Of course, you can’t keep track of everything, even if you try hard. For instance, out of nowhere I was surprised and completely blown over by ‘Hohenbaden’ by Markgraf, a German band that ingeniously manages to mix unorthodox Black Metal with Cirith Ungol. The album is truly brimming with energy and uninhibited creativity. Not that this is necessarily always essential, I do like my fair share of regressive metal too, but a breath of fresh air through the ears every now and then is never a bad thing. To me ‘Hohenbaden’ is one of the absolutely highlights of the year so far and is still on high rotation, so it was obvious that I would reach out to Ódio, the man behind Markgraf, and ask him a few questions…
Hi Ódio, welcome to these pages. When I ran into your ‘Hohenbaden’ album, I was really blown off my socks as it, at least to me, combines the music of two of my favourite bands out of two different worlds Cirith Ungol and Master’s Hammer. Something that, at least on paper, sounds really weird, but works remarkably well and results in a unique and a splendidly sumptuous experience. If you’d go back in time with me, to 2019, when you started Markgraf, what made you go into this specific direction?
I’ve always been that guy who’d go into deep discussions about music and the process of creating it. Quite passionately to be honest. The idea of combining opposite styles was ever so fascinating to me and one night I pitched this weird idea to my friend of how awesome a Black Metal Band with Cirith Ungol vocals would be. He rejected this thought though and since there was a lot of alcohol involved I took offense to it and swore to myself to prove him otherwise hahaha. Anyway it was a real blessing in disguise because it’s been an exhausting year for myself and every distraction was pretty much welcomed. I was able to put all my energy into this project and after the first song it all took off and all the compositions basically wrote themselves in no time.
Anyone who has ever heard Cirith Ungol will hear that they are of great inspiration to your music. But when I saw a picture of you, holding a cat on a couch in a thoroughly 70’s setting in terms of colors and furniture, it almost looked like you were Bobby Liebling (the maniacal smile) or some other early 70’s Doom Metal musician. This contrasts quite heavily with the forward thinking song writing and the colorful artwork for both your records. There is no unwritten rule that you have to follow certain fixed patterns, but I am just curious what inspires and drives you on a non-musical level…
Honestly- I am really just trying to enjoy myself and have as much fun as possible. It’s all about recreating that feeling of excitement and wonder from my youth when I used to buy vinyl records and imagined the sound based on the artwork and promo material. My ultimate goal is to write original songs and throw in some unorthodox ideas so that one day some kid may randomly pick up one of my albums and think: “Yeah that’s kind of neat but I think I can improve and elaborate on some aspects”. That’s all I can ask for and this thought alone gives me enough spirit to continue. Bottom line: we’re doing it for the kids!
You once stated that you hate stagnation and repetition, but are first wave Black Metal and traditional Heavy Metal pretty much “stagnated and repetitive”? I mean, Cirith Ungol’s latest album, however good, is not miles away from their debut and a band like Venom, as one of the founding fathers of Black Metal, did not excel in musical adventurism either… right?
In regards to older bands I’ve become very strict over the years and even refuse to listen to new material because I do not see any point in listening to subpar music. There are exceptions of course (‘Eternal Hails’ by Darkthrone for instance has become one of my all-time favorites) but overall I am happy enough with the fond memories of the classics.
There is a lot of shallow nostalgia within the scene nowadays and I am not very keen on listening to the 1000th Iron Maiden/Motörhead/Heavy Load/Dissection/whatever clone so I’d love to see some bold musical statements from time to time. Not saying that everyone has to reinvent the wheel but some variation would be nice. But I guess it’s a common occurrence of our time. We see it in the movie industry with all the reboots and remakes. This entire 80’s cosplay makes the entire metal scene seem more corporate and money driven than they realize.
If I am well-informed, you have started Markgraf as a solo-project/band, but overtime it grew to a three-piece. That you started the band on your own, was that a preconceived plan or more born out of necessity? And what led you to provide the band with a full line-up after all?
It’s probably a combination of both. The number one priority was finding a capable drummer which is a recurring problem in my life hahaha. Aside from that I was just well aware about the talented people around me and I thought that their approach to music would give this project a certain edge. Let’s take Hilko, my drummer as an example: He is not into Black Metal whatsoever but has an excellent Funk and Jazz style and knows how to include notable accents. I learned a lot from his musical mentality during the recordings just as he has been able to acquire new tools for his repertoire.
Raul the bass player is another awesome addition to the roster. I previously helped him releasing his Noise/Industrial work (Check out Bosses Hang /Thorn Bug- it’s incredible) and I already knew that he has an ear for dynamic melodies but he really outdid himself on Hohenbaden. He composed his bass lines all by himself and we did not even have to do any takes since the first one he provided was perfect. I could not be any happier.
Let’s be real for a second: we all know how our Black Metal and Heavy Metal “should” sound like and I believe that taking away this knowledge from the musicians really helps the respective genres to flourish with creativity. The folks back in the 80s and 90s didn’t know the correct “formular” either- we are really just trying to get into the same pioneering realm as the Bands back those days.
Both of your albums are based on local folklore, tales and other stories. Can you take us with you into the lyrical content of the music of Markgraf?
There is a building in the center of my home town Baden-Baden called “Trinkhalle” which is old roman architecture decorated with huge frescoes. Those depict local folklore and mythology and I found these very captivating since I was a child. This fascination led to the formation of Markgraf with the goal to spread and tell these tales to those unaware of their existence. There is no ambition though to bloat the stories with additional pretentious mysticism. I wanted to keep the language of the lyrics simple and approachable so the listeners have no problem to get the gist of the stories- just as I did as a child. There have been some cases where some fans actually were so intrigued that they personally went to Baden-Baden and visited the spots from the album. It’s always cool when people hit me up to show pictures from their vacation in the Black Forest.
A bit in line with the previous question: can you tell us about that remarkable and rather non-conformist artwork for both of your albums? It for sure is not your typical Black Metal sort of cover art, so what is behind it? And the art for ‘Hohenbaden’ is done by Dávid Glomba, but is quite atypical for his usual style. What made you chose for him and then ask for something different from what he usually does?
Dávid Glomba is one of these visionaires that makes all the difference and I seriously could not imagine the two albums without his incredible work. He “got” the music right away and created the visual concepts all by himself. Dávid only received the music, frescoes and the lyrics and then went all in with his imagination which showed a different side of his artistry. So no- I did not ask him to change his style. This is his very own interpretation of the source material without my interference.
I personally love the use of color and the duality between the two artworks, one being a scenery at night and “Hohenbaden” in the daylight. It goes hand in hand with the musical intention of breaking rules and stepping into new paths while keeping the sensation of a cool looking Metal artwork. Having a good artwork is just as important as anything else and it is more than satisfying to know that we got a very distinct visual style for our music that people can easily recognize. I already mentioned how I used to hang out in record stores all day and it was common practice to buy albums based on their artwork. You gotta love a good surprise.
In an earlier interview, you speak passionately about how you like to keep everything in your own hands, even the label your music comes out on is your own, for example. So how exactly does the creative process work within Markgraf? Do you write everything or is there also room for input from the other two, can you describe how an average piece of Markgraf work comes about?
There is a straight forward procedure for all the songs: I write them in their entirety for the guitars and then leave the drums and bass to the experts. From there anything can happen and the other two really surprised me this time with their unique choices. I was really hands off when they recorded their instruments and it resulted various moments where they took me off guard and changed entire parts in regards to mood, intensity and atmosphere. I’d argue that this is our biggest strength- there is always room for change and with the removal of artistic interference by only having a basic frame the songs receive the finger prints of each member. It’s beneficial having a filter like that. The songs would not be half as good if I’d step in all the time as a main songwriter. It feels good to let go of control and having trust in the people you work with.
Picking up a bit on the previous question, you close your album with a real feat: a more than 20-minute epic. Normally, I’m not necessarily a fan of long songs, but in this title track, I don’t feel like I’m listening to such a miserably long song. It is full of variety, even clean vocals and all kinds of tempo changes. How do you meaningfully assemble such a song, that takes some art and skill from a true craftsman, doesn’t it?
I don’t really know how we even managed to record this without it sounding like a complete mess and I am glad that I won’t have to do it again hahaha. The ambition for creating a piece like that birthed from my disdain for long and pretentious songs and the idea was basically to prove myself wrong. Having a strong story definitely helped though and in the end it all came down to recognizing the mood of each chapter and transferring it into the composition. Thankfully I do have a very vivid fantasy and mostly “write” the music in my mind. Therefore the composing itself did not take that long. A week probably. It was my biggest concern though if people are even willing to give it a shot. 20 minutes is a lot of time and I can imagine that some might expect some Dream Theater Prog mumbo jumbo but thankfully so far the response has been very positive. The track is also the reason why “Baldreit” exists- I needed some balance so I figured that a one minute track would be hilarious.
Speaking of challenging things… As far as I know you haven’t yet brought Markgraf to the stage yet, but it is something that is on your mind for a bit of time already. I can imagine that getting the band on stage is not the easiest of things, especially with that 20-minute track. How is that idea progressing and how do you imagine that a Markgraf show would be like?
It’s something that we started to take into consideration but it will take a while and you’d probably get to listen to the third album first before we can even think about hitting the stage. There is also the problem of finding a second guitar player who is willing to learn the material but I am patient and optimistic. I am not really a live-person either but I could imagine playing some exclusive shows so I can have an excuse to go on a vacation hahaha.
Slowly working towards the end of this Q&A, something that I am always so curious about: when speaking with musicians with a very outspoken or eclectic sort of musical style or taste I always like to ask what has been spinning on their turntables lately. So, what could we find on yours? Any recent purchases that are worth checking as well?
I can highly recommend the recent Incapacitants / Thorn Bug split. We are in a timeline where every idiot has a Noise project so it’s more gratifying to get some actual well-crafted material that knows what to express instead blasting of aimless nonsense.
Killer Kin released a sick 7” that is worth checking out (real MC5 and The Stooges maniacs will love it) and the new Ink & Fire single is promising and hypes the upcoming album. Baazlvaat and Malokarpatan are keeping my interest in Metal alive and for good vibes I give Wucan a spin on a regular basis. Apart from those I am really just binging a lot of Lush, Cocteau Twins, George Thorogood, Current 93 and Jackson C. Frank lately. Bossa Nova classics at car rides- like a true romantic.
Now the album has been released, I can imagine you are still high on the energy of finishing this new album, which has been in the making for quite some time – and judging from the amount of effort you put into it, you deserve a bit of a break, but stil… What is there to expect from Markgraf in the remainder of the year?
NOTHING AND THANK GOD FOR THAT hahahaha. Well, I am working in the background on the third album but I’ll take my time because the concept of it will probably be way too overbearing for myself (as usual) but I love a good challenge. We will see…
Alright Ódio, thanks for your time you took to answer these questions. Last words are yours…
Thank you for having me! Shoutouts to all the Parkbench Terrorists, Ayatollahs Of Rock n Rolla and Maniacs! See ya!
