Interview with Velnias,Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult.
MRP:Hello Velnias,and welcome.Congratulations on the new record.First of all can you introduce the band to the readers.
DNS:
Well, Slaughtercult has been around since 1997 strictly following the individual path of old school, occult and traditional black metal. "Grim, dark and evil" - which words could provide a better introduction than this quote?
MRP:Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult stands for for own satanic and nihilistic beliefs, along with the conspiracy for raw black metal.So it is written on the band's official website.Can you please tell us more about the fascination for the occult?
DNS:
No sorry – either you "feel" it or not. Those who have this inner calling understand the meaning of keeping silent. In general and without going into much detail this "fascination" is a natural urge to self-awareness. It is not important which path you take. The importance is that you’re willing to move on. Nothing will cause change within you but you. What we preach, so to speak, is a coronation of the individual.
MRP:'The Pest Called Humanity'' (1999) was the band's first official release.Now,at this moment,how does DNS look back on the entire recording?
DNS:
Each chapter marks a specific point in time, which obviously separates the era into a pre and post period. Speaking in terms of discography the first chapter entitled The Pest Called Humanity stands for a time when we were chaotic, aggressive and violent without compromise. Moving on from album to album there is a certain progress in how this energy was channeled. We’ve turned from an open hostility to a calmer more introverted spirituality. Nevertheless, The Pest Called Humanity is our founding stone and thus it is also the unshakable fundament of us as an individual. Each recording session leaves an imprint on the mind. Even though the first chapter was recorded fourteen years ago there are still some unerasable memories. The Pest was actually recorded with an analog tape recorder. The entire recording equipment as well as the basement studio itself was truly old school.
MRP:Through the year DNS has established a great fanbase,with playing alot of live shows.How important are the livesets for the band?
DNS:
Every single concert is important to us. However, we’re not playing that many concerts. Perhaps we’re declining more offers than we’re accepting. There’s a simple rule of thumb: we can but certainly don’t have to perform live. A concert has to be interesting for us a fan as well as challenging for the musician. If an event sounds promising one way or another we are definitely interested in making this experience. We’re also trying to make every performance a worthwhile experience for the audience. Putting your "heart" and "soul" into the music, thus reaching a trance like state will cause energy to radiate. Any willing individual may absorb this spiritual vigour up to a point when the chalice overflows. This in return sets free an enhanced vigour creating a constant flow in between the partakers. This is one of the reasons why we are referring to a concert as a "live ritual".
MRP:What was the best impression concerning festivals DNS played on.
DNS:
Our very first festival performance was in 2005 at the Party San Open Air in front of four thousand people. Now imagine a band that had previously only played a few underground shows all of a sudden being on a huge stage from which you couldn’t even see where the crowd ends. Since that year we’ve played several other minor and major festivals. As previously mentioned we’re looking for new experiences and challenges. For instance one of these challenges was a performance at the With Full Force Festival after Unleashed and right before Marduk in front of ten thousand people. We’re considering ourselves an underground act, thus we’re certainly glad to get such opportunities every now and then. On the other hand much smaller festivals like the Canadian Messe des Morts or the Arosian Black Mass in Sweden are equally noteworthy. There are many other festivals we should also name, so consider these names just as examples. Throughout the years there is luckily just a single festival we’ll never ever play again – actually we didn’t even play there, it was the only concert we had to cancel about an hour after our arrival on the festival ground. But that’s another story…
MRP:The band already exists since 1997,in time the demos where released cause of the 10th anniversary 'Evoking a Decade'.Why the choice in releasing the same material,in 2 different versions?Namely the original version and the re-recorded version of the 1st chapter.
DNS:
The Pest Called Humanity was originally released as a mini CD limited to 500 copies. Back then many mCDs were passed on as promos or in trade. As D. N. Slaughtercult reached more and more maniacs more and more of them were asking about the old material. Keep in mind that we are Black Metal fans ourselves. Thus we know the feeling of discovering a band and being unable to obtain any of their older recordings because there are sold out. "Evoking a Decade" is our intention of providing such fans the possibility to hear the early works of DNS. So far in our history there were merely two different drummers. The first one is Ariovist who has recorded the first chapter with us back in ’99. Horrn his successor has been with us since Follow the Calls for Battle which is our second release. One of the mini CDs of "Evoking" contains the original recordings. The second mCD features Horrn on drums. These rerecordings have been made throughout the years. Which means one track is from the Nocturnal March era, the next from the Hora Nocturna recording session and the remaining three in between Hora and Saldorian Spell. So, to wrap it up "Evoking" is a collector’s edition reflecting how the band has progressed during the course of many years.
DNS:
There is an analogy between a band and a book. For example a grimoire has a beginning and an end. Its content is separated into chapters. Each chapter is related to the purpose of the book and thus to some extend also to every pre- and succeeding chapter. Certainly you may open the book and start reading on any page. But will you be able to fully comprehend the idea and meaning of the book? We are using this analogy to emphasize that the work of DNS is meant as a greater union. It is our lifework, tearing out a single page or even a single word is impossible. Things are "written" as they are – dictated by a silver tongue.
MRP:In the existence of the band line-up changes occured.How is the situation now?
DNS:
Our lineup has been very stable compared to other bands. Onielar and I have been there since day one. Horrn has been with us since 2001. Our "biggest" problem has always been the bass player. Emporonorr was part of the band for several years. Before and after his time we were supported by Grigorr concering recording sessions. Live it didn’t work out with two other bass players until we were joined by Adversarius who joined the horde three years ago. The new chapter "Necrovision" is his first recording with DNS. So, as you can see there aren’t really that many changes in the past.
MRP:What changed in time working together,and does alot of discussion occur coming to new material,or is the direction,and ideology behind the band still the same as it ever was.
DNS:
Indeed there’s a bit more "discussion" when it comes down to new material. That’s normal especially when a band has already released a handful of albums. With every release we’re getting more pretentious. Each album should be at least as good as the predecessor. The approach to writing new material has stayed the same since the very first song back in the late mid 90es.
MRP:Who was responsible for the bandlogo?And who does artwork for the records?Or does the band use the same artist.
DNS:
The original logo – that’s the one with less cutouts and less "spikes" – has been drawn by our first drummer Ariovist back in 96 or 97. For the second album we felt the urge to get a more brutal looking version of the logo. As we like both version we’re using whichever one is more suitable for the current layout. Except for the current album "Necrovision" the coverartwork has been taken and slightly rearranged from such artists as Dore, Dürer and the likes. "Necrovision" has been drawn by an artist in our area. Basically we’re visualizing a specific idea for an album. Once this idea has been formed in our minds we can either realize the necessary layout ourselves or if this exceeds our knowledge we’re looking for external help. It doesn’t have to be the same artist all the time. Keep in mind, each album is something individual thus it might also need a different visualization.
MRP:Onielar did a guest appearance with the band Purgatory.How many styles in metalmusic do you personally listen to?And what got DNS inspired to make such extreme kind of BM?
DNS:
Our personal collection mostly contains metal. This includes the entire bandwidth – black, death, heavy, speed, … Purgatory is one of Germanys best and oldest death metal hordes. When DNS started out Purgatory had already been around for several years. A personal friendship exists between the bands. Onielar’s guest appearance was the first cooperation between them and us on a musical level. The second step followed some time later and has been released as a split LP entitled "The Legion of Chaos". Aside the aforementioned variety of the metal genre in general, we’re also listening to ambient, neo folk, and classical music. Our journey into music is probably just like the journey of any other black metal fan. We’ve all started out with "just" heavy metal. Eventually you’ll discover that this type of metal doesn’t fully satisfy what you need. So you are unearthing more and more bands from the underground. You’re digging deeper and deeper underneath the commercial surface until you’ve finally found the right genre. Apparently this has been old school Scandinavian black metal for us. The important thing is that the shovel used was a stable character. None of the things unearthed molded our character. That’s just a minor but certainly a decisive detail.
MRP:an older TV documentary Onielar and you explain the story behind the band.Why this choice?Do you feel the urge to spread the word,and convince the listener,viewer that there is more what the eye can see?
DNS:
We’re not explaining the "story behind the band". We’ve been interviewed for a topic dealing with ecstasy and trance like states reached through art. At least that was the original idea. We don’t mind answering questions dealing with the band or us as an artist as long as the person asking us seems to be a serious and reliable person. Unfortunately every now and then the insight into human nature is blurred. Those who ask will receive and answer, but we’re not dumb bleating sheep desperately trying to get a hearing. We’ve our own world views and thoughts – we’re willing to share those but we’ve have no interest in convincing or converting people. Every man and woman has the power to ascend. This choice must come from the individual himself.
MRP:Recently the new album 'Necrovision' was released,what are the responses so far?
DNS:
the new album has received the best comments we’ve ever had. People not into black metal still don’t like us – so that’s good as well. The album has received overwhelming responses some even calling it a black metal milestone or already album of the year!
MRP:Where was the album recorded?And how much time did ASG spend in the studio?Satisfied with the result?
DNS:
Just like all previous Slaughtercult releases the new album "Necrovision" has been recorded by Armin Rave at "Soundsight Studio". The recording sessions are usually spread out over two months. We are absolutely satisfied with the result. Armin has done a great job interpreting the new material as well as our words of adjusting the production in comparison to Saldorian Spell.
MRP:Nowadays more bands choose to create their own homestudio.How do you look upon that?I mean coming to differences like a professional sound engineer.
DNS:
Prior to entering a real studio we’re setting up sort of a preproduction. We’re recording the material on our own in the rehearsal room with semiprofessional equipment. This preproduction is used for us as well as the producer to get a feeling for the new stuff. Our producer has grown with us. He has recorded every single DNS song. We’re getting along well in and outside of the studio. We definitely value his recording as well as musical knowledge. There’s no need to invest into our own home studio.
MRP:How did the releaseparty for the new album go?How were the responses to the new material?
DNS:
There was no official "Necrovision" release party. Last year November we presented some of the new material live in the US. These shows were prior to the release date, thus these songs were unknown to everyone except us. Apparently the new stuff fits perfectly into our live set as the crowd’s reaction was superb. A few days ago we played our first "Necrovision" show in Germany. The response was good as well. Anything else would have been a surprise. "Necrovision" is another step forward but definitely not a step in the opposite direction of what DNS has done before.
MRP:Looking forward myself to see DNS again,since it has been a while.
DNS:
Unfortunately we truly aren’t that often in the Netherlands. But anyone willing to travel a certain distance will get the opportunity to catch a live ritual sometime this year.
MRP:Your final words,please...
DNS:
No more words needed. Get "Necrovision" – that album says it all.
http://slaughtercult.de Official D. N. Slaughtercult merchandise can be ordered at
shop.flashover-agency.com
Discography:The Pest Called Humanity EP 1999
The Pest Called Humanity / Luciferian Dark Age Split 2001
Follow the Calls for Battle Full-length 2001
Underneath Stars of the East / Emptyness Split 2003
Nocturnal March Full-length 2004
Hora Nocturna Full-length 2006
Evoking a Decade Compilation 2008
Saldorian Spell Full-length 2009
The Legion of Chaos Split 2011
Necrovision Full-length 2012
(The interview was done by Danny/Moonspell Rites Promotions)
