1. For those who have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Hi and first thank you for your time regarding this interview. Insepultus has been my one-man band project since the end of the '90s (1998) while being at the age when everything was possible if you believe in it. I’m coming from a small community in the south of Romania where we literally built our own small metal scene. Back then I used to play in another Black Metal band called Irkalla, regarded now as cult by a few, and I didn’t put so much effort into the project. With Insepultus I had few live appearances during the period 2001-2004, mostly alone with a drum-machine or together with the drummer from Irkalla. My first demo was recorded in 2003 and is called “The Hell Will Rise Again”. This is a demo with a muddy raw sound but considering the audio recording possibilities that I had back then, it was the maximum I could have had. After that, because I started to play with some other bands after moving to the capital, again, I put my side project on the second row for a while, until three years ago, when I started discussing that I would like to record new material, with a decent sound on it, where to present the emotional experiences we have before the end of our lives. This is how “Deadly Gleams of Blood, Steel and Fire” had started.
2. You have your first full-length coming out in the middle of December, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
Sincerely I do not know for sure how to categorize it: is Black Metal as feeling and regarding the instrumentation, but it also contains death metal riffs and growls; it is an epic album (it is an entire story if you read the lyrics), and the lyrical theme is regarding the war and the soldier’s emotional experiences on the front, which could be also categorized as War Metal. If you want the simplest category for “Deadly Gleams of Blood, Steel and Fire” is VERY Black Metal like in the golden age on the genre.
3. The project was disbanded for almost 20 years, what was the cause of the split and the decision to return?
Disbanded I believe is a tough word… I would prefer to say it was left behind. The main reason for this was that I played in several other bands, also with a live agenda, and I couldn’t take the correct amount of care for the project. A few years ago, after discussing and being encouraged by close friends, I decided to get back on the project and record the songs; I’m sure it was a good decision.
4. Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with the newer music?
The whole idea of the album started from trying to imagine what are the emotions that cross our mind and what are our feelings when in front of death: are you at peace with what you did during your life? would you change something from what you have done? A few years ago I was almost drowning in the Black Sea, and most probably this was the spark behind the theme. Further, I tried to imagine when you are daily in front of death, and being on the front line is one of those places. I’m not feeling comfortable writing my lyrics and for this reason, I had to search for the song lyrics. And who could express better the feeling that the soldiers from the battlefield: so, lyrics are excerpts and adaptations of various war poems written by Alfred Noyes, Richard Aldington, Marjorie Pickthall and Wilfred Owen, a narration taken and adapted from J. B. Priestley's “Great War Letters Home” and the last song’s lyrics are excerpts and adaptations from Dathan Eldridge's poem, originally called “My Experience Of Death”, where the author expresses his feelings during a near-death experience.
5. On your demo you covered satanic and occult themes, do you still have an interest in the dark arts?
I believe that the word War could be used easily with the meaning of Hell and vice versa; going further on this meaning, I could use it in the name of the 2003 demo and call it “The War Will Rise Again”. Considering the actual situation in the world, you will say that I was totally right since back then.
6. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Insepultus'?
The meaning of the word “Insepultus” is “Unburried” and comes from the Latin language. The name I have chosen due to my nickname, which is “Sep”, those were the days in the 90s when everyone wanted an interesting nom de guerre. After a while, I understood it was a Slovakian thrash metal band called the same, but I preferred to keep the name even in these circumstances.
7. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
All the artwork is done by my good friend Costin Chioreanu from Twilight13Media, well known for his collaboration with bands like Mayhem, Emperor, Darkthrone, Opeth, Abbath, Borknagar, and the most famous metal designer from Romania now. Drawings are inspired from pictures taken during WWI, hand-made with white ink on black paper and capture the reality of War in a very particular manner.
8. On the recordings you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with a full band in the studio or do you prefer to work solo?
I am, and I always have been, a team player. But Insepultus is a one-man band, so everything is composed, played and recorded all by myself. For the “Deadly Gleams of Blood, Steel and Fire”, compared with the 2003 demo, I preferred to have the drums recorded in the studio, and not programming them. Further, I had a collaboration for the trumpets recording or for the narration, where I wanted a native speaker. Here are the guests on the “Deadly Gleams of Blood, Steel and Fire”: Nikola Dušmanić from Serbia played the drums, Ezequiel Lagrotta from Argentina played the emotional trumpets’ parts, while Jeremy Diener from the US took care about the excellent narration. All hired guns.
9. With the live lineup, what are some of the best shows that the band has played in so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
Is so hard to imagine the difference that I see between what is happening now and how it was more than 20 years ago: now you have different clubs with daily live shows, nice stages, and lights, while back then were just a few festivals with small stages, poor sound and sometimes no lights and a few bars that would allow raw Black Metal to happen. At the same time, the attendance is quite different: while back then, due to the small number of concerts, you could see participants who traveled long hours to be in the first row during these underground concerts, now, with so many concerts’ opportunities, the attendance is more selective. In short, I had my good concerts back then, alone or with friends, but is hard to compare them with what it will be done now with the new record. I’m working hard with my management to imagine a spectacular live show to enjoy ourselves and the other interested parts. Of course, as close of the idea of one-man band as possible.
10. Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
As mentioned before, I’m working on it together with Mihai Coro Caraveteanu, who was also the producer of my album, a close friend, and my former bandmate from Irkalla. He is one of those people that would need time to put the different pieces of the puzzle all together, but always for the best results possible. So, I am confident we’ll come with an interesting live production in 2024. I don’t plan to tour much, rather a few of selected appearances here and there, if I would feel there is enough interest into my stuff. Of course, I wouldn’t say no to a festival offer, if people would consider spending on Insepultus.
11. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
Back in the days, there was no such thing as getting global reactions over music. Everything was more hidden and focused more local or regional. Just to imagine how primitive everything was, my first demo was physically released in just 5-10 home-made copies in CDR format that were passed to close friends. Now, with the new record, the feedback is great, both locally and globally. Loud Rage Music released my first single digitally two weeks ago, that was already played 1500 times and the biggest youtube channel dedicated to the genre, Black Metal Promotion, would premier the whole album on 15th of December, so it will be online already when you read this. The sales look promising, there is a lot of interest into the album, even if with just one song released online, I am happy with that. Would also do a super limited edition of t-shirts for the most dedicated die-hards.
12. Where do you see yourself heading as a musician in the future?
I am happy with what I do and have now, cause metal music and black metal particularly were always a big passion. I’ve been around with metal for more than 20 years already, living my life and playing in bands with good people that I could still call my friends. I am happy I finally managed to have my own professionally released record, under the wings of the best Romanian underground label, Loud Rage Music, and produced with the help of some of the most inspiring people in the local scene. I don’t know what the future will bring, probably not much, but enough to keep me happy in doing this, both on records and hopefully live as well.
13. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and what are you listening to nowadays?
As you could notice on the album, the influences coming from the early middle ‘90s are obvious, both in terms of music and underground ethos. Bands like Mayhem, Dark Funeral, Marduk, Rotting Christ or early Dimmu Borgir were always appreciated and heavily played back then by our little Black Metal gang in the south and we were also lucky to have friends who would share more obscure titles they got by tape trading, black, death, thrash and evil heavy metal. We were all young, restless and took it equally seriously with extreme metal, like we did with drinking and hanging out. Nowadays I don’t have that much time to check for new music like I used to do, but I am always happy to discover new bands opening shows when going to see live my old favorites or at festivals. Recently I really liked 1914 from Ukraine a lot. Gerrar or Smae are also good offerings in terms or Black Metal made in Romania.
14. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you again for your interest in Insepultus and stay metal! Those truly interested would find a way to grab my album and merch if they really want to! Horns up!
Insepultus.romania@gmail.com
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