1. Starting with your first time, what pushed you to create a band like Membaris? And why do you choose the name of Membaris?
It was like an impulsive decision when I met Obscurus back in vocational school. It was just like: “Hey, I play drums and the guitar. Do you play any instruments”? “Yeah, I play bass and sing”! “Oh cool, lets form a band”! And so it was done! There wasn’t much talk, it just feels like that this deep connection between Obscurus and me was written in stone since we met each other. And after 20 years I still feel this connection. Obscurus came up with the name Membaris. If I remember correctly, he took it out of a novel, but I really don't know its name anymore. But, to us, the name represents all the experience we made as individuals as well as those that we share.
2. It is not usual that in bands as veteran as yours their members have remained faithful from the beginning as in your case it happens with Kraal and Obscurus. Why is this understanding over so many years between you? Is Obscurus able to properly keep Membaris separate from his other Porta Nigra gang?
When I was eighteen years old I met Obscurus. We now know each other for over 20 years and we're still best friends and blood brothers. We both got the right chemistry you know? We got the same humor, our musical taste sometimes differs, but when we talk about the music that influenced us in the early years, we got similar opinions.
Sure, nowadays all members of the band are living in different parts of Germany and it became harder to meat every weekend and beat the shit out of our instruments two days in a row. But still, we're rehearsing on a regular basis and when we gather it's magic every time we play and create new songs together.
3. Your most recent album "Misanthrosophie" marks the fifth of your career, however it is also true that in the last six years you have practically not released any new material. What have you been busy with all this time? Did you ever weigh the possibility of ending Membaris?
During this six years we never talked or even thought about ending Membaris. When Boreas left in 2012 after more than 12 years of membership, it striked us hard, both Obscurus and myself. It felt like ten steps back and none to move forward. We dealed with this situation for quiet a long time. Luckily, we had a couple of ideas left and didn’t stop creating new material. At the time, it felt natural to decide that the next album would solely be a joint effort of us a duo and some guests.
4. We can affirm that this "Misanthrosophie" is perhaps your best album to date, only comparable to "Into Nevermore" (2007). What do you think about it?
Maybe you’re right. Of course, over the years we considerably grew as songwriters and production of the album turned out great. But then, we don’t think of our albums in terms of which one is the best. Every single song on every album has it's own charm. In my opinion, calling it our most mature(d) album to date is probably an apropriate description. On some songs, we had been working on and off for more than a decade, e.g. the titletrack of the current album. Or thinking about the opening riff on the album: it is actually the first riff we showed Boreas and which made him join the band in 2000, but we never used it until now. So to me some songs and sounds are more like reminiscences of the past and all the shit I and we as a band went through.
5. With more than twenty years on the scene, I suppose you will have experienced a lot of good and bad moments, but according to you, how has the scene evolved and changed in this time?
To be honest, we're not in deep touch with the scene and we never really cared about in which direction the scene develops. We do the things the way we want to without riding every single trend.
When it comes the bands in the scene, I can only speak for myself, but when I listen to new bands, in my opinion most of them sound the same and I really do not listen to all of the new stuff. It is not because I'm stuck in the past, but I experienced most of the sounds that where crucial for my musical develpoment in my early years, and that sounds formed my musical imaginations how Black Metal should be, especially the way we do it.
6. At first, the texts of your songs revolved around classic themes within black such as satanism, anti-Christianity or even nature, however, for a time now, themes such as fatalism are becoming present, who takes care of the lyrics? And what is this evolution in terms of theme?
The earlier lyrics consisted of satanism and of course natural / spiritual themes, you're right. But as times passes by and you make your experiences, you begin to realize that not God or Satan or any other entity is the reason why your’re leading your life the way you do. It's the environment and other people as well as things that happen that influence and shape your way of thinking and acting. That’s a big theme for our current lyrics. To illustrate this with an example, consider a loose translation of the main sentences of the lyrics of “Misanthrosophie”: “to make it clear, I despise all of us for the way we act as mankind. Everyone strives for the best possible life on earth, but paradoxically it’s only chaos what we’re creating therewith”. When I look at all the shit mankind has been doing, I come to the conclusion that this wicked way of behaving might be very deeply rooted in all of us. Further related topics that interest us nowadays are questions about the will, consciousness and epistemology.
To answer the other question: every member of the band can write lyrics and bring them to discussion, not only Obscurus and myself. N. and F. can participate in the same way.
7. From the 2014 edition of “Elemental Nightmares - VII” to the edition of “Misanthrosophie”, a long period of time has passed and if I remember correctly, by 2014 you were already talking about working on a new album, has the How to compose and record the new album compared to previous albums? And how is your way of working on your songs, composition, etc ...?
Well, in 2014 we talked about moving forward after a long period of time. So we startet to collect songs. Since then, the way we’ve been creating songs has changed in so far as one of us now comes up with a finished song idea. But the song remains in a working process until every single member is satisfied with it. We succesfully worked this way as a duo and therefore keep doing it this way as a fourpiece now.
8. Which bands are influencing you musically, are there any new bands that have caught your attention recently?
Old Setherial, old Gorgoroth, Leviathan (US), Adversam, Deathspell Omega, old Behemoth, Absu – speaking for myself you can call it Kraals eternal Top Seven, haha! Concerning the second part of your question: as I mentioned before, to me most new bands often sound the same and / or create the same atmosphere. And I'm not really interested in any “second occult wave of Black Metal”.
9. For a band like Membaris, accustomed to contact with the public through concerts, what role has the emergence of COVID-19 played in terms of sales, promotion and concerts in relation to “Misanthrosophie”?
Interesting fact concerning the emergence of Covid-19: the album was released and a little later this virus is spreading over the world. I know it ain’t that funny but I like dark humor. Because of the fact that we only play a few selected shows during a year, Covid-19’s impact hasn’t been that big on us so far.
10. "Misanthrosophie" offers a cover that reflects destruction and death, on a black and white basis, who designed the album cover? How is it related to your music? And what meaning does it have?
The cover shows a wonderful metaphor concerning mankind and its behavior on this planet. The basic idea came from my wife, but this time we asked KARMAZID to create a picture. He did a superb job. It's not a new idea, to describe mankind as a virus, but the lyrics of the titletrack made us feel that it is the best picture to visualize our thoughts.
11. How were your beginnings in music: first concerts you attend, first CDs that you buy? What did it do in your lives that made you want to be musicians?
You're the first one ever that asks this kind of question. Great, haha! First concert ever was the Rolling Stones in 96 or 98, I don't remember it that good. But then there was the Slayer -Sepultura - System of a down - Tour in 98. Great and brutal!!!
As a kid I listened to a lot of Bad Religion, Offspring, Rage Against the Machine and stuff like that. But the first CDs I ever bought were Manowars “Louder than hell” and Maidens “A real dead one”. First Black Metal CDs were Bestial Warlust “Blood and Valour” and Behemoths Demo recording “From the Pagan Vastlands”. Still love the albums.
I do listen to new music if you describe Leviathan or Deathspell Omega in that way, but just as Lemmy said: the first music you hear will be the best music you ever heard in your life. Concerning Black Metal, to me it is old Setherial, old Gorgoroth, old Behemoth, Thy Primordial or Absu. I'm always getting back to my roots.
12. Are you satisfied with the editing and promotion work done by World Terror Committee for “Misanthrosophie”? What immediate future plans do you have for the band?
To be honest it took quite some time until the album got released. But one has to be patient and accept that everything takes its time. In the end, what counts is the result: And yes, we're absolutely satisfied with the release. Sven and WTC are doing a great job. After years of struggling with different labels we finally have one that truly supports our musical vision and that we can fully trust.
Future plans? Well, as I said, we’ve allready been working on new songs. Also, we had some live appearences planned for late 2020, but since COVID-19 took over, we have to wait and see. Hopefully we can enter the stage again soon.
13. Thank you very much for the time dedicated to Black metal spirit, if you want to add something for the followers of Membaris, this is the place. I hope the questions have been to your liking.
Nothing more to say, thanks for the interview guys. Regards!!!
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Vinyl, 7", 33 ⅓ RPM, EP, Limited Edition, Transparent
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