Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Well, first of course the label search, then we planned all the physical releases, the merch, the timeline for the release... we shot two videos and a teaser and put a lot of time and effort into documentation and preparation for social media... and now it's on to promotion, interviews and so on. Lots of exciting stuff...I've learned a lot. But the creative part, the music itself those days sometimes comes up short. You go from being an artist to a project manager when a release comes close ... that was never really my goal.
In October you have a new album coming out, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
By and large, we've been writing in a very similar style since the first album, in terms of riffs, melodies, lyrics and vocals. What we have learned is that sometimes less is more: the new songs are not less innovative, but more compact, more logical and therefore catchier. Especially on "Lebensweisen" we sometimes just wanted too much, I guess.
This is also your first album in 10 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
Less than we wanted, haha. Some of the songs were already written when "Lebensweisen" was released in 2013. Then our guitarist lost interest in the band and we drew consequences too late... our bass player moved away, and there too I guess we thought we could manage that for too long. It took us a while to find new, suitable guys for both positions. And when the drumming was recorded, the pandemic came and threw all schedules out of whack. In the pandemic the studio we wanted to go to closed, for the other one we had to wait another year... so a lot of things really went wrong - but for that I'm really sure now that the songs have matured to perfection: From my point of view they couldn't have been better - that's also a consequence of this long time of creation. I think many bands should rather take a little more time, but no professional musician can afford that. In this respect, there are sometimes much more mature albums to be heard in the underground!
Lyrically you also have covered some dark philosophy themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
To be honest, it is difficult for me to imagine anything concrete under the term „dark philosophy“. It's also not that I would describe the texts as philosophical. They are rather concrete thoughts or topics that we abstract in metaphors.
What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
The whole album is about transience, but not on a large scale, related to life and death, but rather on a small scale: dying hopes, bursting dreams, blurring boundaries ...
Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
A photographer friend posted it on Facebook years ago, and I knew immediately that it had to be the cover. I was struck by everything that resonates in the captured moment. It captured the fragile, short-lived moment of happiness that the album's lyrics are also about: the settings vary, but transience plays a role in all of them - hence the album title. The cover is the non-musical centerpiece of the album for me. It inspired the lyrics of the title track and the bubble aesthetic of the band pictures.
What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
I find it extremely difficult to judge the quality of a performance myself. But the fact that we were able to play with Bethlehem was certainly a highlight. For the upcoming shows, we have a concept that is coordinated with the album, with stage costumes that are appropriate but not exaggerated. Otherwise, we do without gimmicks, also with the sound. Wherever possible, we do without click or backing tracks. We want to play metal, not a playback show.
Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We will play a release show in our hometown Munich on December 29th - otherwise there is nothing in the calendar yet. Of course, further shows would be a goal, but the organization costs a lot of time and effort ... which are currently simply not there, because we have to support the release. Unfortunately it has become very difficult to get good opportunities to perform.
The new album is going to be released on 'Crawling Chaos', how would you compare working with this label to other labels you have been a part of in the past?
There are worlds in between. Many "labels" in the underground today are pure rip-offs - they take any band that applies and they make you pay for everything, from the music to the PR... you never see a cent, because with the sales they recoup their only expenses, for the physical products. You get a few free copies and unmotivated "promotion", which in the end means one or two circular emails - and that's it. With Crawling Chaos, from the first contact - a two-hour phone call - we had the feeling that the label owner understood what we were about, loved the album and wanted to support us. This refers to an extremely fair deal as far as financing is concerned, but also to the fact that he has unconditionally supported us in all further steps and is doing everything to realize every idea we have. He gave us complete artistic freedom regarding the design of the digipaks and vinyls - that was honestly the most important thing for me: After all these years I wanted to hold something in my hands at the end that corresponds 100% to my ideas - and not to the budget-driven ideas of some label guy for whom the album is just one product among many. Of course Crawling Chaos is a small label, but we couldn't be happier.
On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your newer music by fans of atmospheric black metal?
So far only the press knows the album, but because it's still almost five weeks until the release, we haven't received much feedback yet. The first reviews were great, and I've also heard almost all good things from musician friends of mine. But in the end it only counts how the fans like it. I am curious!
Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?
Yes, definitely. Our singer umbrA can also be heard in Perditions Light and Thorngoth, two rather true black metal projects - besides he has a damn cool avant-garde black metal project called Atrorum. Our drummer Latrodectus drums for Nothgard, plus he has a melodic death metal band called Amplified Memory and a ska band called Relatively Rapid. Our bass player is a trained classical musician, he works as a singer - but not in metal. Miserere used to have Inarborat, but that's on hold. And I am busy with NEBELKRÄHE.
Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
There is currently not a single "new" riff. When it comes to songwriting again, we'll see where it takes us. But even though some of the songs from "ephemer" are up to ten years old, at the moment they are exactly what I imagine NEBELKRÄHE to be musically. If I would write a song now, it would probably not be so different in the basic structure ... as far as the expanding instrumentation is concerned, we will do what the song needs in the future, without setting ourselves limits.
What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are currently listening to nowadays?
In general, most of us also listen to (avant-gardish) black metal, but of course many other stuff as well. Personally, I find the new albums by Endstille, Hexvessel and Shining very good, but also Kataklysm or the Cavalera re-release project, for example. Besides that there are of course a lot of classics that I give a listen to regularly - like older Naglfar, Dissection, Mayhem and so on.
Before we wrap this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you for the interest. It sounds like a phrase, but it really means the world to me every time people take such an in-depth look at our music that they read or even do an interview. Listen to "ephemer", watch the videos and if you like what you hear, support us and our label, who believed in us like nobody else, by ordering a CD, LP or merch! You can buy all this stuff at bandcamp or our labels store from September 27th on!
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