1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Since recording the new album, we have continued playing live in as many places as we can. The band has been playing material from "Two Carrion Talismans" live since about 2013 and overtime we've been filling our setlist with more material from this album. We are also constantly writing new music and becoming more obsessed with our current vision of where the band is going. Our second guitarist, Colton, joined the band in early 2016 and has added a lot to the current music we're working on.
2.You have a new album coming out in September, what are some of the things you feel you have done differently with this recording that you where not able to do with your previous release?
The first thing anyone would notice is that we have a real drummer now. Ryan has been a part of our history since we started, but unfortunately he wasn't a part of the band during the recording of our first album. He rejoined in 2013 and we haven't looked back since. We immediately began crafting the intense and hateful hymns that would end up on "Two Carrion Talismans," it was a great time creatively and I am proud of how truly unique and dark this album is. We wanted to create the most angry, and villainous album we possibly could, and I think we achieved it.
3.This is your first album since 2014, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time span?
Mostly what I explained above. Working on the music that would become "Two Carrion Talismans" and playing across the midwestern United States. We finished writing the music of "TCT" in 2015 and went into the studio early November of that year. The album took about a year to record, and about a year after that to get it out of the engineers hands and into the right hands to be mixed and mastered by our friend Dan Klein at Iron Hand Audio. We started talking to Blood Harvest Records about releasing the album at the end 2017, and here we are today. Unfortunately, life is tedious, and goals often take longer to achieve if you want to do them the right way. Nonetheless, Im confident that you wont have to wait another 4 years for the next Valdrin release.
4.The lyrics on the new recording are a concept album, can you tell us a little bit more about the story that was covered on this release?
All of our music is conceptual and part of the Ausadjur Mythos. The story's protagonist, Valdrin Ausadjur, is the root of which the whole story is based upon. "Beyond The Forest" (our debut album) was the beginning of his story, which will most likely be a trilogy of albums. "Two Carrion Talismans" is a prequel to the events of that album, and is the only album we will create that is solely dedicated to the Antagonist, Nex Animus. This story begins at the end of his earthly life, in a prehistoric period of mankind, and his post-mortal creation of the dark netherworld known as the Orcus, where the events of "Beyond The Forest" later take place. Without revealing too much, I will say that this story accounts for centuries of rule over the Orcus, and the journey to his enlightenment, where he discovers a way to create armageddon and survive it. What ends up taking place on "Beyond The Forest" is a result of this conspiracy, and it leads to Nex being able to destroy the triad of worlds in which Earth is the fulcrum and escape into the universe. Valdrin - the pawn for his scheme - escapes as well. One day we'll see what happens next.
5.Your lyrics also have a lot of occult themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in Occultism?
We all have an interest in the Occult to varying degrees. However, I want to stress that we are not an occult band. Our music is a story, a concept, a mythology of our own creation. The 'Ausadjur Mythos' is informed by many ancient religions, mythologies, occult practices and basically is a synthesis of all spiritual concepts from the past, and sees humans as the creators of this spiritual energy. The afterworlds we've created: The Aurae (the light world) and The Orcus (the dark world) are channelled through a conduit within mankind that we call The Spirit Genome. This is more or less the DNA of the soul, that was created in prehistoric times from a great conflict that we call 'Junnatox'.
These are examples of how our music might appear occult, but it isn't. We aren't giving guides to esoteric rituals or anything like that, we are entirely based within our own concept.
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Valdrin'?
It has no inherit meaning. We thought we made the name up, but it turns out its an Albanian name commonly used for both men and women. It translates to something like 'wave.' But it is simply the name of our protagonist, and any other connections could only have been made after the fact. His surname, Ausadjur, is where all the meaning lies.
7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is on the album cover?
The album cover features the antagonist, Nex Animus. What you see on the cover is a concept of duality. In this instance it is the perceived self, and the actual self. It represents what we consider to be the archetypes of all villainous, antagonist characters. In the foreground, you see a haggard, feeble old man who bares the scars from his past and his own inner anguish, but in the reflection you see a grandiose evil tyrant, who exists only to conquer and destroy. This is the dichotomy of evil: that which is made into evil through a real or perceived injustice, and that which is purely evil and wishes to destroy for no reason but to create suffering. The concept of duality is also reflected in the album title, "Two Carrion Talismans." These talismans are in the eyes of the Ausadjur sword on the cover.
The artwork was done by an amazing artist and friend named Lucas Ruigerri and he did an amazing job at bringing this concept to life.
8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We've enjoyed them all in different ways. Some that stick out are when we played with Zemial in Lexington, KY or the two times we've shared the stage with Incantation in our hometown of Cincinnati. Taking part in the Blood Of The Wolf festivals I-III in Lexington (put on by our allies in Tombstalker and the Wolven Brotherhood) were all great moments. Playing in cities like Richmond, VA, and Philadelphia, PA we're also very rewarding experiences. We'll play anywhere that wants us. We hope to play more across the US and hopefully in Europe in the future.
9.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We definitely have plans to play in as many cities as possible once the album is released. When we have our copies, we'll hit the road and see what happens.
10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and death metal?
Its been great, honestly. Sometimes people aren't sure wether to call us black metal or death metal, and that is interesting to watch what people label us. Nonetheless, there seems to be people out there who are really catching on to what we are doing, and some of these people are reading into the lyrics and the story, and getting very into the concept. This is the greatest reward we could ever receive. It doesn't matter if its 10 fans or 10,000.....if someone gets it, then we don't feel entirely alone. Our music, after-all, is a complete escape from this garbage world, and is a way for us to create a place to inhabit that is infinitely more interesting than this boring place we've been born into.
11.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?
Colton's band Lucis Absentia are currently on hiatus from playing live. I believe they'll be back one day and they'll continue making great metal music. They recently released a full length album called "Gehenna Gate" and its doing very well. I did a demo with a close friend of mine around 2016 with a band called Grim Feast. The demo did well and garnered some good press. Its mostly a project though, maybe one day we'll do an album. Ryan composes a lot of music on his own time for himself, and so does James. For the moment though, we've all had a tunnel vision focus on our current direction with this. Every member has contributed greatly to what is coming in the future.
12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I see the music getting a lot darker and more haunting. The new songs reflect a lot of hatred, fear, misanthropy, and terrifying visions from nightmares. I don't want to give any information on where the story is going, but I will say that this will be the music of bloodred nightmares and haunting, isolated torture.
13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Some of the bands/musicians that influenced us to find our own identity were stuff like: Bathory, Peste Noire, Dissection, The Chasm, Xasthur Leviathan, Mutiilation, Morbid Angel, Windir, Manes, Order From Chaos, as well as the compositions of Nobuo Uematsu. Nowadays I've been listening to a lot of different stuff like Abigor, Katharsis, Dawn, Endless Dismal Moan, Judas Iscariot, Thergothon, Lycia, Belketre. As far as new bands, I've been obsessed with some of the current black metal coming from Sweden, stuff like Azelisassath, Grav, Ganipahalan, Beketh Nexehmu and more.
14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interview! We appreciate everyone's support for our music worldwide. Hope you all enjoy "Two Carrion Talismans."
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