Having released our first work, we have been busy making connections with like-minded people to spread awareness of our music, and to proselytize on behalf of the dark knowledge we've discovered. You can find us under the names MVRDVRKVLTVR or Ekhthir Ithas on several platforms. In addition, we are spending our time in isolation refining our craft (the work is never finished), and beginning to develop ideas for new material.
2.So far you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
The goal of the EP was to develop the essential and stripped down sound of mercilessness. Through a minimalistic approach, we sought to bring forth sonically our core principles of unforgiveness and lack of respect for meekness and weakness. This made war and blackened death metal a natural choice and we worked within those frames to develop an unrelenting, breathless dark assault on the listener.
3.In the music you can also hear a lot of war metal elements, do you feel this genre is finally getting the recognition it deserves despite having been around almost of long and black and death metal/
The response to the new Revenge album that came out recently suggests that it is. Of course Revenge is a titan of the genre, but it's been interesting to see the latest release greeted with so much enthusiasm. We could question whether some of the new enthusiasts are fully comprehending the underlying ideology of war metal -- it's apparent that some newcomers are attracted to the war metal sound while loudly advancing principles that are not only incongruous but indeed antithetical to the spirit of war metal. Of course, the same can be said for black metal as a whole. Overall, I'd prefer more listeners to the genre rather than less, but if certain people think they are going to come in and force the scene to conform to their ideological expectations and preferences, I think they are going to be disappointed.
4.You also cover a lot of occult, Gnostic and left hand path themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the dark arts?
The EP begins with an invocation and ends with a doxology -- this is not just window dressing, this EP constitutes our conception of a devotion ritual to the forces of subversion and deception that work to undo the stranglehold of the false desert gods over modern society. The dark entities we venerate are superior to those false idols because they actually help us -- by providing tools we can use against the followers of the false gods. Some of our pantheon are well known -- Prometheus and his avatar the snake of Eden who bring wisdom, Lucifer who brings the light of knowledge, and Beelzebub who furnishes destructive power. We venerate Satan as the Father of Lies, or as we like to call him, the Lord Deceiver, and thank him for the gift of lies with which to deceive and confuse the false. Lastly, a presence that to us was nameless until we dubbed it the God of MVRDVR -- who fills the devotee's heart with pure bloodlust when called upon.
As part of our preparation for this EP, we studied the Ophite Diagrams that survive and we believe we understood them and discovered new knowledge within them. The limits of human action absent demonic inspiration, the decay of vitality caused by mercy and peace, and the power of violence and war to continually renew and strengthen the human spirit. Some of this knowledge is reflected in our album art and lyrics.
5.You also mentioned H.P Lovecraft in a previous interview, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in his works?
Lovecraft is a key influence for us for a couple of reasons. First we have to admit that, simply, a lot of his stuff is just really fucking cool. But secondly, his work hints at deep truths that align with that which we have discovered; in some ways we synthesize his ideas with some of ours. For example, he emphasized the insignificance of humanity in a cosmic sense, but in his work this leads to a sense of futility -- we embrace this concept but are overjoyed to learn of this fact, and it makes it all the more imperative to grasp the throat of life with both hands and wring mercilessly. Extract every ounce of pain and pleasure you can from this existence. Call on the dark forces for material gain and destructive impetus. In the end we're all dust, and if my ashes get in the eye of some bastard and blind him, all the better.
On a more concrete level, our track "The Wall" which forms sort of an interlude on the EP is a dramatic reading of a passage from one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, "The Rats in the Walls."
7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the demo cover?
So the skull on the cover is actually a bear skull, we get a lot of questions about that. I was at a natural history museum browsing a display of various mammal skulls, and found myself drawn to the bear skull which had a savage, bloodthirsty, uncivilized look in my eyes. So we commissioned a drawing of one and ended up using it on the cover. Behind the skull in grey you can see MVRDVRKVLTVR's sigil which we designed to communicate with the God of MVRDVR and which can also be seen on our Bandcamp page, for any who may be interested in using it to call on the same power.
8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We are not looking for a label and have not been approached by any. Honestly I'm not sure what we will say if we are approached. I guess we'd have to look closely at the terms of the deal. But we have no plans to pursue that on our own. We like the independent DIY approach, it suits us for now. Promotion is tough as an independent because you have to either pay for it or do it all yourself, but we feel like currently our message is reaching a lot of the people we want it to. There's always more to do.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of war, black and death metal?
We've had a few reviews, whether formal or informal, posted in various places and we're happy to see that everyone seems to be getting the messages we were looking to send. It's good to hear from like-minded individuals who appreciate the demonic sound that we are aiming for.
10.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
The band will be returning to the studio soon to begin work on the follow up. It is still formless and inchoate at this time -- but we are expecting it to be a full length. End of this year may be a possibility but the Gods of Chaos rule all and we will see when the God of MVRDVR will deign to grace us with viciousness.
In terms of future musical direction, a couple of changes to our sound are already planned. The Mauled by Savagery EP has no bass guitar on it, but we will have bass on future recordings. We're also going to be looking into more layering on guitar. Vocals and drums I would expect to be fairly consistent on our next release, at least. In terms of songwriting, we'd like to explore a pure war metal sound a bit more deeply than we have, looking to Blasphemy and Revenge as models. We'd also like to explore doom and sludge angles, but that may be far in the future.
11.Do you have any other musical influences other than blackened death or war metal bands?
We listen to a variety of things within the metal genre. I cut my teeth on second-wave black metal and still listen to a lot of that. We all love old school death metal and that was a significant influence on the type of guitar sound we went for. Doom and sludge metal is another influence -- we kept things mostly at higher tempo on the EP, but as mentioned, we want to explore slowing things down from time to time in the future.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks to Occult Black Metal Zine for the review and this interview -- we appreciate the exposure. Keep up the search for knowledge! Hail Satan!
mvrdvrkvltvr.bandcamp.com
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