1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
A) Noire is a 'Progressive Black Metal' band coming from the bitter heart of Candada, Winnipeg. We try to explore the more intricate sides of music; having acoustics, piano, and other instrumentation within our music. This is done in contrast to the more traditional 'black metal' stereotype. We put an emphasis on song structure, and melody.
2.You have a new ep coming out in July, how would you describe the musical sound that is present on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
A) This album is quite different from our debut. It's 6 tracks of mostly acoustic and ambiance tracks, centred around the main 'metal' song, "The Tracks of The Hunted". We were able to write more focused and condensed ideas this time. We always wanted to write more atmospheric and enchanting tracks. We feel the recording is more specific to the atmosphere we're trying to capture, making it a more immersive and personal experience.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
A) Each song is is designed to emote a strong feeling that is inspired and cohesive with each performance piece. We have a few overarching common themes that we try to emit through our music. Sadness, isolation, darkness, and Death. The lyrics are largely introspective and a result from being disenchanted by the world.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Noire'?
A) Noire as a name is simply something we thought implied a certain sophistication, all while implying an overall sense of darkness. All of this while remaining vague enough not to musically put us in a box.
5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Best show we played so far would have been Farmageddon. We took to the stage, and instantly the sun started setting and it started raining almost snowing as we were playing. As we were playing "Where Death Keeps" the rain was falling sideways from off stage, and our banners were blowing in the wind. It was a very cold show. Our stage performance is 'shock-and-awe', you can see the excitement in peoples faces as we ring through our first chord.
6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
A) Noire will be taking to Western Canada this summer. We were invited out to play Armstrong Metal Festival, and planned a two and a half week tour around it. The dates are as follows:
July 2 – Winnipeg, The Windsor
July 6 – Calgary, Distortion Live Music Venue
July 7 – Edmonton, Brixx Bar & Grill
July 8 – Vancouver, The Astoria
July 9 – Penticton, The Legion
July 10 – Victoria, Logans Pub
July 11 – Nanaimo, The Cambie
July 14 – Prince George, Artspace at Books & Company
July 15 – 17 Armstrong, Armstrong Metal Fest
July 18 – Banff ‘Secret Show’
July 21 – Red Deer, The Vat
July 22 – TBA
July 23 – Regina, The exchange
Past this we're looking into breaking into new markets, either the US or Europe for sometime in 2017.
7.The new ep is self released, are you open to working with another label again in the future?
A) Yes, we have parted ways with DeathBound Records for our upcoming release, on good terms. We were weighing out some options for release of this record with several labels, but we have decided in the end a self release of our EP would be best, and to work with these labels in the future. This all being said, we have talks with a few international labels who want to distribute the EP.
8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?
Going off a few reviews of the first album we seem to have some international fans in Greece, and Russia. Within a few days of release Dark Reverence was uploaded to several Russian websites, We expect about the same with this new EP.
9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
A) For most of us this is our main project. Josh our newest member and drummer is part of a local progressive group.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
A) We plan on heading in more of the direction of our EP for future releases. We want to incorporate more atmospheric progressions and tie this in with our strong string leadership, and the dual guitar harmonies.
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
A) We're heavily influenced by Opeth, Dissection, Enslaved, Opeth, Emperor, and Ulver.
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
A) We have dabbled in many things as a group, we all attain to be healthy humans through exercise. And of course, Coffee.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
A) We feel this upcoming EP is our strongest effort yet. We're very pleased with the production, and our overall goal we feel has been met. The Tracks of The Hunted will be available to pre-order off our bandcamp for $1 (https://noiredarkmetal.bandcamp.com/), this is done in order to spread the darkness further.
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