Interview - Caladan Brood - "Music has always been something that both of us are deeply passionate about"

Caladan Brood is an american epic black metal band, founded by two guys in 2008. In 2013 they released their debut album "Echeos of Battle", which  got quite big notoriety in the metal underground. Thoroughly deserved, in my opinion, as it brings us more than one hour of music on really high level. Read below what authors of this LP had to say about their musical inspirations, fantasy literature and some other things. Maybe they aren't the most talkative persons in the universe, but I think you'll get a proper view on their creativeness.

1.Hello! You started with your band in the year 2008, but your debut album was released in 2013. Why it took you so long?
Simply put, life kept getting in the way. There were extended periods where the album would sit untouched for months at a time due to school, work, and other obligations. It felt really great to finally arrive at the finished product!

2.Your album brings a lot of epic and melancholic tunes. It's very monumental, and when I listen to it I feel a lot of sorrow. Why did you decided to play such music? Do you think there is lack of bands playing similar stuff?
Music has always been something that both of us are deeply passionate about. We settled on this genre since we are huge fans of bands such as Summoning, Elffor, Nazgûl, and other similar groups, and we wanted to try our own take on that style. There is a pretty good number of bands playing keyboard-driven medieval/fantasy black metal, but perhaps not in this particular vein.

3.It is impossible to say that Summoning wasn't your big inspiration. Why do you love this particular band so much?
We love Summoning because they truly translate an immersive atmosphere through their music in a deeply sincere and truly unique fashion.

4. I would say that even if you were inspired by Austrians, your music is much more calmer. There is also way more folk elements in it. Can you agree with me? To be honest when I listen to “Echeos of Battle” I always think more about vast, wild landscapes and graves of fallen heroes than about great battles.
There are some moments where folk elements appear in our music, but the focus is on medieval sounds, not necessarily folk.

5 What are your other musical inspirations? Metal bands, movie soundtracks, maybe some traditional folk music from Europe?
Yes, we take a lot of inspiration from film scores. We are also heavily influenced by game soundtracks such as the Elder Scrolls series, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, Icewind Dale, Baldur’s Gate, Diablo I & II, etc. From the metal side of things, we drew inspiration from the obvious artists such as Summoning, Elffor, Nazgûl, early Nokturnal Mortum, Graveland, Vordven, and other black metal bands with epic, medieval, or fantasy themes, and we were also influenced by bands such as Bathory and Moonsorrow, as well as medieval/fantasy ambient (I’ve noticed people on the internet calling it ‘dungeon synth’ lately) such as Mantle of Dust, Lord Wind, Wongraven, etc.

6. You label your music as epic black metal. Yet for many people black metal must be raw and dark. How's important this “genre” thing to you?
We didn’t want to invent some fake genre that doesn’t exist in a pretentious attempt to make ourselves ‘stand out’. We call it epic black metal because it informs the listener that the songs will be long and include orchestral arrangements juxtaposed with tremolo-picked guitar work and screeching harsh vocals.

7. When it comes to lyrics, you based them on the world of “Malazan Book of the Fallen”. Why did you choose this particular world, and not I.G. very popular now Middle-Earth or Conan's universe?
The Malazan Book of the Fallen is our favourite fantasy series and it allows us a lot of material and thematic elements to explore within the context of our music. Middle-earth is a wonderful literary universe, but it has been done so many times that we couldn’t have possibly added anything new on that front. Robert E. Howard’s hyperborean world is another literary universe that we are very fond of, but its more barbaric, rough-hewn nature and adventurous swords-and-sorcery approach makes it more suited to traditional heavy metal bands like Manilla Road or epic doom metal bands.

8.You also named your band after one of “Malazan...” heroes. Why did you choose Caladan Brood? What is special about this character?
Caladan Brood is a character who wields a vast amount of power, but very little is revealed about him throughout the series. We felt that the aspects of power and mystery made him a fitting character for a band name.

9. What are your plans for the future? Are you currently working on the next album? And which music direction will you choose? There will be more epic tunes or aggression and fury? Or maybe something else?
We are always creating music. Our music will still be the same genre, but we will of course look to develop new themes without our style.

10. I know that currently there are only 2 members in your band, but did you consider to play live gigs?
No, we do not play live gigs.

11. You are bounded with Northern Silence, and it seems that they promote you quite well. They will release a LP version of “Echeos...”, it was your idea to do it? And what do you think about collaboration with them?
Northern Silence usually does vinyl issues of their releases (which is great, since we love listening to music in this format). We love working with Northern Silence; it is a supportive label that is passionate about what it does, and they really let us have creative control over our releases.

12. You told me many people think that you have something in common with vikings and paganism. Is it not strange that even if they can easily check everything via internet, they are still to lazy to do it? Don't you think internet, which should be a tool for getting knowledge, paradoxically make people only more indolent?
Yes, it is strange that so many people are so quick to jump to conclusions. We get called ‘pagan metal’ quite often, which isn’t true at all; we are a non-religious band. Just because there are keyboards in our music doesn’t mean we are religious. But people will think what they’d like to think. Once you’ve released an album, you are no longer in control of how people will percieve it.

13. I touched a paganism topic. I know that there is a growing number of asatru (germanic pagans) in USA. Do you think there is a point in being pagan in America? Also, do you personally have any interest in European myths and legends?
We are definitely interested in European myth, legend, and folklore from a literary standpoint, not a religious one. As for your question as to whether or not there’s any point in being pagan in the United States, I suppose there’s the same point in that as there is in being a member of any religion; it serves some sort of personal reinforcement of a worldview. As for us, as I stated above, we are non-religious people and our music is non-religious music. It is about fantasy literature and themes that tie in with said literature.

14. When I saw a cover art of your debut (great picture by the way), I immadietely thought “they must be from England” hehe. How it is to live and play such a music in this city? To be honest when I think “Salt Lake City” I have only Mormons and Winter Olimpics in my mind haha!
You wouldn’t be alone in that, haha. It’s fine playing this kind of music here. There is a metal scene here, albeit a very small one. In fact, it has probably been beneficial to us since people seem to be curious about hearing a metal band from the land of the Mormons, haha.

15. You seem to be a big fan of fantasy literature, so can you recommend some books and films that you really like?
Besides Malazan, we can recommend the works of Robert E. Howard, the Elric saga by Michael Moorcock, The Black Company and Dread Empire series by Glenn Cook, The Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell, The Horus Heresy series (various authors). Some films we’ve enjoyed recently with medieval or fantasy themes include Ironclad, Centurion, and Black Death. Naming things like this that we enjoy is always stressful since we always forget to include important titles, haha. You get the idea, though.

16. Some time ago we could see a new movie by Peter Jacksson – “The Hobbit”. What do you think about it? For me a movie was only OK, but nothing more. They wanted to make another “LOTR” based on the book for kids, and it simply failed...
Well, seeing as The Hobbit is a children’s book, it stands to reason that they’d approach it from the standpoint of a children’s film. It was too cartoony for our tastes, but not a complete failure.

17. OK, last question for you. What was the last metal and last non-metal album that you have listened to and made on you big impression?
This should come as no surprise, but the new Summoning album has of course been wondrous for us, especially with it being such a killer album after such a long wait. As for non-metal, we’ve been enjoying the new Funker Vogt album, as well as ‘Ein Wintermärchen’ by Draumar (a long-time favourite of ours!).

18. Thank you very much for this interview! Last word traditionally belongs to you. Cheers!
Thank you for taking interest in our music. Cheers!

---
Photos: band's archive.
Interview by Vladyka 2013. Please do not copy this interview without HA'Z permission. Respect the copyrights! 

Sear Bliss - "Eternal Recurrence" (2012)

Sear Bliss

"Eternal Recurrence"

Candlelight Recs.

2012

This is the 7th album of hungarian atmospheric black metal band Sear Bliss, known for the usage of trombone and other wind instruments. Their previous album "The Arcane Odyssey" was a great piece of music, so I was excpecting that the new one will be at least as good as his predecessor. And well, it is.

It is, but it's also different. A jazzy trombone in the first track on the album, "The Eternal Quest", was a big surprise for me. It was also an omen that the band is going to explore some new musical spaces. The music on "Eternal Recurrence" got more progressive than other albums. There is less of typically black metal patents (but they are still present in the Sear Bliss world - like a fast, aggresive part of "A Lost Cause"). This jazzy-style is used here and there in every track, like in middle part of "Ballad of the Shipwrecked". But despite this progression, the tracks are not so lengthy as many prog metal albums. They are around 5-6 minutes long. And well, I think it's good - at least a band doesn't goes into needless experiments, like many other bands do. We have just pure essence here.

 Also in "Ballad..." we can hear melancholic choirs. Thanks to them, the music is much more spacious. My first association was Enslaved ( I mean of course their newer stuff). They sound a bit different (hungarian has their own style of playing, they don't need to rip off others'), but from the other side they "work" more or less the same.

The atmosphere on SB last album is less "cosmic", but instead is much more darker. Guitarists play progressive, yet very heavy riffs. Listen for example opening one in "A Lost Cause" - it's genius! Together with a weird, "haunted" tunes played on a keyboard and trombone, the band creates in many places a very distressing, original climate. The anxiety is even more enhanced by silent whispering and the noises, hidden in the background in some places (like at the end of "Great Cosmic Disorder"). The last track is full of such groans, loud at this time - it makes a very big impression.

Few words about production: I really have no question. It's quite similar to this from "The Arcane...", and fits the new, more progressive face of the band very well - it's clear and gives more heaviness to music.

After every replay grows a number of hidden things, that come to the ear. This album is simply great, and it doesn't get boring even after a long time. Sear Bliss created a perfect, dark and melancholic music. If your fan of them, or of such tunes - you will love it.  

Rate: 9+/10

Vladyka

Tracklist:

1. "The Eternal Quest"

2. "Ballad of the Shipwrecked"

3. "Great Cosmic Disorder"

4. "A Lost Cause"

5. "The New Era of Darkness"

6. "There's No Light Without Darkness"

7. "Entering the Seventh Gate"

Slavland - "Lechita" (2009)

Slavland

"Lechita"

Eastside

2009

Slavland is a polish pagan/folk metal one-man band, founded by Belzagor in the year 2001. Lechita is the 7th album of this poject.

The album starts with sounds of battle, mixed with a folk tune. Although it's not very original, it made in me good feeling that this will be nice piece of music. And my thought was right. Slavland was always playing "typical", "forrest" pagan metal. That's right, but Belzagor's riffing was from the other side much more unique than hordes of other bands worshipping ancient gods somewhere in the bushes. And so is on Lechita - from the first riffs you hear that this is Slavland. That's a great advantage in my eyes - a proof that you can be creative even in such exploited genre like pagan black metal.

Fast, melodic riifs interact with loads of folk tunes. But it is not another hey, I will put a flute here - it will surely sound great! No, it is clearly heard that composer put a lot of effort to mix a metal section with folkish stuff. Everything sounds very natural, and creates great atmosphere. Folk is on this album everywhere. Sometimes it can be really memorable - like whole track Władca Podziemi (propably best song by the way) with slow tempo at the beginning and big usage of acoustic guitars. Unlike other albums, on Lechita there is only one purely folk track - the last one Kupalny Wieczór. In return, it is quite long - and sounds just great.

It was a good idea to hire a session drummer. The material sounds more natural than previous albums. From the other side, Belzagor still tries to prove that he can sing. He can't. Luckly, there is no much of his solo-singing this time. He mostly just screams in black metal vain. I can't say that he's another Dead, but it is surely much better from what he has done on e.g. Pieśń Gromu, his second album (Donald Duck is always alive!).

Yes, and about a sound - it is heard that this is an underground release. I mean, it is not a  total-kvlt-necro devastation of ears - but you can't expect Eluveitie-like production. For some it will be advantage, for others won't. In my opinion it fits music quite well, so there is no reason to complain.

A few words about a layout - it's simple, but it makes a very good impression. You need only one look to sink into old, ancient worlds. Good work, mr graphic!

To sum it up, Slavland's last album is a great release. I often return to this LP, and I think that fans of pagan metal will spend with this album as many time as I do. I just hope that this is not the end of the band, like Metal Archives suggests...

Rate: 8/10

Vladyka

Tracklist:

1. Słowiański Odwet

2. Pieśń Perunowa

3. Mokosz

4. Władca Podziemi

5. Wataha

6. Kupalny Wieczór

Stilla - "Till Stilla Falla" 2013

Stilla

"Till Stilla Falla"

Nordvis Produktion

2013

I have never had a bigger interest in a swedish scene. Of course I know this more “popular” bands (if I can say such thing about Marduk or Abruptum…), but underground is more or less enigma for me. Why I am writing such an idiotic stuff? ‘cause Stilla comes from Sweden (what a surprise!), and was founded by musicians of more or less known underground bands. The problem is, I know quite good only one of them (Armagedda).So please, forgive me if I will be not comparing their other bands with Stilla.

And what Stilla is playing? Well, let say it’s black metal, but in his softer version (with lyrics about a nature, of course in Swedish). My first association was polish Furia. But polish musician makes wild music, with dirty sound. Music of Stilla is different – the production of this LP is, as I’ve written – “soft”. So even there is quite many quick tempos with blast-beat usage, it still sounds not so aggressive.

A vocalist screams in a manner of his past time in Armagedda – so it is very raw (to compare – a bit like vocals on “Panzerfaust” by Darkthrone). For me it’s a big advantage – he sounds like a possessed narrator of some weird story. Another great part of this album are clean vocals performed by guitarist Par Stille. They create very melancholic, “cold” atmosphere (like in Hinsides Dagen or Aldrig doden minnas).

Also a bassist makes a great work. His instrument is prominence, so it is an opposite of typical black metal album hehe. Some parts makes a very good impression, like his quick playing mixed with whispering vocals in aforementioned Hinsides…

Worse is playing of guitarists. Supposedly he makes a good job – his riffs sound very Scandinavian, and suits to music. They sound like I have heard it. And here is my main problem; even if I am after many replays, I am not in 100% sure what I think about this album. When I listen to it, than I feel “yes, it’s a quite good thing”, but when it ends I can walk away and do other things, without often thinking about another replay. I think that there is not enough those “memorable” moments, like beautiful choirs in 4^th track. Young fan of black metal, when hear it, will propably say “wow, that’s fantastic”!. But I heard riffs like on Till Stilla Falla too many times to be impressed.

To sum it up: Stilla recorded quite good album, which I will listen to from time to time. But I hope they will record something more unexpected in the future, and this task belongs mainly to guitarist. 

Rate: 7/10

Vladyka 2013

Tracklist:

1. Tidlosa vindar

2. Aldrig dodens minnas

3. Askormen

4. Hinsides dagen

5. Alt ar Aater

6. Till stilla falla

Introduction to paganism - part IV - celtic tradition

Introduction

This article contains only basic information about celtic pagan traditions. If you want to learn more – read some books, or visit websites that I recommend you at the end of this text.

This topic is really long and hard to present. So if you have good knowledge about it, and you will see some mistakes – simply write to me.

Sources and historical background

The ancient Celts settled vast lands from Ireland and Britain on the north, to northern Italy, Spain and Balcans on the south. They were living in what is now called France on the west, and in part of Czech Republic on the east, and even in Minor Asia (being known there as “Galats”). They were great warriors and craftsman. But that was in VII-III B.C. In following years, they were slowly conquered by Romans, Germanic and Daco-Thracian tribes. The only free celtic lands were still lying in modern Scotland (settled by Picts), Wales and Ireland.

Celtic pagans haven’t written themselves about their beliefs. The tradition existed in word of mouth, being guarded and cultivated by druids – a rank of priests, medicals, historians, astronomers, philosophers and scientists. I will write about them in other article.

Our main sources are texts of celtic neighbors – Romans and Greeks. The second part of texts are manuscripts of Christian monks, who were recording old celtic tales. They were using a names of celtic deities and heroes, and were writing about old festivals, but in Christian vain.

Also our sources are archeology (especially useful for Gallia’s territory), linguistic, folklore and comparative mythology.

First of difficulties is that under roman occupation invaders tried to Romanize specific gods and goddesses. Also, when they were writing about celtic pantheon they were using Roman names (as an equivalent). Very often ancient classics weren’t writing about gods, that were popular on many monuments and in inscriptions.

In different part of Gallia, in Ireland and Britain names of deities were generally different. Also many deities don’t have their equivalent in other regions. Because of that, I will write only about most popular gods and goddesses. I will not write about fomoraig generation of Ireland – that is a topic for other text.

Main deities

First name is always gaulish:

Teutates (bryt. Totatis, Tutatis) – is a central character in celtic pantheon. His name means all people. He’s a patron and a guardian of a tribe. He is also a god of war. Romans were comparing him to Mercury and Mars.

Lugus (irl. Lugh, bryt. Llud Llaw Ereint or Llew, Lleu) – is a god-king, and his name means flashing light. Was worshipped in every region of celtic world. He is associated with sun and warm light.

A Lugnasad festival is especially bounded with this god.

His attribute is spear.

Taranis (bryt. Taran) – or Sucellos, a god of thunder and sky, worshipped in Gallia, Britain and Ireland. His attributes are hammer, an oak and a wheel, and his name means basically Thunder or Lord of Thunder.He is similar to other thunder gods of Europe – germanic Donar/Thor, roman Jupiter, greek Zeus, slavic Perun and Baltic Perkunas.

Belenos (bryt. Beli) –  a solar god, by Romans identified with Apollo. He is bounded with healing forces and life-giving power of sun.

Bounded with Beltaine and Lugnasad festivals.

Goibniu (irl. Goibniu, bryt. Govannon) – is a god-blacksmith, patron of crafts and work.

Ogmios (irl. Ogma) – is a god of eloquence and science. He was identified with Hercules, but his strength is a power of speech, not a muscle.

He is also bounded with underworld.

Cernunnos – a god with a horns of a deer, bounded with wild nature and magic.

Mothers – three goddesses, patron of wealth, fertility and maternity. Their attributes are basket of apples, baby and/or horn of plenty.

Epona – a goddess with features of mothers. She is also a goddess of death, fallen in battle and underworld.

Their attributes, beside Mothers’ ones, is also a horse.

She was known in ancient world under many names (e.g. Rosmerta).

She is quite similar to irish goddess Danu and british Riannon.

Brigantia (bryt. Brigantia, irl. Brigid) – is a goddess of poetry, healing, smith’s work. She is patron of higher dimension – as high hills, so as also high intelligence, perfection etc. By Romans she was described as Minerva.

Bodua/Catabodua (irl. Badb, also known as Morrigan) – goddess of war. She is taking fallen warriors souls to the Underworld. Her attribute is a crow.

The Irish goddess Morrigan is sometimes a name for a trio of other goddess (bounded with war) – Badb, Macha and Nemain).

Regular Festivals

31^st October / 1^st November – Samhain – the first day of celtic calendar. It is starting “darker” part of a year, ending a time of harvest and being a festival of spirits, forefathers and unborn children.

1^st February – Imbolc – bounded mainly with goddess Brigid, it is a holyday of purification by fire and water.

30^th April / 1^st May – Beltaine – a holyday starting a part of “light”year. Devoted mainly to the god Belenos, and bounded with fire.

1^st August – Lugnasad – a day of devoted mainly to god Lugh, and also Belenos. Bounded with a beginning of harvest, it is also a day of love and happiness.

Learn more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_polytheism

http://indigocrescent.com/id17.html

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/101803/Celtic-religion

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/rac/

http://www.ardue.org.uk/library/book5/religion.html

http://arthsoc.drruss.net/Cauldron/celtic.html

http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/celtic_religion.pdf

Also, worth to check:

http://draeconin.com/database/notcelt.htm

Books:
J. de Vries - Celtic Religion
p. MacCana - Celtic Mythology
Th. F. O'Rahilly - Early Irish History and Mythology
M.L. Sjeostedt - Gods and Heroes of the Celts
J. Wood - The Celts: Life, Myth and Art
And lots of more - english literature about Celts is huge.
Also try to read source text and legends - e.g. Mabinogion or De Bello Gallico by Ceaser.

Books for polish-speaking people:
J. Gąssowski - Mitologia Celtów
A. Bartnik - Zarys Wierzeń Plemion Celtyckich
Celtowie (z serii Mitologie Świata)
+ tłumaczenia zagranicznych książek (a sporo ich jest).

Vladyka 2013