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