Showing posts with label Nothgard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nothgard. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Nothgard interview


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the old album?

First of all we’ve had some changes concerning the line up. We’re now playing with three guitars as Skaahl from Wolfchant joined the band in 2012. We were also playing a lot of shows in Europe and took our time to write and prepare for the new album which was some intense and hard work.

2. In September you will release a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the new recording and also how does it differ from from the previous full length and demo you had released in the past?

There is definitely a big difference between „Warhorns Of Midgard“ and „Age of Pandora“.Soundwise, „Age of Pandora“ sounds way fresher, clearer and more powerful, but not just because of the three guitars. We have tried out a lot of stuff during the songwriting process and only took the best ideas which are hearable on the new album. The songs are more technical, include lot’s of powerful orchestral/symphonic elemtens and feel faster. Also we went more in the direction of epic melodic death metal on the new record.

3.Your lyrics cover some Pagan topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your views on Paganism?

As we´ve changed our musical style into Epic Melodic Death Metal, the new lyrics don´t include anything concerning paganism.

4.The band was originally known as Nordavind, what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nothgard'/

We’ve changed the bandname into Nothgard as Nordavind was unfortunately already used several times by other bands. The name Nothgard refers to the word „nothgarde“, which also means striking out for a counter attack in sword combat.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

That’s a tough question. We’ve had some great shows in England where we’ve had fans singing along to every song, knowing all the lyrics and partying hard during the show. Shows in the Czech Republik are also always fun as the people are always having a big party. We also love playing festivals, where we get the chance to perform our songs to people that may have never heard about Nothgard before. The show we’ve had a few weeks ago at the „Runen der Nacht Festival“ has also been a blast!
In general it’s always a pleasure and a lot of fun for us, and that’s what we’re showing on stage during our shows. You can see that we enjoy being together on stage.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Yes! We are going to have a tour in September in Spain, which will be called „Black Clouds Over Iberia“. We also have plans for another tour, but right now we can’t tell you any informations about that ;)

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been so far to the newer music by reviewers of extreme metal?

Until now we haven’t received much feedback from reviewers, because the promotion has just begun, but what we have got by now was really good. For example, we received a very positive album review in the German metal magazine „Legacy“ and in general a lot of positive feedback from the few other people who have heard the new stuff.

8.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Dom R. Crey has just joined Equilibrium and is currently playing some big shows with them. He is also a member of Wolfchant. Same goes for Vik S. and Skaahl. Wolfchant is currently recording their new album which will definitely be another killer release.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We definitely want to develop ourselves and become more technical in the future. But right now, we’re very happy with the current music style and want to stick to it.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on 'Nothgard'?

There are several bands, which have had an influence on the music style, especially because they affected the guitar, bass and drum style, which our members have now and which are hearable in the music or rather songwriting. To mention some of those bands, there’s for example Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy, Ensiferum, Kalmah and many others.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

It depends. Most of our spare time we use to develop our skills on our instruments. Otherwise we like hanging around with friends, partying, listening to music, visit concerts. Also all of our members are busy with studying and working.. Random stuff ;)

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We want to thank EVERYONE out there who supports us and visits our shows. If you are interested in listening something new, fresh and powerful, you should definitely check out our new album „AGE OF PANDORA“, which will be released on the 12th of September 2014. We keep you updated on our social medias like facebook and also our official homepage. For those who can’t wait until September, we will release some snippets of the new stuff over the next weeks.

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Homepage
Myspace
Spotify
Twitter
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Monday, July 14, 2014

Nothgard Interview


1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the old album?

First of all we’ve had some changes concerning the line up. We’re now playing with three guitars as Skaahl from Wolfchant joined the band in 2012. We were also playing a lot of shows in Europe and took our time to write and prepare for the new album which was some intense and hard work.

2. In September you will release a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the new recording and also how does it differ from from the previous full length and demo you had released in the past?

There is definitely a big difference between „Warhorns Of Midgard“ and „Age of Pandora“.Soundwise, „Age of Pandora“ sounds way fresher, clearer and more powerful, but not just because of the three guitars. We have tried out a lot of stuff during the songwriting process and only took the best ideas which are hearable on the new album. The songs are more technical, include lot’s of powerful orchestral/symphonic elements and feel faster. Also we went more in the direction of epic melodic death metal on the new record.

3.Your lyrics cover some Pagan topics, can you tell us a little bit more about your views on Paganism?

As we´ve changed our musical style into Epic Melodic Death Metal, the new lyrics don´t include much concerning paganism. But there are topics which a influenced by nature and spiritual issues.

4.The band was originally known as Nordavind, what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nothgard'?

We’ve changed the band name into Nothgard as Nordavind was unfortunately already used several times by other bands. The name Nothgard refers to the word „nothgarde“, which also means striking out for a counter attack in sword combat.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

That’s a tough question. We’ve had some great shows in England where we’ve had fans singing along to every song, knowing all the lyrics and partying hard during the show. Shows in the Czech Republik are also always fun as the people are always having a big party. We also love playing festivals, where we get the chance to perform our songs to people that may have never heard about Nothgard before. The show we’ve had a few weeks ago at the „Runen der Nacht Festival“ has also been a blast!
In general it’s always a pleasure and a lot of fun for us, and that’s what we’re showing on stage during our shows. You can see that we enjoy being together on stage.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Yes! We are going to have a tour in September in Spain, which will be called „Black Clouds Over Iberia“. We also have plans for another tour, but right now we can’t tell you any information's about that ;)

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been so far to the newer music by reviewers of extreme metal?

Until now we haven’t received much feedback from reviewers, because the promotion has just begun, but what we have got by now was really good. For example, we received a very positive album preview in the German metal magazine „Legacy“ and in general a lot of positive feedback from the few other people who have heard the new stuff.

8.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Dom R. Crey has just joined Equilibrium and is currently playing some big shows with them. He is also a member of Wolfchant. Same goes for Vik S. and Skaahl. Wolfchant is currently recording their new album which will definitely be another killer release.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We definitely want to develop our self's and become more technical in the future. But right now, we’re very happy with the current music style and want to stick to it.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on 'Nothgard'?

There are several bands, which have had an influence on the music style, especially because they affected the guitar, bass and drum style, which our members have now and which are hearable in the music or rather songwriting. To mention some of those bands, there’s for example Children of Bodom and Arch Enemy but also Hard Rock, Folk and classical stuff.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

It depends. Most of our spare time we use to develop our skills on our instruments. Otherwise we like hanging around with friends, partying, listening to music, visit concerts. Also all of our members are busy with studying and working.. Random stuff ;)

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

We want to thank EVERYONE out there who supports us and visits our shows. If you are interested in listening something new, fresh and powerful, you should definitely check out our new album „AGE OF PANDORA“, which will be released on the 12th of September 2014. We keep you updated on our social medias like facebook and also our official homepage. For those who can’t wait until September, we will release some snippets of the new stuff over the next weeks.

Facebook
Homepage
Myspace
Spotify
Twitter
YouTube

Friday, July 11, 2014

Nothgard/Age Of Pandora/Trollzorn Records/2014 CD Review


  Nothgard  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  black,  death  and  folk  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Age  Of  Pandora"  which  was  released  by  Trollzorn  Records.

  Epic  sounding  synths  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  nature  sound s which  gives  the  music  a  feeling  of  a  fantasy  movie  soundtrack  and  after  awhile  spoken  word  samples  can  be  heard  briefly  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  more  heavy  and  melodic  black/death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growls,  screams  and  blast  beats.

  Synths  are  still  mixed  in  with  the  heavier  side  of  the  bands  musical  sound  and  they  bring  the  folk  metal  elements  to  the  music,  clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  have  a  pagan  metal  feeling  to  them  while  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  the band  use  are  a  lot  more  closer  to  traditional  and  power  metal.

  After  awhile  the  synths  bring  in  more  of  a  symphonic  side  to  the  bands  musical  style  which  they  also  mix  in  with  their  black  metal  influences  at  times  while  also  going  for  a  more  prog  style  of  synth  playing  on  some  of  the  later  songs  and  they  also b ring  in  a  brief  use  of  horror  movie  samples  on  one  of  the  tracks  and  throughout  the  recording  the  band  also  uses  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  last  track  sees  the  band  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  gutiars.

  Nothgard  create  some  very  interesting  music  that  combines  black,  melodic  death,  pagan,  symphonic  and  folk  metal  with  a  touch  of  prog  and  the  song s are  very  catchy  and  display  a  lot  of  talented  and  skilled  guitar  solos,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  paganism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nothgard  are  a  very  great  sounding  epic  mixture  of  black,  melodic  death,  pagan,  and  folk  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Of  Light  And  Shadow"  "Black  Witch  Venture"  "Wings  Of  Dawn"  and  "No  One  Holds  the  Crown".  8  out  of  10.