First, thanks to Loud Rage Music for arranging this interview with Ordinul Negru, the occult black metal band from Romania.
Baron Craze: You have released a new Ordinul Negru album. Can you give us some insight about the album’s themes and concept?
There are four general symbols that dominate “Faustian Nights” album, and there is a natural connection between the songs, but we don’t consider it to be a conceptual album, each song has its own identity. We seek for the hidden things in the dark, we are like shadows performing lost arts, our existence is the reason like as an obscure order to practice our beliefs and emotions, so we explore different visions we have, but in the same time I don’t want to be very specific about it, read the lyrics, explore the booklet, search for the signs, find the path…
BC: Did the lineup that you have today in Ordinul Negru contribute to the songwriting of the album? Has it changed since your last album?
Yes, every change in a system is perceivable. We have two new persons in the order since the album released in 2015 (“Sorcery of Darkness”) and they contributed to the general picture. The line-up is:
Fulmineos – guitars, vocals
Urmuz – guitars, vocals
Orthros – bass
Putrid – drums, percussions
BC: What personal influences do you use in creating your lyrics?
Books…I like reading a lot and I find myself lost in the pages and draw ideas from: Jose Saramago, Mika Waltari, Hermann Hesse, Gustav Meyrink, Mircea Eliade, John Fowles, Kurt Vonnegut, Giovani Papini, Bohumil Hrabal, Emil Cioran, Neil Gaiman among others…also I like going very much into nature…trekking mostly or by bicycle and go to certain places where you can find the synergy of this existence and find the balance in this so-called modern society.
BC: A going trend seems to be musicians doing compositions for horror films, ever thought of that as a possibility?
In most projects I like to be the driver, so it’s hard to cope to other ideas, it’s possible but I don’t know, there was a discussion with a company a couple of years ago, but the project didn’t got financed so…also there is a running project with a quite renown poet from the new generation in Romania for an audio book, but because I had a really busy 2018 I failed to provide the requested materials, so we have to reassess if 2019 is a good year to do this project.
BC: In past interviews you’ve stated a dislike for sampling of music, an occasion homage to a riff, is ok, but programming music a negative. Do you still hold that to be true?
It depends on the concept and the general construction, but in most cases I like organic music…what I really hate is the programmed drum-machine in metal, it’s horrible with a few exceptions, when the direction is going industrial e.g. Mysticum (In the Streams of Inferno) but otherwise countless of “pagan-folk” bands playing like that…neah…but big acts like Nine Inch Nails, Bjork etc it’s of course another league and I really like their sound sample arrangements.
BC: The process of making music has vastly changed in past 15-years how has the process affected your style?
It helped a lot and saved time, even now there are countless possibilities for the same process, if you know exactly how to handle the technology it can be a benefit…I was a big fan of analogue tools, and I still love my old delays, flangers or phasers, I used to record the old materials on four-tracks, yes it has a magic of its own…but nowadays you have to be realistic, I mean come’ on we succeeded making a live rig were its not mandatory anymore to rent a big bus to carry all the cabinets and analog heavy mixers…now we use Fractals and everything is so easy you can program the mix, the lights and store it until next time in that venue, it saves a lot of time and energy, basically you can enjoy the touring life by relaxing in a museum, reading, visiting friends etc than sweating countless hours doing sound check and by the show you are tiered as fuck and struggling to give the best performance…and the sound compromise I heard it countless times that full-tube is life and digital is not, than I don’t even care, in the first shows we had some sound purists/nerds that I know and they didn’t feel any difference, so…of course in the recording process I still use my Peaveys, Triamp and Orange amplifiers with my V30’s and Eminence Legend cabinets and so on…but I am not that person that has this nostalgia for past when everything was good and now its crap.
BC: Fans are constantly curious to know what their bands they like are listening to, so which genres and bands?
We are listening to all kinds of music, very diverse…artists like Dead Can Dance, Ulver, Bjork, Woodkid, Chelsea Wolfe, Madrugada, The Cure, God is An Astronaut…but also more heavy music like Mastodon, Satyricon, Wolves In The Throne Room, Neurosis, Behemoth, Watain, Nachtmystium, Mgla, King Diamond, Deathspell Omega, Burzum, Opeth, Xasthur, Emperor etc.
BC: What in the future for Ordinul Negru and you in general?
We have a busy schedule, we are working for a touring plan and gigs for this year and 2020, a new video for “Faustian Nights”-song will be on this spring, some re-releases of old albums on a digipack format, vinyl and tape versions for “Sorcery of Darkness” and “Faustian Nights” and two new EPs one this year in autumn, and one in the beginning of next year and then the new album in 2021; and of course new merch and I’m sure we will have other ideas in the future (a DVD maybe?) who knows…if you are passionate about it you will find all the time inspiration for your art.
BC: Thanks for interview, any final or inspiring remarks to the readers?
Thank you very much for your interest in Ordinul Negru!
https://loudragemusic.bandcamp.com/album/ordinul-negru-faustian-nights