s in reasonable health with a handful of good bands, venues and regular international and local shows. As always the number of people attending shows could be better but this is a problem everywhere.
I don’t really pay much attention to forms of music I am uninterested in so I can’t speak to that in any detail. Brisbane/Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast has always seemed to produce a large number of death metal bands. Portal, Temple Nightside, Disentomb, Laceration Mantra, Impetuous Ritual and Grave Upheaval are some of the current bands that spring to mind.

* How hard is it to keep a group of like minded band members together? I speak to a lot of BM bands that end up being one man projects or duos just as its so hard to find 4-5 guys all on the same wave length?
It is both difficult and incredibly easy at the same time. Creating the right environment and bringing in people in who will thrive in that environment is the key. Graveir had been something I had been working on for a number of years prior to moving to Brisbane but it was always intended to be a band. I was content to let it sit for as long as it needed before entrusting it to others so have been fortunate enough to have chosen well to the point where we all hold ownership of the band and have the same understanding of what is and isn’t right for Graveir.

Everyone owns the band and must take responsibility for its well being by word, thought or deed. The greater quantum of effort goes into creating and maintaining a collaborative and productive working environment. It is natural for everyone to have periods where motivation waxes and wanes, the other members should act as the counterbalance to that.

* Growing up what got you into black metal? I know Death metal has been huge down there for a long time and bands like the Berzerker did well down there (In fact doesn’t Luke Kenny spend half his life in Brisbane these days?)
I’d say it was a natural progression of constantly searching for new music and moving to things that are faster and heavier until you reach a point where you want more than just heaviness and go looking for deeper emotional and philosophical content and a sense of conviction within the music.

Queensland produces quite a few death metal bands and it is a style that continues to be well received. As for The Berzerker I don’t believe they have been active for some time at least not to the best of my knowledge.

* Unlike many Black metal bands these days who record on home studios you guys hired the local professional studio – what made you guys choose this route? Was it easy or tough to get the in house engineer (producer) to go with your sound?
Recording at home is an option however would require far more time and effort on our part, we have enough comfort to demo material and to record dry guitar tracks but a bigger project would be a large learning curve and perhaps not the best way to properly present the material. Choosing to record at Adversary Studios in Sydney was an easy decision for us. Aaron has been a friend of ours for many years so already understands us and were looking for recording wise intrinsically and he shares similar tastes and interests so is very much in his element from a recording standpoint.

* From memory Queensland used to be very conservative back in the 70s and 80s? Do you still get many upright concerned citizens turning their noses up at you (or worse) when you play local shows?
It’s never occurred in the time I’ve lived here. Queensland is conservative but that’s somewhat split between those who are conservative versus those who would just prefer the government had less interference in peoples day to day lives. I think the areas that are largely conservative tend to be further north and fall more into the latter category.

* Do you guys play regular shows in Queensland or do you have to travel to NSW and Victoria to do so?
We have had a pretty steady run of shows along the east coast this year (Melbourne, Wollongong, Sydney, Brisbane). As far as shows are concerned it is our preference not to play more than 2-3 times a year in any one location. Furthermore we choose to do shows based on our interest in the lineup and will not do shows simply for the sake of doing a show. Playing shows is not a money making venture so that leaves personal interest as the only valid reason to do anything.

* Have you toured the whole country yet? Unlike America I am sure there are very few places to play out side of the major cities?
You are correct, outside of the capital cities and the smaller regional cities there are very few places to play and the distance between locations often necessitates long drives or costly airline travel. The east coast run is the cheapest and easiest to do by far. If the right lineup was put together we’d welcome the opportunity to play some of our more remote capitals like Adelaide, Perth and Hobart

* Have you guys made contact with Black metal fans in Asia at all? I know China has a big BM scene although I would imagine places like Indonesia would not take kindly to any form of “blasphemy”
We’ve has very little contact with Asia thus far, but hopefully that will change this year. You may be surprised about Indonesia. It has a number of large metal festivals and is by all reports an excellent place to play with attendances in the thousands. Indonesians tend to favor grindcore and brutal death metal and the president Joko Widodo is a Napalm Death fan. In comparison Australia has no real large scale extreme metal festivals and attendance would be in the hundreds at best.

In fact, Japan and Indonesia are probably the two main Asian destinations as far as playing shows is concerned. As far as blasphemy goes I think most countries couldn’t care less unless you blaspheme against the dominant religion. Any anti-religious themes within our music tend to be more by implication and subtext rather than overt blasphemy so it would be a difficult to mount much of an argument.

* How did you guys get to be on that Terrorizer compilation cd? You get any interesting feedback because of that?
Promo is a surprisingly not as difficult as people may think. Either one of two things happens someone approaches you with an offer or you approach them and you take things from there. In the case of Terrorizer I simply emailed them an enquiry and they got straight back in touch with me with the terms to which we agreed and that was it really. Bands will regularly get approached with various offers or requests.

If you are going to spend money do some research and spend wisely. Any major publication is guaranteed to require payment, Terrorizer is no exception however it was reasonable for what they were offering and there has been an increase in activity on our websites so I would consider it a wise investment.

Nothing by way of feedback as a result but as a wholly independent, self-managed band it never hurts to have another channel to get your music out to people.

* Iconostasis by definition is a wall of icons and religious paintings – why did you guys decided to name your latest album that?
The title was XI’s idea and one which perfectly reflects the band. An Iconostasis is more specifically supposed to be a representation of the link between God and humanity, however common people are forbidden to enter the doorway in the Iconostasis so from another angle it may also be viewed as the wall separating God from humanity reflecting the arrogance of organized religion and the submission of those it considers inferior. At yet another level it can be viewed that religion is the wall separating individuals from the God within themselves which is each persons own ability to project the force of their will, strength and intellect into the universe and by doing so shape the world around them.

A lot of our lyrical content focuses on the exploration of the sacred and the profane often being one and the same dependent on perspective so the title and artwork seemed a perfect distillation of that concept.

* Are any of you guys practicing pagans in real life? if so what faith?
Not really no. Religion holds more of an interest for me as a sociological construct. Religion makes far less sense today than it ever did. For example polytheistic religions such as the Greek and Egyptian pantheons of Gods made far more sense representing facets of nature or of humanity. These gods were used as a form of explanation of the operation of nature and society and these gods having been created by humans were not infallible all powerful beings, they were subject to cruel, petty and irrational behavior and in that regard were no better than the people who worshiped them.

Monotheism if anything is lazy creative writing, where stories, powers and characters can be condensed into a single being with no explanation other than “God is all powerful, just because”. Monotheism starts from the position “there is only one true God, and it is mine” which must inevitably result in conflict where more than one religion exists. Polytheism allows for the worship of any number of gods for any number of purposes without one necessarily being true over another. I’d identify more with trying to act consistently in line with one’s own personal code of ethics and morals over blindly adopting someone else’s. This is a sentiment shared by the other members as well.

* Does the band have any goals to play Europe or any of the Americas?
The goal is always to play on lineups that we would go see if we weren’t playing on them. Whether the opportunities present themselves here at home or overseas is of no consequence. The chance to see more of the world is always welcomed however.

* What can we expect from Graveir in 2017?
There will be a number of smaller releases throughout the year which should keep everyone busy while we work on the follow up to Iconostasis. We have some plans in the works with regards to shows but discussions are still in very early stages.

* Any final words for your fans?
We are humbled by the support. 2017 will not be an idle year for us.

Murdryck have been around for some time now and just seem to be getting better and better I spoke to Skärseld from the band on their “reboot”, the various metal scenes in Sweden, how come some many great metal bands come out of a country the size of Sweden, growing up in Scotland and much more.

* You’ve been at this for some time now – my biggest question to you is what made the switch between your dark ambient sound to a more classic Black metal sound?
Ok, well I think it’s fairer to say the band is a reboot and the Black Metal angle wasn’t something we drifted into. It was never my intention to move Murdryck towards a new sound. The intention was to start a new Black Metal band that had the key ingredients I wanted to hear. After trying to come up with a name for a new band I decided to take the name with me to the new style. Murdryck was never a band that was well known on the scene at the time or at any point afterwards so it seemed a reasonable idea to keep the name.

* Does the name Murdryck mean anything in English?
It’s a made up word. At the time of Murdryck’s original creation I was extremely inspired by the more ambient side of Black Metal and became immersed in the atmospherics people were adding to their albums in the mid 90s. I’d always liked soundtrack music with dark synths and simple textures. I think simple music can be entirely captivating when done in this way.

* You are based in the town of Vänersborg Sweden? is there much or a metal scene there or does everyone just converge on Gothenburg? If so how far is Gothenburg from you?
People always ask about ”the scene”. I don’t think there’s ever been a scene anyway for this kind of music. At best, a large group of associates who know each other or of each other. I’ve always been a satellite my whole life. Never really part of anything just doing my own thing. We do have a rockbar, Backstage, in the town adjacent to Vänersborg and that’s pretty amazing in reality that a town that size can sustain a rock bar. It’s the local hangout for people of all ages and all musical forms from punk to metal and the subgenres contained within. Backstage do a lot for the smaller bands by giving them gigs without asking for anything. They also manage to bring in more known touring bands sometimes which is pretty cool. Paul Di’Anno has played there, Chris Holmes from WASP, Anvil have played there. Gothenburg is about an hour on the train. I rarely go there. I rarely go out to be honest. I just can’t be fucked with a night life. Plus I’m pretty asocial anyway so these things are just a hassle for me rather than things I enjoy.

* Do you think there is much rivalry between the cities of Gothenburg and Stockholm?
I don’t think there’s any rivalries within Metal music at all. Swedes are not culturally bred for confrontation anyway. If you play with a band at a show you usually get to know them and they become friends or at least an acquaintance you can call upon if you need help with anything. I’m not the kind of person who goes around being everyone’s best pal but I’m happy to help anyone if they ask. I do think a lot of other people have an agenda when they befriend another band and suddenly they call them their best mates or brothers in arms and all that crap.

* The Country of Sweden is smaller than New York City – why do you think so many good bands come out of Sweden? is there something in the water there?
I can’t offer anything other than my limited perspective since I wasn’t around in Sweden at the time a lot of black and death bands were kicking off in the early 90s and becoming recognized for being a quality act.

I am from England originally and spent my formative years in Scotland. I had one friend who liked metal back in those days and I was treated like a total outcast for being into metal. Like some kind of zoo animal almost. There were few opportunities for me to play in a band or even see gigs. I’d have to travel to Glasgow which was a long way. I’d watch bands like Carcass and Cradle of Filth play to around 30-50 people back then. For me, being into metal was a completely private affair but it was exciting. I’d order mail order cassettes and CDs from small distros and read fanzines. I’ve been in Sweden 16 years now and my experience here is that people do not follow any rigid social structures like other countries. You can be whatever you want to be an no one gives a shit. On the other hand, Sweden does have a kind of copy-cat culture. As soon as any trend kicks off in the US people here are doing it. Hanging around in clown outfits or whatever, we are doing it.

The people here are quite peer influenced. It’s incredible how many people do the same cultural stuff despite having completely different interests. So to answer your question I think not having any social stigma to being a metal head means the number of people listening to metal per capita is quite high. The copy-cat culture creates a diverse musical platform. There’s another reason too…getting a rehearsal room here is cheap as you can get subsidies for it. It means anyone at any age can play music and not be restricted by lack of income.

* What bands were an inspiration for you to get into Black metal?
The inspiration to get into Black Metal came from the early days. Burzum, Gehenna, stuff like that it. Originally it came from Norway because that’s where the music came from. I think what I share with a lot of Swedes though is a love for Iron Maiden and bands from the 80s. Megadeth, WASP, Slayer. I think musically I am more inspired by these bands (as are a lot of Swedish BM bands) but have added the black influence from the bands from the 90s. We get compared a lot to Dissection. Which is great but at the same time it’s odd cos I’ve never been a big fan. I’ve heard them. They were ahead of their time in their day but I can only name a couple of songs when I hear them. My guess is that Murdryck and Dissection are influenced by the same things. It would be a lie to say a band like Dissection haven’t influenced in some respect. The BM bands Murdryck are inspired by have been inspired by Dissection. So a more indirect influence I guess.

* Your lyrics have a biblical theme to them – do you believe that we live on after death? That we have had past lives?
Metal Archives is great for spreading false information. The lyrics have never been biblically influenced. The lyrics are dark in nature but somewhat semi abstract. They are thematic but they are not biblical.

I don’t believe in life after death. You go out as you were born. There was nothing before you were born and there will be nothing afterwards. I dislike the term Atheist. It tags a lack of belief as a belief system. But we don’t have words for not believing in Fairies or Father Christmas. You don’t say ”I am an a-fairyiest. I don’t believe in Santa I’m a-santaist.”

* You seem to write most lyrics in English – I know many Swedes are extremely fluent in English yet some bands choose to sing in Swedish?
English is much more diverse language than Swedish. You don’t realize it as a native speaker but it’s fantastically rich. There are hundreds of ways to say the same thing. It’s an art form to write English. I think Swedish is a little less expressive in that sense but Swedish can be very cool to write in when the music calls for it. We don’t consciously aim to capture a greater audience but a universal language is easier for people to catch on to.

* After making so many releases now you guys must be seasoned veterans – what in your mind is the best way to record your albums now?

I consider this a new band. The only thing seasoned about me is my age but I have been inactive from music for a long time previous to this incarnation of Murdryck. I played bass guitar for a short period with Lord Belial to help them out with a few gigs when their current bassist couldn’t commit. I guess from there I caught the bug again to get creative. I’ve always had an interest in recording and mixing music so for us the home studio is where all our creations happen. I usually make the songs on the computer in demo form then the arrangements are made from the demo. This comes from jamming mostly. Unfortunately, I am not the kind of person who has music in my head that I can pluck an idea and write it down. I jam until i get something that I think has potential. This can inspire to hear something in my head later or to add a texture but the songs are rarely formed without improvisation. Sometimes a song can develop and the end result have none of the original ideas.

Finally, everything’s redone properly in a studio environment at my house. It makes no sense for a band this size to be spending money at a studio. The results wouldn’t be as good either because I can spend as much time in my studio as I like perfecting everything. If we had a big budget and several weeks to record and mix I wouldn’t mind letting someone else have a go to see if a producer and professional mixer/mastering engineer can make a big difference to our sound. But the recording is a big part of the creativity for me. Bands our size and even larger are spending their own money to finance studio recordings. I’d rather put hat money into something I can keep or use again. At least owning a studio I have a chance to recuperate some costs doing mixing work for others. Not wishing to toot my own horn but not everyone has the capability to record and mix at home to a good standard. It takes years of practice and knowledge to be able to mix well and understand all the software and hardware in the studio. I couldn’t go to a professional studio and mix though. I’d be lost. But in the environment I control I can do a pretty good job.

* Are any of the band practicing pagans..if so what faith?
Fuck no.

* I know you are planning on live shows and tours soon – in an ideal world what would be your two most interesting countries to tour? Japan? South America? Russia? etc
Touring is an unrealistic goal for us. I don’t have the motivation to spend weeks away from work and home. I don’t really like it that much anyway. A few gigs here and there can be fun but usually it’s a pain in the ass. I’d like to be able to go and play in Germany. It’s close enough and far away enough to be interesting and is culturally rich. Japan and South America would be cool I guess but it’s not something I dream about. Being asocial and a bit stuck in my ways I am not the easiest person to be on the road with. I don’t like going out for beers every night and the routine of gigging isn’t really that fun. It’s just a lot of work and little time to do anything. There’s so much wasted time just hanging around waiting for things to happen.

* Have any of the band been to the USA before and if so what did they think?
No.

* What can we expect from Murdryck in 2017?
Well, there’s been no official announcement and this is the first interview I’ve done for a few months but we have had a restructuring in the band. Our bass player moved to guitar and vocals. Our guitarist and left and returned as our bass player. The previous vocalist is no longer with us.

Right now I am working on the recording of our new material. It’s more than likely to be an EP and appear around April 2017. I’d like to do an album though tbh but we have agreed with the record label to try and have at least an EP ready for March/April. With the way it’s going it’s doable but we don’t have enough new material for an album as of today. If we miss the April deadline then I think a new album is more likely around October 2017.

* Any final words to your fans?
Yeah we appreciate all our fans that take an interest in the music but the people who are prepared to put some money into our digital downloads or buy our physical CDs are really our supporters. I personally believe if you spend money on something you have a deeper connection to what you buy into rather than if it’s free. When things are free you’ve nothing to invest in. If you pay for something you’ll get more out of it. It also goes some way to helping the band recoup their costs.

Thanks for the interview! // Skärseld

I recently spoke with legendary Greek Black metal band Kawir – we talked about what it takes to be in a band for over 25 years, the Greek Black metal scene, being a practicing pagan, playing shows in South America and much more.

1.Kawir has been going for over 3 decades now – why do you think you have managed to keep going for so long – especially when the average band lasts about 5 years? What’s the secret?
Well you have to have confidence in your ability and the fire inside you otherwise as you said you will not last.

The secret is that I never saw it as an obligation so when I was feeling that now is the time I started to compose and recording,that’s why in almost 25 years we have released 6 full length albums!

2.You had an early release on legendary label Cacophonous – how did that come to be?
Yeah back in 1993 we were in contact with Mirai(Sigh) and we anted to make a split together so we sent the material to Cacophonous they liked it and release the legendary split!

3. Greece has been known for its Epic metal bands but not so much its black metal – how did you discover black metal and what attracted you to playing it more than say Epic Death metal?
Actually as a part of the scene from the end of 80s(Nocturnal Death,Zemial) I was listening more Classic Heavy Metal and the first albums of Morbid Angel ,ASPHYX etc. but in the start of 90s I was felt more close to the black metal as it was more Philosophical and rebellion against the monotheistic religions.

4. How is the black metal scene in Greece? Are some towns stronger than others for our type of music?
Well Athens were always strong but the last years Thessaloniki started to have a good scene also.

5. Some non English speaking bands make a point to sing in English however you guys have stayed true to your native tongue which i think is great, do you feel it limits foreign audiences at all to enjoying your songs?
No there is no limit ,we are keeping the ancient values ,Ancient Greek language were the official language of the known world for thousand years even in Roman Empire all the books were written in Ancient Greek but also the new testament which is paradox for me as the First Christian Emperors were forbidden the Ancient Greek Language!

6. You guys sing a lot about Hellenic paganism – are any of the band members practicing pagans? if so what faith?
Actually yes I am practicing ,the correct term is Hellenic Polytheism.We are fighting for our recognition and our rights to perform our rituals again in our Ancient Temples.

7. You guys played Brazil this year – was that your first visit there? how did you enjoy it?
It was our first time in the American Soil (Brazil ,Chile and Canada).We liked it a lot ,the crowd was perfect gave us a lot energy and our performance there was total crazy.We gave them a promise that with the next album we will be back.

8. Have you done much touring of the USA? If not are there any places here you would love to play?
We never had the opportunity to tour in USA we would like to come and see the life there and play for the maniacs.

9. I know the band has played Finland before but have you ever played Norway or Sweden? If so how were you received playing there?
Yeah we have a lot of friends in Finland, we had a Finish tour back in 2007 with Skyforger and we played in Steelfest 2 years ago.Great memories I have to say.

It was supposed to play in Norway back in 2007 but it was canceled so we never played till now in Norway and Sweden.

10. Any final words?
A big thanks for all the support form our fans all these years I have to say the best are coming.Hails!!!