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From the freezing landscapes of Northern
Ontario a new Black Metal horde have
risen… They are decided to spread their
devastating art around the world…
Vanquished is not just “another” Black
Metal band, they are precursors and
founders of a new movement called
Northern Ontario Black Metal, a
gathering of Canadian (from Northern
Ontario… of course) Black Metal warriors
decided to leave its path in the extreme
music history…
BB:
Hails! First I would like to thank you
for giving us this interview. Can you
tell us about the band’s beginnings?
Vanquished formed in North Bay, Ontario,
Canada in October of 2001.Originally as
a 5-piece band.
BB:
What is Vanquished doing nowadays?
We are preparing new material for the
third
full-length
album. We intend on hitting “Northern
Music studios” to record the new album
in July 2006. We are also playing
various live shows to promote “Black
Northern storm”. A new web site will be
online soon with full bio, pics,
booking, label info etc.
BB:
Can you tell us about your previous
work? It has been a little hard to find
info about you… According with the
Krankenhaus Records info sheet you have
releasing several demos before “Black
Northern Storm”…
Yes
we do have a fair bit of older material
recorded, mostly demos. In March of 2002
Vanquished recorded our first ep. Self
titled, with 6 of our earliest songs.
The primitive Vanquished songs are a
hybrid of Black/death metal fused with a
melodic feel. A rough demo called “Dark
tower” was recorded in our bassist’s
garage in September 2002. This demo
featured 6 new songs with a rough
amateur sounding recording. In February
2003, we recorded our first full-length
album entitled “steps on a cobblestone
path” produced/recorded by J.F Dagenais
(Kataklysm) which consisted of 4 new
songs and the 3 best songs of our older
material. Due to label/financial
problems “steps” never made the pressing
plant and therefore has never seen the
light of day. April 2003 Vanquished
recorded a rough self-financed 4-song
demo called “NOBM”
(Northern Ontario Black metal). With an
extremely raw and low-fi recording,
Vanquished entered a new realm of
primitive Black Metal and released the
demo limited to 150 copies sold mostly
on the July 2003 11th
plague tour of Quebec and Ontario Canada
supporting Averse Sefira.
BB:
How you define the sound of “Black
Northern Storm”?
We describe our music as NOBM
= evil, raw and devastating Black metal
from the north. Unlike many bands in our
genre we wanted the music and drums on
BNS to be audible without compromising
the raw edge and cutthroat pitch of the
traditional old school BM feel.
BB:
Can you tell us about the composition
process? Who compose the lyrics?
The
writing process is a combined effort
from Warhammer (drums), Grimnyr
(guitar/vocals) and Dertah
(guitar/vocals). Usually guitar riffs
come first and are molded together by
Grimnyr/Dertah in a raw form of
composition. Then the prototype songs
are presented to Warhammer and the song
is manipulated and integrated into a
whole opus, then gradually defined until
we are satisfied with the sound and
attitude of the music.
Lyrics are composed by Grimnyr/Dertah.
Black northern Storm concept created by
Grimnyr.
BB:
One of the first things that take my
attention of this album was the vocal
work… Have you used some distortion
effect or it’s just a little low-mixed?
Distortion
plates have been used at a custom
setting that we have found works best
with our screaming/vocal delivery. Also
some light reverb was used for echo
effect.
BB:
Why don’t you have a stable bass player?
Would you like to keep Vanquished as a
trio?
We
have found a permanent bassist in
“Iconoclast”. He meets the Vanquished
requirements of both technical ability
and enthusiasm for the live music
performance. Vanquished was without a
solid bass player for the recording of
BNS, so Grimnyr/dertah split bass
responsibilities.
*Grimnyr bass on tracks: 2,3,7,8. and
Dertah plays bass on 1,4,5,6.
BB:
Do you think the climate of North Bay
Ontario is determinant in your music? I
ask you because I read in an interview
of a German BM band (Thy Majesty) that
it was very hard to them to compose BM
hymns with 30º C over their heads…
I
do definitely believe that the weather
climate and appearance of the country we
reside in does directly influence our
music. Living and playing BM in –30
degrees C’ and below brings out the
bitter cold feeling in our songs. It
also reflects our heritage and what we
have grown to call our style of music-NOBM.
This is where we live –Northern Ontario
Canada. The lyrical content brings a
direct verbal atmosphere within the
words, describing our beliefs and ideals
that we live strongly by each day.
BB:
What are your sources of inspiration?
Vanquished is inspired by the boreal
(northern) elements of living in Canada.
The strength and over whelming power of
nature (wind, fire, rain, lightning) and
the fire burns within all 4 of us to
bring our imagination out into the music
and imagery of Vanquished.
BB:
Can you tell us about the artwork? Is
there any concept behind it?
The
visual concept of BNS artwork was
created as a joint effort by Grimnyr/Dertah.
Our goal was to conjure up layers of
photos taken in a thickly wooded area,
and use the best pics to represent the
boreal forests that we draw inspiration
and solitude from. We wanted to make the
artwork stand out against the typical BM
appearance of black and white only. The
colors used are all natural earth tones
that show both the majestic and beauty
of the northern Canada landscape. High
usage of contrast and sharpness helped
give the imagery the look we wanted.
Photos taken by Grimnyr, graphic art by
Dertah.
BB:
Your lyrics are highly
anti-Christianity… Have you got, as
Vanquished, some special ideology or
belief?
Vanquished has always vowed to keep the
music as the most important element (the
foundation) of what we do as musicians.
As the lyrics are highly anti-christian,
we are strongly opposed to organized
religion in general. With our music we
attack any who would preach onto others
their supposed word of god. We will
never follow any staple system of
beliefs that has been or is regulated to
BM in general. As always our beliefs and
ideals are our own and we live by these
personal paths every day. In many ways
vanquished writes about an age of time
where religion and light are no more.
With song titles such as: “Ruins of
religious tradition”, one dominant
lyrical line should be mentioned-“Reap
the unborn of the sins from their lord”
–this meaning to remove the constricting
poison of religion from an unborn child
who is not given the choice of whether
to choose or refuse the word/lies of god
or any religious deity. We do not use
Satan as a crutch for old boring themes
of devil worship/sacrifice. Our beliefs
are to the point- oppose all religion,
live for ones self, and prepare for a
return to the dark times.
BB:
What’s your opinion about the rising
Canadian Black Metal scene? Is there any
band you can recommend to us?
Lots
of Canadian BM has been spawning fro
quite some time now, so it becomes
harder to find the original bands.
Fellow NOBMetalers “Empyrean plague”
have been around for nearly 2 years and
they show a constant progression in
their primitive approach to a more
doomish BM. Ankhreg from
Quebec have always been ones of my
favorites since seeing them live at the
Northern lights fest in 2003. With
labels like Krankenhaus(krankenhaus.ca)
and profound lore, more good bands are
being given the chance to be heard and
noticed. Due to the vast size of Canada
many bands that will shape the genre of
Canadian BM are most likely still yet to
be found. It is time for Vanquished to
step up to be the band that will open
the gates for many other BM bands in
Canada to be noticed and followed.
BB:
You seem to be highly inspired by the
Old Norwegian Black Metal, from your
music to your image… What has been the
most influential band to you?
Vanquished has definitely been inspired
by pioneers of our genre and by the
scene that existed in Norway and Sweden
in the early 90’s. The older records by:
Emperor, Dark funeral, Immortal,
Satyricon, and Dissection have always
been favorites. Mostly the more raw
sounding bands at the early stages of
the genre.
BB:
The second wave of Black Metal was
marked by controversial acts like
church-burning, desecrations, murders,
etc… Have Vanquished anything in common
with this second wave of Black Metal?
About the 2nd
wave of BM. To act as criminals and
arsonists is not the way Vanquished has
chosen to channel our hatred and
aggression. We have found ways to use
our music as a weapon against organized
religion and the aspects of society that
we refuse to conform with. Going to jail
for a senselessly symbolic act will not
allow you to wake the next day and enjoy
playing music, nor will these acts show
any promising change in the battle
against church or god. I can respect the
founders of BM for doing as they
wanted to by standing up in the flesh to
bring about real chaos, though I feel
those acts have been done and we as a
band do not care to repeat the past. I
think that the 2nd
wave of BM was an exciting and
interesting time to read and learn
about, however, no one will really be
able to fully understand the meaning and
intent of those acts that took place
unless they were present in that scene
at that time.
BB:
Do you think the True Black Metal is
still alive?
Of course the term “true” BM is always
thrown around quite loosely these days.
And it has lost a lot of its actual
meaning due to that. Most of the
pioneers of the Black circle have either
disbanded (emperor, Immortal) or altered
their style by modernizing the good
elements out. Or the old bands have
spewed out the same album over and over
(Mayhem, Darkthrone) attempting to
recapture the magic of classic albums of
the past. The word true has taken on a
different meaning for Vanquished. We
play Black metal the way we want to, for
ourselves. This is true. There is no
compromise from any influence outside of
the band. While many of our ideals and
beliefs do agree with those of the
pioneer BM bands, Vanquished will
continue to play our personal style of
cold primitive NOBM. Regardless of what
the key influential bands are doing in
music or actions. The excitement and awe
of the true BM bands will always be
alive in our souls and in our stereos.
BB:
Can you tell us about the future plans
of Vanquished?
We will be writing new material for the
3rd
full-length album, due to be recorded
July 2006. A live appearance supporting
Behemoth in the nation’s capital Ottawa
will take place on November 23rd
2005. Future plans to tour Europe in
upcoming years have always been a strong
goal for the band. Also to push the
presence of NOBM internationally in
order to gain exposure and tour over
seas for the new album in 2007
Vanquished has rituals of our own. On
cold nights we adorn ourselves with
corpse paint and spiked attire to light
a huge fire at the northern shore of our
lake Nippissing. There we breathe fire,
drink booze, smoke weed, and cook raw
meat over the open flames to celebrate
our heritage and the NOBM circle.
BB:
Thanks again for your time and your
words…best luck with your plans!! |
