1.Hello! I am very happy to have the opportunity to ask you a few questions!, how are you doing these days? Is Ohio a great place to Live?
Mortemawl: Ohio isn't the worst, but it's not the best. I'd like somewhere maybe a bit colder.
Rudy: The music scene leaves much to be desired when it comes to black metal, but it's alright.
Mortifyer: We appreciate the opportunity! This was currently unknown but I'm actually from Minnesota. I travel to Ohio for band activities. But Ohio is a nice place for me. A lot of forests and fields.
2. Would we start with the origin of the band, both in terms of ideologically and musically, your aims in shaping the direction of Strifemoon?
Mortemawl: I started it back in High School but had some trouble finding people at the time. Also at the time, it was more heavy metal than black metal. But as my genre evolved, so did the vision of the band. We took inspiration from bands such as Dark Funeral and Dissection. I eventually found Darren and we had a similar vision. We went through a lot of different people and had a lot of problems, but eventually things worked out.
Mortifyer: In the beginning it was just Draven and a few guitarists that came and went. When I joined it was just me and Grim writing what would become the songs. Draven wanted our music to be fast and I brought the melodic side of things to the table. Together our plan is to make our style of music better than everyone around us.
Rudy: I really enjoy the stuff that we've put out, but I wasn't initially there for the instrumental tracks. Writing lyrics for the tracks was a bit of an experiment for me, exploring darker territory, and a great opportunity to bring my ideas, both philosophically and creatively to the table.
3. Did the black metal come with time as a natural choice for expression of your ideas or you were straight forward right from the start and decisive that you want to play black metal definitely?
Mortemawl: For me, the first black metal song I heard and enjoyed was One By One from Immortal. Then I got into Mayhem and heard the stories and stuff about it. But black metal is a great music expression for me and its my favorite genre.
Rudy: Strifemoon was my first exposure to black metal actually. They told me to listen to darkthrone, and do a cover of it. It was my first time doing high screams. Can't imagine where I'd be if I didn't get into black metal.
Mortifyer: It definitely came with time when I first started looking for bands to join. In other genres, they didn't really work out mostly because the members weren't 100% committed. When I joined Strifemoon and the songs started coming together I knew black metal was the best way I can write that I truly want to write.
4. What is required to deliver strong black metal record? How demanding are you in your music in order to squeeze the maximum?
Mortemawl: I strictly believe that you must only add something to a song when it works in the song. No matter how cool it sounds, if it doesn't work well in the song, then it must be put in another.
Rudy: We are pretty demanding in terms of trying to reach perfection, but only so much so that it doesn't detract from the music. Limitations breed innovations.
Mortifyer: You definitely need to be as a guitarist very involved and take inspiration from a lot of bands to figure out what you like from the music to then put your spin on it in your own writing style. For a strong black metal release all members should be playing to their best abilities and should feel that the music they're currently working on is their best stuff. And evil riffs.
5. How do you feel the black metal scene has morphed in The States over time? Is there anything you miss from the past, or anything you feel has changed for the better?
Mortemawl: I wasn't involved in the scene for that long of a time, but you can definitely tell a change in music. I'm not sure if anythings changed for the better or worse to be honest, but I like the scene nonetheless.
Rudy: I was born so late for the peak of the genre but the fact that we discovered it and ended up making music is a testament to it being alive and well, so I can't say that things turned out badly for the genre.
Mortifyer: The scene from what I've seen has gotten bigger since the early days and to me that is good because there is way more people enjoying black metal and now more talented players have gotten into the genre and they make really good music. I wasn't around back then so that's just my look on it.
6. Just how important is artistic appeal for you? Does aesthetics play a big role in your music? If Black Metal doesnt classify as art, then what is it?
Mortemawl: Absolutely aesthetic is huge for us. I think corpsepaint is always needed in black metal and even years down the road if I'm still here I will still be wearing it because it's one of the things that made this genre unique, and I love that it's a thing in black metal. Black metal is definitely art because
Rudy: Aesthetic is pretty big, the image, trying to create the same vibes, corpsepaint, all black, yknow, especially the atmospheric qualities of the music.
Mortifyer: It's important to us when we write a song we want the listeneer to understand and appreciate every moving part like vocals, drums, and guitar. Our aesthetics does in a way we definitely want to write evil sounding music but mostly we focus on our aesthetics when we present ourselves in pictures and videos. I believe black metal is art because all music is art to the person that wrote it.
7. The production on your music is really crushing. What can you tell me about the recording process and what kind of sound you were going for?
Mortemawl: I myself just wanted something that wasn't over the top with production, but nothing below the bar either.
Rudy: We ended up getting a very good deal with a sound engineer, and I basically told him "Oldschool black metal," and he mixed the whole thing in like a week to perfection.
Mortifyer: I just recorded all the tracks on my computer and my guitar tibe was from a plugin and it turned out good.
8. Do you have some specific piece of gear or software that greatly facilitates your job?
Mortemawl: My audio interface and acoustic drum setup.
Rudy: Good old sm58 for live performances, sm7b for recording.
Mortifyer: Sterlying by Music Man Jason Richardson signature.
9. The lyrics seems quite important for the band and your expression, how do you look upon the importance of the lyrics?
Draven: Lyrics are very important. Instrumentals can sound good, but our song themes and names are there before the actual song is because a lot of times it helps the sound of the song for us.
Rudy: I feel that lyrics can greatly improve a song, but they aren't necessarily a requirement for good music- Bad lyrics rarely ruin a song in extreme music genres, but good lyrics can drastically improve one for the close listener.
Mortifyer: We think it's important to tell a story alongside the music because it lets us put inspiration from some of our interests that are out of the music sphere and lets you imagine the subject matter of the song.
10. What do you attempt to capture, express or communicate through your music?
Mortemawl: I think in black metal it is good to capture or communicate something, but isn't always needed. We have a few different topics we try to communicate. Unlike most black metal bands, we are not satanists, but like most, we dislike Christianity and talk about misanthropy.
Rudy: I attempt to explain some experience I have in the world through my lyrics. The lyrics can mean a lot of things to different people though, I like to keep things open ended- Demons, to me, is about a friend of mine struggling with drug abuse, but it could be anyone's addiction that they're battling.
Mortifyer: We definitely want to be fast, evil, and melodic sounding. We do have some lyrics that have some real meaning but that's about all.
11. As a black metal band, what are your opinions about the stereotype that the original black metal(formed in the 90´s by the early Norwegian bands) is fading away from its true origins?
Mortemawl: As far as I know, nobody is burning churches today to promote their music, so in a sense, yes. However the type of genre back then may be different now, but it is still being captured and made, though it's been done before so it has definitely faded, but you can do the same if you do something different about it.
Rudy: We actually ran into some trouble taking photos recently due to being stereotyped. We're here to make art, doesn't matter what the elitists think, music is music, you like it or you don't. You gotta evolve into something new some time.
Mortifyer: For me I'm in the middle because there are bands that are keeping that spirit alive and others who evolved in the genre and I'm happy with both.
12. What have you been listening to lately? Any new and upcoming bands that might have caught your attention?
Mortemawl: I've been listening to more of the old school stuff lately. Some Gorgoroth as they are one of my favorites, and Pure Holocaust from Immortal.
Rudy: Truth is, I've been listenning mostly to death metal, but I'm really enjoying Watain and oldschool Behemoth lately.
Mortifyer: Lately I've been listening to what's inspired me in the first place like Dissection, Dark Funeral, and Marduk. There are some good new bands out there I just haven't found them yet.
13. What does the future hold for Strifemoon? Is it in your plans to release any new material?
All: Right now were promoting stuff but we also have a music video of First Frost in store. We're also working on a new EP which we're calling "Lord Of The Void" which expands on Emptiness a bit. At least for the title track. From Rudy: I would say we're being a bit more experimental with the riffs.
14. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
All: We would like to say thank you from Strifemoon for this awesome apportunity and thank you to our listeners new and old!
Comments