1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
S: We are a Slovak band playing oldschool underground black metal with bit of filthy thrash and dark dungeon synth influence.
2.Recently you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
S: The main idea behind it was to get back to early 90's and take inspiration from this era, when black metal, hand to hand with dungeon synth, was mostly minor underground genre before its popularity raised after 2000 up to now. To keep it simple and raw, not overproduced, focused on expression.
3.A lot of your lyrics cover dark fantasy themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
K: Lyrics of the EP were inspired by Indo-European mythology and magic and some particular places and times, when probably due to some profound changes of society, worship of chthonic Gods rose in importance, people were thrown into abysses of caves while masks made of human faces were worn by the enchanters.
4.I know that the band’s name is 'Proto-Slavic for 'dragon', how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
K: It can also stand for serpent, eternal foe of solar Gods, keeper of the earthly treasures revered by chthonic cults, guardian of the deceased.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
S: As I am visual artist too, all Zmij artwork was created by me and I would like to keep it this way in the future too. I see the purpose of artwork in building interconnection between music and visual representation. This allows me to add more of my ideas into play and make all even more personal, more true. For the EP design, I used a pic taken from a journey we've made to visit a specific place where, in fact, the idea of Zmij was born somewhere in rainy autumn of 2022 when i was there for the first time and found this place. The figure of dark heathen enchanter, along with additional post-processing leading to a vintage look, refers to lyrics, and adds to the interconnection there. So, it´s like some sort of personal magic.
6.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?
S: As all Zmij members are active in other bands playing live shows, for now, Zmij is a studio project due to lack of time. In the future, we would like to play it live, even if it would be just for a few gigs.
K: We hope time is ripe soon for some gigs in settings and atmosphere that will be a little more special.
7.So far very little is known about the band, do you prefer to keep a lower profile?
S: All necessary is known, the point is to put attention at work more than at ourselves, as we are just messengers of higher entities speaking through us.
8.The ep was released on 'Gladivs Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
S: We are more than happy for our chance to cooperate with Gladivs on this release. We do appreciate the high level of professionality Gladivs have put into this, including positive attitude, communication, or quick problem solving. As all of us Zmij members have been active on black metal scene for about 20 years in various bands or projects, we know it's not usual. So, thanks to Gladivs.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal and dungeon synth?
S: So far we haven't noticed much of feedback on worldwide level, on the local scene, all feedback we've got was positive.
10.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
S: At the moment we are working on new material, which is now in process of pre-recording. Full-length, EP, split, whatever ... I fully understand the need of putting labels, but I don't like this formalistic point of view. Music itself and its message is all what is important here. We are full focused on next record, so there's a lot of work ahead for us. Let's make the dragon speak again!
K: It is based on the same elements as the debut recording, though this time we went for slightly different background with the lyrics. I guess everybody enjoying first EP will be more than satisfied with the direction we have taken.
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?
S: Mostly oldschool necrothrash, deathmetal, and blackmetal records between late 80's up to late 90's, along with a bit of dark synth, ambient or dungeon synth releases. Nowadays, the main problem in general is, surfeit. Lot of generic stuff out there, plenty of what I call, radioblackmetal or radiodeathmetal. You have to dive into the depths and invest a lot of time in searching for hidden gems. Wampiric Rites, Dungeon Steel, Casket Flesh, Trollslottet, Mortem, Nocternity, Frozen Seas ... those and many others keep the black underground flame still burning and are worth of listening to.
K: Most of my listening routine consists of black metal – I listen to Helheim and Kawir a lot these days, epic heavy metal and heavy doom such as Pagan Altar, Scald, Eternal Champion and some atmospheric and ritual music like Leidungr and Forndom. I guess for the vocal delivery stuff like Wampyrinacht, Cornigr or Urfaust are relevant. Though, I must say there was lot of inspiration in delivery of old folk fairytales I listened to as child on LPs and cassettes. Often very grim and horrorlike with cool theatrical edge. As one is nurtured with such stuff as child and is receptive it definitely can grow inside and influence thoughts such as venomous plant.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
S: Yes, we'd like to finish with our thanks to you for this interview.
(Responded by Smrtihlav and Kostej)
https://gladivsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/zmij-zmij-s-t
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