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1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new ep?
We finished recording Cult of Primordials in may and started mixing and mastering by Mihai Dinca, whyle Monica from Kratos was producing her parts. It was a heavy experience, as we wanted to achieve e very good produced black metal product. Apart from that we are currently rehearsing and trying to attend as many gigs as possible in order to promote our music.
Recently you have released a new ep, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Gnosis, our debut was recorded and produced in my home studio. It is a well written material but the production is somehow below the nowadays standards. With “Cult of Primordials” we enhanced both production and compositions, but still stayed true to the genre we started with the first material. It continues what was started, but better in every way.
3.A lot of your lyrics cover Occultism and Paganism themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in those topics?
Main concept of our lyrics is about free will, free speech without any doctrine or religious factors. We deliver this message in an artistic context. Gnosis (knowledge) describes the origin of Sin. When Eve and Adam ate from the Tree of Gnosis, they obtained free will, the ability to self understand god and evil. Both these terms are interpretable. Cult of Primordials follows the topic with the ascension of the first men after the fall from grace, and our next full length will continue with the first Civilizations. This is the theme we are trying to follow.
4.In one interview you referenced 'Michael Howard' and 'Nigel Jackson' and also showed some inspiration from Albert Pike in the lyrics, are you also interested in other occult authors?
I drove my main inspiration from these two books as I found them to fit at the border between occult fanaticism and reality. I find interesting for now “Religion and the decline of Magic” by Keith Thomas since it depicts the border between medieval religion and future science, and two of the books I’ ll get my inspiration for the next full length , “The Occult Science in Byzantium” by Paul Magdalino/Maria Mavroudi and The Sumerian Legacy by Joshua Free.
What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'WarHymn'?
When i started this I wanted a catchy name,to get the necessary attention, and I also wanted to be short, one word (thow , somehow there are 2 words thereJ).When I was younger I played in a band called Argedava , and some of the lyrics were about Romanian hystorical battles and national anthems.I simply thought WarHymn was very appropriate. So as every new band I searched Metal Archives and it just wasn’t taken. While writing new music, I just developed a more complex concept. It just came very natural.
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
I drew both Gnosis and Cult of Primordials artwork. With this yellow tilt pencil drawing I see them as ancient old papyrus drawings. All the future artworks will be featured like this. They are and they will be part of WarHymn’s identity. As for our new EP – it depicts Eve while she is being tempted by Lucifer to eat the apple and receive the well deserved power of knowledge.
7.Originally the band started out as a solo project, what was the decision behind bringing in a full line up?
I honestly have to say I did not wanted to have a full line-up because of the past bad experience of working with people. It was a friend that encouraged me to do it. He brought the rest of the guys to the table, and he also played the lead guitar about half year until we met Rizea, who is an extremely talented kid. All the guys are professional musicians and aim to deliver the best of their talent in WarHymn. Seems this time it worked well in the end.
8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We have played 11 shows so far, with the 12th one to be in Iasi on 27 November. One of the best was in Bucharest in Fabrica Club in January. We also had a great time in Brasov Constanta and Craiova also. We didn’t have any foreign show still but we intend to do it as fast as possible.
We play fast, hard, and most of our songs have atmospheric intros . We talk as little as possible as we want to engage people into the theme and atmosphere we deliver both on records and on stage.
9.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We plan to reach as many cities as we can in the following year in Romania. If an opportunity for a tour abroad should appear, we shall not miss it. We are very excited to deliver our music live to as many people as possible.
10.In 2020 you also had done an 'Argedava' cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?
Argedava was the first band I played when I was a kid but never made it. “Originea” is one of the best written songs by my former mate and friend who quit playing. Now his composition has the opportunity to get to people through Warhymn.This song si written around 2006 if I remember correctly.
I even plan to use more riffs from the old songs in the future if they seem to fit.
11.On the new ep you also had some session work form Monica Barta from 'Kratos', can you tell us a little bit more about her contribution to the recording?
I will let Monica answer to this one :
Hi there! it's me having the pleasure for answering to this question . When I received the songs and all the stuff from Alin (the songs parts where I have to sing, what I have to sing, the lyrics and so on..) first, I wanted to understand very well, the concept behind this EP and the band vision in general for being able to give my best for this project and to recreate the atmosphere and the message of their music as best as possible. And I started to record the already established vocal parts . Only that, during this process, I started to feel, literally, that I was part into their story. It was and still is a great feeling, perhaps harder to reproduce in words but definitely almost an organic thing, a feeling of union with their music. And this was the moment when inspiration prompted me to add a few extra voice lines to what was already in the plan. And the guys liked it. I put all my heart into it and I hope this vibe can also be perceived by the listener as well.
12.The new ep was released by 'Loud Rage Music', how would you compare working with them to 'Narcoleptica Productions'.?
Both Andrei (Narcoleptica) and Adrian (Loud Rage Music) are great and professional guys and I would like to recommend them both. They did everything they promised to do, they promoted us and they enjoy our music for sure. The main reason we decided to switch is because we wanted a label closer to us and of course closer to the west.
13.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
Being a one man band with no shows and not enough promotion, the debut slipped somehow unnoticed. After we started to play live ,people started to become interested in our music, and now with the new EP launched we see that our notoriety starts to grow on the black metal stage. We recommend to black metal fans to listen to both of our materials.
14.When can we expect another full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We are still arguing if we’re up to re-record Gnosis or move on. But I believe we shall move on for now, since we started writing the next full length in the same time with Cult of Primordials EP. It will have more atmosphere and more orchestra than what you heard on the first 2 releases and we also plan the use harmonic scales for some middle eastern themes.
In order to produce the best quality in both production and writing process, I’d say it won’t be ready untill late 2024/early 2025.
But we plan to release a single that will be featured on it in the second part of 2023.
15.What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are currently listening to nowadays.
Now that is a very good question !
We listen to different music styles and this is very interesting because everyone gets something from his own style and musical prefences.
Rizea (guitars/vocals) plays and listens to a wide range of progressive music and his instrument skills are unmatched.
Hex (bass) listens from black metal to a lot of groovy bands, and from there, he brings in Warhymn a lot of heavy bass tones and rich filling riffs that fill the guitar composition.
Philip (drums) in his late 30’s enjoys playing metal but listens to mostly game and movie soundtracks.
Me (Shavy) (Guitars/vocals) listen mostly to black and death metal, but I also enjoy a lot game and movie soundtracks. I can say soundtracks inspire me more to write Warhymn’s music then listening to metal bands.In might be weird but it just works.
16.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Yes. I always like to encourage people to support the underground nowadays metal bands that try to reach out the surface from an enourmous “sea” of musical content. If you find a band that you like, go to their shows, buy their music, support the labels.
The public support is the main factor that can push an artist to move on !
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