01. TELL US ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF HIVERNA?

All began in high school when I got my first guitar (not very epic, but that’s it). At the time I was more into Death Metal but started to write folk and dark metal songs… I think because that’s what I wanted to hear. So, time passed, and a friend of mine, Helorth, joined me with his guitar in what was to become Hiverna. Along the way, some other musicians joined: Froidure (bass), Marco (guitars), Yann (keys), Mireille (flute). Since then, the line-up changed a bit. After we released our EP in 2011, Hiverna returned to studio mode only with Bardunor on guitars, vocals and drums, Froidure on bass and Doom on flute.

02. WHAT WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT BANDS THAT DEFINIED THE SOUL AND STRONGES TENDENCIES OF HIVERNA?

Here are some of the bands/projects/composers that I find powerful and important: Ulver, Summoning, Darkspace, Drudkh, Howard Shore, Temnozor, Paysage d’Hiver, Eros Necropsique, Negura Bunget, Enya, Storm, Tulus, etc.

03. WHAT IS THE FEELING FOR THE CHOICE OF NAME HIVERNA?

Our homeland is blessed with long and heavy winters. Hiver is the French word for winter. The N is for nostalgia, a recurrent feeling in Hiverna’s lyrics and atmosphere. The A is for amertume (bitterness). And there you got the name of our 2011 EP.

04. HOW YOU DEFINE YOUR MUSIC?

I’d say it’s a blend between Quebec’s folklore and the musical influences from the north, and, I cannot deny, Scandinavia. Even if Hiverna presents a kind of music very different from the other projects in Quebec, I’d say that it all came very naturally. Blood speaks.

05. HOW IS THE ACTUAL LINE UP?

We are now three in the project, like mentioned sooner. The two other members are long-time mates of mine, so everything is perfect. We are maybe thinking of building a new live line-up for 2015. With the beautiful response to the new album, II.Macabre, Hiverna may perform again on stage in the future.

06. TELL US ABOUT THE UNDERGROUND SCENE IN QUEBEC?

Let’s say we are a little family, with our projects and collaborations. The underground scene here has difficulties to live because metal music isn’t really carved in the Canadian culture. So our scene is more alive on other continents via medias, etc. We went to play in Europe with Monarque (2011) and Forteresse (2012): the first time Métal Noir Québécois happened outside its homeland. It was a big step for our scene and we’ll surely do it again one day.

07. WHAT MERCHANDISE DO YOU STILL HAVE AVAILABLE?

The three Hiverna releases are still available with some shirt models. All the music I produce independently is now gathered under the name of OAKEN FORGE. You can find it there : http://oakenforge.bigcartel.com

08. TELL US MORE ABOUT II MACABRE FULL-LENGTH?

Being the completion of the first full-length, II.Macabre contains the oldest Hiverna songs I’ve wrote in the past (between 2003 and 2006). For the curious ones, Le Grand Bucher is the first song we played as a line-up. This album is big to me because it’s the first of our releases which I find satisfying in terms of sound, texture, and reflecting Hiverna as it should be. The integration of violin in some parts of the album gave me the will to involve more real folk instruments in future releases.

09. DID YOU HAVE PLAYED MANY GIGS?

We played many gigs in the days, before I dissolved the live line-up in 2012. Maybe we’ll come back on stage some day.

10. WHAT`RE YOU FUTURE PLANS?

For now, I concentrate on other projects I have like Crépuscule, Demain Wendigo, Ours, etc. But with the release of II.Macabre, we think of maybe reforming a line-up for some tours.

11. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT. ANY LAST COMMENTS?

Thanks to you, brother. Thanks to all the people that support our scene! Have yourself a good life and a good death.

Bardunor

01. HOW ALL STARTED? 

• MIKA: NB started a few years back when co-founder Manuel Rodriguez approached me with some ambient black riffs, I added upon what he had and came up with a few original tracks (all the acoustics and 'Anhedonia' for instance).  I recorded a quick demo of just guitars and M.w.s (Serpent ov Old, Shadows in the Crypt, Evil Divine, ex-Wykked Witch) quickly signed on and we produced the album 'Synkkä Tuuli' in about a week at his personal Thee Illuminated studio.  M.w.s. knew Mike Juliano from Horror Pain Gore Death Productions from when Shadows in the Crypt got signed and contacted him about releasing the NB stuff.  The rest is history..

02. WHY THE NAME NIHILISTINEN BARBAARISUUS? 

• MIKA: Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus is Finnish for Nihilistic Barbarism, a philosophical concept derived by French philosopher André Comte-Sponville.  In his 'The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality' he explains:
"Nihilistic Barbarism has no program, no ideal, no ideology.  It has no need of these things.  Its advocates believe in nothing; they know only violence and egotism, contempt and hatred.  They are prisoners of their own instincts, their own stupidity and lack of culture, and slaves to what they think of as their freedom.  They are barbaric because they lack faith and/or fidelity; they are the mercenaries of the void."

03. WHAT´S YOUR INFLUENCES? 

• MIKA: My black metal influences were on the progressive side with early Bal-Sagoth, Naglfar, Old Man's Child, etc., outside of black metal I listen to a lot of power metal and melodic metal in general and I think it will show on the upcoming album.  As for 'Synkkä Tuuli', Manuel had written riffs based upon his own influences like Graveland, Horna, and Hate Forest and I had to compliment those with my own riffs, so those are the bands people seem to identify with that album most.

04. HOW`S THA ACTUAL LINE-UP? 

• MIKA: I've brought in Joel Robert Thompson to do studio vocals on the newest album.  We met in college while at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because he had a Dimmu shirt on or something, he sang for the melodic death metal band Omelas from Raleigh, North Carolina but I had no idea how insane his voice was until I brought him down to try out for NB.  I had spoken to a few other vocalists like Necrodemius Hammerhorde of Decieverion and James Dorton of Black Crown Initiate and Nightfire (who also sang on the 'Väinämöinen' EP), but there were logistical issues with their own projects and finding the time to get the studio work done.  Joel came in and absolutely killed it, and I knew immediately he was perfect.  I recorded all the guitar work for the new album, Jeff Willet (ex-Black Crown Initiate, ex-Single Bullet Theory) contributed drums and Lawrence Wallace (Lawrence's Creation, Shadows in the Crypt) returned to do synth again.

05. WHO WRITES THE MUSIC? LYRICS? AND WHERE DO THE LYRIC IDEAS COME FROM? 

• MIKA: I compose every aspect of the music, from drum hits to lyrical arrangements, I just bring in people to perform in studio when it comes time to record who can do things I can't do (sing, actually play drums...).  The next album is based on the Finnish National Epic called "The Kalevala".  A linguist by the name of Elias Lönnrot went out in the late 19th century to collect the folklore and myths of Finland and "The Kalevala" was the final product.

06. WHAT´S YOUR VIEW IN SATANISM AND OCCULTISM? 

• MIKA: Most people haven't read LaVey's "The Satanic Bible" and thus fail to understand Satanists don't actually worship Satan, LaVey even writes the "black mass" is only done as a satire on Catholic mass, thus you can think of black metal bands shouting "Hail Satan" as being in that same theatrical tradition.  Having said this, I'm not a Satanist (just an atheist), and while Satanism and the occult are interesting intellectual concepts I think they've been done to death in black metal, so to stay original I don't utilize them.

07. HOW MANY CD`S HAVE YOU RELEASED? 

• Mika: With Horror Pain Gore Death Productions in the U.S. NB put out a promo as well as a full-length LP.  With Infernal Kommando Records in France I put out the same LP and the follow-up EP as cassette for people in the underground scene who dig that kind of thing.  The next album is just about complete and I look forward to people getting a chance to hear it.

08. TELL US MORE ABOUT EP: VÄINÄMÖINEN? 

• MIKA: After 'Synkkä Tuuli' Manuel left to pursue his career as a video game programmer (he works for a large company in Denver now), thus the 'Väinämöinen' EP was the first release completely written by me from the ground up, and I think you can already taste the more progressive direction with it.  Väinämöinen is the hero protagonist of "The Kalevala" and we have a few songs on the new album which prominently feature him. 

09. TELL ME ABOUT SOME THE SONGS ON THE LASTEST EP? 

• MIKA: "Väinämöinen" has lyrics adapted from The Kalevala, it's his parting song upon being chastised by the virgin-born child.  The other song "Yö, Jolloin Hän Kuoli" is a somber acoustic number reflecting the several female suicides in "The Kalevala"; on the new album it will be called "The Night She Died".

10. HOW HAS THE FAN RESPONSE BEEN? 

• MIKA: I've been happy with it, the zines in particularly seem to appreciate the music and from what I gather the cassettes have distributed well.  I'm hoping to keep the momentum going for the next album.

11. WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY? 

• MIKA: Wherever the worms who eat me go.

12. WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE FREE TIME? 

• MIKA: In my free time I do this, make music.  This isn't a job for me, it's a hobby and a pure passion project.  Until recently I worked as a Medical Assistant for a physician in Hockessin, Delaware, before that I got a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and in a few weeks I begin at the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine to be a physician.

13. WHAT´S THE BLACK METAL FOR YOU? 

• MIKA: I appreciate the rawness of the genre, there's a real charm to it...  It doesn't have to be dressed up to be deemed "good music" and appreciated, and you don't really find that with other genres (for instance, there is no "raw power metal").  Traditionally black metal has been a lot of doom and gloom, but I don't see any reason why it can't be more major while utilizing the same chording and techniques.  The new album explores this idea, and I think it really sets NB apart.  I'm not saying there are happy songs on the album, only that some songs may be more jaunty than people are used to, and I hope the audience responds well to it.

14. WHICH IS THE IDEOLOGY OF BAND? 

• MIKA: NB doesn't really have an ideology, I've been complimented on not indulging in posturing and I prefer it that way..  It keeps the focus on the music, not pictures of me in a robe clenching a dagger in the middle of the woods...  There is nothing wrong with all that, it just doesn't suit me or the music I make.  Sure, there is definitely a pagan undercurrent to NB, but it's more exploring history and traditions than promoting their practice.

15. WHAT MERCHANDISE DO YOU STILL HAVE AVAILABLE? 

• MIKA: Some t-shirts are being made, should have some patches soon as well.

16. AS YOU SEE THE BLACK METAL SCENE ON YOUR COUNTRY? 

• MIKA: The new album's vocalist Joel has an interesting take on this, he says " Memory of the old ways, particularly of the North, is a huge part of Black Metal.  However, Americans of Northern heritages have become separated from that heritage."  I think that makes a lot of sense, most American's don't have an authentic connection to a pagan past unless they really dig back to their ancestors origins outside of the continent, making the creation of black metal less opportune than in other places.  I'm a dual citizen of Finland and the United States, so in making music based on Finnish traditions I don't feel as though I'm randomly picking pagan mythology to write music about, there is a real attachment there since Finland's history is my history too.

17. YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH THE RESULTS OF NIHILISTINEN BARBAARISUUS? 

• MIKA: So far so good, the true test will be with the new album, it's go for broke, pretty much literally...

18. DID YOU HAVE PLAYED MANY GIGS? 

• MIKA: NB has never played any shows, like I said it's just a hobby for me while I pursue medicine, and to begin with 'Synkkä Tuuli' was only ever recorded by me and M.w.s. splitting all duties.  Recruiting a drummer, bassist, vocalist, etc and coordinating rehearsals to play local bars was never considered, and honestly we had label support early on just from recording music and having people listen to it.

19. FUTURE PLANS... 

• MIKA: I'm beginning medical school, so I envision not having much time to devote towards creating new material.  It will certainly happen, just at a slower pace...  But that is jumping ahead, for the new album there is a music video directed by Gretchen Heinel of Gretchen Heinel Photography (http://www.gretchenheinel.com) and completely original artwork commissioned by Luciana Nedelea of Luciana Nedelea - Artworks (http://www.facebook.com/LucianaNedeleaArt).  A lot of time and creativity is going into all aspects of the next release, so we hope it is well received..  Other than that I play bass in Lawrence's Creation with Lawrence Wallace who shreds all over the fuc*ing place, the debut album 'Drop Zone' was just released on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions and we are writing and recording new material for that now.

20. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT. ANY LAST COMMENTS?

• MIKA: Yankee Rose