Vyr Muk 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?

Now I’m focused on writing new material for the next releases, there are few collaborations planned at this point, hope all of them will bring wonderful results. Since I have no label I also do promotion and order merch by myself.

2.Recently you have released a new full length, musically how does it differ from your previous ep's?

I write music in several genres. The main genre is black/death metal of course, but I also have some dungeon synth and ambient piano releases. In comparison with my previous black/death metal release “Shadows Falling on the Dead Cities” the new release touches more topics than previous one and overall it's a more complex work.

3.With your releases you have released some in the black/death metal genres and a couple of ep's that where all piano instrumentals, do you consider yourself a very diverse musician?

Not really, I would say, I just write the music I want to and mostly it is an interpretation of my emotions and thoughts. I started playing piano a year and a half ago, so it was just some new experience for me and I decided to record some melodies that came up to my mind.

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

The main subject is war and other things that are now happening in Ukraine. If Shadows Falling on the Dead cities was fully dedicated to war, the last release is also dedicated to topics of corruption and greed, how rotten modern society is and sorrow for the died/killed.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Vyr Muk'?

These are two Ukrainian words, Vyr (Вир) – is a whirlpool and Muk (Мук)  - is torments or suffering. I think these two words very aptly describe the music that a right and topics that I touch in my songs.

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

The album cover depicts a massive, long-dead giant whose body has become part of the mountain landscape. This creature fell in battle many years ago, and over time, people have built their town atop the very site where the fight took place. The image symbolizes how even the most violent wars eventually come to an end, and how even the mightiest of powers can be defeated. I hope that one day we, too, will overcome this giant—and that all Ukrainians will look back on this brutal war as a chapter in history, living instead in peace and prosperity.

7.Since 2023 you have released a new amount of material, do you spend a great amount of time writing and creating music?

Five or six days per week I usually practice in music and music writing as well, usually it is 4-6 hours per day, sometimes it can be 7 days in a raw and much more time per day, I don’t know is this a lot or not, I just do it when I have time and energy for this.

8.With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?

I have two collaborations at this moment, one is with very unordinary multi-genre project from Ukraine called Noisepareidolia and another is cover for Cradle of Filth “Summer Dying Fast” with great black metal band from Germany, called Winds of Winter. Hope there will be more collaborations this year. If we are talking about just Vyr Muk songs, I would like to interact with musicians who are more skilled than I am, especially in drumming, for improvement.  

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I looked for labels before, I got only two positive answers but in the end their contract conditions were so bad that I decided to refuse to collaborate with them and do everything by myself.

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

My project is on a very underground level at this point and the audience is very small, so its hard to estimate, but the audience is getting bigger, almost every day a few new listeners come. Most of the feedback I got was positive, hope there will be more listeners in the future.

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

Of course, I want to connect my life with music, before it was just a hobby for me, but I will be happy if I can ever make a living from music.

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?

The bands that mostly influenced Vyr Muk sounding and style are Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir and SepticFlesh, but in general I would say that every band that I enjoy brings something to my imagination. Now my playlist is 99% are Ukrainian metal bands, such as U kronakh, Floscule, Waidelotte, 1914, Labirintus Stellarium and many more. 

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

Thank you for having me, it was a pleasure to answer these interesting questions, best wishes!

https://vyrmuk.bandcamp.com/music