Although the band itself does not like to be categorised very much by their origins, their Kyrgyz ancestry does play a big role in the way Darkestrah shapes their music. Not only in the music itself does their Central Asian heritage recur more than once, but also in the thematic approach. On the penultimate album, Darkestrah had been forced to switch to a male vocalist, but with the latest ‘Nomad’, the band has returned to a female lead singer, which certainly adds to the band’s recognisability. But beyond that, ‘Nomad’ is also the most mature and balanced record the band has produced so far. I spoke to drummer and founder Asbath and bassist Cerritus about this latest album, which saw the light of day via Osmose Productions, and about the band’s cultural background…
Hi Asbath and Cerritus, thanks a lot for freeing some time to give us a little peak into the Darkestrah-camp and of course welcome to The Whispering Darkness. First of all, ‘Nomad’, struck me as your most mature work so far and most of all it feels like that you have found a natural balance in both your colorful Folk-background as well as your Black Metal roots. How would you qualify ‘Nomad’ in comparison to your rather extensive back catalogue?
Asbath: Greetings Felix! I’d say that at the moment “Nomad” is to 100% and even more what Darkestrah wants to be. With line-up consisting of both long-time veterans and new blood I think that we managed to find a perfect way to express our musical ideas, in terms of composition, arrangement and sound.
Another thing that is definitely an ear-catcher is your “new” vocalist Charuk, who joined the band some four years ago. To me Darkestrah has always been connected to a female vocalist, so her arrival meant a lot to me. Without short-changing Andreas “Merkith” Thäns, Charuk re-completes the Darkestrah formula again. How have you experienced the last ten years after the departure of Kriegtalith, your original vocalist, and how do you look back on those years?
Cerritus: It was not a bad time, actually. We’ve been at places, seen things, played shows and, with “Turan”, recorded a good album. It was obvious that Kriegtalith had lost interest and we all didn’t, so Darkestrah had to go on one way or another.
With having Charuk as a part of the Darkestrah line-up, another dimension to your rich cultural background was added. Something that translates to the music as well and on ‘Nomad’ maybe even more than in a long time. Can you take us with you into the musical background of ‘Nomad’? The title gives a little hint already, but what was the main inspiration for the album?
Asbath: As always we took inspiration from both traditional Central Asian music and 90’s Black and Doom Metal. These are the two roots of all our creative efforts. Charuk and Magus brought their own Persian musical tradition into the mix, the tradition that they know and understand very well. Also apart from her great extreme vocals, Charuk has added some clean singing and some lines of lyrics in her native language.
Continuing a little on the previous question, although you have moved to Germany already many years ago, are you still connected to your home country of Kyrgyzstan on both a spiritual and musical level. For instance, the opening track ‘Kök-Oy’ is also the name of a rather small city and musically there are a lot of native Folk-inspired passages. Can you take us with you on how you think you background translates to your music?
Asbath: Both musically and lyrically Darkestrah are deeply rooted in Kyrgyz and generally Central Asian musical tradition, history and culture. Some of the songs are based on traditional tunes, lyrics often goes back to legends, shamanic practices or describes certain historical events.
I already cited it in my review and also mentioned it in passing in the previous questions, compared to your last few records, ‘Nomad’ sounds much folkier and even a bit more progressive in nature. Was this something that came about that way naturally or was this a deliberate musical choice?
Asbath: With Charuk and Magus on board we obviously wanted to give them more possibilities to shine, hence more folk elements. On other hand, we didn’t deliberately stop ourselves as in “we don’t continue to develop this song or that riff because it goes in the wrong direction”. Everything came together smoothly.
In your earliest years you have used the word “Pagan” to qualify your music, for instance in the title of your first demo and also in the title of your 2005-released EP. But over time that word feels increasingly less fitting to your music since you have broadened your musical view, adding more and more different native and ethnic folky elements to it. Does the word “Pagan”, both personally and musically, still mean the same for you as it did some two decades ago?
Cerritus: I dislike the term “Pagan Metal” because a lot of bands described that way sound very differently. In general, in Metal it is never a good idea to classify bands based on lyrical content. Based on our lyrics I think “Pagan” would be a good description. But musically we sound like Darkestrah. We dub our style Epic Shamanic Black Metal because it describes what a listener may expect.
Just trying to get things in a slightly broader perspective, your previous album ‘Turan’ with Merkith on vocals, is regarded as a bit of a “different” album that didn’t really fit in the Darkestrah tradition. Partially that might be because of the male vocals, but musically it also feels a bit of an odd duck in the whole of your back catalogue. As a result, not everybody was equally satisfied with it. How do you look back on that particular album?
Cerritus: It was a good album and generally good times. I don’t believe it sounds that odd for Darkestrah. Also, all our albums sound differently, because it makes little sense to release the same album twice.
Speaking of which, what album out of your rather extensive discography do you personally consider your favorite? Is there an album that you think captures the Darkestrah-DNA the best? And what is the reason you would pick that album?
Asbath: The latest album is always how we want Darkestrah to sound at the moment. So I’d go with “Nomad”.
Cerritus: I was not in the band from the start and was already a fan before I joined. So from that perspective I’d say “Epos” or “The Great Silk Road”.
With the retrospective questions about the use of the Pagan-label in your youthful years and your overall favorite albums, together with an attempt to put ‘Nomad’ into a certain musical perspective… With being around as a band for a quarter of a century, how did that influence your view on the metal genre as a whole and the Black Metal scene in particular? Age and experience always influences your personal views, please take us with you on this…
Asbath: In the beginning there was an element of wanting to prove something to someone. Being an up and coming “exotic” band from a place that a lot of people can’t even point on the map. Now we don’t care about such things and do what we want.
Cerritus: Same here. We’ve been at places I couldn’t imagine I’d ever visit, played on the festivals I’ve read about as a teenager just starting to get into Black Metal and so on. Some things surely do loose some of their magic that way, but it makes one sure of oneself.
Now ‘Nomad’ has been freshly released, what is up next to do for you? The last few albums had a lot of time in between, something that is also typified with some personnel issues. Do we again need to wait another eight years for a new Darkestrah album?
Cerritus: I won’t disclose any details, but you’ll hear from us again soon. Certainly not in eight years.
Alright, I’d like to thank you both for sharing your views and ideas with me. You hereby have the honor of closing the interview with your own words…
Asbath: “Nomad” is out which means that the horde is on the loose again! Expect us!
