1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
Right now we're working on next releases:

1) A split LP album that should be available in autumn 2020. Around 20 minutes on each band's side. Second band to be announced later.
2) A second part of "I am the Void" mLP should be finalized during summer/autumn 2020.
3) "I / II / III" compilation CD should be released later this year.
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2.Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

The new album continues more experimental approach to our music that started with "Into Nowhere" LP in 2016. As you may hear on the record it has many non-metal influences, rock-ish sound and psychedelic effects.
On the contrary, "I am the Void" trilogy is riffs-based, with heavier sound, heavy metal parts and more classic approach in general.
"I", "II" were quite "lo-fi" and deeply rooted in black metal.
"III" stylistically sounds like something in between of "II" and "Into Nowhere".
It's still the same band and while some variety presented on each release, including the new album, we're pretty sure that most of those who liked our previous records will get into out new album as well.
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3.Most of the band members where at one time a part of 'Rotting Heaven' a band that sounds completely different from the stuff you are doing right now, what was the decision behind breaking up your older group?

It was completely different music indeed - more straightforward and aggressive dissonant black metal, influenced mostly by Swedish and French scene of late 90s - early 00s.
Last tracks for Rotting Heaven were composed around 5 years ago, at that time we felt the need to move into different and more twisted sonic directions, so we've recorded selected tracks for our part of split with French madmen WOLOK and putted RH on ice.
Still have lots of unused parts and few complete tracks that could resurface one day in one form or another.
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4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music and also how would you describe your progress as songwriters over the years?

Most lyrics could be described as an artistic expression of mystical visions / dreams, which we experienced through the prism of altered state of consciousness.
Progress as songwriters? Not sure about it, more or less we're exploring the same topics under different corners.

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5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cage Of Creation'?
Existence is a prison (the "cage") for human soul / consciousness.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Ra Bs:
The main idea of this artwork was to combine the dance of death as a starting point in the concept of the "Into Nowhere II" album with simple forms of petrogliphs which, in turn, could also become sort of a starting point for understanding of the musical form of the album; with all of its shamanic atmosphere and the darkness of the hostile, dense forest. One, already a dried corpse, is still summoningly beating the ritual tambourine, while the other is still craving for narcotic visions. There's no life anymore but the supernatural passion has remained and become the mad dance on the other side of existence.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Our best show was when we played with our Polish mates of Licho and Furia in Moscow. We had great sound on both stage and in audience, performed fine and were really impressed by performances of other bands that evening.
Our live performances differ from studio recordings, we noticeably alterate our tracks specially for better live playing condition.
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8.You also bring other musicians onto the stage that have not played on the albums, can you tell us a little bit more about the live line up before different than the album line up's?
Even one person can record an album in the studio if he's able to play all needed instruments, while on stage you need all instruments to be played together; so we asked our local mates some of whom played with us in other bands, to join our live line-up.
Quite simple. And sactually some of them did participated in our studio recordings.
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9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal and experimental?
We received mostly positive feedback from different corners of the world. We'd like to thank all fans and labels for support, it's appreciated!
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10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
No huge changes, we'll continue our direction while we have enough musical ideas we pleased with.
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11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

First recordings were inspired by both demos of Niding from Sweden, early material of Urfaust, Lönndom, our neighbors by label - duszę wypuścił, and some others.
Later recordings have more variety and external influences are in general less obvious. Probably the most obvious influence on our new album would be some Grudom vibes on "Into Nowhere XI"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ngP9qrtq18

What we're listening during these days:

P: Ivanov Down, Frankie goes to Hollywood, НОМ, Bathory, Aria, etc.
W: LIK, Tervahäät, Lönndom, Grudom, Furia, Circle of Ouroborus, Ehlder, Múspellzheimr, JoDöden, Wędrowcy~Tułacze~Zbiegi, Haus Arafna, Burzum, Armagedda, Til Det Bergens Skyggene and many others

12.Does Shamanism and Occultism play any role in your music?
There is no connection to any specific tradition, we're just inspired by the unknown, the hidden. Cryptic dreams, visions, strange thoughts, atmospheric places, other art - lots of things might have right impact.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for reading!

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1. For those that never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Zmarchrob is a one-man project that was created last May. It is a minimalist form of making music, which is created in a small home studio. It's Black Metal as I feel it.

2. In May you had released your first demo, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?
I have been doing this musical style with breaks for almost thirty years, so choosing a style for the project was easy.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?
The lyrics contain themes of witchcraft, the medieval countryside, haunting legends and various dark stories.

4.Originally the musical project was known as 'Signum Diabolicum', what was the cause of the name change?
I founded Signum Diabolicum sometime in 1995. Originally a three-member band, it has grown to five members over time. We have officially released three demos, all of which can be listened to on YouTube. Sometime in late 2004, the band fell silent. Some members still play music, but do a different style. After a long pause, I decided to make my own project and used my nickname as the name, with which I present the entire period of my work.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Zmarchrob'?
When I was a vocalist in the band Sacrifice for Nerthus. I was nicknamed Zmarchrob. This is an inexperienced young devil from the book "Advice of the Experienced Devil" by the writer C.S. Lewis. I was a little over twenty at the time, I was the youngest in the band, but my zeal was devilish. Since then, this nickname has lived with me and I have been happy to use it for my project.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the demo cover?
I have always been fascinated by old woodcuts with a medieval theme. They are very inspiring to me. That's why I created one for the demo cover. I already have other ideas and I would like to use them for my next production.

7.With this project you recorded everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
So far, the independence suits me. I have the opportunity to create when I have the mood and time for it. But that doesn't mean I don't want to work with anyone in the future. I leave this open.

8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
After placing the recording on Bandcamp, I was approached by several PRs. But I was not very interested in their offers. I would rather work with someone who is exclusively dedicated to the underground form of Black Metal music. I have not yet received such an offer.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
It is true that mostly fans from abroad react and there were not so many domestic ones.

10.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
This demo is a bit like the creation of Signum Diabolicum and in the future I want to blend my music even more with blasphemy and darkness. You will be one of the first to own the next record.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I think I was influenced by the early Bathory, Hellhammer, Venom, Darktrone and others. Even today I like to return to these veterans. Recently I like recordings from Archgoat and for example Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult.

12.Does Satanism or Occultism play any role in your music?
Probably yes, but not radically. In my texts, I focus more on the lives of ordinary people who experience extraordinary stories. They also experience them with devils and witches.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughs? 
Maybe just "Black Metal Forever!"
Thanks. Hi

  Sweden's  Ov  Shadows  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  the  atmospheric  style  of  their  previous  release  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  album  "I  Djavulens  Avbild"  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  Hypnotic  Dirge  Records.

  Blast  beats  and  heavy  riffing  start  off  the  album  while  the  tremolo  picking  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling.  Vocals  are  mostly  high pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.  A  good  portion  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  music  also  having  its  atmospheric  moments  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard.

  On  this  recording  Ov  Shadows  remains  true  to  the  modern,  aggressive  ant  atmospheric  style  of  black  metal  that  they  had  established  on  their  previous  release.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Swedish  and  cover  darkness,  death  and  metaphysical  themes  along  with  some  influences  from  the  writings  of  C.G  Jung.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Ov  Shadows  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  atmospheric  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Den  Eld  Som  Tar  och  Forvrider"  "Anakoretens  Gap"  and  "Av  Kunskap  Kront  Till  Gud".  8out  of  10.

Bandcamp    

  Finland's  duo  Havakruunu  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  the  pagan  black  metal  style  of  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  album  "Uinos  Syomein  Sota"  which  will  be  released  in  August  by  Naturmacht  Productions.

  Clean  pagan  vocals  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling  and  grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal screams  are  also  a  very  huge  parts of  the  recording.

  The  songs  also  add  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them   along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  one  track  also  introducing  battle  sounds.

 Acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  on  a  good  amount  of  tracks  along  with  some  of  the  songs  also  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  riffing  also  starts  mixing  in  elements  of  traditional  metal,  synths  can  also  be  heard  briefly  on  the  closing  track.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  Paganism,  Inner  Turmoil,  Woe  and  Worry  Of  Life.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Havukruunu  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  pagan  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Uinuos  syomen  sota"  "Pohjolan  tytar"  and  "Tahti-yo  ja  hevoiset".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeLagDKdpLY



  

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the musical project these days?

Melancholic Waters Ablaze With the Fires of Loss, the first full-length from Nodus Tollens, came out on July 7, so that’s where most of my focus has been. Since I finished mixing the album, I’ve only done one thing musically with Nodus - I contributed a pair of AFI covers to a digital compilation called Enough. that Trepanation Recordings released on Juneteenth. They’ve pledged to donate 100% of sales to Black Lives Matter, so I definitely wanted to be involved. My friend Val, who used to be the vocalist for Ævangelist, contributed lead vocals for one of the covers.

Honestly, it’s been strange and more than a little uncomfortable trying to promote an album when there are significantly more important things happening here in the US. I’d much rather use whatever platform I have via Nodus to show support for Black Lives Matter or urge people to take COVID-19 seriously than spam followers with music. Melancholic Waters will still be there when the pandemic subsides, and when the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor have finally been arrested, and this country starts to take serious steps to address systemic racism. 

2. So far this year you have released both a split and full length, musically how do they differ from each other?

I think the split is a bit more aggressive than Melancholic Waters in the sense that there are no acoustic passages in either song. Aside from that, I think there are more similarities than differences between the two, at least stylistically – long songs with non-traditional structures, musical elements that aren’t the norm for a depressive black metal album, and a lot of emotion.

The songs on the split were actually written about a year apart. I started working on “Vulpes Pilum Mutat” near the end of 2018, with Marisa Kaye Janke (es-Isenordal) and her viola in mind from the very start. “Morir de Fam” was written in December of 2019, shortly after I’d finished recording Melancholic Waters. So the split has both the oldest and most recent Nodus songs on it.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored on both of the releases?

My lyrics tend to be very personal. The songs on Melancholic Waters mostly deal with fractured or failed relationships. Each song – or pair of songs, in the case of the “Ursa” tracks – deals with a specific relationship. I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but I had originally thought of Melancholic Waters as a sort of emotional exorcism – a way of working through and then ridding myself of a lot of the emotional baggage from these relationships. However, the album ended up being more hopeful than I’d anticipated, so I’m not sure I really think of it as an exorcism anymore.

That said, there are a few broad themes in the lyrics. “Hexenwald || Wölfinninwald” has an anti-fascist element to it. The “Ursa” songs deal with suicide. Both “Ad Meliora” and “Morir de Fam” are about the sort of unhealthy attachments that can form between depressed or damaged people. “Vulpes Pilum Mutat” addresses predatory male behavior.

4.The project started in 2018 but you waited until 2020 to release some music, can you tell us a little bit more about the earlier days?

Truthfully, I was drinking heavily during my first attempt at Nodus, so the earlier days are a bit of a haze. I started working on an album in like late September or early October of 2018, and by Christmas I’d finished recording the instrumental tracks for four full songs and about half of “Vulpes.” One night I was working on the mix, it wasn’t going well because I wasn’t even remotely sober, and I got frustrated and deleted everything. I quit drinking a couple of days later, and then set about rerecording everything.

Most of those songs ended up being repurposed for an album with another project that was supposed to be released last August. That didn’t happen, and I ended up having a falling out with the vocalist. At that point Espi Kvlt from Seas of Winter/Apricitas stepped in to handle vocals and we rechristened the project Exsanguinated Shade. The album is finished and we’re currently looking for a label. One of the songs from it, “A Body Built By the Earth,” appears on the Hope in the Face of Fear compilation from Hope vs. Hate Records.

5. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

All the artwork for Melancholic Waters is by Jeri Mize, who also did the art for the split. She’s a dear friend, and I have so much trust in her instincts as an artist that we didn’t really discuss any sort of concept ahead of time. I sent her the in-progress mixes for the album, and a few days later she sent me a Dropbox folder with like 100 images. We talked about them for a bit, and later that day she sent me 60-70 more. There were so many incredible images between the two sets that there was no way I could choose just one, which is why each version of the album has a different layout.

6. With the exception of a couple of guest musicians you recorded everything by yourself. Are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?

I actually never anticipated doing a solo project, mostly because I didn’t want to have to learn to do harsh vocals. When I started working on Nodus back 2018, I was intending to ask different friends to fill in on vocals for a song or two – I even had a few lined up. when I started working on what became Melancholic Waters, I was frustrated and decided to just do it all myself – though as you mention, I did end up asking a couple of friends to do guest spots.

I have several other bands, but Nodus is the only one I do solo. I already mentioned Exsanguinated Shade – Espi and I do a Buddhist-themed ritual ambient project called Guan Yin as well. I also do vocals for Chernozem, a blackened eco-noise duo with the dude behind The Guelph Basin, Andromache, and Fjældmark. There are a couple of additional ones, but they’re still works in progress.

7. You also had a couple of guests on the new album. Can you tell us who they were and also their contributions to the recording?

Crown of Asteria’s Meghan Wood did the guitar solo on the intro to “Hexenwald || Wölfinninwald.” Meghan is one of my favorite musicians, and I value her not just as a collaborator, but also as a friend. As soon as I wrote that intro riff, I knew that she’d be the perfect person to lay a solo over it.

Andrea Morgan of Exulansis played violin on “Ursa Minora.” If you’ve not heard Sequestered Sympathy, the most recent Exluansis record, I highly recommend checking it out – it is beautiful and devastating and so fucking good. She was also in Megaton Leviathan for a few years and was a huge reason why their last album Mage was my favorite record of 2018. I felt like “Ursa Minora” was missing something, so I sent it to her – I think her violin is a major reason why it’s most people’s favorite song on Melancholic Waters. Andrea is also one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve encountered in all of metal, so I was really happy to be able to work with her on a song.

I’ve always been a big fan of strings – those early My Dying Bride records with Martin Powell on violin are some of my favorite music ever. I feel really fortunate to have had Marisa and Andrea, two of my absolute favorite bow-slingers, appear on Nodus songs. I’d love to work with Jessica from Daxma at some point - she’s another absolutely brilliant violinist.

8. So far you have worked with Realm and Ritual, Trepanation Recordings, and Pacific Threnodies on the physical copies, do you feel these labels have been very helpful when it comes to getting your music out there heard?

Very much so. All three labels have been incredibly supportive and fantastic to work with. Since Nodus is an intensely personal project, I’m very protective of it. Perhaps overly so – I had a certain vision for Melancholic Waters, and the only person I solicited input from was Jeri because I wanted to make sure she approved of how I was using her images. It was more or less the same with the split, though I also took Meghan’s input into consideration. Anyway…all three labels believed enough in the music I make as Nodus that they had no problem with leaving me to my own devices with pretty much every aspect of each release. That level of trust between a label and an artist, especially one without any kind of proven track record, is pretty uncommon and I definitely don’t take it for granted.

As far as helping my music get heard, I think Realm and Ritual and Pacific Threnodies both have well-deserved reputations for working with outstanding bands, and I was a fan and frequent customer of both before joining their rosters. Being on Pacific Threnodies with At Dusk kind of blows my mind, because I am a huge fan of pretty much anything Korihor does. Trepanation is a newer label, but they’re releasing some incredible music – Catafalque is the shit, and Agvirre is well worth checking out as well.

9. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of atmospheric and depressive black metal?

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how overwhelmingly positive the reactions have been thus far. I call Nodus Tollens depressive black metal, but I don’t know if that’s truly accurate. On more than one occasion, I’ve half-jokingly described Melancholic Waters a blackened Smashing Pumpkins album – I was expecting anyone who went into the album expecting something like Make a Change… Kill Yourself to be disappointed. They’re certainly an influence - along with bands like Violet Cold, Falls of Rauros, and Woods of Desolation – but I think my love of early 90s alt-rock bands like the Pumpkins, Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, and Dinosaur Jr. are more apparent in my sound than my black metal influences. I definitely don’t follow the standard DSBM template, and I’m thankful that fans of the genre have been open-minded enough to be able to appreciate Nodus on its own terms instead of dismissing it as ‘not DSBM.’

10. Where do you see yourself heading as a musician during the future?

That’s a difficult question to answer. Believe it or not, I started Nodus with the intention of doing something along the lines of the Portuguese Aldebaran Circle bands. Obviously, that’s not how it came out.

I used to teach a lot of poetry writing classes, and I would tell my students to remember that the poem is always smarter than the poet. In other words, the poem knows where it needs to go - the more the poet tries to force it in a certain direction, the more the poem will refuse to cooperate. The best thing the poet can do is get out of the way. I’m finding that for me, the same thing seems to be true with music. So when the time comes to work on the next Nodus release, I’m probably just going to pick up my guitar and see what comes out.

11. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Right now, my favorite black metal albums of 2020 are Feminazgûl’s No Dawn for Men and Violet Cold’s Noir Kid. I’ve been listening to a lot of ritual and dark ambient lately as well. Noctivagant Collective and Black Mara have both been releasing some killer albums this year – I’d recommend Tertium Organum’s Icarus, Umbrarum Tenebrae’s Rights of Darkness and Dismal Visions, and the Emme Ya/Undirheimar split The Path of the Shaman.

I think I already touched on a lot of my influences – the only one I think I haven’t mentioned is Neil Young & Crazy Horse, which I think can be heard on the outro section of “Willowing.”

Truthfully, I could probably spend hours trying to answer this and still only scratch the surface. I won’t subject any of us to that, though. Instead, here’s a list of five albums that I think most directly influenced Melancholic Waters. In no particular order:

* Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
* Woe – Withdrawal
* Woods of Desolation – As the Stars
* Dinosaur Jr. – Bug
* Superchunk – Here’s Where the Strings Come In

12. What are some of your non-musical interests?

Between my career and my musical endeavors, I don’t have a ton of time for outside interests. I do quite a bit of work with the tarot, and I generally unwind by watching anime.

13.  Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Black Lives Matter || Defund the Police || Abolish ICE || Punch Nazis || Deplatform TERFS