Valfeanor
Valfeanor is back in business with its long awaited material called "Noreia", released since a while through Black Tower Productions! And thanks to Patricia Thomas here you have the last statements from Valfeanor's camp; answers coming from Desderoth.
Arcana Noctis: Blackest hails Desderoth! How're you? And what are are the latest news from your camp?
Desderoth: Waiting for the release of the new album and thinking negative thoughts as usual.
Arcana Noctis: You founded this band under Mortar name in 2002, a Black/Thrash Metal gang that released a demo called "S.O.B.M."! Tell us a few words about this material, and explain us why you changed band's name?
Desderoth: When we wrote the music for it, I played guitar, and Mergol did the drums, but it was nothing special, just bad sound and fucked-off lyrics. I changed the name because I wanted to use something that didn't exist and had therefore never been used before. There are too many bands out there that have the same names as each other.
Arcana Noctis: Two years later, in 2004, you recorded a 5 tracks demo! What is all about with this material, and what will be the main difference between this new one and the very first "S.O.B.M."?
Desderoth: The difference was that R.R. did the guitar and bass lines, and I sang in a growl, but the music was not really Death/Thrash, it was pure Thrash Metal in the old style. Perhaps the vocals were more Death Metal, but not the music.
Arcana Noctis: Years have passed and you started working on "En Ny Tid", considered to be as a tribute to the bands you were listening to in the past! Present us this opus, and tell us a few words about the lyrical content of it!
Desderoth: Some of the melodies, like the pizzicato parts on "En Ny Tid", are very old, over 10 years old now. At that point besides Metal, I was listening to a lot of movie music, rather than bands. Apart from Summoning I don't like this Pagan/Viking/Humppa music. I really hate this type of music, and despite what people think, "En Ny Tid" is most definitely not part of this whole genre. It's epic Metal and nothing else. The lyrics are based on stories from old movies, apart from two songs, but they just happen to be inspired by Tolkein rather than having anything to do with any influence from Summoning.
Arcana Noctis: This full length was later released on Black Tower Productions from Swiss! Why you delayed "En Ny Tid" until 2007, and how you found the label I mentioned above?
Desderoth: I wouldn't say it was delayed, it just took that long to record that's all. We were contacted by Black Tower and they signed us.
Arcana Noctis: What was the general response on it, and what was your live activity after the release of this material?
Desderoth: It was an album I wanted to release, but not one that in anyway defined Valfeanor, or Desderoth, so to me it's now history and I've moved on from there. I'm not obsessed with checking responses to it every five minutes. It is what it is. There was no live activity following its release. I had other things going on at the time, and was not interested in playing live.
Arcana Noctis: Very soon you joined Hellsaw from Austria on bass, first as a session member, and you played a few gigs together and you started to record band's last release "Cold"! How you managed to join this band, and what can you tell us about this album I mentioned above?
Desderoth: Aries and I are old friends, and he asked me if I wanted to join Hellsaw for the Shining tour, and the rest, as they say, is history. Aries is really the spokesperson for Hellsaw, so he is the one to ask about the album, let's just say that it's excellent, and a big move forward for the band.
Arcana Noctis: You decided to bring with you, in Valfeanor, Hellsaw's guitarist Isiul; and soon you decided to sign a management deal with Patricia Thomas from U.K.! How you got in touch with this person, and what exactly do you expect from her?
Desderoth: Isiul is a fairly recent addition to the band and I was in contact with Patricia before he joined. I got to know her because of the tour that Hellsaw did with Shining and Skitliv, as she is of course Maniac's manager. There are not many people in this fucking world that I trust, I don't even need all the fingers of one hand to count how many, but she is one of them, and very important to me personally as well.
Arcana Noctis: As far as I know Patricia is very involved in this Metal business, mostly for her deals with musicians such as Maniac, Nattefrost or Vrangsinn! What do you think about your mates from this management agency and what do you think that will be Valfeanor's place in this "society"?
Desderoth: I don't really know any of the other guys on her roster personally, apart from Maniac and I've always liked what he did with Mayhem, and what he's doing now with Skitliv. A lot of the bands live in different countries, so it's not often that anyone gets to meet up. I know Patricia will only work with people she likes and respects and we all matter to her equally, but it's not like a club where you all meet up on a Friday night for a drink. They are all individual bands with their own plans and directions and personalities, but from what I've seen, when an opportunity comes up that would help one of the others there is no hesitation at all to offer it, so of course it's useful. How much everyone gets involved with each other is up to the individuals. I know some new friendships have been forged, but I've always felt detached from the world in general.
Arcana Noctis: Very soon you recorded the new opus called "Noreia"! Please try to introduce us this new full length, and reveal us the story behind each song!
Desderoth: For me, Noreia is the first real album. The album is brimful of negativity, and the lyrics are included so you can judge for yourself just how negative it is. Apart, that is, from the track "Emptiness/Dolorosus/Hate", which is a very special song made up of three parts. Isiul does the vocals on the first and second parts "Emptiness" and "Dolorosus", whilst for the third part "Hate", I cut myself and we used the stench of decaying blood when I did the vocals/screams to bring out the atmosphere and negative aspects of myself in the song.
Arcana Noctis: Tell us a few words about the cover artwork; and what's your point of view concerning the links between this image and the musical and lyrical contents?!
Desderoth: I took the photographs on a mountain where I live. It's perfect because it shows the beauty of the rain and fog in autumn. It has the same dark atmosphere that pervades throughout the album – no matter what we do or how far we reach in our lives, at the end we all lose.
Arcana Noctis: What were the reactions about "Nereia", and what was the promotional campaign on it?
Desderoth: It hasn't been released yet, so not much I can say about that.
Arcana Noctis: If I'm not wrong you started to work on your future album! What is all about and when is going to be release?
Desderoth: We started recording the drums, but as to the rest, you will have to wait and see.
Arcana Noctis: What do you plan to do about your band's live activity in the near future? Where are we going to see you playing live this year, and tell us if you are going to play some acts with Hellsaw too?
Desderoth: We don't have anything planned as far as playing live goes, but we will see what the future brings. As for Hellsaw, I believe there are some festivals already scheduled for next year and that Aries is looking at possible tours.
Arcana Noctis: What your future plans are, besides the live activity that I mentioned above, and what should we expect from Valfeanor from now on?
Desderoth: Time will tell!
Arcana Noctis: That's all for now my friend! If you have something to add feel free!
Desderoth: Thanks for the interview, and take a look on MySpace to hear tracks from the upcoming album "Noreia", and, don't forget, nothing lasts forever!
Arcana Noctis: Blackest hails Desderoth! How're you? And what are are the latest news from your camp?
Desderoth: Waiting for the release of the new album and thinking negative thoughts as usual.Arcana Noctis: You founded this band under Mortar name in 2002, a Black/Thrash Metal gang that released a demo called "S.O.B.M."! Tell us a few words about this material, and explain us why you changed band's name?
Desderoth: When we wrote the music for it, I played guitar, and Mergol did the drums, but it was nothing special, just bad sound and fucked-off lyrics. I changed the name because I wanted to use something that didn't exist and had therefore never been used before. There are too many bands out there that have the same names as each other.
Arcana Noctis: Two years later, in 2004, you recorded a 5 tracks demo! What is all about with this material, and what will be the main difference between this new one and the very first "S.O.B.M."?
Desderoth: The difference was that R.R. did the guitar and bass lines, and I sang in a growl, but the music was not really Death/Thrash, it was pure Thrash Metal in the old style. Perhaps the vocals were more Death Metal, but not the music.
Arcana Noctis: Years have passed and you started working on "En Ny Tid", considered to be as a tribute to the bands you were listening to in the past! Present us this opus, and tell us a few words about the lyrical content of it!
Desderoth: Some of the melodies, like the pizzicato parts on "En Ny Tid", are very old, over 10 years old now. At that point besides Metal, I was listening to a lot of movie music, rather than bands. Apart from Summoning I don't like this Pagan/Viking/Humppa music. I really hate this type of music, and despite what people think, "En Ny Tid" is most definitely not part of this whole genre. It's epic Metal and nothing else. The lyrics are based on stories from old movies, apart from two songs, but they just happen to be inspired by Tolkein rather than having anything to do with any influence from Summoning.
Arcana Noctis: This full length was later released on Black Tower Productions from Swiss! Why you delayed "En Ny Tid" until 2007, and how you found the label I mentioned above?
Desderoth: I wouldn't say it was delayed, it just took that long to record that's all. We were contacted by Black Tower and they signed us.
Arcana Noctis: What was the general response on it, and what was your live activity after the release of this material?
Desderoth: It was an album I wanted to release, but not one that in anyway defined Valfeanor, or Desderoth, so to me it's now history and I've moved on from there. I'm not obsessed with checking responses to it every five minutes. It is what it is. There was no live activity following its release. I had other things going on at the time, and was not interested in playing live.
Arcana Noctis: Very soon you joined Hellsaw from Austria on bass, first as a session member, and you played a few gigs together and you started to record band's last release "Cold"! How you managed to join this band, and what can you tell us about this album I mentioned above?
Desderoth: Aries and I are old friends, and he asked me if I wanted to join Hellsaw for the Shining tour, and the rest, as they say, is history. Aries is really the spokesperson for Hellsaw, so he is the one to ask about the album, let's just say that it's excellent, and a big move forward for the band.
Arcana Noctis: You decided to bring with you, in Valfeanor, Hellsaw's guitarist Isiul; and soon you decided to sign a management deal with Patricia Thomas from U.K.! How you got in touch with this person, and what exactly do you expect from her?
Desderoth: Isiul is a fairly recent addition to the band and I was in contact with Patricia before he joined. I got to know her because of the tour that Hellsaw did with Shining and Skitliv, as she is of course Maniac's manager. There are not many people in this fucking world that I trust, I don't even need all the fingers of one hand to count how many, but she is one of them, and very important to me personally as well.
Arcana Noctis: As far as I know Patricia is very involved in this Metal business, mostly for her deals with musicians such as Maniac, Nattefrost or Vrangsinn! What do you think about your mates from this management agency and what do you think that will be Valfeanor's place in this "society"?
Desderoth: I don't really know any of the other guys on her roster personally, apart from Maniac and I've always liked what he did with Mayhem, and what he's doing now with Skitliv. A lot of the bands live in different countries, so it's not often that anyone gets to meet up. I know Patricia will only work with people she likes and respects and we all matter to her equally, but it's not like a club where you all meet up on a Friday night for a drink. They are all individual bands with their own plans and directions and personalities, but from what I've seen, when an opportunity comes up that would help one of the others there is no hesitation at all to offer it, so of course it's useful. How much everyone gets involved with each other is up to the individuals. I know some new friendships have been forged, but I've always felt detached from the world in general.
Arcana Noctis: Very soon you recorded the new opus called "Noreia"! Please try to introduce us this new full length, and reveal us the story behind each song!
Desderoth: For me, Noreia is the first real album. The album is brimful of negativity, and the lyrics are included so you can judge for yourself just how negative it is. Apart, that is, from the track "Emptiness/Dolorosus/Hate", which is a very special song made up of three parts. Isiul does the vocals on the first and second parts "Emptiness" and "Dolorosus", whilst for the third part "Hate", I cut myself and we used the stench of decaying blood when I did the vocals/screams to bring out the atmosphere and negative aspects of myself in the song.
Arcana Noctis: Tell us a few words about the cover artwork; and what's your point of view concerning the links between this image and the musical and lyrical contents?!
Desderoth: I took the photographs on a mountain where I live. It's perfect because it shows the beauty of the rain and fog in autumn. It has the same dark atmosphere that pervades throughout the album – no matter what we do or how far we reach in our lives, at the end we all lose.
Arcana Noctis: What were the reactions about "Nereia", and what was the promotional campaign on it?
Desderoth: It hasn't been released yet, so not much I can say about that.
Arcana Noctis: If I'm not wrong you started to work on your future album! What is all about and when is going to be release?
Desderoth: We started recording the drums, but as to the rest, you will have to wait and see.
Arcana Noctis: What do you plan to do about your band's live activity in the near future? Where are we going to see you playing live this year, and tell us if you are going to play some acts with Hellsaw too?
Desderoth: We don't have anything planned as far as playing live goes, but we will see what the future brings. As for Hellsaw, I believe there are some festivals already scheduled for next year and that Aries is looking at possible tours.
Arcana Noctis: What your future plans are, besides the live activity that I mentioned above, and what should we expect from Valfeanor from now on?
Desderoth: Time will tell!
Arcana Noctis: That's all for now my friend! If you have something to add feel free!
Desderoth: Thanks for the interview, and take a look on MySpace to hear tracks from the upcoming album "Noreia", and, don't forget, nothing lasts forever!