THE FOUNTAIN Clint Mansell (2006)

The Fountain ne permet la respiration, les larmes non plus, et arrache aux derniers instants d'espoir...

Tout est fini. Il n'y a plus, et flotte cet air de disgrâce. Toute imagination post-apocalyptique ne renfermerait autant de résignation, et dans ces quelques mots, tout est parti. Les ondes sonnent comme les pas d'un mort-vivant arpentant cimetières, tombes ouvertes, chairs décomposées. N'y a-t-il pas cette senteur écœurante, cime de l'affliction, alors même l'acrimonie s'en s'est dispersée et coule d'érosions en évaporations, le cœur et la sève des veines. Sous les pieds et à l'horizon, un sentier de croix aux allures soyeuses, comme la descente corporelle, la légèreté de la matière aux rêves de grâce et d'infini...

L'arbre de la vie, ou comment supporter la destruction du temps...

Mon élan se crash, ma folie exalte et chute, de pierre en pierre l'édifice, devant l'édifiante sonorité d'achèvement, se morcelle et selle le sort ; l'overdose de conscience entraîne ; dans l'enchantement d'un manège endiablé, emporté spiralement dans les tourbillons du vide ; le chaos psychique, l'apaisement mortuaire, de regrets en regrets, d'amertumes et amertumes, profanant les tombeaux de l'esprit, comme le foudroiement d'un orage spatial ou solaire ; les serveurs flanchent, les neurones se fendent, et le désordre précipite...

…au milieu des flocons tournoyants, les hallucinations font merveilles, le noir du ciel rend bleuté, le transparent de la pluie se tache de rouge ; à moins que ce ne soit une douce première neige, pureté sans faille, plutôt mirage, rêve de plusieurs pages en arrières, de toute façon ternie, terne, ternie couleur boue, de bout en bout dans les entrailles des cris de crises mélancoliques.

Effectivement, il faut noter ce détail de plomb, Clint Mansell s'est servi de Kronos Quartet et Mogwai pour réaliser cette œuvre qui culmine dans les profondeurs les plus en perte. Une sorte d'ode au vide, loin de la machine qui tourne et les clowns qui mettent leur langue ; atmosphère de sérénité sous un coulis de peur, il suffit simplement de se laisser happer, ne pas faire enchérir ses considérations futiles qu'on s'impose, ainsi admettre que toute exemple de vie ici-bas n'en est pas ; il serait temps...

Quand l'ombre revient à hauteur, quand la conscience tient à l'heure, quand la réalité parvient aux malheurs, quand encore dans la vision survient la peur, quand simplement les heures passent, dans leurs actions véridiques, The Fountain devient l'essence même de l'évidence ; avis à la minorité perdue.

Finish it.

/t.

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NINTH MOON BLACK Interview (2012)

1. Can you introduce the band? You evolve in a "post-metal" scene in full swing! In Europe, this scene is strongly criticized, many people thinking there are too many clowns of ISIS / NEUROSIS / CULT OF LUNA / PELICAN: what's your opinion about that? According to you, the most important is limiting your influences or playing precisely the music that you like (and you don't care for the criticizes or the current "fashion")?

First off, thank you for asking us to interview in your webzine. We are a five piece instrumental band from Eugene, Oregon; two (sometimes three) guitars, synthesizers, bass and drums. Living in the Pacific Northwest lends a lot to our sound as a band. It's rainy and dark here most of the year, and we can certainly trace some of our influence to these surroundings. It's hard for us to classify our music, so as far as "post-metal" is concerned, we're not sure where we fit. Our influences as a band range widely, and we can be certain that our sound reflects a broad taste in music. Everyone who hears Ninth Moon Black is going to take away something different, and that is something we appreciate. The post-metal genre is young, and to be part of such a diverse branch of expression is a huge part of what inspires us. However, when the day is done, we are our own band. We love playing music, and we all mesh really well together. There will always be critics of anything. Our goal is to be able to do what we love, be good at it, and perhaps there'll be a few people out there to appreciate this. 

2. Can you describe me the Pacific Northwest? If I want to plan a roadtrip in Oregon, what are the highlights to see? Do you think that if you lived somewhere else, the sound of Ninth Moon Black would be completely different?

The Pacific Northwest is a highly sought after place to live in the United States, particularly for those who like to stay close to nature. There are mountains to ski and climb, lava tubes and caves for exploring, the Oregon High Desert and the rocky shores of the coast range. The dreary, wet weather certainly impacts the music created here, and Ninth Moon Black inevitably births much of it’s melodies and tones from the mud and sludge that surrounds us, as well finding praise for the rich environment this climate creates. The Pacific Northwest may best be known for the abundance of old growth forest with some areas holding trees that are over a thousand years old. However, over the last seventy years or so, logging has become a big industry and much of the forest is being destroyed. In addition to this industry the Pacific Northwest has also become a hub of anarchist activity, as people fight to preserve the old growth woods. Eugene and Portland are the two main cities and with such an abundance of activism, the state is home of many liberals. As for the sound of NMB, aside from Eric, the other members of the band are not from this area. Erin and Caleb moved here from California, Atom from Illinois which is central United States and Kasey arrived here from New York. If we think in terms of what has shaped us as individuals then a lot of what each of us brings to the table spans from our past experiences of living in different parts of the country. When you take this hybrid of individual experience/emotional resonance and place it in Eugene present time, you get the sound of Ninth Moon Black.

3. In the past, you worked with the label Forgotten Empire Records (I knew only for the collaboration with Across Tundras) and you recorded KALUYG with Billy Barnett (YOB): Why your EP is only available in digital version? The production is incredible, the tracks are very impressive and your artwork is beautiful: evrything looks very professional! Your cooperation with Forgotten Empire went well? Do you have any propositions?

While on Forgotten Empire we met our artist Helder Pedro and our good friends Blckwvs, who are a great German instrumental band we had the opportunity to tour with. With Kalyug, it was never our intention that we distribute the album ourselves. We recorded with the intention of having something to shop to labels and to release to fans for free. The record, however, has exceeded our every expectation and charted on college radio stations across the country. We've had a lot of people ask us to put this record out on vinyl, which is something we've wanted to do but have not been able to afford yet; hopefully soon. 

4. Can you give us more information about Michael Cremo? His ideology would be... "creationist"? Can we summarize his thoughts when he proclaims "that modern man has existed for millions of years"? In detail, why you decided to put the words of this man on your EP?

We wrote the music for Kalyug first, so by the time we began searching for samples, we already had the theme in mind. Many of Michael's ideas touched on this. His viewpoints, though pertinent and important, seem largely ignored within mainstream archeological society. Michael is a very interesting and well spoken philosopher, and it has been a pleasure corresponding with him. His voice and ideas were a perfect fit for the mood of Kalyug which made it easy to make a cohesive, appropriate mix of music and concept. It's tough to summarize the thoughts of a man who has spent a lifetime researching the existence of mankind and spiritual devolution. He has however, written several books, and has an excellent website where people can find more information: http://www.mcremo.com

5. About your new record "Chronophage", you decided to working with the legend Billy Anderson: why this choice? He juste made the mastering or all the recording/mixing process? There are some of his releases that you love particularly?

The record was recorded and mixed by engineer Billy Barnett at the local Eugene area Gung Ho Studio. We worked with Barnett on Kalyug, and were excited to work in his studio again for a full length project. Billy Anderson provided mastering for Chronophage, and without question we are more than happy with the full, rich, encompassing tones he was able to help us achieve. He has a wonderful ear for the type of music we create, with an uncanny ability to hone a thick, heavy atmosphere while leaving in tact a diverse dynamic range and a beautiful texture for melodic expression. While Billy’s entire catalogue of work is impressive, Asunder’s A Clarion Call, Cathedral’s Endtyme, Neurosis’ Enemy of the Sun, and Sleep’s Holy Mountain, certainly stick out as pillars of influence and appreciation.

 

6. I don't know much about your music making progress for these new songs: how was it different than the Kalyug EP? Can you describe this full-length? The promo on Youtube is really great: can't wait to listen it!

Kalyug was written quickly. At the time we were fortunate enough to be in a very creative period when we decided to write a short release. Chronophage is almost the opposite in this respect. Certainly the creative ideas still came fairly easily. Ninth Moon Black is fortunate in that all of us understand the basic needs of the sound and attitudes of our music; melodies, rhythms and concepts can come from anyone, and are generally plentiful. We worked on Chronophage for over two years, paying huge amounts of attention to the detailed relationships of each instrument, their interactions within the overall mood of each piece, and in the end their meaning for the record as a whole. While Kalyug is a concept record, it needed help from the vocal samples of Micheal Cremo to find solidity and cohesion. Chronophage, however, is completely instrumental, and conjures the themes and moods we were looking to instill musically, which took a lot of conscious crafting. It is also a much heavier record, and while we will always leave room for plenty of melodic atmosphere and texture, Chronophage is much more “metal” than Kalyug was. This new record utilizes distorted guitar and keyboard tones and thick sludge ridden dirges to signify the darkness and emptiness that encompasses the progression of time and keeps us all marching wide eyed towards our inevitable death.

7. I assume that you want absolutely to have this record on CD/LP, isn't it? Do you meet some difficulties to find a serious label, interested in releasing music from you?

We will self release Chronophage on CD and digitally and would love to press it to vinyl at some point. Working with a label would be very helpful and we have had some discussions here and there but at this point in time the right opportunity has not presented itself. 

 

8. You start to have some experience with the shows. You told me you live in the same town as Mike, you've done lives with YOB or MIDDIAN? In Europe, there are a lot of people who would like to have the chance to see Mike on stage!! The tour with WITTR and MINSK was an important moment of your career I guess?

We have had the honor of sharing the stage with Middian. Seeing Mike Scheidt is certainly a treat, he is an amazing performer. YOB has brought some greatly deserved credit to the Pacific Northwest.
Although it was only a few shows, touring with Wolves and Minsk was an awesome experience. We played for some larger crowds which always feels good and any chance we get to work with either band again would be welcomed. Touring with great bands is what we love to do and is what we will be continue to do for many years to come. At the end of the day, we're going to do what we do, play what we play, and hopefully people will be receptive.

9. Do you intend to develop your name in Europe now with this new release? Come play here is one of your priority or you think it's a little bit too ambitious for the moment?

Touring Europe is a goal of ours. We have had some fans write to us, asking if we will ever make it across the pond and some have even offered to help us book shows. We don't know if it will happen for the release of Chronophage but it is certainly high on our priority list! If there’s any bands out there who want to take us to Europe with them, we’re ready and willing!

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HEXIS Interview (2012)

- To you, what’s the key to great black metal?
Tobias: Dissonans and fast drumming, haha!
Christian: What Tobias said, in a way. The most important part for me though, will always be the atmosphere. Always!

- What do you think about the french black-metal bands (Spektr, Blut Aus Nord, Deathspell Omega, Arkhon Infaustus, Glorior Belli, etc.)?
Christian: Deathspell Omega is one of my all-time favourite bands. I've lost count of how many bajillion times I've heard "FAS Ite..." and the rest of the trilogy and nearly shat myself in terrified, weeping adoration. To me, their Trilogy (and Kenose... And the EP's) are some of the strongest artistic statements in all of metal, ever. I absolutely love Blut Aus Nord too. The other bands I don't know well enough to say yet, but they're definitely on the list of bands I need to check out properly.

- We can hardly deny the influence of Celeste on your music ... can you tell us what this band represents for you? I think you've toured with them...
Filip: Yes, Celeste is my all time favorite band, so of course they really inspire me. This band really did something new and totally unique, they have really taken music to a new level, before I heard this band, I didn't even think it was possibly that music could sound that evil - and yes, already a few months after we started to play shows they took us with them on tour. The singer Johan also took care of the mixing on our latest recordings. So they really helped us out a lot.
Christian: Well, yeah.. Probably nice dudes, and they can definitely play their instruments really well, but the band doesn't really do anything for me, at least from what I've heard. Maybe I'll "get" them someday. That said, I've always felt kind of ambivalent about them. For instance, when I first tried out for the guitar spot in this band, Filip said the word "Celeste" around 5 times pr. minute for a couple of hours, so there was no doubt in my mind that this weird kid wasn't just a fanboy, he was (and still is) genuinely obsessed to a degree that's almost kinda creepy. I'm worried someday he'll sneak into Johan's apartment, kill him and make a "Johan-suit" out of his skin, Silence Of The Lambs-style. Joking aside, I sort of made a conscious decision to NOT listen to them, simply because I wanted to avoid becoming a complete ripoff band. One obsessed fanboy steering the band in that direction is sort of risky, two obsessed fanboys would be disastrous. Especially considering I'm the one writing the riffs. I'll stick to ripping off Deathspell Omega and Portal instead, and hoping I'll come up with something worthwhile and original by accident, a few years down the way.

- According to you, what are the ideal conditions for listening to your music?
Christian: Live.
Tobias: That is, of course, really subjective - I find that I can connect more with angry music, such as Hexis, when I am pissed off about something.

- The source of your pain comes from the extreme cold or from our civilization?
Tobias: Again, that's hard to say something about in general. I mean, I can't speak for the whole band, but for me it's injustice on different levels of our society... I guess you could say that it comes from our civilisation.
Christian: Okay, I'm gonna have to disappoint you here. We're actually pretty well-adjusted, healthy, happy people. Simon is a real mellow, friendly-hippie type guy, Tobias is that adorable, huggy-bear type dude, Søren is like the cool hardcore kid that never gets angry and Filip is just a goofy, cheerful kid from the suburbs who just wants to party. I'm the only one who's a bit of a cranky old asshole, and even I'm not that bad. So all in all we're just like everyone else. Just normal dudes. If our music made you think we were these manic-depressive, drug-addled psychos incapable of feeling anything but hate and rage, then good. That's what we're going for.

- You seem to criticize religions.. but don't you think that in 2012 there are threats / harmful forces more important?
Filip: Of course there are way more harmful things going on than religion, and if we played another genre I would probably have written lyrics about something totally different. But when I hear our music the first thing I think about is this kind of lyrics. I know it's pretty typical to write this kind of stuff when you play dark/blackened music, but I think this is what fits our sound and for me it's okay not to be totally new and different all the time.
Christian: Yeah, what Filip said. We're not gonna be a sloganeering, political band anytime soon, simply because it would feel out of context. Out of step with the sort of atmosphere we're trying to create. We'll leave the "capitalism is bad"-stuff to the crusties, since they're a lot better at that stuff than us anyway. We'd rather be like watching a really good horror movie, than watching a documentary. That's more us.
Tobias: It depends on how you choose to look at religion. When you think about it, religious practices, and ways of reasoning, have become part of our way of thinking and of our normativity. You could say that religion penetrates everything in our society in some way. Actually, I often find atheism more harmful than pronounced religious opinions; especially when atheists claim to hold the truth simply because the are atheists - to me that might as well be a religion. My point is, beware of stupidity in all guises, whether or not it's characterized as religious.

- You are going to do a lot of dates in Europe this year... This is an important element for you to make a tour? Meeting new people? There is a chance for you to play in France?
Filip: Yes we love to be on tour and meet new people. Since I started to play music 7 years ago, this has been one of my biggest wishes, so to tour as much as we have planned now is perfect! - Yes we will come to France in September/October. The cities we're going to be visiting have yet to be decided, but we're working on getting gigs in Lille, Rouen, Lyon, Toulouse and Strasbourg.

- How was your last tour with This Gift is A Curse?
Filip: Amazing! We had so much fun with these guys and most of the shows were really really great
Tobias: Yes, definitely!
Christian: Oh holy shit yes. It was so much fun, despite us all nearly freezing to death 90% of the time. The route was also really well planned, so we actually didn't have to stress over anything, and we even had time to be tourists in the wonderful city of Ljubljana, which was great. Also, the amount of stupid jokes made and farts farted on that bus was staggering.

- You shared a split with As we draw and Euglena: how is born this idea of plit? How did your collaboration with our friends of Throatruiner Records?
Filip: Euglena contacted us about doing a split with them and As We Draw. We then started to search for labels for the release and since Throatruiner already have released some stuff with AWD, he was up for helping out.

- You're working with a lot of differents labels... is it difficult to release a cd/lp currently? With which label you would like to collaborate?
Filip: It wasn't too hard. The reason why we have worked with that many labels is because we think it's a better way to promote our band - One of our big dreams is to work with Southern Lord, but I don't think we are the only band hoping for that! Haha...
Christian: Yeah, Southern Lord or Profound Lore would be awesome, but that's a tough spot to attain. Those labels are busy enough already. Greg from Southern Lord did give us a shout-out on Twitter some time ago though. We were pretty ecstatic about that, of course.

- What are your plans in the coming months?
Filip: We have like one and a half month without shows, so we will spend that time writting new songs. After that we're doing some small tours in Russia, Iceland and probably Sweden.
Christian: To try and write some riffs that don't suck.

- I guess Denmark is a beautiful country ... for a traveler, what places would you recommend?
Christian: Who told you that?! This place is a shit-hole, seriously. Avoid everything except Copenhagen. Copenhagen is a beautiful city, no doubt. Lots of really cool stuff going on here, with museums, concerts, theater, etc. etc... The cultural life is really, really vibrant in Copenhagen and I absolutely love living here, it's one of my favourite places in the world, even after visiting so many great cities with Hexis. The problem is just, that as soon as you get out of Copenhagen, even just 5-10km, it's boring as fuck. The rest of the country is just horribly dull, provincial and full of shitty people. I grew up in one of these small towns, and I can honestly say there is NOTHING worth visiting in those parts of Denmark. NOTHING. So if you're going to Denmark, stay in Copenhagen, and enjoy this beautiful city for all it has, and maybe visit some of the bigger cities like Århus, Aalborg or Odense, but don't expect the rest of the country to be interesting, at all.
Tobias: No, Denmark sucks - go someplace else! Haha! The home is where the hate is!

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