interview: Zørormr

Ok, friends into black metal, here’s a new interview with Moloch from the black metal project Zørormr from Poland. The new recording is a six-song EP called The Aftermath with strong, traditional black metal vocals, memorable songs and guitar solos that bring a bit of melody. The music is not nonstop blasting madness, and atmosphere is more important. However, this is not soft, post-rock tree-hugging stuff, this has riffs and it is meant to sound like real metal music. Can you dig it?! Can.you.dig.it?! Grab your bulletbelt and let’s roll! Big thanks to mastermind Moloch for taking the time to answer the questions!

Even though Zørormr has four recordings (according to Metal Archives), the music is new to me. How are things for Zørormr in Poland at the moment? You are in Poland, correct? How are things in your city?

Well, I don’t understand how could you miss Zørormr’s three previous releases? (laugh). But I guess that only the third one had a decent distribution worldwide in countries like USA and Japan so it’s quite possible that you didn’t have the chance to check it out. For a musician from Poland, a medium size country from Eastern Europe, it’s quite hard to be recognized worldwide, even with all the contemporary tools we have and excellent bands that already have even mainstream recognition. But I do hope that it will change, someday.

Is it correct that you, Moloch, play guitar, bass and do vocals on the latest recording? What about the drums? Is Zørormr a studio project only or have there been shows?

Zørormr is a one-man black metal horde where I play all the instruments, except the drums. For the last two records Icanraz (known from Devilish Impressions) recorded the drum tracks for me. I used a drum machine only on my debut album “Kval” and since “IHS” I work only with real drummers. And as for playing shows, I would very much love to present Zørormr’s music live, but so far I was unable to find the proper musicians dedicated enough to play with.

In an interview I have read that this EP is closure: “To deliver an EP summarizing the first period of Zørormr activity and giving me a sense of closure.” How is this first period different from the next period that is coming up?

I guess that after recording and releasing “Corpus Hermeticum” I came to a point where I felt Zørormr’s music reached a certain point from which I can go whenever I want. All my three releases are somehow connected and show how this project evolved. With some additional material that I have recorded between 2010 and 2015 that was not used on my previous recording I thought that now would be the perfect time to release it and close the first chapter. What the future will bring remains a mystery to me. I do have a new record already written and recorded as a demo and I’m planning to enter the studio later this year. Will it be different? I think it will be very personal.

In addition, you already have the new songs for the next full-length album, correct? You say that you have the demos already recorded? In the past, you have had guests from King Diamond and Vader.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that the next full-length Zørormr album will be different than “IHS” and “Corpus…”. Probably there won’t be a big guest list (laugh). I do have all the tracks written and recorded the demo versions of them. I will be entering Monroe Sound Studio this year to record it and hopefully next year the fourth Zørormr album will be released.

Is it true that you are the owner of the label Via Nocturna? How is Via Nocturna doing? The roster for the label seems pretty large. How is business for Via Nocturna in Poland?

Making money on your own is never an easy task. I mean really doing it yourself not working for somebody else. With today’s market and demand it’s really hard to run an independent record label. People buy less CDs than before even when they have more money than 10-15 years ago. But it’s slowly changing back, since you can’t touch an mp3 and once you delete it you have to buy it again and people are buying music on CDs, vinyls and tapes. And that’s a good thing. I’m trying to look for really interesting new bands and show them to a wider audience. And that’s it. Not an easy task but then again what’s really easy?

How is the economy doing in Poland, in your opinion? In the news we read about tensions in Eastern Europe.

We have our issues with politicians trying to tell us how we are supposed to live. But it’s everywhere. Living in post-modern times when you don’t feel a real connection to other people and the authorities you can be only frustrated when politicians are incapable to satisfy those who elected them to office. We have our problems, our fears, our demons but then again I don’t think that they are either worth discussing nor even mentioning. I don’t see any big threats, no wars, at least for now.

I have read that the lyrics for Zørormr are based on the occult. Can you elaborate about this? Lovecraft is a favorite author of yours, but how do you see your own lyrics for Zørormr? How do approach lyrics in general in relation to the music?

Writing lyrics, arranging them and recording makes the record alive. The whole process is not complete until I record my last breath or “blagh” (laugh). Mostly I write lyrics to demo versions of the songs. I do have some collection of lyrics that I sometimes use but only if they really fit the mood or I can say that they speak about what I had in mind when writing music for the track. And yes, Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors, but if you look closer to it you’ll see a bunch more of authors and philosophers like Giordano Burno, Saint Irenaeus, Hermes Trismegistus who inspired me for writing lyrics and even whole songs. As for “The Aftermath” I think that the title speaks for itself. For the whole EP. But there’s also a metaphor in it. The aftermath is what takes place after the mind, knowing many aspects of faith and religion, finally realizes that there’s really nothing, it’s all a hoax. All those final judgements, adversaries, spirits and so on simply don’t exist. We’re alone in the cold clutches of darkness.

How do your personal views affect your lyrics?

My beliefs always affect my lyrics. I mostly write songs about what bothers me and what fascinates me. Sometimes at the same time. I don’t care for political correctness and I don’t hide from controversy. But I’m not making music to shock and provoke so I don’t use all those clichés that you can find in black metal. Or I use them very seldom (laugh). I believe that extreme metal is a statement for itself, but I pity those who say that the vocals are only another layer of music. If that’s true why not mumble or pretend to be another distorted guitar? (laugh) Black metal was always a genre where people had something to say. Never mind if it was wise, stupid, controversial, grotesque. It’s all about the statement that you make. And if you can’t do that you should choose safer genres, like italo disco for example.

I have noticed that the first four songs of the new EP all start with the word “The”: The Last Judgement, The Crawling Chaos, The Adversary and The Aftermath.

Indeed. They are the main part of the EP with tracks 5 & 6 being bonus content. The first four tracks are special, not only because they were recorded in the same time, but also they share some similarities and do revolve around the concept of the Last Days.

What is your opinion about using the Polish language for your lyrics? Have you done that before?

No, I’ve never done it before. I’ve wanted to try that during the “Corpus Hermeticum” recording session but simply couldn’t come up with something good. I know that on the fourth Zørormr album you will definitely hear me growl some Polish lyrics in a track or two. I feel the urge to do that and the timing also feels right.

Speaking of lyrics in Polish, are you friends with Neoheresy/Hellveto or are you at least familiar with Neoheresy/Hellveto? Do you like that music?

I’m familiar with Hellveto’s music, but I don’t know L.O.N. personally. I do respect his works and efforts. He’s a very talented musician and prolific as well. Shame he doesn’t have a wider recognition that he truly deserves.

In the news I have read that sometimes metal bands run into problems with the Catholic authorities in Poland. Is that a rare thing? In your lifetime, how has this issue changed? Has it changed for the better or worse?

The Catholic Church posts a threat to freedom only when its followers are trying to outrun Saint Peter, if you know what I mean (laugh). And since it’s a large community they do have a lot of crazy and stupid people in their ranks. People that like to nark on others when they don’t like them or feel offended by what they do. We have a stupid law where you can be tried for “offending religious feelings”. But there are no prisoners of conscience in Poland for that matter. Only a few lunatics try to be famous and report an offence to the authorities by bashing on a popular band or an individual. I think that I never felt that cold grip of censorship. But I also never felt that I was really free.

Do you use any interesting musical equipment? What are you favorite guitars and its accompanying equipment?

Really? I don’t care about the equipment so much. It makes me laugh when I see that extreme metal bands record some stupid ass videos and talk for hours about that particular magical snare and how they’ve originally connected a 5150 to sound absolutely original (laugh). I’m not that type of freak you know to care about it so much. I do care about how it sounds in the end. That’s the most important thing. Not the road and tools but the outcome. But to satisfy your curiosity I’ll tell that I used a pretty primitive Crafter Cruzer guitar and recorded the clean tracks that were later reamped at Sound Division Studio by Arek “Malta” Malczewski. The drums were recorded in Hertz Studio on a state of the art Mapex set with a vintage Ludwig snare. I used a Washburn Taurus bass and an MXL 900 vocal microphone. With the next release I will be using an LTD EX-360 for guitars and F-104 for bass tracks. Nothing fancy but then again better equipment that I had before. But like I said it’s not that important. The most important thing is what’s in your hands and what comes out from under your fingertips. Not how expensive and rare your gear is.

What about drums: is what we hear on the album the real drums that your drummer played or is it sound replacement technology or programmed drums or something else? Do you have an ideal drum sound that you would like to have?

A drum machine was used only on “Kval”. On “IHS”, “Corpus…” and “The Aftermath” you can hear 100% acoustic drums played by Icanraz from Devilish Impressions. He’s done an amazing job of bringing my rhythm section to life and what you can hear is his actual playing skills. As for the sound I do like this and that but what I wanted to achieve is to have it all organic, fluid and really natural. And I think that is what you can hear.

What other news do you have?

At the moment I’m focusing on the promotion of “The Aftermath” EP and during the summer the pre-production of the next chapter in Zørormr’s history will start. I have many great releases to produce so feel free to follow Facebook for the latest updates!

Thank you for your time!

Thank you and stay heavy \m/

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