Tonight, Lachryma Christi wants to share with you an interview with a very special band from USA called Valdrin. For those who don't know, Valdrin formed in 2010 and released an album last year called Beyond the Forest (of which you may find a review in the bottom of the page just after the intereview). And why are these guys special? Because they are so good. It is not easy to find such good Black Metal bands nowadays. Let's now read the very interesting words of Carter Hicks.
What does Valdrin mean?
When we came up
with the name Valdrin, we were simply trying to create a name for the
main character in our story. His full name is Valdrin Ausadjur. Ausadjur
is a made up word that means "mediating force" or "god of balance." We
thought we made up the name Valdrin as well, but it turns out its an
Albanian name that can be used for a male/female and it means a "wave" I
believe.
When was the band formed? Can you tell a bit of the story?
The
band was formed in late 2010, before that we were playing the same
music under the name Dawn of Wolves but we decided to change the name
due to us having a completely different line up than the original Dawn
of Wolves. The name Valdrin was a natural choice as it is the name of
the protagonist in our story.
What are your lyrics about? Where do you get the inspiration for them?
The
lyrics are conceptual and they deal with what we call the "Wolf
Ausadjur Mythos." There is a manifesto on our FB page that introduces
the concept and laws that govern the "Wolf Ausadjur Mythos" and sets up
the listener/reader for the events that follow in the album "Beyond The
Forest." It would take a long time to go into full detail about the
events of the story. But in a very, very short summarization: it begins
with the soul of Valdrin entering the underworld known as "The Orcus"
(Latin:Underworld) after his earthly suicide. The events that follow
involve Valdrin traversing the Orcus landscape and eventually finding a
divine spiritual reason for his arrival in the Orcus realm. Its filled
with many twists, turns and revelations that give the story a great
flow, with a lot of action as well as mystery and suspense. The perfect
way to begin what will eventually become a very lengthy chronology with
many volumes (albums/novels)
(photo can be found on the band's facebook page)
How does the composing process works for you? What comes first, next…?
From
my end, I compose songs by myself and record them. Usually, i'll program
some basic drum parts based on my ideas of how the song should flow.
After the music is recorded, I sit back and listen to it for a few days
and let the music paint a picture in my mind. Words start to appear in
my mind over certain parts and I just let the song tell me the story, if
that makes sense. Concerning "Beyond The Forest," I really just wrote
short stories about a character experiencing many trials and
tribulations in a dark, foreboding underworld. Once I knew the album was
done, I assembled the songs into a certain magical order and a story
was formed. All the songs aligned together and I was able to see
connections that I never knew were there. That was the moment when I
knew that I must write a book to really get the full story out there.
Nowadays
I write music in a similar fashion but due to having Ryan on drums now,
i'm able to write a lot with the band as we rehearse. Our new material
is done in a much more collaborative way and the story has taken us into
much darker realms as people will see in the music/lyrics of the next
album.
Are you happy with the results and reaction of the public to your album Beyond the Forest?
Definitely,
the reviews have been great, Blast Head Records has done good with
getting it distributed well. Im very pleased that the album has reached
out to so many people. It was an album forged in isolation and worked at
for many years by the lineup at the time. So far, the reaction to the
material live has been very positive. We've played a lot around the
Ohio/Kentucky area, we are just building up our connections and getting
ready to do a proper tour. I cant guarantee how soon this will be but
its most definitely in the works.
What are your favourite artists?
Well....to
name some important artists that have influenced me: Bathory, Pink
Floyd, Nobuo Uematsu, Morbid Angel, Possessed, Sarcofago, Sabbat (JAP),
Destruction, Sodom, Windir, Dissection, Xasthur, Peste Noire, The Chasm,
Order From Chaos, Voivod, Inquisition, Jeehun Hwang, Endless Dismal
Moan, Sigh, Immortal, Blut Aus Nord, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Mercyful
Fate, Venom.....many more of course but those are certainly bands that
have influenced me tremendously as an artist and as a person. These
bands continue to inspire me to be unique and to defy the
limitations that this trendy world creates.
(photo can be found on the band's facebook page)
Certainly people are waiting for some other release coming out at some point soon. Is there something on the way?
Yes
indeed, we have begun recording a mini-album entitled "Two Carrion
Talismans" it should be finished somewhere in mid 2015. We will see. We
are constantly writing but unfortunately recording albums does take a
lot of money. We won't let these things stop us though, we are very
driven to record this hateful new sound we have.
Cliché question now. Bands don’t like to answer to this, but it is important and sometimes very interesting to know the opinion of some bands. How do you see the Black Metal scene nowadays?
By
the sheer amount of people into this music, id say it only gets bigger
every year. But as far as the amount of great bands, its simply nothing
compared to what it used to be. Im just speaking from my perspective,
being born in 92'. When I look back at all the innovation and ground
breaking stuff that took place in extreme metal from the years 1981-1994
its just mind blowing. The amount of amazing bands putting out
milestone records each year was just insane. In 1985 you could hear Hell
Awaits, Seven Churches, The Return...., To Mega Therion, Infernal
Overkill, Endless Pain, Power From Hell....all in the same year.
Nowadays we wait 3-4 years for the new Inquisition, Portal, Deathspell
Omega, Blut Aus Nord...ect. Yes there are great albums that come out in
between that and I cant say I know everything because I mostly stick to
80s/early 90s metal. However, I still feel that the bands I just named
are some of the few that continue to innovate. Being innovative is the
key, and maybe things will get better. There is definitely some cool
bestial black/death stuff going on right now like Prosanctus Inferi and
Perdition Temple, and there are more people into black/death metal then
ever i'm sure. So its not all bad, we will see what the future holds!
Anything
else you would like to add to this interview? Any message you would
like to leave to everyone who is reading you, anything you would like to
advertise?
Hails to our supporters worldwide! Hails to our fellow warriors in the Wolven Brotherhood! And thank you for the interview!
(photo can be found on the band's facebook page)
Carter Hicks: Guitar/Synth Guitar/Vocals
James Lewis: Bass
Ryan Maurmeier: Drums
Review: Beyond the Forest (2013)
You can find more music and information of Valdrin here:
https://www.facebook.com/valdrinausadjur
https://valdrin.bandcamp.com/
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