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The answer
to that is quite simple actually. Carsten from Millenium approached us with
this idea of doing a limited series in tribute to the old Black Metal scene,
asking if we'd be willing to re-release our demo after doing a new recording. We
hadn't thought of re-releasing the demo on CD, and quite frankly we wouldn't
have had the money so we just said yes! Plus we figured that even tough this
was going to be a limited edition it wouldn't hurt us in terms of visibility
since Millenium is a pretty well established label. Sepulchral Productions is
definitively still alive, as a matter of fact we should release at least three
CDs via my label in the next few months...
First of
all, when we say that the original demo is still available, it simply means
that we have still about 20 copies of our final pressing left. When these are
sold the tape version is sold out for good, as simple as that!!! What we liked
about the idea of re-recording it is that we could experience on an old thing
we had done, and the final result is VERY different than on the original
recording. For example we were not satified at all with the way our first
guitar player played on "Empires de Glace", so that allowed us to
correct this flaw since Alvater (who has been handling the guitars for three
years now) is way better on the strings. The whole re-recorded version is a lot
more powerful and "in your face", even tough we still kept things
very grim. We are quite satisfied with the outcome of "Empires de
Glace", and we hope people will see eye to eye with us on that.
I suppose
so! Canada (or Quebec to be more precise) has the majestic forests, fjords and
raging winters that Scandinavia also has, so there is without a doubt a
connection most of us feel with the cold and grim sound from Norway. There's
also the fact that we actually have been doing this for quite a long time,
before there was even a so-called norwegian sound. I formed my first Black
Metal band in 1991, so this sound has always been natural for me.
I think you
have summed pretty well what Frozen Shadows is all about, since our aim has
always been (and always will be) to make a crossover between the most violent,
fast and hateful Black Metal and a more atmospheric/majestic approach. As far
as bands go, I don't think we have been overly influenced by a specific one,
but I can understand people throwing the old Emperor thing around since we do
use choirs in our music. It's also true that we have a pretty powerful yet very
dissonant guitar sound for a Black Metal band, the closest thing to this sound
possibly being Immortal. Every band begins with influences, despite what many
say, and of course this also does apply to us! I believe that over the years
though we have polished our style a lot, and that's very important for the
survival of a band, because those that are content on remaining clones always
vanish sooner or later.
The whole
point of this release is to stand as a tribute to the early 90's scene, and it
is meant more as a general theme than towards individual bands. We simply feel
more akin to this era than what is going these days in the "Black
Metal" circles. There was a spirit back then that is now long gone,
replaced by commercialism and a "friendly attitude" that has NOTHING
to do with a supposedly dark musical style!!! As a band we are firmly of the
old school of thoughts on Black Metal, so this hommage was a very natural thing
for us to do. This music still IS a lifestyle for us and we have no intention
of changing our attitude any day soon...
I mostly
listen to metal music, even tough I do appreciate a few non-metal groups like
Fields of the Nephilim, old Ministry, Skinny Puppy and a few others. My all
time favorite band has to be Iron Maiden, with Bathory coming as a close
second. On the modern Black Metal side, OLD Emperor, Mayhem, Marduk, Taake,
Darkthrone, Satyricon, Gorgoroth and Burzum are the best in my eyes. As you can
see, no melodic stuff here!
The
canadian scene is mainly divised in two parts, namely the Quebec scene (Quebec
being the french part of Canada that wants to separate from the rest) and the
rest of Canada. I'm not that fond of the canadian scene, since many bands are
still playing the chaotic Blasphemy style metal. A few bands nonetheless worthy
of mention there are Godless North (the best horde from Canada in my eyes),
Lust and Axis of Advance. Bands in Quebec are a lot more european/scandinavian
like in their approach, altough many bands here are extremely poor. The
situation here has improved quite drastically over the last two years tough,
and with bands like Esker, Skjul, Arianrhod, Veneficium, Nord and Boreal I
think the Quebec scene has a good future.
The US Black Metal scene has also been improving, but
in my eyes the scene we have here should take over the American continent soon.
The main problem I feel with many US bands is the difficulty they seemingly
have to get rid of their death metal influences. After all, nobody wants to her
a second rate Death Metal band claiming to play Black Metal! I know a few bands
like WOTBM, Bloodstained Dusk, Pantheon, Thy Infernal and others but I can't
say that I am involved in their scene at all.
My poems
are an extension of my thoughts and soul I lay on paper, so they are sometimes
raging and angry and at other moments sad and painful. I consider them to be
Satanic Poetry, and they always come to me as a result of my contemplations of
this feeble world where weakness is valued over strenght and the masses are
enslaved by hypocritical cults of the "white light"...
Playing
live is a thing Frozen Shadows has never done, but we are slowly beginning to
think about it. On one hand, live shows are often a source of frustration for
bands, but on the other hand they also serve as a mean to spread your ideas
like a plague onto the masses. Of course, if we do play live one day, europe
will be our top priority, including Germany of course. I'm not sure about big
festivals tough, since it is hard to project an intensely dark and occult
feeling when playing amidst bands that have nothing in common with yourself
music-wise...
Right now
we are writing new material for our second CD, and we will possibly record a
promo CD for interested labels somwhere around june. Since the responses have
been overwhelmingly good for our "Dans les Bras des Immortels" CD I
think we will have no choice but to look for a bigger label than my own to
release our second album. I simply can't keep up with the demands!!!
A loud hail
to those who haven't forgotten the Black Metal lifestyle, a fist in the face of
the rest! Crush the light, Embrace the Damned...