1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?
knights of rain is my take on a progressive form of black metal. melancholic and melodic, but also hopeful and lighthearted. I think of black metal as a form of rebelling against the religious, western conservative, especially the christians. you see, most of the old “trve” black metal bands tried to just paint an image of all the opposites of “christian” values, by becoming as misanthropic and aggressive as possible, but since reality, so politics and society, became just as aggressive and brutal as this wannabe satanic satire, there no longer seems to be a difference. Just look at how inviting this scene is for fash bands like mgla. so, I chose the approach of creating the opposite, by taking this dark fantasy topics and create a more bright and soft version of black metal.
2.So far you have released a full length and a couple of ep's, musically how do they all differ from each other?
i guess each take just develops. the tracks get longer and more atmospheric. mainly there are two ep’s and one lp under the name knights of rain. finite existence in futility was the first take. possibly not as defined as the later work but i am actually quite happy with it. back then i rather wanted to do a mixture of raw and post black metal and define a sound with those spacey doubletracked guitars and mellow synths in the background that the project kept until now. in the process of creating the witch’s garden stays hidden from dawn i had a fascinating effective blockade when i tried to write the lyrics so i spend a lot of time just making synth music. it’s basically just a collection of the products of procrastination, but it helped me with the synth work behind the full length shortly after that.
3.The project was formed from the ashes of 'Agnosis', what was the decision behind disbanding that project and starting a new one?
agnosis was just for the fun of producing. as i work as a sound engineer by now, back then i wanted to learn that stuff. And as it usually turns out, i despise that stuff by now. no bass, absolutely terrible, programmed drums, the most standard aesthetics, just lame and terrible. with knights of rain i wanted to do something serious. something good.
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?
thematically knights of rain is located in some sort of dark fantasy setting. a bit like berzerk, the last unicorn and from software i guess. the knights exist in a world of fallen empires and inhuman reigns. folks live in peace but also a dangerous environment, created by the wars that ended all these hierarchical structures like kingdoms. i wanted to show the world like the one the conservatives always tell us about, but instead of fear there is always a small ray of hope on the horizon. within this, the lp tried to look at the still frame of this fantastically dark forest located in this surroundings. a witch that lives in her own freedom, separated from the world around her, living in harmony with the forest and beings around her watching the remains of a kingdom slowly vanish. as concept it is rather loose. i wanted to look at patriarchal structures while create a scenario in which those disappear.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Knights Of Rain'?
the knights are thought to be the something like protagonists of the music. i try to think of them as wandering remains of the past, trying to fulfill their duty while knowing how sense and meaningless there doing is. not exactly the heroes of the tale. more like sad antagonists. i also just like the sound of it. had this name in mind for long. it so kitsch and i really love that. black metal sometimes just needs to embrace the cringe. funfact: i found a homebrew pnp-campaign with a party that is called the knights of rain. would love to play that.
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
it is one of harry clarke’s illustrations for e. a. poe’s mystery and imagination from 1919. for the single I used the artwork for the short story ligeia, with was just so damn good fitting. this illustration of the forest might just be fitting just as good. i just love the atmosphere it creates.
7.With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
oh the presence thine, mystical creatures called “drummer with a rehearsal room”. for thou shall be the rarest of all the wonders they tell.
8.In the last couple of years you have released a good amount of music with both of your projects, do you spend a great amount of time writing and creating music?
my profs would say rather too much time.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of post black metal?
it is not overly successful until now, but some seem to like it and that is always nice to see. more listeners would be quite nice though. i don’t earn money with this but I would love to see people enjoying my work
10.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
i would love to do a side project with like really dirty grind or crust stuff. absolutely political and borderline stupid. yes, that would be cool. but who knows what the future holds. As an engineer you do mix a lot of singer songwriter stuff and i could really imagine working with a nice singer to make like a lofi dark folk ep. a lot of fields to venture into out there. for knights of rain? who knows. i think the next big work is going to be some cool telltale stuff since the next songs are already covering on topics that seem hilarious even for post black metal. Like one of them is about a little mouse warrior.
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?
oh I think in the beginning, so for finite existence in futility, the biggest influence was kekth arakh. just love the dude’s music. that said, recently i am listening to a lot of ascalapha, plein de vie and bigger bands like laster and grima on the side of metal. but there is a lot of folk like chelsea wolfe, emma ruth rundle or king dude and so on, who are really inspiring in terms of writing. you will also find a lot of post punk bands like ploho or molchat doma on my playlists and strangely quite a lot of german rap.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
of course, i got to recommend chained arcana to everyone. Just some cool melodies and power going on there! also just the friendly reminder that there is no such thing as unpolitical music. especially in black metal.
https://knightsofrain.bandcamp.com/
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