1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
Hello everyone, first of all we thank the readers and the editorial staff for this interview we are very pleased to be on Occultblack. In November 2021 we completed the graphics and recordings of the album, then the Ukrainian label Vacula Productions sent all the material to print. In the meantime, something was happening in Ukraine that slowed down the whole process until January, just when everything had to be ready and war broke out, and Molchan (the owner of the Vacula) he went to Portugal where he is now reopening the business. Molchan managed to deliver the CDs before January, but unfortunately the graphic material remained in Ukraine in the print shops, which still cannot be recovered for us. Meanwhile in March the album won the X-Poze-Ing Music Awards of America as best metal album of the year in the underground section, but it was still in digital form, so we decided to find a label that could produce the physical version, and we turned to Broken Bones Records & Promotion where we signed a collaboration agreement, they took care of printing the graphic parts that were missing, and then they took care of promoting and advertising the album.
2. Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ form the stuff you have released in the past?
To answer this question we must first specify that this album is part of a trilogy, this album is the second chapter of the Lovecraft trilogy, which should have ended this year with the last chapter, but for the reasons I explained in the first question we had to postpone. This trilogy represents our passion for literature, while Mors Liberat represents our anger and our rebellion. We have always been fascinated by Lovecraft, he created a new concept of horror that has inevitably influenced cinema, in videogames, comics, literature, drawings and music. To make quotes we take the film The Evil Dead by Sam Raimi, and a film inspired by the Necronomicon, where his invocations open a portal between the world of the living and that of the dead, with the succession of horrible and bloody tragedies. The Necronomicon is a book created by Lovecraft to give more realism to their stories, also creating a well-made story around them, which gives the impression that it really exists.
3. You refer to your music as being 'anarchic black metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?
I answer by quoting what I said earlier; The Lovecraft trilogy represents our passion for literature, while Mors Liberat represents our anger and our rebellion. With the term anarchist we do not mean the political orientation but our personal side, which is like a wild animal, you can't keep him in a cage and impose rules on him. We do not follow a pattern if we do not feel like doing it, we do not remain fixed on a theme or on themes that fall within a similar context, we are rebellious, musically rebellious, we do what we can think of, what we feel like doing right now.
4. The new album is the second part of a trilogy based upon the writings of H.P Lovecraft, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this author?
Everything started by reading one of his stories: Winged Death, a title that intrigued me and I liked his style very much. So I deepened the topic looking for other stories to read, since this author has also greatly influenced the horror cinema we follow, and from here the passion for Lovecraft started. In immersing ourselves more and more in his reading, some stories in particular have inspired us from a musical point of view, and from here we decided to make this trilogy dedicated to Lovecraft.
5. What where some of the other lyrical topics and subjects you have explored on previous releases?
The previous themes to Lovecraft were misanthropy and hatred for society. A rebellion against their canons and customs.
6. Originally the band was known as 'Luciferian Torment'., what was the cause of the name change?
That name didn't reflect us much in the themes even if we meant Lucifer as the rebel not as the bad guy.
It was difficult to specify what we meant, we wanted to represent the human soul, rebellious, curious and destructive, but it also had to be in the form of a metaphor, which we like being passionate about literature. So we put two things together, we took the River (Fiume in italian language) to represent a water stream, the element that gives life and the succession of life itself, and then the black color (Nero in italian language) to represent evil, the soul of the human being. So we combined the two words and we liked them, so we decided to change the name to Black River (Fiume Nero).
7. I know that the bands name means 'black river' in Italian, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
When we play, there is a strong rebellion against all sorts of canons. The first Mors Liberat album is a perfect representation of our ideas, while the concept about Lovecraft is a perfect representation of our passions, which however go against the pre-set canons that usually invest metal bands.
8. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
The album cover was made in 3D graphics and represents this book, we were inspired by the movie The Evil Dead, and the first song is dedicated to this book and its horrible secrets. This album is the Necronomicon, and the booklet is its pages, which accompany the lyrics with strange writings and nefarious drawings. The songs tell follies and tragedies related to this cursed book where, at the end of the album, at its final act, we come to the realm of the dead where we are trapped forever.
9. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We did many shows and we all liked them, we always had fun even in bad conditions. When we are on stage we express what comes from inside by being carried away by the music. Of live shows in particular, we never forget the first one we did, exactly in our favorite venue, the Olden Live Club, where we supported the Bleeding Fist. Then we remember, in particular, shows with Urnaa's friend Pest in 2016 and 2017, the two dates with Necromass, with Deletere, the last show with Marduk and the dates in Croatia and Hungary, where they were all very involved and available.
10. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
When we played in Europe the audience got involved, bought a lot of merchandise and enjoyed it. In the rest of the world we rely on seeing the statistics of streaming platforms, and we have seen that we are followed almost everywhere, and we have also noticed that in America they like us a lot, in fact from there comes the greatest influence of ratings.
11. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I see Fiume Nero performs more often outside our country, even in other states far from us such as America and Asia.
12. 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?
There are no bands we are particularly inspired by, we listen to all metal from classic to extreme and not just metal. Bands like Gorgoroth Mayhem and Marduk have influenced us, and when we compose the most important thing for us is to recreate the atmosphere of the lyrics, regardless if we are influenced by styles and other bands, because when you have to express the atmosphere with music there must be no rules.
13. How would you describe your views on Occultism?
We don't believe in the occult as a religious form, we admire its fascinating mystery influence, which has been an inspiration in the fields of cinema, music, art and literature. If humanity hadn't invented the occult, Lovecraft wouldn't have invented the Necronomicon, and there wouldn't even be the concept of magic with everything behind it. Finally, man has an innate instinct towards mystery, about what he cannot explain, this fascination ignites his curiosity, which leads him to label it up to making it even more curious when it is hidden. It does not matter that there is a logical explanation, it is precisely what we cannot explain that fascinates us more and more.
14. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
We thank the readers and the editorial staff for this interview and all those who follow us and believe in us. Stay black!
Sito: https://sites.google.com/view/fiumenero
Blog: https://fiumenero.blogspot.com/
Bandcamp: https://fiumenero1.bandcamp.com/
Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/it/artist/5565673-Fiume-Nero
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