1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the musical project since the recording and release of the new album?
Nightmare: First off, I just want to say thank you very much for the wonderful album review and interview. It means a lot to me and I'm grateful that my music can be heard and appreciated for what it is. Since the Album release last month, I've been keeping very busy musically. Currently im working on 3 projects. One is the re-release of my first EP from 2016 entitled '6EQUJ5' I was always very unhappy with that release in terms of sound, quality and even timing. So I’ve re-recorded it from start to finish, it sounds 100% better and im hoping to bring it a new life very soon. Also, Im working on a collaboration project with a good friend of mine from Slovenia, Denis Mocnik. His band is "Return to the Void" and it will be a depressive black metal / Doom style album. Its already sounding great. He's a fantastic vocalist and drummer and we're very excited to put that together and release it. Lastly, I’m working on the 4th full-length BlackEternal album Entitled "Encounters II: Aftermath" this album I’m extremely excited about. It will pick up where my first full length album "Encounters" from 2019 left off. I'm already writing and composing the music and working with my actors to bring the story to life.
2. Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ form the stuff you have released in the past?
Nightmare: "The Oakenford Chronicles" is different from my previous releases in terms of production. I had very little resources when it came to studio gear and software on my previous albums. I now have a professional grade home studio and musically the mixes are sounding much better than before. Also "The Oakenford Chronicles" has been my longest album as far as total running time and story. There's ALOT of music as well as tons of story line and voice acting. Overall, it was just a very big album to produce and it took over a year to put together. I believe this is my best and most ambitious work to date.
3. On your last 2 albums you have a concept story that has been a part of 2 albums, can you tell us a little bit more about the songwriting on the last couple of releases?
Nightmare: The song writing for BlackEternal to me has always been about my characters. Along with the symphonic black metal aspect of my music, the characters and the actors who play them are just as important to me. Every one of my albums has main characters, supporting characters and even extras who play small roles within the story. I hire professional actors to play these characters and they do an amazing job. When I sit down to write a BlackEternal album, i always think of Characters then the setting and then very difficult horror-infused situations for them. Whether it be paranormal, hauntings or alien abductions I try to write realistic characters that listeners can relate to. Once i have my characters in mind and the terrible situations i want to put them in, the music and compositions and sound profiles come shortly after. I use the emotions a character would be feeling to write the song that is revolved around them. It all comes and meshes together very well as part of a single narrative.
4. So far all of your releases have been concept albums, is this something that will also continue on future releases?
Nightmare: Absolutely. When i was a little kid, even before my teenage years i was always fascinated with horror movies, paranormal topics, ufology, and of course heavy metal. I even wrote short horror stories as a hobby back then. One thing i wanted to do was merge together all my favorite subjects. Hence BlackEternal was born. I fully understand that the metal genre is no stranger to horror, but i wanted to do something unique and different. Something that had never been done before. I wanted to bring the aspect of deep storytelling, character development and even character drama to my music. Which is why there are audio-book style tracks on my albums in between songs at times and sometimes even during the music tracks themselves. To me, it’s all about giving the listener a movie-like experience, my goal is to suck the listener right into the story and have them be on the journey along with the characters within the album. Which is why all my albums will be concept albums.
5. You have also covered a good amount of occult and alien themes with your lyrics, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?
Nightmare: For some reason that I cannot readily explain, I've always been drawn to Horror. Horror movies, The paranormal, Ufology and the darker subjects. I even played horror-style video games like Doom, Resident Evil, Castlevania and Ghouls and Ghosts as a teenager. Even as a kid in elementary school in the early 80's i was known for this. That 'weirdo kid' who was always talking about aliens or ghosts to the rest of the class. I grew up watching horror movies and documentaries about hauntings and alien abductions, so it was something that’s always stuck with me. It feels like home, it’s where i feel comfortable and happy. That being said, writing Horror stories and characters for BlackEternal albums comes very naturally to me.
6. A lot of your music is also heavily influenced by horror movies, which films have had the biggest on your music and songwriting?
Nightmare: Well, I'm an 80's kid. So naturally I love all the older horror flicks. It’s what i grew up on. I’m a huge fan of the Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento and the Italian horror flicks just as much as i love the original Romero Zombie flicks from the 60's 70' and 80's. Let’s not forget the good old American Slasher flicks like Friday the 13th and Halloween and Texas chainsaw. I'm also a huge fan of Vincent Price and his work along with the British Hammer Horror flicks from the 60' and 70's. I'm not very fond of the newer horror flicks, but i do watch them occasionally. Personally, i stick with the oldies.
7. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Nightmare: Great question! With all of my album covers, I try and capture what the album is about. It’s hard to do that with a single picture in most cases, but i certainly try. For "The Oakenford Chronicles" album cover we see our main protagonist "Tiffany Morgan" as she’s sitting in her wheel chair in the hallway of the mental asylum. Clearly she's losing her mind. Around her we can see the personification of the demons haunting her which are the arms coming at her from all sides. Behind her through the windows we see our main antagonist "Sylvanis Throne" getting closer. In the foreground we see a wheelchair. This is to represent her physical vulnerably as she was left paralyzed from the demonic attack at the very end of the previous album “Darkness Embrace”
8. With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
Nightmare: Like many metal heads, I was in dozens of different metal bands growing up. I played guitar for some bands, bass for other bands, drums, and sometimes even just vocals. It was always fun to play gigs with friends and write music together and have practice sessions, But I'm older now and I’m at a point in my life where playing live and band practice is no longer important to me. I much prefer working, writing and composing my music alone late at night in my home studio. It’s a much more peaceful experience for me and i don’t have to edit my thoughts to match anyone else's vision. I can write my characters and compose in peace and not have to run my ideas by anyone. I much prefer working alone and it will always be that way going forward. I absolutely enjoy collaborating with other musicians on their projects, but as far as BlackEternal goes, this will always be a one-man-band.
9. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of symphonic black metal?
Nightmare: This is a Fantastic question! I'm going to be openly honest and completely transparent with you. I'm very shocked by the reception of my music. I’m truly very shocked and surprised because the reception has been mostly positive! I say this for a few different reasons. I'm an old man, and I've been into metal since i could walk, I've been to a thousand metal shows and I’m well aware of how the 'scene' can be. Some readers may not like my answer, but as i said before. I'll be totally honest here and i mean this with no disrespect to anyone, but at times the metal community can be slightly judgmental. Especially in black metal. If you don’t sound like "True Norwegian Christ-raping black metal" like mayhem did in the 90's or if you don’t spew lyrics about Satan and church burning and sacrifices or look like Gorgoroth with corpse paint and blood, some fans tend to tune you out and not give the music a chance. Especially for black metal that comes from the US. I grew up with that style of black metal, so don’t get me wrong, i love it as well. But it’s not what BlackEternal is trying to be and i think people are starting to realize that. That being said, amazingly, the reception has been very positive and very encouraging. I've received some fantastic reviews from some great metal sites and also some amazing fan emails who appreciate what I’m doing. Generally, my music and cinematic style has been very well-received and it’s honestly been a shock to me. When I first started this, I was positive that everyone would hate it, but I didn’t let it discourage me and I kept doing what I wanted to do. I never set out to do anything to "fit in" with "the norm" even in black metal, so the fact that people actually enjoy what I’m doing as different as it is, has been truly amazing to me.
10. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
Nightmare: That is correct. To date, all of my productions and releases have come out of pocket. Luckily, being a systems engineer for an IT company, I’m good with computers. I'm good with Photoshop and video editing, so i put together all my own album covers and album trailers, teasers, videos and productions. I would absolutely LOVE to have interest from a label who believes in what I’m doing with black metal. Having backing by a well-known metal label would be a dream come true for me. I've received some interest, but not from any legitimate labels. Mostly people just looking for money upfront unfortunately. I'm usually put off by that because if a label truly believes in what you're doing, they will back YOU and not the other way around. I’m not very good at "selling" if you will, so i haven’t put myself out there in terms of pitching my music to any major labels or mass emailing every label that i can find. I just don’t do those things. That being said, I'm hoping one day the "right person" listens to one of my albums and happens to be from a label. That would be a dream come true for me.
11. Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
Nightmare: To be honest, BlackEternal for me right now is simply a hobby that I use to express myself creatively. Also as a bit of stress relief at the end of a long day. I work full time in the IT field, I’m a professional mixed martial artist and a full time father to a wonderful 5 year old. My days are mostly very busy, so typically, i only get into the studio late at night once all the responsibilities of the day are over with. I just want to continue to do what i love doing. If my music can reach any type of success, that would be truly amazing, but if not i will still continue to write my albums and tell my stories with my characters and actors.
12. What are you listening to nowadays?
Nightmare: Actually, I’m glad you asked. I listen to a bit of everything. I'm very diverse when it comes to music. I mostly listen to heavy metal of course. Death metal, Black metal, Thrash metal, but i love all types of music. From the Classic rock of the 70's, to 80's hair metal, to Credence Clearwater Revival, to the Beatles, to Queen, to 90's grudge to hardcore punk, I even like the occasional country or rap song. I even listen to softer indie music like "Calamine" I absolutely love Julie Stepanek's voice and their music is so peaceful to me. Most would say this is uncharacteristic for a black metal musician, but much like Martial Arts, Sticking to ONE genre or ONE style of anything is like a prison to your mind and keeps your inner skills trapped. Especially when it comes to music.
13. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Nightmare: Yes. There are just a couple of things I’d like to say to wrap things up. First and foremost I want to give a big THANK YOU to anyone who has already listened to "The Oakenford Chronicles" or anyone who will read this interview and go listen to the album. The listens and streams and album purchases mean so much to me. Secondly, I want to thank the actors who played the main characters in the story. Kim Reiko, Tiffany Clare and Julian Illman all put forward wonderful performances on the album and im very proud of their work. Without my actors and characters my albums are nothing. Also, If anyone wants to download the album but is having financial hardship due to this pandemic. Please email me directly at Corpsegrinder01@yahoo.com and I will personally send you a free download code. Lastly, I want to thank A Different Shade of Black Metal Zine for the great album review and for this interview! Its been fun. Thank you all and stay tuned for new material coming soon!
-Nightmare-
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