Undeniably one of the most unique Black Metal bands of recent years is Slovakian Krolok. Deeply rooted in their country’s rich history full of folklore and myths, the band treated us with their music to an insight into all the secrets harboured by the wild and untouched Carpathians. Now that their second album, ‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’ has been out for about a year and a half, it felt like a good time to put some questions to Graf Von Krolok, without, of course, spoiling any of that equally inhospitable mystique…
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Your most recent album ‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’ was released a year and a half ago, which gives it some time to settle in. How do you reflect upon that album now? Did it turn out the way you envisioned, and how has it been received? Are opinions of others something that affects you at all?
Hello, from my side, satisfaction still prevails, certainly a few changes could be made, but they would not change the overall atmosphere at all. My goal was to create a simple, striking, atmospheric album, and I think I succeeded. Compared to the first album, I noticed more criticism on the second one, maybe people missed more of the blast beat passages, or they just didn’t like the final form of it. I can reveal that the third album will be completely different and work on it has slowly started…
When comparing the previous material to the latest album, the essence of the Krolok sound is still very much intact but on ‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’ you take things one step further adding subtle new elements. What is to you the biggest difference between your older material and the most recent album?
The structure of the songs on the second album is much simpler, as I mentioned above, the songs are more striking in my opinion. The most significant difference between the first and the second album are the acoustic passages, on the first they were in almost every song, on the second I tried to leave them out, almost completely. It was also a bit intentional, because I was fed up with the way of writing songs. So these are probably the biggest differences.
‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’ was your first album with Osmose Productions. How did this collaboration materialize and how is it so far?
If you are asking when and under what circumstances, it was in 2020. I sent emails to recording labels that I was selling items at lower prices because I needed more space for the new releases of Into The Night (my small UG label). The next day, Hervé contacted me with an offer if Krolok would like to be under the wings of Osmose Productions. Considering that I used to listen to many of their releases from the 90s, it seemed like a very good idea. Since then, Osmose has released many CDs, LPs, or t-shirts…
The artwork on ‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’ is stunning and perfectly fits the title. You once again worked together with the renowned artist Dávid Glomba. Do you think he as a fellow Slovakian knows best how to connect your music and roots together into fitting artwork?
I think the graphic best describes the title and also the mood of the album. I contacted Dávid because I was extremely satisfied with him from the period of “Flying…”, on his part there was some dissatisfaction with his work, but with the passage of time, in my opinion, his work is excellent. The only thing that underwent correction from my side is the lower part of the image, because it was too colorful for my taste.
When it comes to Krolok, I hear influences from the Norwegian Black Metal scene. Apart from Darkthrone, a band that particularly sticks out is Satyricon on their ‘Dark Medieval Times’ and ‘The Shadowthrone’ records. In addition, it’s hard to shake of hearing some influences of Master’s Hammer at the time of ‘Ritual’ in your material as well. How do you feel about this observation of influences and what do these bands and albums mean to you?
Thanks, the bands you mentioned were part of my beginnings with black metal. Personally, I don’t really care if my music goes to this or that band. Krolok can remind each person of something different, I just try to play a style that has been a part of my life for several decades and that I really like.
On ‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’ you re-recorded ‘Path to the Haunted Ruins’ which was originally written in 2003 for Helcaraxe. If you don’t mind, I would like to use the opportunity to journey a little bit in your musical past. But first things first: what is it about this particular track that you felt connected the best to what Krolok stands for?
I need to explain it a little better because it might be a little messy. The track I re-recorded (the opening three riffs) from the Helcaraxe demo is called “Unveiled Subterranean Treasures” on the album, on the demo it’s called “Hymns of old forest”. The track “Path to the Haunted Ruins” is not from the demo, I just stole the title because it suited its atmosphere. And why this particular track? I felt that it had the potential to tell people more than the demo version and it felt like an interesting connection between my early days and the present.
Helcaraxe existed for some years and then transitioned into Remmirath which still exists. Could you share about the history of these bands, and how these fueled the desire to start Krolok?
It all started sometime in 2003 when me and Adam were so fascinated by black metal music that we decided to establish Helcaraxe. In the same year, we recorded our first demo and somewhat illogically named it “Demo 2004”, probably because the last sound editing was completed in that year. Subsequently, Adam’s brother Sigi joined us as a drummer and singer, with whom we recorded two new songs in 2004, which were later released on the split with Temnohor. The main reason for changing the name of Helcaraxe to Remmirath was that there were two other bands with the same name at the time. In 2005, we then recorded the demo “Smrť putnikova” and that was all for a long time. After disagreements in the band, Sigi left us. To make a long story short, we recorded two albums with Remmirath, already on the first album there were several experiments and it went into the avant-garde stylistically. Since 2009, I’ve been saving various riffs to my PC that didn’t really fit into Remmirath, but it can be said that this was behind the creation of Krolok.
Apart from working with Temnohor on splits with both Helcaraxe and Krolok, you were also involved in the band for a while. How would you describe the connection with Temnohor, both personally and for the band?
Temnohor is our old friend with whom we have been through a lot. That’s why I was always happy to help him, either with recording music or mixing. Among other things, I also made graphics for him on CD releases and my girlfriend painted pictures for his LP records. We have even been colleagues at work for the past few years.
In terms of other projects you are involved in, I believe with Malokarpatan you are in the process of finalizing your fourth album. Any details you can unveil for us? And any other projects that are still working on new material?
Malokarpatan is waiting for the release of the fourth album “Vertumnus Caesar”. It should be out in the fall. As for the music, it is slightly inspired by the 70s and especially by the metal from the 80s. Lyrically, it is a conceptual album inspired by the life of Rudolf II. In my opinion, there is something to look forward to.
From an outsider’s perspective, the Slovakian Black Metal scene looks small but passionate. Passionate about their music and their roots. Could you give an insider’s perspective of the scene?
I don’t know what you would like to know, any interesting facts about people or something? Haha. Our scene is small and I’ve never been too interested in it. In the 90s death metal dominated here, after 2000 several black metal bands were formed. Among the more interesting ones, I could mention Algor, Aeon Winds, Goatcraft, an interesting demo was released by Toreva (after the release of the demo, the main protagonist became ashamed of his record and entered a monastery haha), all bands play a completely different style. That’s about all I could say about this topic.
What bands, either local or more global, influenced you to become a musician?
In a way, my father is to blame for this, because from a young age I listened to either hard rock or pop and electronics with him. So I could say that I was influenced by something from each style. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but then came metal, and for a while, 90s black metal was in first place for me. But I don’t despise the 80s either, that’s why I won’t deliberately list the names of the bands, because that would be too long.
With Krolok but also your other bands, your Slovakian roots appear to be instrumental to the music. What part do local folklore, religion and history play in the identity of you and your bands?
Nature and folklore are an inseparable parts of Slovakia. For such a small country, it is truly amazing how many castles and chateaux are hidden in it, and that is also one of our inspirations, and not only for us. We have here for example the Čachtice castle, which I don’t think I need to write more about. The Carpathian Mountains are about a 5-minute walk from my residence, which also provide a lot of my inspiration…
Without restriction of genre or age, what music have you been enjoying a lot lately?
It’s always relative and it depends mainly on the mood, but my spotify throws me these bands I’ve been listening to for the last week – Divlje Jagode, Slayer (Show No Mercy), Europe (first three albums), Panphage, Evilfeast, Massacre, Thou Shalt Suffer, Twisted Sister & TOTO.
What can we expect next from Krolok? I saw a few shows booked for autumn, can we expect more or is your focus elsewhere?
After Adam’s decision to end live shows with Malokarpatan came the opportunity to play live with Krolok. Sometimes we got offers to play live abroad, but it was unrealistic for me to play in two bands at the same time. This year we played our first live show after four years of inactivity, it was in Germany. There are a few performances waiting for us in the fall and something has already been agreed for next year as well. I won’t reveal yet, but we should play with interesting bands, that’s all for now…
That’s all from our end. Thank you once again for your time, if you would like to comment, add or suggest, I leave these final words to you.
Thank you for your interest in Krolok and no less interesting questions. I think everything has already been said.
Cheers,
Graf Von Krolok
