With:	Emilian Matlak
Conducted by:	RaduP (in person)
Published:	22.08.2018
Band profile:	Ordinul Negru

Having been active in several bands from Timișoara, Romania since 1996, Fulmineos has a lot of music under his belt and also ran the Banatian Darkness label. Lately, only a few are still active, namely Argus Megere, Kultika, Dara and the one who released an album at the latest, Ordinul Negru. I've known Fulmineos for a few years now given that I go to college in Timișoara and we've often seen each other at concerts. We tried to synchronize the interview with the release of the album, but our schedules were quite tight and after the band's first performance after the release already having happened, we finally managed to go for a beer somewhere out in the town.

We talked much more than what is said in the interview proper, mostly about certain concerts we attended lately, their first performance since the release, books and movies we watched, family, beer and other alcohol types we enjoy (hint: țuică), his plans to visit the fortified villages in Transylvania; until it came time to actually record the conversation. It being an in-person interview in which he didn't know the questions a priori made it more similar to a conversation like the one we've had before but obviously not exactly as fluid. But it was such a prolific conversation that we ended up with 50 minutes worth of recordings. Thanks to ScreamingSteelUS for basically transcribing the whole thing while I was on vacation.




Radu: You have released a new Ordinul Negru album. Can you give us some insight about the album's themes and concept?

Fulmineos: Yes, we released last month the new album. Basically it continues the journey we began in Sorcery Of Darkness, having this lineup, actually, not being the one-man band that it used to be before. We have two new members in the band: a new guitar player, Urmuz, who is also doing some vocals, and we have a new bass player, Orthros.

The idea about the concept is ancient magic, ancient rituals connected to nature, the dark arcanes of nature. Themes based in ancient scrolls all kind of myths, Dionysus, in this Mediterranean, Balkan area, sort of, but maybe connect to the Greek world more than, let's say, local...

Radu: Balkan?

Fulmineos: Yeah, maybe, only with more, let's say, "elevated" culture, so to say.

Radu: Three out of the four members of Ordinul Negru are also members of Argus Megere. What makes the identity of Ordinul Negru different from the one of Argus Megere?

F: I would say in Argus MegereArgus [Megere][/url] it was a coincidence, maybe, because it was the lineup that helped me and Erebus to release the Veii album. The difference... We rehearse together in Ordinul Negru, a thing that didn't happen in Argus MegereArgus [Megere][/url]. In Argus MegereArgus [Megere][/url], it was only a studio-based project. We just met in-studio, everyone recorded his own parts without rehearsing them or anything like that, but in Ordinul Negru, this album, Faustian Nights, we kind of did it together. I mean, I made a pre-production at home, it was only a brief script, and then we began to rehearse, meet at the rehearsal place and each song, each part, also in studio.

The big advantage was that our drummer, Putrid, was also in charge of recording the album, mixing the album, mastering the album, so everything was done in-house, a thing that was not in Argus Megere, because there we had a producer, Attila Lukinich. In terms of production, it was also quite different - also the approach. In Argus MegereArgus [Megere][/url], there's these big, epic, cosmic, long-type songs over 10 minutes, and this time, in Ordinul Negru, we focused on making shorter songs, more live-playable songs, because the target was before releasing the album that we were going to play live these songs. In Argus MegereArgus [Megere][/url], [it] was only like, "Yeah, we want to do these songs, we don't care if... Maybe we are going to play them live at one point or not," but in Ordinul Negru, the things are being done with, let's say, with a future, with something like a strong connection between what we want to do also in the future.

R: Did the lineup that you have today in Ordinul Negru contribute to the songwriting of the album?

F: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Maybe not to the actual songwriting as the notes, but arrangements we've done together. Also, basically the bass parts were written exclusively by the bass player, and together with the drummer. Also, me and Urmuz, we kind of exchanged musical ideas, but most of the songs are driven by my ideas in the first place.

R: And this is something that didn't happen with the new Argus Megere?

F: [An entire minute of answer(s) lost because I accidentally covered the mic with my finger]

R: You've started a lot of projects over the years. Why, out of all these, you decided to revive Ordinul Negru as a band out of any other or simply as a new project?

F: It was a happening that was at a concert, basically. I was tired of playing drums back in 2010, or 2009. I recorded Nostalgia Of The Fullmoon Nights; this is the last album that I recorded as a one-man band, and I remember I was so bored trying to record the drums and I didn't practice that much. I didn't practice in the last 15 years; playing drums, I mean. Since 2002, I stopped playing drums as rehearsing on them, so my playing was not that good. I was not satisfied, but I wanted to record them, and after that, I decided if I'm going to do a new album, I will search for a proper drummer.

The new songs for Sorcery Of Darkness, the idea was, like, in a weekend, that I was in a cabin in the mountains with my laptop and guitar and just popped all the ideas in one weekend. I made a pre-production, and when I returned to Timișoara, I attended to a concert and I met with Andrei Jumugă, with Putrid, and asked him to play the drums on that album without any other idea about the future. Also, after some weeks, I went to Rockstadt Festival in Râșnov and met with Silviu Pop, with S. At that point, the vocal of Deliver The God, and just asked him to record some vocals for that album, for Sorcery Of Darkness, so it was only after we recorded the album, Putrid had the idea, "Okay, I like the songs, why don't you want to play them live?" I thought it was one-studio-album-based project and that was it. It was his idea, actually, to be a band and to play these songs live and to have a future again.

R: Might we see some more revivals in the future? Maybe Fogland or Cursed Cemetery?

F: I don't know. Cursed Cemetery, it's always a crazy idea. I had some friends over the years who played in that from other bands that I was involved or I am still. Of course, then, it was a crazy friend from Sweden that played drums. Cursed Cemetery, it can be another album or never again. I don't know. I'm not sure about it, because it's so obscure and I like the idea of obscurity, and all the albums that I've made in that project, I really like them very, very much. They are chaotic and anti-musical, maybe, at some point, but they have their own charm. They are really close to my heart.

Fogland... We received many offers over the years. It's incredible. I see our second album, Quasiascetica, like, 200, 300 euros on eBay. It's crazy. It's unbelievable. But even last year, I think, we received an offer if we want to have an album or so from a record house in Italy, and I don't know... When you're releasing something or when you're doing an album, it's a frame in time. I cannot be in Fogland anymore, because it was a frame in time that was...

R: That you're not into anymore.

F: Yeah. It's different right now. Maybe, as I always said, as a follow-up, I always considered Dara, my project Dara, to be a follow-up of Fogland, but Fogland as it was, I am not sure I am able to make another music worth releasing in that vein. That's why maybe... This is the idea. When I think of Fogland, I think of Dara, maybe. And it's different. That's maybe even without metal; it's only alternative folk, rock, a little bit proggy... few metal parts, so, yeah, I don't think Fogland will release something else ever.

R: How is recording an album as a band different than alone?

F: I don't know. It's more dynamic, maybe? When you are recording a one-man band, you know very well what to do and maybe you save time. In an open band situation, there are four or five persons involved in the project, for example, and each of them having jobs or different problems, family, they come to the studio and maybe they are not connected 100% to what they have to do. "Okay, this is a bad day; maybe we'll record it tomorrow," or another two weeks when that person will have the time or I will have the time.

It takes a lot of time, more time, I think, than recording a one-man band. For Sorcery Of Darkness, I recorded all the guitar parts in two days. For this, Faustian Nights, we recorded me and Urmuz, the guitars, in two or three weeks, maybe, counted as days in the studio. We started experimenting, changing ideas... It's good, it's good. Maybe the original idea can be altered, but in the end I think, right now, as I am thinking of Faustian Nights, it's a big plus having another guitarist in the band helping me see different aspects of guitar work, like, "You can do this" or "I can do a solo here" or improvements like that that are, in the end, really big. They're a really big win for the band.

R: Will you be doing any music as a one-man band again?

F: Never say never. It depends, but... The only thing that keeps me saying no is that I will have to play drums again (*laughs*)...

R: Just program them!

F: No, no, I hate, I hate, I never... There are few records as a full material that I have released, and I think there are, I don't know, 40, 50 materials, I even don't know, none of them have programmed drums on entirely. Maybe there is a song that I wanted to experiment or so, but... I remember on an EP with Fogland, Enuma Elish, I made the song programmed because I was influenced by an Italian band called Monumentum and I really liked their industrial approach and I said, "Eh, I really liked the idea and I've tried it." But as a whole, no way. I hate programmed drums.

R: So programmed drums as a concept is all right, but not as a means to record drums.

F: No, no, no. I don't know. Even in music, maybe Mysticum is the only black metal band that I like having that kind of drums, but they are blatantly industrial drums. I hate when I listen to albums that those bands are trying to emulate the real sound with the programmed drums. If you are playing the programmed drums as an industrial tool, like Nine Inch Nails stuff, even in black metal, yes, I like them. But when you are trying to emulate this - I have heard pagan, Viking, whatever metal bands playing with that kind of stuff. I think it's horrible, honestly (*laughs*). So no programmable drums. I prefer to play shitty, but no programmed drums.

R: What is planned in the future for your current projects like Dara or Kultika?

F: Kultika, yes. We struggle to release the second album in our many years since we recorded the first one. Five years, I think?

R: Yeah.

F: Ah, I don't know. There are some plans, there are some parts recorded already, but I'm not sure when it will be out. Maybe next year, hopefully? The drums are recorded for example, so, yeah, maybe next year we will be able... Kultika is always really hard to work because the quality that we want to deliver with this band is at one point maybe masochistic. I mean, we always record something and say, "Oh, it's not good enough." Since we released the first album, I think I composed towards three entire full-length albums [and] I've deleted them, because listening to them, making pre-production, I said, "Ah, it's not good enough." I don't think it will be as good or even better than The Strange Innerdweller, so... What we have now, there are five songs recorded. At this point, we are confident with them, but I'm not sure that those five songs will be out.

I know it's crazy, but I don't know why in Kultika we have this approach.

R: So for someone who has released over 50 albums, you are still quality over quantity in this one?

F: Yeah, definitely, definitely.

R: And about Dara?

F: Right now we are mixing the second album. I think in autumn we'll be finished. We still have to check with our record house, which is China, Pest Productions, when we will be released. We have another album contract with them and we want to release them at their label because we have this strong support in Asia and we want to go again, not only in China, but also in Japan and Taiwan, Vietnam... There is a plan for an Asian tour next year, so I think for us it will be a win-win situation to release with them. Also, they have a strong European distribution. They are distributed by Season of Mist from France, so why not? It's a good deal. We have this tour... Last tour we had in China, it was really good for us, really good, and we are very content with this collaboration, so, I think, yeah, in autumn we will be ready and I hope it will be out this year, or, if not, if they will decide that the tour that we want to do in May or June next year and maybe they want to release it like March or so to be before the tour, then it will be on. But we have recorded already the new album.

R: How was the tour in China?

F: The tour in China was the best experience I had so far touring, and I have done many tours with Negură Bunget over the years and Argus MegereArgus [Megere][/url] and other bands, Kultika, but this tour was something special. The area was really nice also, everything, all the expenses were covered by the record house, the luxurious hotels, great venues [were] a really big surprise for us. We played in b10 in Shenzhen, which is the biggest club in China... the other day Mono played there. It's like a big crowd, I think 800 is the capacity of the club. It's really great. We had only, like, 200 people attend or so, but for us, a really unknown band from Romania, it was a really good... The promoters are really content with the whole tour, so, yeah, it was a really good experience.

R: How do you approach music now compared to how you did 10 or 20 years ago?

F: Maybe more relaxed? Back then I was in a hurry to express myself and had more time, but I wanted to express everything I felt. In that moment, I wanted to express in a release, just a pure and unaltered and analogue and everything fast and just from one piece. Right now, I approach more philosophical... I'm trying from all the angles, I have more patience to build something. Until 2010, I was really into analogue technology, analogue recording, analogue effects. After that I became more a digital fan, but I still use old tubes amplifiers and analogue effects, guitar effects, but with the recording process I become more strict. I met a person, Attila Lukinich, in 2011, I think, and the first release was The Strange Innerdweller with him, and I learned many things from him and he's a really big influence in how to produce an album, how to record an album, and since then almost every release I recorded guitars at his place, if not the whole album.

It depends. For example, in Faustian Nights, the bass and the drums were recorded in Consonance Studio, but the vocals and the guitars were recorded in the DSPro Studio, which is Attila's studio, and almost every release I am with him, so maybe he was a big influence in building this quality. It's a frame in time, also, like it was in the beginning, but right now this frame in time I want to be as best as I could from that period of time. For example, we worked from 2015 until this year on Faustian Nights, so there are three years. Those three years I want as best as I can to be represented in this production. Not only in the past I was like, "Okay, 2018, this is me, this is me right now." Now, I express like, "This is me in three years." Maybe this is the biggest difference.

R: It's been more than 20 years since Argus MegereArgus [Megere][/url] released Diabolical Risen...

F: Diabolical Risen To The Nocturnal Sky, yeah.

R: In retrospect, how do you view now the music you made in that period?

F: I still listen with pleasure that demo. It was really nice. Ideal period, we were really strong gang of black metal guys, we were friends with the guys in Wiccan Rede at that point, that later became Negură Bunget. There were also other guys in our area, in Timișoara, turning to black metal, so it was really... We exchanged tapes, we found music, and this is reflected in that demo, in that first try. It's really honest and full of hate; teenager hate, of course, in black metal.

I cannot replicate those vocals anymore, actually, to be honest, because I'm smoking over the years, alcohol... I don't know, I grew old! Back then, I was young, I had 16 years, I didn't smoke at that time. Now I quit smoking, but, yeah, I've smoked for 20 years. Back then, I was young and fresh, maybe, let's say, so that vocal line, when I listen to them, I am just, "Wow, I cannot do that anymore."

Yeah, I still resemble to that song. They represent me as an individual. The lyrics, maybe they are not as profound as I would write them right now, but they are still something that represent me even after all these years, so, yeah, it's still on. I listen to those songs with great pleasure.

R: If you could say something to yourself 20 years ago, what would you say?

F: To have patience, maybe, and to work more when releasing an album. Each time, if I didn't like a song, I wouldn't have released it, but right now, I have more patience that 20 years ago I didn't have. Have patience, maybe, when releasing an album (*laughs*).

R: Who's your favorite Mayhem vocalist?

F: Mayhem vocalist? Attila, definitely.

R: I see you are a man of culture as well.

F: Yeah, yeah, Attila definitely. De Mysteriis [Dom Sathanas]'s vocals are one of my favorite ever vocals.

R: With most of your active bands signed to either Loud Rage or Pest, is there any future for Banatian Darkness?

F: I would love so, but I don't have the time anymore to... That's why I've tried at one point, after... I had an active releasing materials until 2010, 2012, maybe? I'm not remembering well. Then I had another try in 2014, maybe, and after that I just understood that I cannot have an active part in being also an owner in this part. Even having an underground website with downloads... You have to...

R: Put too much time in it?

F: Yeah, maybe. Right now, in the last two or three years, I really believe in this work division: everyone has to do something in which he's good at. For example, right now Ordinul Negru is the best organized band in which I play. We are writing the music, we have a record house, Loud Rage Music, we have a booking agent that is Coro from Axa Valaha, so everything is... Back in the day, I was the booking agent, I was releasing the CD, I was playing the CD, I was recording the CD, so, no, I don't think it's... Because you grow tired trying every process, to follow every process, so that's why Banatian Darkness cannot exist anymore, because I do not have time to do things properly as I would like to do them.

R: Back to Faustian Nights. Which were the people outside of the lineup that have contributed to the album?

F: First, in song order, Marius Costache, who is really well-known person that has a studio in Bucharest and that records many bands, a great producer - also was active in the musical field, in the more industrial/ambient kind of scene. That's why I've asked him to do some sound loops for me. The intro of the album is made by Marius Costache, and also there are some sound samples over the album that he helped us [with]. Then our former vocalist played, on the first track, played some vocals in the middle of that song. Then Hupogrammos from Dordeduh played the tulnic, or alpenhorn in English, I'm not sure, on the last song, "Faustian Nights". Also on that song Emese Sinmartinean is doing vocals, and also Daniel Neagoe from Clouds played vocals, and also, last but not least, Cari Tibor, who is playing piano on the "Sol Omnia Regit" song, great line that we all really loved when we received the material, the recorded piano from him, was, like, "Yes, this is what..." He's a great jazz player.

I hope I don't forget anyone, but I think these are the persons involved as the contributors to this album.

R: What is one non-metal band you would like to perform with?

F: Huh... Wow, this is a strong question. I would like to play with Björk, actually (*laughs*). Björk is one of my favorite artists. She doesn't have many guitar lines, but maybe a synth or something I would like to play with her.

R: In what state is the scene in Romania, especially now that the most famous band abroad, Negură Bunget, is gone?

F: Unfortunately, there are not that many bands that can achieve that status, even in future. Because I've played with Negură Bunget, I know the things that are behind when we are talking about their great fame that they had. The first thing that they had, it was Negru's total involvement in sacrificing even his own life, in the end, to establish Negură Bunget as an international band, and I mean financial, big financial sacrifices, ongoing tours, everything that he'd done for the band. I don't see another person, and band, of course, doing those sacrifices in Romania now and even in the future, so that's why I don't think we are going to have another band at that level. There are good bands and they are really good... but over 90% of those bands, if not all the bands, are also persons that are working, they have steady jobs, so I think if you are having a steady job, 8 hours of work per day, you are not able to... You are playing as a hobby, you are going to attend some summer festivals, you are doing one or two tours per year, but in the musical scene, the international music scene of nowadays, this is not enough. Nowadays, you have to sacrifice everything because having this... Your music is being bought through live concerts, through merchandise, through direct relation with the fans.

R: Rather than just buying through the label.

F: Yeah, or through the internet. I mean, yeah, you sell some t-shirts or albums, but this is not enough. You have to be there, to tour, I don't know, half a year or even more, to be on tour, and I don't think in Romania this is possible for an ordinary, average person that has a job, for example. I know bands and persons dear to me in Romania that have tried. I know a friend from Cluj that had three or four jobs. He tried making some tours, quit the job, became penniless at home trying to, again, I don't know, establish another tour, then hiring... No, it's very hard. Even Bucovina, which I think is the biggest metal band in Romania at that point, I know them very well, I'm good friends with them, they win money out of this activity, but they all have jobs. One is a teacher, one has a soft company, the bass player has a bar in Iași, so, as an example, even they have jobs or business, so I don't think anyone will achieve this in the future.

R: But do you think that playing music not as a means of making profit, but making profit through your job and making music as something on the side, does it make it more passionate?

F: Definitely. That's one of the reasons that I quit Negură Bunget. When you are trying to do music as a means of existence, let's say so, you are thinking, "I have to release an album, good or bad, I have to tour, I have to do merchandise, I have to book..." For example, we worked with Rock The Nation, which is the biggest booking agency in Europe in Negură BungetNegură [Bunget][/url], and... We were in a tour with Eluveitie, Sólstafir, Korpiklaani, I don't remember, there were six bands, Primordial, and they were making, like, I don't know, at the end, over one million, maybe, because there were like 20 shows and, I don't know, 5,000, 6,000 per night, plus merchandise, so this is an industry.

I said, "It's too much." For example, I never quit my job. I was the only one in Negură BungetNegură [Bunget][/url] who was still working and touring. All my colleagues, even if they had jobs, they quit, or they didn't have jobs. This was what they wanted to do. Stress appeared, like, "Ah, I don't have enough money to pay my bills, my rent," whatever, and then I've learned that I don't want to make music as a full-time job. I tried the compromises; yes, you're having a day job, you have less time, but in the end, for me, is better because I can think of music as an art, as an form to express myself, because I have the content to... because I'm chill. I have the means of existence, I have money, so I am not stressed. I can think in a weekend, for example, all day long how to do a song, so I think the strategy, for me, at least, if you want to make music as an art form, you have to have this financial tranquil.

But, if we are thinking in art, like, Van Gogh or whatever, music, an art form, is born out of sacrifice, out of misery - yes. I know this. It's not for me, but I know, yeah... For example, I really like Van Gogh and I read many books about his life and what he was inside his mind, and all his life he suffered. All his life he suffered, he was rejected by everyone, he died in misery; still, he made one of the greatest arts ever. Even if you like or not painting, you cannot [disagree] that he was a really great artist. In the end, I think you have to set your own things. For me, to release, in my opinion, good art, is to have this tranquility. For others, maybe misery is a better trigger to release art, so I cannot decide (*laughs*).

R: What are your favorite Van Gogh paintings?

F: Uh... favorite... Skull, I think. [url= https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0128V1962]The Skull[/url] is my favorite one.

R: Do you have any other favorite painters beside Van Gogh?

F: Renoir I like very much. This is an interesting... In the last days, I knew about this painter and I don't know this name; maybe I will search after this interview. There is a great local painter in the city of Gătaia that paints in the vein of Salvador Dali.

R: Okay, so surrealist.

F: Yeah, you have to search him. I don't know his name, I forgot it, and I asked a friend yesterday or so, that's why I remember, and he knew about the artist but also didn't know his name. I read an interview with him that is really funny. He said, "Even my neighbors from the village don't know that I'm a painter!" [ed: It's Gyuri Lohmüller]

Yeah, also Salvador Dali. I'm not that into Renaissance and Baroque, not that much. I like more modern art.

R: Like impressionist, expressionist...

F: Yeah, yeah, more so... Yeah, because maybe in the Renaissance period is more religious, the expression, so it's not my...

R: And more portrait-based.

F: And more static. I also like really post-modern art, like when trying to combine all kind of different visual aspects. I go to art galleries and in the art museum here there are all kind of... There was a group in the '70s in Timișoara led by a guy, Iancu Flondor I think is his name [ed: I believe he's referring to Constantin Flondor], that had this part of post-modern constructions out of iron and different parts that are in the art museum. I saw an exhibition.

So this type of art, maybe. Not that traditional one.

R: I also noticed in every art museum in Romania up until the 18th century or more it's just religious.

F: Yeah, yeah. Yes, it's religious, but it is in a form even more static that you can find in the Renaissance or Byzantine period... I don't know.

R: Other than paintings, what are your favorite movie directors?

F: [url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000425/][Peter] Greenaway[/url]. I like very much [Peter] Greenaway. [url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114134/]The Pillow Book[/url] is a big movie that I really like. [url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000186/][David] Lynch[/url], Lars von Trier, these kind of movies I really like. Also [url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005363/?ref_=nv_sr_1]Guy Ritchie[/url]. I like [url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208092/]Snatch[/url] and that kind of movies. [url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/]Trainspotting[/url], this type of... maybe mainstream movies? Well, maybe [Peter] Greenaway is not mainstream director, but, yeah.

R: Neither is [David] Lynch, in that case.

F: Lynch, I think, is really well-known.

R: Yeah, he is well-known. I have a lot of friends who watch [url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098936/]Twin Peaks[/url].

F: Yeah.

R: Have you watched Twin Peaks as well?

F: Yeah, I have. When I was in the '90s. [url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166924/]Mulholland Drive[/url] I like the most from Lynch.

R: My favorite [David] Lynch movie, I think it's [url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116922/ ]Lost Highway[/url].

F: Yeah. I know that one. But do you know [Peter] Greenaway?

R: No. I think I've heard of him, but haven't watched any of his films.

F: He has a movie, I'm not sure about the title, The Cook, the Thief[, His Wife & Her Lover][/url], and the rest of them.

R: Okay, I've heard of that one.

F: It's a really nice movie, really, really great movie. Also [url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114134/]The Pillow Book[/url], yeah.

R: Let's get back into music. Do you feel like some bands in Romania are merely doing our version of music genres from abroad, or is there originality to be found?

F: I don't know. It depends. I have to be honest to say that maybe in the '90s. Some persons will not agree with me, but I think in the '90s the music that was made here was more original than nowadays. Maybe because nowadays everything is accessible. Everyone has YouTube and other means of listening to the new stuff. But back in the day, there were bands, yeah, trying to copy from Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride or early Immortal or something, Darkthrone, but they were like their own interpretation, sort of. Nowadays, I'm listening to Romanian bands, and I don't resonate with them. I don't say that I don't like them...

White Walls is one band that I really like, but, yeah, we cannot say that White Walls is this original band. You can listen to a lot of parts from other bands. And maybe the music that I am doing is the same. I don't know; I cannot be objective. There are good bands also in Romania today, but I don't think they are original. I don't think so, honestly.




R: What is something that you've been listening to lately that you'd like to recommend?

F: The last Watain album is really great. I really like the Watain album. What else...

R: (*whispers*) Zeal & Ardor. [ed: We were talking about the bands we both saw at ArtMania and Zeal & Ardor was one that impressed us both]

F: Hm?

R: Zeal & Ardor.

F: Hm... Yeah, maybe. I like them live, but I don't know. I like also the album. But the last Watain album I really enjoyed it and it's always on repeat. This year, I didn't have the time... Ah, the last Wolves In The Throne Room is quite okay. Not as good as the old ones, but it's enjoyable. What else...

R: So you've mostly had time to listen to releases from bands that you already knew.

F: Yeah, this is a thing that I have to confess, that I don't listen to new bands. This is something that my drummer is responsible of when he always picks me up with his car on the way to our rehearsal place, he just puts some, "Yeah, this is the new stuff from..." He played Voices, for example, I remember this is a band... I don't remember most of the bands. When I like something, okay, I check, but most of the bands that I like... The bands that released in the last year something worth listening and I still remained with them, like, I don't know, Deströyer 666, Watain, Wolves In The Throne Room, Behemoth, Deathspell Omega, I like very much their last album, which is in 2016, actually... Yeah, these kind of bands that are doing sort of black metal, but beyond the traditional one. The new Immortal album. I listened and I like it - but also Putrid lent me the album. The last Amenra album I like very much. That is, I think, this year released, so there.

R: So which do you like more: Northern Chaos Gods or Abbath's album?

F: I don't like the Abbath album, so, yeah.

R: Okay. I think I'm all out of questions. We're already almost an hour into the interview, so I think it's about time to close. I'm going to have so much to write.

F: I'm sorry (*laughs*).

R: Well, I hope somebody's gonna read this. [ed: If you got this far, you likely did]

F: Me, too.