here is the 2nd blog/page of my serbian metal report the two bands
featured this time are. kozeljnik a band that mixes in fast,aggressive
black metal but also has a certain dark atmosphere entertwined.the
band's new cd "deeper the fall" is now availble through the u.s label
paragon records.
the final interview is with the great
shadowdream! ambient/expiremental metal band.the band mixes in horror
movie soundtrack ambience and expiremental sounds for a very unique and
interesting sound.
hope you all enjoy the interviews,
best regards
patrick and winter torment web-zine
http://www.wintertorment.com
Interview with L.G., drummer for Kozeljnik / done by Patrick
1. Hails my friend!! How are things going in Serbia this week? Please tell the readers a little about yourself.
Well, I'm currently out of Serbia so I wouldn't know much, but in general, same old same old..
Me,
myself and I is the drummer of BM bands Kozeljnik, The Stone, May
Result and Dead Shell Of Universe, all of which are currently active and
have some or plenty of releases under their skin. Music and ancient
Kozeljnik devilry are the themes my dreams and living conscious deal
with. I'm separated from the fokken Earth, yet still I dwell deep in its
core, amidst the flames and woe, above and beneath...
2. When
did you first discover metal? Who were some of the first bands to catch
your attention? Who are some of your "current" favorite bands?
I'll
admit, at very young age. My older sister used to be with her whole
being into bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, later Alice in Chains
etc.. all of which are one my favourites up to this day. So I followed
"blindly" her passion for this kind of music when I was just a freakin'
child, so this later evolved into a really serious, life-meaningful
thing. I also look for plenty of bands aside metal music, but some of my
favourites in this type would include: Slayer, King Diamond, Craft, The
Chasm, Enslaved, Cannibal Corpse, Mayhem, Sadus, Pantera, Absu,
Runemagick, Unearthly Trance, Darkthrone, Code, Death, Aeternus, Root,
W.A.S.P... there's a whole lot more, but I'll stop in order to save you a
little bit of space here.
3. When did you and Kozeljnik
(vocalist, guitars) meet? Was it long after you both decided to form
Kozeljnik? For the readers who have not heard the band before how would
you describe the music?
You mean 'before' we formed Kozeljnik. Sure, I
knew his bands way before we even met, but officially our
friendship/brotherhood goes from the end of 2002, or beginning of '03.
Kozeljnik was formed in 2006. Dark and Morbid BM art in its basics, but
we tend to push the limits quite often and quite hard. Check out our
most recent state of mind, revealed in an album called "Deeper the Fall"
that just got released through NY-based Paragon Records.
4.
Kozeljnik is just the two of you. Have u guys thought of adding more
members for a full-studio band or do you prefer to work as a duo?
As
an entity that Kozeljnik represents, we're always gonna be a two-piece
devilcraft. On our live performances, we always add some more people to
hail this ritual with us and only those whom we trust deeply. As for the
studio efforts, so far all of 'em were made by the two of us, yet we
may have some guest(s) in the future, that's if we feel like embracing
some different kind of energy in the very moment and let it become one
with ours.
5. If you personally had the opportunity to work/write with any musicians past or present who would you like to work with?
I'd
definitely like to work/share/co-operate/get lost and again get
back-on-the-track with f.e.: Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, Blasphemer, Mike
Patton, Dimebag Darrell, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, James Hetfield,
Jerry Cantrell, King Diamond/Andy LaRocque/Hank Shermann, Les Claypool,
Ozzy, Peter Steele, Ivar Bjørnson, James Murphy, Milan Mladenovic/EKV..
just to mention those few I adore.
6. The band recently released
it's second CD "Deeper the Fall" through the US label Paragon Records.
How long did it take you both to write/record the songs for "Deeper the
Fall"?
We've been working on it for a few months, all of it came
strictly on our studio sessions. We just lock ourselves, let all of our
internal and the spheres beyond show them faces to us, afterwards we
channel them and shape in a way that suits our Will at the moment.
That's how this album appeared to be made and that's pretty much the way
Kozeljnik breathes for us and us for him.
7. Are you happy with how the music/songs turned out? How has response been from the fans and press?
We
are, we are indeed. So far, reviews posted all around the web and ones
we got from some magazines have been really in-depth and you can easily
see who figured out his/her own way with "Deeper the Fall". We need
people to dive into our art, to experience, to expand... I see no worth
in having positive, negative or comments made by people with lack of
interest & dedication. I want those who are capable of understanding
this kind of art, who are willing to share themselves with what we and
other of our kind have to offer.. beyond, just go beyond and let go off
all that you thought you possess and embrace the Unknown.
8. As
mentioned Kozeljnik signed with Paragon Records. How did you come into
contact with the label? Do you find it hard to work with a label in a
different country?
Not at all, all the bands run by K. and me are
involved with labels from abroad. So far, co-operation with Paragon
seems quite nice, they were one of the most attractive labels to us
because of their chief's interesting choice of bands and huge effort
that he and his comrades involve in order to support them. So, we gave
it a try, sent out a rehearsal with some new songs and got the deal.
We're pleased with the outcome.
9. Kozeljnik are a two-man band
in the studio but I have read on the band's sites: you use some session
members for live shows. Please introduce the session members. How often
does Kozeljnik play live? Do you enjoy playing live or do you prefer
studio-work only?
Yup, as mentioned earlier, we have men helping us
on stage, them being: Demonetras, guitarist for The Stone, very
important figure in our live performance, Dusan of May Result, who's
handling second guitar and most recently, our new bass player Tibor (of
Hungarian band Neochrome). This is the live-formation of Kozeljnik. We
tend to play live whenever we have the opportunity, expect some
mini-tour to be arranged at the beginning of the next year. European
part for now.
10. You are a part of Serbia's black metal
underground. For the readers unfamilar with Serbia's metal scene, what
is your opinion on the scene there?
I'm not at all pleased with the
situation in our homeland, there's no bands, no gigs, media, no real
people supporting this thing.. we always look for the outside shows,
contacts and cooperation with people in other countries. Unfortunate,
perhaps, but this is the way we've been doing like for years now...
there's some glimpses and flashes on times and I really hope some of the
worthy people I know from around will make it big, or at least visible
in the near future. But again, I'm silent and observing to that.
11. Who are your all-time favorite Serbian metal bands? Are there any new bands the readers should keep their eyes open for?
It's
pointless to mention any, really. They either last for few years and
make something bearable or not at all worth mentioning, or they simply
vanish after the idea of having a band is put on table. No favorites,
sorry. Do check out our work with The Stone, May Result, Dead Shell of
Universe and stretch your eye into direction of the following acts (it
may worth your while, after all): Disdained, Consecration, Space Eater,
Heretical Guilt, dreDDup (more industrial psychotic groove than metal,
but still, vicious), Vehementer, Zaklan; some of the older ones:
Bloodbath, Heller, Bombarder (Bosnian ancient hellish outfit).
12.
Speaking of Serbia's metal scene Kozeljnik and yourself are part of the
mighty Serbian bands "The Stone" and "May Result". When did you guys
form/join these bands? How would you say The Stone's and May Result
music is different from Kozeljnik's?
Both of these bands have been
there from mid 90's and are very active with both studio and live
performances. K. has been there from the start and I joined them in '07,
just a year after we started out with Kozeljnik. Well, music and
approach differ a lot, anyone can tell that just by having either one of
those bands' albums and will to observe & compare them. If you're
into blasphemous, not-typical, well played and on occasion brutal black
metal, do check out The Stone. We have new album "Umro" and have
recently returned from 1-month European tour with Romanian band Negura
Bunget. May Result, on the other hand, is an old-school black metal of
Death, having 4 albums behind and has played some of the bigger UG
festivals in Europe in past decade.
13. Everyone has their own
idea on what black metal means/stands for so I was curious of your
opinion. In your opinion what does "black metal" mean to you?
Everything
and Nothing, the idea of flame consuming all, the idea of earth
unfolding its true face - Reversal of the known, the great destroyer and
wisdom bringer. BM as we know it keeps expanding every second and is an
art completely out of control. That's what puts a grim smile on my face
every time I confront my reality. It gives all and vanishes as if it
never was there. Weird and strange, yet present and constantly
intriguing. Fucking sick, at last...
14. You handle the drums for
Kozeljnik and I would like to compliment you on the amazing drum work
you did on "Deeper the Fall" some of the best black metal drumming I've
heard in years. When did you first become interested in playing drums?
Are you self-taught or have you had lessons in the past?
Thank you
for your compliments, I really appreciate it. Yup, I finished
high-school of music, classical percussion department, but I'm pretty
much a self-taught drummer. I always tend to embrace as many styles as
possible, hear and listen a lot of same and different musicians every
day, all the time, think & learn this craft.. that's how it goes for
me. Can't really remember when was the first time I took such an
interest in actually playing this instrument, but I think it was always
present in my life. Always been there.
15. Who would you say are some of your influences/favorite drummers? Do you play any other instruments?
Some
of my all time favorites include Mikkey Dee, Paul Bostaph, Fenriz, Bill
Ward, Sean Kinney, Proscriptor McGovern, Vinnie Paul, Tim Alexander,
Pete Sandoval, Hellhammer, Donald Tardy, Dave Lombardo, Mike Bordin;
Dave Weckl, Stewart Copeland, Buddy Rich, Jonathan Moffet, Matt Abts,
Jeff Porcaro, Chad Smith.. a bunch of them really, just too many to
mention. I also play piano a little bit.
16. Well my friend we
have reached the end of the interview. I would like to thank you for
taking the time to fill out this interview. Do you have any final
comments for the readers?
Thanx so much for doing this wonderful
interview, thank you for your support and interest in me, Kozeljnik and
the Devil that speaks within. Take care and keep up the good work..
To the true observers of the horde: Deeper the Fall is dedicated to you. May you find yourself.
Interview with rastako,all instruments for shadowdream,done by patrick
1.hello rastako! how is your week starting out? please tell the readers a little about yourself.
Hello
my friend, thanks for asking it’s quite well, but little bit chaotic.
As for second part of question, I am author of music project
Shadowdream, educated in cinematography, music theory and violin, as
well as amateur astronomer.
2.when did you first become interested in playing music? what were some of the first instruments you learned to play?
Since
first days in music school, when I began playing violin at the age of
6, I was discovering this magnificent dimension of artistic expression
called classical music, which can add little bit more drama to already
established visual art presentations in vein of sculpture, painting or,
for that meter, cinematography (horror, suspense movies would not exist
by today’s standards without alteration of picture with sound/music). Of
course, when I sensed Art as autochthonous entity, as alteration of
life and life on its own, I began to discover different ways of music
expression via different musical instruments, so after violin I started
to learn flute and piano, and in my free time guitar. I explored total
diversities of musical techniques therefore widening my own musical
knowledge and appreciation. Every form of Art presents individuality,
which is proven in greatest period of Renaissance, where secular
knowledge and individualism flourished.
3.which instrument do you
feel was the easiest for you to learn? which was the hardest for you to
learn? is their any instrument you have not learned to play yet that
you would like to
I cannot really determine which instrument or
technique was easiest or hardest to learn, since I learned all of them
by heart, all I can appreciate is which one is more interesting than the
other. As for some new instruments, I would really like to feel the
power of church organs as well as to play harpsichord and some woodwind
instruments – clarinet, Cor anglais, oboe…
4.when did you get the
idea to create "shadowdream"? how did you come up with the name for
this project/band? for the readers who have not heard shadowdream.how
would you describe the music you create?
Concept and idea to form
Shadowdream came gradually, during my wondering to great realm of Art. I
felt a need to express my inner world with words of different language –
one which alters life and expresses mine emotions. As for name, I feel
....
that
any Artist should work by his intuition, which is in most cases dark
and unpleasant, therefore I woken up this inner state and called it
Shadowdream, which reflects that hidden world of dreams (what we are and
who we might be) under the veil of dark shadows. My music is basically
part of Program music style, which means it is cohesive with imaginary –
your own personification or something you already have materialized.
So, I can say it is widening imagination, it is reflection of, somehow,
postmodern period, where Art was created only for people who understand
Art and enjoy it, it is conspiracy against plain people. It is music for
intelligent humans and not for the masses, so don’t expect some trendy,
decadent tunes. But, at the end, let the last judgment on my music be
told by person who listens to it!
5.you recently sent me your
newest cd "part of the infinity". how long did it take you to write the
songs for this release? are you happy with how the songs turned out?
The
creative part took around one year of time and it was triggered by
unimaginable greatness of science of Astronomy. I was intrigued by
theoretical, physical laws and representations of celestial objects, but
when I looked trough the eye of my telescope, the things I saw were
movement, shape, somewhat color, so I decided to add a new, sound
dimension and immediately started to write “Part of…” which is rather my
personal vision of something men observed for centuries – great cosmic
ballet. Until this moment, I am very pleased with final product and
representation of my impressions.
6.how has response been from the fans and press?
Fan
and press response was great, I must admit. It was discussed by
Astronomers on “A brief voyage trough our universe” lecture and was part
of astronomical lectures in local observatory for some time, so I guess
secular people are very intrigued by another vision of science –
Artistic.
7.i believe you told me you have been busy writing
songs for the next shadowdream release.how is this going? do you know
how many songs will be featured on this release? do you have a release
date set or planned? how do you feel the new music is different from
your past work?
Thank you for asking, the album is finished. As
in my previous works, I like to explore different spheres of knowledge,
so every opus is very different from the previous one, therefore this
one, as representation of my deep admiration towards renaissance period,
is somewhat my greatest success – it’s symbiosis of modern
anti-decadent mind with renaissance Art and the final product trying to
infiltrate greatest ideas of all time in modern society. Opus is
composed from eight
.... compositions and it is already out on
tape format (Depressive Illusions Records), with CD release on different
label being set during this forthcoming winter.
8.i believe i
saw your sites that besides shadowdream,you have also composed for some
movie soundtracks.is this correct? what are some of the movies you have
written music for?
Indirectly my music was used as soundtrack for
some of movies on Academy of Arts; they were mainly student music, so I
guess it was an act of altruism, ha ha. However, some rather serious
film productions have asked me for contribution, so I will eventually
see how that turns out.
9.i also saw on your site a banner for the
church of satan. would you consider youself a satanist? when did you
first start reading/studying anton lavey's writings?
By
philosophical views I do consider myself as Satanist and do agree with
most of the philosophy written by LaVey. Satanism, as philosophy, has
that dark aura around it, that is why most people don’t won’t to
approach it and “cross the line” of yet undiscovered, but the other side
of the mirror tells different story – realistic. I do not find myself
depending on some artificial being, rather find mythology (religion by
some means) as quite unique approach, from psychological point of view,
to incomplete personality and, of course, find these stories as good
belles-lettres, which can discover to us some hidden thoughts from times
in the past. Satanism presents personal responsibility, since we do not
have any higher being to be our lawyer.
10.besides anton lavey and the church of satan do you study/follow any other satanic/occult writers?
I
had chance to read some occult books, which dealt mostly on theological
approach to Satanism or/and wider occultism - I don’t find that as
relevant for my ideas, rather enjoyable belles-lettres. Recently I have
red, when it comes to occult associated literature, book “The Devil” by
Italian writer Alfonso M. di Nola, which is chronological look at
devil’s usage by various cultures from certain points of time, so I
found that, from anthropological and historical point of view
interesting.
11.besides occult/satanic writers are their any other
philiosphers you study? do you have a certain kind of philosophy you try
to live by?
I do have my own philosophy, which is mainly
directed towards Art, Science and depicting decadence, as well as some
codex of living – I have collected my own impressions and thoughts,
which will be released online, or maybe with some future
....
album, I still haven’t decided, but you will be able to read my works and take a peak inside my “philosophy”.
12.coming back to music you come out of the serbian metal underground. what is your opinion of serbia's metal underground?
My
honest opinion is that there is problem of quantity against quality.
There is lot of envy among people, like everywhere else, but I do think
that people in, let’s call them, socially aware countries, look their
own business and way to “success”, rather than doing stagnation and the
“evil eyes” on those who do not find themselves positively progressing.
It’s easier to be better than average, than better than best. As for
some established bands, who resisted this place and time, and still are
productive I do support them and their work and feel they are
representatives of real, creative Serbian metal scene.
13.who are
some of your all-time favorite serbian metal bands? are their any new
upcoming bands you think the readers should watch out for?
As I
really don’t have all-time favorite amongst Serbian metal bands, I will
mention those who I truly respect and see as relevant to be part of
something called “scene”. Names such as May Result, The Stone, of course
“new blood” on the scene in vein of Ancient Sorrow, Bane, Vehementer
and, unfortunately disbanded Disdained, with great respect toward primal
nucleus of Serbian metal in vein of Bombarder, Necrophiliacs Terror,
Murder etc.
14.besides shadowdream do you currently work or play with any other bands? if yes please tell the readers a little about them.
Actually,
I am second member of black metal band Ancient Sorrow. It is
straightforward black metal, taking it’s inspiration from primordial
Scandinavian scene, along with emphasized orchestral parts. New material
is soon to be presented in underground publicity.
15.well my
friend we have reached the end of the interview.thank you for taking
the time to fill out this interview.do you have any final comments for
the readers?
Thank you very much, my friend, for interesting and
dynamic questions, it was pleasure answering them. Enjoy art, because
art provides the answer to what cannot be answered!
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