1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that are not familiar with your band?
Zoltan: We formed the band with my best friend Yzokras in 2000 in our hometown Szombathely, Hungary. Yzokras came up with the idea to name the band de profundis. Our musical style was the same as now, but it was quite primitive back then. We decided at the very beginning that the band would be formed only by two of us and we would invite guest musicians to play the rest of the instrumental parts.
After composing couple of songs and giving a few live shows, we entered the studio to record our first demo, but we never finished the recording, because I left Hungary and we put the project aside.
We reunited in 2008 and started working on the band again. We were full of ideas and put together a whole album in couple of months. Out of these songs we chose 4 songs and released on our first demo, which came out in February 2010, entitled Haunted By Ill Angels Only.
2. What is the meaning behind the band's name?
Yzokras: ‘de profundis’ is the beginning of Psalm 129. and it means ‘out of the depths’.
The name refers to the gloominess and personality of our music and lyrics. The contexts of the gloomy mood and the depth apparently unambiguous, on the other hand these songs broke out of our deepest inner selves, indeed, so our cry doubly comes out of the depths.
3. How would you describe your sound?
Zoltan:We define our sound as raw, melodic black metal. It means that we are willing to keep the rawness of early 90’s, mostly Norwegian black metal, but we are also try to create some tones that get stuck in your ear and you cannot get rid of them..
4. According to your page you took a hiatus for 7 years, what was the cause of the hiatus and what made you decide to reform the band?
Zoltan: The main reason was that I finished a long relationship and I wanted to change my life. I got a job opportunity in London, so I made the move and left Hungary. I was going to stay for a year, maximum, but at the end it turned out to be 7 long years.
Yzokras: During this 7 years I always knew that the band would resurrect from its dead, because from the beginning we could perfectly work together. The musical connection we had before stayed the same, what is more it even worked better, because we matured a lot over those years.
5. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?
Yzokras: While writing my lyrics I try to set high standards for the exterior formation and also for the inner content. How successfully they turn out, it’s not my thing to judge.
On the other hand – according to my hopes – my lyrics can be interpreted on different levels, since the lyrics of the EP can be read separately, but also they are part of a bigger concept, which will be entirely exposed on our first full-length album.
The lyrics on the EP:
I Will Stand – On the first level it is a battle song. Meanwhile it can be interpreted as a hymn of an individual who keeps fighting with the undefeatable fate, though he knows he cannot win.
This Winter In My Heart – In this song a negative attitude towards life appears in the allegorical shape of a woman. You cannot hide from her and once she finds you there is no more escape from her.
Crimson Waters – It is the mood counterpart of I Will Stand. The song of complete loneliness and fall.
6. Have you had any opportunities to do live shows yet, and if so what are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
Zoltan: We had only couple of live shows back in 2000, but, to be honest, I didn’t really enjoy being on stage exposing myself to people. I’m just not that kind of a person. I like being in the background and express myself via my music.
Since the reunion we didn’t play live and we don’t intend to. We are ‘too old, too cold’ for that.
7. How would you describe the musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the band heading into on future releases?
Zoltan: Musically we didn’t change too much over the years, we still determined to play black metal. Basicly, when we started the band we wanted to play primitive, old school, – and if you like- true black metal. After reforming the band we wanted to add something more to our songs, creating more atmosphere and add personality to de profundis, you know, when you hear it you can distinguish us from other black metal bands. So we started using synths and Yzokras wrote some unforgettable choir parts. We’ve already finished composing our first full-length album and it will follow the path of the EP. It will be raw, but melodic and beautifully misanthrope.
8. How have black metal fans worldwide reacted to your music so far?
Zoltan: The reactions, we got so far, are very positive, though nowadays it’s really hard to catch someone’s attention. Anyway, we try to promote our music everywhere and we got interest from all over the world from webzines, fanzines and all kind of dedicated metal maniacs. I know the music of de profundis stands out of the black metal mass, now we just have to be patient and wait until other people realize that. We’ve already been on the compilation CD of Hungarian Metal Hammer, which is a very positive feedback, I guess, since it is the biggest metal forum in Hungary right now.
9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and what are you listening to nowadays?
Zoltan: The biggest influences on de profundis were, not in particular order, early Ulver, Summoning, Darkthrone, Burzum and Limbonic Art. Basically black metal bands, which used melodies in their songs. They were more than just aggressive, they created an overwhelming atmosphere.
Personally, I loved German thrash metal bands like Sodom or Kreator. Actually, I was one of the biggest Sodom fanatics ever, so I brought this attitude towards aggressive music with me from my teenage years.
Nowadays I mostly listening to dark and doom bands like Swallow The Sun, Tiamat, The Cure, Shamrain, but I’m also a big fan of Neurosis. As for black metal, I stuck with my old favorites: Summoning, Ulver, Arcturus, Lord Belial, Limbonic Art, etc…
Yzokras: I’ve always been a heavy metal fan and particularly I like epic bands like Manowar, Bathory or old Hungarian bands like Pokolgép. In the black metal genre Burzum, Ulver, Summoning and Limbonic Art are the best for me.
I don’t care much about new bands, the only exception is Hungarian band ‘Dalriada’, which would deserve international attention, in my opinion.
As for classical music, I’m a fan of the Romantic era, mostly Chopin and Wagner.
10. Does Satanism, Paganism or Occultism play any role in your music?
Yzokras: We have nothing to do with satanism or occultism. In fact with paganism neither, but the Proto-Hungarian mythology and traditions appear in our songs, since we are proud of our roots. Our logo, too, is a Proto-Hungarian symbol: the tree of life from Anarcs, an archaeological memory, which turned up from a more than one thousand year old grave. This tree is a beautiful, manifold symbol: feeds on the depth, materializing in this earthly existence and connects this level with the transcendental one. It symbolizing not only the life of every man, but also the whole world itself or our music, which roots on our inner depth – sometimes maybe on our unconscious – and aiming to reach the horror sacri.
11. What is the metal scene like in your home country of Hungary?
Zoltan: I don’t really follow the new Hungarian bands, still listening to my old favorite LPs: Pokolgép, Ossian. As for black metal, there is Sear Bliss, which is an internationally appreciated band. There are lots of band in the underground, ‘true’ faces who don’t want to get out of the underground scene and not ‘true’, but musically demanding bands, which are not able to get out of the underground, even if they wanted to.
12. What are some of your interests outside of music?
Yzokras: For me sport and reading enjoying priority beside music. I’ve been doing sports since my childhood, though nowadays I’m not doing it competitive, but still intensive. As for reading, it is the most important recreation for me. Beside these I’m interested in history and politics.
Zoltan: Beside music I also like doing sports, reading and I’m a big movie fan, as well.
13. Any final words or thoughts?
Zoltan: First of all, in February our introductory demo came out as a self-released EP with professional booklet and printed CD. It’s entitled ‘Haunted By Ill Angels Only’ and so far it can be ordered directly from us, but we keep looking for distributors or a label. We try sending this demo to as many fanzines, webzines, magazines, labels, etc. as possible and hopefully one day a label will see enough fantasy in our music to release it and then we can record our first full-length album under professional circumstances.
Yzokras: We’ve been planning this band for over 10 years now and we always hoped that there would be continuation despite
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