Interview with Carach Angren (NL)

Carach Angren, who doesn't know them? Well, they make a very special kind of Black Metal, as they add a lot of horror to everything they do: the music, the lyrics, the shows, their style.
They are starting an European tour with Thy Antichrist, Wolfheart and Nevalra on the 9th of June. Lachryma Christi will be attending one of the shows (you may expect a review after), and  interviewed Ardek about this and other stuff, and it is all quite interesting. Read below!



Hello!
So Carach Angren are a different kind of Black Metal. With all the horror and ghost stuff, how would you name the style of music you play?

We call it “Horror Metal” nowadays because our music has a lot of different elements, not just black metal - although that has been the main influence from the beginning. Another important part of the music is the storytelling aspect. From the very first release we have been about telling ghost and  orror stories throughout our music. We always want our music and shows to feel like watching a  wisted horror movie.

All your albums seem to be conceptual albums. Is it for any reason in special, or it just happened to be that way?

I remember when we first started that I had this intuitive feeling to make an EP about one story. It felt like an interesting idea, also musically to compose everything like it was a soundtrack. At that time it was just a hunch and it felt and worked really well but we had no idea that this would become our trademark so to speak. We just did what really worked for us. It’s important that you make your work in a way that you enjoy it yourself I think. I always say if we can’t headbang to it and if it doesn’t capture our imagination, we can’t expect our fans to absorb and go crazy on it.

After some research, it is possible to see that Carach Angren means something like Iron Jaws, in the Elvish language Sinderin, and refers to a fortified pass to Mordor, accordingly to J.R.R.Tolkien (in Lord of The Rings). Is that why you chose this name?

Yes that’s the origin of the name. Well to be honest it went a bit different haha.
When we formed the band we were looking for a name and Seregor literary had written “Carach Angren” down on a piece of paper many years ago before he formed his first band. So one day he  icked it up from one of his drawers and presented it to us. We immediately felt it sounded great and mysterious, so this was also an intuitive decision. We never intended to refer to the realms of LOTR,  ut it’s a cool coincidence that it actually means “Iron Jaws” and is a Ghost portal in that world. 

Are you in general big fans of horror and fantastic and ghost stories?

Yes definitely. Especially Seregor is a real movie fan, he digs through a lot of movies all the time, looking for things that inspire. I read a lot of books and basically we have always been drawn to the darker side of things since we were children. We liked monster movies, horror, and so on. I think it either pulls you in or not. There is room for a lot of creativity, invention in the horror and thriller genres I think.

Where do you get the ideas for the concepts of the albums?

It can be anything from something we see in a movie or read in a book or just brainstorming on certain themes. Lammendam for example was a local urban legend that was barely known by anyone so it felt exciting to turn that into our first album. The second album was a very known story but for some reason that also pulled us in. Personally speaking it just has to be something that feels right and I never know upfront what we’re going to do next. It just happens and we follow that.

Dance and Laugh Among the Rotten is a very special album. The amount of goosebumps one can get while listening to Charlie is extraordinary. When can we expect a new album coming out?

Thank you, this was our goal, to make it feel like an actual demonic infestation. I think the primal background vocals and structure of the song contribute to this feeling.
We are working very hard on it and a lot of music is done, but we don’t want to rush things, we are aiming to release the new album next year.

Lachryma Christi will be seeing Carach Angren for the very first time in June in Lisbon (PT). How is it to see Carach Angren live? You have this new tour starting on the 9th of June. What can people expect from this tour?

Yes, we are looking very much forward to returning to Portugal! We have a very good fanbase there. Last time (during our tour with Rotting Christ) we met many of you!
Carach Angren live is like a whole new extension of what you hear on the albums. You can’t compare it.
We always have been working hard to give you something extra during shows, not just play the songs but embody them. We use a lot of theatrics and have developed our unique way of performing. We always get feedback that people are enormously surprised by the way we perform. Especially Seregor literary acts out the songs, so come out and stand in front if you dare;)

You have been around for quite some time, how do you see your journey when you look back? Do you feel fulfilled yet? There will always be evolution, but is this what you had in mind so far?

I always have envisioned and hoped for all the things we have achieved so far so that is really  fantastic.
It’s amazing to see your albums coming out, people coming to the shows, play huge festivals, go to different continents and meet fans everywhere. It’s really been a rollercoaster. That being said, the  ore of the band and what we want to achieve next is something we try to keep focussing on. With  very goal that has become reality you need to set new goals, both musically and in other areas. In my opinion you can’t for example make the same album twice, plus you develop as people and artists. As our fans know, we try to experiment with our music because it gives us new fire. We don’t want to just keep doing the same thing, that would be the easy way. We like to take risks, try out different things and keep moving.
We are confident that somehow it will always be Carach Angren, now matter what topic we tackle or what kind of experiments we undertake.

You played at Inferno Metal Festival in Norway this year. How was it? From the videos the imagery looks great. Spooky and powerful. The whole thing looks very theatrical. It is noticeable that the visuals are important for you. It is like this in every show? How do you plan that side of the shows?

Thank you. Yes it was a great succes. Actually, it is a lot of work to bring a production like that and it is not always possible unfortunately. We do everything we possibly can to make a show successful, big and loaded with theatrics. We have robotics, risers going up and down. You can imagine this takes a lot of practice, preparation and efforts to integrate everything smoothly. Then there is the whole business side of things, logistics, you can’t imagine haha.
We try to adjust our show to the possibilities available. In a smaller more intimate club show we approach things differently compared to a festival like Inferno.
The Portugese fans can expect a sick and twisted epic performance.

Lachryma Christi wants to thank you for your time, and wants to wish you a great time during the Pitch Black Summer 2019 Tour. Is there anything else I didn't ask, that you would like to tell your followers?

Be sure to get your tickets in time and come out to our shows, we can’t wait to flood Portugal with a night of Horror and powerful fierce metal! See you there!

(all photos used with permission of Season of Mist, except the flyer for the tour, taken off the band's Facebook page)

Carach Angren are:
Seregor - vocals & guitars
Ardek - orchestration & keyboards
Namtar - drums

Read more about Carach Angren here:
https://www.facebook.com/carachangren/

Interview with Svart Lotus (NOR)

Today Lachryma Christi brings you an interview with Tor R. Stavenes, the founder of Svart Lotus. You possibly know him from other bands such as 1349. Very talented musician, started Svart Lotus as a solo project, which later became a band. 

They have released since 2016 an EP (Svart Lotus) and an album (Stemmer Fra Dypet), so Lachryma Christi was too curious to know what's coming up next!

So, let's see what Tor R. Stavenes has to say in this interview.

Note: All photos taken off the band's Facebook page.

Is it true that Svart Lotus started as a solo project? If so, how did it go from solo project to a band?

The band started out with me and an acoustic guitar. I still have some hours worth of recordings from those sessions. But I met a great drummer by chance and started jamming. As the jam sessions progressed I realized that I want to play this material live, and that i am the kind of person that needs to be in a rehearsal room making music with my friends. I also found another guitarist whose skill and technicality was superior to mine, and this lineup recorded the Svart Lotus EP in 2015We did some very local small shows and borrowed the bassist from the drummers band, another proficient musician with vocal skills, and with him the band is complete.

What does Svart Lotus mean, as in the name for the band?

Svart Lotus literally means Black Lotus in norwegian. It is a fictional flower in the works of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, used by magicians to grant them visions of ultimate realities. A lotus is also something beautiful rising from the muck so metaphorically I felt the name was right on all levels.

Svart Lotus is not a very very traditional Black Metal band. There are other influences as well, even some Doom, I would say. Where is it that you get the inspiration for your music?

Svart Lotus was meant to be an expression of all of me, and eventually all of us (in the band), so any impulses were welcomed. Some may know me from other bands where I explore the more puristic forms of black metal so doing that in this band was never an issue. It was much more about expressing the other things that are inside me. I listen to a lot of different things and these influences were all allowed to come out in Svart Lotus.

What about the lyrics? What are they about?

The lyrics are telling stories, mostly. Weird lovecraftian tales. But I did not write conceptual albums lyrically so there are room for expressing other things as well. I decided to go personal when i was not being fictional. The lyrics for the songs are available on our website:(https://svartlotusband.wixsite.com/svartlotus)

Although the project/band exists since around 2012, only in 2016 you recorded your first release, the EP, also named Svart Lotus. Why did it take so long to release something?

Ah, well, the name Svart Lotus came to me in 2015, before that the title and indeed the direction of the material was not set in stone. The Svart Lotus EP is basically side A : songs made right before recording and side B : the best of the old material.

Since the album was self-released, self-recorded, self-financed etc I had the time to be very critical and very deliberate and indeed take the time to make it as good as possible.

The album Stemmer Fra Dypet is quite diferent, and varied, and even exotic, if we can put it that way. And looks like the first track, also called Stemmer Fra Dypet, holds something even more exotic. It has different languages at the very ending. How did that idea come up?

Thank you for those kind words. I wanted it to be varied, yet coherent, the exotic is a byproduct of being influenced by a lot of things.

The title refers to A: the voices from the deep as in a reference to the telepatic commands of Cthulhu who waits dead but dreaming in the city of R'lyeh under the sea.

But also B: a metaphor for the voices in my head. I self-sabotage a lot. I have doubts, fears, anxiety and other bullshit that tells me I am useless and should never do music, etc etc. So Svart Lotus was in some ways a way of showing myself and those voices that I can write music, I can play guitar, I can be a frontman etc etc. However, back on topic: As we were recording that song I had this idea for the last part that I wanted a lot of voices, and I had recently played in Japan and met Mirai from SIGH, and I just sent him a message and asked if he would be willing to contribute some vocals... in Japanese.... He accepted, and did awesome work. The snowball started rolling and I contacted a lot of people I know who speak different languages, thinking that wouldn't it be cool if someone from a totally different country would listen to the song and hear a voice in their own language popping out. Maybe the voices are in your head too ?

Stemmer Fra Dypet came out only last year, 2018. However, it would be nice to here more music of you! Is there any plan for a new release in the near future?

Thank you, we are currently working on a song for a split release with MORK, but the plan is to record a new album again this autumn.

Since you are from Norway, where the Black Metal scene is very popular, how do you see it? 

I dont know how to answer that really, because it might be that the Norwegian black metal «scene» is popular outside of Norway, but here it is ... pretty underground still. There are bands that have made it big enough outside of Norway that the mainstream grudgingly have to approve them but people coming to Norway expecting metal to be mainstream will be disappointed.

Do you consider your journey has been an easy one, looking back since the very beginning?

Comparatively speaking, I'd say that yes it has been quite easy in terms of me having the means to record at home. I have been lucky that I met wonderful, talented musicians here in the middle of nowhere, nNrway.

I had to put in the hours of work to learn to play the guitar properly, writing the songs etc etc. And I did not get signed and turned into a rockstar overnight either hehehe.

There was always those voices from the deep... But I can't complain.

I still believe that quality will shine through and making music is its own reward. I would love to tour and go around the world with Svart Lotus and I think that if I keep at it and work I will eventually get there.

Some members of Svart Lotus have side bands/projects. How is it to reconcile them all?

Careful planning, prioritizing and communication.

What was your most remarkable show so far?

We have been lucky to play shows with good friends who are good bands, and as a band we grow with each show and get better and more confident. So the most recent show is the most remarkable so far.

You have some shows coming up soon. How excited are you? Is it going to be a busy Summer? 

We are getting ready for a club show and a festival show, happy to be out there with our friends, making new friends and  hoping new shows will bring us more shows. Playing live is great, the whole band loves playing live and would like to play as much as humanly possible. I have some other bands playing shows this summer so for me personally it will be quite busy, Svart Lotus could have been busier but all in good time.

What would you say to someone who is starting a band right now?

Grab your friends, grab some instruments and go for it. Don't give up, it is quite normal that things sound ... eh... interesting ... for a while until you find direction and your own thing. But play, put your heart and your soul into what you do, be in the rehearsal room and jam it out. Quality will shine through.

Lachryma Christi wishes you all the best, and hopes to hear more of your music soon. Is there anything else you would like your followers and also Lachryma Christi to know about Svart Lotus?

I believe in credit where it is due. The works of the artist Danny Larsen (https://www.dannylarsen.no/) has been a massive inspiration for Svart Lotus and we are eternally grateful to him for his art and his friendship.

The mixing/mastering (as well as guitar) wizardry of Jarrett Pritchard has been integral to Svart Lotus sounding the way it does. All the people supporting us, in so many ways, you know who you are, we are indebted to you.

Svart Lotus are:

Eivin Brye - Drums

Øyvind Kaslegard - Bass, backing vocals

Sugve Jordheim - Guitar

Tor R. Stavenes - Guitar, Vocals

Read more about Svart Lotus here:

https://www.facebook.com/Svart-Lotus-945359292188121/

Interview with Enthroned (BE)

Lachryma Christi had the chance to interview Enthroned before, and missed it, sadly. But hey, here it is now, an interview with Neraath.

Enthroned have been around for so long, they have such a long and full career, and on the 7th of June they are releasing their new album, called Cold Black Suns. One of those albums many people are waiting for. 

Even after all the lineup changes, and through all the changes that time brings to people in general, they still manage to bring us some of the best Black Metal ever.

So while you wait for Cold Black Suns to come out, please enjoy this interview, it is very very interesting.

Greetings! Enthroned is a band Lachryma Christi wanted to interview for a while now. You have been around for so long. There have been a lot of line up changes along the years. Do you consider that you still follow the same or a similar line, compared to the beginning?

Greetings too. Indeed, we’re in the scene for a while. For my part, it’s been about 18 years, and plenty of musicians were part of the adventure. There is definitely a line we follow and stick to, despite alterations and variety in that genre of music, most protagonists are driven by the same kind of inspiration. Enthroned keeps that flame alive, and our sound evolves with experiences, taste, personal will but also skills as musicians. You will obviously hear a significant difference if you play our first records, compared to the latest ones, but if you’d pay attention to details and tones, we always kept what built the band’s identity throughout the years.

Where did the name Enthroned come from? What is the main idea behind it?

We have to dig back to 1993, when former member and drummer Cernunnos came up with the name. It was a metaphoric way to depict Satan’s sovereignty.  

Looking back in time, even with all the changes etc, are you happy with the journey of Enthroned along the years?

There were many good and strange moments, some obscure ones too, opportunities to play our music in very far countries with great feedback from fans, but also choices that could have been different. A lifetime is about learning from experiences and setting challenges to overcome. So far, we’re still up to dedicate ourselves into this tenebrous vibe and get along doing what we like to do, working on albums, concepts and hitting the stage.

What about the Black Metal scene in general? Sometimes it feels like 1993 was yesterday. Do you have that same perspective? Do you consider the scene and community has changed or developed a lot?

The 90’s era were somehow the time of my youth, and I don’t have the feeling it was yesterday. Nevertheless, these years gathered plenty of my artistic influences, from alternative rock to extreme metal or more experimental music, and when it comes to the black metal scene, it feels I was from that 90’s generation. It wasn’t much about the music itself, skillwise, but definitely about that mystic aura, where it wasn’t that easy to access to this genre of music if you didn’t live in a big city, or when shows and festival were more rare with a few bunch of bands that had the opportunity to tour. There were not many labels and distribution, and it felt more like a smaller clan than it is today. You had 4 to 5 quality Cds per year, and that was it. To my opinion, it had something special… Nowadays, besides a few exception, I’m not really up to date with the genre, and sometimes I find that the insane number of bands that popped-up sounds more like copies from the original. I don’t deny the fact that plenty of these people are also driven by that obscurity, violence or misery, but I barely pay attention to what is released anymore. Sticking to some classics, I think its kind of typical from a generation to another. I doubt that the community has deeply changed, it’s all about the same codes, the movement just became bigger and more lucrative. More people, higher demand of shows and distribution, internet platforms and blogs everywhere, but it all remains the same. 

Regarding your upcoming album. You have an amazing and long discography. Now there is Cold Black Suns coming up, more precisely, on the 7th of June. What can we expect of it?

On this new album « Cold Black Suns » there was a will to develop atmospheres further than we previously did, and add that murky layer in the whole ambience. First of all, the tuning changed, the drumming and rhythmic approach has been thought further, then, during the arrangements, a work on drones, keyboard pads and few cleaner guitar has been filling the mix. These shady details merge together to increase the album’s identity in its whole concept. You can still expect an aggressive album in the tradition of extreme metal, but the stylistic approach of composing has been elaborated differently.

After five years without releasing an album, how does it feel to have one of the most anticipated albums of 2019 on the way? Why did it take five years in between albums?

We’re glad to have it done, and it was written differently that we used to do all along our career… But it took longer than we thought, when previous album ‘Sovereigns’ was released. For a few reasons… After the promotional work, touring and gigs, I spent some time with former bass player Phorgath to work on our other musical project. That album with ‘Emptiness’ was a long writing process, and our creativity was deeply focused there for a while. Then, Enthroned faced a line-up change, two members left the band, including Phorgath, who used to be quite involved in the songwriting and arrangements… When it felt a bit like slipping away, Menthor (drums), who was also busy with side-projects (Lvcifyre, Nightbringer), took the great initiative to gather everyone on the same track, the band recruited two musicians, got a deal with a new record company, working on demos for new material, few studio sessions at different timings, mix and mastering, and here we are in 2019.

You have some shows coming up, especially festivals. How excited are you about these upcoming shows with Cold Black Suns coming up? 

Always a pleasure to perform live, especially with a new set list. It is a great motive and we’re impatient to deliver it. I would love to have the chance to play shows in countries we’re never been, such as Australia or Jjapan.

Silent Redemption and Hosanna Satana are such great powerful tracks, can't wait to listen to the whole album! Lachryma Christi wishes you the best. Is there any last message you would like to leave to us and everyone reading?

Thanks, I’m glad you appreciate these. We released a clip for the track Hosanna Satana, I invite any curious readers or any amateur of aggressive black metal to look it up.

Enthroned are:
Nornagest: Vocals
Neraath: Guitars, noise and effects
Shāgāl: Guitars
Norgaath: Bass
Menthor: Drums

Read more about Enthroned here:
https://www.facebook.com/Frater.Silurian/