Black Autumn is a German Black-Doom Metal act from the foggy banks of Hemer, located at the border to the Sauerland. Founded around 1995 to celebrate Black Metal in the vein of Emperor, Saytricon and Ulver the project started out as a two-member-band. Due to lack of proper equipment first recordings were delayed until 1998 when Michael Krall and TH showed off with their first recordings.

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Hey Michael, first of all thank a lot for taking some time out for this interview….

No problem! I am honored you want to conduct an interview with me actually!

So, Black Autumn. How did it happen/start?

Everything started out somewhere in the mid-nineties. Me and a good friend of mine were excited by all sorts of underground metal, mostly black metal and death metal to some extend. So we decided to make a band ourselves. It basically started while roaming the local woods and back then we wanted to capture that atmosphere there in music. We had almost no equipment so we were mostly doing some sessions and recorded like two or three songs back then. It really took off a whole while later when my friend already left the project and I went on alone.

I read it on the internet that the year of formation of Black Autumn was somewhere around 1993 and the band’s first release was in 2003. What took so long to release some material?

Well, we were teenagers back then. And you know in those days there are a lot of things going beside the music so to say. We were really working slow at times. Since we still went to school back then we couldn’t afford the equipment we would have needed for proper recordings. Things really started to fall in place around 1998 when I started gathering the technical devices needed. Some early recordings from that time can be heard on the “Cult of Nihil”-album. Shortly after the first real songs emerged my band mate quit it all and that was a huge set back. I completely started anew then.

So when you first thought of forming this band, did you had the same idea/direction of music and ideology in your mind or did it change over the years ?

One thing that remained constant through the years is that the music should focus on atmosphere rather than technical aspects. A lot of old bands lost that by now. See Satyricon or Behemoth (though both are everything but bad). But back then we wanted to music that was purely focused on black metal as style. The doom metal and electronic influences came later and we didn’t have anything like that in our minds back in the beginning. In ideology it was nature worship and melancholy back then. And it is still!

To a person who doesn’t know what Black Autumn is all about, which album do you recommend to that person that he should listen to first?

Hmm, I think “Rivers Of Dead Leaves” is a good start. It connects the more black metal influenced early times to the more doom filled material that came later on with “Aurora”. So, first listen to “Rivers…” and then “Aurora” immediately afterwards, hehe!

What are the ideas/ideology/beliefs on which Black Autumn stands ?

Well, as the name suggests it’s a try to capture the atmosphere of the darker seasons into music. The contemplation these days bring with its sad and also beautiful moments. On a general and personal level I wouldn’t say there is an ideology behind it in political or philosophical way. If at all it could be regarded as pantheistic.

What do the lyrics speak about in your songs ? And are they written by you ? Any place where we can read them?

Most lyrics are written by me. I borrowed some passages from Baudelaire, Rimbaud and a German mystic called Jacob Boehme. But all the rest is written by me. They mostly deal with what is already mentioned above: contemplation, nature, melancholy and loss. Some may even be hopeful in a way. Lyrics for “Rivers Of Dead Leaves” and “Aurora” can be found on the Metal Archives as I have seen. I don’t know if they were posted somewhere else on the net as well.

After an initial late start of releasing music, you have release an album almost every year since 2003. How do you manage to do that? Are you a full-time musician or have another job too?

No, unfortunately I have a full-time job and am a part-time musician. I’m actually wondering about the quite big amount of output I had in the recent years, haha! I always have the feeling I’m not doing enough for Black Autumn and that I’m too lazy about it. So I am working on bits and pieces here and there and there’s usually a point when suddenly things start to piece together within a week or two. Basically I have no idea about how I manage to do it myself, hehe. It just happens!

So how does the song making process go in Black Autumn?

It usually starts out with a guitar riff or a synth sound that I like enough that I want to use it. I record that idea first and then start building up a song around it. I keep trying different sounds and melodies around this starting point and afterwards giving it more structure playing with order of arrangement. I don’t write a song first and then record it. Writing and recording is the same process. One could say the song “grows” during this.

What all equipment and music instruments do you use while making the music? And do you record and master everything yourself?

I record and master everything myself, yes! For recording I am using EnergyXT and Ableton Live 8 for deeper sound manipulation. I use a Jackson Randy Rhoads guitar for most parts and occasionally a Gretsch Electromatic and Eastwood Stormbird on some yet unreleased songs. On “Aurora” there is a lot of use of a MicroKORG (the first version of it). Plus there is always a billion of free and commercial synth plug-ins. Native Instrument’s MASSIVE and BATTERY 3 are commercial ones I spent my money on and I’d recommend them highly to anyone.

I suppose Black autumn does not play live and does not publicize about itself much. Why is it so and do you like it this way ?

I have had requests for live performances and I would not rule it out totally. It’s mostly due to a lack of personnel and a lack of time to rehearse that makes it pretty much impossible. I mostly publicize about Black Autumn personally on Facebook or other platforms which has the great advantage that you get to know the people who listen to your music. There are people I have been in occasional contact with since the release of the first demo! It’s great and an honor to see that some people follow this project for such a long time! I’ve tried to do more promotion in the past to draw more attention from listeners and zines but to no effect for some reason. But until now it also worked great the way it does so I am not too bothered. Black Autumn is pretty personal and I am glad that I can share it in a personal way to some extend. More presence would be great as well of course!

I even noticed that you still release your releases as tapes. I liked that a lot though. What made you do that?

I simply just love tapes! I bought demo tapes from the bands back in the days and I hate the thought this might disappear one day. Tapes have a special sound to them and I love it. Same goes for vinyl of course! I hope that tapes will have a similar renaissance as vinyl has and I try to add my part to it!

What all types of music/bands do you listen to ?? Any favorites you want to mention.

That’s a tough one! I listen to pretty much all types of different music. When it comes to influences it’s the usual suspects: early Ancient, early and later Ulver. They are also absolute favorites of mine. Other favorites include: Solstice (UK) “New Dark Age”, Vulpecula (US) “In Dusk Apparition”, Celestial Season’s “Solar Lovers”, Woven Hand “s/t”, Master’s Hammer – everything, The Gathering’s “How To Measure A Planet?”, Bruce Dickinson “Chemical Wedding”, Krause “s/t”, Hades “Alone Walkyng”. The list is endless and goes from Black Metal to Punk to Electro-pop.

Are you currently working on some music for Black Autumn? Any near future full length release?

I am working on new material. There is a new EP being prepared for release this year and the music for the follow-up is in the writing process. But I can’t tell if that one will be a full-length release. I still have an unreleased album lying around but due to data loss it’s not clear if I can finish it. I do hope so though!

Oh that is sad… So in the end do you want to say anything to the readers?

Thanks for reading this interview and thanks to you Aasheesh for giving me the opportunity to answer your questions! All the best to you in the future! For anyone interested in Black Autumn feel free to visit the official Facebook page and leave a comment or visit the Bandcamp page to have a listen.

OFFICIAL FACEBOOK | OFFICIAL BANDCAMP | OFFICIAL WEBSITE

When I first heard Dissipate , they impressed the hell outta me. Mike who handles the guitar duties for the band took some time out to chat with me. It was an absolute privilege, here it goes–

Me– After seeing the playthrough vids for Dissipate tracks I was absolutely amazed by your playing style so first of all, when did you start playing guitar and biggest influences as a guitar player?
Mike– I started playing guitar at the age of 8. So many influences to choose from , but anything from Pantera to Rage Against the Machine to Jimmy Hendrix. I basically grew up listening to all kinds of music so influences also include the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Allman Brothers Band,  just to name a few.

Me– Are you a full-time musician or do you have other side jobs?
Mike–I work a part-time job and on the side of that I give guitar lessons at the Bands Studio in CA . I have always wanted to be a musician ever since picking up the guitar. I guess you can say it’s in my blood.

Me– Tell us about Dissipate, what are the future plans, when is the album dropping?
Mike– Dissipate is a huge project for me as it is for everyone else in the band. We have worked very hard to reach this far. We have been through numerous member changes and uphill battles with bad luck. I think it has made us who we are today. We are in the middle of working out an agreement with a label right now. Can’t talk names right now. The EP  “The Realist” will be dropping this year.

Me– Any other side projects or your complete focus is on Dissipate?
Mike–  After the EP I plan to make a solo record. It will be more of a free “solo” record, as far as improvised and a more mellow feel to it, instrumental of course.

Me– What are your thoughts on the whole djent phenomenon?
Mike–  I think its cool , however I don’t wanna see everybody doing the same thing. I love bands that are different and unique. The style is great, but I wanna see people use it in different ways and branch out more. “Evolve or Die”.

Me–  Current bands in the metal genre that you like?
Mike– The bands that I absolutely love right now are Gru, Animals as Leaders of course, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Algorithm, Deftones, Halcyon, and Periphery (instrumental).

Me– I saw you left Meshuggah out, I guess that is too obvious to even mention
Mike– Aww fuck me running ye MESHUGGAH !! Love that band, who doesn’t ….

Me– And how do you go about song writing?
Mike– As far as writing is concerned I get influenced by whats going on in the world or things that nobody wants to talk about or bring up , as far as real issues. For some reason that brings creativity to me and I put it on the fretboard almost like I am trying to tell a story. Sounds corny but it works for me. I also try to stay different, technical but comprehensible.

Me–   You just slay on 7 and 8 stringers how different is it from playing a normal 6 stringer?
Mike– Well I have played 6 stringers all my life, in fact I started out playing acoustic which I believe is the best way to start out, so before I got on the 7 or the 8 stringers I was already familiar and comfortable with the 6 stringer. I see some of these bands that play 8′s and they only use like 4 strings, to me that’s weak. You gotta use it for what it is and for what it can bring to the table. Kinda like what Tosin and Josh Travis do. But what I like about the 7  and 8 stringers is that you can do way more on the 8 when it comes to chord progressions and they offer just a wide extended range of awesomeness . You can get lost in the fret board. It feels like home to me.

Me– Yeah Josh Travis, hahaha the way he shreds on an 8 stringer, it’s even hard to imagine, eagerly await the Danza IV.  Anyways it was great talking to you, I am sure that Dissipate will make it big.
Mike– Thanks man!!

I am not a music nazi, I don’t give a rat’s ass if you find Black Veil Brides appealing [it is sad though that because of fags like you Revolver Golden Gods has been reduced to a joke, and I am not even laughing]. I will often say that music is relative and to each its own until you open your worthless fucking mouth against ETID. The moment you do that my words will be the daggers seeking and obliterating your hollow pride and your inexcusable naivety. Find me a better lyricist than Keith Buckley and I will find you a fucking liar. Within the opening 2 seconds of this album’s opening track “Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space” with Keith shrieking

“I want to be dead with my friends” it is very apparent that ETID is back with take_no_prisoners mode engaged. The razor-sharp guitar tone is similar to the voice of Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, in the sense that you need to expose your ears to prolonged periods of both to maintain decent hearing ability. With this album ETID has more than made up for approximately 2 years of  inactivity. Vocals are perfect, vocals are Keith. Lyrics are perfect, lyrics are Keith. I suggest that Keith be officially made a synonym of perfect. Jordan and Andy as always display pure fucking ownage on guitars. Every riff has been carefully crafted to play with your ear canals in unimaginably nasty ways. Now coming to the tracks,

“The Low Road Has No Exits” is very much ETID’s take on old school thrash, “Holy Book of Dilemma” reminds me of DEP in terms of the sheer amount of bottled rage just erupting out in that 1 min and 49 seconds, “Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow” has a banjo intro, yes you read it right, I said banjo and I dare you to say that it doesn’t fit, I double dare you, also drummer Ryan Leger kills it on this track. Enough with the track by track breakdown already, every track is just one more compelling reason for you to get on this like kitten to a lase pointer. So winding things up, this is ETID, the way it should be, the way it has always been, unforgiving, unrelenting, unapologetic metal. I leave you with the vid for “Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space” which was directed by Keith and contains startling visceral images gathered apparently from the darkest corners of the internet and as Keith explains “In order to write lyrics I had to pay attention to the defeatism that the music suggested. To compile this video I had to acknowledge the masochism I wrote of to myself. You don’t get rewarded for your faith and you don’t get celebrated for your heroism. Just when you find yourself attached, you have lost it. Everything is borrowed. C’est la vie.” 

One word for you–Trepalium, I don’t remember how I got into them but in retrospect I feel like a drunk beggar stumbling upon gold except that I don’t drink and I don’t beg, but yeah the gold part is as true as it gets because this is Death Metalall Funky and Jazzed up. I mean if anything is this Jazzy, Funky and straight up the definition of groovy it just can’t go wrong, in the name of sweet jumping Jesus, it just can’t go wrong. I mean seriously, you wish your girlfriend was this Jazzy, Funky and Metal at the same time [a disclaimer to save my ass here--mine is, love you babe]. So these guys are from France, the same country that gave you Croissant and Gojira [but if you like Croissant more than Gojira you should probably get the fuck out of here ,seriously, just leave]. France has been delivering quality metal for sometime now, be it the mighty Gojira or Gorod and yeah how can I forget Hypno5e but Trepalium is a beast of a whole different breed. It is groovy as fuck, you ask exactly how groovy, well, if one day you decide to go jogging with H.N.P. playing on your beloved iPod, you would end up tapdancing your way to hell, yes, that groovy.

Talking about the album, fourth offering from the french maestros, like the previous ones is a concept album, quoting their official bio–” H.N.P. will enclose brilliantly the triptych started with Alchemik Clockwork of Disorder and  XIII. A true journey with dense and deep concept albums whose words reflect and complement the musical complexity and intensity.”  The vocals by Cédric “KK” Punda are kinda like belting growls. I love them, they are just downright sinister and ominous. The guitarwork by Harun and Nicolas is just unreal, the tone is perfect. I play the record out loud and it cuts through all the bullshit noise around me like a hot knife cuts through butter. The drummer Sylvain probably has the toughest job in the band, going from funky groove to blastbeats in just a matter of seconds but the guy has nailed it on the head. You don’t need a watch, you can just keep time to his drumbeats, just fucking perfect. I will now give you a track by track breakdown of this beast of an album with 10 tracks giving you the bang for the buck–

I’m Broken– Pantera cover, I wish more bands did that but I guess most bands don’t even have what it needs to do justice to a Pantera song. Pretty close to the original and when we are talking about Pantera, that means a lot.

Raining Past–2:12 instrumental, starts off all mellow and grows on you and when the groovy part starts you are already all hooked up. Jazz, Funk and Metal, all here, amazing stuff and yeah watch out for 1:20, epic amounts of badassery on guitar.

I Was–My favorite track from the album, the intro riff which is also one of the main riffs is so intricate and catchy that I just can’t get it out of my head, damn you Harun, damn you. The track just keeps getting better with every second and you end up wanting for more, yummy.

Insane Architect–Ahh the funk, ahh the funk, ahh the funk. Its up on the official YouTube channel, go feast your ears.

Let The Clown Rise–Also up on the official YouTube channel. More on the technical side and the riff that hits at 3:16 should go down in the Oxford Dictionary as the definition of groove, just saying.

Order The Labyrinth–Has more of a dark atmospheric sound to it, clean intro and punishing afterwards. When the vox kick in, guitars take a step back, here you’ll notice the amazing production of this album, everything has a perfect and balanced presence in the mix. Blissful clean jazzy solo in between, it all just fits so perfectly.

Slave The World–More on the groovier side, the whole track but especially the solo that hits at 1:35 and the outro reminds me of the work of Fredrik Thordendal, and remembering God once in a while, never a bad thing.

Prescription Of Crisis–The most punishing track of the album, defines heavy, KK kills at vox.

The Worst Fiend– Technical, the solo sounds like its alive and its unholy.

Heic Noenum Pax– Title track, rightfully so, epic intro with mob chanting Heic Noenum Pax, sounds a bit like the chant in the trailer of the new Batman movie, man, all the epic things just relate to each other I guess. This track is the definition of the band’s sound in a way, unique and in this ever so crowded genre named metal, that’s a big fucking deal.

Time to wrap this up, I have blabbered on and on because when it comes to good music I am a chatty bastard, but I will end on a simple note for you all, remember this and forget everything else–This is so tits, album comes out on 8.6.2012, buy it, preorder it, just have it in your life.

According to guitarist C.M., “This record enters the depths of our past while retaining the fire from ‘The Forbidden Gates Beyond.’ One step beyond our previous efforts into a realm of untamed energy. Ravenous and pure. “

BLACK SEPTEMBER just played a show with Tragedy and will next perform on June 6th at Chicago’s Archer Nemesis. For more information on the band, please visit here.

Last but not least, there’s a special album with FORGOTTEN TOMB’s remixes in the making. More news to follow.

The Aural Hellfire Legion stated, “From time to time, we (1349) get approached by other artists that find inspiration in our work and want to pay tribute to us. It is a great honor and such an awarding payback for the hard work we put into our art. Every now and then there is an artist that comes along that presents us with something so special that we want to share it and promote their work, and Kim Holm is a perfect example of this. This guy drew the band while performing live and was able to transform the live energy we present on stage into his drawings. Check out his work!”

You can check out Kim Holm’s representation of 1349 live on his website and compare it to real life by coming out to see the band on one of their upcoming shows

On Death and Cosmos is a 20 minute mini concept EP that develops through three songs: Black Prism, Raqia and Stardust Rain, creating some of the most intense and mournful music EPHEL DUATH has ever offered.The main lyrics line is about death and abandonment, loss and self- transforming will: a dive into the darkness, that can reveal a new birth in light.

EPHEL DUATH’s facebook: www.facebook.com/EphelDuathOfficial

EPHEL DUATH’s blog: www.ephelduath.tumblr.com/

On May, 18th, the new SONATA ARCTICA album “Stones Grow Her Name” will be released. The media response is already overwhelming, expect a unique, rocking and progressive jewel.

You can watch the new video for the first single “I Have A Right” below: