Even though SINISTRAL KING consists of three top-class musicians with members of Triumph Of Death, Unlight and Vredehammer, „Serpent Uncoiling“, the band’s debut, came practically out of nowhere – and with such a powerful impact that it is without doubt a musical highlight of the year. Why SINISTRAL KING are rather inconspicuous when it comes to promotion, in which way name-dropping and staying anonymous go together in this respect, what the classical elements of their debut are all about and whether lo-fi productions have become obsolete nowadays can be read in the following interview.
Hello! Thank you for answering us a few questions. How are you doing these days?
Hi! Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do an interview with you. We are fine, thanks. To us everyday life didn’t change that much – we have been practicing social distancing before the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the information published about you so far, it’s known that you have already played in some well-known bands – Vredehammer, Unlight and Triumph Of Death. However, your names do not appear anywhere. For what reason?
It’s the simple reason that only our music should be in the spotlight.
If you wanted to stay anonymous, why were you open about your previous bands?
Originally we didn’t want to reveal our main bands. We wanted to test how far SINISTRAL KING would come appearing out of pure nothingness. But in the end our label was right that at least revealing our main bands would be better for promotion. But no further details will be told because it’s only the music that counts.
How did it come about that you decided to get together to form SINISTRAL KING?
It was just the inner urge to do something different but still sticking to our roots. Channelling our creativity is normal for us. And when there are new ideas we have to put them into music.
Do you intend the band to exist for a longer period of time or was it only supposed to serve for the release of one album?
We tend to keep SINISTRAL KING alive for an unknown period of time. And as long as there is energy channelling in the way we need it for this project we will create music for SINISTRAL KING.
Was it your intention to try something different with SINISTRAL KING than what you have created in your other bands so far?
Yes, exactly. It’s different to what we all did before. But we still remain with our origins.
How does your songwriting process work – do you write everything as a team or is there a clear division of tasks?
There are basic ideas which are passed around. We are living in different countries, so it’s necessary to use the internet for it. So it is possible that everyone in SINISTRAL KING is involved in composing and arranging the songs – building and constructing them from the very beginning.
Although you use unusual elements in your music, you also work a lot with common stylistic devices. From your point of view, what does an album have to bring to the table to still impress in this way nowadays?
For us music has to be interesting and never leave you bored. It has to absorb you and leave you hungry for more. A lot of variety and deep atmosphere are just two aspects that good quality music has to consist of.
On your debut „Serpent Uncoiling“ there are eerie choirs, brass and thunderous percussion between the brutal Black Metal parts. Were these recorded especially for the album or did you use samples?
Some where recorded for „Serpent Uncoiling“ but most of it are high quality samples of a real orchestra and a real existing choir.
Because of the choirs and the almost classical insertions, some would probably call your music ceremonial or even symphonic Black Metal. What is your opinion on such categorizations?
People have to categorise – we understand that. But to call SINISTRAL KING symphonic Black Metal is something we wouldn’t agree with. Yes, we absolutely have classical parts in our music but the whole atmosphere SINISTRAL KING is creating is a lot different to symphonic Black Metal bands. To us a lot of these so called symphonic Black Metal bands have a cheesy touch. With all the serious depth SINISTRAL KING holds in itself you can’t compare it to that.
In the songs on „Serpent Uncoiling“ there are some breaks in which the raw Metal goes silent abruptly and almost only the choirs can be heard. Some people might think that this interrupts the flow of the songs. Why were these breaks nevertheless fitting at times in your opinion?
These harsh breaks are necessary to show the maximum contrast SINISTRAL KING holds in its compositions.
I have the impression that „Serpent Uncoiling“ is especially impressive because of its powerful production. Would you say that the days of thin lo-fi sounds in Black Metal are numbered?
No, it’s for sure not over. But you always have to choose the kind of production that fits your idea of music. For SINISTRAL KING it is absolutely without a single doubt the powerful production that fits the music.
In the lyrics some names that come from religious teachings are mentioned – for example the angel of death Azrael or the demon Nahemoth. How in-depth do you deal with the sources in this regard?
We have been living for a very, very long time now with our individual occult and satanic pilosophy of life. Therefore you can imagine that we drew all the input to our music from this source of philosophy of life.
Where does your interest in these darker parts of religion come from?
It’s not religion. And you can’t tell where this interest comes from – it’s just inside of you.
For the release of your debut you worked together with Vendetta Records, a German underground label. Why did you choose this label in particular?
Because we want to stick to the roots of our kind of music we picked Vendetta Records. They are doing an amazing job there. It’s not about making money and becoming famous. It’s about music and the appraisal of dark occult arts. They put so much effort and heart into their releases – that’s what we want and need; a label standing behind the artist 100 percent.
The prom
otion of the album has been pretty unobtrusive so far – only the title track has been pre-released up until this point and there hasn’t been much commotion otherwise. Would it bother you, if „Serpent Uncoiling“ would therefore remain largely unnoticed?
That’s underground. You may reckon that your output doesn’t get recognized by everyone. But that’s ok for us. Things like we mentioned here before ar more important to us.
Do you plan to perform live (as soon as it is possible again) or should SINISTRAL KING remain a pure studio project?
To be honest SINISTRAL KING was planned as a pure studio project from the beginning on. But who knows what the future holds… Never say never…
Let’s end by doing a short brainstorming. What do the following terms bring to your mind?
Batushka: Commercial band, using the occult to make money and attract kids.
Social Distancing: Our way of life.
Perfectionism: Boon and bane. But more like a blessing to us.
Supergroup: What…? ABBA? (Laughs) Oh, wait… Sabaton! (Laughs)
Occultism: Philosophy of life.
Thanks again for your answers. Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers at this point?
If you are curious now, go to our bandcamp site and get an idea of our music.
11. Mai 2020 Stephan Rajchl
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