Thorngoth

With intelligent and melodic atmosphere as well as aggressive and blind hatred, Germany’s black metal horde Thorngoth have cast their 3rd full length spell, ‘Leere’.  Clear production, visionary song-craft  and solid musicianship are the offering upon the altar of ‘Leere’. Read on as Thorngoth share their insights about their dark works…

(Click HERE to read the Forbidden Review of ‘Leere’)

Your new album is titled ‘Leere’, Deutsch for ‘empty’, correct? Tell me about this killer new release! Is is a concept album?

Yes, “Leere” means “void” or “emptiness”.

“Leere” is our third full length album and was released in June 2010 by Folter Records.
Again we took a slightly new direction in compare to our previous releases.
It can be considered as a concept album. But I wouldn’t declare “Leere” as a concept album.
All songs of “Leere” are about the physical and emotional void, but the separate songs aren’t interconnected.

The production quality has increased gradually throughout all your releases…what was the recording process like for ‘Leere’? Was it painstaking and laborious?

The recording process took about 3 Months, but we didn’t work every day on it. Nonetheless, it was painstaking and laborious, because we do everything on our own, and it’s damn much work.
The better quality results of more expensive recording equipment and primarily of my improved knowledge about recording.

Tell me now about the writing process for ‘Leere’. Thorngoth has consistently written well arranged and epic material…was there a new approach with the new album?

The difference concerning the approach was the writing of complete songs and not only discontiguous and separated song ideas. I’m writing the songs mainly on my computer and after that the songs are rearranged and realized in our rehearsal room.

This is your third full length album, your second with Folter Records, correct? How did your relationship come about? Do you work with any other labels in the underground at the moment?

That’s correct. After the recording of “Rauhnacht” was done, we searched for an adequate label to release the album. The guy of our first label (Northern Silence) didn’t like “Rauhnacht” much and suggested us Folter Records. The chief of Folter Records listened to “Rauhnacht” and was convinced very soon. So we got a deal. We don’t work with any other label at the moment. We will see where our next album will be released.

So often many bands have split releases but I am not sure you do? Are there bands that you would like to share a release with?

We’ve never done a split release. The only band, that comes in consideration for a split release, is Lost Life, the solo-project of Nephesus. In that band all THORNGOTH members beside Akhorahil are live musicians. We like full time albums much more than split releases. An album presents a band with all its characteristics.

Give me a history of the band, if you will…what was the origin and the motivation of Thorngoth?

As Grond and I started Thorngoth 2002, we were quite young, about 16-18 years old. The first intention of this band was just to jam a little bit, to do some death/black metal. After a few months, Corpse and Akhorahil joined to the band and the style of Thorngoth moved more and more towards raw black metal. Akhorahil gave the band the name “Thorngoth”. The name comes from the “Eldar” language of J.R.R. Tolkien and means “the horned enemy”. Until now we’ve released one Demo-CD and three full-time albums.

You have been fortunate enough to have a very consistent line-up over the years, yes? Does this help the band to stay focused or is it hard to keep ideas fresh?

In fact, on all releases THORNGOTH ever done, I was the mastermind and songwriter. Akhorahil contributed some lyrics and riffs at times. Concerning fresh ideas it’s not easy to get them if you do it mostly on your own.
In 2010 our previous live-guitarist Vulgrim became a permanent member of THORNGOTH. In future I want to involve Akhorahil and Vulgrim into songwriting more as before.

Back to ‘Leere’, tell me about the cover art…it appears as a fetus in a thick and wicked spider web, is this correct? Tell me what inspired this cover art…

A.S. created this artwork for Thorngoth. I told him my conception and I gave him plenty of rope. He tried some things and he was ready with the final artwork very soon. It seems to be a fetus, but I think it’s not really human. It looks like it grows from the woods that are surrounding it. The artwork shows the mind of “Leere”, the physical and emotional emptiness.

Of the 9 tracks on the album, ‘In der Leere’, is the shortest, serving like a bridge between the two sides of the album, drawing images of ancient stone passages across bottomless chasms…what does this piece mean to you?

You are right, “In der Leere” is serving as a brigde. It’s a short moment of darkened peace of mind and katharsis. It’s also serving as an introduction to “Leere V”.

What I liked the best about your work is that your are melodic without being obvious about it. The synthesizer is used sparringly and the guitar work makes a great balance between melodic atmosphere and sheer aggression…how do you know when a song is ‘perfect’…do you seek ‘perfection’?

We don’t seek for perfection. When we’re writing songs we only using riffs and melodies that we like, of course. A song is ready, if everyone is satisfied with.

Is there an unreleased group of Thorngoth songs that didn’t make it to the album…? If so, what will become of them?

No, there aren’t any unreleased songs. Every song Thorngoth ever wrote was released. There are only some song ideas that maybe will be used in future.

Tell me about your influences, musically and personally…I see a few references to ‘Thelema’ in your work…

Influences are unconscious, I think. We don’t want to copy other bands. But while listening to music of other bands you are always influenced by them. As we were writing “Leere” I was listening to Shining, Blot Mine, Bethlehem and some other bands. But not any of these bands has influenced the music of Thorngoth, as far as I can assess.

Coming from Germany, a land with a strong reputation for being home to very influential metal groups, how do you feel the extreme scene has changed over the years? Is it stronger now than ever before?

There are many underground bands, especially in the black metal scene. Digital audio workstations gave the chance to record music without a professional recording studio. Until now we’ve produced every release on our own, so we could benefit from this fact.
However, that’s a reason why so many bands are releasing their songs on Myspace or something like that. But with there’s also much crap.

What are your plans for live support of ‘Leere’? It looks like you have had a few shows this month?

In September we will do two shows. One show takes place near our hometown, in the same building where our rehearsal room is located. This will not be an usually concert, rather a mixture of a concert and a party.
The second gig in September takes place in Austria, near Salzburg. Unfortunately, no more gigs are confirmed for the next months. In January we will do a show at the “Bavarian Battle” Festival, that takes place in our region (Rosenheim).

What other plans are in the future for Thorngoth? Do you have a schedule as to when you will begin writing again?

We are writing on songs constantly, but there isn’t a schedule. It depends on how creative you are. It’s something that you cannot control. In any case, there will be more Thorngoth releases in future!

Last Words?

Thanks for your support!

Listen to “Leere” and feel the void!

http://www.thorngoth.de/