1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Nythroth: Black Spells was a cry for me to go back to the basics, back to the pure raw energy that makes black metal so good free of techinical flourishes or high concepts. After getting deeply invested in various avant-garde and dissonant albums and trying to make the perfect work (which is impossible) I started listening to forgotten black metal demos and great melodic stuff like Satanic Warmaster and realized my soul was craving to go back to this triumphant core of what black metal truly is. So double tracked guitars, single bass, single take drums, and vocal to convey a message as powerful as we could.
2.So far you have released one album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
Nythroth:
As briefly touched upon, the musical style was much more in the raw black metal style and also the melodic black metal style. After going so deep into dissonant and atonal music, listening back to the extremely powerful melod segments of some black metal bands made me realize how much power there still is in melody. Keeping the song structures simple but each riff and segment being powerful enough to transmit a statement and hold the attention, and the recording process was kept very simple. First a scratch track is recorded and sent to the drummer. He sends me the drums and I build upon that, for guitar I used a very cheap and beat up old Japanese guitar through a russian Soldano preamp clone (myasnikov) which was run through the effects loop of my Sunn Enforcer into my fender cab loaded with celestion K100s. I feel this was one of the best black metal tones I've been able to achieve. Then tracked bass with my kramer bass into a sunn concert lead and added a few leads recorded far away with a room mic and sent to our vocalist. Style was to be simple but powerful.
3.A lot of your lyrics cover occultism themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the dark arts?
Nythroth:
I have always had an interested in realities beyond the mundane and colored by experiences as a child both ghostly and demonic. Through my teens and 20s I was heavily into drugs which brought me into many more demonic experiences and then towards the end I became very into Tranditional Satanism seeing it as a way out from my drug problem. I went all in and became very consumed by it, but the experiences were extremely personal to my personal growth and development as a fully integrated person. Now I have been sober off all substances for 6 years and still hold the tenets of occultism and Satanism in my core, but only do the occasional ritual or dark meditation when I feel I need to. I simply let my music do the reaching into other realms now.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Black Spells"/
Nythroth:
Our vocalist would have more info on that as he wrote all lyrics as well as the band name, but to me it is cut and dry simply Black Spells are each song, a dark incantation reaching ot forbidden and dangerous realms and leading to power, pain, and ecstacy as reflected in the riffs.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover/
Nythroth:
I had seen this artwork from Belial Necro Arts and felt it was immensely powerful and had to purchase it from him on the spot. To me it reflects the occult nature of the music and also the embracing of death in the occult and fusing it with life.
6.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?
Nythroth:
We have not done any shows, this is our first album. We will see if that is in the plans for us or not.
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Nythroth:
We initially sent this album to some labels, but everyone appeared to be very booked for the year or unable or unwilling to take the album on. We then decided that in the true ethos of the work and of black metal at its core that we should just go ahead and self-release it. We were very happy with the final album and were ready to go ahead and get it out. I had my guys over at Hollywood Disc in Los Angeles press up the CD's and they did a fantastic job.
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
Nythroth:
I feel that people have thus far been really understanding what were setting out to do and feeling the core feelings and intentions of the music, which is all we can hope to do. Sales have been going well for a first album from a new band.
9.Do any of the band members also have experience playing in other bands or projects?
Nythroth:
Our vocalist was the vocalist for old USBM band Ceremony. Myself I am in Nothing Is Real, Acausal Intrusion, Feral Lord, Psionic Madness, Slog, and many others as well as playing live with Bastard Collective (new iteration of Man Is The Bastard). Our drummer Plaguehammer is with me in many of these bands as well as in his own bands such as Filtheater and Maggot Crown.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Nythroth:
I see us continuing to perfect and solidify this sound as well as beginning to throw a bit more experimentation in, but lower lows, higher highs, while still retaining the same raw and underproduced sound.
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?
Nyhtorth:
I grew up on classic rock and prog and jazz/fusion and that is my backbone, but obiously got into metal and have been going down the rabbit hole ever since. As for the influence on this music as I said it was the raw and melodic styles of black metal I had gotten back into listening to. I am currently listening to a brand new album by Thanatomass called Hades which is a good time. I am always listening to music new and old and expanding my tastes and horizons.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Nythroth:
I just want to thank everyone for giving this new band a chance and for appreciating and understanding what we are trying to do. Music is my life and the fact that anyone wants to listen is just a bonus.
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