Interview: BlackEternal

Are we alone in the universe? That's the question that BlackEternal definitely answers on their new album, Encounters, and of course the answer is, definitely NO! Encounters features a heavy influence of various strains of extreme metal including symphonic black metal and death metal. I caught up with BlackEternal's mainman Nightmare for an intriguing interview recently: 

Tell me about the formation of BlackEternal

- BlackEternal started as an idea that came to me when I was in my teens in the mid 90’s. I’ve been a metal head all my life, So I always knew I wanted to play black metal, I knew I wanted to write songs and play instruments. I started writing music and composing and it just went on from there. Originally BlackEternal was a 4-piece band in the late 90’s we were playing a thrash / black metal style at local underground shows for a few years before we went out separate ways. Now BlackEternal is 2 members. Myself and BloodBath.

Pic: Nightmare and Bloodbath

                                                                 

What are your influences?

-Much like with Metal Music, I’ve always been into Horror movies and the supernatural. I grew up watching horror movies, UFO documentaries, Documentaries about hauntings and stuff like that. I grew up with a passion for anything paranormal supernatural and dark. lyrically, all my inspiration comes from those topics. Musically, I was a little kid listening bands like Iron Maiden, Slayer, Kreator, Megadeth, but then as got into my teens I got into black metal. So bands like Old Man’s Child, Dark Funeral, Marduk, Cradle of Filth, Sadistic Intent , bands like that are what made me want to play black metal

How does the new album’s concept tie in or compare to your previous album, 6EQUJ5?

-Musically the styles are very different. “Encounters” is a lot more aggressive than “6EQUJ5” which is entirely on purpose to progress the story. Encounters is the sequel, if you will. The story of Encounters picks up where 6EQUJ5 left off.  6EQUJ5 is about first contact with an extra-terrestrial race. Their planet is in danger, and they’ve sent us a message for help. A message we didn’t receive until it was too late. “Encounters” shows us the aftermath of that.

The album features a 7-minute ambient/spoken intro, the Arrival- how was that put together?

-Musically it was put together with 2 different types of midi keyboards. I use a lot of VST’s and Kontakt libraries for my sounds, so that’s what I used for the music and sounds on “The Arrival” As far as the quotations that you hear during that track, they’re actually samples taken from some of my favorite UFO documentaries and just slightly re-edited.  I wanted it to sound a bit spooky. It was a lot of fun putting together that intro.

Your bio says your project is based out of Nevada, how much do you get out to Roswell or Area 51 and what is it like nowadays? Have you seen anything peculiar you would attest to being a UFO or otherwise?

-Roswell New Mexico during 4^th of July weekend is a trip that I’ve always wanted to make. It looks like they have a lot of fun out there during that time and just embrace the history. That’s on my bucket list for sure. As far as Area 51 goes, well. . there is definitely a lot of folklore that surrounds that area here in Nevada and understandably so. Anyone into Ufology has got to visit some of the landmarks we have here, like the Blackmail box, the little A’-Le’inn, Extra terrestrial highway, take a picture next to the “you will be shot” sign. Its all in good fun. In terms of UFO sightings and whatnot. Anything strange lights seen at Area 51 these days, is all military experimental craft, I'm sure. Personally, I’ve never seen anything or encountered anything that I would consider to be other worldly.

Some of the lyrics describe a more ancient or archaic perspective of unexplained phenomenon like UFOs- what kind of research did you do in regards to those types of testimonials? Any books you would recommend?

-The 2^nd song on the Album is called “The First Kind” this track describes a sighting that was reported in ancient Egypt during the reign of King Thutmose the 3rd between 1479 bc and 1425 BC. According to the Tulli Papyrus, The scribes of the king described many discs of fire that came down from the heavens which everyone at the time witnessed.  Those writings caught my imagination and fascinated me. Which is why I wanted to kick off the album with that story. As far literature goes “The Ancient Alien Question” by the late Philip Coppens, is a great read.

The project has a pretty mid-ranged, sometimes depressive sound at times, what bands would you say influenced your approach to Black Metal?

-There are TONS of great black metal bands. I listen to music pretty much all day at work. So the influences are endless. For our last Album “6EQUJ5” I want to say that Cosmic black metal bands Alrakis and Mesarthim were my biggest influences for that album. Those 2 bands played a big role in getting me to the mindset to write that album. As far as “Encounters” goes, that all came from my own vision. I set out to do something that had never been done before in black metal. I wanted to tell a story, I wanted to bring drama and characters and make things very cinematic. I wanted to do something unique for “Encounters” I’ve received a lot of great feedback, so I think our fans understood what I was trying to do. As different as this album is from “True black metal” I think people did understand and appreciate the concept and storytelling.

The album features a lot of spoken word sections, including accounts of alien abductions- how were these conceived and are any of them culled from real sources?

-The tracks Encounters 1, 2 and 3 on the album are what progress the story leading to the ultimate end. Like I had said before, I wanted to do something different and Unique. I wanted to bring a cinematic feel to the album, I wanted to bring drama and emotions. The most important thing about doing something like that, is the execution. If not done properly, it can fail. I hired professional actors to play these roles and directed them as you would direct a movie. While writing their lines I had to make the conversations sound real and convincing. The experiences being described in those tracks by our main character are all fictional of course, just things that I saw in my head. Scenes that I imagined and wanted to bring to life. My Actors did an amazing job at bringing my scrip to life. I cant than them enough for their work on “Encounters”

What kind of gear do you use as far as guitar sounds go?

-That’s a great question! Gear is always fun to talk about. For Encounters there were 2 guitars used. I used a BC Rich KKV signature series and BloodBath used a BC Rich JR. V Platinum series. We both used Guitar Rig 5 pro and made custom presets. I did all the mixing and mastering in Acid Pro using Kontakt 5, Engine 2, Absynth 5 and EzMix 2. As I’ve started recording our next album “Darkness Embrace” I am now using Presonus Studio One for the DAW. Its been a great experience thus far.

The Fifth Kind has some cool clanging industrial sounds, how was this achieved?

-One of the reasons I truly enjoy using Kontakt 5 libraries are the sounds. They are all real sample libraries and they sound amazing. The anvil hammering sound that you’re describing is a VST which I used right out of Kontakt 5. In the album story, that specific sound represents the how the Ancient Sumerian people considered themselves to be slaves of the Anunnaki.

What do you think of the work of guys like David Icke or Graham Hancock?

-When it comes to forms of entertainment, I’m usually watching some type of old tv show or documentary rather than a drama or a sitcom. Graham Hancock is featured in TONS of UFO documentaries and always has great thoughts and ideas. I became familiar with this work by simply watching some of my favorite documentaries and tv shows.

On that note, were/are you a fan of the radio show Art Bell (Coast to Coast AM)?

-Absolutely! I’ve been a fan of that for quite some time now.  Its always interesting and mostly entertaining to hear a lot of the crazy things people will call in and say. Art handles them pretty well for the most part. I’d have to say the “Infamous area 51 caller” call was somewhat convincing, but I think they tried to prove that it was a hoax not too long ago.

What are some films or tv shows that influenced the concept?

-As I had said earlier, Most of my inspiration for the concept comes from the tv shows and movies that I grew up watching. I was a teenager in the early 90’s so I grew up watching shows like “Sightings” and “Unexplained Mysteries” and I watched every single Twilight Zone re-run imaginable, so the concept basically came from all of that. I now own digital copies of every episode of all those shows. I still watch these shows to this day. I’d rather watch one of those than one of these hyped up shows that people watch these days.  I’m an old man stuck in his ways, so as far as my entertainment goes, Im stuck in the past.

Do you plan on bringing BlackEternal to a stage soon?

-BlackEternal will likely no longer see any live shows, I had my fill of live shows back in the late 90’s. Now what I truly enjoy is getting into the studio, turning on the LED lights, putting on the headphones for a good recording session and just working in peace. Writing, composing, mixing and mastering is much more fun to me at this point in my life.

Just a couple of last things I wanted to say. First off, Thank you very much Matt for taking the time to sit with BlackEternal today. Its truly appreciated. Also, BlackEternal would like to thank everyone who listened to ‘Encounters’ we are very proud of this album and had lots of fun working on it.

BlackEternal is already back in the studio working on our next album Entitled “Darkness Embrace” we will be dropping a single off that album in the next couple of months. Stay tuned. Updates to come soon at www.Blacketernal.com and https://www.facebook.com/NightmareEternal/

Thank you again!