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Ilemauzar Interview
We are from Singapore and we play black metal with a little element of death metal. We are formed in 1996 with members of now defunct bands.
2.Recently the band released their first full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the demos you have released in the past?
The sound on the album… that's a tough one. Basically, we are very inspired by bands like Behemoth, Dark Funeral, Belphegor and even bands like Naglfar. We have many mixed reviews for this album and some said we sound a little thrash. As for the old demo, Pit of Despair, that was probably more influenced by the Greek style black metal in the vein of old Rotting Christ and Varathron. So you can see probably feel how the styles differ between the 90s till now.
3.From 1998 to 2014 there was no new material being released, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time span?
We did recorded a full length album in 1999 which was scheduled for released with the now defunct label, Dark Artz Releases. But the closure of the recording suite we were using caused us to loss all data done for the whole full length. No release and the band eventually split up in 2000 after 2 live shows supporting Chthonic (TW) and Sigh (JP). And that was during my (Bloodcurse) mandatory military service period. Right after I was done with the army, I decided to put the band back together but it wasn't easy to get good musicians to commit. And we drifted for years till 2013. That's the time we got a solid lineup to get things moving.
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Lyrical topics mainly involved with a little Goetic magic and anti-religion messages.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Ilemauzar'?
Ilemauzar is the name of a familiar of one of the witches during Matthew Hopkins (Witchfinder General) time. During the 1600s, Matthew Hopkins went around hunting for witches and many innocence died during that period as suspected witches. The cause of all these was because Christians think that they are heretics towards Christianity. It's not really an inspiration as the name was given by one of our ex band member who used to play keyboard for the band before the Pit of Despair demo. And to honor that, we are continuing her legacy with the name. However, we might just write something on the next album regarding this old tale of the Witchfinder General.
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and alsohow would you describe your stage performance?
I guess the best show we ever played was in Surakarta, Indonesia. That was in February 2016. We were invited by our friends from the band Down for Life (Indo Metalcore). It was their annual celebration festival. There were about 15 bands playing. The crowd was totally awesome. About 2000 people. As for our stage performance, I really don't know how to describe ourselves. You might wanna check out some of our Youtube videos.
7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We just did our "The Ascension Asia Tour 2016" between October and December 2016. As for future plans, we definitely will be looking at Northern China, Mongolia, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. But we'll see whatever comes up in the near future.
8.The album was released on Sepsis Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
The boss of Sepsis Records is a good friend of mine. They are a great label to work with and they own a recording suite which has pretty top notch amps and equipment. However, after discussing with the boss, we decided to move on with Transcending Obscurity after the launch of The Ascension to look for more distro opportunities and to reach out to wider audience.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?
It's been pretty mixed. There are always good and bad feedbacks. There is no way a band will be able to please all their audience at 100%
I never really thought about this but let's hope we can achieve an EU and US tour in the future and of course with our music going beyond our creativity.
Dark Funeral, Behemoth, Belphegor & Naglfar.
I mainly listen to bands like the above mentioned plus I'm going backward nowadays and listen to old albums from bands like Emperor, Throne of Ahaz, Mork Gryning, Zyklon and also Lord Belial.
12.How would you describe your views on Satanism and Occultism?
My views are always open towards both Satanism and occult. I do enjoy reading up on topics and books related to all these but I am definitely not a practitioner. Knowledge is gold.
Thanks for the interview and sorry for taking so long to answer them because we were on tour. Keep the flames of metal burning! Horns up! \m/
Buioingola/Il Nuovo Mare/Sentinet Ruin Laboratories/2017 CD Review
Buioingola are a band from Italy that has been featured before in this zine and on this recording plays a mixture of atmospheric black metal, post doom, neocrust and darkwave and this is a review of their 2017 album "Il Nuovo Mare' which will be released in March by Sentinent Ruin Laboratories.
Spoken word parts and clean post rock style guitars start off the album along with some touches of darkwave while you can also h ear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and some of the vocals also add in a touch of industrial while also adding growls into some parts of the songs.
Tremolo picking can be heard in the guitar riffing and they also add in a touch of black metal while high pitched screams and blast beats are also used at times and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and some tracks also add in a small amount of clean vocals and as the album progresses the music gets more experimental while also mixing in influences of crust, doom and sludge while a later track brings in ambient style synths while also being an instrumental.
Buioingola creates a recording that remains true to the black metal, sludge and post metal mixture of previous recordings while also adding in more crust and experimental elements to take their style to another level, the production sounds very dark and heavy while the lyrics are written in Italian and cover dark themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding album from Buioingola and if you are a fan of black, sludge, and post metal, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Latenza" and "Silenzio". 8 out of 10.
Carpatus/Malus Ascendant/Black Lion Productions/2-17 CD Review
Carpatus are a band from Brazil that plays a very raw and melodic form of black metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Malus Ascendant" which was released by Black Lion Productions.
A very fast and raw sound along with a great amount of tremolo picking and blast beats start off the album along with some high pitched black metal screams while also mixing in atmospheric elements in the heavier sections of the songs and the songs bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.
A decent amount of melody can be heard in the guitar riffing and the music also brings in a great amount of 90's second wave influences and when guitar leads are utilized they are also done in a very melodic fashion and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them along with some of the tracks being very long and epic in length and some songs also bring in a small amount of classical guitars and melodic singing and chants.
Carpatus plays a style of black metal that is very raw and melodic in the mid 90's tradition along with some Swedish and Norwegian influences, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover desolation and pain themes.
In my opinion Carpatus are a very great sounding raw and melodic black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Cold Autumn Sunrise" and "From A Deadful Past". 8 out of 10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYovaRoCgnw
Temple Of Nihil Interview
Our music will tell about us much better. In a few words Temple of Nihil is a black metal band from Kaluga (Russia) that was formed in 2015 by two musicians who had a long experience in other bands. At this moment we have released EP «Soul Extremist» and working on a full length album.
2.In December you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
We represent EP «Soul Extremist» as our first declaration. For it we chose the most expressive and not very intricate songs. So the EP sounds heavy, flamingly and aggressive. That's what we wanted in the very beginning as a result of our work.
The lyrics are grim and figurative. It affects the themes of nihilism and obsession by evil. In many ways it is inspired by philosophy and texts of Nietzsche. There are anti-religious and misanthropic statements and images in our texts. Special place in lyrics of EP is dedicated to Lucifer as the image of first rebel and eternal antagonist.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Temple Of Nihil'?
On a one hand it's an ascertaining of nihilism as the basis of our life philosophy, world view and our main inspiration. We define nihilism as perception and understanding of a failure of all kinds of idealism whether it is religious, political or humanitarian; it is understanding of objective inanity of any life and denial of all absolute categories. On the other hand, there is some satire in this name, because for us all religions, cults and every object of worship is fiction. So every temple in the world is a temple of nihil, because «Nihil» it is absence and void.
5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
We are looking for musicians to play live shows. But we will be always the only leaders of the band, and all necessary decisions about the band and its music we will make as a duo.
6.The ep was released through both 'Symbol Of Domination' and 'Narcoleptica Productions', are you happy with the support both labels have given you so far?
Yes, it is very nice. Hope to work with them in future.
7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?
In general we are satisfied with the reaction. We have received good reviews on EP from web-zines and ordinary bm fans from all over the world. It is a good start.
8.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Now we have a stuff for the LP and it is ready for recording on 90%. During this spring we are planning to make a record. So I hope it will be out this year. On LP there will be more space to express ourselves and it will be more deep and dark as in music so in lyrics. Also we have some experimental ideas which will be realized. You can check out it on LP.
We have chosen the musical direction and will go on it as Temple of Nihil. But we will not stay at one place and our music will evolve with us.
9.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?
We listen to different music and it will be fairly to say that anything could inspire us and have influence on our music. But our aim is to create music in our unique sound. There is no reason and sense to copy the sound of other bands. Many young bands sound like one of the famous bands and It is as funny as irritating.
We are interested in different musical genres and black metal is about 30% of what we listen to. Our tastes spread wide out not only extreme metal but even rock music. There are no borders for interesting stuff and we don't have any preconceptions about music genres. But in general it should be something dark, atmospheric and original. In black metal our favorites: Inquisition, Burzum, Behemoth, Peste Noire, Carpathian Forest, Gorgoroth… Besides there are many interesting bands on post soviet area such as: Sect, Stielas Storhett, Beyond the Grave, Pseudogod, Nocturnal Amentia, Balance Interruption, Drudkh etc.
10.How would you describe your views on Occultism?
We don't do any occult practices. As I said before we don't have any object of worship. But Lucifer for us is a very strong cultural and philosophical image that reflects our world view and direction of our creation. For us black metal is Darkness and Evil incarnated in music. The process of performing it or even creating new music is like a ritual in which we contact inner and outer darkness and channeling it in a music form. For us there is no objective darkness or evil. It is all just human perception. But if we live and create in space of human culture we should use images and concepts which will be understandable.
There many. Different kinds of art, politics, history, science, traveling, some extreme sports and other joys of life))
Thanks for the interview! Follow the news about Temple of Nihil and be ready to check out our full length album soon.
ROSK Interview
1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
'We should play music to which people would want to hang themselves' - these words were said when we first decided to start a band. It happened in April 2014, after Amenra and Cult of Luna played their shows in Warsaw, Poland. The same words were repeated many times during long evenings spent in the basements of local Warsaw pubs, where ROSK was being created and shaped. The sole reason for starting this band was a need for creating music that we ourselves would enjoy, music that would stand no compromise and would be completely honest. It is dark. And quite sad.
2. So far you have released one ep and one full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings?
We are not really capable of describing the sound of the records. It had been such a long process with various inspirations crossing our way that the final outcome is just what it is. We started off inspired by post-metal music, but that is not what we would call it nowadays, it was more of an impulse. The aim was always to create a dense atmosphere, to go on a musical journey and to lose ourselves in the ritual.
What can be said about the two records, however, is that they already show a change of the sound. We had been working on the DEMO EP remotely, recording everything separately at homes, and meeting only to talk and discuss the themes and ideas. Three out of four tracks on our full-length album MIASMA are the same tracks that were on the demo, but with the influence of rehearsing and modifying them together with the full band. The music immediately started to evolve, mature and improve. The final track, over 20-minute-long Beneath the Light was almost entirely created while jamming in our rehearsal place.
3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The concept of the album is based on the theme of the Black Death. It follows the journey of a plague doctor, both the physical journey through the empty and dead world and the journey within his own mind. However, the lyrics are also filled with emotional, personal elements. We do not want to explain it in much detail and want to leave some space for private interpretation. It should be a personal journey for the listener as well.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Rosk'?
The name should actually be spelled with capital letters: ROSK, and it has no meaning at all. We consider ROSK a being of its own and didn't want the name to represent anything other than what the band is. It is always a struggle - creating a band and choosing a word or a couple of words that will describe the band and its whole idea. We didn't want this.
5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Our first show was an extraordinary experience, since it was the first opportunity to share our ritual with others. It took place in a club called Chmury (Clouds) in Warsaw and the other bands - Gnoza and Cétieu - helped to create an exceptional atmosphere. We also really enjoyed our gigs as supporting acts for Djevel and for Obscure Sphinx.
When it comes to the stage performance, we really feel it as a ritual. The most important things are probably the unity and the atmosphere. On the one hand in the very beginning we decided to perform with visuals played behind us as a form of a setting for the performance. On the other hand we are definitely not keen on performing statically, if everything feels right we experience the freedom to break our fears and leave our comfort zones. Our vocalists prefer to be offstage, close to the audience (if it's possible). It blurs the division between the performers and the spectators.
6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We are constantly looking for opportunities to play live. We already have a couple of shows in Poland scheduled for this spring, and there are definitely more to come. However, we can't wait to start playing shows abroad as well. Hopefully it will happen this year.
7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We would very much appreciate the possibility of releasing our album on a vinyl or on a cassette. Apart from that we are not very fond of losing any control over our music both in the rights and in the distribution. We are quite happy releasing it on our own.
8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of post black metal?
The feedback has been surprisingly positive! We get messages from people all around the world saying that the music resonates with them. We did not see it coming and it feels great to know that someone, somewhere spent the time to listen to an unknown band from Poland and the music truly affected them in some way.
9. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We don't know and we have no way of planning that, really. We have MIASMA - the album which is a closed, complete concept. When the time comes, we will try to create something better and different in some way. We will use any means to make something that feels right and that we are happy with.
10. 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?
There is six of us, so obviously there is a huge amount of different inspirations. Providing the names of the bands would be almost impossible, since while creating our music we never really focused on what it might resemble or be inspired by. Post- metal or black metal are the more obvious musical styles which influenced the sound on MIASMA, but so did ambient music or nordic folk music. And quite possibly everything that we ever heard in our lives. We never had a style or a genre in mind, we simply knew what we wanted to feel while playing our music.
If we were to mention what all of us are listening to nowadays, you would probably get almost the whole spectrum of music. But some of the common elements at this point would be Amenra, Cult of Luna, which affected us to create this band and definitely polish Furia.
11. What are some of your non musical interests?
As with previous question the answer is pretty obvious - there is six of us. Each one has his own hobbies, interests and stuff he does in his free time and we try to keep it separate from the band. ROSK is strictly about music and art.
We would like to thank you very much for the interest in our music and for this interview. Take care!
Visit us on Facebook and Bandcamp:
https://www.facebook.com/roskband
https://roskband.bandcamp.com
Plagues/The Great Dark Devotion/2017 Cassette Review
Plagues are a band from Massachusetts that has been featured before in this zine and plays a very raw and misanthropic form of black metal and this is a review of their self released 2017 album "The great Dark Devotion" which will be released in March.
A very distorted sound starts off the album along with some ritualistic soundscapes and chants and after awhile the music starts going into more of a heavy and melodic direction along with some high pitched black metal screams and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard.
During the faster sections of the songs the riffs use a great amount of tremolo picking which also gives the tracks more of a raw black metal feeling along with the music also bringing in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and when guitar leads are utilized they are done in a very raw yet melodic fashion.
You can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording and spoken word parts are also used briefly along with some of the tracks being very long and epic in length and as the album progresses some of the vocals also start getting deeper and one track also brings in a brief use of acoustic guitars and spoken word samples.
Plagues creates another recording that remains true to the raw and misanthropic style of black metal from previous releases while also sounding more modern and melodic this time around, the production sounds very raw and heavy while the lyrics cover darkness and misanthropic themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Plagues and if you are a fan of raw and misanthropic black metal, you should check out this cassette. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Abyss" "Hell" and "Devotion". 8 out of 10.
Beorn's Hall/Mountain Hymns/Naturmacht Productions/2017 CD Review
Beorn's Hall are a band from New Hampshire that plays a pagan form of black metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Mountain Hymns" which was released by Naturmacht Productions.
Melodic yet ritualistic pagan chanting starts off the album and after awhile rain and thunder sounds are added onto the recording along with some acoustic guitars and stringed instruments which also adds in a touch of folk music before adding in a heavier yet melodic musical style and a couple of the tracks are very long and epic in length.
Most of the vocals are high pitched black metal screams and when the music speeds up a great amount of tremolo picking and blast beats can be heard which also gives the songs more of a raw feeling and the music also brings in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts as well as mixing the heavier and atmospheric parts together.
When guitar leads are utilized they are done in a very melodic fashion and the music also brings in a lot of influences from the mid 80's to early 90's while also sounding very modern at the same times and spoken word parts are also added onto some of the tracks and acoustic guitars also return on later tracks along with a brief use of whispered vocals and a later track also brings in clean pagan singing.
Beorn's Hall plays a style of pagan/black metal that is very atmospheric with a touch of folk while also having a raw and old school edge at times, the production sounds very powerful while the lyrics cover Nature and Paganism themes.
In my opinion Beorn's Hall are a very great sounding pagan/black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Black Foe Of The Earth" "The Accused Wind" and "Lord Of Silver Fountains". 8 out of 10.
Grima/Tales Of The Enchanted Woods/Naturmacht Productions/2017 CD Review
Grima are a duo from the Siberian part of Russia that has been featured before in this zine and plays an atmospheric form of black metal and this is a review of their 2017 album "Tales Of the Enchanted Woods" which was released by Naturmacht Productions.
A very dark and heavy sound starts off the album along with some melodic guitar leads and clean playing can also be heard in some of the songs and after awhile grim yet high pitched black metal screams are added onto the recording along with some deep growls also being utilized at times and atmospheric synths are also used on some of t he tracks.
Melodic vocals are also added onto the recording in some of the tracks along with all of the musical instruments having a very powerful sound to them and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.
A great portion of the tracks are very long and epic in length and there is also a brief use of stringed instruments and the tremolo picking during the faster sections of the songs gives the music more of a raw black metal feeling along with the riffs also using a great amount of melody and as the album progresses female vocals can also be heard in certain sections of the recording and they also bring in acoustic guitars at times along with a copule of the tracks being all instrumental and the music also adds in progressive rock and post black metal touches in some parts of the recording as well as some Cascadian influences.
Grima creates another recording that remains true to the atmospheric style of black metal that was established on their previous release, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover Nature and Paganism themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Grima and if you are a fan of atmospheric black metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Moon And Its Shadows" "The Ritual" and "The Shephards of the Mountains And Plains". 8 out of 10.
Verwesung Interview
Verwesung is a black metal project that I founded in 2015. The only member is me, Paha Henki, although I sometimes get help by guest musicians. Even if this project basically is my second solo-BM-project (I already founded Todesnacht a year before), I had the visions for this project long before and so e.g. the lyrics of the first demo already got written in 2013 and I sadly just wasn't able to record them until late 2015.. But this project for sure is something like the center of my art, meaning that I got much more plans with it than with any other project I'm involved in and so spend the most of my time and energy into Verwesung...
2.In 2016 you had released 4 demos with this project, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Well, it really depends. I got some recording problems at every demo and also each one got a different concept. The first demo was a nihilistic tribute to the norwegian necro sound of bands like the almighty Sort Vokter, the second demo more was a chaotic hate-filled massacre of raw black metal and was the most inspired from bands like early Absurd, Goatmoon and Satanic Warmaster..although I also experimented with some Noise elements and got a guest part by a Horrorcore rapper; the third demo is a story of vampyric suffering and also much influenced by Satanic Warmaster/The True Werwolf but even more through mighty LLN bands like Mütiilation; the fourth demo still is depressive vampyric black metal but this time I was more influenced by Saatkrähe/Sale Freux. And of course you can't play vampyric black metal without a obvious Darkthrone (Transilvanian Hunger-era) influence, haha!
3.You refer to this project as being 'raw vampyric black metal', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in vampirism?
Blood is life, so consuming blood is a act of anti-life worship for me. Especially if it is human blood then it can be very misantrophic, I mean just think about how many Vampyres killed humans just to drink their blood. If this isn't a total act of misantrophic death worship then what is? Also, who could suffer more than someone who is condemned to live eternally?
4.What are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects you explore with this project?
My hatred for mankind and religions & my interest in nature, nihilism, death and dark art. And all the suffering of my soul...
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Verwesung'?
It's German for "putrefaction" and I guess this name just fitted the best to describe the sound of the style of black metal I play. Rotten, melancholic, raw, depressive,... With lyrics about death and similiar topics...
6.With your projects you release a lot of material, do you spend most of your time creating and writing music?
Yes. I think that, beside listening, I spend the most time with creating music and other forms of art.
7.With this project what are some of the things you are able to bring out musically that you have not been able to with your other musical projects?
I guess I have projects for every thing that goes with me in my life, haha..
Depression (Per La Lumon, Todesnacht)
Anger/Misantrophy (Teufelskopfstreitkolben, Per La Lumon, Todesnacht)
Vampirism/occultism (Per La Lumon, Verialttari)
Experiments with other genres (Kindstod, Enbilulugugal)
Verwesung just units it's all as my main-project.
8.PahaHenki Productions recently re-issued one of your demos on cassette, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
That is a wrong information. There is no label called "PahaHenkiProductions" (yet), that's just the name of my bandcamp page..so if any you could call it a netlabel. And all my demo tapes of this project got released by different labels yet, I only self-released the third demo as a CDr limited to 16 copies. The following other demos got released by this labels: Narcotic Necro Nihilism - Narbentage Produktionen
Crushing Thy Existence - Barbatos & Wulfrune Worxx
Tiefschwarze Todessucht - Wulfrune Worxx (also as CDr on Deadly Maelstrom Records)
9.How have black metal fans worldwide reacted to the musical style of 'Verwesung'?
Mostly positive if they are familiar with my influences and like them. Of course if you don't like rotten underground black metal and only listen to plastic commercial metal that is made by and for posers then you will hate Verwesung..and I welcome that!
I only produce art for myself and the very few true worshippers of darkness out there...
10.Where would you like to see this music hea1d into musically during the future?
It depends, the 2 upcoming splits will have the sound of my last 2 demos. The next, fifth, demo is finished to 33% and for now the sound is very fucked-up and the most similiar to the second demo..filled with more hatred than vampirim; but who knows how the finished release will look like, haha. Other planned upcoming releases are some EP's that could end up very different but I don't wanna reveal too much information to them now.
11.Are there any musical influences that are able able to bring into this musical project that you are not able to do with the other groups you are a part of?
Yes, I have or play in some other projects, but only with Verwesung I reach the rotten, vampyric, suffering, melancholic sound that I love so much. Last year I released a demo of my side-project Verialttari and that also has a very similiar sound but I did some experiments with the vocals, drums, etc and so even there the sound is different from Verwesung. I mean, even the sound of every of Verwesung's demos is different but I must say that it got better and more like I intended from release to release..so it just can get better in this way I guess and seriously hope with my whole ghoulish heart...
Visit my dungeon at pahahenkiproductions.bandcamp.com and await more stuff soon! Some splits are planned and also a fifth demo and a promo tape!
Also thank you for the interview and I hope I reached some rotten souls with it.
Hail DarkneSS! Hail Death! Hail Nihil!
-Paha Henki, MMXVII
Orm/Self Titled/Indisciplnarian/2017 CD Review
Orm are a band from Denmark that plays a very melancholic and melodic form of black metal and this is a review of their self titled 2017 album which will be released in March by Indisciplnarian.
A very fast and raw black metal sound starts off the album along with a great amount of tremolo picking and blast beats while the vocals bring in a mixture of growls and screams along with the solos and leads being done in a very melodic fashion and the riffs also use a great amount of melody.
Throughout the recording there is a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with all of the tracks being very long and epic in length and female vocals are also added into certain sections of the recording and ritualistic and melodic chants are also used at times and the last two tracks also introduces acoustic guitars onto the album along with a small amount of folk instruments towards the end.
Orm plays a style of black metal that is very raw, melancholic and melodic sounding, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover Nordic Paganism, Magick, Ancient Times, and Supernatural Creatures themes.
In my opinion Orm are a very great sounding raw, melancholic and melodic black metal band and if you are a fan of t his musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Blood Of Your Blood" and "Apotheosis". 8 out of 10.
http://www.facebook.com/ormband
http://www.ormband.bandcamp.com
http://www.instagram.com/ormmusic
Gra/Ramsvarta Tankar/Carnal Records/2017 Single Review
Gra are a band from Sweden that plays a very raw and melodic form of black metal and this is a review of their 2017 single "Ramsvarta Tankar" which will be released in March by Carnal Records.
A very heavy and melodic sound starts off the single along with some grim black metal screams a few seconds later and when the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats can be heard and the music also remains very true to a Swedish style of the genre while the tremolo picking gives the songs a raw feeling.
Throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and when guitar solos and leads are utilized they stick to a very raw yet melodic style and there is also a brief use of tribal style percussion's and they close the single with a cover of Lord Belial's "Osculum Obscenum".
Gra plays a style of black metal that is very raw and melodic in the Swedish tradition, the production sounds very powerful while the lyrics are written in Icelandic and cover the darker side of ancient Scandinavian Pagansim.
In my opinion Gra are very great sounding raw and melodic black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this single. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Ramsvarta Tankar". 8 out of 10.
http://www.grahorde.com/
https://www.facebook.com/graofficial/
http://www.youtube.com/grahorde
http://open.spotify.com/artist/5c81a4MM3sIm2XxsI2bSCR
Bandcamp:
http://grahorde.bandcamp.com/
Coldborn/Lingering Voidwards/Final Sacrifice Records/2016 CD Review
Coldborn are a solo project from Belgium that plays an atmospheric form of black metal and this is a review of his 2016 album "Lingering Voidwards" which was released by Final Sacrifice Records.
Atmospheric soundscapes start off the album along with some touches of ambient and they also mix in with both the heavier and melodic sides of the music and after awhile the music speeds up with a great amount of tremolo picking and blast beats which also gives the songs more of a raw black metal feeling.
Vocals are mostly grim yet high pitched screams while deep growls are also used at times and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with melodic vocals and spoken word parts also being used briefly while clean guitars are also added into certain sections of t he recording and all of the tracks are very long and epic in length and the songs also bring in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.
Coldborn plays a style of black metal that is very raw and atmospheric while having its epic moments, the production sounds very raw and heavy while the lyrics cover death themes.
In my opinion Coldborn are a very great sounding atmospheric black metal solo project and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Call Of Death's Clarion" and "Withered". 8 out of 10.
Animo Aeger Interview
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?
After the recordings were done in December 2015 we immediately started working on new material or, putting it more precisely, on two rather different EPs, which will hopefully both be released within the next month.
2.In December you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
For the "KotzeAdel"-Album we once again had decided to work together with Jan Oberg / Hidden Planet Studio, which explains the similarity of the "KotzeAdel" sound to the one presented on the "Fieber" EP.
Concerning the music itself, I would claim that it takes a rather different direction than everything we recorded before, especially when you compare it to the previous album "Storchenwahrheit,-wirklichkeit".
As you probably can see for yourself, there is a more furious aspect to the music, it's just not supposed to be as pleasant as before... sure, there still is a lot of sugar to it, melodic junk you know, but in general we've tried to emphasize the contempt and the disgust felt when writing the lyrics even more than on our earlier works.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Pus in all its dimensions. Roughly explained, the lyrics are dealing with being human and everything that is attached to this. There are a lot of negative feelings and thoughts which find their way onto these ragged note papers I hold in my shaky hands when writhing at the microphone. As mentioned before it's mostly scorn, disgust and pain... although there's no denying that there's also a bit of amusement about the seriousness of man when tackling the matter of life unthinkingly.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Animo Aeger'?
Well, when we founded the band the lyrical focus mainly has been put on this lunacy thing, on where to draw the line between illusion and so-called reality, the cosmos that's meant for everybody.
Due to this semi-philosophical approach, the term animo aeger is supposed to mean "mad" or "lunatic", albeit you may have doubts about the grammatical correctness.
5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, do you prefer working as a duo opposed to working with a full band?
Absolutely. After almost 15 years of playing and writing music together I can't imagine a more effective social combination in terms of creating music than Greis and me. There probably won't be a "full line-up" except maybe for live occasions, inshallah.
6.When the band still did live shows, what where some of the best shows that you played?
At that time, about 13-11 years ago, there hasn't been a single show where I wasn't too drunk to detect if I just shit my pants, so you probably imagine how low we set the bar of professionalism. We just were pretty lousy, yet devoted to this kind of spirit at that time.
7.The new album was released on 'Bleeding Heart Nihilist Productions' are you happy with the support they have given you so far?
Without exaggerating, I can say that I've never been so content with any other label/band cooperation, which hasn't been on a more private level as for example with Eternal Rabies Kult.
When I first checked out the BHN homepage and read the header "Record label for unconventional underground art" I was already sure this would work out.
Of course this isn't a major label, which means there are limits to its financial capabilities, but so far we've gotten more support on every level than I would have dreamed of.
To be honest, I don't really know nor do I care enough to be whoring around on Facebook or any other platform that hasn't primarily to do with what the music is about. I assume there are a lot of fans of pure Black Metal who resent our music, especially the vocal style it incorporates, and I totally understand that. On the other hand, there may probably be some people who the depressive aspect of our music and this whole self-destructive urban narcotic thing appeals to.
I haven't gotten any more feedback than some reviews which often created the impression of having been written by people rather astounded by our musical variety... mostly positively.
9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that the band members are a part of?
There a plenty of other bands and projects which are developing just great but I don't find this the fitting context for bragging about stuff which ain't related to Animo Aeger.
No idea! As I said before, we are recording two new EPs, so right now I don't really care about what might come next. I'm definitely not expecting that we'll keep up this level of productivity after having finished the recordings. Both of us have a lot of business to attend outside of the AA-cosmos so there'll probably a longer time without new material.
We are always compared to the same bands, such as Bethlehem, Dornenreich, Agrypnie, Goethes Erben and Grabnebelfürsten. In this list there's just one band who seriously have had an influence on what style we were keen to play back in 2003/2004 and if you have read some of the older interviews you know that I'm talking about Grabnebelfürsten.
At this time we have also been listening to lots of other stuff within the Black Metal genre but of course our musical horizon has expanded since then.
12.Does Satanism or Occultism play any role in your music?
Nocrul Interview
1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Khrul: Noctis and me used to play in Hungary's most brutal and raw black metal band, Ater Tenebare, but we split up. Some years after we continued playing music together in a more melodic black metal band, Csejtey; split up as well. After this Noctis "retired" himself, but I stayed busy as always. Some years later I realized, however I'm still doing a lot of music, I miss to do something with him; something like in the old days, but on our way. After a non-gay romantic night, we created our own weapon in the end of 2012, as Nocrul. We entered into an other realm of darkness – the brutal world of Warhammer 40K, where chaos and dark gods rules. Nocrul's goal is to create simple and well arranged black metal songs, with dark melodies, smart drum fills, filled with atmospheric parts. Beyond this you can hear multiple influences, not only black metal. As a bonus, every of our releases contains a unique cover song, which is a cover indeed, not simply a copy as most bands do.
2. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
Khrul: I always do the very best, as my knowledge and financial circumstance let me to do so. My goal is to create a massive, epic and powerful sound, with good balances, with the taste of threatening black metal sound, but avoid being "true" - where the meaning of "true" is a weak, dry, lawnmower-like, non-dynamic, noisy, poor produced sound. I do respect my music, there is a lot of effort in it, so the sound/production must be as good as it is possible.
3. Your lyrics are based upon 'Warhammer 40k', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this role playing game?
Noctis: The brutal, cruel, and hopeless atmosphere of this world catched me back in the days. The neverending battles and wars against the inevitable doom reflects a lot of the real world – it will be doomed, because the upcoming end is fuelld by the human race itself.
Khrul: So it's not just a random fantasy bullshit; we try to arrange the lyrics to have a real message – you can't find anything about lazer fights or spaceship wars. We are using the atmosphere of Warhammer's world rather than just singing about actual stories. Like if you read "Childrend Of Misrule", you can find it on our second release, it has a dark, depressive, hopeless atmosphere but actually it is the daily life for many people in the real world!
Noctis: So we felt this kind of lyrics would be perfectly fit to the music. We didn't want any typical and predictable (black) metal stuff. The dark, infinitive and mystical space also a bonus we can use in the music.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nocrul'?
Khrul: There is nothing mystical beyond it. We wanted an unique name, and at the end the easiest way was the best: creating something from our own names.
5. Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
Khrul: As we live in two different countries, 2000 km far from each other, even if we would become a full line up band, it would be impossible to do it effectively. We are happy being a studio band. And on the other side it would be a shame not doing an epic show and not playing in professional costumes, as we have this Warhammer concept - and this is all about the money; a lot of money.
6. On the album you had also done a 'Summoning' cover, what was the decision behind doing one of your own version of their songs?
Khrul: 99% of the bands are doing a simple "playthrough" version instead of a real cover. This is pathetic; if you have no unique ideas, or you are not talented enough, just don't do it. Cover means, at least to me, building a new song from it's original parts, what represents your own style, but still let the original ones recognizable. And never cover a song what is already perfect on its own! Therefore the best choice to pick up one from the early carrier of a band - you can find there god songs, but with boring riffs as well, and bad structure. Doing a Summoning song was just an other random choice - the song itself is a mixture of the songs "Grey Heavens" and "Beyond Bloodred Horizons" from the album "Lugburz", using the albums titles as lyric.
7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?
Khrul: Worldwide means for us Facebook and Youtube. Feedbacks on this sites was really good indeed, and since Neverheard Distro released "Khorne" on tapes, we had two reviews, were also great.
8. What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that the band members are a part of?
Khrul: I was and I am extremely busy on music - the number of bands, session works, own projects I did or do is over 25. At the moment I'm the vocalist in the London-based Skullthrone - this is a full line up band and we do gigs as well. Besides this I'm still doing my own projects: Avar, Assur, Funebre, Militia, Nocrul, Shadowthrone.
Noctis: I'm part of Nocrul only, and I don't have any plan to play in any other band. If Khrul would ask me to help him in his other projects, I would gladly do that.
Khrul: The first release was focusing on the one guitar based songs. The second was about the twin guitar melodies. The third, which is the current one, is mixing the first two, adding more atmospheric elements. All these releases was written in different tunes. The upcoming fourth one, which is nearly done already, are going to continue Khorne's way, but focusing on being more dynamic, has more groove. After this I may will be get bored creating multiple melodies, and will do some one guitar based thing again. And I did a quite complex song, with lot of orchestra and effects, but it was too weird for Noctis; at least for now. So who knows, maybe later on Nocrul will do something like this as well.
Noctis: We are friends for a long time, we know each other very well. I trust Khrul 100% on musical way as well. I used to ask only slightly modifications but he always outperforms my expectations. The complex song he was mentiond before is really good, it was just a huge and sudden change to me; I need a little bit more time to get used to the new things. It is a "must listen it many times" one, but after I discovered its layers, I realised how great it is, so it can be a next step indeed.
Khrul: Most of the influences comes in the teenage area. My biggest ones was Metallica, Samael, Gorgoroth and Cradle Of Filth. But this bands doesn't make any effects on my music anymore; I'm on my own way now. I mean, I don't want do music like this or that one, I don't want to be similar to anyone. Of course, when you are start playing music, you say "Let's do something like this and that!", but if you are really a musician, and music is not just a tool for pick up girls, you will find your own way. However influences always will be heard, and no one can be really unique in metal nowadays, you must follow your own heart instead of following someone else's success. So for the music itself I don't have any influences this days, but creating an atmosphere and arranging a song I do learn a lot of from classical soundtracks, like Hans Zimmer, and progressive bands. Actually I'm listening a lot of stuff I don't enjoy as a listener, but I can learn a lot of as a musician. And for me, this is the key being a slightly different, but I'm doing it not for a reason, I just realized I'm doing this. But it's important to know how far you can go to keep the music musically.
Noctis: My main influences are the early era of black metal, but it does not make any effects on Nocrul. Even if the music comes from Khrul, I didn't ask for being like any of the classical bands. That kind of music is already written by them, why would we do it again? In this days I really enjoy listening dark ambient musics, mostly from the label Cold Meat Industry; and Dark Space!
Khrul: Books (I even wrote one, but just for friends), mostly fantasy, and mostly Warhammer ones, riding my motorbike, and gym.
Noctis: I'm really interesting about astronomy and I'm a big fan of books: sci-fi, fantasy's, H. P. Lovecraft, Warhammer, and books about ancient cultures, mythologies.
12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Khrul: Thank you for your support! Check out some great hungarian bands: Aetherius Obscuritas, Ahriman, Angerseed, Ater Tenebrae, Gutted, Kill With Hate, Lepra, Mörbid Carnage, Nadir, Nagaarum, Sin Of God, The Konstellation, Svoid, Thy Catafalque, Veér, Witchcraft and many more!
Noctis: Thank you for the interview! No one can hear you scream in the space...
Croc Noir Interview
1.Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?
After the release of our cassette tape at Corde Raide Productions in January, we are still in the promotion of our EP "Froid". Nevertheless, the biggest is done, and so we have resumed the process of composing new songs.
2.In November you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
The atmosphere of this EP is cold, dark and melancholic, without falling into absolute darkness.
It is a kind of clear / dark atmosphere. The main idea was to remain simple and effective, but still sincere, while still managing to feel emotions like loneliness, combativity or anger.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that the band explores with the music?
Translating a certain misanthropy, our texts evoke human nature through themes such as depression, loneliness and the relationship of man to a wild and vengeful nature. More subtly it is also an introspective of our own feelings, evoked by what becomes our world under the evil influence of man.
4.Can you tell us a little bit more about the band name 'Croc Noir'?
Croc Noir means "Black Fang" and represents hostile and wild nature. We wanted to return the opposite image of the wolf "White Fang" which represents a docile nature and friend with man. It must not be forgotten that man has been on Earth for only a short time at the scale of the planet, and that nature will take up these rights one day or another.
Croc Noir is the name we have chosen because it represents at best this sweet anger that animates us in the casual and disrespectful behavior of the majority of human beings faced with a powerful nature that could sweep us in an instant.
5.Has the band done any live shows yet?
No, not for the moment !
We think about it seriously but before planning any concerts, we first want to compose additional tracks. So it probably will not be before 1 or 2 years.
7.The ep was released on cassette by 'Corde Raide Productions' are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
Yes very ! François from Corde Raide Productions is a genius and passionate guy who has given himself to support us. Everything is done very simply and professionally.
The roaster of the label is currently getting bigger and there are a lot of good releases to come!
For the moment, the feedback we received was rather positive and encouraging for the future.
But we remain in a very underground sphere, so it would be presumptuous to talk about global scale!
No idea ! For now, we compose as it comes, according to our desires and our inspiration.
But there will surely be other EPs before a possible "full length".
In terms of inspirations, we can mention groups such as Darkthrone, Drudkh, Monarque or Nargaroth or some more folk oriented groups such as Stille Volk.
Currently in Black Metal, Morgue listens to bands such as Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, Naðra, Misþyrming, Cantique Lépreux, Sanctuaire, Culte des Ghoules, Inquisition, Délétère, Batushka ...
Abyss is currently listening to bands such as Batushka, Mgla, Stille Volk, Orakle, Angantyr, Sorcier des Glaces ...
Geist travels in various musical spheres, he listens to a lot of black metal of course (Drudkh, Sorcier des Glaces, Windir, Sanctuaire,Véhémence, Horna, Nocturnal Depression ...).
It is also inspired by classical, medieval, folk and traditional music.
Many things! In bulk: walks in nature, science fiction and horror movies and books (Lovecraft, Asimov for example), role-playing games, computers or beer !
Thank you for this interview and good continuation for your webzine!
Wormwood Interview
1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
When we finished the recordings of "Ghostlands: Wounds from a bleeding earth" we got in touch with the record label Non Serviam Records.
Since then we´re been occupied with a few gigs, rehearsals and a lot of promotion.
2.In March you have a new album coming out, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the ep you had released in 2015?
This is a hard question, I dont think there is one true objective answer, since music is an abstract form of art.
But I would describe it as a mix of atmospheric and melancholic soundscapes, raw rock´n roll, traditional scandinavian folk music and black metal.
Or as the sound of the all mighty nature, endless space and nightmares based on our local folklore.
It differ from our EP in many ways, "The Void: Stories from a whispering well" was much more primitive and straight forward in a sense. It did contain the fundaments for what we are now, but the over all production and song quality is much more solid at Ghostlands...
3.You refer to your musical style as being 'Atmospheric Blackened Folk'n'Roll', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?
Well, that is a made up genre to describe our music in just a few words, since it contains elements of Atmospheric black metal, hard rock and folk music.
But I think it´s very hard to label music and describe the sound of a specific genre for people that haven't heard it, so i let other people do that if they want to.
Our main focus is to make the music and perform it, whatever it´s called.
4.Some of your lyrics cover Nordic mythology, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this subject?
Our mythology and folklore has and will always be around.
If you ever visit Scandinavia you will start to notice traces and signs of our old culture in almost everything.
The names of locations and cities, names of buildings and places, the origins of our holidays, and so on.
It´s easy to forget this when you´re in the middle of it, but if you really start to think about it you will realize it´s everywhere.
In many aspects the old norse believes and wisdom is still up-to-date in our modern society, and I think it´s our damn duty to preserve it. Now more than ever.
Personally I´ve been attracted to our mythology and history more or less since i was a child. It just came naturally.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Wormwood'?
The name comes from a star called Wormwood, which is mentioned in the bible. The star fell down and made the river sour and poisonous. The name resonated for us because it's the dance of death between space and nature.
Different shows can be amazing in so many ways. As long as you can see the spark in the eyes of the crowd it doesnt matter if it`s a small club or at a bigger festival stage.
The best shows are the shows where we convince at least one single person -that never heard about us before- to go home and listen to our music in the future.
Our performance is energetic, sweaty and hypnotic.
7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
Yes, in october we will go for an European tour as support for IMPIETY(Singapore), together with Asagraum(Norway), Bode Preto(Brazil).
We will also play a few gigs here in Sweden this spring/summer and we´re currently discussing some festival gigs and a mini tour outside of Sweden as well.
It´s been surprisingly good this far. Great feedback from all kinds of people, not just the regular black metal audience.
9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
Well, the main focus is WORMWOOD for everyone.
I am occasionally playing live guitar for the pagan/folk/viking metal band MÅNEGARM.
Nox(guitar) is involved in the death metal band RIKET, NINE(vox) and NOX(guitar) is also a part of the black metal band WHITERSHIN that is not active atm.
I would like to say that we have a great thing going on, and we will definitely improve it even more. You will hear from Wormwood over the years, that´s a promise.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Personally I listen to...Hmmm.... I dont listen to much music at all nowdaays to be honest, i dont have the time.
But I am, and always has been a big fan of rock/metal in general. I also like traditional swedish folk music, some blue grass and so on.
Im not so tied to a particular genre of music. As long as the music means something and makes me feel something it´s good.
I am really into art is different forms. I do a lot of graphic stuff, filming and editing, I used to paint a lot as well.
Thank you for the interview, I really hope that you will enjoy our album "Ghostlands: Wounds from a bleeding earth" , spread the word!
A big shout out to our record label Non Serviam Records, and all the fans and supporters.
/ RYDSHEIM (Guitar)
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Official Release: BMW Group achieved a new July sales record with a total of 180,080 vehicles delivered to customers around the world, an increase of 4.0% on the same month last year. Coming off the back of a record first half-year, this solid start to the third quarter sees year-to-date sales climb 5.5% with 1,343,217 vehicles delivered worldwide.
July saw 153,392 (+4.0%) BMW brand vehicles delivered to customers, more than ever before in the month. This brings year-to-date sales for the brand to 1,139,947, an increase of 5.6% compared with the first seven months of last year. Many BMW models have achieved considerable sales growth in the year-to-date including the BMW 2 Series (113,233 / +43.6%), the BMW X1 (111,639 / +69.6%), the BMW X3 (88,442 / +15.5%) and BMW X4 (34,464 / +6.9%). Well over 30,000 new BMW 7 Series models have been delivered to customers so far this year, with sales up 40% compared with the same period last year. As availability of all variants continues to increase, monthly sales of the brand's flagship vehicle more than doubled year-on-year with 5,025 delivered to customers in July.
BMW's electrified models continue to exceed expectations, especially in Europe. While four percent of all BMW sales in Western Europe in July were electrified vehicles, that percentage increases significantly in markets where innovative electric mobility is supported through financial and infrastructure measures. For example, in the Netherlands, 43% of BMW 3 Series registrations are for the plug-in hybrid BMW 330e model and 26% of 2 Series Active Tourer registrations are for the BMW 225xe. In Scandinavia, those figures are even higher, with the plug-in hybrid versions accounting for 45% of all BMW 3 Series sales and 55% of all BMW 2 Series Active Tourer sales. July also saw the first deliveries of the new BMW i3 94A, which offers 50% increased battery capacity and therefore significantly increased range. Orders for the new BMW i3 exceed 7,000 while sales of the BMW i3 in July are up 33.7%, with a total of 2,358 delivered globally in the month.
In Europe, combined monthly sales of BMW and MINI totalled 79,815 in July, up 5.6% compared with the same month last year. Year-to-date sales in Europe are up 10.5% with a total of 622,664 vehicles delivered. Almost all markets in the region have contributed to this strong growth with the three biggest markets, Germany (182,390 / +7.8%), the UK (136,914 / +9.6%) and France (49,755/ +13.0%) playing a significant role.
Sales of BMW and MINI vehicles in Asia also saw strong growth last month with a total of 56,819 vehicles delivered to customers in July (+7.9%). In the first seven months of the year, a total of 417,730 BMW and MINI vehicles were sold in Asia, an increase of 7.4% compared with the same period last year. The region's biggest market, Mainland China, achieved an 8.5% increase compared with the first seven months of last year, with a total of 287,753 vehicles sold. Year-to-date sales in Japan (41,750 / +8.2%) and South Korea (34,569 / +9.9%) also show strong growth.
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Superman is out of Action.
And that's just fine, as far as Action Comics writer Greg Rucka is concerned. In his and Eddy Barrows' first issue (#875), he set up an entirely new tone and cast for the venerable DC Comics series, placing two Kryptonian heroes, Nightwing and Flamebird as the title's leads, and giving them a mission that will keep them quite busy.
In his first issue, Rucka revealed Nightwing and Flamebird to be Chris Kent (from the "Last Son" storyline) and Thara Ak-Var, a childhood friend of Supergirl's who was in Kandor. Together, the two are hunting down Kryptonian sleeper agents who have (with varying degrees of success) insinuated themselves into human culture and positions of varying power.
But how did they get to where they are, and what's going on?
For the scoop, we spoke with Rucka.
Newsarama: First off Greg – as you've said, you came on to the Superman books when things were already in motion and Geoff Johns and James Robinson's plans were starting to be worked out. So where does Chris Kent reveal play in all of that? Obviously, he epitomizes the idea of "hide in plain sight" as both readers and characters in the titles have been looking for him, but was it your idea to have him be Nightwing, or was it something that was already set?
"Yep." And then he gave me that big Geoff Johns grin.
That was when I almost turned down the offer to write Action actually.
NRAMA: Really? It was that serious for you?
GR: I didn't see how to make it work. If I couldn't make it work, I was going to be just slayed by readers and, well, by myself, because I would know I wasn't doing a good job. But yeah, it made a certain amount of sense to me – it was logical, but on the flipside, the last time we saw Chris, he was six. That kid in the Nightwing costume ain't six.
NRAMA: Was the age thing something else that Geoff handed off to you to figure out?
NRAMA: But with all of this uncertainty, did you have any say in the earlier appearances of Nightwing and Flamebird in the "New Krypton" storyline?
GR: Not really. If you look at the timing actually on the issues, you can see that they were really hedging their bets. If you look at those appearances, they were teaser appearances – they're not plot appearances. That's because they were still working things out, and weren't sure where they were going to take it.
NRAMA: So it all falls upon you to make them work in the present, as well as explain how they got to be where they are, right?
GR: Exactly – they were attacked and abducted horribly by an alien, and then spent how many years believing that one day, they'd be able to go home again, only to discover when Argo was incorporated, oh, no – there's no "home" anymore, and you guys are here forever, enjoy!
That's going to mess with your head. There's nobody in Kandor who isn't suffering from post traumatic stress, as far as I'm concerned. They're all suffering from it. They have to be.
One of the things I really try to do in the Annual is to go into how horrible and how horrifying it must have been to have been there that day. From the military's side, from Zod and Ursa on the one side, to the side of the 100,000 people on the other side being taken…it's all just a rich, rich area in which to tell stories. I just find that gives you an incredible insight into characters like Thara and Alura and Ursa, not to mention Zod. Once you start thinking about that, their motivations start to become very clear in a lot of ways.
NRAMA: As we saw in your first issue of Action, Thara and Chris' mission is to find these Kryptonian sleeper agents. Let's talk about them for a minute. The first one that they took out, Tor-An, was posing as an Australian media mogul – so these agents are escapees from the Phantom Zone dating back to "Last Son," right?
NRAMA: And of the remaining five sleepers that are left – Jax-Ur stands out as being…really bad.
Look at it this way – on one side, you've got Nightwing and Flamebird who are looking for the sleepers, and on the other side, you've got Ursa, who's this military professional working on Zod's orders, but she's only got 27 people to work with in Fort Rozz when they get back into the Phantom Zone at the end of "Last Son." She's only got that many people, and that's it. She knows she's got the best of a bad lot. Of the total, she probably believes that there were about two who would be able to competently execute the mission, and the rest, we're going to put in place and pray.
And that's not counting the ones who never made it out of the Phantom Zone, because getting out of the Zone, as was established in "Last Son," is not an easy thing to do – and they lost a couple people in the experimental phase.
GR: (laughs) Yeah, but the mission objectives must be achieved. But yeah, there are at least two of them who went through, and if Ursa knew what they were up to, would go through the roof, because they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing.
NRAMA: So they're not following the mission?
NRAMA: So when readers see these sleepers in Action as Chris and Thara find them, will we be seeing characters that are showing up for the first time, or have some of these sleepers been active in the DC Universe, albeit hiding their identity and not letting it be known that they're Phantom Zone escapees?
GR: Hmmm…I can't answer that. I will say that all the names but one are established names, and some of them are Silver Age names, but to define the characters with their Silver Age name will be a mistake, as these are criminals. But yeah – they're sleepers, so they're not only in Action. They're hiding in other books too.
NRAMA: When Flamebrid and Nightwing captured Tor-An, how do they secure him in the Fortress?
GR: Yeah – that's my fault, not Eddy's on the art. I told Eddy the image I wanted, and figured it would be self-explanatory, and apparently, it hasn't been as easy for people to understand as I hoped.
NRAMA: They shake him out of the bottle like an ant?
GR: (laughs) Yeah, that's basically it. There's that panel there where you see Thara putting him into the prison, which is essentially a teeny, tiny little version of the Fortress of Solitude. And he's in there with maybe two dozen Superman robots that are saying, "Don't do that" every time he makes even the slightest move that could be considered as trying to escape or threaten them. So Tor-An's not a really happy guy. But that won't be bothering him much longer.
GR: Uh…yeah. Kinda, but yeah.
NRAMA: That image in the issue of Action, of Ursa looking at images of Chris and Thara – is that involved in it some way?
GR: Well, I should explain that she's looking at two pictures at the same time, not at one, which would imply that Thara had something to do with the torture of Chris. The scene with Chris is something that will be shown in the Annual, and the picture of Thara was from Kandor before it went full-size.
As for who they are working for, and how they knew about sleeper agents – again, it's in June's Annual. They clearly aren't working for Alura, because if they were, why would she tell Zod that Thara is still on earth?
But really, there's no need to be coy – they're working for themselves. How they found out, how they began working together, and why they feel the need to do this, in this way, with these identities will become very clear.
NRAMA: And headed toward the next issue which hits next week – it's the big fight when Ursa tries to stop them?
GR: Yep – issue #2, the big showdown, and nothing for issue #3 (laughs). It's a lot of riding along inside Ursa's head as she hands out a whole lot of hurt, and you get to see of just how dangerous she is.
NRAMA: And being inside her head – is she relatable at all?
GR: I think you get great insight into her motivation. As to how she became motivated like that, again – it's the value added content in the Annual. But come on – she's Ursa. For me, the definitive Ursa is still in Superman II – what else is there to draw on? Of all three of the Phantom Zone villains, she was the one who was the most actively sadistic.
GR: He's clinical. He's a general. He gets the battle plan, he gets the data, he analyzes and operates based on his conclusions. Ursa's the one who gets the job done, and does it exceptionally well. But remember – go back and look at the backstory, and what we know about the canon: we know that Ursa, Zod, and Non tried to overthrow the Council in order to save the planet. We know that Ursa was clearly with Zod in attempting to defend Kandor. Neither of those are things that you do if you're a wacked out crazy sadist. Somehting happened. Whether that's being condemned to the Phantom Zone not once, but twice after you were doing what you felt what was, in all sincerity, what was necessary in order to save your people, or something else… I mean, do you think, after Zod and Ursa were sent into the Phantom Zone that they were able to watch the destruction of Krypton and just think, "We told you so," or that they watched it with a deep anguish that I don't think anyone can really understand?
Zod is a bad guy – don't get me wrong, but not in his eyes. By the same token, Ursa was clearly at one point a hell of an officer, and clearly an officer that Zod could turn to and she would say, "Yes, I'll get it accomplished," and not in a "Mwahahaha" way. She did the job.
Something that you get to see in the Annual is that you get to see the Unit – Black Zero, and you get to see her as Black Zero's leader, and you get to see what happened to Black Zero when Brainiac came a'callin. That kind of messed with Ursa's head – they were the best of the best, and Brainiac waded through them like they were tissue.
GR: Oh, I'm loving it. We didn't even get to Lois' role in it, or that General Lane's going to be a player, or the new character who's going to show up in #877 that James, Sterling, and I created by committee and are having way too much fun with.
The book is about Chris and Thata and it follows them primarily, but nobody is in it just to fill a seat. There's a character who was introduced in the first issue named Lieutenant Hollister, and he's got his own thing too. It's funny – I've been spending an awful lot of time writing military – I've spent the better part of the last 18 months working on military characters or stories of one sort or another. It's an interesting opportunity to see how each of them view what they do and how they approach it.
Thara is Military Guild, but I'll give a spoiler for #876 – she gets hit where it hurts by Ursa: Thara was young enough to be best friends with Kara when Argo was taken into Kandor. Guess what, you don't see a whole lot of active duty between then and now. So how do you end up as head of security for Alura and Zor? And incidentally, where was the head of security when Reactron killed Zor? If she'd been doing her job and was there, Zor-El might not have died. And if I was Kara, I'd be kind of ticked about that.
But yeah, I've spent a lot of time thinking about these characters and their world, and I'm really digging telling their stories.
Action Comics #876 is due in stores next week.