Hello and first of all thanks for accepting my invitation! Last year in october you were in Romania for your show at Rites Of the Black Mass festival & now you will return again to Romania with Mayhem. How would you describe Romanian public, the atmosphere, everything?
Hello, our first performance in your country at the splendid festival Rites of the Black Mass could not be better. It was elevating, ecstatic experience. A thorough translation of darkness within. And it was great to see that fans accepted this very well, letting the inner negative shadow aspects of self to manifest. It was indeed a deeper experience than a mere concert. Organisation was also great, all went smooth. For those reasons I hope that during the evening with Mayhem in Brasov we, together, will again ignite the flame within and make everything mundane begone. It should be the darkest night that precedes the brightest dawn. You can expect the audial and visual manifestation of our souls, our inner impulses and the longing for that something beyond towards which we strive through endless transformations.
Describe the band in few words. & what does Inferno means for you?
It represents things of utmost importance, the practise, knowledge, awareness of inner and outer things we experience and witness on our path towards illumination. All this takes place within and then it surfaces on the field of musical expression. Through Inferno we reflect the processes which form us. We approach this expression, and how we interpret it, with humility and in totality yet through Inferno we experience a wide spectrum of various emotions and ideas, some of which are also prideful, indulgent and passionate. Through music we strive to achieve a perfect translation of darkness, our inner and outer universe – the realm of boundless spiritual abundance for the Devil’s scions.
Could you tell us some sources from where do you get information and inspiration?
If we speak of the current “Gnosis Kardias (Of Transcension and Involution)” album then it is a compact conceptual work presenting the deep introspection and the following expansion beyond the ordinary perception. Trying to see the end from which everything starts anew and the very genesis, in effort to see what preceded the countless cycles of rebirths. A meeting with darkness and light of man’s innermost essence which originates from “beyond”. Musically, the album re-evaluated all the aspects which created our previous albums and presented them in a more potent form. For example, lyrically the previous album concerned mainly with “extremes” and the new one is much more subtler, visual and it offers more ways of interpretation. The Gnosis Kardias, the knowledge of the heart, refers to inner knowledge, the grand realization transforming the whole being which comes through practise and devotion but sometimes it is given to you as if by chance, as a motivation for the one who seeks. When we started to work on the concept of the album, which was initially called Involution of Lucid Existence, we focused at the balance between light and darkness, how to understand and accept both, which found its way into the artwork, where such dualism in various meanings can be easily observed. Being and non-being, illusion and reality, knowledge and ignorance etc. We also asked ourselves if the ultimate elevation and liberation of man is truly possible which we still do but the series of inner transformation then led us to current form of the album.
How did Mayhem picked your from lots of other bands ?
Since the recording of Omniabsence Filled by His Greatness album (which started in 2012) we have been working with Tore Stjerna, the owner of Necromorbus studio, and together we recorded the last two Inferno albums. He also does live sound for Mayhem, Watain, Arcturus and is involved, to a certain extent, in the organization for Mayhem. He contacted us and offered that we play several concerts at their European tour. Which we could not refuse of course. Nothing complicated.
What can you tell us about the upcoming album, Gnosis Kardias (Of Transcension and Involution) ?
I expanded about the new album in one of the previous questions but to sum it up. From my point of view it is our strongest and most sincere album, exceeding everything we have done so far. The noble visions and yearnings which have been there since the conception of Inferno finally took a proper form. Earlier, when trying to express our inner impulses, we never achieved 100% result.
This time the process of composition was more systematic, thorough and longer but it paid off. We really strived that the songs reflect our ideas and experiences alluded to in the previous answers. I think that we were successful this and synchronicities were not a rare phenomenon during the process of creation. To a great extent, the album’s success also lies in the fact that the right individuals were involved in its creation. For the very first time I felt that we are attuned to each other in terms of goal and vision. I can safely say that Gnosis Kardias is our greatest milestone so far, which marks a great step of our own inner transformation.
Who is in charge with the lyrics?
The lyrics are work of initiated and devoted individuals who in their minds and approach strive for spiritual growth and tread towards something noble.
For the show which will take place next month in Brasov, Romania, which songs will be included in your live set?
Right now we are performing songs from the previous albums Omniabsence Filled by His Greatness and Black Devotion. We are working hard on re-arranging of the selected new songs for the live performances but the process is slow and rehearsals are not that frequent. The problem is that on the last two albums the guitars are heavily layered and effected. At some places there are up to 8 guitars, which is obviously impossible to render live. We did succeed in that with Omniabsence… songs but the new ones are even more extreme in this manner. We did make a rod for our backs but let’s hope that the hard work will pay off.
Thank you for your time! Last words belong to you…
Thank you for the space in your zine. The war never ends.
Interview by Miruna Vitriol
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