Nocturnis Interview

1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We are a Black Metal band from Offenburg. For those who don’t know where Offenburg is located. Offenburg is in the south of Germany, in the middle between Karlsruhe and Freiburg directly at the beginning of the Black Forest.

We started the band in the summer of 2018 firstly just to jam around and see where riffs are going to. Pretty soon we noticed that the music shifted to Black Metal kindish riffs, so we decided that we need a second guitarist. We asked Vince, who Lukas knew through his studies at the local university, to join. Fortunately, he has a big song writing expertise, so we had been able to write songs in rather short time.

We don’t consider ourselves as the typical trve kvlt Black Metal band though. We have a bit more modern approach to the genre. You can actually hear some Technical Death Metal influences.



2. Recently you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?

Vince: The Record had to be atmospheric, melancholic and cold, including fast switching riffs. My Brain is very fixated on harmonic Minor scales, so you get the obvious dramatic, classical touch, which I really love. There are some technical death metal elements you can hear in tracks like “Gaias Revenge”, “Dimness of Vision”, or “Fleshbound Incarceration”. I tried to incorporate pretty much all styles I like, without making the record sound to overkill, which worked out well.



3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?

So far we covered some highly current topics like the radicalization of humanity (Dimness Of Vision) and the ongoing destruction of our world (Gaias Revenge) but also some timeless subjects like the sense of life (Everlasting Circle).



4. I know that the bands name means 'night' in Latin, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?

The band name wasn't really planned. We knew, we wanted something that describes atmospheric black metal - without cheesyness or something that sounds enforced, like we have to sound like that to be a typical evil black metal band. So one day, the idea of Nocturnis came up. That's also how the logo was influenced with the moon and the spiderwebs.



5. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?

“Is there something that makes our life worth living? Or is there just a big emptiness behind our existence and our actions?” The lyricial theme of aporia seeps into the plain and cryptic design of the EP. The spider webs, which also appear in the logo of the band, enwrap the front cover. Beneath them, we can see the universe. Only a small opening is visible, in which the moon emblem of the band shines through. The idea for that composition comes from the song "Fleshbound Incarceration". "I just want to leave, leave my prison of flesh" - the figure stands for a kind of "flesh prison", from which we can't escape. The universe stands for the unknown, but also for the beauty which lies beyond our imagination. We are imprisoned, without a chance to act. This is also what the title of the EP stands for: Aporia - hopelessness/ perplexity, the impossibility to choose the right decision in a situation.



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

Actually, we haven’t been able to play a lot shows up to now, but we can highlight two shows. The first is our first show we played, because nobody knew our music but still the venue was packed and everybody liked it. This was a pretty nice start. The other mentionable show was our first show outside of our local area. We played in Paderborn (something around 500km from Offenburg) at the 10th Anniversary show of our friends Heretics. It was the first “bigger” stage for us.



7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

We haven’t received any direct offers for a deal up to now but we don’t think that in our current situation (Covid and no shows because of it) it would be suitable. But we are open minded people so if a label is going to offer something to us we will think about it and decide if it fits or not.



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

Up to now the reaction has been really good! There have been some negative comments but haters are always gonna hate so there is nothing negative worth mentioning.



9. When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Vince: CoVid has its positive sides, when it comes to creative output. Thanks to corona, I didn’t have lots of lectures last semester and was isolated a lot, which was kind of inspiring, so I could write a whole full length. Can’t tell you the precise release date, but it will be coming out sometime next year! The next Album will be a full-length concept album! The Style will be similar, but it will sound more mature and atmospheric. The Songs themselves will be a lot faster too.



10. 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?



Dirk: I am in the fortunate situation that I am again able to discover new music and bands for me. Some years ago I was stuck with the same bands over and over. Just some days ago I discovered ‘Amenra’ a really good Post-Metal band from Belgium, which I didn’t knew before. Besides that I have been listening a lot to Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, Thron, Uada or Rotting Christ recently.



Lukas: I would say that a lot of bands from different genres and/or subgenres formed my recent musical taste. Of course Black Metal plays a huge role for everyone of us in the band. I am personally able to listen to some old school "Maiden", as well as some modern black metal like Der Weg Einer Freiheit. But also bands in between like Trivium, Opeth, Igorrr or Ihsahn. I also enjoy non-metal stuff like Carpenter Brut or Pertubator for example.


Chris: Der Weg Einer Freiheit



Vince: I would say, it’s a mix of Black and Tech Death Metal. I always wrote and loved tech death metal in the past, but never tried to write black metal (which I love as much). When the guys and I settled with black metal being our style, I thought, why not take the challenge.

So Nowadays we all listen to different stuff. I listen to a lot of technical death metal bands like Soreption, the new tbdm record is fantastic, Archspire. But there are lots of really great rock bands too, like Hällas, Graveyard… Geaera is a really awesome Black Metal Band I found a few days ago… Shit there are too many great Bands to name…



Raphael: I have been listening a lot to Trivium, Behemoth, Ihsahn, Dimmu Borgir and Der Weg Einer Freiheit nowadays.



11. What are some of your non musical interests?

Dirk: My mechanical engineering studies are taking the most of my free time so that can be considered as my non-musical interests. But besides that… football, I am a big fan of 1. FC Köln. So this and playing videogames.



Lukas: I am obsessed with all kind of visual work, from artworks to visual effects in movies or animations, which I am currently studying. So this one takes a big part in my life as well. I am grateful to be able to express my visual ideas in Nocturnis. Beside that and playing guitar, I am also in love with games or pen and paper rpg's. Nothing wrong about a great fantasy game!



Chris: Gaming.



Vince: Playing video games, watching movies and series. I definitely love cooking too.



Raphael: Not much to be honest. Most of my free time is covered up with playing video games, drinking whisky and reading fantasy books.



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

Thank you for your time and your interest in us. We really appreciate it.

And for everyone reading this: Please support all bands you like in these hard times. We are fortunate enough that we aren’t financially depending on this but there a lot of bands who need every bit of support to get through the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rp8IQkt2Ps&feature=youtu.be