Kultika Interview

 

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

Like many other bands we were making touring plans to promote the new album, when this pandemic hit; we were just planning to start the whole production for the live sessions. Unfortunately now everything is frozen and we await proper times to do that.

Having this free time and the work done for the recordings, we concentrated on other musical projects because in Kultika we need a lot more time to develop new ideas and we are kind of drain out at this point after working on “Capricorn Wolves” for so many years, so we need some time before we return to the composition phase, we need to absorb new energies to be able to create something worthily.

2.In 2021 you have a new album coming out, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

We worked for about six years to complete this full-length, and it wasn’t easy, many times we scraped entire projects, because we didn’t liked the results, so all the emotions in the end are encapsulated in this result.

It contains similar aesthetics to our previous releases like sludge, black and post elements but it has also many new influences, there are three new members in the band and they have a more technical approach and background, they are highly skilled and they know very well to play their instruments. So we could expand this time the environment into a more progressive and 70’s psychedelic direction, resulting a sound very hard to integrate in a certain genre, hermetic in its own ranks.

3.This is also your first full length since 2013, other than an ep and a single can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?

We concentrated a lot on playing live, at least until 2016, when we realized we kind of neglected the composition aspect, doing little progress in that direction. We also had various line-up changes based on different reasons, so we had to do many rehearsals to integrate the new comers and also there were some collaborations that didn’t go as planned, resulting in losing a lot of time and frustration.

But since 2017 when we welcomed Sergiu Nadaban on drums and Marcel Iovanov on bass, things progressed a lot faster, even if we didn’t play live as much as we would have wanted, they were very serious on putting out this album, and it was a new energy and progress, Sergiu is also a producer and has his own studio and is musically trained, so with all the ideas and the preproduction we did, it was very helpful for the final results.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music and also how would you describe your progress as songwriters over the years?

We see an album like Haruki Murakami said in one of his books, as a declaration of art and a way of life, it is a conceptual journey. An album for us means, to stay with the booklet in front of you and to listen the music and read the lyrics, to connect with the whole experience.

With this thing in mind we composed this album also.

The lyrical theme is somehow changed but the background is logically the same, because the authors are the same, so we cannot betray our views.

On “The strange Innerdweller” it was more a narrative story based on questions upon religion and personal experiences. This time we went into a more abstract and philosophical territory, about the  simulation of life, what is tangible and what in eerie, the concept of measuring and relating to time and collective conscience.

The progress in songwriting we see it as a new development without any external scope, on the previous materials we all the time had the live component in mind, to have catchy riffs, to have a certain atmosphere and not to complicate and do too many odd time signatures. This time we had this rather distant approach from the listener and effectively related only on our own tastes and it is made primarily for us. At the end of the process we think the songs have a superior quality and musicianship as a result of this initial relaxed approach, yes maybe it’s an album made more for musicians than the general public, but it is what it is and we are very proud of the general result.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Kultika'?

The origin is in the book “The sacred and profane” from Mircea Eliade, it was a synthesis made by our initial drummer, Tammuz; in the beginning when we started rehearsing for this project around 2008, we were playing a sludgy raw black metal with some old school 80’s influences, and this name suited very well that environment. But you know in time the name picked all kind of new symbols. I remember amused when we released the first album, people writing on internet that we ripped this name from Cult of Luna, forgetting about our initial EP “Kultika” from 2009, in the style of early Samael, Beherit, early Katatonia mixed with Sodom and Hellhammer/Celtic Frost  worship; it was quite an odd and laughable idea, but we learned to live with everyone’s opinion, it is (still) a free world in some degrees of politically correctness so we don’t have a problem with this, nowadays everyone has an opinion about everything and can write about this online and became an “influencer” in 10 minutes.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

The artwork it is made by our long time collaborator and friend, Alexandru Das, and depicts the two elements: “Capricorn” as an astral and spiritual part, an annual renewal constellation at the end of time, and the “Wolves” that impersonate the world and society we live in, that dictates everything like in a dystopia: moral conventions, religion, food, technology…altering the ancestral purity of the soul and the primordial freedom of the people, handcuffing in something foreseeable, under order and predictable. It supports the central theme of this album and honestly when we received the printed booklets it looks amazing on paper!

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

Maybe the best one was when we released “The Strange Innerdweeler”, in most cases the home concerts are the most enjoying ones, you are with your friends, everybody comes to support you, it’s like a big cozy party… it was a memorable night, with special guests and a String Quartet playing with us, we also had a new visual concept, lights…everything connected to one big production, and the results were very professional and it was the first time for us doing that.

Other than that there were other super experiences on some festivals like Rockstadt Extreme Fest and in major clubs from Bucharest… I don’t know why we concentrated over the years to play more in Romania than starting tours abroad, maybe we were comfortable in a gang of friends like Cap de Craniu, Fjord, Negura Bunget, The Thirteenth Sun, Valerinne and played with them most of the time.

8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, sludge and post metal?

The first album was very well received getting coverage and good press from prestigious publications like Metal Injection, Hammer, Legacy or Metalsucks, but you know if you don’t support this with investments in buying touring slots with European and US coverage to make a name also for the booking agencies and to be in attention of the major labels, to enter in this environment and to have all the right connections, things move very slowly for a small band from the Eastern Europe…the energy of the fans and great enthusiasm we learned it is not enough, on the long run underground is all you can do, and we are pretty normal individuals with jobs, families, dogs and cats…so we decided to stick in making music only as a hobby, professional one with all the tool but at an amateurish level for our souls then for our pockets; so basically as a review stated once, we are a “hidden treasure buried in the underground” , some find us and enjoy it others don’t.

9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Fulmineos:

– Ordinul Negru (occult black metal): released in 2020 a new EP entitled “Nebuisa”, with great response from the underground community and coming up with a new conceptual EP in 2021.

- Katharos XIII (doom dark jazz): preparing to release a new album for 2021, as a follow up for the highly praised third album “Palindrome” and the expectations are high for this one.

 - Argus Megere (atmospheric black metal): started recording the fifth album, to be completed in 2022.

Jack Popescu

 – moved to France last year and started some collaborations in a new environment but nothing fulfilled until now with new discography.

Sergiu Nadaban 

– Sur Austru (atmospheric folk death metal): to release in 2021 the new album: entitled “Obarsie”.

Marcel Iovanov 

– playes mostly live with some local bands, but in this times when everything is closed his activity shrieked a lot

Marius Muntean:

 – Black Water (synth pop ambient): managed to release a new material in 2020 entitled “Hollow” and even played some shows in these crazy times.

- The Thirteenth Sun (atmospheric progressive metal): started composing a follow up after their highly acclaimed debut album “Stardust” from 2017.

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

Playing live as much as it will possible and in a few years we will start composing new music, but we won’t assault the world with big tours and became famous, because we are quite realistic about the musical environment we live in, we understood many years ago what it takes to be a professional musician and band, and we don’t fit in that category.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We listen very diverse music, but somehow intersect in some points in styles related to the band: Pink Floyd, Steven Wilson, Deafheaven, Opeth, Neurosis, Katatonia,  Mastodon, Intronaut, The Ocean, Karnivool, Devin Townsend, Tesseract or Monuments. 

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

Thank you very much for this opportunity to present our work and all the best!

https://youtu.be/0TKWKjA19z8