Black Metal and a certain form of mysticism and individualism are part of the same thing. The sinister-eyed gritty one-man bands are popping up like mushrooms, but rarely are these core values conveyed as convincingly as by Switzerland’s Aspaarn. Not only are the grandeur of nature and with it the futility of man interpreted via Aspaarn’s covers, Lupus Solaris also keeps a firm grip on the reins as a lone force. This may not necessarily be by choice, but it certainly makes Aspaarn a special project whose spirited monasticism is reflected in every detail of Aspaarn.
Hi Lupus Solaris, be welcomed. Before we start discussing Aspaarn and everything that’s surrounding it, I am curious about your pseudonym. My Latin isn’t quite on an academical level, but I am able to translate “Lupus Solaris” to “Solar Wolf”. What exactly does this name represent and what do those words mean to you?
Hi, first of all thanks for having me here. You are right, I think that’s how it can be translated. In almost any culture on earth and since the dawn of time, the wolf symbolises the apex predator, and the sun life. So it can be considered as the ultimate wolf which makes the sun itself its prey, or on the contrary a predator coming from the sun to prey on earth. Both interpretations are open. I honestly didn’t think that far, I had to come up with something hahah! It offered a good contrast which fits the project primordial narrative and aesthetics, so I went with that. You are actually the first person asking about the genesis of this pseudonym, well done.
Aspaarn for me is a true example of what Black Metal used to stand for. The music sound raw, mournful and misanthropic and comes with apt aesthetics. How would you describe what Aspaarn represents to you, as a musical entity but also as a personal outlet?
I am first and foremost a listener of black metal, and indeed for me Aspaarn is a way to (try to) make black metal exactly the way I intend it, with all the characteristics you mentioned. It is also a personal journey that channels and expresses certain feelings and thoughts, but furthermore an attempt to digging deeper into the exploration of those thoughts that are most of the time subconscious. It is my own dark place but also where I can gain strength and steel myself.
Another aspect that intrigues me a lot is the way you handle things yourself. I do know that releasing your music yourself isn’t necessarily a conscious choice, but came from the fact that you haven’t found a label to sufficiently support you. But it adds to Black Metal’s pillars of solitude and determination. How has it been to do basically just everything for Aspaarn yourself without interference of others, I guess that also comes with certain advantages?
If we consider purely the artistic aspect, it’s fantastic, because it affords you total independence, freedom and allows you to work at our pace and with full reign over anything the projects puts out. More practically, it’s quite a nightmare, and I wouldn’t recommend it. I mean that all of the economical efforts, promotion and commercial aspects fall on my shoulders. I hate taking care of that, and in my opinion that’s why you (should) have professionals, meaning the labels, usually taking care of that part of the job. I wasn’t lucky enough so far to find someone willing to put their assets out to promote Aspaarn, which I understand. But I also don’t like begging or supplicating and I am quite impatient for certain things. So that’s why I have decided to undertake myself what needed to be done to give my music the format I think it deserves. If you want something done, do it yourself, right? Even if it will make you frustrated, angry and bitter. That will get you in the mood to record more black metal hahah!
As a whole, Aspaarn comes across as a project that is very well thought out, both musically and conceptually. What was the mindset when you started the band about five years ago? And do you feel that what you’re creating now fits what you envisioned musically?
I think I started with a very spontaneous approach, I simply felt the need to convey a certain “visions” coming from my obsession about prehistory and very ancient times, in a musical language that I felt was appropriate for it. This project is for me some sort of playground where I can test and explore different ideas, according to the mood or the influences at a certain given point. I think all my releases have their own sonic character, without straying too far from the same musical framework. Perhaps with time things are becoming a bit less chaotic and a bit more focused into exploring certain aspects of my sound depending on the releases, but I try to remain coherent with the identity of what defines Aspaarn throughout its discography. I honestly don’t think in the beginning I’ve thought that far, but I’m finding myself still having ideas and needs to explore what this project can give.
Without a doubt your music can be filed under Raw Black Metal, still I think Aspaarn has quite a distinct sound. What do you think that sets Aspaarn apart from your peers in today’s (Raw) Black Metal scene?
I don’t know, you tell me haha! Maybe it sounds even worst than all the rest? Jokes aside, I love making raw music as much as I enjoy listening to it. And I’ve found out that paradoxically, the rawer the sound gets, the more distinctive to each outfit and album that same rawness gets. Just as Transylvanian Hunger muddiness feels different from Under a Funeral Moon’s fuzzy storm, every band is going to have its own kind of take on what’s raw. Take for example late 90’s German stuff and LLN: both raw as hell, but in different ways. I believe black metal needs to be harsh and unpolished. In my stuff I try to stick to that principle. Keep in mind I’m not a professional musician nor sound engineer, but since I record and mix everything myself, the rawness is also partially a byproduct of that. To me the grit of the sound is as much important as a fifth instrument, since it’s that component that will impart to the record its flavour and bind everything together, rendering what you hear something more than the mere sum of the instruments recorded. I’d rather listen to something that sounds messy but in a genuine way than to hear that same fucking reverb on guitars and compression on snare you hear in nearly any modern and overly produced mainstream “black metal” release. To me that sounds all the same and artificial, you will never hear that kind of polished sound in a rehearsal room.
Another big part of Aspaarn’s musical identity is Dark Ambient/Dungeon Synth, or at least synthesizer-driven music. Some releases, like the more or less recent ‘Marsch In Die Schatten’ are even completely instrumental and based on synthesizers. How important is Dark Ambient/Dungeon Synth for you as a person and a musician?
I have always appreciated the atmospheric, even “cinematic”, feeling that keyboards and more orchestral instruments can convey. As a listener, I am also very attentive to intros / outros or any passage featuring other instruments than the usual metal ones. I believe that synths and keyboards can create pieces of music essential to the whole album rather than merely accompany or reinforce the music played by the more forward elements. In the end it’s all about the overall tone and ambience of the composition, and sometimes keys can truly bring out something more than what’s attainable with guitars and drums. Full synth instrumental releases are for Aspaarn a way of perhaps focusing more on a certain aspect of the same project, and that’s the reason why I intentionally released these under the same name. To me, they are as much a part of the same universe as the other releases.
Speaking of which, do you feel more attracted to Black Metal or Dark Ambient/Dungeon Synth? Or is it really a perfect marriage in which you don’t want to interfere? Are both genres equally suitable for expressing and channeling your musical feelings and ideas?
I think both are complementary and share somewhat of a same musical root, but black metal will always have a special place in my heart. The two mesh into each other quite well when done right and not forcingly. I am not a big fan of symphonic black metal, so I think it is a good marriage, but that doesn’t need to be tampered with too much. That also might be the reason, now that I think of it, for which I did some all-dungeon synth releases, and inversely some other black metal releases of mine don’t feature any synth at all. Each need to have their space, but when they work well together, I go for it.
In general, when reviewing your music, or even listening to it, I noticed it is hard to come up with suitable comparisons or even words to describe it accurately. If you would give it a go, how would you describe it
Tough one… A soundtrack to a cold winter night filled with foggy nightmares about a long forgotten past?
Let’s discuss your latest record, ‘Oblations In Atrocity’. Judging from the title of the album and that of the songs, it almost seems a concept album. Maybe not so much as intended as in the King Diamond kind of way, but most songs seem to revolve about the darker regions of the psyche, especially compared to the older Aspaarn records. Can you tell something about the background of the album?
Perhaps there is indeed in this album some more abstract themes. As any human being, I am walking my path, and every once in a while some questions and thoughts arise. This is part of what life is and of how we evolve trough it. At the time the album was written some of that stuff was quite present in my mind and it might have seeped in. It’s not as much personal stuff but rather some meditations about the human condition itself, in some way, and thus fitting with Aspaarn’s view on the dawn of time and humanity and how, at the most basic level, we deal with concepts like the unknown, loss, and what’s beyond the world we are allowed to perceive. It seemed pertinent to gear the lyrical themes in that way, since I found it was a good match with the music.
Besides the subjects, I recognized a slight shift musically as well. While ‘Oblations In Atrocity’ follows the musical course set by the previously released material, I think this new record has a bit of different feel to it. Were you inspired by something else or were you “just” led by a natural flow that you didn’t consciously engage?
With Oblations I wanted to put a bit more forward the melodic side of songs, but I honestly think I might ended up going too far. It’s Aspaarn’s “prog” release hahah. I wanted to push a bit more the compositional boundaries and challenge myself into a more complex way of orchestrating the different melodic parts and riffing. Perhaps it ended up being a bit too convoluted and shifting. As always the material I wrote evolved in its own weird way, almost as if it had a life on its own. This is my usual creating process: I start with a basic idea of what I want the album to sound like, and then let myself be carried by that. The result is always different from what I had intended at first, in regards of the kind of resulting sounds with the mix and the writing itself. But I believe you have to let music do its own thing at some point and let go and not stick too much to what your initial designs were.
Just picking up slightly on the previous question. By now you do have a respectable discography and if we leave out the Dark Ambient/Dungeon Synth recordings, I think there is quite an evident evolution throughout your entire back catalogue. Do you see it that way yourself? And how would you best describe that progression, from your musician’s point of view?
If from outside it seems as a progression, even the better. But I don’t necessarily see it as an evolution. I would rather say it’s a constant change towards different angles on which this project can express itself. The first album, ‘Ancestral Genocides’, is raw and chaotic, then ‘Between Loss And Hate’ is more hypnotic and repetitive. ‘When Iron Meant Survival’ is a brutal and relentless. ‘Oblations in Atrocity’… well maybe a bit of all of the above but with its own tinge of opacity and incomprehensibility. I don’t have enough perspective from it yet do define it myself. What’s for sure is that I don’t want my albums to sound all the same, and the result of this is a variety between the releases that could at worst be seen as a lack of direction, or in the best case, as you said, as evolution.
There’s something about one-man armies that I always find intriguing. I more or less have a clear view on how a group process works when writing music together, as a band, but how does that work for you? How and when are you getting inspired? How does your process of creation look like? And don’t ever miss the feedback of a fellow musician when creating your music?
I don’t have a precise process, but some inspiration comes when listening to other bands and walking in the nature. The most of the ideas tho, come while playing and messing around with the instruments. Im just try things and then one leads to another. One of the drawbacks of a one-man band is that you might end up taking some very strange musical paths and no one is there to tell you that maybe the same idea could be changed a bit to fit better. You will always be biased in regards of your own music, because it came out of you and you alone, so of course you can’t be objective and have the same eye, or ear, on it, compared to someone else. One one hand you are doing your own thing and that has its egoistical pleasurable side to it. On the other hand by just confronting a bit with likeminded musicians and people, you could shape what you already have into something better…One of the things I might want to learn to do in the future is perhaps to share my ideas a bit more, of course without letting myself being influenced or hindered, but to get the most out of my music.
Switzerland, your home country, isn’t exactly known for its vibrant Black Metal scene. Of course there were Samael and Hellhammer, but that’s like a lifetime ago. How do you view your home country and how has it influenced your view of music? When I look at the covers you choose for Aspaarn, I see a lot of forested mountain landscapes, so I guess something of a patriotism has crept into the music?
I don’t think that is the right word. I will always be tied to the alps, which is were I was born and where I grew up. But to me that goes way beyond the notion of country or nationality. I don’t harbour any feeling of patriotism and I am opposed to nationalistic ideas, because that implies adhering to a set of shared ideas and views towards a common destiny or goal with other people. By definition, patriotism / nationalism refer to a feeling of pride coming from identifying yourself to as part of a group of people that you don’t know necessarily, but with whom you share a feeling of belonging to certain beliefs and values. This is exactly like religion, and I see it as an insult to your own intelligence as an individual. And as such, incompatible with Black Metal, which is supposed to be the very opposite of all this, putting above all independence, solitude, misanthropy and rejection of established ideas and doctrines. Politics are incompatible with black metal in my opinion. I couldn’t care less about the millions of other people in my country or anywhere else. I don’t judge people from where they are from, but for what they are. There are (mostly) assholes and idiots everywhere on the planet, no country is exempt. I can’t understand the feeling of pride for being born in a place rather an another. That’s not a merit. Pride is earned, trough your determination and by your deeds and accomplishments, not inherited or given. So, rather than patriotism, I would say it’s about the reverence and humility that the alps and their landscape command to me. What matters to me is the climate, the type of fauna and flora, the landscapes, the way of life, what people eat to survive, how they relate to their ancestors. All that is primordially shaped by the land rather than the country, these are very different notions to me. Of course, the land I grew up in and where I live was here long before us or any nations and states. Of course, these mountains, glaciers and forests have for sure made their way into my music.
Building on the previous question, are there any Swiss bands you feel connected to? Are there any that are worth checking out?
I would urge anyone, if they don’t know it, to listen to the ever mighty Paysage d’Hiver, which I consider as an enormous influence on Aspaarn. That is as close as it gets to raw black metal perfection for me. I don’t really have any connection with other Swiss black metal acts, but I can mention some excellent stuff stuff from Hexenkult label (Nachtmaar, Opferblut, Koldun), Szivilisz, and several of the many projects from Brahz (Loferogh, Brahdr’uhz, Sombr’ahz…).
About a year ago you have officially joined Lord Valtgryftåke, one of the many project led by the man who likes to go under that same pseudonym. Honestly, not everything he does is equally good or essential, probably mostly to blame is his excess of bands and projects. But I am very interested to hear how things will develop with having you on board. How do you think does your presence reflect in the music of this specific project?
Lord Valtgryftåke certainly has a myriad of projects, but I personally believe that each of these has its distinct and definite identity and purpose. I really respect the fact that he’s doing absolutely anything he wants or sees worthy of exploring. Gryftygaen is another one of the inspirations that made me take the leap and start Aspaarn. When I sent him out of the blue my first album, he was kind enough to answer and listen to me, when he could have totally patronise and look down to me as a new and unknown project. Since then, pretty spontaneously, a collaboration started to form, first with him producing my first dungeon synth demo (‘Sacrifices in the Mist’) and then an EP (‘Cataclysmic Eminences’), and after that he offered me to write the lyrics and record the vocals on his ‘Hordes of The Blackwinds’ EP. I was of course very interested in expanding my activity as a musician and to take on a new challenge. It is very stimulating to bring your own touch to a project that has already been established, and I believe it also helped me grow.
You are also in Svartokunnighet, a quite peculiar project that you share with two Italians. Last year you have put out a self-released cassette tape with covers of bands like Carcass, Hypocrisy, Krisiun and Sepultura. Yet those covers are actually more edited versions of the originals in a Raw Black Metal way. How did you come up with such an idea?
I am not the biggest death metal listener, especially of the modern stuff. But I believe that the ferocious and barbaric edge of the old school death metal bands featured on that project is praiseworthy and transcends extreme metal subgenera. To me it was worth trying to put those characteristics in evidence, stripping down all the rest, and the other two persons in the project, who are lifelong friends, were onboard with the idea. They both know a lot more about death metal than me, and I am also quite a mediocre guitar player, so it was good to get out of the Aspaarn bubble and have a fun project with friends who could actually play that technical stuff. And they were ok to let me completely destroy their work with an absolutely miserable lo-fi raw black metal mix.
Does the material you’ve produced with Svartokunnighet imply that you are also interested in other music, like old school Death Metal and Grindcore? Does this also influence the way you are working on material in your other bands and projects?
As I said, Death Metal is really not a genre I know well. If we are considering other more or less extreme metal genres, I am more of a thrash metal / hardcore / crust guy (First Blood, Terror, Power Trip, Disfear…). I do enjoy some Grindcore (Wormrot, Implore). I am also a big listener of 70’s and 80’s hard rock. I don’t know if these genres really influence my black metal music. Up to a certain point, maybe. But black metal is to me such a pervasive and personal experience that I believe I am dissociating that from my other musical tastes, while of course remaining open-minded. Someone once said that “to make good black metal, you can’t only listen to black metal”. I totally agree. And it might be true that on a subliminal level my other musical influences creep into Aspaarn, but I could’t say how or which ones, and this project will always aim to make pure, raw and uncompromising black metal.
‘Oblations In Atrocity’ is still rather fresh, but I think informing about what else can be expected is more or less a mandatory question. So, are you working on anything new already? Or will you, for the moment, relax a bit and indulge in your freshly achieved accomplishments?
I’ll never relax haha, at least not when there’s still so much to be done. There’s a next Aspaarn full length in the works, but I am going to take all my time for that one. I also want to revert and focus a bit more on the demo format, which I think is a very good one for my kind of music. Self-releasing full length albums on physical format is a pain in the ass, and I’d really like for my next to one to find a label, even if I’m perfectly aware that times are tough and it is a serious investment to shell out the cash to press a vinyl for a project such as mine. But with demos things are different. It is suddenly way more suited to be released on tape and while still having at heart to offer a valid piece of music, the expectations towards physical format aren’t as high. I also a have a couple side projects with Lord Valtgryftåke happening soon, and other ones with other musicians. Sadly, since I don’t live off my music, all that is dependent on the free time I have left after my other occupations. But there’s definitely more stuff coming.
Thank you for your time and valuable insight into your (musical) world. I am happy to leave the final and concluding words of this interview to you…
Thank you my friend. At the cost of repeating myself, I cannot stress enough how it is important to me to have this kind of opportunities to express myself in serious and likeminded underground publications. Aspaarn is and always will be a project aimed at offering to the lister real music on real formats. So if anyone wants to support me, the best way is to buy my records. I for now refuse to have a social media account for Aspaarn, so if you want rot get in touch with me bandcamp is at the moment the only way. Go walk in the nature, despise modernity, keep a mind of your own and reject the idiocy of mankind.
