Serpents of the Midnight Sun: An interview with Nightbringer's Naas Alcament

On Tuesday June 8th the demonic occult forces that are Green Mountain Falls, Colorado’s Nightbringer will unleash their darkened black metal distortions upon Salt Lake City. It isn’t too often that Salt Lake gets visitations from these underground darkness seekers. Making this show a rare treat for black metal fans. Nightbringer focuses on atmospheres as much as they do direct, fast and dirge ridden guitar passages. The music is full on light devouring doomed black metal blasting that only the skills of pronounced mad tremolo picking provides. I got the chance to ask Nightbringer’s frontman Naas Alcament a few questions via e-mail to explore the depths of the music that prior to the interview I only knew as bleak and downright scary distortions coming from my stereo. Enjoy.

SLUG: Nightbringer has played in Salt Lake City before, and from my own personal experience underground black metal isn’t received the best as far as audience attendance, in our little town however the few that do turn out are always extremely into what’s going on. How does your performing experience here in Salt Lake City compare to other places you play?
Naas: We have several brothers out in that area who support us, so even though the turn outs prove smaller it still has proven worth our effort. The last place we played was a completely shit venue with no stage or real PA. Hopefully this other venue is more suited to live performances. 

SLUG: A good chunk of the readers of this interview may not have heard Nightbringer before. How would you describe what Nightbringer offers to the world of black metal?
Naas: What it has to offer is subjective and purely based upon the listener’s leanings, and sensitivities. For those with the “eyes to see” we offer a glimpse of something truly dark in the profoundest sense.

SLUG: You’ve just released a new album, Apocalypse Sun and I’m left with my own assumptions as far as lyrical interpretations of the album and themes portrayed. For me even though a vast majority of the music being played is very fast and intense, it very much feels like there is a doomed and darkened message being given on the record. Can you tell me a bit about the lyrical direction in conjunction with the musical direction of the new album?
Naas: The quintessence of the work is synonymous with death from the duel aspect of both the microcosmic and macrocosmic point of view. Complete and utter destruction of all forms of limitation in a moment that would be true apocalypse. This concept reverberates within both the prose and the music itself creating an atmosphere that is igneous, fulgurous and tumultuous.

SLUG: Nightbringer has a massively layered and textured sound, especially within the guitars. How does the band punctuate that layered effect in the live setting?
Naas: We have come up with a way, outside of standard bass, to aid in filling out the live sound with an appropriate level of low end to complement the high ended guitar work, bringing us closer to the “wall of sound” effect that is present on the album. I will forgo the details.

Page:  [1]  2  Next >>

Comments on this article

Be the first to comment!

Add a comment

Please keep your comments on the subject of the article.
We will delete your comment if it is racist, misogynistic, sexist, bigoted or just plain lame.
No HTML allowed!