1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard you before?
NIHILL is a Black Metal outfit from the Netherlands. We exist solemnly for the drive to create a nauseating nightmarish atmosphere. An underworld below a most ugly material world. We are not included by any limits artisticly. We've been around for quite a couple of years but actually decided later on to release records. Currently we are working on our third record, which is the final piece of a trilogy. The first record "KRACH" is about dying, the second "GROND" is about floating in the vacuum and the final piece will be about a painful rebirth. NIHILL hasn't performed live and has no interest in doing so.
2. What is the meaning behind the band's name?
NIHILL is the great nothingness, the emptiness, the vacuum. The great denial of everything.
3. How would you describe your musical sound?
A voyage gone bad. Trancelike riffing and monotonous rhythm. Very layered. Chaotic. Either fast or very slow. Rooted in old school black metal, but also in noise and chaos.
4. How has the support been so far from HydraHead Records?
They are very nice people and fully behind us artistically.
5. Are there any other projects going on besides NihiLL?
Keep an eye out for ORDER OF THE SOURCE BELOW. Insane and technical blackmetal. Also coming up is KINGDOM OF FYR, chaotic Black Metal in a totally free form, think of an over the top version of Abruptum. Last new project is AGATHEOPHOBIK, noise with tortured screams and satanic lyrics.
6.How would you describe your musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?
We started out very traditional. Sounding a lot like the great Clandestine Blaze. Slowly moving more towards hypnotic and trancelike riffing. We tend to think more linear and soundscapelike instead of songwriting. A ship adrift on the great blackened cosmic sea. Pushing beyond the boundaries of genres. Being extreme and distorting at the same time. For the future there will be more chaos…
7. What are some of the topics that you cover in your songwriting?
The trilogy is actually about alchemy. It is about the transition between dying, being reborn, living and dying again. The metaphors and the aesthetics of Alchemy really speak to me. It's about things happening in life and translating them to a metaphysical level. The main topic in the lyrics is the cycle of life and death. All will wither and die eventually. Bearing this in mind you can ask a question like what the fuck is humanity about. What are us stupids fucks doing if it is to no extend? All is in vain and will end. It will transform into the great nothingness. These themes are accompanied by devastating music. A tunnel with fake lights were a constant storm is howling and no hope of getting out.
8. How has the feedback been so far from black metal fans worldwide?
We had some pretty cool reviews if that's what you're asking. But frankly we don't give a shit. I love certain blackmetal bands but I don't care about a so-called scene. it's every man for himself out there.
9. What are some bands or music styles that have influenced your music and what are you listening to nowadays?
We listen varied types of music: Blackmetal 1990-1994 era from Norway of course, some newer 'classic' bands like Craft,Katharsis, Funeral Goat. Some atmospheric and drone outfits out there like DRAKH or VOMIR are nice. Also some violent power electronics like WHITEHOUSE or SUTCLIFFE JUGEND. And classical stuff like: Gorecki, Messiaen and even Bartok. As I said we are not included by any limits and when you hear NIHILL you will discover that.
10. What role does Satanism or Occultism play in the music, and what forms of occultism do you find the most interesting?
First of we are very attracted to the esthetics of occultism, Christianity and Satanism. We are not hardcore worshipers if that's what you're after. Interests like Chaos Gnostics, Schoppenhauer, Camus, philosophy are more personal and are not directly reflected in the music. But they help in creating the atmosphere and chaos we're after.
11. What are the plans for 2010?
To record the last bits of "VERDONKERMAAN" the final part of the trilogy. We've also been fucking around with mixing and mastering some old rehearsal tapes.
12. What are some of your interests outside of music?
Creating Art, gathering knowledge, drinking and hiking in the woods of the north…
13. Any final words or thoughts?
Keep an eye open for the final piece of the NIHILL trilogy. VERDONKERMAAN is coming…
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