From the unholy German Metal Underground this band comes, formed by Rain of Ashes drummer Philipp Kruppa back in 2000, this band delivers an obscure Death/Doom Metal full of inspiration. Their latest work “Nostrae Mortis Signaculum” is an astonishing blend of Doom and Death Metal all this decorated by an impenetrable aura of darkness only comparable with the bleakest Black Metal feeling… So, we contact Mr. Kruppa, who kindly accepts to answer our questions…

BB: First I would like to thank you for giving us this interview… Can you tell us about the beginnings of Ophis? 

First, thanks to you for supporting Ophis. It’s a real fucking pleasure!

Well, the beginning of Ophis was pretty unexciting. I had written a few Doom Metal songs like “The Mirror Never Lies”, “Caressing The Dead”, “Foulmere” and some others. I wanted to play these songs with other musicians and gathered some friends.

We rehearsed the material for a while, drank litres of cheap whisky and had just fun by dooming through the night, hehe. There was nothing serious in the project back then, we didn’t even play some gigs. I was playing in Rain Of Ashes at that time, and this band was more important to me. 

BB: Why did the band split up in its early days? 

Well, I think the main reason was that we didn’t put enough energy into the band back then. Our second guitarist joined Rain Of Ashes after a few months, but had no time to perform in two bands, so he decided to leave Ophis. We were rehearsing in his garage, so we also lost our rehearsal place. And our bass player really sucked, I wanted some replacement for him anyway. I wasn’t really pleased with the effort of Ophis and still had Rain Of Ashes, so I thought “fuck it”, and instead of going through all the trouble of finding a new rehearsal place, bass player and guitarist we split up. We thought “well it was fun, but it’s over, let’s leave it with this”. Ophis was not that important to me. That was in the year 2001. 

BB: When you decide to start your own project away from Rain Of Ashes? I understand your early composition were, originally written for Rain Of Ashes… Am I right? 

Yeah, that’s nearly correct. In 2000 / 2001 I was writing a lot of material, I just sat down and wrote music I felt within me, not thinking about whether it would fit to Rain Of Ashes or not, I just had the urge to express myself. I quickly realised, that some of the riffs and songs I had written were not fitting to ROA at all. And I also realised that Doom Metal was a much better way for me to express and reflect my emotional processes and stadiums. After a while I had some songs finished and considered it a shame to let them just rot in oblivion, so I started a side project called Ophis, as I explained in the first question. I never thought of starting a Doom Metal band until I realised that Doom Metal was something in me, something I really feel and breathe. There was no intention of founding a Doom band, it just came out of me, you know what I mean?

By the way, I’m not in Rain Of Ashes anymore. 

BB: A brief time after the splitting, you release “Empty, Silent and Cold” by yourself…How was the recording process of this demo? 

That recording process was a real pleasure. I recorded the demo completely on my own, I played all the instruments and did all the vocals. I recorded it in my own little home-studio, so I had plenty of time all on my own. The process was totally relaxed. Some songs weren’t even finished when I started recording, I just tried and watched what would happen. The title track of the CD was completely written during the recording sessions. I just let my emotions flow and recorded the thing. Except for the drums, everything in this song was recorded first take. I had very limited equipment and technical options, but I had total freedom and lots of time, so I enjoyed the privilege of letting the atmosphere developing itself. 

BB: My favourite track of “Empty, Silent and Cold” is undoubtedly “Pazuzu”. Have you got some favourite track on this demo? 

Uh, man, tough question. I really enjoy “Pazuzu”, because it reflects the emotions very well, but I also like “Foulmere” a lot, because of the atmosphere. I guess these two are my faves of that record. 

BB: By the way, what’s you connection with this Assyrian demon (Pazuzu)? I have seen it at you demo cover and your homepage… 

No special connection. I am interested in demonology, espically in the demonology of the christians, satanists and sumerian / assyrian. I’m also a big fan of the movie “The Exorcist” in which a little girl is possessed by Pazuzu. He has always been one of the most interesting demons to me. Things that are associated with him, winds and plague and sickness, were pretty inspiring to me, so I wrote a song about him. So we just thought it would fit to put him on the cover of “Empty, Silent And Cold”. Our website-layout is related to the cover of that record, so we put him there as well. He became something like our little mascot, haha. I guess, he would enjoy our music too, haha. Pazuzu is fascinating me. 

BB: You dedicate “The Mirror Never Lies” to all your girlfriends… Can you tell us more about this song and its meaning? 

It’s dedicated to my EX-girlfriends, to be specific. You know they say that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, and I think that is true. When the girls broke up with me, they told all considerable bullshit. You know, this stuff like “I still love you, but in a different way now” or “I don’t want to lose you, but…”. Blahblahfukkoff…Words are said, but I always could see what they were feeling by looking into their eyes. That may sound like a cliché, but there really is something to be seen in peoples eyes. So, “The Mirror Never Lies”. It is no revenge-song or something. It’s just to tell them and any other people to shut up with their shit because there is deeper truth, and it can not be hidden. 

BB: How you would define the sound of “Empty, Silent and Cold”? 

Damn, you ask tough questions. Considered the equipment used on that CD, the sound is best possible and very good, I think. Of course it’s not as thick and heavy as it is on the Mini-CD, and the mix is not as balanced as it could be, but it’s still fitting and definetly heavy enough to serve the music well. I think the atmosphere on that record is somewhat “dense”, you know, it’s not as bleak as on “Nostrae…”. It’s rather monolithic, while the Mini-CD is like a black void that crushes on you. Sorry, I cannot put in better words. It’s a difficult thing. 

BB: How the band reunited after your demo? 

It took about a year after the release to reunite the band. At first, I didn’t think of reuniting Ophis, because of the experiences in the beginning. But the CD got some success after a while. After the release, I hadn’t expected anything, and just watched as things progressed. Our drummer Richard, who belonged to the original line-up, heard the demo and told me he would like to rejoin if I wanted to start with Ophis again. I thought about that and I had realized that people really enjoyed the music. And I thought the songs would work out great on stage. Then Jan, a friend of mine heard the CD and was pretty keen on playing the stuff because he was looking for a new band and really liked the Ophis material, so we decided to reunite! At first, Rain Of Ashes bassist Chrille took over the four stringer, but he left us after a couple of months, so we replaced him with Olli, known from Torn To Pieces.

I think the demand vindicated a reunion. Also, I wanted to put Ophis one step further musically. 

BB: Can you tell us what “Nostrae Mortis Signaculum” means? 

It means “The seal of our demise”. It reflects the inevitability of death. 

BB: How was the composition process of “Nostrae Mortis Signaculum”? 

Well, when Ophis reunited, I nearly had the songs finished already. They were mainly written in the year after the release of “Empty…”, so the others had not as much input as they have now. Of course, they added some improvements and single riffs to the songs, but the main work was done by me. To me, the composition process was rather similar to the writing of “Empty…”. I do it alone at home, we don’t jam or things like that. It often starts with an idea in my head. Then I grab the guitar and fool around with that idea to forge it into something useful. I listen into myself when I’m writing music. I always want to reflect certain emotions. I try to think of what I felt in these occasions I want to write about and try to find music that expresses these emotions. After finding the basics, the others and me work out additions and altering counterparts, and we work on the arrangement as a team. On our next record, the input of Jan and Olli will be much bigger than on “Nostrae Mortis Signaculum”. We have most of the songs finished, and I think they are more detailed. 

BB: I have always liked Ophis lyrical level. My favourite lyrics in “Nostrae Mortis Signaculum” are “Kennel Of Estrangement”… Can you tell us a about this song? 

Thank you. I always put as much effort into the lyrics as I put into the music. “Kennel Of Estrangement” is about isolation and being not understood. For example having feelings for someone which are not returned. Or having the feeling of being stuck behind a wall of glass. Seeing and hearing everything but still being apart from everything. Being unable to understand the others although you speak the same language. That’s a feeling I often have when I struggle through life. My mentality is not shared by many people and I sometimes really have the feeling of not belonging to this world. It’s like a kennel. No matter how much I argue with people, there is no melting point.

The lyrics can also be interpreted as a lament about being unable to find someone to be in love with. Fortunately, that’s over for me. 

BB: How your lyrical compositions evolved between each works? 

I think I write a little more directly now. In my early days I tried to write more poetically and very abstract, burying the core of the lyrics under metaphors and symbols. I still do that sometimes. Our new album will contain a song named “Beneath Sardonic Skies” which is totally metaphoric. Metaphors are important to make the listener able to identify with the song. I’ll never abandon that. Nevertheless, the newer lyrics aren’t that bombastic anymore. I try to keep them less pathetic, less whiny. All my lyrics deal with tragic topics, but I try to let them speak for themselves. I just sit down and let them flow. Let’s just say that I don’t force the sadness into them anymore, their sadness evolves on its own. 

BB: I read the cover art of “Nostrae Mortis Signaculum” was made by Dusan Belohlavek… I take a look of his work and it’s really good! How you get in touch with this artist? What means “On A Sunday” to you?

“On A Sunday” expresses somehow the mood and atmosphere of the CD, I think. The painting is rather crude and dark and hopeless. We thought it fits to the music perfectly, it somehow is the visual version of our music. We were looking for a fitting artwork and when we saw “On A Sunday” we knew we found it.

Dusan Belohlavek is a young artist from the Czech Republic, who now lives in Regensburg ind Germany. He is a big fan of our music and he wrote me an e-mail after one of our concerts he visited. We talked a while and he told me about his art. We took a look at it and were really impressed. So we asked him if we could use “On A Sunday” for our record, whiche he gladly agreed on.

He now is a friend of mine and we drink together sometimes. 

BB: What are your future plans (as a band)? 

Becoming the next Metallica, hahaha, being rich and arrogant and famous! No of course we shit on all these kind of things. We hope to release our new album this year, but we have lots of troubles to cope with these days. We’re looking for a new drummer currently, and a new label. Our goal as a band generally is releasing the best possible material and music that touches people. We want to express ourselves and perform deep, emotional HONEST music. That’s all what’s important. No status bullshit, no business-junk. Being real, and making emotional music.

The new record will be pretty much in the style of the earlier works, yet I think the guitars will be more diverse and more detailed.

We want to play live as much as possible and not submit to all the mainstream business bullshit. It’s not our aim to become some kind of big band or something.

Next up, we play at the Into The Pit Festival in Germany, then some club gigs. Maybe also Possessed-Festival in August. 

BB: When can we expect a new work? 

Fuck man, I don’t know. We hope to release the new CD, a full length, around autumn this year. But then again, Doom Metal is hopeless, hahaha. We nearly have enough material finished for our new record which will be a full length. But as I said, we have to find a new drummer first, then a new label. I hope, the album can be released this year, and I’m positive about that, but for a band of our status, it’s really difficult to make an exact prediction. 

BB: Thanks again for your words… Is there anything else you want to add to this interview? 

I wanna thank everyone who read this, and anyone who supports Ophis. To you, Alvaro, thanks for the interview, it’s been fun.

I want to ask all Metalheads to boycot Nu Metal and the commercial mainstream hype. Support your local scene. Doomy Hails from Hamburg, Germany!!!