1) First off, congratulations on your signing to Holy Records. I must admit I was a tad surprised to hear you signed to Holy as Frozen Shadows seems to look a little out of place on their current band roster. Why was the decision made to sign to Holy, and was there any worry in signing to a label that isn't known for the type of music Frozen Shadows play?
We simply went along with what we considered as the best offer for the band without considering if we fit on the label or not, it's as simple as that! Yes, we do definitely look out of place on Holy Record's roster, but frankly, we could not care less. The main thing for us is that Holy was interested enough in Frozen Shadows to commit for a long term contract, and considering how difficult things have been for us in terms of stability, we considered that signing this contract was a good first step. Yes, we thought a little while about it before signing the contract, but since Holy knew very well what we were all about musically and that they never said anything about "where we should go" musically, we figured they wanted to try something different. As for everyone who has heard our new album will now know, we haven't gone soft at all because we are on this label.
2) So it's been 5 years since "Dans Les Bras Des Immortels" was released. It's been a lengthy wait between albums, were there reasons to why it took so long to release "Hantises"?
We had lots of annoying setbacks, but the main reason for this long silence is our very long search for a permanent drummer, which I'll delve into later.
3) How do you see "Hantises" differing musically/lyrically to "Dans Les Bras Des Immortels"? Do you see Frozen Shadows as a band that has a specific style of playing that should never change too drastically, or does the music reflect who's in the band so it can evolve and change to any degree?
I definitely see Hantises as an angrier album than Dans les Bras des Immortels was. Our music is now more violent and a bit less atmospheric, and it has gotten a bit more technical, but it has not changed that much in terms of the feelings we convey through it. I think our music reflects our state of mind, but since we are always at odds with everything that surrounds us, I believe we will always be a very dark and hateful outfit. I see us as having a style that can evolve, but I would be surprised to see us change drastically like many groups do. As for the lyrical side, the lyrics haven't changed that much asides from the fact that I have more or less dropped the winter theme of Dans les Bras des Immortels for more direct assaults on humanity and goodness.
4) I've noticed the lineup has changed slightly - Namtar has gone from drums to guitars/bass, with Melkor joining the band on drums. What is Melkor's history in the black metal scene, and how exactly did he come to join the band? It's obvious he has a lot of skill and makes a strong debut on "Hantises"!
The main thing with Namtar is that he is naturally a guitar and bass player, and the only reason he played the drums on our first album is because we could not find any drummer that could play how we wanted back then. When we started composing for Hantises, we very soon realized that the new songs would be so fast and technical on the drums that Namtar would not be able to play them unless he put all of his time on the drums, which he was not ready to do. So we searched for a permanent drummer, and it was very long (2 years) before we found one that good enough to play at these insane speeds our new songs required. We had been looking for a while, and we were starting to wonder if we would ever be able to find someone, when Melkor contacted us. He is not from our area, so we did not know him, but he was moving in our town and heard we were looking for someone. He came for a tryout and just blew us away: we knew for sure that we had found the right member! He also played drum for The Syre, as well a short stay in Decayed Remains, but he wanted a band where he could play like the war machine he is, and that's exactly what he found in Frozen Shadows.
5) As "Dans Les Bras Des Immortels" was released on Sepulchural Productions, where does the label stand now? Does it have upcoming releases, and if so could you shed some light as to which bands and when they'll be released? Could Sepulchural Productions still be used to release future Frozen Shadows material on CD EP or even vinyl?
I mostly put the label aside these last two years to concentrate on Frozen Shadows and other aspects of my life, but I am planning to bring it back later in 2004. Nothing is planned yet, but I will start looking around for interesting projects that might land on Sepulchral Productions. Frozen Shadows has signed for 4 albums on Holy Records, so I doubt the group will ever be back on my label, but that's OK with me. As for vinyls, I don't think the label is well established enough to try this, especially in North America. I still own a turntable and many LP's and EP's, but I know very well that a lot less people in North America are interested in vinyls than in Europe.
6) The new album will be released in two editions - a standard edition, along with a limited 2CD edition that contains a remastered version of the "Empire de Glace" demo. How does this new version of "Empire." differ from the one put out by Millenium Music in 2000? Was it an idea of Holy's to do this, or did the band want this material to see the light of day again?
It was Holy who came up with the idea, since they wanted to do something special to acknowledge the fact that we were their first and only Black Metal group, but when Philippe (Holy's manager) described us what he wanted to do, we just had to say yes. He was willing to take care of all extra costs regarding the limited edition without selling it a cent higher. In other words, the DCD limited edition is sold for the same price as the standard CD! With conditions like this, we clearly saw that those buying this would not be ripped-off like is often the case with special editions, and we accepted right away. Plus, the Millenium version had been sold out for three years now, and we still had demands for this. Basically, Holy took the recordings of Empires de Glace and got them re-mastered at a professional studio in France, and the final result is a lot more powerful than the original demo or CD version. The sound is a LOT more in-your-face, so I believe it was worth it.
7) Hearing your demo material these days, how do you see the band have grown since those early days?
Of course, the limited edition has also brought back memories, since we listened to Empires de Glace a lot in this process. I am still very proud of what we achieved back then, and I think that we have refined our style over the years without drastically changing it. Our evolution has been natural, as we have developed our ideas into more personal songs and have become better musicians over the years, but we have still stayed true to our roots, playing hellish and obscure Black Metal. If anything, we have followed the opposite path from most BM groups, as we have gotten more violent and hateful with each release. Clearly, we do not grow soft with age!
8) As seen on "Dans Les Bras Des Immortels" and "Hantises" as well, the lyrics are sung in both French and English. Is it fair to say that it's important that Frozen Shadows show both an English and French identity within the band?
Sorry to disappoint the English readers out there, but for us the French identity is the most important one by far! Granted we have more English songs than French ones, but the only reason for this is that English is a more universal language and we want everyone to understand our propaganda. We are from the old school of thought, and for us Black Metal is an instrument of rebellion and propaganda against everything that is humane and benevolent. Frozen Shadows carries a message of hatred, destruction and darkness, and we know very well that if we had only French songs, we would be less able to poison the human psyche with our venom. But if you want to find what is the real priority for us between English and French, just look at our three album titles.
9) I'm curious to hear if you have any connections with the scene in France, a scene today rich with strong bands like Blut aus Nord and Deathspell Omega, not to mention its past with the infamous Black Legions bands. So does Frozen Shadows have any notable relationship with the scene (bands or labels, other than Holy of course) over in that part of Europe?
We do know the French scene very well, but we have few contacts with any of these bands. As a matter of fact, asides from the promotional aspect of Frozen Shadows (or Sepulchral Productions for me), we are in contact with very few persons. There are many reasons for this, but the main two are because we don't have the time to correspond with anyone and we don't have the desire to do it in general. We are not the kind of persons who like to establish and maintain relationships; we do our thing in our corner and do not care about the rest. We act in a professional way when it comes to promoting our music, but we have no desire to embark in a series of time-consuming letter exchanges. If we ever play live and meet some of these bands that we can connect with (which is another story yet), then it will be fine, but we do not seek contact with anyone in particular.
10) The lyrics seem to perfectly compliment the violent black metal Frozen Shadows play. In your own words describe the essence of your lyrics, and how you see them relate to the music?
My lyrics are everything that Black Metal lyrics should be all about: grim hateful, anti-religious and dark. Where I do differ from most other Black Metal groups is in the esthetical research that goes into my lyrics. I see Frozen Shadows' lyrics as poems, and therefore I put a lot of effort and time into them. I have always thought that poetry is a much more efficient tool than prose when you are trying to conjure eerie, tortured and dark images, and to me a singer screaming Satan every other line is not something I view as particularly impressive. As our music is tortured and dark, so must be the lyrics, and I just could not throw quickly done lyrics around, because I would feel that it would be a disservice to the music.
11) What statement do you wish for "Hantises" to make on the modern day black metal scene?
On an ideological level: prove that it is possible to evolve within a true Black Metal frame without going soft or selling out. On a more visceral level: Make you clench your fists in anger and rip your head off! If we can do both at the same time, then so much the better.
