Interview with black death metal band from United Kingdom - LVCIFYRE.
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
https://www.deadlystormzine.com/2021/09/recenzereview-lvcifyre-broken-seal-2021.html
Ave LVCIFYRE! Greetings to the British underworld. About two months ago, I received your new „The Broken Seal“ and I must say that it completely engulfed me. The recording has an incredibly captivating atmosphere. You come up with a full-length album after seven long years. Why did it take you so long? The novelty seems even darker and colder than the previous „Svn Eater“, was that the purpose?
I like setting aside time to properly focus on creating, regardless of project I’m involved in. Lvcifyre is an extremely demanding band – and in addition to writing this monstrous music which can literally eat your heart out, I always spend as long as needed to ensure the final form is as it should be, without rushing. These days the world is flooded with less substantial acts that are no more than a copy of something already established years ago; perhaps it is easier to draw a thick line between the art and the fascination, if that makes any sense. Don’t forget that within these 7 years we also released a mini album (‘Sacrament’), and with that in mind I believe we did just fine.
When I listen to „The Broken Seal“, I feel like I'm in an old occult session. Once upon a time I experienced one here in the Czech Republic and I always remember it at while I am listening the record. I was a child and it left a mark on me for the rest of my life. Sound contributes a lot to the atmosphere. It is mysterious, dark, cold and at the same time glowing from the inside. Who is signed under the mix, mastering? How did you feel about going to the studio?
Lvcifyre is everything that you have pointed out and more; it is my church, my soul does rest in Lvcifyre’s chaotic realm. It’s about bringing nightside energies into this world whenever you play it, it’s serving as gateways. Absolutely great to know that you were having flashbacks to spiritual sessions while listening to the album – it sounds like the album does deliver on what it was designed to do. The mix was done by our friend Stefano Santi, a very skilful sound engineer. Stefano has long since become our live sound man and it felt pretty natural to record the album with him. He gave us literally everything we asked for during the session, we were very comfortable working with him.
LVCIFYRE music can be defined as a combination of black metal and death. Personally, I would add a little doom metal. You have a unique signature, riffs that no one else plays, or at least not in that way. You are very original to me. How does LVCIFYRE create new music? I would be interested in the process of creating a new song. Could you somehow define why you are different, recognizable?
As a human being I’m bound to the same standard tools as everyone else who is involved in Death and Black Metal Art. It is our inner spark that makes the difference, and ever since I was a child I knew that I would be creating endlessly throughout my time on Earth. Sure, it has taken a lifetime to develop my talent and skills, but at least I know they have not been laid to waste. It usually starts with a text that inspires me, a small description of obscure divinity, a ritual, a temple description or simply a barbarous name, enough to create the entire horizon in my mind. It usually happens very quickly without any pre-work, let’s call it a spontaneous act. The image resonates within and I search for the vibration that could become one with the vision – it is usually a note, or two, or three. Once I have found them on the guitar, the rest follows sooner or later and I build the sonic myth around it. Once it is written we begin our rehearsals. On occasion I may rewrite the song if I feel an element of dishonesty – the connection between us and the song must be strong, constant and reek of Darkness.
Both black and death metal are, by their nature, styles in which a lot of work is done with hatred, anger, darkness, madness, mystery. LVCIFYRE has long managed to portray these things through music. Where do you get inspiration from? Books, movies, the contemporary world? Do you have to be in a similar mood while creating this stuff?
All those emotions you pointed out are strong allies for any Satanist or Draconian. Through the amplification of such feelings we can elevate ourselves towards the sinister. I suppose it is this constant feeling within me, the scream that never stops.
Life experience as well as books play the most significant role in my inspiration towards the obscure.
Death, life after life, darkness, occultism are also the subject of your lyrics. What are you talking about on „The Broken Seal“? Who is their author and how did they come about? Do you write them when music is finished or vice versa?
The DRACONIAN PERSPECTIVE is taken as the philosophical starting point. I’m a little obsessed with the art of summoning the Unseen. I suppose that obsession relates to every lyric and song I have ever written. To me, providing a living perspective to those beyond the veil often seems to be more real than this world. The lyrics were written between me and Mark of the Devil; the inspirational lead to the „Broken Seal“ was taken from old grimoires and goetic traditions. That should pretty much summarise everything without going into deeper levels of detail.
Certain experiences or visualisation while absorbing magical text are sometimes enough to obtain inspiration; quite often to see the germ whining my mind, the idea for the lyrics also unlocks itself gradually while I’m projecting the song into this world. Sometimes they unlock themselves at the very last moment, and not one moment before. It would be fair to say they are waiting for me to complete a larger part of the song until I begin to realise and make sense out of it.
The author of the cover art this time is Daniele Valeriani. Why him? The cover is really very good. Personally, I see there a demon watching me, but the interpretation may of course be completely different. What's yours? How did you get together with Daniele and how does the cover relate to the music?
After the sudden death of Timo Ketola I was fairly at a loss as to who could take care of the visual aspects of Lvcifyre. Timo’s position was strongly set within the band and no one else was ever considered to take his place. I fell into the illusion of finding someone who could copy his obscure style, of course it was a pointless exercise. Daniele Valeriani and David Glomba were the next artists that piqued my interest due to their unique styles. When I asked Mr Valeriani about a possible collaboration he was way too busy and scheduled to the end of the next year, but while he was spinning „The Broken Seal“, he changed his mind. I suppose the album impressed him well enough to set aside all his current work and focus mostly on this, which again I took as a huge compliment. His style of painting, which follows the Old Dutch Masters’ way, is pretty amazing. From what he told me, Samael in his ancient form invaded his dreams and the painting was a projection of this dream, I found that pretty inspiring and simultaneously accurate, as he was referring a lot to the „First Archon “song.
Lots of people hear black/ death metal and they automaticaly connect it with Satanism. How do you perceive evil? Do you believe in the afterlife? Is Satan just a negation of everything for you? Or do you perceive everything more deeply? And how are your opinions reflected in the music? Do you have to be „upset“ if you want to create an "evil riff"?
I went through the process of being an adversary years ago, when I would focus more on being opposite to everything, which is absolutely necessary to acknowledge Duality and extract Kia out of it. I acknowledge Devil as God and originator of dynamics, which gives movement to the form and stagnation. His origins are such a vast and abstract subject that it cannot be explained in a single book, therefore my attempts here might do more confusion than good. My response to this energy is fairly spiritual – which I guess is self-evident when listening to Lvcifyre.
Obviously Chaos is the eternal inspiration and I will say that the music rather serves Him than the other way around, so the cosmic dust creation is more of a rehearsal that only attempts to pay tribute to such powers. Those things are with me every day as long as I don’t ignore my practise, so no, I don’t need to be upset to write an „evil riff“ as you call it. In fact, I never focus on writing Evil stuff. What you hear is pretty much written/captured in an effortless way, the hard part is to sustain your mind in connection with the outer and become or create a vessel.
I think the best feedback for any band is a live concert. I like a small club, which is really only available to fans of the band. I will enjoy music the most. How often does LVCIFYRE play gigs and how do you feel about the live presentation of your music? I see a black mass in front of me, an old abandoned church - and you play, it could be a great ceremony. Will there be a tour to support the new album?
Shows in smaller capacity clubs are usually my favourite, perhaps because the public is more focussed and channelled also. You don’t have additional hardcore fans like in bigger fests, but rather people dedicated to the same currents. Shows between 300 and 500 are maniacally crazy. We were fairly active before the pandemic, especially after releasing Sun Eater. In a way, the pandemic has also served as a reset to the music scene. You can see that there are much fewer bands active now than before, and quite a number of totally new acts.
As for the Black Mass, yes that would suit us perfectly, such a connection will surely create a powerful gateway to the Outer.
We already had some stuff planned that fell apart due to current restrictions. So it is pretty hard to say what the future will brings. We do, however, actively rehearse the Broken Seal by heart.
Time is up. What are your plans for the future with LVCIFYRE? Where do you want to move the band? Is the goal to play alongside some famous bands, for example? Or at a famous festival? What are LVCIFYRE 's dreams?
To be honest I think we have achieved pretty much everything we set out to so far. I don’t hold any dreams related with playing next to some superstars, that never was my ambition, but since you mentioned a Black Mass, I suppose it would be spiritually fulfilling to play as an addition to the real ceremony.
Thank you so much for the interview. It's foggy and dark outside. I'll have to go to work in a moment. You probably know what I'm going to listen to along the way. Yes, your new album „The Broken Seal“. When I walk around the cemetery, I think everything will combine into one great experience. I wish you all the best!
Thank you Jakub, same to you, may your magic prosper.
about LVCIFYRE on DEADLY STORM ZINE:
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