At the tail end of 2023 Iron Bonehead Productions served us with a nice little gem: Black Edifice’s first demo tape. It has been released in quite a small run of only 100 copies, so it might just be that you have missed it. And, frankly, that would a big shame as ‘The Miasmic Trance’ is definitely worth your time if you are into the occult and obscure late 80’s and early 90’s Black Metal. To me it was some sort of a refreshing relief to hear a Norwegian Black Metal band that did not sound like Darkthrone or Satyricon, instead it is close to early Varathron, Samael and Mortuary Drape and modern-day flagbearers of the old sound: Moenen Of Xezbeth, Perverted Ceremony and Forbidden Temple. There is only one soul behind Black Edifice and with him I had this conversation about what drives him and about the true aesthetics and darkness in Black Metal…
Hi Archfiend and welcome to The Whispering Darkness, thanks for taking the time to answer these few questions about your latest musical endeavor, Black Edifice. For starters, you are also active in a few other bands, what made you decide to start this project?
Greeting and thanx for the interview.
What started the project was an urge to have a project where I can be completely in control of the creative process in terms of the songwriting, the recording and mixing, as well as the instrumentation. And having the freedom to work quicker with musical ideas that arise without needing to work around other people’s schedule and such. As I’ve gotten older spare time is ever more, well, spare, so to speak, and it is simply practical to be able to work on musick whenever I have the time to do it, and whenever I feel like it, without other constraints.
Secondly, it was simply an overwhelming sense of inspiration to create cryptic and obscure moss-ridden black metal from beyond the grave in the spirit of the ancient masters. I’ve always been into the black metal of other regions besides the Norwegian uprising in the early 90s. More so even. And while I of course like many of the classic Norwegian releases I’ve for years favored the classic releases of Master’s Hammer, Samael, Xantotol, Goatlord, Mystifier, Mortuary Drape and the old Greek scene, etc, and the particular aura of darkness and evil these releases/bands conjured forth. And I had an urge to tap into the same spirit with Black Edifice, whilst not trying to be 1:1 copy of any one band either. I merely let the inspiration do the work, as it were.
‘The Miasmic Trance’ was your debut EP and was released at the end of 2023 on cassette tape by Iron Bonehead Productions, now that it has been out for a couple of months. How do you now look back at that EP and how would you describe the creative process in crafting those five tracks (not counting the intro and outro)?
I consider The Miasmic Trance a demo rather than an EP myself, but then again, what differs a demo from an EP these days anyway? So, I won’t dwell too much on semantics here. Most importantly I look back fondly on the process of committing the songs to tape and how The Miasmic Trance turned out materially, sonically, and aesthetically. It turned out essentially how I envisioned it at the start. There are certain things I’d change, like possibly like having had the bass guitar even more prominent in the mix and the guitar sound a bit less distorted. But certainly nothing that bothers me much. The tracks were written and recorded quite quickly during spring 2023. Between March and May if memory serves me correct, so it all happened quite fast. I simply found myself in a state of fanatic inspiration during that time.
I recorded drums without having too many riffs ready and carved in stone, and to a large extent wrote the songs around the drum tracks when they were completed. The approach is the same with the new material. That keeps things a bit more interesting since I don’t really know what a song will be like until completely done. After doing the drums and basic guitar tracking, I added leads, bass, synths, vocals and other things and tweaked things a bit till completely satisfied (or as close to it). A quite organic and effortless process overall. Everything just fell into place by some strange magick. That is preferably how it should be, of course.
To me, as I also wrote in my review for the EP, the music sounded both very recognizable and authentic, but also, in a way, refreshing. Refreshing because I am always delighted to hear music in this particular niche of Black Metal, but recognizable because it doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of musical adventurism. How would you describe your own music to someone who didn’t already hear it before?
Well, I certainly would not proclaim that Black Edifice is anything highly original nor is that the intention. I’m quite a traditionalist when it comes to metal and merely want to express a creative urge in the spirit of musick that inspires me, and within the appropriate framework laid down by the bands of old. However, I’d like to think I add my own identity to the music too, so that Black Edifice isn’t easily mistaken for a million other bands either. At least that is the goal. In any case, there wasn’t an intention for Black Edifice to be some kind of ‘worship-band’ either. I’d describe Black Edifice to someone as mid-paced and doomy black metal from beyond the grave. And decidedly non-Norse in atmosphere.
In my review I mentioned a lot of bands in an attempt to give some framework of reference to describe the music you presented on ‘The Miasmic Trance’. Besides Varathron, Mystifier, Mortuary Drape and the likes I also mentioned some bands out of the current Belgian scene of Moenen Of Xezbeth and Forbidden Temple. Can you relate to such comparisons?
I’m very much into both Moenen of Xezbeth and Forbidden Temple, and pretty much anything that comes out on Medieval Prophecy. If I’d not ended up on Iron Bonehead, MPR would be the ideal label for Black Edifice, from my point of view at least. So yes, I can relate to such a comparison. There are obviously similar influences and ideas about black metal that reveals themselves when comparing Black Edifice to these bands. Even if I do not know anyone involved in these bands, I’d suspect we’d likely agree on many things regarding black metal and underground metal in general.
Can you take us with you on what drives you with Black Edifice in terms of non-musical influences? For instance, I am curious where you got the band and EP names from, in my review I made a wilde guess, but…
The name came, possibly not too surprising to some, from the Dream Death-track of the same name. Journey into Mystery is among my all-time favorite records and when I thought about a name for the project, I’d just listened to said LP and found out nobody had used that title for a band name before, so that made the decision quite easy. I just like the sound of it and the visions it summons forth in my mind. And I also consider it a small tribute to Dream Death as well. The worst things about starting new projects these days is finding a good name since all the great ones are already taken. I mean, imagine being able to name your band say ‘Venom’ or ‘Sodom’, you know.
Non-musical influences would be old horror movies, H.P Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, old occult books, strange visions, crypts and graveyards, old cut and paste ‘zines, death and oblivion, and the strange eerie feeling that can arise while walking around alone in remote, non-urban areas during twilight hours. Nothing too out of the ordinary for a project like this, I’d say!
What also needs to be mentioned is the great artwork, logo and layout done by Coffin Slave Art, as the visual side of things are as important as the music and lyrics. He really created a great piece for the cover and will continue to make the art for Black Edifice. We’ve been in touch for a while and are in close contact and are, most importantly, essentially on the exact same page when it comes to metal, art and other things related to this, so he’s basically a 2nd spiritual member of Black Edifice, I’d say. So, he’ll continue creating the visual aggression for Black Edifice going forward. I have the original acrylic painting for the cover of The Miasmic Trance in my possession now as well, which I much appreciate.
At the time I wrote the review for ‘The Miasmic Trance’ it was yet unclear that Black Edifice was a one-man act, but in the meantime that information somehow surfaced. I am always intrigued by one-man bands, and since you are also in bands with other individuals, I am wondering: what does it mean to you to create music on your own? Do you like, or even prefer, the artistic freedom? Don’t you miss any consultation with other likeminded musicians?
Creating music on my own means freedom to create other worlds and manifest dark visions through obscure sounds without needing to get the ‘approvement’ of others. So, I have no real intention of making Black Edifice a full band. It’ll remain a one-man operation. I have my other band Nachash, which is a three-piece where I do guitar and vocals, and getting together with other likeminded people to work on music is also good. So, I basically have both options, which makes the need for making Black Edifice a full band non-existent. In Nachash we rarely disagree too much on what approach to take, but it just takes longer time to get stuff done merely because getting tight as a unit takes longer time. Nothing bad about that, by the way.
As a one-man band, one of the main challenges is bringing your music to the stage. Do you have any ambitions in that direction or will you keep Black Edifice a studio project only?
Never say never, but the likelihood of Black Edifice becoming a live act is very much slim. Assembling a live line-up and preparing the songs to be played live is simply not something I even really have time for these days. I guess adding a Black Edifice-track to Nachash’s live set would be more likely. But since these are different bands in terms of mood, and we have enough with focusing on Nachash-material, this also would be unlikely to happen.
When you rehearse regularly as a full band the songs become embedded in your muscle memory, but as a one-man project, essentially making music/riffs as I go, I don’t really remember the riffs and structures off the bat a while after the recording is completed. So, I’d have to re-learn the material myself as well for live shows. It’s nothing overtly complex or anything, but I would have to really want it to spend time on that rather than create new material.
Ultimately, I feel that Black Edifice is best experienced in solitude rather than in a live environment.
I already mentioned it before, the EP has been released on cassette tape by Iron Bonehead Productions. How did you end up at Iron Bonehead in the first place? And the label is known for its dedication to vinyl records as well, is there any plans for giving ‘The Miasmic Trance’ a vinyl treatment as well?
I simply contacted Iron Bonehead directly, he gave the music a listen and liked it and wanted to put it out on tape. I would not mind an LP-release of The Miasmic Trance at all, the cover art would certainly deserve being on an LP-cover as well, so we’ll see what happens in the future. There aren’t any concrete plans for a vinyl-version of The Miasmic Trance as of right now as far as I know, however.
Now that the EP has been out for about half a year now, what can we expect from Black Edifice in the upcoming months? Or maybe from your other bands that you are involved in? So, what’s brewing?
I have a new Black Edifice-release almost in the can, entitled From the Ancient of Night. An EP this time, but it also might turn into a full-length as I have a few more tracks brewing in my head. Currently there’s almost 30 min of new music already recorded, so a full-length would not be outside the realm of possibility. Time will tell what form it takes.
Nachash, have finally completed the recording and mixing of our 2nd album entitled Eschaton Magicks in cooperation with Arild M Torp of Obliteration and Nekromantheon, and we’re very satisfied with the result. Currently we’re looking for possible labels to release it, so we’ll see how that turns out. So that, and the next Black Edifice release, is my focus these days.
And if the powers of darkness wills it so, perhaps me and the drummer from Nachash will get around to record more material under the Hideous Death-moniker as well, since the first, and so far only, release came out on Invictus Productions almost three years ago now.
Thanks a lot for your time and answers, Archfiend. The last words are yours…
Heed the call of darkness, ye dwellers of the twilight void!
Thanx for the support.
