Naas Alcameth:  Vocals,
                                Scripts & Strings
Ophis:  Strings
Nox Corvus:  Strings & Percussion
Grimnar aka Alabas:  Guitar

Formed: 1999
Green Mountain Falls, CO  USA
Label: Avantgarde /
The Ajna Offensive
Genre: Black Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Colorado black metal artists Nightbringer recently released the highly anticipated follow-up to 2008’s Death and the Black Work entitled Apocalypse Sun.  Clearly a band not interested in making a black metal fashion statement, Nightbringer espouses their occult philosophy with conviction, resulting in music that is begs serious study.  I had a chance ask vocalist/guitarist Alcameth and guitarist Ophis some questions to shed some light on the minds behind the dark and twisted music of Nightbringer. 

Matt: Please give us a brief introduction to Nightbringer.

Alcameth: Nightbringer was formed in 1999 by Nox Corvus and myself. It was created as an outlet for our contemplations on the mysteries of death. We wanted to create black metal with a profoundly dark and haunting sound suitable for the lofty subject matter. Since its inception, the sound and the spirit which drives it has taken form, shed its skin and taken form again. The entity is an ever changing serpent upon a crooked and shadowy path.

Matt: From what sources of inspiration do you draw (musical, literary, and/or historical)?

Alcameth: As far as music, we find inspiration in a variety of different bands and from different genres such as ambient, as well as in works by classical composers. However we do not aim to sound like this or that particular band. This is not to say that we do not have our influences, but generally I would say that Nightbringer is distinctive in sound and style. In regards to literature and history, Nightbringer has been greatly influenced by a variety of esoteric literature and tradition, both East and West; language, symbolism and allegories touch upon such topics as Alchemy and Theurgy.

Matt: How has Nightbringer changed or progressed from Death and the Black Work to Apocalypse Sun?

Alcameth: Death and the Black work was more of a collective of songs and subjects with a common ground. Apocalypse Sun is more specific to an initiatic moment of death and rebirth from both a macrocosmic and microcosmic view. The alchemical Black Sun is the central symbol. The music reflects the subject matter. The overall sound is more violent and aggressive than was present in previous works.

Matt: What is the group dynamic in the writing and recording process?

Alcameth: It has varied from album to album. I have written all the lyrics for Nightbringer, though Ophis has aided me a lot during this process over the years by giving feedback and input which has been invaluable as our spiritual views and study are the most aligned and most active out of the members. We all had a hand in composing the music of Death and the Black Work. I wrote the bulk of Apocalypse Sun with the exception of “Serpent of the Midnight Sun”, which Nox wrote, and “The Utterance of Kasb’el” which was contributed by Grimnar. The core three members all have had a part in the recording process on every album.

Matt: Discuss the concept of Apocalypse Sun.

Alcameth: As mentioned above the concept was that of the black sun of alchemy, bringer of death and corruption to mortals but birth into immortality as Daath, the gate of other-becoming, spiritual apocalypse and the nigredo of initiatic transmutation.

Matt: The cover of Apocalypse Sun depicts a robed figure holding a staff topped with a black sun.  What is this image, what does it symbolize, and how does that relate to your music?

Alcameth: The album cover was rendered by Benjamin Vierling, a superb painter who is also involved with the esoteric. He had an initial concept based off the album title and “theme” and we started going back and forth via email until the vision was refined. The painting depicts a robed figure (initiate) descending the steps of a sacred temple. He carries a staff topped with a wrathful sun (sol niger). The temple entrance behind the figure is comprised of five arches, through which the “initiate” has passed. There are seven skulls and six upturned chalices above the doorway, and a seventh chalice tossed upon the temple steps, from which blood has spilled. The seven chalices represent the seven cups of the apocalyptic tradition. The sacred number is a constant within the prose and its meaning is multifaceted. There are two “daemonic” figures kneeling in defeat at either side of the entrance, both holding time pieces. The figure has past beyond (descending) the aforementioned symbols triumphantly carrying with him the figure of the black sun. The image is full of esoteric symbolism relevant to the idea of the initiatic moment, or spiritual “apocalypse”, with the key symbol being that of the radiant black sun.

Matt: What are your views on Satan and Satanism, and how is this perspective reflected in your music?

Alcameth: I have stated elsewhere that the term “Satanist” is overly ambiguous and explains little about a person or their beliefs. What one person calls Satanism another calls individualism and another devil worship. I worship nothing in a dogmatic sense. I recognize a divine adversarial force that is a gate of death and other-becoming. This force has been given many names most of which are much older than the Christian name for the adversary. My understanding of this force and the path towards and beyond communion with its source has been through the study of occult systems and practices Eastern and Western. Outside of the powerful and dark sound that finds synthesis with the aforementioned spirituality, the spiritual stance is also reflected potently in the lyrical prose.

Matt: Who or what is “God”?  Summum bonum, demiurge, symbol, political tool?

Ophis: We do not recognize “God” in the sense of a single divine being to whom we owe worship.  It could be said that the attributes of “God” are symbolic of a transcendent mode of knowledge. Therefore, man is potentially a god; to become a god is to transform one’s nature, to move from the flux of becoming to the stability of Being.  However, even this is not the pinnacle, for beyond Being is the Absolute, the Divine Darkness.  The ideal of summum bonum should be understood not in a Christian but in the Neoplatonic sense of complete self-sufficiency.

Matt: “Death” as a concept features prominently in your work.  What is “death” in a metaphysical sense (i.e. beyond mere extinction of physical life)?

Ophis: Death in the highest sense is literally transformation, transcendence beyond formal limitation (form being understood in the Hindu sense of nama rupa). However, there are various degrees of death and rebirth.  

Matt: Can humans transcend corporeality prior to death?  What is the nature of such experience, and what does it teach about life?

Ophis: I believe it is possible, though none of us can claim such a realization.  Death and life are interrelated; death to one state is birth to another.  What most consider life is truly a kind of somnambulistic death. 

Matt: What is “morality”?  Do your metaphysical views encompass a dichotomy of good and evil?  What role does humanity play in the struggle between chaos and order?

Ophis: We are not concerned with “morality” in the modern sense.  Transcendence is certainly beyond “good” and “evil”.  However, in general it can be said that there is a lesser and a greater morality.  Due to its relativity, the former is purely instrumental at best, and often unnecessarily restrictive, while the latter has little to do with what are commonly considered moral values and rather pertains to higher states of being, as the outcome of a greater unification of oneself.  As far as the relation between chaos and order at this time, there is certainly an excess of the former.  The question becomes whether or not this can be used to one’s advantage.

Matt: How, if at all, do your metaphysical views intersect with sociopolitical views?

Ophis: We are sympathetic to the ideals of a hierarchically organized sacred State.  However, this is an impossibility in this day and age, and so we are apolitical or even anti-political as the case may be.  Insofar as a truly radical form of transcendence is concerned, it exists “beyond caste” as is said in the East.

Matt: Where does Nightbringer’s music as an art form fit into all of this?

Ophis: Our art represents our aspirations and spiritual stance.

Matt: How do you define and measure success as an artist?

Ophis: We set our own standards and are unconcerned with the opinions of others.

Matt: What makes good music good and bad music bad?

Ophis: A perfect match between form and content is the ideal.  The rest is subjective to a certain extent, though musical taste can indicate a person’s affinities, whether noble or base.

Matt: How are technological innovations, such as mp3 and social networking, impacting underground metal and the music industry at large, and what are you views on that impact?

Ophis: Hopefully those who appreciate our music will buy an actual album instead of merely downloading it, though I can understand the need to sample an album first due to the mediocrity of much that is produced these days.  I think labels such as Ajna and Noevdia can be trusted to put out quality albums and should be supported.  We are unconcerned with the music industry at large, and as for the impact of social networking on any supposed “scene”, we do not pay attention to any of this either.  We feel an affinity only to those who have aims and ideals similar to ours.

Matt: What do you think of the kind of black metal coming out today?

Alcameth: Obviously our opinions vary from band to band. There is more black metal being made these days than there was ten to fifteen years ago, but there are few of these bands that we have found of value, as so much sounds uninspired or rehashed. This is the consequence of accessibility. There are still several monumental acts that compose superb black metal, one just has to wade through the offal to find the gems. 

Matt: Anything else to leave the readers with?

Alcameth:

Nightbringer

April 23, 2010

Interviewer: Matt

DISCOGRAPHY:

Horde of Darkenwood (Split - 2001)
Promo 2003 (Demo - 2003)
Demo 2004
Rex Ex Ordine Throni (Split - 2005)
Nightbringer / Serpentinam
                                        (Split - 2006)
Death and the Black Work (2008)
On the Powers of the Sphinx
                                        (Split - 2009)
Apocalypse Sun (2010)

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“He who is illuminated with the Darkest Shadow
Will shine with the Brightest Light”
- Chumbley

Check out Matt's review of Apocalypse Sun here