Good afternoon, thank you very much for answering these questions, how is everything going in Oslo?
Ole - Thank you for taking interest in us, and for doing this interview. Life in Oslo is nice right now. Spring has arrived and this means I get to spend more time in the woods.
1. There isn't much information about the band, at what point did you decide to start Nadir? Why did you choose this name and what does it refer to?
Jonas - The word “nadir” is the opposite of zenith, the absolute low point, basically rock bottom. It’s always a bit of a process naming a band, with no small degree of awkwardness. At some point, as the suggestions we came up with reached new levels of pretentious bullshit, we landed on the bottom of the curve and stayed with it. The name sits well with the musical content, and is a humorous reminder of how we found our name.
2. You have released an EP, “The Great Dying” (2020), however the leap in sound achieved with your new album is really remarkable. How have you faced the recording of the new album with respect to “The Great Dying”? What brands of instruments have you used in the composition and recording process?
Jonas - Fun fact here: When we (Ole and myself) started recording the EP, I was under the assumption that we were doing pre-production for later recordings, so very little detail was paid to the technical aspects of recording. Mic placement and selection was done in a hurry, we didn’t even check phase for the drum mics. Fast forwards a couple of weeks, and the tracks are sent of for mixing, and all of a sudden we’re releasing the demo-turned-EP!
For the album recordings we did everything in a much more orderly fashion. Everything is recorded in our rehearsal space where I keep all my studio gear. For my part, my drum kit is a Mapex Saturn Tour Edition, with 2x 24x14 kicks, 13x9 rack tom, 16x16 and 18x16 floor toms and a Persuader snare from their Black Panther line. All the toms were fitted with Remo Vintage Ambassador over Remo Ambassador Coated, Powerstroke X coated on the snare and Powerstroke 4 Coated on the kicks. The cymbals are all Paiste - 2002 Big Beat 16 hats, 19, 20, 21 and 24 multis, 2002 novo china 20 and a Giant Beat 20 thin. The setup is quite different from what I see most guys using for this sort of music, but I like the 70s vibe from it, and it really adds character to our sound.
This was all captured through SE Electronics V-kit mics, with their VR1 ribbons used for overheads and a blumlein-pair of 4400’s plus a 2200 facing the floor in front of the kicks for the room sound.
The guitars were recorded through Orange 4x12 cabs with VR1 and SM57 mics, and both guys did two passes with different amps, Ole with an EVH5150iii and a Marshall JCM800 Kerry King sig, and Magnus with Mesa Stiletto and Dual Rectifier amps.
All bass tracks were recorded through DI and a Darkglass MicroTubes 500.
3. The balance of your sound is remarkable, between a sound that could be classified as classic and the more hardcore parts that make their way throughout the entire album as clear influences. How would you describe the sound of the album for whom? haven't heard it yet? Which bands have been an influence for you when it comes to defining the sound?
Jonas - Thanks! The balance of our sound is mostly a result of our good friend Ruben Willem, who mixed and mastered the album. He did a great job here! From the very beginning we wanted to make a very organic and gritty album, so there’s no samples, no tuning and no editing to make it super clean. I believe this makes it easier for the different parts to work together through the album, especially for the big dynamic transitions.
Ole - When I was writing the tracks for Extinction Rituals I was listening to mostly straight forward Black Metal, so it funny it turned out the way it did. But I guess we as a collective never had any interest in being contained by this or that particular genre of sound. We go where the music takes us.
4. Intensity and rawness, melody and careful atmospheres, classic sounds without sacrificing more current elements, it seems difficult to achieve the right balance among so many nuances, but I think you have succeeded, how complicated was the whole process until you reached the goal? What sound did you want to offer? Has your experience in previous bands served to define the whole process in any way?
Ole- Thank you! During the conception of Nadir, my thoughts was to present my take on Black Metal music. I have always been drawn to the idea of bending genres, which for me makes things more interesting. I guess through my previous works in other bands this idea has always been present, but earlier it was more focused on Sludge and Doom Metal.
Jonas - As far as the drums go, I haven’t actually put too much thought into any of it, but rather trying just to go with the flow and play whatever feels right in the moment when we write, and then try not to stray too far from that as the process moves forwards. It’s a very primal approach, but it helps me not overthinking my parts. On past experience, one thing that really helped this process is the simple fact that Ruben and I spent years together in a different band a while back. The fact that he’s very familiar with my playing, and that we’ve already had the talk about what sound we’re after so many times before really helped speeding up the mixing process - which in turn lets us finish it before the aforementioned overthinking takes over!
5. Your lyrics deal with themes related to death and darkness, why do you deal with these issues in your lyrics? Have you adapted the music to the lyrics or vice versa?
Ole - The music always comes first. Most times I will write the song, then we will adjust it as a band, after that comes the lyrics. For me, the theme of this album comes quite naturally. Extinction Rituals is the duality of futility and hope. Humanity will go smiling and ignorant into the flames of our own doom.
6. On the album cover you can see a snake in the center and in black and white, however everything is surrounded by colors towards the edges of the cover, who was in charge of the design of the album cover and what do you want? represent with her?
Ole - We where lucky enough to get the fantastic artist Thomas Hooper to do the artwork for Extinction Rituals. I have been a fan of his work for a long time, and in particular his use of colors. I feel it is quite fitting of the dualistic nature of this album.
7. You have opted for the digital self-publishing of the album, are you looking for a record label to publish it in another format or do you prefer to be yourselves who have control over this whole process?
Ole - In the end it was simpler to do it digitally.
Jonas - We certainly wouldn’t object if somebody wanted to help us etch out our tunes in vinyl.
8. Have you already started with the live presentation of the album? How is the response from the public? With which bands would you like to share a mini-tour?
Ole - Yes, we recently performed several of the songs from Extinction Rituals at Inferno Festival here in Oslo. That might be the ideal audience for us, metalheads with an open mind. Given our various influences and broad style, I think we could pull off touring with a lot of different bands, we certainly will consider all offers coming our way.
9. You come from Norway, specifically from Oslo and it seems that you have been active in the scene for some time. How do you think the scene in a city like Oslo has evolved in recent years? Do you think that in some way Has the essence of those early years been lost to make way for a more prefabricated scene or sound?
Jonas - As far as the scene is concerned, I’ve never really been a part of it outside my work. It’s changed for sure, and the early years are long gone but not forgotten. Keeping the arts alive is a lot like wilderness survival - you’ve got to keep moving, complacency is death!
Ole - There will always be bad music, and there will be those keeping the flame alive.
The flavor of the month will always be fluctuating, but one truly notice those doing things with sincerity and passion. For me that is Metal.
10. How were your beginnings in music: first concerts you attended, first albums you bought? What event in your lives pushed you to want to be musicians?
Jonas - The beginning is a long time ago, but I think the first metal album I went out to get was probably something like Metallica’s Ride The Lightning, sometime around 1989-90. First concerts were with local bands, and having older friends in bands was my ticket to pick up the sticks.
11. What album represents for you the essence of black metal? What last albums have you bought?
Ole - That is a though one to answer, and I don’t really know what album to pick. I have always been a fan of the more melodic stuff, so the style from the late 90s early 00s is something I really like. In recent times the new Dødheimsgard and Imperium Dekadenz have been played a lot at my home, great stuff!
12. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions for Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for Nadir fans this is the place. I hope the questions are to your liking.
Ole - Thank you again. I hope people will continue to support Metal music, and keep the flame burning bright for many years to come.
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