NEOKHROME - ENTREVISTA

1. It's been five years since your last album, Would you have taken all this time the composition of Perihelion? How has the group's sound at this time and as reflected in the album?

Well, I know that five years is a lot of time for composing a new album. The truth is that not all this time was spent on writing the new material. In 2007, there were some line-up changes and we decided to move on musically as well. Our second album had just been released and we felt that we had enough of this sort of “mandatory” sinister atmosphere and we wanted to create something that is much more uplifting. So as I said, this process started 5 years ago, but it is still happening and evolving. Perihelion was the mark of where we were let’s say 1-2 years ago when most of the songs on the album were born. To answer your question, I think we were much more generic in 2007 with our then-released second album and since then we achieved what we wanted in terms of becoming more heartfelt and sincere when it comes to composing music. This is a process of maturation that I think someone who calls himself a musician should know pretty well.

2. Twelve years and as a band, is more than enough to put a dent in the scene. How did the idea to form the group? What good and bad times have you left on the road?

Our whole existence was about continuous development both musically and personally as individuals. We played lots of concerts, had several line-up changes, we toured Europe and we released three full-lengths, all of which I think show our gradual development. Twelve years is definitely a lot if you consider only the length of time as it is, but it was like a second for us, since we have always been aiming for composing the best music we ever could. There were of course bandmates who really were not into this idea and wanted to focus more on visuals and stardom, but time has shown what this band is about: creating music in the most honest way possible. Therefore, the only bad times we had were always in connection with some personal issue and the fuckup of someone who did not really understand what it takes to create MUSIC. Consequently, my very best memories about the band are definitely connected to composing, recording and – finally – releasing our albums. That is the ultimate goal of forming a band and being in a band.

3. What bands have influenced you the composition of this work? What are you listening to lately? Any interesting new group How is the Hungarian extreme scene?

I would not call myself a follower of what has been going in the music scene lately. As a matter of course, I listen to random tracks that I come across in reviews or if someone posts them somewhere and I stumble upon them, but I am really tired of most of these. The reason for this is that 95% of new (mainly metal) bands are only a safely and securely executed recreation of something that was heard before several times. Therefore, I could go on listing my all time favourites here, but that would not be of any indication as to what I was impressed by during composing “Perihelion”. I was more influenced by feelings and impressions which I tried to transform into music at the time of composing the album.

As regards the Hungarian scene, I don’t think there is any problem here concerning the multitude of bands and genres. There is really a wide range of styles and there are several bands in each genre. Of course I could start listing the problems with the infrastructure and the lack of financial background, but I also know that it could still be worse and it is also true that struggling is the best muse in many cases.

4. The media in the scene you pigeonhole black / death, I think is not quite right, how would you define your sound?

I’m sure that we kind of “inherited” this label from our previous albums which were definitely black/death, especially our first release that was even more into death metal. The media that you referred to probably does not really have the time to at least listen to what it attaches a label to, as if they had done that, it would have immediately turned out that we have absolutely nothing to do with death metal anymore. I would define our sound as majestic, soaring, chaotic soundscapes floating towards the farthest regions of what mind can grasp.

5. On the subject of your lyrics. What aspects of philosophy destacaríais and mental illness, as a source of inspiration? Is there any connection between the album cover and lyrics?

This is another example how someone only “takes over” some information from others without actually looking for any verification. This description about the lyrics is absolutely out of touch with reality, our lyrics are definitely not about these issues anymore. Our first two albums featured a different vocalist and lyric writer, but he’s already gone and this event was a major push towards a much higher quality in our lyrics. The lyrics on Perihelion are basically about the morals and consequences of the Hungarian history, but I guess these could only be understood by Hungarians or those who are extremely acquainted with the Hungarian spirit. However, all these ideas are sort of “hidden” or “coated” with cosmic and atmospheric issues which is the other main pillar of our lyrics. I am really interested in cosmology and I have always admired the unspeakable distances of the Universe, not to mention that it is free from any imperfections caused by humanity. If I want to summarise it the best possible way, I would say that lyrics are about the historical issues of a nation put into a cosmic perspective.

6. How is the disk worked at both sales as at concerts?

Firstly, we have not played many concerts lately, so selling CDs at gigs is not a major share but there were lots of people who ordered it. However, I think CDs will soon disappear and only those really devoted will look for physical formats. As I see the current tendencies, it is more than inevitable.

7. Tell us a little type of equipment that you use in the recording sessions and live performances.

We have our own studio like many bands out there and we are continuously developing it, always trying to improve something. I’m glad to say that we are able to produce the album and the sound that we dream of, and it’s not because we have the physical devices to record an album with decent quality, but because we gained a huge amount of experience over the last one and a half decade in recording stuff for other bands and for us of cours. It takes lots of experimenting and experience to know how to create a certain feeling that was once born as an idea and how to exactly infuse that feeling into a sound.

8. 'Five fundamental cds in black history?

Emperor – Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk  (five times)

9. This appears as a self-produced album. Is it over and records relating to Nails? Was not there any label interested in publishing this work? Are you planning your first ever reissue demos?

Nail Records is the home label of the Hungarian Rock&Metal magazine “Hammerworld” which used to be the Hungarian Metal Hammer before they changed their name to the current one. The end of our cooperation with them also has to do with our strive to do something different this time and to move forward. Even though we sent out dozens of beautiful digipak promos to several interesting (and not too interesting) record labels, the response rate was more than miserable. I have to admit that it was not what we expected, but of course we also had a plan for this scenario, so we basically decided to release it on our own. This might be much harder and it definitely takes a shitload of time to try to deal with promotion on our own, but this is what we chose to do and we will do our best to make ourselves known by people who potentially like our music.

10. Thank you very much for your time, if you want to add something for people who like Neokhrome, this place, thanks. I hope the questions are to your liking.

Thank you very much for the interview, it was a pleasure. Take care and spread the word about us!