Glorior Belli Interview is up 5/12/2009
http://www.myspace.com/gloriorbelli
1. Glorior Belli has made a major leap in sound from MANIFESTING THE RAGING BEAST to MEET US AT THE SOUTHERN SIGN tell us about the sound changes.
You know one way or another, things necessarily evolve and nowadays it just feels right to explore new territories and aspects of the sound. There’s no point for me to release the same album every year so I decided not to play by the rules and do my own thing again. Glorior Belli’s third full-length « Meet Us At The Southern Sign » was recorded in March at « Hybreed Studios » with Andrew Guillotin as sound engineer; Same studio where we recorded our previous records. This new album is made of 11 tracks for approx. 55 minutes. So as you can see it’s really longer than everything we did before and it was a real challenge in studio but it’s our choice to always move forward to the next trial. On some levels this is should be considered as a homage to our fans, to the few who are able to understand our essence and its persuasive meaning! We’ve been working really hard on this new record and though it might not be as catchy as “Manifesting…” was, the songs won’t be as easily forget so to say. It’s less of a “block” and they all have their own personalities and very different beats/tempos. Some tracks even have 6 guitar layers and nothing was left behind. We used a few samples, I came up with a more flexible voice, not only “clean” but also really heavy sometimes in a sense that I was fucking screaming my guts out! We also invited our brother Jeremy Christner [Author of “Kosmology”] to write some lyrics for a song called “The Blazing Darkness (Of Luciferian Skies)”. A few months ago, I made an announcement about Obscurus Advocam, a side project that we had together with Antares. Taking the decision to put it to an end after the first and only full-length, as the composition line between both bands was becoming too thin, allowing myself to include all those influences into Glorior Belli and to tell the truth this was an awesome step forward! What was once puzzled is now back in one piece and the result is a strong album: “Meet Us At The Southern Sign”, Raging yet in a subtle/hypnotic way. This new record is dedicated to Illumination, ours and yours!
2. Just wondering why the move from Southern Lord to Candlelight for MEET US AT THE SOUTHERN SIGN?
It’s a complicated and boring story. Really! To put it simple: We couldn’t get a decent budget for the new record with Southern Lord, it might come as a surprise for you but this is reality. So they decided to “friendly” let us go to Battle Kommand Records. But then somehow we ended up on Candlelight, thanks to Blake (and I mean it in a positive way). It was great to be part of the Southern Lord family and I have much respects for these guys and it would be lying to say that we don’t owe them anything, but in the end it’s all the same to me as long as I can go on with my music.
3. Are the members of Glorior Belli looking forward to touring the US with Absu & Averse Sefira? This should be an impressive Black metal tour?
Well, the tour is supposed to be kicking off in 3 weeks and we still don’t have our visas and plane tickets, so the agenda is really stressful and it’s a fucking struggle to get things done the way it should be but yeah I mean, we’re really excited about this tour. Actually, Averse Sefira had to pull out. So it’s just Absu now and 2 other bands but I believe this should be a fucking blast anyway. American people are really into Glorior Belli and we get a lot of messages and support from there. I have a few friends there as well and I’m really looking forward to meeting them.
4. There is a strong Blues/ Southern feel to a lot of the guitar and bass lines on MEET US AT THE SOUTHERN SIGN. Was it hard to mix this with the raw black metal sounds you’re known for.
Hard? Not at all! I’ve always been a huge fan of blues and music in general and despite what most people think, not everything starts with some Burzum demos. My point is, it’s not hard to mix influences as long as you catch the essence and have some kind of real musical background other than just Black Metal.
5. The more I listen to the release there is a strong sound of bands like Virus, Satyricon, Thorns and Fleurety to my ears are you fans of these bands at all?
Virus, Fleurety, DHG, Ved Buens Ende are bands I like a lot. I don’t really see how our new record would relate to any of them though, except may be for the dissonances here and there (but that is more typical of the Post-Hardcore/Post-Metal scene) or because of the fact that these bands created their own sound and that’s something we’re doing as well, or at least try to do. Not as a very first objective though.
6. I see that Antares your old drummer has returned are you pleased to have an old friend back in fold?
Again, a complicated and/or boring story. Antares came back for a few months but was kicked out after the studio experience. It was good to have an old friend back in the band, but it’s just time for him to let go of Glorior Belli and do his own thing. Not to be an asshole, but I’m done wasting my time with “friends” who aren’t dedicated enough and don’t commit when the time comes. Antares was obviously not the one for the job… Twice.
7. I would call your music Post Black Metal do terms like this seem to limiting on what your doing now?
I far more prefer this term than the “Orthodox” crap. Actually it’s a good definition, cheers!
8. Is there a Theme or story line on MEET US AT THE SOUTHERN SIGN?
Of course! There always is a concept. « Meet Us At The Southern Sign » is a very unique title that you can understand in a few different ways. Basically this is the « Devil at crossroads » metaphor, thus we offer our fans a deal… Follow us into the darkness, let the fires of illumination be your guide and free yourself from your cosmic prison. Embrace the knowledge and truth of our Father… If you dare come close to the flames be careful though not to get burned. As you can see on the cover, there are 3 key words written on the sign: Darkness, Rebellion and Knowledge. “Southern” stands for HELL and also underlines the new direction of the band, mixing up influences that I always liked a lot from Southern rock/metal into the riffs.
9. Your main site seems to be a myspace page now. Do you see the digital age as a good or bad thing for indie bands esp in the extreme music scene??
MySpace is a strong virtual community where you can find any info about your favorite bands in one fucking page, as long as they keep it updated of course. Everything has moved so fast regarding the new age of Internet and digital music, it’s just a matter of how you can adapt to those things in the end. I’m not the one for crying about the past so I just learn how to enjoy these new toys and get the best result out of them for my band.
10. How does Glorior Belli create songs does the music or lyrics come 1st. Is it a full band collab or in the studio is it layer by layer?? I'm really interested as the new CD sounds so full and epic.
I usually come up with a concept and ideas first and then all the songs are coming in a row like I’m being under some kind of supernatural inspiration and sometimes I even dream about riffs. I can’t help but playing guitar and recording some stuff for a few weeks, keeping in mind every ingredient of the album and then most of the composition is done. True story. Think about King Diamond for instance, if you hear “The Graveyard” and “Voodoo” you can tell of course that this is the same artist but still those albums are different. May be not as different as ours can be but I bet you can also find some similarities between our records, so in the end you know it’s always Glorior Belli and not another band. That’s a good thing I guess, having a few trademarks of our own and being able to somehow maintain our aura whatever we do. Our music is raging with heart-eating intensity, Filled with seasick riffs, guttural vocals and surprisingly melodic yet dissonant lines. It is as darkly beautiful as it is gloom inducing. Glorior Belli is the trumpet of Lucifer and the melody that blows is the one of your endarkenment. We’re not collaborating on the composition, as I’m the only one taking care of it (by choice), but the other members understand the meaning of the songs and riffs.
11. Do you feel image is as important as the music and statements in Black metal. Is there still a shock value live and on release for the listener?
Yes I feel that the image is very important but it must be done in a smart way. Obviously it takes much more than just some paint on the face to make an impact as this can only be defined by your actions and must be based on your essence.
12. Thank you for the time any closing thoughts?
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