Blackened Horde: How did the band get started?
Band: Since I was pretty young I’ve been recording here and there throughout the years, but it wasn’t really in the metal genre and it never added up to what I would consider a complete work. It is just in the past couple years that I have concentrated on my more aggressive musical tastes and enough things in my life lined up right for me to really complete something. I find that while my life is quite ‘not metal’ outside my studio, being able to create and produce extreme music helps keep a smile on my face, if that makes sense.
Blackened Horde: What kind of music do you play?
Band: I consider my project to be Blackened Heavy Metal. There’s obviously a large Black Metal and generally extreme metal influence, but I also always have music in my head that is influenced by melody/harmony-driven genres. I mean, I love the Beach Boys and all that sunny nonsense. So when I’m building a song I always end up keeping some parts that have clear melodies. Also parts that are fun to play, I just get too bored otherwise. But no clean singing allowed so far, I leave that for King Diamond.
Blackened Horde: How has the fan response been?
Band: My music is still quite unknown but the few responses I have received have either been very encouraging or, at worst, a sort of ‘I’m not sure I get this’. Which I’m honestly happy with, I’d rather confuse a listener than bore them. I’d rather they even hate my band than be bored. And at the end of the day, I get a lot of fulfillment from writing and recording. I’m not part of any scene and I make music first to exercise my creativity. If I don’t become well-known it’s not a big deal, but I admit I’m interested to see who else out there is of a similar mind.
Blackened Horde: Where did the band name come from?
Band: It comes partially from the general lyrical themes I enjoy (loss, isolation, etc.) and the fact that this is a solo project, so… I’m alone. I guess that’s sort of cheesy, but it was hard to pass up as a name for the project. I like the fact that it’s short and simple. Also there are a lot of (very good) new black metal bands that have these long ‘celestial’ names, so I figured it’d be nice to have something a little more simple and old-school, in a way.
Blackened Horde: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Band: Hi, it’s me, I do everything.
Blackened Horde: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Band: Only one so far.
Blackened Horde: Tell me about some of the songs on the latest CD?
Band: I guess one obvious thing is that they are pretty long, it’s just my compositional style. I have a hard time stopping and starting the momentum of the creative process, so when I get an idea I like to ride it out and see what other ideas I can connect with it. In composing them I usually try to pick a couple of words and images for a general feeling and try to imagine the music that would suit the mood. However I don’t want to give the impression that this is an Atmospheric Black Metal album, as there are clear Thrash Metal influences, and galloping rhythms. I don’t find it particularly fun to write about each song in detail, but I will say that I do view each song as having a musical narrative arc, in a sort of classic beginning-middle-end story structure. Also, while they are long, I do try to fit in a good density of musical ideas that smoothly connect so the listener doesn’t get bored. I like repetitive music sometimes, but as for this project I’d like it to be almost fun to listen to, as well as the obvious dark elements.
Blackened Horde: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Band: Me again.
Blackened Horde: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Band: Lyrics are a strange thing to me, to my tastes they’re not uncommonly the worst part about a song but at the same time essential. When I read the lyrics directly I usually find it pretty embarrassing. To me it’s more about catching the odd word or phrase that the listener can use to build a mood and fill in the blanks themselves. I think we all have to accept the cheese inherent in metal, but sometimes it’s too much for me. That being said, to each his own, and being the hypocrite I am, I do have full lyrics for my songs. It’s my hope that they are obscured enough by the production and singing style that only a fraction of them get through clearly to the listener so they can enjoy their own mood. The words are a mix of metaphorical and lyrical, and are chosen primarily to sound good with the music. But pretty much anything that conveys violence, power, isolation, and grief is welcome. My main vocal influence in this regard is that of the USBM band Weakling, and if you know that band you probably get what I’m saying. Anyway, I guess this is my way of saying, in too many words, that I don’t like too many words.
Blackened Horde: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism? (If this applies)
Band: I think the aesthetics of both are very important to the types of metal I enjoy, but I don’t hold any beliefs regarding the existence or reality of anything that I think you would ascribe to the worldview of Satanism or Occultism. They can of course provide very powerful poetic symbolism, which I enjoy and make use of in my lyrics.
Blackened Horde: Do you have any side projects?
Band: Yes, I’ve been putting together a recording setup for creating some Dungeon Synth tracks. I may actually use the Alone name, and have the project represent both metal and dungeon synth. Possibly even some sort of cross-over and sharing of musical themes.
Blackened Horde: Who are some of your musical influences?
Band: The main genre influence is black metal, particularly Norwegian Second Wave and the more atmospheric USBM stuff. Other than that, on the metal side I’d say thrash, doom, and good old classic heavy metal. I also pull in influences from a wide array of rock and electronic groups from over the years, but I try to integrate it cohesively. For example, there are classic, interesting chord changes used by bands like The Beatles and Radiohead that can be used in just about any genre. As far as bands, I’d say the Big Four are: Bathory, Weakling, Burzum, Immortal.
Blackened Horde: What is the band like when you play live?
Band: I have never performed any of my music live, but who knows, maybe in the future I’ll recruit some people to play a show.
Blackened Horde: What do you think about the underground scene?
Band: I really don’t have much of a connection to any scene, but my impression from afar is that the underground metal scene still appears to be quite vital, even after all these years. It seems people can find a home there, even if they are just some unknown solo artist… I mean black metal fans will sometimes even go so far as to practically fetishism the lack of a large audience . So from the artist’s point of view the culture can be very freeing because your lack of reputation doesn’t have to stop you from being a part of it. From the fan’s point of view, the variety and quality of underground metal via streaming platforms and playlists is amazing. I can find just about any sound my heart desires.
Blackened Horde: What are some of your new favorite Extreme metal bands?
Band: I mainly listen to music through streaming service subscriptions, but right now I’m not really in a listening phase. I am pretty concentrated on composition and recording. I have a large backlog of musical influences that I need to get out as my own compositions before I start consuming heavily again. But not to say that I still don’t check out new bands, I’ll definitely check out what Black Metal Promotion and Black Metal Artists on YouTube are posting from time to time. Also, the Dungeon Synth Archives is metal-adjacent and one of my favorite places to be.
Blackened Horde: Since the Covid Pandemic has that hurt the band in making music at all?
Band: No, in fact the pandemic was crucial in giving me the time alone to give my project some steam. I’m sure I’m not the only one either.
Blackened Horde: What advice would you as a musician give to a fellow musician just starting out?
Band: Yes. Build some sort of makeshift and then just write and record finished works, now matter how good or bad they are. Learn how to actually complete something. The quality will come later.
Blackened Horde: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Band: I have the instrumental track pretty much done for a new song, I just have to finish the lyrics and record the vocals. Planning to finish this within a month.
Blackened Horde: What does the future hold for the band??
Band: Maybe a cross-over between Alone the metal band and Alone the dungeon synth project! And then maybe finding some dudes to help me play live, if any club will have us.
Contact them at:
https://alone14.bandcamp.com/album/i-iv
https://twitter.com/alonemusicblack
