Interview- Sur Austru

Last Saturday, on October 19th, there was a special event in Bucharest, at Quantic Club. Romanian band Sur Austru put up a hell of a show, celebrating the release of their third album, Datura Strahiarelor. More of a reason for a dive into the history of the band… and a long and interesting discussion about traditions, cultural heritage, band identity and the legacy inherited from another previous band… A conversation that went deep… and wide… and emotional!

DinIntunerec: Hello, thank you for getting on board with this interview. How are you tonight? Are you ready to shake the stage at Quantic?

Ovidiu Corodan: Hello, glad to be here at Quantic. I’m pretty okay, and I’m ready for the show.

DinIntunerec: Let’s talk about a few things related to the history of Sur Austru. How did it all start and what drove you guys to start this band?

Ovidiu Corodan: So, after my experience with Tibor, with Negura Bunget, and after Negru‘s death in 2017, we took one year for mourning, and then we rearranged our thoughts and stuff. And we agreed to follow his path, his journey, and to make some black metal, atmospheric black metal, inspired by our traditions, our Romanian roots, especially those from Transylvania. We started this project with Tibor and with some more colleagues from Arad. We had another band before, Grimegod, a veteran band in Romanian underground.

Together with the guys, we started the project with this band. Actually, it’s not a project, it’s our main band now. It’s very serious. We started in 2018. We released our debut album in 2019, via Avantgarde Music, an Italian label. Since then, we released two more albums, one in 2021 and the other almost two months ago. So, it’s hot now, out since August 30th. We had many concerts and all kind of adventures.

DinIntunerec: If you were to define your musical style, how would you describe it?

Ovidiu Corodan: Negura Bunget was Transylvanian black metal. Sur Austru is more like a mix of genres. It’s black metal also it’s death metal. We are very much into doom metal. Grimegod was a doom/death metal band. Sur Austru is impossible to stick to a genre or label… It’s a mixture of genres. A little bit of progressive maybe, a little bit of folk emphasizing on traditions. It a blend of metal genres. But it is unique!

DinIntunerec: You’re releasing a new album. What does this third release mean to you?

Ovidiu Corodan: Well, it’s a big step for us, I think. Regarding the production… it’s the best production so far for us. The album was very well received, I think. Outside the country, inside the country, also. Tonight we have a concert in Quantic. We have the best presale till now and we are looking forward to playing. I think the response is pretty good till now. We have big hopes and expectations for this album.

DinIntunerec: Tell us a few things about the lyrical concept behind this new album.

Ovidiu Corodan: Actually, the lyrics are by a friend of ours. A young poet, Miclăuș, from Arad. Part of is in Romanian Archaic language, from the 16th- 17th century. It’s a long story, so I’ll cut it short. The concept is the duality of good and evil. It’s a story about a sorcerer, who makes a special liquor from ‘datura’, an old herb from our culture. And he uses it to have visions and stuff.

DinIntunerec: You’ve chosen a unique title… Datura Strahiarelor… Can you explain its meaning and how does it convey the concept of the album?

Ovidiu Corodan: Datura is an herb especially used for rituals by sorcerers in Romania. Not only sorcerers, actually. It makes people have visions and stuff. And străhiarelor, refers to the elders. It’s the herb of the elders if we were to explain the meaning. Obviously, it conveys the concept since the album is the story of this kind of ritual.

DinIntunerec: Your first album comes with a cover art having a deer as a central symbol. Why the deer?

Ovidiu Corodan: There is a deer and also there are the trees cut. The concept of the album refers to our disastrous behavior towards nature. We cut the trees, the animals from the habitat are gone. The lonely deer has no more forest and it looks sad. It’s like a warning: Look what you’ve done for the humanity!

DinIntunerec: There are a lot of deer symbols in our tradition, in our folklore. The deer is a messenger sometimes, or it bears a star on the forehead and it’s getting chased as a trophy. It appears in very old folkloric Christmas carols, in chants and rituals, as either a symbol of abundance, a spirit of nature or as a symbol of change.

Ovidiu Corodan: The deer and the bear, the Carpathian bear are iconic in our traditions. Yes, it’s there a relation between the symbol of the deer and the story from our first album. You can look at it from more angles. The deer is a messenger that mourns for the destruction of our forests. But, it’s also a symbol of change as in our hope for a change, maybe.

DinIntunerec: This latest release has a very rich bestiary kind of symbolism on the cover art. There is a Phoenix bird, a gryphon, some sort of a dragon, a few other creatures and a seven-headed beast. All of those around a masked priest with a cauldron. The priest is wearing a ritual mask which looks weird. It’s either with three eyes or it’s like a mask covering another mask. Can you please explain the cover art?

Ovidiu Corodan: Yes, you described it well. A mask around another mask, and the three eyes, and the visions with this dappled thing. All those are symbols from the Romanian tradition. There is a book in Romanian tradition called Bestiary. The poet, this guy, Miclăuș, took very much inspiration from this book. I think all the story was around characters from there.

DinIntunerec: What’s that beast with the seven heads?

Ovidiu Corodan: That would be the Heptahiara… the beast with seven heads.

DinIntunerec: You’re using traditional instruments again, which has become like a trademark. Can you tell us a bit more about it?

Ovidiu Corodan: Yes. You use toaca. There are only a few bands who use it. Negura Bunget was the first, of course. You know toaca, do you? Monks use it before starting their religious ceremonies…

It was a very loved instrument outside the country. When we played abroad, everybody was hyped about it. We also use a big drum. It’s called duba. We also use a țambal and of course flutes. We have a band member, Ionut Cadariu, who’s the first flute from Arad Filarmonica. He’s doing all the flute stuff in our band. Furthermore, we use cobza. I think this is more a continuation of Negura Bunget. And all the bands that come after Negura Bunget, like Dordeduh, also use traditional instruments… To better convey the traditional dimension of our music and also to create the atmosphere. It’s a Transylvanian thing.

DinIntunerec: You have somehow got to my following question in a natural way, like anticipating where our conversation is going… It’s amazing when this happens… as it proves we are on the same page somehow. So, as you guessed my next question refers to the atmosphere… because Sur Austru is an atmospheric metal band to some extend. Therefore, how do you create the atmosphere and what does a proper atmosphere mean to you?

Ovidiu Corodan: Well, yes, creating atmosphere is very important to us and I think it goes together with the Archaic language and the traditional instruments we use. A proper atmosphere is the one which keeps the listener hooked and vibrating to our music. It is what makes a show memorable.

DinIntunerec: Ok, let’s go back to the album… how did the creative process go this time? Is there something different coming with this album? Different from the others?

Ovidiu Corodan: No, no. Actually, our mastermind is Tibor. He’s creating the parts on the keyboards and comes with the ideas. After that, it’s the drums. And all the others participate in constructing the songs. But Tibor is the main composer. The process wasn’t different from the other albums. This is our creative process, since the very beginning.

DinIntunerec: You chose to sing exclusively in Romanian language, which is a great leap of faith, and also a huge responsibility. I mean, foreigners are not able to fully understand the lyrics and the concepts behind the album. Can you comment on that?

Ovidiu Corodan: Partly it’s true. Actually, our lyrics are all translated. On the LP, you can find the translations. It’s more esoteric to have the lyrics in Romanian. It’s more…unique. Everybody sings in English and stuff. Solstafir sing in Icelandic. There are other bands who sing in their language and nobody understands. But wow, it’s cool. I think we can convey our message better in Romanian. We tried in English. But I think for this music and for this message, Romanian is more proper. Also, the guy who made the lyrics is Romanian.

I think if you translate them in English, you lost a little bit from their charm. I know we must translate them for the audience and stuff, for the foreigners so they can get a glimpse of what’s going on. But, I think, for us it’s better this way.

DinIntunerec: Let’s talk a bit about the identity of Sur Austru. Do you see yourself as a herald of Romanian tradition and mythology? Do you think you have to continue the way started by Negura Bunget? How do you see yourself?

Ovidiu Corodan: I don’t see myself as a herald, but I am proud of our roots and our cultural identity. Actually after Negru‘s death, we decided to continue his legacy and the path he opened. I know he wished his journey and his path with Negura Bunget to continue somehow. We didn’t want to make it with Negura Bunget name. After Negru‘s death, for us, Negura Bunget was dead too. He was Negura Bunget, he was gone, so we didn’t want to go on using the same name but without him… Also, we didn’t like the idea that people might make a fuss around this subject or spread hate about it.

So, we started this new project and we thought, let’s make it the way Negru wanted. To make him proud of what we are doing. Actually, a few songs from the first album were Negura Bunget songs, but afterwards we made new songs. I don’t know if it’s not too much to say we are continuators of Negura Bunget. Of course, I like to think that we have our own identity now. Nevertheless, inspired by Negura… but we have three albums, lots of concerts… I don’t want to always say ex-Negura Bunget. It was a great legacy, of course and it helped us in the beginning.

DinIntunerec: How was your journey with Sur Austru this far? What were the obstacles, the main hardships that you had to overcome during these years?

Ovidiu Corodan: Actually, at first there was the expectation. Everybody was judging Sur Austru… through the magnifying glass… as ex-Negura Bunget. The great legacy was at first also a bit of a burden. Everybody was comparing… if it’s better, or worse. After that, I think, people got used with us and with Sur Austru.

Other obstacles were the usual ones which always appear in any band’s career. Logistic obstacles, money. We changed our drummer after five years, which was a pretty hard process. We have a new drummer now and things are getting well.

DinIntunerec: Your musical career is long and impressive. You’ve been part of many other bands. What do you think have been the key moments, the most important, let’s say, twists and turns that shaped your career as an artist so far?

Ovidiu Corodan: We played with the other band around 20 years more. Tibor, even more than 20 years. Mostly underground, mostly in Romania… A lot of gigs in the 90s, and 2000’s? It was kind of harsh in Romania, at that time. Then, Negura Bunget experience happened, and we saw things a little bit different. It helped us a lot, I think. Negura was a game changer for us, as musicians.

It was a long journey, as you said. I think you need to know what you want, especially, and be as vertical and steady as you can, as much as you can, and follow your path, and your rules, your concepts. Stick to it, and there’s a chance you can become successful…

DinIntunerec: The enthusiasm and youthful madness changes with the passage of time, and people see life with different eyes. Is there anything that you wish you would have done differently?

Ovidiu Corodan: I think no, or at least nothing important. Maybe there are little things, of course, but mostly I would do it all the same if I were to start it all over. What happened, needed to happen…

DinIntunerec: Apart from music, are you involved in other activities, like having a job , having hobbies?

Ovidiu Corodan: Well music is out main hobby… but apart from that… We have families, and regular jobs: one of us is a doctor, one of us is an engineer, I am a manager in a business. We need daily jobs, because it’s kind of hard to make a living as an underground band, you know… especially playing metal. But, we dedicate most of our time to music, and trust me you need to be very passionate about it because it is not easy. That’s for sure.

DinIntunerec: You’ve been on the road many times… What band or bands were more fun to tour with?

Ovidiu Corodan: Well, with Sur Austru, we didn’t tour, we had a lot of live shows… but not like playing gigs for weeks… We played separate shows in a lot of places… At some point with a band from Serbia, very nice people. Also, with Terminal Prospect, a band from Sweden, very nice guys. From Romania, Katara, our friends from Arad. In general, most of the guys are okay. You know, it’s a small community, metalheads are like kind of brothers, friends. We also played with Bucovina and with Hteththemeth from Brasov… Actually, yesterday we played with them. We are getting along well with everyone, in general.

DinIntunerec: Is there a band that you would like to tour with?

Ovidiu Corodan: Oh, sure… Ulver… But it’s my thing, right? Everybody has a favorite band. (laughing)

DinIntunerec: What is your favorite memory from live on the road or from a live show… There must be something that sticks out?

Ovidiu Corodan: Well there are so many, I don’t know. That has to be a story, something special. It was with Negru, we had, lots of concerts, I don’t remember exactly, 31 in a row, or something like that. And we were touring with some Canadians. But they didn’t have 30 shows in all their career. They were totally blasted. We stopped somewhere in some parking, I don’t know, in Spain or somewhere, and they slept on the ground… they were very tired and stuff.

Another time we played with a band which uses blood on the stage. The guy, the vocal, had a bottle of blood put in the fridge, and one of us thought it was wine, you know, and wanted to pour it. We all yelled: Stop, man, no, fuck! (laughing) Oh, God. There are so many stories. Crazy stories.

DinIntunerec: What was the most interesting or strangest fan reaction that you experienced?

Ovidiu Corodan: I don’t know if anything stood out… Like I said in the beginning, some people were skeptical in the beginning… saying Sur Austru is just a regular band, but no, it’s not. But then, fan had positive reactions.

DinIntunerec: What do you think about the underground metal scene, apart from quantity, do you think there is quality, too?

Ovidiu Corodan: Of course, in Romania, of course. There were good underground bands. Underground is a very important movement, especially in the metal music. And there are always young bands. Teenagers… I saw some, and wow, they made an impression on me! During the 90s, it was very hard to play, get an instrument. Instruments were very expensive… Now, it’s cheap to play. Also, you have information on internet, everything. But, I always like to see enthusiasm in young people…

DinIntunerec: Life is a journey, full of unpredictability. And there is always something to learn. Always. What do you think is the most important life lesson that you have learned up to now, as a musician, as an artist?

Ovidiu Corodan: Oh, I think to be kind, to be humble. What I have experienced is that the bigger the band is, the more humble and modest the guys are. They always offer you beers, or their guitar if you broke a string… they always say thank you and treat people with respect. So this was my lesson. It’s very important to be kind and humble.

DinIntunerec: Thank you for your time. Any final words for the readers of DinIntunerec webzine?

Ovidiu Corodan: Actually, I read the interviews you publish, and I like what you do very much, I think it’s one of the best underground websites. So, keep up the good work! And for the readers, keep it metal, guys! Continue to read, to learn, to listen to metal music. Cheers!