Abhor Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?


Kvasir: At the moment we’re setting the fundaments for our next full-length. Studying the left path, and achieving the necessary strength takes time.

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?

Kvasir: “Ab luna lucenti, ab noctua protecti” aims to explore and portray witchcraft thought its various and different perspectives. We tried with this work to combine the roughness and the violence of black metal, with the equivocal yet eerie sound of the Italian rock progressive of the seventies, and the final result is brilliant, as we are 100% satisfied!

Over the years we have improved as musicians, and we’re constantly looking at an upper level to reach. Hence our releases sound different each other. I guess this is part of being an artist. Developing and searching for new ways to express our inner ego. Anyway, even if every release has a distinct expression, the essence is the same: Devotion to the black flame.

3. What are some of the lyrical concepts and themes the band brings out with the new recording?

Saevum: "Ab luna..." is an album talking about witchcraft in its various forms and in its natural evolution through the ages. We have investigated issues concerning the black witchcraft, the medieval inquisition, witchcraft folklore rooted in our Italy and especially in the Veneto region, our country. We ended up with so much material that probably the next album can be a continuation on the same topic.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band’s name?

Saevum: The word Abhor is simply a verb ... phonetically it sounds good and its simple meaning fits well with our philosophy that shuns in horror all that is pure and chaste ... ABHOR is the word that explains what happens between God and the Devil in front of each other with closed eyes and hands in front of the face.

5. The band has been around for 17 years what is it that motivates you to create new music after all these days?

Saevum: I'll ask the question in reverse: which meaning have all the bands in circulation that after 1 or 2 works disappear into nothingness leaving no memory of them and no one to regret it? Our tradition, sincerity and dedication, we were born for this and until we have blood in your veins will continue to do our game ... and perhaps beyond ... While working on an album we have our mind turned already to the future and newer ideas all the time, even though we are no longer kids.

6. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Kvasir: Abhor is art in all its different forms: visually, lyrically and musically. Thus the live shows have always been an important part of our being. I consider difficult to recreate live the mystical atmosphere that you breathe in our CDs, but this is at the same time challenging and exciting. On stage we act with fire, blood, candles… like to recite in a theater for a selected audience... a gathering of lovers of darkness.

7. Are there any future plans for a new album and tour?

Kvasir: We stopped the live activity about a year ago due to our living situation in different countries. Anyhow we like to think that we’re coming back somehow in the future. Nothing concrete at the moment but…let’s hope for the future…

As for a new album, there will be one for sure. It’s almost impossible to stop the beast we created, namely ABHOR! But you know, good things require time.

8. On a worldwide level how was the feedback to your newer material by fans of black metal?

Kvasir: We got positive feedbacks in most of the cases. Some negative as well, but what to expect with the large amount of posers in the press and scene nowadays, ha ha. Surely they’ve just dedicated a quick and approximate listening. Do they expect to listen to the songs and find an easy to remember refrain to sing under the shower? This is NOT music for the masses. Good albums can take time, and they achieve only with the time. The more you listen to them, the more you discover. Songs sound better and better the more you get into them. Take a careful listen to the songs with texts in your hands, seeking an interpretation, then in that moment you will perceive the completeness of what we want to convey.

Be concentrated and to let the spirits take over you.. there the voyage begins.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Saevum: Lyrically we've already talked about ... musically we are increasingly oriented towards a form of horror black metal '70s influenced, a little "vintage" and a little "cinematographic" (in the old horror movies way)... always atmospheric with the Abhor trademark, mystical and occult flavor, as all our work. Our idea is to remain underground and use good analogical sounds.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Kvasir: We find inspiration in so many and different bands, mostly underground acts from the past. Basically we listen to band with personality and attitude (black metal or not doesn’t make any difference), not clones of the Scandinavian sound. I mean the Norwegian bands were good in those times, and they made a piece of history. But what about the tons of new bands which try to imitate them? Pathetic! Try to find your own way!

Spinning this week, just to name a few ones: Argentum (mex), Inchiuvatu (ita), Mortifier (ita), Barathrum (fin), Dim nagel (nor), Lik (swe), Bosque (por), Murkrat (aus), Jex thoth (usa), Trist (pol), Myling (swe)…

11. What are some of the forms of Satanism, Occultism, Magick and Witchcraft that has had the most impact on the band?

Saevum: Not only my band but my own life has been greatly influenced by the Hermetic Magic, the Magic of the Elements and the classical Sorcery... I'm always interested in the Paranormal world in general, Spiritism... I never really liked the Sexual Red Magic, Crowley, or the vein of La Vey ... Also very important were the studies of Alchemy that I still consider a good metaphor for life and nature.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Kvasir: Good vintage wine is appealing for us (both drinking, making and collecting), as well as hiking out in the nature as a shelter from the modern society.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Preachers of the Universal Black Principle…

Adepts of the reign of the unlight…

Devotees of the occult arts…

Raise your chalice and JOIN US!

Bandcamp

Facebook