Although only formed fairly recently, in 2016 to be precise, Deathwalker, the sole being behind Nihil Invocation has not exactly been sitting still. The band’s discography is impressive not only on volume, but mainly because of its down-to-earth and raw way of its Black Metal songcrafting. At the time of writing, the latest album ‘Crestfallen Stronghold’ has just been released, but at the time of preparing the questions of this interview below, only a teaser in the form of the 2-track demo ‘The Bane Of Winter’s Longing’ was available. We consequently talked about the upcoming album and the kind of turnaround in style Nihil Invocation is currently going through…

Greetings Deathwalker, after having covered quite a few of your work, not merely limited to Nihil Invocation, it was only a logical step to invite you to our pages personally. So, welcome to The Whispering Darkness. For starters, you are quite a prolific musician, so I am wondering, what are you up to these days? If I am well informed you are in the final stages of canning another record, right?
Hello, and thank you for waiting on my responses. A new Nihil Invocation LP entitled ‘Crestfallen Stronghold’ is releasing this month. 8 tracks of recently recorded material that I am excited to showcase. I formed a new project in recent years, separate from Deathwalker entity but within the black metal realm. These days, I am always occupied in my recording life and personal life, life can be so busy. I worked very hard on the upcoming record and learned a lot of new things in order to create it. I did my best at recording and editing a music video for a single from the record, I don’t really think it’s great or fitting in hindsight but it was enjoyable to try another art form and I spent a lot of time on it.

Then let’s dive into the world of Nihil Invocation. The thing that struck me most with the last two releases, the latest album ‘Blood upon the Gates at Dawn’ (2023) and the ‘The Bane of Winter’s Longing’-demo (2024), is that they showcase a departure from the quite stable musical direction that was set with all of its preceding work. Not all has changed and it is still pretty recognizable, but still… What made you change your musical formula?
I grew to become very critical of my past works, so I decided to learn some new ways to capture my instruments and make the sound larger, sharper, more up to date in all honesty. A lot of what, I feel, Nihil Invocation offers was being shrouded by a lack of knowledge in recording. I don’t think I was quite there yet with ‘Blood Upon the Gates at Dawn’ but this next record, ‘Crestfallen Stronghold’, meets my current standards. I actually scraped around 30 tracks of unreleased Nihil Invocation material because it was driving me crazy, I loved them but I hated them, and ultimately let them go in order to progress.

The music that you bring forth with Nihil Invocation has widely been described with a variety of different monikers. Not too strange, since it can be broken down to an equally wide range of different musical elements. Besides Black Metal there is a lot of Punk and Doom Metal going on. Without getting too hung up on labelling music, how would you describe your music?
Nihil Invocation combines all of my musical influences; the result is the result. It sounds like black metal to me, I don’t strive to fit into a certain category in the style. I don’t think its fair to call it raw black metal as I do not record analog and I now strive to have a decent understanding of music production.

Picking up loosely on the previous question, whether it’s Black Metal, Punk or Doom Metal, everything you make is pretty bareboned and minimalist. I regularly mention Ildjarn in my reviews to bring some context to your music and in the past you’ve recorded Vlad Tepes, Nargaroth and Moonblood covers, for example, but what would you cite as your main musical inspirations?
Judas Iscariot, Mütiilation, and Warloghe are 3 notable black metal bands who have influenced the project at its roots. I think a good black metal project of the past 10 years is Autumns Rapture. I don’t listen to much, if any, new black metal that comes out. I listen to all sorts of music these days now that I’m older.

That minimalism fits very well with the lyrical content of the music. The common thread in it seems to be your personal emotion, in which grief, mourning, death and your union with darkness play the main roles. Even your pseudonym of “Deathwalker” is testament to that. Can you tell us something about how you live and see the world and how this translates into your music?
I think the music showcases the topics you’ve mentioned and also showcases the other side of such trials, the triumph and passion. The project has always been a balance of joy in sorrow, sorrow in joy. Nihil Invocation is just a reflection of my consciousness and the way I see situations, everything is an influence to me. I live and acquire influence from what is around me, and then I create. Every reflection serves a purpose.

Amidst of that basic primitivism in the music and themes of darkness and destruction your music has a strong sense of melodicism as well. The majority of those melodies seem based or at least inspired on those simple and catchy Folk melodies. Something that seem to be evidenced by also covering a song from a more Folk-driven act like Falkenbach. What do those melodies and Folk-inspired music in general mean to you and your music?
Folk music is influential to the instruments in all the music I write, I love the melodies and finding different music from around the globe. I have taken the time to write and record black metal with folk influence that is separate from Nihil Invocation. I listen to lots of folk music in my free time.

I already mentioned the covers you have recorded in the past: Vlad Tepes, Nargaroth and Moonblood. These three genre defining bands are quite traditional and different from the music you create yourself, but judging from you choosing those bands my guess is also that the genre aesthetics they stand for are important to you, or am I wrong? At least the imagery that you choose, the classic spikes and corpse paint do at least imply that.
The aesthetics presented by those bands are influential to the project, yes, and I think they serve and important component in the project. But I do not have much to say on them. I’ve seen too much black metal content over the years, I really don’t care about upholding a particular image. I just do what feels right for the creation.

While Nihil Invocation and Vengeance Sorcery, your other one-man project, certainly share a similar sort of stripped down vibe, there are obvious differences, mainly heard in the more bass-driven music of the latter. Vengeance Sorcery is also a band that you form together with drummer Tri Súil (Forest Thrall and Cemetery Lights). Where, in your opinion, is the difference in making music alone or with a like-minded musician? What would you mention as the main pros and cons?
Making music alone is easier, making music with others can be difficult as most of us work full-time jobs, have families, and so forth. Making music alone removes conflict over ideas but one cannot perform live without others. Tri Suil is a friend to me before he is a bandmate, we are both busy people and there is little pressure that we hold over one and other for Vengeance Sorcery.

Continuing on the last question a bit, how, in general, would you describe the way you are making music? How does the creative process look like? And do you need to get in a certain mood or does the music just pop up naturally and randomly?
If the creation is not forced then its worth building on and creating. I’ve created music under all circumstances I’ve been presented, the air does not have to blow a certain way for it. The process of the instruments has changed a lot over the years but currently I start with drums and build from there with the strings. Sometimes it can take forever, other times its effortless. The next record was an effortless one and it shows, I feel.

I wouldn’t claim that the specific music you are making is the next big thing in Black Metal, but what I do notice is that there is a slight rejuvenation or at least a recovered appreciation of music that harkens back to these same Punkish basics that you value as well. In the past there was Ildjarn and later on Akitsa and Bone Awl, but that was pretty much it. Can you somewhat agree with that observation?
I would say that black metal as a whole is pretty widely appreciated in 2024, but I cannot comment on any rejuvenations of certain styles. Those are all good bands you mention and I would definitely assume people still proudly listen to them.

Despite the perhaps somewhat narrow musical frame in which you operate, your music always gives me the impression that you are a sophisticated and educated man, something that also often translates into a somewhat broader view and taste in music. I am therefore curious about the last records you bought and/or had on the turntable. Take us through your record collection…
I appreciate your kind words, I do not collect physical music as much as I consume digitally. I must be honest here. This year I have purchased a few Mutiilation records, Moonblood records, and some others. At this point in my life I listen to music of most any style if I find value in it, I do not hold myself to a certain framework for listening.

As mentioned before, with Nihil Invocation you are quite prolific but with Vengeance Sorcery you haven’t released anything new since 2022 and it has even been quiet around Zpektraellotaen since 2019. Is there anything that is in the pipeline from these two other projects?
Vengeance Sorcery has some work demoed out and will eventually release new music, Zpektraellotaen has no planned releases but everything has its time. I do have some other projects going that people can find if they pay attention to my activities with Nihil Invocation.

Okay Deathwalker, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer these questions and giving us a bit of a glimpse in your musical world. I’d like to give you the opportunity to round off the interview with some words of your own, so if you feel I have forgotten anything…
I thank you greatly for showing interest and awaiting my responses. I do not have as much to comment on as when I was 18 and mouthy. I’ll let the music speak for itself, the flame burns on. Check out the new LP ‘Crestfallen Stronghold’, it is my favourite release of the project to date. Until next time!