1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording off the new album?
Lord Lokhraed : Recording took a bit time cause of member’s availability for recording. The album has been composed since 2009 but we toured a lot and get life changing that took for some of us priority. Also we got music side projects which for some us became more important cause its personal band.
2.You have a new album coming out in June, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
This album is special for us because for one time we didn’t wrote lyrics but this will be explained on the following question. Musically, we did something back in time by performing a more traditional Black Metal including Nocturnal Depression sound and melodies. It’s something interesting cause since 2009 you see a step back to the old metal ways. I think “Spleen Black Metal” is really more about old way of playing black metal than evolution to mix it with shoegaze, death, thrash or old school heavy metal as you may hear lot of bands actually this way.
3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics that are present on the new album?
It’s something we wanted since a long time with Nocturnal Depression entity. Literature has a strong importance in our band as most of lyrics are about a parallelism of feelings from the main character. Like “The one haunting my mind” is a musical interpretation of Lovecraft novel. “Spleen Black Metal” is a gathering of poetries from French authors all meeting to the depressive, sad and melancholic point of mind.
4.The album title and one of the tracks is name 'Spleen Black Metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?
“Spleen” is a term well used by Baudelaire which is close to Melancholy. I wanted to use this name like for band name: a mix between lyrical theme (Spleen) and music performed (Black Metal). We can’t be described as Suicidal like in past as we talk more about sorrow, sadness, depression… and not about basic propaganda “Kill yourself”. Also as we make a kind of condensate of poetries, I thought it will explain more the concept of album with this title than another one.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nocturnal Depression'?
Nocturnal is an adjective for nocturne, we thought it as classic music style which is very slow and sorrowful. Depression stands for the lyrical theme like longing for death, suicidal thoughts and pessimism. With this band name, you know directly what you will hear. I don’t like bands name without meaning that when you take cd you don’t know what you will find. Of course, for some “so-called intelligent people” it sounds stupid but I fuck them. I don’t need their advice and they can blow their friend bands.
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We performed around 100 shows worldwide but I remember each one of them with some particularities. You got great memories with shows intensity and crowd as example but also some bad with worst technic conditions or promoters doing the less possible for saving their money. Some of the bests in a personal way were Kings of Black Metal, Metaldays, Germans and Italian shows. When we go on stage, we leave our human mind away and corpse paint change or face to the hidden beast deep in us. It’s like theatre and it’s our particularity to live each note we play.
7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We will headline a festival in Italy during july 2015 and later we will tour across Europe together with our brothers of Forgotten Tomb. I think we will perform some few gigs after and work on album.
8.A few months back a heard a band from Italy doing a cover of your song 'Host', do you feel you have been a huge influence on a lot of the newer depressive black metal bands?
I, as leader, have no feeling to be an influence to new band in DSBM scene. I wouldn’t have this kind of pretention. If some bands felt influenced by our music and want to cover it, it would mean that something in this song touched them deeply and it got an importance to them. Really, I wouldn’t blame a band to cover ND. When we did this music, it was (and still is) our feelings put in music. We never thought to be “important” or even signed on such important labels like Avantgarde Music or Sun & Moon Records (who made us known to whole scene) or even to be part of such important fests like Kings of Black Metal or Metaldays.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by fans of depressive black metal?
I won’t tell you anything particular cause as we always lead the direction of the band (and still do), we don’t get any importance to advices, reviews or critics of our albums. I think nobody should tell a band how to sound. I read an interview from Peter (Vader)on Metallian who said something like “we don’t ask ACDC to sound like Nickelback…so Vader sounds like Vader”. I totally approve. The ones who spit on us and talk about no evolution are frustrating people and I don’t give a shit about their view on our music.
10.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that the band members are a part of?
Any member of Nocturnal Depression got several musical projects in a large panel like Black, Death, Thrash, Heavy, Covers, Classic… so talking about each one would be very long and complicated. As ND is not a priority to other members cause they don’t take part in writing, their other bands became more important to their eyes. It’s this way of working when you play in several band : fixing priority.
11.Where do you see the band heading into musically doing the future?
Nowhere particularly actually. We will see how things are going during tour and if we can manage gigs but about music we will try to create something same way as we perform now but maybe including some Doom/Dark influence… future will tell…
12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
When you are 4 people, it’s hard to find a specific influence. For me it will remain on Nocturnal Depression roots : Forgotten Tomb and Nargaroth. Of course there is a masterpiece like “Filosofem” from Burzum also.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for your support and to people following us. Thanks to the others spitting on our faces, you give us free promotion.
.jpg)
