interview: Mo’ynoq

This is a brief interview with the black metal band Mo’ynoq (North Carolina, U.S.). The music is generally fast, blasting with headbanging moments in abundance and the vocals are equally extreme. The album, surprisingly, is an independent release by the band. It is called Dreaming in a Dead Language and it was published back in January of 2019. It features the following songs: 1.Empyreal Decay ; 2.The Collector; 3.These Once Tranquil Grounds; 4.Doomed to Endure; 5.Carve My Name; 6.Witness to the Abyss; and 7.Buried by Regret, for a total time of 37:04. According to Metal Archives the band is: Devin on bass and vocals; Justin on drums; Don on guitars and vocals; and Logan on guitars and vocals.

Congratulations on your album! How did the band start and what vision did y’all have at first (in 2016, right?)?

Thank you very much and yes, the band began in Raleigh NC in 2016 and continues with the same founding members today. We’ve all been friends playing in different bands for a long time and when our old bands broke up all seemingly at the same time, we formed Mo’ynoq. When we first started out we certainly knew that we wanted to play music people would classify as black metal but we didn’t necessarily all have the same vision for what that meant.

Your album is independent. Is this on purpose?

It’s mainly just because we did not want to wait. We have talked to some labels, but nothing has come along that is quite the right fit. At the end of the day we only want to create more music, so sitting around for a label to help us release was antithetic to that vision. We value the support that a label can provide, it just needs to be the best option for us to expand our reach and develop our music.

Who plays piano on “Doomed to Endure”? Does “Carve My Name” have keyboards, too? Will there be other instruments in the future?

Andy Townsend of GROHG performed the piano track, that is the only section of piano on the record. In “Carve My Name” the effect is just clean guitars with heavy reverb and delay. As far as discussions of instrumentation we try and only bring in a new instrument if it is imperative to the piece.

There are several voices on the album. Do you use backing tracks for shows?

Both guitar players and the bass player do vocals. We never have or will use backing tracks. Having three vocalist allows us to cover quite a bit of range stylistically.

How often do you play in general and in your city of Raleigh?

We tour as much as we can and would tour forever if we could. We play Raleigh three or four times a year. We limit playing at home to make our home shows more meaningful.

Do you have videos?

Absolutely. We just came out with a music video. You can find it on our YouTube channel youtube.com/watch?v=6snmVW7dw7w.

Is there an ideological agenda (the environment, liberalism, etc.) to your music?

We would like to view ourselves solely as vessels for the music. Our or anyone else’s political views are irrelevant to appreciating the art. Our music primarily deals with our own emptiness, suffering and anxieties which hopefully translates to an emotional resonance deeper than a mere relation to some clique or social agenda.

What do you think of the reception to your music so far? How can fans support your band?

The response to the album has been far beyond anything that we’ve expected. We learned a ton during the writing and recording process - as well as everything else that comes with releasing it independently. You can stream all of our music distrokid.com/hyperfollow/moynoq/ghse and buy physical media moynoq.bandcamp.com/merch.

Do you have any other news?

April 4th - Raleigh NC

April 19 - Trenton NJ

April 20 - Washington D.C.

October 5 Wilmington Death metal Convention VI

Also, a few of us are going to be attending Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle. Hope to see you there!