Interview Interrogation: Carach Angren (The Netherlands)

When you think of Black Metal, or namely the Symphonic version of it, you tend to think of the Nordic nations and maybe Germany in tow. But when you think of the Dutch Metal scene, usually bands like Within Temptation, Epica and Heidevolk spring to mind. However beyond the facade of said metal scene is a thriving Black Metal scene, one band is set or somewhat hell-bent on aiming to change the whole 'devilish aesthetic' normally associated with Black Metal and / or one of it's many varying subgenres.

Enter Carach Angren, a trio in the studio, a quintet on stage (with help from Nikos Mavridis and Diogo Bastos). Having been around since 2003, this hallowing outfit utilize ghost and horror stories as their lyrical subject and thus breaking free from the shackles that forgone Symphonic Black Metal bands have laid down. With an average album turnover of 2-3 years, 2017 heralds the new Carach Angren album "Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten" which is being ultimately billed as their darkest and most spine-chilling album to date.

With that in mind it was time to give the band a grilling as GMA interrogates them, finding out what sits within their darkened chambers of creativity, thoughts on Brexit, their finished tour with Italy's Fleshgod Apocalypse, the new album and other topics surrounding this ghoulish threesome.

Photo by Negakinu Photography & Design

"A political party in our own country tried to forbid one of our shows. The show happened anyway [due to huge amounts of media attention] so we can’t complain haha."

Not so long ago you finished your UK/EU tour supporting Fleshgod Apocalypse, how was it? How was your only UK show?

     "It was very good for us, we had been looking forward to finally touring Europe again, it has been some years since because we focused on the US and other countries directly after the release of “This is No Fairytale”. London was actually one of the craziest shows of the tour haha, it was sold out and people were collectively stage-diving throughout the set, amazing!"


With 'Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten' due for release in June, will there be any tours / festival appearances in support of it?

     "Yes we are working very, very hard on that. We have a very strong management and agencies in places nowadays so they are creating opportunities right now as we speak. It’s our plan to bring a new horror show everywhere to support the new album. Furthermore we have [announced] some summer festival appearances like With Full Force, Nummirock and others."


With the new album, you secured the services of the prolific artwork designer Costin Chioreanu, how was it working with him?

     "Costin is one of those people that are both talented and a pleasure to work with. Also, he really is connected with what we are doing. He only needs a few words to describe what we are looking for and instantly delivers. For this album I asked him to draw an illustration for every song. I gave a little description of the overall concept and what he came up with blew me away. On the last album he came up with extraordinary lyric videos that are still praised on YouTube everyday."


Given you're a Symphonic Black Metal band, your choice of lyricism isn't stereotypical of bands in said genre, how did you become interested in the whole 'ghost / horror story' theme? Are you yourselves believers of the paranormal; have you witness any sightings?

     "Yes of course we have our origins in this genre but we feel we have moved away from it slowly. We tend to call ourselves a 'Horror Metal' band because our music includes Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal elements, even a little bit of industrial now and then. Our focus is indeed telling horror stories and everything we do supports this.

     We really love horror stories and especially the paranormal elements. For me personally it’s not so much about believing or not; it’s the fascination in hearing these stories. When I was with my girlfriend in Mexico for example, I learned about some paranormal stories from her relatives that really gave me goosebumps. I incorporate elements of this in our lyrics.

     Another thing is that my mother told me that she put me in a bath tub when I was very little. She went a away for a minute and suddenly heard me scream. She came back in and apparently I told her that someone was trying to pull me under water, yet there was no one there."

Could you give us a short summary of what each song from the new album means? Or what it's about?

     "We would like the listener to find out certain clues in the story but I will give a summary of what happens. The first track is called “Opening”. It’s the opening of the album but has a different meaning as well. We are then introduced to a girl playing with a Ouija board during the first actual song “Charlie”. The girl summons a force called Charlie and we learn that it is up to no good.

     The girl and her friends run away leaving the listener in the room with the Ouija board still in place. We then experience different stories from entities visiting us via the Ouija board. So the songs following this actually tell individual tales. In the end we return to the scene with the girl and the Ouija board, this force Charlie kills her but there is a clue where it actually came from, plus the listener learns he/she is actually part of the story"


Over the years you've donned a number of eloquent outfits, what is your inspiration behind these?

     "Thank you. With us this is actually an ongoing process, we are always thinking about new outfits, corpsepaint and overall visual elements. So we experiment a lot. Regarding clothes, we have had our go-to place for years and this is working perfectly for us. We tend to adjust existing pieces, do odd combinations, etc. Also, Seregor is an incredible artist when it comes to mask making so his talent is very much contributing to our overall visual presentation. Ideas get triggered by the stories we are telling or things we encounter in movies, visuals, etc. It can be anything."


Regarding Brexit, as a band are you worried about touring the UK? Were you also worried about Geert Wilders' Freedom Party participating in the recent Dutch elections?

     "There are a lot of things happening in the world but then again, there always are and as an artist and band we want to focus on what we do best: entertain people. We feel that the world doesn’t need even more opinions and especially not from people like us who are here to create an escape from everyday life. That is how we feel about this. Furthermore we will try to bring our shows to as many people as possible anywhere in the world.

     Last year and the year before we have been to some pretty exotic places but the funny thing was that a political party in our own country tried to forbid one of our shows. So imagine, we are based in one of the most free countries in the world and exactly here things got troublesome. In the end it only gained us huge amounts of media attention and the show happened anyway so we can’t complain haha."


What plans does the band have for the rest of the year?

     "We will tour [and promote] the new album as much as possible, we are really looking forward to that. Right now we are working extremely hard on a new video. We are working with the same company as last time (Backstage Film Productions). It’s an incredible amount of work but we want to amaze people so that is what it takes. I have actually been digging in a forest all morning, just before answering this interview so the rock-star life is not what it seems haha."


"Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten" is out 16th June via Season of Mist

http://www.carach-angren.nl/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carach-Angren/289371466833
http://www.season-of-mist.com/