1.Hails Valder please introduce yourself to the readers?
I am from the United States, the New England area.
2.When did you first discover black and extreme metal music? Who were the first bands and artists that you listened to? Who are some current bands that have caught your attention?
I began to listen to black metal in the middle of 1998, the summer between my first and second years of university. The first release I got was the ‘Firestarter’ compilation on Century Black. I saw it flipping through CDs at a local record store and it looked very interesting, especially for under $10! ‘Thus Spake the Nightspirit’ was the song that I gravitated to first. Looking back, it had many great bands on it – Emperor, Ulver, Mayhem, Satyricon, Borknagar, Tiamat. That summer I also got more black metal releases at the same record shop, including the ‘Nightwing’ CD by Marduk, the ‘Jubileum’ compilation tape by Bathory, and the ‘Eine Kleine Natchmusik’ live double CD by Venom. When I got back to college that autumn, a friend had also begun to get into black metal during the same summer. He introduced me to many other black metal bands – Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Dissection. After that time my interest in music began to slowly move towards black metal (before that was more into punk).
Some recent releases I enjoy are the new Hate Forest full length, the Ancient Mastery ‘Chapter One’ full length, the new Blood Chalice full length, the recent Perverted Ceremony EP, the new Blut Aus Nord full length, and the new Arnaut Pavle full length
3.Valder you started Death Vanish in 2017, what gave you the idea to start this project? For the readers who unfamiliar with Death Vanish's music how would you best describe the music?
I decided to start the project for two reasons: I had ideas for black metal songs that did not fit within either of the bands I was in (One Master or Lustrum) and I also had the idea of wanting to try to do something totally on my own. The music style I wanted to do is more primitive – ideas from bands like Beherit, Profanatica, and Von. These kinds of music styles can work with an amateur drummer, and I do not play drums well (!), so it seemed like a good way to try to do a solo project and also play music that is not totally in line with the other bands I am involved in.
4.You are the only member did you plan to work alone or would you like to find more musicians to make a complete line up? If you had the opportunity to work with any musicians who would you like to work with?
I started the project with the idea of it being a solo thing. After doing a recording I discussed it with some friends and decided that maybe doing some live shows would work, so now there is a live band with two friends from the band Ritual Clearing playing on bass and guitar, but the song writing and recording is still all done solo.For myself, playing music with someone is, counter-intuitively, about everything other than ‘playing music’ in the strict sense. Working with someone just because of their pure talent or anything like that is not interesting to me, so I work with friends.
5.Hermitic Fire is the newest EP, how long did it take you to write the music for the new release?How long does it usually take to complete one song?
This release took a long time to finish. Several of the songs were written, recorded, and then re-written – more than once. The song that took the longest is ‘From Down There.’ It is so simple that everything has to be proper for it to work. It is also the first Death Vanish song with keyboard. Despite how remedial the keyboards are, I had so spend a lot of time working that out. The song ‘Old Magick and Tyrant’ also took a lot of time and re-working – again, sometimes the more simple a song is, the more time it takes to get right.
I am a very slow songwriter. Most songs are written, then stripped down to only one or two ideas from the original, and then re-written. Usually something has to be ‘final’ for a few months before I’m truly satisfied with it. Being a solo project makes this process even worse – with a full band there are other people who can work on things or give input, but a solo project I only have myself to heavily criticize things.
6.What are some subjects you write about in the lyrics? Which usually comes first the music or the lyrics?
I am someone who always does the music first and the lyrics later. I usually have song titles and release themes worked out in advance, but the actual lyrics are written and organized after the songs are finished.
The lyrical theme of ‘Hermitic Fire’ is the power that can come from isolating oneself in the wilderness. I often like to go hiking and camping into the woods by myself (or with two dogs!), and these songs are drawing on my experiences in those situations. This time isolated by oneself is very powerful. The lyrics, artwork, and theme are all capturing the power of isolation in the wilderness.
I also move on from idea to idea, both in my personal life and lyrically, and the next release will be on a different topic. I have come to the understanding that much of the reason why I am drawn to isolation is that my mind is always living in either the past or the future. The next release will have lyrics and theme of living in the present – something that in many ways has been alien to me.
7.Besides the upcoming Hermitic Fire release are the bands previous releases still available? Besides physical releases does the band have any other merchandise available?
The split cassette with Misanthropos is still available from Eternal Death, but the first two EPs are sold out. The project does not have any other merchandise, but there are plans to do a CD reissue of the releases – they have all been on cassette so far, so compiling them on CD is something I want to do.
8.I believe I read that you play some live shows with session members are their any plans to do some shows in support of the new EP? If yes where will you be playing?
There are plans to get some live shows together after this EP is released. The few gigs we have placed have been in the northeast USA and New York, so that will probably be where the upcoming gigs happen.
9.What does Black Metal mean to you? And how do you feel it has changed over the years?
Black metal is an ideology matched to a musical sound. The ideology of black metal is strong individual will, estrangement, and hatred of organized religion. Without these components, something cannot be black metal, even if the musical notes attempt to copy the sound.
These ideological foundations can lead one in many directions, so there are lots of different strands of black metal.
10. I believe you also work with the bands One Master and Lustrum how would you say Death Vanish's music differs from your other bands?
The music is a much more primitive and atavistic version of black metal than One Master or Lustrum.
11.When you need to take a break from working on new music what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I enjoy being in the wilderness. Getting old and having more responsibilities makes it more difficult to spend time there, but I try to get to the wilderness as much as possible.
I have developed a more modern interest of listening to podcast streams – ‘The Age of Napoleon’ and ‘Mysterious Universe’ are my current favorites. I also enjoyed the recent streaming series ‘Copenhagen Cowboy’.
12.Thank you Valder for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final comments for the readers?
Thank you for the interview and look for new Death Vanish releases in the future. Eternal Death https://eternaldeath.storenvy.com/ https://eternaldeath.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/eternaldeathUSA https://www.instagram.com/eternaldeathrex/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF-dsR_DqwBgCmEcb-d53uQ
