Terra Tenebrosa
Keys To Self-Fulfillment

28.06.2013

When was the last time when you sat down to listen to a new metal CD and were struck by the understanding that you had heard nothing like this before? To me personally it happens very seldom that I discover the musicians who really bring fresh air and new ideas to metal genres. Nevertheless, a pretty new band has recently come out of Scandinavia, and I am sure that it will surprise even the most experienced metal fans. After the post hardcore band Breach came to its end, it seemed that chaos and turmoil on the Swedish extreme scene are over. But 10 years after Breach broke up, the band’s mastermind founded a band that is much more mysterious, that finds itself in an opposition to any genre and defies any stereotypes. Terra Tenebrosa’s debut album “The Tunnels” came out in 2011, cracking the brains of many inhabitants of the global metal underground. The release of the band’s second CD, “The Purging”, helped further expand its audience. For some of the authors of our webzine, these two records were a true revelation, and we decided that it is necessary to shed some light on the trio’s mysterious images, cryptic concepts and dark music. The mastermind and founder of Terra Tenebrosa, known simply as The Cuckoo, was reached via e-mail and kindly agreed to answer our questions…

Can you say a few words about the origins of Terra Tenebrosa? It was 10 years after the release of the last record of your previous band Breach – why did you decide to start writing music again?

I never quit writing music, but I was intent on leaving the music scene for good. It just wasn´t fun anymore. I didn´t get along with my bandmates, I was abusing both alcohol and other substances, I just needed to get away from everything. But I always have music in my head so when I had put myself together again I built my own studio and started recording things, mostly for myself. It´s like an itch. I just needed to get the material out of my head.  A couple of friends heard the material and suddenly we had formed a band. We kept working on the material recorded and each finished track gave birth to the next.

The three members of Terra Tenebrosa are using nicknames, and your faces are hidden behind masks. Why did you choose such an image, is there any deeper meaning behind it?

I wanted images that would correspond to the atmosphere of the music and just standing in front of the camera wearing our regular clothes just didn´t seem fitting. The mask I wear I had made as an effigy of something I have seen in dreams and visions, that is also the reason why I chose the name The Cuckoo, after an entity appearing in the dreams of people in “The Sandman Chronicles”. And since I myself was wearing a mask I made the others in a haste to make us uniform. I was never that happy with those designs so for the new release I turned them into gnomes. Their names were a comment to the name The Cuckoo on another level that is quite obvious considering the nature of the medicines they´re named after (Hibernal and Risperdal – ed.).

There are no lyrics in the booklets of Terra Tenebrosa albums – what is the reason? Have you ever considered publishing them separately, e.g. online? And what are your lyrics actually about? Quotes in the booklet provide some hints, but it would be great if you could also provide some insight.

On the first album I wanted to do something different and instead of putting the lyrics in the booklet I wanted to have quotes that would somehow capture the essence of the lyrical content. Anyway, all the lyrics on the first album could be to one single track. Not that much vocals on it. On “The Purging” we picked out essential lines and put them together to one coherent text. I don’t want to divert the listener from the music by handing them the lyrics, I want the listener to let the music instead take him/her on a kind of journey.

Can you say a few words about the roles of musicians in the band – who is playing what instruments, who is responsible for samples, production and mixing… This information cannot be found in CD booklets either.

Many times I´ve recorded entire tracks by myself. If I have an idea I feel I must record at this very instant I do all the instruments if the others aren´t around. And if one of the others has an idea for a guitar part or a bass line, instead of wasting time trying to communicate what to play and how to play it, he records it. So we switch instruments a lot. The only constant is that I do the vocals. It is only now when we´ve started to play live we had to decide who´s going to do what on stage. The samples is my doing. I always carry with me a recording device and record things here and there then adding effects. I’ve done all the mixing so far. I´m probably doing things “wrong” and often it is done continuously while recording. The others might say things like “you can´t do it like this” and I can see their point but I wanted this to sound like everything is about to break or that the room is on fire, I wanted this intensity instead of a polished sound.

How do you develop your absolutely inhuman vocal parts? Do you use some effects in the process of recording, or do you manipulate with the recorded voice using some software? Or is it your actual voice with no effects?

Some of it is my actual voice but we use a lot of effects. Sometimes I use software while mixing but I also have an effects box I sing through and I experiment a lot. Sometimes I sing through guitar amps. I usually know how I want the vocals to sound while writing the material and then experiment to get there.

Are you the one responsible for the songwriting process, or do other bandmembers contribute their ideas, too? What are your sources of inspiration for such dark, oppressive and totally unique music?

I do all the core writing, recording parts by myself and then the others might come up with some ideas like basslines, syntheseizers and such. It is really playful, I might have a finished song playing in my head or I might have an emotion or thought I want to translate into music. Sometimes I only have a sample that I build the song around or I might have a lyric that I´m trying to create a soundtrack for. At times it is pure experimentation, trying out different syntheseizers or guitar sounds that eventually leads up to a finished track. The others are welcome to contribute but I have the final say, whatever ideas they might have is filtered through me. I want to combine horror and drama, the beautiful and the dark and ugly but I don’t have any specific musical inspiration. The mood I want to convey is easier done with distorted and tuned down guitars but I haven’t listened to a specific metal band that I draw inspiration from. I wanted this to be heavy and dark and at the same time create the feel of this being a soundtrack to a movie played out in your own head.

You are using the name Cuckoo, and the booklet of the debut album reads that it was recorded at The Cuckoo’s Nest. Is there any connection with the famous Milos Forman movie “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” here?

That was just one of the other guys trying to be witty. If I could do it over again I would have changed that, but at the same time I guess it´s valid comment to my view of modern society. Many times when someone is labeled insane or unstable in it is most probably someone who would be revered as someone enlightened or holy in the past.  Sure there are crazies but however, I think their craziness comes from a society impinging on us and stifling us. We´re bombarded with demands and musts and with the fast pace increasing many fall behind. There is no time to stop and catch your breath. And there is no time for spiritual endeavors. Whatever we were meant to be we had to suppress at an early age. Whatever we suppress will eventually surface and it might take on demonic appearances. The personas we´ve taken might be considered emissaries from the underworld or archetypes out of the collective unconscious.

What are the materials used in the design of your mask? Why did you change it a bit with the release of the second album?

The original ones I made in papier maiché but when we decided to play live I needed a mask that I could actually sing in so a friend of mine that works in movies and theatre created a new one in latex. She had to do a few changes in the design for it to work but I think she managed to keep the soul of the original mask. The hoods the others use on the cover of the new album I sewed from a thick material that allowed only minimal sight, while rehearsing with them we decided to discard them for latex masks for the others as well. But it was essential for me they represented gnomes on the cover, being the elementals of earth, the dark earth/terra tenebrosa corresponding well to the title “The Purging”. “The Purging” from within, either we as humans or the earth purging itself.

“The Purging” sounds a bit more structured and cohesive than “The Tunnels”. Does it mean that “tunnels” have become cleaner after “the purging”? Do I get the point?

It is in the darkness we can find the keys to self-fulfillment, we just have to meander The Tunnels first, fighting off whatever negative elements hides in there and find the treasures. It is in The Tunnels of your mind/soul/psyche you do The Purging. I think we as humans are only using a fragment of our potential and that by systematically exploring the more obscure parts of our psyche we can find the tools to take the next evolutionary step, transforming ourselves into something better. You have to meander The Tunnels, flamethrower in hands to do The Purging. On “The Tunnels” we wanted to hammer the listener down into a state of trance. Early in the process of making “The Purging” I knew I wanted it to be more violent. I think we accomplished what we set out to do with “The Tunnels” and I don’t want to repeat myself. So instead of working with small variations on the same theme as we did on “The Tunnels” there are more arrangements in the tracks on the new album and overall a faster pace.  

Is there a single concept behind “The Tunnels” and “The Purging”? Are the two CDs connected to each other?

Everything about Terra Tenebrosa is related since everything revolves around the exploration of the suppressed parts of the mind and psyche, finding hidden treasures and exorcising the unwanted, sublimating the negative impulses and the transformation into something better. Apart from that we never quit recording, so some tracks on the new album were recorded even before the release of “The Tunnels” so considering the recording process they’re the same album.

Apart from CD versions, your albums have been released on vinyl. What do you think about this format? Do you think it has any advantages over CD?

I personally don’t care that much about CDs. If I hear something I really like I try to get it on vinyl if possible. The artwork always comes out better on vinyl. The only advantage with the CD I think is that you don’t have to get up to turn the record over.

The vinyl edition of “The Tunnels” contains the track “Breaking Open The Head”, which cannot be found on the CD version. What can you say about this track? Why was it made available only in a limited way?

When we finished up “The Tunnels” we didn´t have any plans on releasing it on vinyl and since it was too long to put on a single vinyl we had one side to fill. “Breaking Open The Head” was the longest track recorded we had left so we put on the D-side. Maybe it will be added to the repress of the CD.

You posted the song “Black Pearl In A Crystalline Shell” for free download before releasing “The Purging”. Why was this particular song chosen as a teaser for “The Purging”?

It was the label that decided on that particular track. I wanted “House Of Flesh” but the label thought it too weird. I guess “Black Pearl…” is the catchiest track on the album.

I have found a video for “At The Foot Of The Tree”, where you are wearing a mask and spitting blood with a sinister blaze in your eyes. Is this an official promo video, or something that your fans made?

It is official but it wasn´t really planned for. We had shot some material while taking the photos for the cover and the label wanted a video. But since the material wasn´t that extensive I decided to make a short video to that track instead of putting together a “real” video with bad material just for the sake of it. And it´s not blood I´m spitting. It is supposed to be the “tar” I´m singing about in “House Of Flesh”, a brew of various psychoactive components.

Your music sometimes reminds me of soundtracks to horror movies. Are you a fan of horror movies or horror literature? Have you ever considered working on a horror movie of your own?

I used to watch a lot of horror movies when I was a kid but I rarely watch any movies nowadays, I never seem to have the time. If I do have a spare moment I´d rather pick up a book. Not horror though, I don´t read that much fiction. As a kid I was dreaming of making horror movies, or at least working with the production of them. I even wrote a few scripts, plagiarizing “Evil Dead” over and over.

You played a few shows in support of the second album, while before Terra Tenebrosa was a purely studio project. Why did you decide to start performing live?

At first I didn´t want to play live because I didn´t think it was possible, due to all the effects and samples because I don’t want to use backing tracks, that is in my opinion dangerously close to doing playback, but knowing that we could, there was no question about it. It took a long time though, we rarely get together and when we do we write and record, so we didn´t, or at least I, didn´t have the energy to investigate possible solutions. Now that we already have played live I can´t see what the big deal was, a sampler and a vocal effects pedal, but back when we began it felt like a huge obstacle.

What are the differences between Terra Tenebrosa live and in the studio? As far as I know, you have more musicians on stage…. What do you do to impress the audience and captivate their attention?

I reluctantly had to accept that Terra Tenebrosa live and on record would be two slightly different things. We don’t use all the samples but I can control the essential ones on stage. On the recordings I often have several layers of different vocals and that is something I can’t do on stage. Once again I had to distill the essential ones. While the optional would be to listen to the records, in the live situation the spectators can watch the characters come alive. We put more focus on the songs with a faster pace than on ten minute instrumentals on stage. I think the faster ones do better on stage and the more trance-inducing ones are better on record. On stage we are five people. Initially I was going to do one of the guitars as well but while doing a guest appearance with Switchblade I realized I was not going to be able to control the vocal effects and the sampler and at the same time sing and play the guitar.

Do you already have any ideas for a third album? How much will it be different from the previous ones?

I´ve already started recording for the next album. The material so far is more violent than the previous records I think. Also we have an 18-minute long track that was recorded for “The Purging” but that didn´t fit the album. Maybe it will come on the new album or we will release it digitally. I think it is too good to throw away.

What is your attitude towards religion? What is heaven and what is hell for you, literally or figuratively?

Apparently people need religion but most often it is either stupefying or it is driving people crazy. I don’t know. I guess I don’t care as long as I don’t have it in my immediate vicinity. I don’t believe in heaven or hell. If there is a hell below we´ll all go and for that matter this world could be it. But interpreting the Christian mythology I would say that hell is our subconscious or the collective unconscious and that is because they are afraid that people will take destiny into their own hands, thinking for themselves and by exploring the depths of the soul might become as gods themselves. That is why hell is a place for the damned, because by plunging into the abyss of the soul we´re continuing the fall from grace. The way to salvation is not through Christ, it is through yourself.

What music do you like to listen to? Do you have any musical idols or sources of inspiration?

I listen to all sorts of music, everything from classical to black metal.  I don’t have any specific idols but when it comes to Terra Tenebrosa I´m heavily inspired by early Alice Cooper, the conceptual feel of the albums and the twisted, sick and sometimes terrifying feeling of those albums.

Do you have any hobbies outside music? Do you have to do any dayjob outside the music business?

I don’t know if one could call it a hobby but I´m interested in shamanism. So when I do have the time I´d rather practice that. I don’t have the need to fill my days with something, mainly because the music takes up most of my time. I work with aiding and caring for mentally unstable people in their homes.

Are you involved in any other musical projects apart from Terra Tenebrosa?

No. Like I said, Terra Tenebrosa takes up most of my time and I´m that kind of person that does everything wholeheartedly so being involved in another project would probably drive me over the edge.

Have you ever received e-mails or letters from your Russian fans? How much do you know about the music and culture of our country?

Even though my roommate comes from Russia, apart from the obvious like Tarkovsky’s movies and various writers like Gogol and Bulgakov not much. I know a bit about Siberian shamanism. And new music I rarely have the time to look into. I have a list of bands I´ve read about that sounds interesting but I never have the time to sit down and listen. Can you recommend me something?

Please say a few final words or wishes to the Russian fans of Terra Tenebrosa.

Thank you!

Terra Tenebrosa on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Terra-Tenebrosa/327140797088

Special thanks to Magnus Jaschke (Creative Eclipse PR) for arranging this interview

Interview by Mikhail “IronMike” Shatalin
Translation support by Roman Patrashov
June 13, 2013
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