1. Hello Aidan! How are you doing? As it is winter in Australia right now, what are your winter plans this year?
- Hello! I am doing very well thank you! Honestly I do not have many winter specific plans, I am still at university so I spend most of my time studying, and locking myself away to play guitar and write music.
2. For those new to Nox Ignis just explain the format of the band. Is it still essentially a duo project comprised with you and Liam. Right?
- Yeah Nox Ignis consists of myself, and my brother Liam. I pretty much do everything, so writing the music and lyrics, recording and performing all the instruments, and some pretty basic mixing and mastering, which I am trying to learn more of! Liam performs the vocals for me, and will often give some great feedback around song structure, levels and quality.
3. How much exposure did you have to extreme music growing up? Can you name some of the bands who you first really admired and helped shape your future in music?
- Growing up I always listened to rock music more than anything, classic bands like Queen, Guns n Roses and AC/DC. I started playing bass at around 10 years old, and through working with my teacher I was introduced to more iconic bands, like Led Zeppelin, and I really started to develop a love for music. I started to get into metal pretty soon after beginning to play bass, with obvious bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeth. My first taste of extreme music was Opeth's 'Blackwater Park', which remains one of my favourite albums of all time. I got really obsessed with how Opeth mixed beauty and brutality together, and the overall atmosphere of that album is mesmerising. Opeth remains one of the biggest influences to me, especially as I progress as a musician, I am trying to incorporate elements that I enjoy from their music. Another band, who was probably the biggest influence for the songs on the EP that has already come out, is Rotting Christ. They are the band that got me obsessed with black metal as a genre, Sakis' riffs really resonate with me as being super catchy, but also incredibly heavy and rooted in black metal. Other bands that I admire and shape my music include; King Diamond, Melechesh, Varathron and Moonsorrow.
4. Could you describe the vision/hallucination that inspired the name "Nox Ignis" and how it relates to the band's identity and music?
- Choosing a name was incredibly hard. I always wanted to incorporate Latin, as I find that it makes for a more serious name, and I eventually came across Nox as the abbreviation of nocturnal, and Ignis meaning flame or fire. This immediately felt right, as it alludes to the darkness and intensity of black metal. Early on I wanted to create music that was pure black metal, but as I wrote more music I found that melody was as important as blast beats, and I feel that that darkness and fire of Nox Ignis reflects this nicely.
5. As an emerging band in the extreme metal scene, what are some challenges you've faced, and how have you overcome them to pave the way for your future?
- Nox Ignis is super new, our EP only came out in February. For me, the biggest challenge has been trying to advertise and let people know about Nox Ignis, as well as just trying to find my footing in how to properly release music. Unfortunately I think I really messed up the release of the EP, I kind of just put it up online without much thought, just so that I had something to show. I want to make sure I properly release all future music, try get it onto spotify playlists if possible.
6. What attributes do you think that a new Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
- I think it is very important that a band should draw from their musical influences, but try to avoid becoming a copy of their influences. I think this is a very hard thing to do, and with the EP, I definitely feel that some tracks felt like I was trying to imitate a band. An example would be 'Under His Gaze' which listening back sounds like I was imitating Rotting Christs 'Thy Mighty Contract' era. This is something I am really working on, and I think that for every metal it should be a priority in creating their unique identity.
7. As you work on completing the lineup for the band, what qualities or skills are you looking for in potential members?
- Currently I am not looking to expand the lineup, Nox Ignis is more about my personal passion and love for black metal and music as a whole. In the future, and with enough money, I would love to hire a drummer so that I can get real drums on my recordings.
8. Nox Ignis draws influences from Hellenic Black metal. How do you approach blending melody, brutality and heavy riffs to create your intense black metal sound?
- For me I think it comes naturally to incorporate melody into my riffs. Most bands that I listen to incorporate melody and interesting elements into their music, I don't often listen to pure, or trve kvlt black metal bands, although I do love that style. I like to differentiate between sections of a song by having one section be more melodic, followed by a more frantic and intense section, and I really enjoy the contrast that this creates. I find that writing a melody that fits over a more simple backing riff makes for a really interesting listen, and so I try to avoid repetition to keep things moving and variable.
9. Let´s talk about your debut EP, Musical structure in the album sounds really “technical”, I mean it is not plain oldschool black metal, It seems you fell as really keen on the technical side of the music with a huge amount of melody. Regarding all these, can you explain the song writing process of these 4 songs?
- Yeah of course, so first of all these songs were written throughout the first half of 2022, and at the time I didn't really have many plans other than just writing some cool songs. I ended up writing and recording tonnes of songs and riffs, and was able to, through trial and error, figure out a process that worked well for me. When I write a song, I don't know where it will end up, and I don't have a plan for it, I like to just continually listen and play a riff and try to feel where it would naturally progress to. I usually start off with a riff that I like, I will record that with a simple drum beat, and work off of that, adding a melody and other guitar parts. I think by not having a plan, the song structures become very interesting, as it helps avoid the standard verse, chorus, verse, chorus, although I still enjoy and use this structure. Variety is very important to me, I want to ensure that a song remains interesting for it's whole run time, so even when I repeat a section, I try to add an extra element, whether that be a slightly different melody, or a change in the drum pattern. The last thing I will do for a track is writing lyrics, and for this I like to sit down and listen to the song on repeat, trying to find a story or lyrical idea that resonates with the music.
10. Were there any elements of the recording that proved particularly troublesome?
- Yeah there were definitely some problems. Firstly, I really struggled with writing lyrics, which was something I didn't expect to find so difficult. I ended up cutting two songs because I was so unhappy with the lyrical content of those tracks. We also came across numerous technical issues with the microphone we bought, which delayed everything by a few months. A huge trouble for me personally was my technical abilities on the guitar, I found I wasnt able to cleanly execute ideas that I wanted to on some tracks. I have been playing bass since I was 10, but only picked up guitar a few months before beginning to record Nox Ignis tracks. Since then I have gotten better equipment and have tried to practice at least an hour a day, so I hope that there is huge noticeable technical improvement in all new releases.
11. Do you face any problems recording your music or finding studios/rehearsal rooms in your area?
- Not really, I record everything at home. I work with a small portable audio interface that only has one input, but I don't need anything else! I use the Presonus Studio One workspace and find that it is really easy and comprehensive to use, so I am able to record any ideas I have straight away.
12. Your next release is a full length album. Can you give us a sneak peek into what fans can expect from this upcoming release?
- I am very proud of some of the tracks that I have written for this release. I am not sure when it will come out, but hopefully early next year or late this year, I am pretty much working on finalising songs and writing lyrics. I think you can expect that album to be different from the EP, as it is both more experimental and more black metal at the same time. For some tracks, like 'The Witches Mark', I wanted to focus purely on creating an intense experience, but for other songs I wanted to focus on the musicality and expanding the technical side of Nox Ignis. I am also using a much better guitar, new tones, and have tried to learn some mixing and mastering so I hope the overall sound is much better. You can expect more melody, some solos here and there, lots of variation, and of course, lots of brutality and heaviness.
13. Since music is universal and brings so much to the table, what is your philosophy and intake about what music means to you?
- For me, music is one of the purest forms of expression. I think this comes across more in metal and extreme metal, rather than other genres, as there is no boundaries in what an artist can do. I listen to music every day, different bands depending on my mood and activities, but there is always a band or album that I can connect to and resonate with. I think that music should be personal, and that it should be enjoyable for the artist to create. If there is no enjoyment behind the artist then I think that comes off as a half hearted product.
14. Who would you say are your current favourite bands in Australia, and anywhere else, I’m always keen to discover more great music. I find a lot of people just refuse to open their eyes (ears) and give some of the newer stuff a go. Any thoughts?
- I couldn't agree more, I feel that so many people find what they like in music and refuse to deviate from it. I personally find nothing is better than coming across a band I haven't heard of and enjoying their music. The main Australian bands that come to mind are Ne Obliviscaris, Be'Lakor and Psycroptic. I really enjoy progressive elements in music, and both Ne Obliviscaris and Be'Lakor incorporate so much variation in their music, and create an excellent emotional atmosphere.
- As already talked about, I am hugely influenced by the hellenic scene. Rotting Christ is one of the greats in terms of black metal, but the hellenic scene is so much wider then just them. Necromantia, Kawir, Varathron, Lucifer's Child all are huge influences and incredible bands. Recently, past members of Rotting Christ formed the band Yoth Iria, and I personally think their debut album is one of the best hellenic black metal albums ever.
I have always really enjoyed folk elements in music, I enjoy Ensiferum, Wintersun, Finntroll and Moonsorrow a lot, and I think that it works incredibly well with black metal. Recently I have been expanding into listening to Arabic and Middle Eastern metal bands, as I find that their folk instrumentation and scales blend perfectly with extreme metal, and I could not recommend this particular scene enough. I have been obsessively listening to Melechesh and Al-Namrood, both of which are perfect examples of middle eastern black metal. As well as these I highly recommend Narjahanam, Scarab and Blaakyum.
Other bands I listen to regularly include King Diamond, Opeth and Sigh, as well as the classic Norwegian black metal bands like Immortal, Mayhem and Darkthrone.
15. Live performances are an integral part of the black metal experience. Does Nox Ignis have any plans for live shows or touring in the future?
- Unfortunately I think for the moment Nox Ignis is not a performing band, but I have no idea what the future holds! I am not at all opposed to playing live given the right circumstances and members, but for the moment Nox Ignis is a personal passion project.
16. I want to thank you, sincerely, for your time. Before we end our conversation, is there anything else in particular you’d like to share?
- Thank you so much for this opportunity, I had a great time answering your questions, and I always love talking about music and bands! The only thing would be to check out Nox Ignis on spotify and bandcamp if anyone so desires! Stay Metal!
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