1. Salutes to land of tulips and ubiquitous windmills! How it´s going with searching for a new singer?

Hails, this is Marchosias from Cirith Gorgor! Unfortunately, the search for a new vocalist is still ongoing as we speak. We have been trying to find a new singer for over a year now, without succes...

2. But you had quite solid formation of the band until now. Was that positive for a band? Anyone can have a different opinion about personal changes.

As a matter of fact, we have had quite some line-up problems so far. After “Onwards to the spectral defile“ was released, Asmoday decided to leave the band and was replaced by me. After the release of “Unveiling the essence“ Astaroth Daemonum left the band and was replaced by Inferno, after more than one year of searching. Again, after “Firestorm Apocalypse“, we ended the cooperation with singer Nimroth. These line-up changes have generally been quite detrimental to our release dates. Having to look around for dedicated new people that are 100% motivated and rehearsing old material again and again is a time-consuming process.

3. You are active for 15 years, was it important in your beginnings that you got under Osmose productions? Now you are under Ketzer, can you match those labels?

The involvement of Osmose productions has been very good for spreading the name and releases of Cirith Gorgor worldwide. The cooperation with Ketzer Records, however, is much better and very much based on mutual respect and a pure fuckin‘ metal lifestyle! Due to the fact that Ketzer Records is a pure underground label it is, like Cirith Gorgor, dedicated completely to black metal and less interested in selling thousands of CDs.

4. How were you preparing for a new album and how long did it take? Did you worked on a new album longer or more thoughtfully? "Cirith gorgor" has without debations most profesional sound and atmosphere.

The preparation for “Cirith Gorgor“ was essentially the same as for all the other albums, we have not put any additional effort into this release. In my opinion, the songwriting and type of guitar riffs aren’t that different from those on “Firestorm apocalypse“, the only thing is that the songs are a little more compact. The main difference, however, is that the overall production has very much improved so you can actually hear all the separate instruments and melodies much better. I think that’s the main reason that the reviews so far have been much more positive than for our last album. This improved production naturally helps to improve the dark atmosphere we wanted to obtain in the songs.


5. You were always been a band that focused on melodies, on your novelty you are just confirming the fact. Well audible melodie are laced between heavy riffs. This moves album further. With aggresive vocals this make flawless mix of extreme greatness. Was your first goal an album that will not be bound only to brutality but also to many guitar solos, melodies etc.?

Black metal doesn‘t necessarily have to be very fast or brutal, it’s much more the feeling you get when you hear it. This is the result of the fact that black metal is unique in that sense that it is based on a strong underlying ideology. For me, it has to be full of devotion to the dark and transfer extreme emotions to the listener. For instance, both ‘Det som engang var‘ by Burzum as well as ‘Pure holocaust‘ by Immortal, which are two totally different albums, both send profound shivers down my spine. The reason that I add all these melodies to the music of Cirith Gorgor is that I’m not the kind of person who only uses power chords. Moreover, since I know how to handle my instrument properly I’m able to put a lot of feeling into these melodies, with the goal of creating extreme and melancholic atmospheres. The other bandmembers Levithmong, Lord Mystic and Inferno are all very talented musicians creating the oiled machinery we tend to be nowadays. Furthermore, I’m very pleased with the vocals done by Levithmong, which are extremely dark, dirty and rotten yet also really varied and refined!

6. Now to lyrics...You named your new album as "Cirith Gorgor" so we can talk about some lyrical concept. If there is any, what is that concept? What are the individual songs about? Which influence except Tolkien we can find here?

Let me first state that the only thing which remains from the Tolkien influences that you mention is the band name itself. We haven’t had any Tolkien based lyrics since the debut album. I don’t like writing about fantasy so this concept more or less disappeared quickly after I joined. Since then, the lyrics have been mostly inspired by our collective hate against the sheep mentality of organised religions, be it christianity, islam or any other kind of socially distorted crap. So most of the songs on “Cirith Gorgor“ deal with that theme in various situations.

7. „The Black Hordes“ are with „Warcry of the Southern Lands“ songs which I like most. What are the influences for those songs? I would appreciate more detailed description. It´s interesting that you work on lyrics as a collective, you are changing in writing...Congrats

I cannot say that we have real ‘influences‘, at least we don’t trie to sound like any other band. I consider both songs you mention to be typical Cirith Gorgor songs in which we combine fast brutality with melancholic guitar riffing. “Warcry of the southern lands“ is about the southern part of the Netherlands and the village where I live. In our region, there still remains a castle where witches used to be burnt alive, and the dutch lyrical part in the song describes these happenings. The theme is a revolt of the southern part of the Netherlands against oppression and abuse in the name of christianity. The collective lyrical thing is interesting, indeed, this only works however if you’re with a really tight group of closely allied and intelligent individuals. Great minds think alike, hehehe!!! The black hordes is literally about using violent force to exterminate our religious opponents from the face of this earth; pity them not, they shall rot...

8. „The downfall / Victory“ is the most emotional song that I heard from Cirith gorgor" so far, it´s like a Epitaph.

Now there’s someone who has exactly understood what I had in mind when writing “Der Untergang / Победа...!!!“. This song is without doubt one of the most interesting ones that I’ve written in a long time. I’ve always been fascinated by the battle of Stalingrad and finally decided to put some riffs together to honour those who have perished within its ruins. ‘Stalingrad‘ was one of the great and especially important battles of WWII. It’s completely impossible for us nowadays to envisage how brutal the fighting and conditions of surviving must have been. The atrocities leading to about 1.5 million deaths and the complete stubbornness of the opposing Russian and German leaders is hard to grasp. The lyrics are quite elaborate and took me about two months to complete. At some ocassions I was thinking and writing deep into the night and I almost went insane in the process! Still, it worked out pretty much the way I wanted: a long epic hymn to commemorate the dead. Since this was also something special to me, I insisted to do the deep vocals in the beginning of the song.


9. I suggest that with a new singer you will have more propositions for gigs/festival. (if you succes in finding a new vocalist) Do you have any plans for a nearest gigs?

The first Cirith Gorgor gig in almost two years (!) will take place on may 5th at la Locomotive in Paris. At the moment we are working with Mor de Naere from Walpurgisnacht as a session vocalist. We are always willing and prepared to spread our blasphemies on stages across Europe! At the moment we are organizing a European tour for the beginning of September of this year. People and venues interested should get in touch: [email protected].

10. Cirith Gorgor is a name from J.R.R Tolkien´s Lord of the rings saga which is now cult. I will not ask about books but about films. Do you like them or you simply criticise this type of films?

Even though a movie almost never surpasses the book on which it is based, I can say that I very much enjoyed seeing the three Lord of the Rings sequels.

11. I must ask you also about "Gorgoroth". I Find your work quite similar to old albums of those norges. You also have same inspiration of your band names. Are there any existing mutual relations between you and Gorgoroth? Do you like more their old or new work?

There are no connections between Gorgoroth and Cirith Gorgor. In general, Cirith Gorgor is much faster and more technical than Gorgoroth. I absolutely worship their first two albums though. I still like the sheer brutality of their later works, although I prefer their older music. At least, Gorgoroth is still one of the bands who have remained true to their satanic beliefs and who still spread their black metal terror in an uncompromizing way!

12. How much are you interested in evil, distance, contempt or negativity?

I’m interested in all kinds of human emotions, and the negative ones can be very strong, indeed! I often feel that I’m not of this world and that I‘m more or less living in the shadows of this society. But I think my main interest in this world is to develop spiritually above the flock of mindless sheep and attain a deeper understanding of the universe surrounding me. And yes, I feel a growing distance to and contempt for the average idiot in the streets every day.


13. With procedure of time some bands are improving their websites, artworks etc. Some are getting behind. How much interest is "Cirith Gorgor" putting in these activities? How are you viewing those "well presented" bands? Are they capturing your eye more quickly or you are interested in other recognitions?

Our bass player Lord Mystic takes care of our CD design and website and makes sure it’s up-to-date. I don’t really care about those things since I think it is especially the Internet which has ruined a lot of the precious black metal scene of years ago. Most bands have a site on the web before they know how to decently play their guitar... I’m more interested in the quality of a band’s albums and their ideology.

14. Last words are usually dedicated to a band, so go on... Thanks for the interview, we hope we will play the Czech Republic in the near future! Check www.cirithgorgor.nl for more information! By wolves‘ teeth the sheep will be slain!!!

15. Thank you for you time spent with these questions, keep enjoying beauty of Holland. And many achievements with Cirith gorgor

We truly appreciate your support!!!

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Informace o článku: Přidáno: 03.05.2007 Přečteno: 706x Napsal: Under

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