1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. We are a black metal band from a small town in Poland and 2/3 of us are residing in Kraków now. We play black metal, post-black metal or atmospheric black metal (not good with labels). Our music comes from those depths within, the depths filled with the darkness which most likely stems from fear, anxiety, phobias, doubt, and which is in no small part influenced by the cold and indifferent universe outside. The music is rather supposed to discourage people from pursuing progeniture, but it also aims to make the already (and unfortunately) living ones smile the crooked smile of irony, or even sometimes laugh. Other than that, we love dogs and try to be nice people in our daily lives.
2.Recently you have released an ep, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
2. Czarcikęs: I, personally, was inspired mostly by avant-garde classical music and avant-garde jazz. During the time of writing these songs I was reading “20th Century Harmony” which is a book about more modern harmonic ideas and a lot of them are quite dissonant, which pairs nicely with the black metal aesthetic. It’s good grounds for harmonic and melodic experimentation. In addition, BM allows for more interesting structures, I was getting bored of the whole verse-chorus thing and tried writing more abstract, less predictable forms of songs, often quite contrasting – like putting just chords played on bass guitar in the middle of a song for almost a minute.
Sędziwój: I, on the other hand, chose to rely entirely on intuition; I simply wrote the very melodies that came to my head from an unidentified source.
Chors: The guys drove to me in the summer of 2020 to record two singles. We've known each other for quite a long time since we've played together in various bands (Jarmusch, Płomienie). At first, the album was supposed to have a lo-fi sound, but as I was recording more and more tracks I decided to go for a more polished sound. I think it's the first black metal record where you can hear the vocals so well that you can distinguish the words ;). This is mainly because I like the lyrics a lot and it would have been a pity had they not been understood. We recorded the guitars by plugging them straight into the audio interface which enabled me to create the right timbre later by using amp simulation, which was very convenient.
3.The band is also associated with PLBM, can you tell us a little bit more on what this term means?
3.Sędziwój: Ok, so PLBM has become a vague, umbrella-term for black metal coming from Poland (it is especially used in relation to the more recent bands). I guess that some people see a certain hard-to-define common denominator of polish black metal. However, I think that the term is not serious, maybe even half-jocular.
Czarcikęs: I agree with Sędziwój although not fully. When I listen to bands that are being labeled as PLBM (Furia and Odraza are the ones that I’m most familiar with) I get the sense that they do have something in common – bending the definition of what is and can be called black metal, most often by borrowing from other genres.
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?
4. Sędziwój: The topics are mainly existential matters. Some of the lyrics may come from experience and some from observation, but for the most part they are not unlike the devastating poetry of a depressed high schooler. They are inspired by decadent, symbolist poetry and pessimistic philosophy. There is also the subversive aspect of the references to polish pop music from the 80s which serves a light-hearted purpose. The lyrics of the penultimate track are partly a translation of a passage from "Vastarien" (hence the title), a horror short story by one of my favourite authors whose name is Thomas Ligotti.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Miazmaty'?
5. Well, Miazmaty is the polish term for "miasma". It is rarely used nowadays and most polish people have to look it up in the dictionary. Honestly, when it comes to the inspiration behind it, I don't think there is much to it except for the fact that it sounds ominous and cool. You can look up "the miasma theory" though, as it's quite interesting. Moreover, if you think about it – music is just painting in the air – so you could say that we're trying to "paint" the air with miasma.
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
6. It is a painting by the swiss romantic painter Füssli. Since he is long dead, his works are in the public domain and we took advantage of that (and I think that it is within the black metal tradition if you think about some Burzum covers for example). The painting is called "Silence" and it, at least to me, reflects the mood of the lyrics and the speaker's struggles quite accurately. Lyrically, it is a very self-centered and personal album and the painting also brings that to mind, as we can only see the man and very little background. The man is probably in a state of some depressive, peaceful lethargy (hence the name Silence), but there is also another important aspect; his "silence" is shining a light in this dark, cold space. Whether this light is godly or ungodly is of no interest to me, but the fact is that it shines in this absurd world for some equally absurd purpose - and the purpose of our music is no different.
7.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?
7. We haven't done any live shows yet. Truth be told, for now at least, we're a studio band considering we don't have a drummer and there are only 3 of us, and our music would require more people on stage in order to be presented properly. We're not entirely closed to this idea though, if we happen to receive a gig offer and are able to find some live musicians, then we'll definitely consider it.
8.Currently the band is unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
8. Currently, we are unofficially signed to our own little fun label called Nowa Aleksandria. So far, we haven't received any interest. We don't know what it's going to be, but we have our eyes on a few respected polish labels and after recording the second EP we might end up contacting them.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of post black metal?
9. You know, so far we have received little reaction apart from the opinions of our friends, so I think it is impossible to judge as of yet. Time will tell (at least we hope so).
10.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
10. It is honestly hard to say. Right now, we are in the middle of writing the material for two EPs that we more or less have an idea for. One is going to be a melodic EP, relying heavily on tremolo picking. The second one is going to be less typically black metal and it's going to end with a 20 minute-long epic closing track. We also have some preconception for our first LP. All that I can say is that we would like it to have a leitmotiv, fugues and lots of intertwining melodies as well as a coherent lyrical concept; we want it to be something resembling an intricately ornamented gothic cathedral. It is going to be an ambitious enterprise, most likely too ambitious for us to be honest. Well, with our daily responsibilities as well as other musical projects that we're involved in, it might even take years.
11.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?
11. Sędziwój: 11. Well, as far as I am concerned, I find a lot of black metal groups inspiring. Some of my favourite recent groups are: Furia, Oranssi Pazuzu, Odraza, Gruzja, Misþyrming, Selbst and Paysage D'hiver. Perhaps the band which I look up to the most is Deathspell Omega, simply because of the scope of their conceptual ambition and how beautifully complex and vanguard their music is. I also listen to a lot of music outside metal (so do the other guys) and I have found that ripping-off / interpolating melodies from classical music proves to be highly effective as an inspiration for black metal songwriting.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
12. I think that's pretty much all there is to say at this point. Thanks for the interview!
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