1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1.S.:We started our way in February 2020. Our group consists of two musicians. Me - S., I record all the instruments, write music, lyrics and make musical arrangements.
Corpse took over as vocalist. Everything related to vocals, its sound, accents, vocal arrangement, arrangement of verses in the composition are totally the result of his creative impulse.
At the moment, the roles are distributed in this way. But this is not a strict rule.
The concept of our band is quite simple, but at the same time, it reflects our fundamental notions about cultural phenomenon of black metal, its form and content. We embody our ideas and reading of genre in music being a part of this musical phenomenon.
2. Recently the band has released a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
S.: We didn't choose the style for the album. We are not session musicians or artisans who make songs by order, according to another's standards.
As creators we wrote the music that, in our opinion, most organically combined appropriate atmosphere and the implements with which the music was created. We didn't follow any canons and rules, but at the same time we didn't aim to be the most unique and experimental. We didn't have a goal to say something new, previously unknown with our music, we didn't try to be too original. As a result, we got music that fully satisfied our needs. Our interest in black metal, that didn't leave us all our conscious life, naturally led us to this musical style – style that we embodied in this album through the prism of our personalities.
3.One of the band members is also a part of 'Temple Of Nihil', musically how do you feel the music of 'Angr' differs from the musical style of the previous mentioned band?
Corpse: What these two projects have in common is the direction of the genre. Each listener of the genre has its own formed idea about the style in general. I also have my own tastes and notion of Black metal. The first one is what we do with Temple of Nihil. The second is what I managed to implement in ANGR. Both projects relate to the same genre, but follow different, parallel paths to each other. My creative ideas are perfectly intertwined with the work of S. (ANGR). And this is mutual.
4.The lyrics cover gloomy images of European Culture form the pre-Christian era, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic and also the decision to bring this out in your songwriting?
S.: This topic is worth a separate interview. But without going into details, in my opinion, the authentic beliefs and culture of European peoples in more ancient times, before the Christianity, are quite far from the modern man's view of “paganism” in his fantasy interpretation for escapist entertainments. The archetypes generated by this cultural substrate are harsh and beautiful, they are cruel and dark in their essence, that makes them perfectly compatible with the music we create. I wouldn't want to become the author of lyrics dedicated to fake "Satanism" or a fantasy version of "paganism". Of course, I avoid extrapolations, but nevertheless many representatives of the genre make clownery out of these deep and serious topics. At the same time, in my lyrics I didn't look for opponents, didn't endow the narrative with the image of an enemy in the form of a church, Christ, or someone else. I acted as a kind of observer while writing the lyrics.
5.One of the tracks is also titled 'Ymir', do you have an interest in Nordic Paganism?
S.: As part of the cultural heritage of Europe, Scandinavian paganism is definitely interesting to us in many aspects related to the concept of lyrics that has developed in our album. This song tells that Ymir, the first living being in the universe, was killed by Aesir and his body was used to create the world, thus the world that appeared from the body of a dead man was imperfect and finite, a curse lay upon it. The world, created from a corpse, inevitably decays and sooner or later perishes under the influence of external forces. In the beliefs of the northerners those forces are described as chthonic monsters that will converge with the gods in the last battle of this world - Ragnarok.
However, we don't profess any cults and religions associated with Germanic or Scandinavian paganism, we don't belong to the communities of Åsatru adherents or any similar. We are not on a religious mission, and we are not preachers.
We leave ourselves freedom in further creativity and lyrical images that can be used for writing lyrics. But, as I mentioned above, the dark sides of European culture before the emergence of Christianity are a powerful source of inspiration for writing.
6.I know that the band name means 'anger' in Old Norse, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
S.: Despite some melodic elements of songs, our music is unlikely to have a melancholic and depressive mood. While writing music I wanted to reveal precisely the rage and aggression coupled with the oppressive dark atmosphere that I valued in black metal. Therefore, the title reflects the fundamental mood of the music performed by ANGR. This name fits very well to briefly describe our music and the range of emotions that dominates in it.
7.There are only 2 members in the band , do you feel this gives you more freedom to accomplish what you set out to do musically?
S.: We have a creative symbiosis, so it is unlikely that there will be more musicians. Although, guests and session musicians for certain work under our control are possible. We can change some roles if we consider it necessary.
8.Currently the band is unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
S.: We are ready to consider offers from labels, for example, to publish physical copies of our albums, including the released album. Of course, we are ready to entrust the serious work of distribution on the Internet and its control to the label, but only to the one that keeps its commitments. The level of a quasi-label with a weird distribution on online platforms and irresponsible attitude towards their obligations doesn't suit us. So, now we rely primarily on our own strength, but we are open to offers.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
S.: We get mostly positive feedback, from Occult Black Metal Zine as well.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
S.:
We plan to continue creating music, we will soon begin work on the next album, the instrumental part of which is ready in the form of written compositions, but there is a lot of work to achieve results.
We also plan to work on a split with Temple of Nihil on some exclusive compositions, but they won't be included in any album.
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?
S.: Of course, I prefer black metal, but I don't restrict myself, I like good works in completely different genres of music. All musicians are influenced by listening to music and their tastes. This succession can be traced in absolutely everyone. This is how we are made, alas. I would like to avoid names in this question to avoid false associations. For some reason, some people compared us to Mayhem, but for me it is a compliment to match the level of the album De mysteriis Dom Sathanas. This is a real masterpiece in every sense.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
S.: It is difficult to wish something to people I've never met and never knew. Anyway, thanks for your time! As Nietzsche said - Without music, life would be a mistake.
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