1. Salutations to France. GLACIATION were created four years ago as a quite mysterious and seemingly one-off project. How did you gather the line-up that created this year´s album? Do you consider GLACIATION to be just a side-project or a regular band? Have you changed any principles of the band after the release of 1994? You started to give interviews, so that´s at least one thing that has changed...

Back in 2011, Hugo and François started working on some songs together, and simply asked around, among their friends, who wanted to join in. Since the very beginning, we have always considered GLACIATION as a real band, not a side project, even if Hugo and François are of course the band’s prominent members. Shortly after “1994” was released, we parted ways with singer Valnoir, for some usual boring reasons, and recruited Hreidmarr. Nothing actually changed, we originally kept a low profile because we didn’t want the very predictable bitching about our line-up to overshadow the music. Plus, we generally have more interesting things to do than answering interviews from morons of slightly subnormal intelligence. Now, we do accept some, but we carefully select them, most of demands end up in the trashcan.

2. I do not have the lyrics of your new album „Sur les falaises de marbre" at my disposal and I do not know French, so could you please tell me about the lyrical side of the album? Is there any concept? The cohesion and delicate dramaturgy of the album seem to prove this.

It’s not like a concept in the literal sense of the word. There is no linear continuity in the lyrics, or between the songs. However, there is a literary source for each song. We take an author as a starting point, Mishima in “le Soleil et l’Acier”, or Malaparte in “Kaputt”, for instance. And from there, we transcribe their main topics into a kind of oneiric poetry… More than stories, it’s about creating images, impressions, and an environment that stick to GLACIATION’s music. The coherence between the songs, from the lyrics point of view, comes from the fact that the authors from whom we take our inspiration are all haunted by the same topics: the awareness of the fall of a civilization, war as a practice of tragedy, etc.

3. Do you create the compositions together as the band or do you have an exclusive author? By the way, what was the role of Valnoir during the creation of the first album?

Hugo and François write all the music, on their own and drunk. Hreidmarr and Ulderic write the lyrics. Valnoir wrote all the lyrics of “1994”.

4. From where did you take the spoken word sample in the first song?

It’s from a 1985 TV interview of French writer Marguerite Duras, talking about the XXIst century man, the absence of liberty, the end of everything.

5. In the promo package one can read that your goal is to pay tribute to the classic black metal of 90´s. DIY and punk feeling are also underlined. In which bands of that time did you find yourselves? Can you recall any stories related to your discovery of black metal? Any acts of "juvenile orthodoxy" that you now recall with laughter or maybe with some kind of respectful longing?

Sarcofago, Gorgoroth, Forbidden Site, Absu, Darkthrone, Forgotten Woods, Mayhemic Truth, Gorgon, Emperor, Samael… Teenage stories… This was the main topic of Valnoir’s lyrics on “1994”, by the way. I think we’re done with this.

6. What about your concert activities? There is a footage of your performance from Dark Bombastic Evening in 2013 but you do not seem to play live more often. Do you plan some concerts to support the newest album?

There will be some live shows, yes, but once again, we’re going to be very selective, we do not want to spend our time touring, nor playing anywhere with anyone.

7. Your debut "1994" was released by yourselves and Tour de Garde. How and why did you join Osmose Productions? Was it because of your past ties (Osmose releasing Anorexia Nervosa) or was it because they released some very important black metal releases in the nineties?

Both. We didn’t approach any labels, strictly speaking. Hreidmarr was in touch with Hervé from Osmose, so he just sent him a copy of the album, and Hervé said something like “man, this HAS to be released on Osmose”. We didn’t look any further, to tell the truth, as we deeply respect Osmose and Hervé, who’s an oldschool guy with balls the size of Death Stars.

8. What is your relationship with the old colleagues from Anorexia Nervosa? There are some ties so I hope all is well?

They’re all are close friends, and will always be. And by the way, Xort worked with us on “Sur les falaises de marbre” (did the stem mastering) and Cecil (who’s responsible for all AN choirs) performed some guest vocals…

9. French Black Metal always had a strong position, especially now. Do you feel the same or do you consider this just a whim of the fans? With GLACIATION you seem to pay tribute mainly to Scandinavia but what about LLN or the French bands around End All Life/Norma Evangelium Diaboli?

We do not try to pay tribute to anyone, stricto sensu. Nevertheless, we appreciate and/or get along well with some French bands such as Antaeus, Diapsiquir, Aosoth, Peste Noire, Deathcode Society, Blacklodge, Khaos Dei, whatever they are or have been affiliated to EAL/NOEVDIA or LLN, we don’t care.

10. What do you consider to be the best musical things of the past few years? Have you run into albums that absolutely mesmerized you? Or do you give recent bands cold shoulder and listen to the old stuff only ?

Let’s say Murmuüre, Crypt Sermon, Urfaust, Bölzer, Tryptikôn… We listen to both new and old stuff, we don’t really care, we ain’t no snob posers claiming to be true by pretending to listen only to stuff released long time before they were born… On the other hand, we ain’t no postmodern guys neither. Nor “post” anything.

11. What about other cultural and artistic fields (literature, cinematography)? How much do they shape your own creations?

Like they do for everybody, I guess. Let’s get rid of this “artist” thing. We ain’t no artists. Nobody is no more. We just have an internet access.

12. What are the upcoming plans of GLACIATION and/or your other projects you would like to mention?

Working on next album. Play some live shows.

13. Thank you very much for the interview. Is there anything else you would like to say?

No. Thank you.

Questions: Stick, Dalihrob
Answers: Glaciation
Translation: Dalihrob
Band page: Not available
Nationality: French