1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Sure thing! This is Kjell-Ivar speaking btw!The origin can be traced back to late 1995 when Eddie (guitar,vocals) and I (bass) figured out that we should start a band just for the hell of it. There were no plans or clear visions behind it other than to drink Vargtass and have fun. We chose the name 'Permafrost' as it was the coldest and grimmest name we could think of.
Later on, Øyvind joined on keyboards and we took a more symphonic direction and also changed name to 'Ancestral Legacy'. People came and went but the core of the three of us remained. Little other than a few demos happened so we left the band for dead in the early 2000's. Eddie continued with an entire new crew in a bit different direction and kept the name 'Ancestral Legacy'.
10 years or so later the three of us once more found ourselves playing and enjoying it again and here we are with our second album after the reformation.
2.You have a new album coming out in June, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
I would say the sound is quite similar as it is still the same receipt we used on the previous album. Once again we left the mix and mastering in the hands of Dan Swanö. He has been one of the most important persons for the band. First as a huge source of inspiration when we started out in the 90's and now as the man making sure we sound like we know what the hell we are doing.
When it comes to the songwriting I think we have matured a bit in the sense that the atmosphere and melodies are even stronger now. I am also very pleased withe the vocal arrangements on this album. We worked really hard on those and it was worth going the extra mile.
3.This is the first album to be released since 2011, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time span?
We've been to hell and back!
We started the work on 'Over The Past' late 2012 and then the misfortunes came hurdling against us. In that time all three of us have been hospitalized with different crap. Car accidents, cancer, fractures, emergency eye surgery, stroke, etc.. but we made it through and the result is 'Over The Past'. A quite fitting album title, don't you think?
4.The band members have all worked with each other in 'Permafrost' and 'Ancestral Legacy', what was the decision behind leaving those groups and starting a new band?As I mentioned in the introduction it's more of an evolution than bands left behind. We're the same people and we're still both 'Permafrost' and *Ancestral Legacy' but those names are occupied by others today .
5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
We have a little of this and a little of that since we sometimes use lyrics from other masters in addition to those we write ourselves. The common ground for all the lyrics we use is the sense of despair, hopelessness and darkness of different kinds. It may be dark moments in the history (ex 'Angelmaker') or the inner darkness that we all carry and feel(ex 'Into The Eternal Pits Of Nothingness')
When I write lyrics I usually try to express the feelings I get and describe the images I see when listening to the music. It's some sort of a narrative in a way.
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Legacy Of Emptiness'?
It's the link between then and now. When we picked up the tread again in 2010 it was more meant as an isolated thing were the plan was to re-work and record our best moments from back in the days. Most of the songs were on the the Ancestral Legacy - demo 'Emptiness' and therefor the name 'Legacy of Emptiness'.
In addition to tell its own story the name also reflects the music very well in my opinion.
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?Easy question. The short story is; we don't play live. In this business one should never say never but I don't see LOE take to the stages in any foreseeable future due to several reasons. As a 3-piece we would have to have loads of music on tape or hire a bunch of other musicians to make it sound right. Either way feels wrong so we'll probably continue composing music with no regard to playing it live. In this way we don't have any limitations in the composing and can do exactly what we feel like.
8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
See previous answer.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of symphonic black metal?
The feedback has been overwhelmingly good. We get lot's of messages, and comments from people about how much they like this and that song. Narcissic as we are we read and absorb every comment of that kind.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?There are some ideas floating around for a next release but it's to early to say if it's going to be an EP or an album. We still have a couple of hidden treasures from the 90's that might be cleaned up a bit and presented for the public. Anyways, the creativity is flowing pretty good again so hopefully it won't tak 6 years until next time.
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?
As one that grew up in the 80's it's impossible not to mention the classics as Maiden, Manowar, Helloween and Twisted Sister but as I evolved I discovered something far more aggressive and sinister and found myself with tapes of Slayer, Sepultura and Deicide.
But the bands that have influenced our sound the most came from the Swedish melodic DM-scene. Edge of Sanity, early In Flames, Flegma, Unanimated, At the Gates, Dissection and the list goes on..
I still listen a lot to all of the above but I really like discovering new music. The new wave of classic heavy metal has much interesting going on with bands like 'Eternal Champion' and 'Witchtower'. I also listen qute a bit to funeral doom these days so here's a shout out to the labelmates in 'Frowning'.
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I do quite a bit of fishing. I prefer fly-fishing but anything goes really. Hiking in the woods and mountains never gets old.
I also do a lot of geeky stuff like cardgames and miniature wargaming. Whatever keeps you sane, right?
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Support the underground! Without a living underground we're left with soulless glossy products aimed for mass consumption. Support the small and independent labels! They are the blood of our scene and keep the physical formats alive.
facebook.com/legacyofemptiness
Order/Stream New Album:
legacyofemptinessblacklion.ban dcamp.com/album/over-the-past
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