NIGHTBRINGER (Eng.)
– Hello and first of all, thanks for taking the time. How is everything going right now with NIGHTBRINGER? What are you currently up to?
Hello. Things are well. We have been keeping busy. Productive as usual.
– You recently released your newest work, entitled «Ego Dominus Tuus». What are your feelings on the result obtained?
We are very pleased with the outcome. We feel it is our strongest album to date and a new chapter for us.
– Tell us a bit about the album’s title. Is it inspired by Yeats?
The album title was indeed inspired by a poem by Yeats, and is based on his conception of one’s daimon, or higher self, one’s “otherness”, a concept which is central to this path of “self-becoming” and thus central to the album. At the surface level the title represents a decree from worshiped to worshiper. At a deeper level it is not only a decree from above (or one could say below or even within) but it also becomes, via a hermetic inner process, a self-revelation. The dynamic between worshiped and worshiper and the vast distance between these poles, via this initiatic process, resolves. The entire album is based on a hierarchical trinity that represents the classic Western hermetic process known as the Great Work. This is all interpreted from a left-handed view which we feel is appropriate to this age. Each aspect of this triune is represented Cabalistically by letter and form, and each letter comprises a part of a certain divine name, which sums up the totality of the process in a singular cipher. The triune resolves to a “monad”. This is all directly represented in the album cover and the symbols are all present, clear as day to those who know what they are looking for.
– The cover artwork was crafted by the fantastic occult artist David Herrerias. I don’t want you to explain us it’s significance, we will talk about it later, instead I want you to tell us a little bit how did you and David worked on it. I mean if you gave him some guidelines, or a sketch, if he read/listened to the music to get inspired, etc.
We provided him with a rather detailed schemata which he was able to interpret ingeniously. Besides sending him the initial notes we did not require much back and forth at all. David is well versed in the same esoteric currents that inspire our music so not much guidance was required. It was an absolute pleasure working with him. It is much more rewarding to work with individuals such as David and Benjamin Vierling because they are intimately connected to esoteric traditions and understand the symbols and forms more intuitively than someone who might be less familiar.
– Now digging into the cover artwork, which is impressive and I have a lot of questions about (and I think I could go on forever), it holds a lot of symbolism. It seems to represent 3 states, or 3 phases, and I think it can be interpreted in several different ways; as some kind of death-rebirth circle, as an alchemical process or generally as some kind of spiritual path/process. But what meaning does it hold to you? What was the original idea?
You are correct. It represents all of those things, all within a hierarchical structure. It is a representation of the Great Work, the spiritual process of other-becoming which denotes the process of death and rebirth. This was the concept from the onset and we do not attribute any further mundane personal meaning to it.
– Does it portrait your place in any kind of path?
Certainly. It is an expression of our past, our current position and our highest aspirations, spiritually.
– Apart from that, the cover has some figures and elements that also have different meanings, as the serpents, fire or the triangle. It’s just like a tarot reading, depending on what surrounds these figures can be read in different ways. Did you pay attention to this kind of figures and details separately or they just happen to be part of a bigger image/whole concept?
Both. None of the symbols were chosen arbitrarily and they hold much significance both separately and as a whole, the meanings of which are very specific and not meant to some sort of rorschach interpretation.
– Above the inverted triangle, over the underworld’s fire (or what I interpret as such, forgive me if I’m mistaken), there’s a creature surrounded by light, so I assume is Lucifer. It looks like a sacred allegory. Does this portrait what you praise and your beliefs?
Lucifer is an appropriate designation in this position in this trinity, yes. There are other parallel and synonymous symbols and forms that reside here as well. It does portray what we worship and believe, as does each aspect of this trinity and the trinity resolved to a singular absolute.
– This being said, what’s the link between the cover artwork and the album’s concept? There are a lot of references to religion and the occult in general in all your lyrics.
The hierarchical triune, comprised of the sacred forms and stages upon an inner path, hinted at above, in their totality are a cipher for a sacred name. These elements, taken separately and in their totality are an ultimate summation of our faith, all of which has been portrayed both aesthetically with the album art and within the music itself. All of the lyrics are directly tied to one or more of these aspects.
– These lyrics could be tagged by some as fantastic, or as just narrations of certain myths. But I personally think they aren’t fantastic lyrics at all, they are just reality, and depending on how you interpret them, they can also unveil a lot about your inner self. What do the lyrics on the album reflect (apart from the overall/main concept)? I personally feel like some of them are quite personal and inspired by own beliefs and personal experiences. Is it just my perception?
Some personal interpretation is of course inevitable when speaking of such things. Although the lyrics are indeed fueled by personal experiences, praxis, theory and aspirations they are in accordance to specific perennial spiritual currents and are not drawn from thin air.
– On a musical level I think this is a more Ambient album. Was this something you were aiming for or did you just let things flow naturally?
The intention was to crate something that was highly aetheric and atmospheric sounding, or something otherworldly. I have a love for ambient music and inevitably that influences my writing although I would not label the album ambient myself. It does have influences however.
– Has your taste for this kind of music and your work with projects of yours as TEMPLE OF NOT affected this?
Undoubtedly.
– I also perceive some kind of classical music influences. Am I wrong?
You are correct. We are all inspired by certain classical and neon-classical composers and tend to gravitate that way in the guitar compositions. We have a deep respect for Bach, Rachmaninoff, and so on as well as individuals such as Ligeti and Arvo Part.
– All songs are lengthy, but all of them are really enjoyable. It seems like you focused on having a good album structure (not just good song structures). Did you think about this? When working on the album, did you look at it as a whole album or rather as single, separate songs?
We try to keep the “big picture” in mind as we compose the individual tracks. It can be tricky when you have three individuals composing their own tracks separately, but we all know the sound and spirit intimately enough and trust each other enough that it works very well in the end. There is much synchronicity between us which results in cohesion.
– I guess the fact this is a concept album can help getting the aforementioned. Being a concept album, is it possible to make everyone write individually?
As improbable as it sounds, we are able to accomplish this fairly well I would say.
– Anyway your two previous splits were conceptual too. I guess you shared the same vision with the bands? How easy is to create a concept release with a different band?
Yes, albeit approached with broader strokes perhaps. There are similar and dissimilar beliefs between the bands we have done splits with, but enough common ground to make valid and evocative collaborations.
– Anyway, even though when you started all the band members were American, you are now a somehow international act so, how do you tend to work on the songwriting process? Has this even been a problem or with tools such as the Internet distance isn’t a problem?
Well, the three main song writers are VJS, Ophis and myself, and Ophis and I both reside in Colorado while VJS is here in Colorado the majority of the year, although I do not think distance between us would be much hindrance really given the way we approach compositions. Menthor of course wrote all of the drum parts himself and with regular and open communication via Skype and email it was not so difficult to pull everything together.
– All this about «Ego Dominus Tuus» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
Shin. Teth. Nun.
– And finally, what are your near-future plans?
We will return to Europe in May for two exclusive live appearances which will be announced shortly. There are some other exciting things in the work but I will keep these under wraps for now.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Pete solem in domo Erebi
