Fovitron | interview

Symphonic blackdeath metal from Greece

Interview with Magni

Panos welcome to Metaller. Congratulations for your debut album, it was a pretty powerful release. To begin could you introduce us the band?

Hello. Thank you very much. Fovitron is a symphonic blackdeath metal band from Athens, Greece. The band consists of Nuntius Mortis (vocals), Fovitrus (guitars), Sovereign (bass), Damien (drums) and Magni (keyboards). In 2017 we released our first EP, titled “Fovitron” (self-released and in limited copies by CVLMINIS Records), and 3 years later in April 2020 we released our first full length album “Altar Of Whispers” via Alcyone Records.

How fans of the genre and the press greeted “Altar Of Whispers” til now?

The reviews from the press are very positive so far and the feedback we’ve received from the fans has been very good as well. We’d like to thank them all and we hope to see them all live when the circumstances allow for it.

Give us some further details about its creation, the recordings etc.?

The album was recorded during August-October 2019 at Made In Hell Studios and the mastering was finished in January 2020. The production was made by Magni and the mixing/mastering by David Prudent. The lyrics are written mainly by Nuntius Mortis and Sovereign. Magni has also written lyrics in some songs. Nancy Mos from Fortis Ventus featured as the guest vocalist in the track “Endless Whispers”. Last but not least, the artwork of the album is the work of Ioanna Athanasopoulou.

Tell us about Fovitron’s influences and from where are you drawing inspiration to write your music?

As a band that consists of 5 members the influences are quite diverse. They range from Cradle Of Filth and Dark Funeral to Draconian and Doom VS, Bal-Sagoth and many more. Inspiration comes from darkness and inner search.

If anyone would ask you what you play and how you sound what would you tell them?

We play symphonic black metal with death metal elements.

Tell us few things about the songwriting process, how do you work as a band?

The main composer of the songs is Fovitrus. In this album, the main riffs of all the songs were written by him with the exceptions of the intro “The Grieving King”, which was written by Magni, and “The Minstrel Of The Icy Keep”, which was written by Sovereign and Fovitrus. Fovitrus comes up with the main riffs of the songs and then the bass and the drums follow. Nuntius Mortis is responsible for the vocal parts and Magni is responsible for the keyboards to complete the song.

Provide us the clues of your lyrical themes?

The lyrics follow the atmosphere and, in some parts, the melancholy of the music. In this album, the lyrics mainly have to do with experiencing loss, the inner turmoil that human beings often feel inside and the struggle to beat it and emerge victorious. “The Minstrel Of The Icy Keep’’ has lyrics related to fantasy and medieval themes while “Endless Whispers” is about the demon Iblis who manipulates people by whispering lies and dark desires to them.

Inspiration comes from darkness and inner search.

Magni

Did you took advantage of the situation to write any new material or do various things concerning the band?

Yes. Since we cannot perform life during all this, we are composing new songs for our next album. Fovitrus and Sovereign have some riffs ready and we will start to make them whole songs. Furthermore, we are also finishing up some things concerning stage decoration for future lives. We have also used this opportunity to promote our first album online.

Which tracks from the album do you consider the most representative on the album and why?

The most representative tracks of the album are “Inner Demons” and “Wasteland Of My Dreams”. The first because it has the atmosphere and the lyrical themes that characterize this album and the second because it includes all the blackdeath metal riffs that represent the band.

 Your future plans and end credits?

Our future plans include as many lives as possible when the circumstances allow for it and composing new songs for our second album. Thank you very much for the interview and hope you enjoy our album. Horns up.

Athargos

Trident | interview

Deathblack metal from Sweden

interview | Defiler

Defiler welcome to Metaller. Congratulations for your new album, it is a blast. The Swedish black metal scene needs releases like this nowadays, when back in the mid 90’s you were sweeping and dominating the whole world. Do you think this feeling will come back?

Thank you! We feel truly honored for all the good reviews and positive feedback we’ve gotten since the release. If we were to chase any feeling it would be just this, that people appreciate the things we create in a similar way as the pride we feel over its completion. In a way the golden age of this genre has passed, but with fans still hungry for more, we can only hope that we exceed the ecstasy of our past conquers.

Which band do you miss from these days?

There was a lot of good metal being produced back then, some are still active and others either choose to leave their mark unaltered or were forced to end with many losses to the world of music. With a most humble respect to all the greats of this golden age, I must say that I miss Ace, Quorthon and his work with Bathory the most. His music still inspires me to this day.

Let’s go to the all fresh and new “North” album. What are your emotions about it? Do you believe that everything you’ve done for this album sounds rewarding?

It has been a journey with many ups and downs… We wanted to record something that we ourselves enjoy listening to, and in the process get a good well needed creative release. And ultimately the whole band is very proud of what we managed to give creatively to this piece. So I would say yes, extremely rewarding on so many levels.

Ten years have passed since the release of “World Destruction” and five from the “Shadows” EP. Were the songs of “North” written during all these years or are they relatively recent compositions?

Some songs were already in the making since “World Destruction” or even earlier, either as previously unused riffs and Ideas or as almost complete songs that didn’t fit at the time or just needed some fine tuning. The years after the release of “Shadows” was when the songs truly started to take their current form.

The whole band is very proud of what we managed to give creatively to this piece.

Defiler

What are some striking differences between the new album and your debut?

Well, since there has been a shift of bandmembers, and every artist has their way of performing the general vibe has been altered a little. Small changes in theme and the overall sound but definitely noticeable. But mostly I must say it’s the quality of production in the sound, still raw but with new spectra of nuance and depth.
 

When I, and not only me, first saw the stunning cover its colors brought me to mind of Bathory’s “Blood On Ice”. Tell us more about it, as well and some things about the lyrical concept of the album?

Excellent work from Juanjo Castellano, extremely talented artist in my opinion.
There is definitely some homage made both with the sound and the visual appearance, to a certain era of extreme metal including the cover art styles of Bathory and Dissection etc. The art is however meant to summarizes the overall feeling we as a band felt from the music we wrote to this album, so parts of lyrics and concepts were sent to the artist to give a general idea of what to create. And it came out greater than we could’ve imagined. The lyrics of the “North” album is a journey inwards, many of the songs describe themes from folklore and ancient Magick practiced by the people of the north. But north as a place in the lyrics is not as much a physical place you can visit, but the concept of a far off realm where our forefathers sent illness and demons away from the sick and burdened so that it would not find its way back to haunt the host again.

What have you gained and what you lost or missing during the pandemic?

We haven’t really gained that much except for some time perhaps, but we miss a lot of things… Most importantly it would be our inability to perform the new album live. Being able to tour abroad and meet our fans is how a release is supposed to be, and now we’re stuck waiting for changes in the state of the world. It’s frustrating but temporary, it’ll all pass eventually one way or another.

Tell us few things about the songwriting process, the recordings, the new members?

We’ve had the same lineup since the “Shadows” release with the exception of our new bass player BloodLord. He was our previous sound engineer in the studio on both the “Shadows” EP and “North” album, and we are thrilled to having him aboard as a full time member of the band. The songwriting progress differs from song to song but usually starts with some guitar riffs composed by Reaper. Which then Ulv and Svart put their personal touch to with additional riffs (sometimes also the bass), melodic guitars and percussions. The lyrics are written by Defiler who listens to and follows the musical writing progress during rehearsals.

What’s the next step for Trident? It’s been a great promotional job till now and fans/press has totally embraced the new album.

Yeah, our fans and our label Non Serviam Records has treated us very well, cheers guys. We have plans to play some live shows and tours, almost all of it on hold though but since there is a lot of planning to be done we want to be ready for it when the state of the Pandemic changes. Write new material, now is the perfect time to get productive and write more music. And if it all goes as planned, we will be releasing another album sooner than it took between our last releases.

End credits?

Thanks for having us. Be sure to take a listen to the “North” album if you haven’t already, check out the lyrics videos for “North” and “Death” posted on YouTube, the complete album can be found on Spotify, or even better order your own physical copy to the collection. Stay strong, stay true, and we’ll meet further up along the twisted road.

Athargos

Drama Noir | Mephisto (Guitars) | video interview

Cobra Spell | interview

Heavy Metal from USA/The Netherlands

Interview with Sonia Anubis

Sonia welcome to SFTV. Your first EP will be released in a few days. How do you feel about it, and what are your intentions, dreams and expectations? ‘

Hi! Thank you so much for having me on your interview. I have been super excited for the release of our debut EP “Love Venom”. The reactions on the music have been better than I ever expected, certainly because we are a new band and nobody knows us. We have had a lot of pre-orders and great reviews, we can’t be more thankful. We all in the band are very passionated about music and we have a lot of future dreams. We really hope to tour internationally, release a following full-length and certainly play our favourite festivals. We surely hope it will become reality.

Why is it a DIY release? Wasn’t there any approach from labels? Why Crypta have signed a deal but Cobra Speed not?

That’s right. Our EP has been released independently. The reason why Crypta is signed and Cobra Spell not, is simply because Cobra Spell hasn’t gotten any offer yet.

Give us some further info about “Love Venom”. The songwriting process, the recording sessions, production etc.?

We started the process of writing “Love Venom” in 2019. Compositions are made by me and the lyrics are mainly done by Sebastian. From there I create the singing line melodies. I make demo’s at home from the compositions. From there we sent it over to our singer Alexx so he can record the vocals for a demo version. For “Love Venom”, we had a session drummer named Marco Prij, he made some very cool drum-lines. Mixing and mastering has been done by Alejandro Gabasa Barcoj.

A band’s music is a combination of influences. From where or what do you draw inspiration to write music for Cobra Spell?

The biggest influences on Cobra Spell are without doubt anything 80’s – such as aesthetics, music, looks and architecture. Music wise, our favourite bands that inspire our sound are Dokken, Ratt, Whitesnake, X Japan, Yngwie Malmsteen and many more.

Could you please develop us your lyric-themes of your songs?

“Come On Tonight”: Overall this song is about getting ready for the night. Enjoy the night as much as possible. “Poison Bite”: Chasing down someone that you really like. “Love Venom”: Being in love. “Shake Me”: Being addicted to someone.

Your nickname is inspired by Egyptian mythology, and you seem to be deep into it. Why don’t you work on similar topics with your bands (or will you do it with Crypta)?

Most probably it might appear on Crypta lyrics.

What about your first full-length? Could you give us some info about it? Do you have any idea when it will be released?

With Cobra Spell, we are already working on the following full-length indeed, we are hoping for next year. With Crypta we have already the debut full-length finished writing wise. We are planning to go to the studio soon. We are releasing it next year too.

Leaving Burning Witches was my hardest choice so far in my short musical career. But I don’t regret it one bit.

Sonia Anubis

How do you like to spend your time when not being Sonia Anubis of Cobra Spell and Crypta?

Honestly music is my full-time thing, so you will always see me making music. I like to play around with synthesisers and orchestral VST’s on my computer, watch crime series, and doing gymnastics.

Any news from Crypta? Where are you with the new album?

We have finished the writing process, we are getting ready to book a studio soon to make this reality.  The album is expected/planned to be released next year.

How do you see the future of extreme metal and traditional heavy metal, two genres that you are into?

Right now, it’s hard to say since we there are not many concerts and no festivals and all has to be done online. Which really sucks. Even though I see fans keep and try hard to support their favourite bands even in this difficult time. I am hoping that after the pandemic, more people will put appreciation on the live concerts of both heavy metal and death metal bands.

Where do you enjoy jamming most? With the ladies in Crypta or mixed like in Cobra Spell?

Both in their own special way.

What has been the most challenging point of your career?

Having to make choices, such as leaving a band. I think leaving Burning Witches was my hardest choice so far in my short musical career. But I don’t regret it one bit.

Thanx for the interview and give an end.

Thank you a lot for the nice questions and support, and all the people reading this. Please check our music; it’s available on all popular streaming platforms or get our digital/physical music/merch. Stay tuned for our future endeveaours. Cheers.

You can support us here:

www.cobraspell.com

www.cobraspell.bandcamp.com

Athargos

Frank Rini (ex-Internal Bleeding) | video interview

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Dimhav | interview

ProgPower Metal from Sweden

Interview with Staffan Lindroth

Staffan welcome to SFTV. What is the latest news from Dimhav? How are you holding up with the pandemic up there in Sweden?

Thank you, great to be here. This spring and summer have certainly been different from normal, but since Dimhav is not doing live performances we were not as affected as a lot of the bands out there. By now the situation over all is of course a lot better than 2-3 months ago, but I guess it’s not time to relax and go back to normal just yet. The upside of this mess is that spending more time at home means more time in the studio as well, which is always welcome.

You have released “The Boreal Flame” some months ago on physical format via Omniversal Records a label that is yours. Why not a label and an independent DIY effort?

Since the beginning of planning “The Boreal Flame” we were set on doing the release ourselves. Partly because we were much more focused on producing an album of high musical quality than getting as wide attention as possible. But still, we are of course really happy about each and every listener and fan, and the great reception we feel it has gotten. The extra services a label provides were not that interesting to us in this particular case, especially since there were no plans for touring, or extensive marketing campaigns etc. For most bands, those aspects are usually much more important so there is of course still a role to play for record labels out there. It all comes down to what you need.

Which is the response from the press and the fans til now? We see that, before an album is released, many people stay just on words to support a band, and when the album is released the sales might not have the expected result.

The response has been very good. When it comes to reviews, and direct feedback, it has all been very positive and it’s particularly nice that a lot of the listeners seem to “get” what the album is intended to be and pick up on a lot of the things we made an effort to manifest in the music. We were especially happy to be listed on the “Top 50 Albums of 2019” in Sweden Rock Magazine, in their December issue. As for sales/streams, first of all we didn’t have any specific expectations, so we are quite happy about where we’re at. But we still feel that there are a lot of potential listeners out there, so we do want to reach a bit further as well.

Give us some further info about “The Boreal Flame”. The songwriting process, the recording sessions, production etc.?

The songs on “The Boreal Flame” were all written by me and Olle. Some of them were written very much together, such as “Star And Crescent” and “Realms Of A Vagrant King” and some more individually. “Boreal Ascent”, for instance, was written almost entirely by Olle – with me figuring out appropriate guitar parts afterwards, which was a fun process. Some of the songs were written a while back, with the intention to play them in our band at the time (“Shadows Past”, now on ice) but stylistically they did not quite fit, we found. That’s also why we had the idea for Dimhav, where we could fully explore the kind of music we wanted to do.

As for recording, we had full demos of all songs which – when all song structures were set – were used as basis for the drum recordings. We have our own little drum studio where this was done over the course of a few weeks. After Olle had finished the drum editing I recorded all the bass and rhythm guitars and added “sketch vocals” as well – as a guide for Daniel (and no, my own vocals will never go public (haha). Daniel then received project files from us with stems and all tempos and time signatures in order. We live in different parts of Sweden, so he did all his recordings at his place, sending files back and forth as needed. When the vocals were done I proceeded to record all the guitar and keyboard leads as the final step. I then mixed the album in my studio last summer. The intention was to keep a natural, dynamic and not “over-produced” feel on the album, which hopefully comes through. It was then mastered by Jacob Hansen, in Denmark, who really did a great job with it.

How did you convince Daniel to sing on the album? I think it was quite easy for him to accept your offer, as your music is close to what he has done in the past with Lost Horizon?

Yeah, we’re really happy that it worked out to have Daniel sing on the album – the process was simply that we got in touch and talked about it, and since he liked the songs it was straightforward from there. And you’re right that the vibe of the album probably does fit in with what he has done earlier as well. The songs on “The Boreal Flame” are quite varied in terms of vocal range and intensity, so having such a great and versatile singer was really key to getting the end result we wanted.

we were much more focused on producing an album of high musical quality, than getting as wide attention as possible

Staffan Lindroth

A band’s music is always a combination of influences. What are your influences to write music and are there influences that might be able to possibly surprise your fans?

Yes, some of our influences might surprise our fans. There are some obvious ones of course, like all the metal bands we’ve grown up listening to – Helloween, Symphony X, Angra and a lot of others. We are both big Devin Townsend fans as well, and there are some more recent bands as well, like Fleshgod Apocalypse, Scar Symmetry, Wintersun, Brymir and others that we both listen to. We both enjoy classical music as well, which is not unique in the metal world of course, but in our case perhaps not the “usual suspects”. Dmitri Shostakovich has been an influence on both of us, especially his symphonies, and in my case the symphonies of Anton Bruckner are often on the playlist. Ravel, Debussy and Wagner are constant sources of beauty and inspiration as well. In short, classical music is a huge world which is well worth tapping into for anyone.

Could you please develop the lyric-topics in your songs? Is it a concept album?

To a degree it is a concept album, since we did want to have a “red thread” going through the songs and the music. There is a loose narrative which is based on the idea of a man waking up after a very long sleep in something akin to a prison cell, to a deserted world. He then searches for the reason why he was locked away, and who or what he actually is. This narrative is not fully explained through the lyrics, which is conscious since we did not want to do a “metal opera”, but it provides a context for each song and helps establish a mood in the music, we think.

What made you decide to start Dimhav and what are your intentions and dreams with it?

The intention with Dimhav was and is for us to have a vehicle of creating the music that we want, with as few limitations or compromises as possible. Our current plan is to keep making the music that we like, and possibly explore some new directions with it as well. As for dreams, simply having people find and enjoy our music goes a very long way!

How did you choose the name Dimhav?

The Dimhav name was not there from the very beginning but appeared at some point during the process. It is a Swedish word which means “Sea Of Fog” and having a Swedish name is kind of a nod to where we come from. There is a famous romantic painting called “Wanderer above the sea of fog” which might be a more or less conscious source for the name. That painting shows a man with his back to the viewer, looking out over a foggy landscape, which evokes thoughts about the relationship between individuals and nature, exploring the unknown etc.

Did you make any plans for your next album?

So far nothing is set in stone, but we are continuously writing music and evolving new songs, so a second Dimhav album is very probable. As for the timing, and exactly what it will be, we’ll have to wait and see!

Thanx for the interview and give an end.

Thank you. It was great talking to you and sharing a little bit about our background. Thanks also to all our listeners and all those who bought our album so far.

Athargos

Lord Of Light | interview

By the morningstar a new day begins. Let thelight of the lord shine bright and bring you strength. Let it illuminate what was dark, and give hope where once was only despair. You are invited to listen to this new Heavy Metal album in the name of the Lord Of Light. It offers shimmering timbres, keen rhythms and wondrous melodies by the hands of talented musicians and engineers, to bring you something truly radiant and exciting for the modern age. Mastermind of the band, Nicklas Kirkevall, answered to our questions, and let’s see what he has to say.

Interview with
Nicklas Kirkevall

Nicklas welcome to SFTV. What is the latest news from Lord Of Light? How are you holding up with the pandemic hysteria there in Sweden?

Things are good. The summer finally reached us up here, so it’s been a few slow weeks now before the working year starts again. In terms of the pandemic things could definitely be better, but they could also be a lot worse. I think most everyone is ready to go back to normal now, but we’re not quite there yet, and no one knows exactly when we will be.

You had the “Morningstar” songs bouncing in your head around a decade and eventually you released them. Why it took you so many years to decide to release them?

When I started writing my mind was more or less in straight up power metal mode, and I think I wasn’t really comfortable there. The songs weren’t fully formed and I just didn’t know where exactly I wanted to go or how I wanted things to sound, so it took a long time for me to find that out and to put it all together. In the beginning I also wasn’t anywhere close to being able to sing the stuff, so that took a long time to get comfortable with.

With such amazing songs that you’ve written where there’s no approach from labels and why did you choose No Remorse records?

Since it was all done over such a long period of time there was never any obvious point to start marketing ourselves, so we just focused on making as good an album as we could, and worry about that later. When it was finally done we decided to just release it digitally so we could start focusing on the next one. Lucky for us No Remorse found us out pretty quickly, and after some back and forth it was obvious to us they were the right label. Enthusiastic, attentive and professional. And with good taste.

Do you have written any new material for a possible future release?

Yes, we’re just about to start the production of the next one. There’s a bunch of new and exciting ideas I can’t wait to get to and I’ve selected ten of them to make the new album from. It’s not all written yet, but a few of the songs are almost done.

Give us some info about “Morningstar” recording sessions, production etc.?

Well, for the most part it was a pretty traditional recording session, but since there is so much synth work and vocal layers on some parts, that was done separately. The synths actually took a very long time do get done because of all the different sweeping pads and things I did, and in so many layers, but it turned out great in the end. For any gearheads out there, the synths mostly all done with a Jupiter-6, with a little bit of Juno-60 and Polysix.

What made you decide to start your own band and what were your intentions and dreams with Lord Of Light?

Since I was a teenager I knew that writing music was the main thing I wanted to do in life, and there was never anyone who was that interested in the kind of metal I gravitated to. I’ve always loved Iron Maiden and Stratovarius among many others, and I felt that I maybe had an angle on it all that hadn’t been fully explored, so I was very keen on getting something together so I could do that.

From where or what are you drawing inspiration to compose your music?

Anything really, from politics to rocketry. As long as there’s something interesting going on there that maybe isn’t obvious at first glance. But mainly it’s about sharing experiences, I suppose. I like to look for the things that we all have in common. I can’t hope to solve anyone’s problems but if we can share a moment we can find some truth in there maybe.

This album is about hope, sometimes misplaced, and how the best of intentions can lead down dark paths, both as individuals and as a society.

Nicklas Kirkevall

A band’s sound is always a combination of influences. What are some influences that might surprise your music’s fans?

I don’t suppose anyone would guess it by listening to the music but one of my favourite bands is The Offspring, and I certainly think I’ve gotten some things in my writing from them. Any music with strong melodies has always stuck with me, from Bonnie Tyler to Beethoven.

Could you please develop the lyric-topics in your songs?

This album is about hope, sometimes misplaced, and how the best of intentions can lead down dark paths, both as individuals and as a society. Finding your own path and not just someone else’s. About the silver lining in the grim stuff.

Which is the response you have for “Morningstar” til now?

It’s incredible how many people from all over the world have reached us and given their compliments and well wishes. I was completely in my head about all the little flaws on the album when we released it, so it’s been a true blessing to get all this positive and enthusiastic feedback.

Thanx for the interview and give an end.

Thank you for taking the time. It’s a pleasure. And to all the readers our next album is planned for release before summer 2021. I hope you’ll stay tuned.

Athargos