ROSSOMAHAAR: "There's nothing new that we have done."
The reason of this interview was the upcoming ROSSOMAHAAR album "Quarite In Lux Tenebris", which will be soon out via ARS Metalli and the band's conflict with Last Episode records. Lazar, ROSSOMAHAAR main man was quite categoric regarding the latter issue. (Krasniy; 23.01.2002)
I've had a chance of listening to a 5-track promo of your yet unreleased album. Obviously, there's a heap of differences in comparance to your debut full-lenght. My opinion is that "Quarite In Lux Tenebris" represents a modern well-polished European Black Metal release. Do you agree with this sort of categorization? Please, comment your position.
"Polished" - is it good or bad? I don't even know what I should say on that... We didn't feel like "polishing" anything. We just came into the studio and recorded our album in a fortnight. The new material is a logical continuation of the debut "Imperium Tenebrarum". However, better recorded and performed. Therefore, I won't agree with you: there's nothing new that we have done.
I wonder how many copies of "Imperium Tenebrarum" were sold in total? Have you received any financial profit out of it?
4500 copies. It was More Hate productions' first release. No, there wasn't any personal benefit. The reason being that all the money was invested in More Hate next releases, which turned out to be less successful.
Serge, as far as I understand, your contract with Last Episode is down. Your management is negociating with such labels as Die Hard, Holy recs, ARS Metalli, considering the deal with the latter as the most perspective one. What is your position on this point and how do you see the future of your band in this context?
Frankly, I don't know any details on that issue. I signed the contract with Last Episode in summer, 2001. Regarding to its conditions the German rascals were supposed to pay us for the studio expenses in August, but that never happened. I'm not going to collaborate with Last Episode and I'll inform them about that. I don't care who will release the 2nd album. The main thing is that people should keep their promises and not stay silent in undefined expectations.
Let us speak about your side-projects. What was the reason of such a brusque musical change speaking about Nargathrond? It seems that the next release of this project will be some sort of love-metal output. Obviously, the music received a more commercial sound. How come??? May be you are willing to sell more CDs via War Is Imminent records?
The apparition of the new Nargathrond album is a long story: A year ago there wasn't any musical progression in Rossomahaar because we were deprived of the drummer at that point. Therefore, I decided to record the latest Stonehenge material, which we used to play before the band's collapse. The genre of that stuff could be labeled as doom-gothic (not any hints to fucking love-metal!!!). I invited Kniaz, Rossomahaar bassist to handle bass and Flint of Saints Everlasting Rest as the 2nd guitarist. However, we failed to find a drummer and applied a sequencer to this position. We recorded 12 songs when we received the proposal from Spanish War Is Imminent to release the 2nd Nargathrond album. I didn't plan to release any new Nargathrond material, however, I didn't want to lose the contract. Therefore, we released the Stonehenge recordings under the monicker of Nargathrond. The only thing that unites both of the albums is the song "Let My Dreams Become Your Nightmares". That's all.
I've heard your industrial project as well. Sounds odd, to tell the truth. Please, explain the concept and the details. When will the material be released?
Aaaaahhhh!!! You are talking about that mix of Rammstein and Burzum??? Ok, I had a vacation this August and experimented with all sorts of samples. It captivated me so much that a new project was born. In the beginning I didn't plan to proceed with it. However, everyone who heard it, claimed it was awesome. Later, the recorded material got into the hands of Alex Kantemirov and he did all the vocals. All in all, KATAR "Paradigma Digitized" will be out in January, 2002 on More Hate prod.
Whom among Russian underground bands you regard as friends and whom do you despise? Is it difficult to mire you into a conflict?
I can't say that I despise anyone or consider to be my friend. I'm quite complacent and prefer to stay apart from others. In what regards conflicts, it's easy to get me into one.
How do you think, are there any serious underground labels that deserve to deal with?
I prefer to collaborate with small underground labels rather than with major ones. As we see, poor War Is Imminent proved to be more fair than the rich Last Episode.
What's going on in your studio? How many releases/bands have you recorded/mixed so far? Do you manage to make a living out of it?
I've been working in the studio for about 4 years. I do it every day. I work with around 2 bands per month. As a result we get 100 bands. I guess even more... Some bands record a single song, some need only mastering etc. Regarding the money: it's my job, I pay my bills with it.
A rather philosophical question: are you content with your life and how do you see its further development? By the way, what kind of education did you receive?
Yeah, I'm happy with my life... Development? Perhaps, in musical direction, since my personal life is fine. I graduated from Moscow State Technical University of Aviation and worked by my specialty for a while, but later I decided that planes will still fly without my help.
Your comments, wishes, etc.
I wish your publication to evolute and develop. Same thing I wish to your readers. Life is in development!
ROSSOMAHAAR Official Homepage
Interview taken and translated by Krasniy
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