Graveborne Interview

1. Can you tell us a bit about the band for those that have
never heard of you before?

Graveborne is a Finnish black metal band.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Raw, fast, catchy.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the music?

Nihilism, rebellion, hate, angst, suicide, anti-humanism and anti-religion.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

It comes from the title of the second track of our first EP 'Astride Over the Grave'. You could say that its a nihilistic world view compressed into one word. The idea that life is determined by death from its beginning to its end. Every thing and tought is to be valued against the absolute negativity of death.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?

Of course the gig in a such big Festival as Nummirock 2010 was important for a young band like Graveborne. The shows are performed in a sort of biltzkrieg tactic by keeping the breaks and talks between the songs as few and short as possible, and playing and performing the songs really aggressively and often in more faster tempos than on the recordings.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release

There are no touring plans this far, only sporadic gigs here in Finland.

7. On a worldwide level how has your music been received by black metal fans?

The hard thing is to get the attention as there are millions of black metal bands out there today. But when we has managed to get it the reception has usually been quite positive.

8. The new album came out on Nykta, how did you get in contact with
this label and how would you describe the support that they have given
you so far?

The contact was established the traditional way by mailing our promo package. Considering that Nykta is a small underground label it has served us well. They are very enthusiastic about the release of our debut album 'Pure Negativity' and they have done their best in every respect.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

The early work of such Scandinavian bands as Immortal, Dark Funeral, Marduk, Mayhem, Emperor, etc. are of course important for us as they have laid the foundation to the part of the genre we are attached to, but our musical taste is not restricted to black metal. I, for example, personally listen a lot to 70s progressive rock and jazz, and I even listen to some classical music. However, this does not mean that I would want to mix this stuff into the kind of black metal Graveborne stands for.

10. What role does Satanism and Occultism play in your music and how
would you describe your views on these topics?

I can only speak for myself but I believe that we are all more or less atheists in the band. The other members may have a slightly different view, but for me Satan is, on the one hand, Lucifer and Prometheus: an archetype of rebellion and free thinking. On the other hand, Satan is the Lord of Darkness, Evil, Destruction and Death: a figure, metaphor, or symbol of the force of negativity. Of course, you might ask why I speak of Satan if I am an atheist? To me its simply a question of motifs, themes and metaphors that comes with to the genre. This might not be "true" enough for some purist losers. But at least I am true to myself.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

We all have our daily duties outside music business working or studying, so besides music there are not much time to do anything else.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Go listen to the sample of 'Pure Negativity' at our site: www.graveborne.com. If you like it buy the cd and support the black metal underground!