Funeris Nocturnum (6/2000)

Funeris Nocturnum is a promising new Finnish Black Metal band. The fast, satanic, tecnical and very intense black metal they played on their demo "Slay and Burn" impressed me and so I decided to ask the band some questions right before their debut album is released.

Hail Funeris Nocturnum! Who is answering this interview? Tell us a bit about the history of the band, when was it formed and why? Where did you come up with the name?
This is Torment answering. Funeris Nocturnum was formed in 1998 by me and our former guitarist Grimort to spread the wisdom of Satan. Funeris Nocturnum is just a name of our band, and there is no special meaning behind it.

You recently got a deal with Woodcut records. Are you happy with the deal you got?
Yeah, we are "happy" with it at the moment, but let's see what happens in the future.

Your debut full-length "Pure Satanic Blasphemy" should soon be released. I have only heard the samples you have on homepage so far, and I have to say it sounds very brutal and promising. Are you pleased with the way the album turned out? Where did you record it and what made you choose that name for it?
It should be out within this month. We recorded it in Watercastle studios, here in Jyväskylä. It's good but i think you can't ever be too satisfied with your own recordings. Pure Satanic Blasphemy is a title that tells everything about the album and that's why we chose it. It was also inspired by the review of our demo in this site.

Have you started planning your second album yet?
It will be faster, more technical and more brutal but still black metal. No fucking space metal. But no special plans at the moment...

Your demo "Slay and Burn" was a real masterpiece for a demo. The atmosphere was really satanic and intense, and reminded me a lot of Dark Funeral. I suppose Dark Funeral has been a great source of inspiration to you, what other bands could you name that have inspired your music.  Also, how long have you been into black metal, is it the only music you listen to?
Thank you.
You are right, we have been influenced by Dark Funeral, but in our music you can also hear some influences from bands like Marduk, (old) Emperor , (old) Mayhem etc.
In my opinion our debut album also sounds a little bit like Limbonic Art's newest album.
We have all been into metal music for years. I listen to all kinds of metal, not only black metal.

You have most of the songs from your demo on "Pure Satanic Blasphemy" except "United By Darkness". What made you decide to leave it out from the album?
It was the first song we ever made.It doesn't fit our style as well as the other three songs we re-recorded to the album. That is the main reason behind it.

Your music is very technical, and you use some keyboards too. It seems to me that bands like this sell more than bands that play their music in a very primitive way. Do you want to remain underground and leave you music to dedicated people only, or are you looking for spreading your message to as many people as possible?
Yes, the music is somewhat technical, but that comes naturally due to the the fact that we have highly skilled musicians in the band. The songs are not composed to be technical, they just turn out that way. And yes, we do use synths, but they do not have a dominant role in our music. We do our music like this because we want to, and everything else means no fuck to me. I don't care who buys our album, is it a "true" black metal guy or is it just a "poser", because that's not my problem. What comes to that "spreading your message" thing...  Dedicated people already know what black metal is about, so i don't see nothing bad in it if some "new" guy buys our album and finds the spirit of black metal at that moment. 90 % of those guys who preach about "how fucking true we are,we are so fucking underground and everybody else is just a trendy shit fucking posers" have just read too much interviews with Euronymous and are just copying everything what Euronymous has said and done to be more TRUE, and 10 % of them might really have some own opinions. Times have changed and black metal is a fucking big trend these days and that pisses me off sometimes, but what can one do about it?
Absolutely nothing!

I heard Grimort left the band. Why? Have you been able to find a new guitarist to replace him yet?
He left because of personal and musical reasons. I think he's now playing bass in Alghazanth. We have found a new guitarist.

You had one song, "Seitsemäs Portti", on your demo with lyrics in Finnish and there seems to be a new song on your forthcoming album with a Finnish title, "Kuolontoive". I personally like Finnish lyrics in black metal very much, but what about you, will there be more Finnish in your songs in the future?
Actually, there are 2 ½ songs with Finnish lyrics on that album. It's easier to me write lyrics in Finnish because it's my mother tongue. But i'm not too good writer anyway.
It's too early to say anything about the lyrics of the next album.

How important do you consider the lyrics to be? Your lyrics seem to be very satanic, aggressive and anti-christian. Is this something you do just because it belongs to black metal or is there some kind of real feelings, thoughts,ideology or even religion behind it?
The lyrics are important, and the lyrics I write come straight from my personal hate against the church, life and feeble christianity, and that hate grows day by day. There is also some religious things behind them of which I don't want to talk about. And satanic lyrics belong to black metal, there's no doubt about that.

Is playing black metal the best way for you to act against Christianity or are you ready to go even further in this?
Politics would be the best way to act against christianity but who wants these kind of guys to government?
So black metal is the best way for me.

Any opinions about national socialist black metal, it seems to be a big trend in the underground right now...
That doesn't bother me at all.
Bands do what they want to do, but I don't do it.
That is all I have to say about it.

What about these band who play music that sounds like black metal but have Christian lyrics? Should some actions be taken against them?
That kind of music makes me laugh everytime I hear it, but a massmurder would be a good idea.
So be my guest and do it.
I'm too lazy to do it because there is so many christian metal bands.
but if someone can give me nuclear weapons i can do it because then it would be very easy.

Lots of BM bands, especially in Norway, have started going into more experimental forms of music. For example Mayhem and Dodheimsgard have changed alot lately. Your music doesn't seem to be very experimental at all, how do you feel about this kind of progress in black metal. Can these bands be considered black metal at all anymore?
That fucking sucks! It really pisses me off.
I don't understand why black metal has to be so fucking "MODERN!!" nowadays.

What about the Finnish black metal scene? We have a lot of great bands like Warloghe, Thyrane and Clandestine Blaze here. Are there any bands you feel especially close to or any bands you would like to have gigs with more than others?
There is many good bands in Finnish BM scene.
I don't know..
There is some plans to play some gigs with a band called Gramary and there have been also some plans to do gigs with Thyrane.
It would be a great pleasure to play some gigs with Enochian Crescent, but i have heard that they won't do any live gigs.

I haven't had the chance to see you live yet, but you have had some gigs already. What have your gigs been like and have you received much feedback from them. How important has it been for you to perform live?
Well we have only played live twice and I can't say much about those gigs, because I was a little bit drunk. Maybe you should ask the audience what they think about it?
Yes we have received some feedback and it has been mostly positive but there is always some people who don't like it.

What about vinyls. It seems to be quite usual that a black metal band releases some of their stuff on vinyl too. Have you been planning on releasing maybe a limited edition 7"ep or something like that?
I would like to release some stuff on vinyl, but it actually depends totally on Woodcut Records.
If they wan't to release our album on vinyl then it will be released, otherwise no.
But we'll see what happens....

Do you have any other bands, any side projects or something you play in apart from Funeris Nocturnum?
Yes we have.
Horgath is playing bass in his second band called Gold Dust, I'm growling in a melodic DM band called Enter My Silence, Draco have his own band called Random, Ruho plays various instruments in various bands and orchestras, and our new guitarist plays also in heavy metal band called Machine Men and action rock band called Palmcut.
So we are kind of busy with different bands.

Any final words, anything else I should have asked? Thanks for the interview.
?????

Thanks to yourself.

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For more info about Funeris Nocturnum, check out their Homepage.

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