1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Yes, I describe our music as a combination of Atmospheric and Post Black Metal, we utilize melodic resources in harmonies and voices to build a dense and uncanny atmosphere based on guitar riff and melodies, but at the same time using every melodic resource you can find in Black Metal. We also use Ancient pagan culture as a metaphor to human struggles and existentialism, since I am from El Salvador, I feel familiarized with the maya and nahuat symbolism and I use that to express certain ideas. The band started as a one man project and gradually evolved to a band.
2.Recently you have released your first full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
Yeah, I pretty much wanted to find a balance between the coldness that identifies the Norwegian black metal guitar sound but at the same time get more body in the mid frequencies so you can get some chug on heavier rhythm parts, something you can hear on almost every Enslaved songs, you'll find that my main music influence is Enslaved so is inevitable not trying resources I love hearing from their work. In terms of execution I definitely have a huge Burzum influence style when it comes to enrich a riff using minor chords approached with tremolo picking, I just feel that builds great atmosphere; we also try to avoid using a common song structure, some of the tracks in the album doesn't have a common verse - chorus - verse order, so it demands a bit of extra work but it's definitely something we want to define as part of our identity.
3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?
So lyric wise, we explore a bunch of difficult thoughts and emotions we face as humans throughout our entire life, we approach depression, self hatred, religious trauma, fear and consequence. The idea was approaching these subjects using Mesoamerican symbolism and sometimes with philosophical statements.
4.The band also uses a lot of Mayan and Nahuat Symbols, how would you describe your interest in these pre-Hispanic cultures?
Yeah, I definitely wanted to do something similar to what Enslaved and other Norwegian bands does with their Nordic culture, I feel a lot of respect for what they do since I believe is a way to pay tribute to their roots and their people memory, so I feel I could do the same by embracing my origins and give visibility to the ancient knowledge the Mesoamerican people practiced before modern society. I believe there is a lot of wisdom we can take from ancient cultures and learn from them, I think is not fortuity that their vision of the world and the reality are very similar, when you compare what people believed in different countries regardless of their geographic location, it's very interesting since some of them never met each other so there was no sincretism that explains the similarities in their beliefs, yet, their comosmovison shares similar logic and structures and I find that fascinating.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'MIK'?
MIK is the shortened version of the word Mictlan, that is something similar to the underworld in the Mesoamerican context, not exactly the same since is not a place where you go for punishment when you die, but to purify and transcend your soul in the event that you fail to find closure and purpose when you were alive.
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Yes, the album cover shows a tree and gives emphasis to the roots going down to the dark; that tree is called "La Ceiba" and it was the ancient tree that connected the realms, the underworlds (Mictlan) the land of the living and the heavens, I took that as an analogy of the self, there are different scales of our consciousness, we can be in the present, or we can transcend, but sometimes we have to face what's inside of our traumas or darkest thoughts if we really want to find balance; so that is the reason behind the tree in the artwork, and of course the roots takes relevance since that is actually going to the Mictlan, the place of the "self" we will visit many times in our songs.
7.The band members are based in both El Salvador and Spain, what impact does the long distance in between band members have on the musical style that you play?
Well there was no impact at all, although I was writing the songs by my own before the project started became a serious thing, I actually started working with the other guys once I moved from El Salvador to Spain, before that it was a solo project; I currently live in the same city where the rest of the band members live so there are no issues when it comes to gather and do rehearsals.
8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We haven't received any offer so far but we definitely would like to work with a label, we want to release physical material of the album.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
I think it's still a bit early to draw a final conclusion since we've only just begun pushing the promotion. However, with the support Kostya from GlobMetal Promotions is providing, I'm confident we'll gradually reach a broader international audience. On a local level, I can already see some really positive reactions, which is a great start!
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Certainly my goal is to be part of the underground scene in Galicia, actively playing on different local metal festivals and improving our music writing on future albums, exploring new forms of approaching atmosphere in the Black Metal boundaries.
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?
The bands that influenced our music are definitely Enslaved, Burzum, Gorgoroth and a bit of Swedish melodies such as Dark Funeral and Watain. Right now I'm very engaged with the recent Behemoth Album and the masterpiece Enslaved dropped last October 30th, Mid. I'm also listening to a lot of Behexen and Marduk.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Yes, I would like to thank you for giving us a chance to share the vision of our music and for helping us connecting with more people; I believe it's good to give opportunity to new projects, specially if there is genuine substance behind the music; that is something that you probably would find a lot on Black Metal projects and that is why I love this genre, I'm 100% sure we'll be able to resonate with someone.
https://mikofficial.bandcamp.com/album/ajmaq
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