Chiaroscvro Interview

 1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the musical project since the recording and release of the new album? 

Hailz ! The album was released the very same day of the first live appearance of the band. Currently I am working on the next chapter. 

 2.In October you also released a new album, musically how does it differ from your previous release?

 The first opus Aux Confins was centered on finiteness's : death(s), epitaph, loss, tempus fugit. It is an opening and closing chapter in its own. Musically, it was mostly atmospheric and lyrical black art. This new opus Renégation is the opener of a trilogy that I describe as « here below » : once finiteness's are touched, even from afar, and absurd is felt, then what is to be done ? This opener is an odious bow to the times : if the era is religious, Chiaroscvro disowns it, if the era is too dry and materialistic, Chiaroscvro lights the spark of spirituality. It stays introspective and lyrical, but in a more direct, brutal, raw form musically speaking. Melodic Black Metal, Atmospheric BM and Raw BM being the forms that I appreciate most, 90's and 2000's being the periods I prefer regarding the black arts. As for the lyrics, they're more frontal, close to the French Romantic poetry and pamphlets, the finde-siècle spirit. They deal with the great Void that can be felt in these roaring troubled times, the contempt of Ideals and Valor, the drying out, the civil war climate in so-called pacific western societies, and the celebration of the glorious individual and parallel path as a response. For non-French speaking listeners, I will prepare English translation of the lyrics, available on request. 

 3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that you have explored so far with the music?

 Cf question 2.

 4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Chiaroscvro'?

 I am fascinated since a long time by the pictorial technique and spirit the name refers to, and the life and work of Caravaggio. His paintings capture the drama like few did and do. In my music, I try to draw instant images of passions, dreams, Ideals, tragedies etc. Also, I see chiaroscvro as the exploration of the grey zones, neither Black nor White ; the celebration of how Darkness draws Light ; and a Luciferian metaphor : the lit Torch that guides on the individual path. 

 5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover? 

It is a Flame... The Eternal Spark (Etincelle Eternelle in French), the leitmotiv of the album (in various ways). It is also my personal tribute to the flame of Black Metal.

 6.With the exception of a few session musicians you record most of the music on the albums, are you open to working with a full line up in the studio or do you prefer to work solo? 

For the studio albums, I write and compose everything alone, and I collaborate only with a session drummer and some guests when needed. I need this deep confrontation to my inner self(ves), almost meditative state, and I need to create from beginning to end. That said, I enjoy discussions about the choices made, and to work with other people for the recording/mixing/mastering process. 

 7.What are some of the best shows that you have played with the live line up so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

 For now we just did one live gig on October 14th in my native city of Lyon, as opening act for French mighty hordes Pestiferum and Ende. I would say it was very solemn, rabid, straightforward and haunting. At least I hope so... 

 8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

 We're working on it. But for the time being it's more about one-offs than touring.

 9.The new album was released on 'France, Black, Death, Grind', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

 FBDG was born three years ago. They are more a collective of passionate beings than a label in the traditional meaning. They help the newcomers they like, they give some visibility and help us to connect with each other (I mean the French Underground). Their spontaneity and frankness are motivating and refreshing in a scene where cynicism, cupidity and dumbness seem sometimes to rule - just as in the mainstream fucked up world. So, Eternal Hailz to Nepenthes Lacrymal, Cyrille and Yann. 

 10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?

 For now, I can mostly speak for France (I know some copies were sold in Italy and Quebec as well, but 90% was sold in France). I would say that most of the listeners insist on the powerful, emotional and furious expression. Some said it was DSBM (while I think it's rather Melancholy), some even thought of Blut Aus Nord... What I found great was that those few who cared to listen, listened to it in depth. I am always curious to know the feedback, the response from the listeners. They can contact me on the bandcamp page if they want to have a talk. 

 11.Can you tell us a little bit more about 'Dolca Vita'? 

Dolce Vita is my solo Folk Noir side-project. Funereal, dark, nostalgic, existential. I call it « supreme ironic art », as its name, DV, refers to Fellini's work of course, but in a much more existential sarcasm. Writing and composing for DV is much more irregular than doing so for Chiaroscvro. Though the instrumentation is minimalistic (viola, loop pedal, voice, some guitar), it is a much more intimate process. I released a home-made demo in 2022, « For Light Is Within », and I will play live on December 2nd 2023 as opener for Rosa Crux in Rennes (Britanny). I have plans for releasing new stuff in 2024, but don't know if it will be a compilation or a real full-length yet. My « influences », or, rather, favorite dark folk, cold wave, baroque pop artists to which I think of when creating are Scott Walker, And Also The Trees, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, Empyrium, Les Joyaux de La Princesse & Blood Axis, Swans, Dernière Volonté, Death In June.

 12.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future? 

Keep on recording new stuff and playing live. 

 13.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?

 Classical Music (mostly Baroque and Romantic/Post-Romantic eras) ; Folk (60'/70' ; Dark..) ; Ambient & Contemporary ; Doom-Death, Gothic Doom, Black Metal. Tiamat, Forbidden Site, Judas Iscariot, Nargaroth, Mortifera, Empyrium, Erik Satie, Dimitri Chostakovitch, Massive Attack, Jeff Buckley are the artists who struck me most so far. Whether they had an impact on my songs is rather mysterious to me, I think only listeners can tell. Today, I mostly listen to Black Metal and Ambient artists. But I also, sometimes, do enjoy some « world music », some so-called « easy listening » artists, bossa nova, blues and jazz acts. 

 14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

 Thanks for your review and this interview. It's good to see zines like yours still running. We need to keep on reading and listening, not being facilized by the mainstream scrolling tools all the time. We are listeners, not zappers. We (kind of) worship Art, we're not (only) consumers. We have brains, we have hearts, we have (some) soul. War still rages everywhere, at least let's not make new civil black metal wars. The world is getting drier, at least let's not try do dry out from the inside. Du Noir Est Tout, Ombra

https://chiaroscvro.bandcamp.com/ 

https://franceblackdeathgrind.bandcamp.com/ 

https://franceblackdeathgrind.blogspot.com/