Nocturne Interview

1.For those that have heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

NOCTURNE started back in 2006 as a project with me as sole member. Back then I tried to write first melodies that built up to the very first songs. After a break for some years due to various events I came back to write music in late 2009. In 2010 I became singer in UNHALLOWED, where also Tenebris was involed on battery.

So it happened that in 2012 the unholy alliance of NOCTURNE was born and a year later our demo 'Nahash' was unleashed upon mankind, which got rereleased as a remastered limitied digipak version by Austrian Talheim Records in December 2014.

Throughout the year 2014 the songs of our self titled debut album were recorded in various sessions, to be released on January 15th 2016 by Unlight Records, France


2.You have a new album coming out in January, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the demo you had released a few years back?

Well.... we have taken our time to work on our ideas and to record it. I guess we have evolved in songwriting compared to our demo. Also the sound is a lot better on the album.

We also took our trademarks like epic melodies and clean vocals as well the blasting parts to a higher musical level and speeded it up. So I think on the whole this release is more mature without losing connection to 'Nahash'.


3.The band has been around since 2006 but so far has only released a demo and a full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap in between releases?

As mentioned before NOCTURNE first was a solo project.

From 2006 to 2007 I already wrote some songs just for me... as an inner need you could say. But I was not satisfied with the outcome, so I stopped for two years. In this time also some events took influence on me that made it impossible to go on with songwriting. In 2009 I came back with with some lyrics and wrote the songs you can hear on 'Nahash'. Since Tenebris officially joined, NOCTURNE has enstreghtened to a force of the left hand path like I always wanted it to be. And with the release of our debut album the world shall tremble.


4.The lyrics go very into depth with the Occult, can you tell us a little bit more about the studies and practices that you have learned over the years?

Spiritual enightenment is a very individual process that never stops, so I will not talk in public about practices. I started to explore the nightside at the age of sixteen and had the possibility to learn about diverse approaches of the left hand path, spiritually as well as philosophically. Our lyrics reflect somehow the journey I have taken over the years.


5.How did you come across the name 'Nocturne' and also are you aware of the many other bands that have the same name?

I never was aware that there are other bands around also named NOCTURNE. But it doesn't bother me that much. Our name has a deeper meaning for me than just a word or trademark. The night (or darkness) is one of the primal fears of mankind and it´s the counterpart of light. For me NOCTURNE is the equivalent to the fight night versus day, darkness versus light, evil versus 'good', Satan/Lucifer versus god.

If you can overcome your inner fear of the unknown you can walk in darkness as well as in light. And you will see that real truth only can lie in the once hidden.


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

NOCTURNE was a long time a solo project of mine, we didn't play live yet. But now we have put together a strong live lineup and we hope to get the chance to cast our spells live to promote our debut album. Our first gig is already confirmed in March 2016.


7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

There are no touring plans to the date, but we will do our first gig on March 26th, 2016 in Sachsenburg/Austria.


8.On the album you had done a cover of a De Infernali song, what was the decision behind doing your own version of this song?

The main reason was that we liked the ideas and melodies in this song very much, but we thought that this one needs some more power. We didn't like this original 'techno' version of it very much. As the song originally was written by Jon Nödtveidt and Tenebris and I are DISSECTION worshippers, the decision to do it was easy. What really makes us proud is that the original vocalist Dan Swanö takes over vocals in this song.


9.The new album is coming out on Unlight Productions, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Unlight Productions is a sublabel of french Drakkar Productions, which is well known in the underground. We hope that the distribution and promotion of Unlight/Drakkar can bring our music to the dedicated listener.


10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?

The press feedback was very positive. 'Nahash' got good reviews as well as our debut album to the point. I guess the variation in our songs is liked by most people I talked to.


11.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

No, for Tenebris and me NOCTURNE is the only band we are active in, but of course our live-musicians are involved in other projects, such as Irdorath, Groteskh and Ashes of Moon.


12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

As we are already working on the follow up album to our debut I can see clearly what will happen. We will push all our trademarks once again to the next level. Also some new elements will be added to songwriting ,which will bring even more variety to our musical spells.

13.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?

Well, this is a question I cannot answer precisely. I am listening to a lot of music. In Metal I started off with Thrash Metal, later added Death and Black Metal. Bands I like are Dissection, Unanimated, Darkthrone, The (really) True Mayhem, Bathory, Marduk, Samael or Bolt Thrower, Deicide, Unleashed, Armoured Angel, Venom, Slayer, Kreator, Destructor or Hobb's Angel Of Death... I could go on like this for pages.
Before that the pop music of the 1980s had a big impact on me, bands like Ultravox or Depeche Mode with their dark and melancholic atmosphere in most of their songs showed me maybe the musically direction I evolved.


14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

I want to say thank you for the interview and for supporting the underground. Keep the black flame burning, death to inertia! Hail Darkness

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