1. I was surprised where you live and where you come from, I was already happy that the locals play metal, but they don't. What is your story about being there?
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I was born in Zimbabwe and got into music around the age of 9. I initially took some violin and piano lessons but quickly lost interest once I started hearing rock bands like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard on TV. That’s when I realised the electric guitar was what I really wanted to learn. I got my first electric guitar at 13, and it’s been my main instrument ever since.
2. You create music yourself, as you can hear, it comes out professionally. Can you tell us how you started with metal?
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As a teenager, I was a big fan of Nirvana - I loved their rougher sound, and as a young guitarist, their songs were fun and easier to play compared to most other bands. Years later though, a friend introduced me to Paradise Lost, and I was blown away by their heavy yet melodic sound, and they are the band that got me into melodic death metal. Bands like Dark Tranquillity, Devin Townsend, and Wintersun have been favourites of mine for a long time. These days, I’m into bands like Lorna Shore, Orbit Culture, Wormwood, and Seth.
Around 2010, I finally decided it was time to start recording my own music and exploring my ideas, which led to the creation of my solo project, Nuclear Winter. I released my first album, Ghost, in 2013, followed by an EP called The Void, which had a lighter sound. Friends of mine did the lead vocals on those two releases. My next album was Night Shift (2019), where I took on most of the vocal work, with some additional vocals by members of Dividing the Element, another local metal band at the time.
My EP Stormscapes came next, and this was a turning point for me as I took on everything myself. It made the process a lot quicker and easier. My next two albums were Greystone and Seagrave. Sound-wise, I think those turned out the best. Mixing your own music is tricky, but it’s a constant learning process.
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3. You have been making music for 10 years now, you have released 4 albums. What is the interest in them, do they bombard you with interviews, reviews, do the people overwhelm you and the paparazzi make you unable to live?
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I've been fortunate to have someone in Canada assisting me with PR which has really boosted my music's exposure and brought in more reviews. While there's always a mix of positive and negative feedback, I particularly appreciate the reviews that offer constructive criticism. My last two albums seem to have received the best response so far though.
I've occasionally been surprised to hear from people in places I never imagined would hear my music, such as Brazil or Ukraine, so I’m thrilled that it's reaching those areas.
I usually receive several interview requests following an album release, primarily within the first month of the release. I haven't quite reached paparazzi status yet, but who knows what the future holds!
4. Your opinion: Can raw black metal be played in Zimbabwe? Could it be promoted there? What is the music scene like there?
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In Zimbabwe, Hip-hop, R&B, and Afro-fusion (which blends traditional elements with modern beats and electronic sounds) are the most popular genres. Personally, I believe raw black metal would struggle to gain traction here. Zimbabweans tend to be quite conservative, which is not conducive to black metal's appeal. While there have been a few rock and metal shows, they generally don't draw large crowds - and although there is a small community here that appreciates heavier genres like death metal, black metal doesn't really come into the picture. It would be interesting to see if this subculture could grow over time. That said, a black metal show would likely attract only a handful of people at this stage.
5.Let's get back to music. You released a new album in 2023 with nine songs including a cover of Bad Boys Blue - House of Silence. Why did you choose this group and this number? Covers are quite often found on your albums.
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Yes, I enjoy covering songs from time to time, and I usually choose older ones that I enjoyed as a kid. I look for songs that I feel can be effectively made heavier. House of Silence has an epic chorus, and its gothic theme and atmospheric sound lent themselves well to a metal interpretation - which I felt worked well with the album's overall tone.
6. I listened to the available CDs and unfortunately they are not very different. Have you thought about changing the style or will it be the same on the next releases? Do you work with any company outside of Africa?
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I agree my style hasn’t changed much over the years, but I think it will be a good idea to change the style a bit in the future. I still want to keep it heavy, but I may shift to a more electronic sound or possibly even attempt an atmospheric black metal EP.
If you mean my daytime job – I do freelance motion graphics/web development and I get to do work for people outside of Africa which is good.
7. Judging by the titles of your songs, I can see that they give us information about your interests and special places. Can you elaborate on this?
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I like to have lyrics that have a sombre or melancholic theme to them. Some songs just represent an abstract idea while others are possibly relatable in some way – but I like lyrics that can have various interpretations. Overall, my lyrics are quite pessimistic with themes of death and loss. I’m not that good at writing lyrics so I’ll search online for dark poetry to use as inspiration.
8. Finally, a dangerous question: would you recommend Europeans to live in such a dictatorial country as Zimbabwe, which cooperates with Russia and Belarus, a lost former British colony?
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It's a tough question, and whether it's good to live here depends on the person. Things aren't as bad as the media suggests, but there are challenges like severe power cuts, which most people handle with solar systems or generators. There's also a lack of municipal water, so we use boreholes or water delivery. The economy faces issues like inflation, and the roads are in poor condition. On the plus side, we have nice weather, beautiful places like Victoria Falls and Nyanga, friendly people, and an affordable cost of living compared to Western countries. It's also more relaxed, and for equivalent rent you'd generally get a much bigger place here.
9. Finally, thank you for the interview, I wish you much success and many more albums! Horns Up! I leave the last words to the fans to you!
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Just to say thanks for this interview and I hope to do this again once I have something new done.
... After five months of waiting for a copy, we finally received answers to the interview, which we invite you to read now. Quite a thick and interesting interview with a group from Hungary - here is SVOID.
1. Hello, on the begining interview, tell as a short history of - Svoid ... you were start IT in 2011 and ... ?
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S: Greetings, and thank you for the opportunity. Svoid was founded in 2009, and we began performing live as a full band in 2011, shortly after releasing our debut EP, "Ars Kha" (Chaotic Art). This title still encapsulates our essence today, and reflects our identity too.
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2. You recorded your first album two years later. Fast pace - what was the reason for it?
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S: Following the release of "Ars Kha" and our debut performance on Walpurgis Night in 2011, we continued with the creation of our first full-length album. Within a year, we finalized the material and recorded "To Never Return" in 2012, a self-released album featuring 11 tracks. The process was marked by spontaneity and instinct; we were deeply inspired and influenced, a moment with the potential to capture something unseen and unheard. It was magic.
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3. More in the next years, at the end of 2024 we have a new album, the third one in your group history. Tell us something about the new album, how it was created, what it is about and where do you get your inspiration from?
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Gravel: At the time the basic structures of Neptunian were created in Summer 2019, we were quite fed up with standard extreme metal motives. Although we used a quite stripped-down straight formula for our previous album Storming Voices of Inner Devotion, we were searching for a more adequate way to express our soundscapes. We believed that there could be more beyond the standard Nordic Black Metal riffing. As both of us are fans of 80s dark music, post-punk, gothic rock and the indie rock revival thing of the early 2000s, it was natural to blend these inspirations into the music of Svoid. That’s how Neptunian was born. It took some time though, to create a well-balanced sound, not a mishmash. The chapter between these albums was Spiral Dance EP, where the clean side took over - from this perspective I can say it was a brave experimentation ahead of our time.
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4. Covid - how did it go for you, were there such heavy restrictions differently than in Western Europe?
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S: That era was relatively quiet for the band, marked by a period of inactivity. The new album back then seemed very distant. We faced numerous challenges, yet this time also presented a profound opportunity to seek our inner fire, drawing inspiration from isolation, solitude, and hopelessness. It was an emotionally intense period, and its indelible marks have carried over to the present. These experiences have all converged into "Neptunian" influencing it musically and in other ways.
5. Geopolitical question - War in the East, conflict in the Middle East, the next one will be on the Chinese side and again a return to Europe. Do you think that the Russians will attack Europe? What are your opinions and is it related to this?
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Gravel: Well, I think these themes do not belong to a Svoid interview. In this sanctum we formed, we try to focus on our inner world.
S: Humanity will always be plagued by conflict, but Svoid has always aspired to reach for higher realms beyond mortals and ego.
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6. Let's get back to the music - I saw your performance of Burzum, it was brilliant and I admit that it attracted me to you. Are you saturated with this Norwegian Black Metal?
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Gravel: Early Norwegian Black Metal scene touched both of us early on. So S. and I have a lot of favorite artists from that genre such as Immortal, Enslaved, Emperor and so on. Svoid’s sound has always been a ‘friendly war’ between the Norwegian and Swedish Black Metal musical heritage. Even the first song we played together back in 2007 was a Darkthrone classic. And the first cover we played together on stage was from the Swedish Black Metal realm, Pest namely.
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7. What are your plans for concerts, where and when can we hear you, and can you tell us where we can buy your music and merchandise?
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S: Our future plans are rooted in the recent album of course. We would like to take the stage and bring these compositions to life, sharing them with our audience in a way that live performances, ceremonies can. But just as important, we're diving deeper into the process of composing as time comes. The album is both our focus and our journey.
You can discover our merch on our Bandcamp page, where you'll find both classic designs and fresh new prints. There are still a few remaining physical copies of our releases, making these last pieces all the more special for those who grab them.
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8. The interview with you was interesting for me, thank you for it, the last words are yours to the fans!
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S: In closing, I encourage each of you to seek out your own darkness. Embrace the shadows, for within them lie the raw, bottomless depths of our minds. It is in our inner night. Let your journey through the dark be a source of inspiration, guiding you to unearth your soul and craft your legacy.
INTERVIEW 2024y. by Seducer
and now we would like to introduce you to a metal group from the Dark Continent from the country of Kenya, introduce you to a band playing amazing Metal in a specific way that you will not find in Europe! Here is - CHOVU !
1. First of all, thank you for your valuable time and moments for the interview. You are not an ordinary group, tell us about yourself, the group and where you are from?
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We are a black metal inspired African band borrowing alot of influence from traditional African mystics and voodoo lineage as a theme.We employ African symbolic rituals to our performance...we enjoy alot of theatrics in our live performances.We are a five piece band ,four guys and one girl.Our band is four years old.
2. Euronymous already mentioned that we are the same, misery - just like them in Norway. What is your opinion about it?
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Misery is an inherited attribute in all of us most of us are just too afraid to reveal it because of the lack of a platform that can accept it.The world is all rainbows and colours and only expresses darkness if they can make money from it or if it's Propaganda.We Hordes and Lords and Ladies of Black Metal are a breed with a platform for release.Its bigger than any religion
3.The metal scene in Africa, tell us about it, about the concerts, do you have contact with others or is it a narrow group of people?
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African scene is quite massive in the south ... Botswana,South Africa,Angola,Namibia alot of bands...very proper shows oftenly..all very different from each other...the scenes I mean.The Botswana metalheads are quite a unique bunch..they refer to themselves as THE MAROCKO ..they have a cowboy apparel wear and unique dress code .here in Kenya we use the title LORDSHIP or HORDES to relate ..we are the only black metal band in the country so far...although other genres like core which is most popular exist.The Kenyan scene is adequate for numbers but shows are rare.Id wish a metal bar would be opened for consistency.
4. How does religion relate to this and is it reflected on your albums?
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Every religion deserves respect but Christianity has been a leach to our land .Like a parasite it slithered it's way to our cultures and destroyed our altars and killed our God's.Then they used good old fear for us to submit Chovu is very vocal about the old age being the right way .Religion has affected the country so much that Christianity and Islam and Hindu religions are the only thought to be right.Witchcraft which we support is illegal and prone to prison sentence or fines.We just lucky the brainwashed political swines are to shallow to even realise the existence of Metal music in Kenya .I Guess being underground has been quite helpful to us.
5. You've been on the scene for 4 years and haven't recorded a full album? Why? A group at your high level should go to waste?
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We have luckily as of 2023 December finished recording a full album titled UFALME WA MALI...we have so far released two singles from it and plan to release the full album by November.Spoiler alert .This only happened because we did a fundraiser to fund this like I said Metal isn't taken that serious away from the scene here.Its tough financially but friends of Chovu come to our aid .An Estonian group is helping us alot in this release ..Global fans have supported our fundraiser to make the album possible.Without CHOVU HORDES the band would've been buried six feet deep.
6.We are waiting for your concerts on the European continent. Do you have any suggestions?
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Would really love to play in Scandinavian countries...and pretty much all of Europe ..Heck whole world if possible.We have been facing the same problem that venues will only give us shows if we find our own way to fund our transport and the flights are freaking expensive. It's always funny to me how easy it is for international bands to come to Kenya but how hard it is for a Kenyan to go to Europe or the states.The math doesn't fit but until our leaders open their eyes and stop being puppets they could negotiate better terms of alliance.
7. The last words are yours. (here too, at the end, tell the world a message in your language!)
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In the famous lines of Ayub Ogada in the folk African song Kothbiro
Ouuuma bu winja Koth biro
Kel uru dhok e dalaa
It's dholuo language translating to: young one do you hear me,the rain is coming,return the cows back to the shed.
It's a word of warning to all of us to return to our roots for the lie is almost at it's downfall,you don't want to be left stranded.HAIL TO THE HORDES WE SHALL FIGHT THIS FRONTIER IN YOUR STEAD.
interview 2024y. by Seducer