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NEW Hypnotic Dirge interview w/ Hierophant-Nox Webzine

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:07:42 +0100

This interview was originally written in early June 2010 and has not been published yet, so I have decided to make it available to read through the Hypnotic Dirge Myspace Page:

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Hypnotic Dirge – Hierophant Nox

Hail Skog, how are you doing?

Not too bad. As I write this, I am enjoying a couple days off from work, but really all that means is that it's time to catch up on some label things. haha At least, this way I get to work at my own schedule and do what interests me.

Over the past months we have seen a number of interesting releases from your label, Hypnotic Dirge Records. When was the label formed, and what was your inspiration to begin a new label?

The label began in October 2008, and stemmed out of a desire to be able to be in control of distributing my own music, choosing my own release dates, and being in control of the promotional aspects of my own music. Also around that time, a few of my musician friends from around the world were without a label and since we all seemed to share a similar vision and viewpoint on our music and what we wanted to accomplish with it, it just seemed natural to group all of our projects together and have it running under the same record label. In particular I am speaking of Scott (Astral Luminous), Bruno(Immundus), and Mort (Winds of Sorrow) who are all good friends of mine. Luckily I had the necessary finances at that time to make this a reality and it basically grew from there. Shortly after, I was able to get Mort's main project 'Exiled From Light' on the record label and we have since expanded from our beginnings and added other essential projects such as 'Funeral Fornication, Neige et Noirceur, The Foetal Mind, Old Forgotten Lands, and One Dark Curse.

How would you describe the style of music represented on the label? Do you have quite a range of artists, or is one style particularly important?

The label is basically known around the world for depressive black metal, atmospheric music and experimental dark ambient. I do believe even within those genres we have a nice variety of artists who all have something different to contribute. The only artist on my roster which I would define clearly as Depressive Black Metal would be Exiled From Light. Neige et Noirceur is more of an atmospheric Ambient Black Metal project which makes some really interesting music, a lot of it based on the history of Quebec, and Astral Luminous, Funeral Fornication, and The Foetal Mind are also all unique projects in my opinion who do things in their own way, not limited to genre restrictions. All of those projects are currently working on new material for their second release on Hypnotic Dirge and from what I have heard so far, they are all progressing nicely and defining their own sound. That was basically the goal of Hypnotic Dirge from the start, to not release any cliche music but rather to make sure that every artist on the roster develops their own sound and actually contributes something interesting and meaningful to the music scene in general. So far, I'd say things are right on track, and especially with the recent edition of the project 'One Dark Curse' we are really starting to expand our vision of the label to carry a wide variety of different types of music. We are certaintly not limited to specific genres.

What attracted you to extreme metal and experimental music in the first place? Which bands and artists inspired you most when you first discovered this music?

It's just real music I guess. I never know how to answer these questions actually. I like music that actually has an artistic value to it, rather than just a formula. At the end of the day, music is supposed to be art, and art is supposed to be something that comes from the soul and a person's innermost thoughts, emotions and beliefs. It's not supposed to be mass-produced garbage that is designed to sell millions of copies. Generally, the more of an album sells, the more mainstream society approves of it, and most people on this planet have no idea what real music is. It's not necessarily that people have no taste for good music, but the media and mainstream record lables condition people to listen to music that is instantly catchy, but that has no real substance. Any genre of music can be good and have real substance to it, even rap music was respectable at one point, and still can be today when it has a real message and stays away from the cliches, but the mainstream has always been really good at butchering every kind of music and creating mainstream music based on trends and formulas rather than anything meaningful. It's called math instead of art. They probably all sit in their high-level suites and look at sales graphs and then shove shitty music down people's throats. I guess Cradle of Filth is what started me off towards extreme metal and experimental music, and it has expanded from there. I don't want to get into too much detail and start namedropping bands and artists, you've probably heard 'the list' many times before!

Where did the label name come from? (I love it)

Just from brainstorming. When I started the label, I just tried to think of possible names that would describe what the label represented, and this was the best choice. I do think every artist on the label has a "Hypnotic Dirge-like quality to it. Over time, I've grown to like the name more and more and it has really stuck with me.

You have stated that your aim is to make a 'proper' label, not a Myspace, CD-R kind of a label – what steps do you take to make sure your quality is good?

This is something that I have learned over time. The longer that Hypnotic Dirge Records has been around, the more steps I took to make it a more professional label. A lot of it is the way in which you promote yourself, and your artists, a lot of it is a visual thing, and maintaining a well-rounded and complete website, and a lot of it just comes with time, and developing a reputation around the world as a 'successful' record label, not in terms of monetary success, but more in terms of people respecting and being aware of what you are doing. Hypnotic Dirge Records will of course always be an underground record lable that will be completely unknown to the vast majoritiy of people but for those who do find out about it, and like the music that I release, then I want to make sure I do things in a professional manner. This just basically means releasing quality music, having worldwide distribution, with fast shipping, and being an important part of the underground metal, and ambient scenes. It's an ongoing process, that we can hopefully expand on all the time.

I understand that you are also a musician; is Ancient Tundra the only project you have been involved in, or have there been others in the past?

There's been a few others that I have been involved in but Ancient Tundra is really the only recognizable name. I don't really think the others are worth mentioning actually at all at this point as they are all quite old now and I haven't worked on any of them for a long time. The only other one worth mentioning in my opinion is a Symphonic Gothic Black Metal project called 'Our Diabolical Embrace' which I only wrote four songs for, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out, and finally decided after thinking about it for over a year that I wanted to release it as an EP, so now it's going to have a limited release of 50 copies through Hypnotic Dirge in August or September.

You've released Ancient Tundra albums through Hypnotic Dirge- does this make you more critical of your own creations? Is it difficult to be your own boss?!

Actually, no. I always want to release quality music no matter which record label it is being released on. I don't find any difference between releasing my music through Hypnotic Dirge or an outside label, the writing and recording process remains exactly the same either way. I don't tell other projects on the label how to write their music, or if I don't approve of something- they get 100% artistic control, and it's the same with my music, I get 100% artistic control, so really, at least in my eyes, I am nobody's boss. I'd rather be looked upon as a friend, and a partner. Regarding the first half of your question, I'm always critical of my own work anyway, so this doesn't change much.

It's a hard time to compete in the music industry – what particular difficulties have you faced so far? What does the label do to stay ahead of the economic climate?

Nothing I can do! It is what it is. Basically the music is available, and those who are interested in buying CD's from me are what keeps the label alive. If your too poor to buy CD's, then I can't force you to do so. All I can is make sure that people are aware that the music is available and see what happens. I offer free shipping on orders of 5 or more CD's to try to encourage larger orders, and try to maintain an interesting list of distribution albums available from my store as well so that people aren't limited only to the CD's that I officially release. I think if you ship out orders in a timely matter, and package it up nicely, so nothing gets wrecked on the way, people realize that I am not incompetent and trust HDR for their future orders.

Even if it is a difficult job, you have said that Hypnotic Dirge is here for the long run – what is it that keeps you going? What have been some of the highlights for you so far?

What keeps me going? Basically hearing the music that the artists on the roster are coming up with for future albums, It makes me want to release it. I want to see Hypnotic Dirge Records continue to expand along with all of the artists on the label. I'm never satisfied with releasing one album from a project - only for about a month after the release date, and then I'm already thinking of what they are going to come up with next. It's a continuous process that I want to be a part of, and I'm always excited for upcoming releases. Highlights for me is when the label is really busy, particularily around the time of a successful release when I am shipping away a bunch of packages and receiving tons of orders, and emails. It makes it feel to me like what I want to accomplish with the label, and hopefully one day, I will always be that busy. I have a higher sense of enthusiasm around these times, and basically even though it is a lot of work, it is also a lot of fun.

We've touched on some of your feelings towards Myspace, but do you feel that there are also benefits to the latest web technology? For example, has being able to offer downloads of albums that will not have a physical release helped the label?

I'm not sure if it helps the label with sales or anything, but that's not really the point of the downloads anyway. I'm not a greedy capatalist pig, so it's not about making money. I just need to be able to break even in order to keep on releasing new music. I like offering the free downloads when it makes no sense to make a physical release, basically just for demo albums, already sold out albums, and compilations. I released a HDR Compilation album on October 20th, 2009 as a special one-year anniversity album for the label, and I've decided to make this an annual thing, so that is kind of exciting, to be able to release a free compilation once a year featuring some highlights of our releases from the past year. I think it does help in getting some of the music out there, and introducing our music to a wide variety of people who will never buy a CD from us. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. We all write music for ourselves, and we are not fake elitist black metallers, who say we don't want our music to be heard. I think I speak for all of us on the label when I say that I want people to hear my music, so if that is through myspace streaming or free digital albums, that's perfectly fine with me!

Everybody can access a huge range of bands through the web, but the quantity makes it difficult to choose the best. How do you choose bands that you would like to work with? Are there particular features that you look for?

Your certaintly right about that. I get a lot of demos and requests to join the label. When people send me a two line request through myspace asking me to release your album, I'll probably just completely ignore the message altogether, and even when people send me an email with download links or myspace links, I'll usually ignore those too, or at the very best have a 30 second listen. It's not that I'm trying to be an asshole or anything, I just don't have time for that. It says right on my website, that if your interested in joining the label, then send me a physical demo in the mail. If people don't have the time to read a little about the label that they want to represent their music, then they are obviously not serious about their project anyway. This is a big part of what I mean about the bedroom black metal myspace culture, everybody's got a project and everybody thinks they can send a 10 second thoughtless generic message across the internet and get signed to some label. It's fucking annoying, and particularily bad in the 'depressive black metal scene' At least in other metal genres, people seem to put a little bit more effort into getting signed. People seem to forget that there is a big difference between being 'underground' and being unprofessional and amateurish. My basic argument is that I put a lot of effort and money into your project when your part of the roster, so I want people who are equally dedicated about their project, and not just doing it to be trendy or whatever other stupid reason. If you send a physical demo in the mail, then I'll give you a fair chance. Also, it is financially impossible for me to release everything that I would like to, so unless your something that I just can't pass up the opportunity to sign, I most likely will not be looking to add any additional projects for a while.

Once you have chosen to work with a band, what matters are involved in releasing an album? How long does the process usually take?

Once an artist is a part of the roster, we'll keep in pretty regular contact. We would usually discuss the details of the album, such as the release type, the packaging, and anything else which might be important. As soon as they send me the complete album, and the artwork, then basically it all comes down to funding. Once I have all of the files ready to go, we'll discuss a release-date and come up with something that works for both of us. Usually the process doesn't take too long. There hasn't been many delays in terms of releasing an album, and as soon as everything is in my hands, it's usually just a 2-3 month process to get the album released. There is sometimes a small financing wait in order to gather enough money to get the album printed and then about a one-month manfacturing wait. During the manfacturing process is usually when we'll do the bulk of the promotional work.

Would you say that you have a favourite release so far? Or are you not allowed to choose one?!

I'm not allowed to say!! Politics will play a part even in the smallest of underground record labels and we will end up having a black metaller crying in his room somewhere!

Nahh, I'm just joking. Umm I don't have a favourite release, but I have a few which I think turned out really well, such as the Astral Luminous release which is absolutely beautiful musically and asthetically. Also I think the Funeral Fornication release is absolutely underrated, as it hasn't sold very much and I consider it one of the best releases on the label so far! The Neige et Noirceur releases are really cool as well, and I'm particularily proud of the Old Forgotten Lands/Ancient Tundra split which I had a part in with Elan O'Neal of Old Forgotten Lands, both musically and aesthetically, it came out exactly how I had hoped. In truth, I like them all, but I am particularily excited about the upcoming releases in 2010 as I think they will be some of the best HDR stuff yet! Exiled From Light, Funeral Fornication, The Foetal Mind, and Astral Luminous will all be releasing a new album this year.

You have used a company called Depraved Designs to do many of the graphics for the label – how did you come into contact? Have you been happy with the work produced so far?

Depraved Designs is great. I came in contact with Niels when I first opened up the record label, just by browsing around on myspace. As you've said, I've used his work to do almost all of my graphics. He has created every release flyer so far, as well as contributed his photography for the Exiled From Light - Descending Further into Nothingness promo video, and did the complete album artwork on the Old Forgotten Lands/Ancient Tundra split album, the new upcoming Exiled From Light album - There is no beauty left here..., and the HDR Compilation album. This basically stems from myself not being very good at computer graphics work, and needing someone else's expertise in order to properly represent the label esthetically. It's yet another expense for the label, but his prices are definetely fair, he is a nice guy, and I'm always happy with his work, so it's worth it in the end.

I know that you are also a keen photographer yourself – is this an art form that is becoming a bigger part of Hypnotic Dirge?

Time will tell. Right now, all I am doing is taking photographs leisurely, and sending a free 4X6 photograph along with all orders of Hypnotic Dirge Records. I find it to be a nice bonus to someone's order and it only costs me 15 cents to print each photo and this allows me to write a personalized message on the back of each photo and add a personal touch to each order. Plus this way, my photography finds its way all around the world! I also upload all of my photography to 'www.myspace.com/hypnoticdirgephotography' and they are available for any bands and projects to use on their album artwork, merchandsie, or promotional pictures for free. All I ask for is a copy of the album in which the photography appears in, and I'll send the photo(s) to their email address in high quality. Noone has taken up this offer yet, but I have not really promoted it either. It's there if people are interested, and if not, no problem. Just a hobby of mine to go on little photoshoots from time to time and see if I can take any interesting photos.

Amongst the bands on the label, are there any we should be looking out for in terms of releases and activities in the near future?

Yes. I've mentioned this a few times already I think, but the new Exiled From light album is going to be released this July as a double-album with almost two hours worth of brand new music, so that is the bulk of my focus right now. I believe I've already sent you a promotional copy of the double-album for review on Hierophant Nox, so I'm focusing pretty hard on promoting that as that's our main release this summer! Coming up after that however, we've got a very exciting Uruk-Hai/Funeral Fornication Split album which should be really interesting, as well as a short EP release from my own 'Symphonic Gothic Black Metal' project which should be quite a change from the usual sound of Hypnotic Dirge, but it's just a limited-edition release. Both of those albums should be out in August or September, and then we have new full-length albums coming out from The Foetal Mind, Astral Luminous, and Funeral Fornication to close out the year. We are also strongly looking into the possibility of doing a re-print of the sold out Exiled From Light T-Shirts, and also possibly new t-shirt designs for Astral Luminous and Neige et Noirceur.

In any case, it's going to be a very busy year after a slow start in the first half of the year. Hopefully we can manage to get all the necessary funding for all these plans!

Are you looking to add more bands to the HDR roster, or are you focusing on the artists that you already work with?

Not at the moment. There is actually one project we have on the sidelines right now, but we're not announcing that yet. We're currently working with this project in preperation for a future signing with Hypnotic Dirge and a debut release from this project which has been in the works since 2005, so it's really a fantastic album! That's about all I can say about that, as it hasn't been made official yet, but when it is eventually unveiled to the public, I think people will be absolutely fascinated by this project, as I was! The music this guy writes really pushes the boundaries and is one of the most unique albums I have heard in years. This was a case of not looking for or wanting any more projects at the time, but being unable to pass up the opportunity to work with this particular project.

Along with choosing bands and directing production and design, a big part of your job must be promoting your releases; is this an aspect that you enjoy? Does it take up a lot of your time?

I don't mind it. It definetely gets tedious from time to time, and there are aspects of it that I do not particularily like, and other aspects which I do enjoy. The main thing is to do the right type of work at the right time. The benefit of being your own 'boss', is that for the most part, you can choose your own schedule and if you have a big list of things to get done, you can choose what to work on and what you are in the mood to be doing at that particular moment. Of course, I work together with the artists on the roster, and share the same goals and visions as them, so it is a nice partnership and we all work towards the same things together, although it is my responsibility to do the bulk of the promotional work.

Right now, my regular days off work are Monday and Tuesday which makes it difficult to be very social on those days and hang out with friends, go camping, or have some drinks or anything of the sort, so it gives me two complete full days to work on the label whereas if my days off work were on the weekend, I would probably not be sitting in front of the computer doing this interview right now, I'd probably be out in the middle of nowhere right now having a beer, and camping! haha, I'd still get all of my label work done on the weekdays though, as that is how I operated last summer, and I always got everything done, so there are no worries there, but my current situation just gives me more time to work on promotion I guess, which is definetely not a bad thing. Howeverrrrrr, I DO want to go camping still!

You're based in Saskatchewan; do you feel part of a Canadian 'scene' or 'flavour', or does your geographical location have little effect?

Geographical location has no effect on what I do. Whether I lived in Tokyo, New York, Yellowknife, Madrid, Baghdad, Oslo, or Swift Current, Saskatchewan I don't think I would be particularily influenced by my surroundings. It's not that I'm against Saskatchewan, or Canada for that matter. I think I mentioned in an interview with Heathen Harvest that I really don't like the city where I live, and I guess that still hasn't changed much, but since I am moving in September to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for university (Yes, the label address will change once again soon!) I have come to be a little more symphethetic towards the area. Anyway, I've completely strayed from the original question once again. I guess what I should say, is that when it comes to my music project, the environment around me probably plays a part (or has played a part) in influencing what I write, but I don't really feel connnected to any Canadian scene, especially being such a large country, I don't know of any projects anywhere near my area. and the closest projects I know much about are Funeral Fornication which is based on the western edge of Canada, and the vast Quebecois scene, including Neige et Noirceur which is on the eastern edge of Canada, while I sit in the unpopulated region in the middle of nowhere. There are some definite benefits to living in a city, especially when it comes to running a record label and promoting locally, but I have actually comes to like quite a few things about living in the middle of nowhere.

What are your plans for the record label this year? Have you set yourself any goals to reach?

The plans for this year is just to release the albums that are planned for 2010, and make sure that they are properly promoted and distributed around the world. In July this year, Vultyrous'(of Funeral Fornication) death metal band is doing a 6-date Western Canadian tour, so I'm sending him a parcel in the mail of HDR Flyers to post around Western Canada, and hypnotic Dirge CD's to sell at his merch table during the tour, so hopefully it can result in a little bit more of a localized awareness of the record label. Other than that, the only goal is to sell enough CD's to release all the albums that I plan on releasing, and continuing to spread the word!

What would be the ultimate aim for Hypnotic Dirge?

The ultimate aim of Hypnotic Dirge is to grow and gain a favourable reputation around the world. I think I'll be doing this for a long time, so it's a definite long term goal that will probably have lots of ups and downs. At the end of the day, it is a part of my life, but it is not my entire life, so it will hopefully continue to grow and develop and it will take a natural evolutionary course throughout the next...who knows...10? 20? years. If the label is still around in 20 years, then I will already consider that a massive success, first of all that people are still buying CD's at all at that time, and that I have been able to probably release, distribute, and promote 150-200 albums by then! Let's see what happens. 20 years is a LONG time.

Thank you for all your time and for working with us over the past few months; if you've got any more messages for the world, please go ahead!:

Nothing else I can really say. Thank you for the interview Ellen, and count on us to continue working together as long as your running Hierophant Nox and your still willing to review our albums. Oh and also, if you've managed to read this entire interview, thanks for being interested, and thanks for reading!

www.hypnoticdirgerecords.com

HDR Package Deal - NOT TO BE MISSED!!

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 04:03:23 +0100

Hello everyone,

I am now offering up a package deal featuring all of the available Hypnotic Dirge Records CD's, Shirts, and Posters/Flyers for a very discounted price.

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Included in the package is the following:

CD's
HDR - 002 : Ancient Tundra - Requiems of a World Lost
HDR - 003 : Echoes of Silence - Beyond the Crimson Gates
HDR - 004 : Astral Luminous - Lunaric Tide

HDR - 005 : Neige et Noirceur - Crepuscule Hivernal Sans Fin sur les Terres...
HDR - 006 : Immundus - Haunted Memories
HDR - 007 : Funeral Fornication - Solitude and Suicide
HDR - 008 : Exiled From Light - Descending Further into Nothingness
HDR - 009 : Old Forgotten Lands/Ancient Tundra - Equinox
HDR - 010 : Neige et Noirceur - L'Abime des Jours, l'ecume des nuits[2CD]

HDR - 011 : The Foetal Mind - Supreme Cheminement
HDR - 012 : Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra - These Engulfing Winds Never Die[CD+DVD]

HDR - 013 : Exiled From Light - There is no beauty left here...[2CD]

HDR - D - ??? : [Distro CD of your choice]
HDR - D - ??? : [Distro CD of your choice]

HDR - D - ??? : [Distro CD of your choice]

Shirts
HDR - M - 001 : Ancient Tundra T-Shirt [Size Large/XLarge only]
HDR - M - 002 : Exiled From light T-Shirt [Size Small Only]

Flyers/Posters
Funeral Fornication - Solitude and Suicide FLYER
Exiled From Light - Descending Further into Nothingness FLYER
Old Forgotten Lands/Ancient Tundra - Equinox FLYER
Neige et Noirceur - L'Abime des Jours, l'ecume des nuits FLYER
The Foetal Mind - Supreme Cheminement FLYER
Francais et Quebecois Special Promotion FLYER
Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra - These Engulfing Winds never Die FLYER
Exiled From Light - There is no beauty left here... POSTER
3X Hypnotic Dirge Records Signed 11X18 FLYER

TOTAL: 15 CD's (18 Discs) / 2 Shirts / 11 Flyers/Posters

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Price:

$125USD Postage Paid (North American Customers)
$145USD Postage Paid (Rest of World Customers)
***You can save an additional $10 if you choose to get the CD's shipped without cases!

If you are interested in this deal, please email me at: hypnoticdirgerecords@hotmail.com with the subject line "HDR Package Deal"

ALL PROCEEDS MADE IN THIS PACKAGE DEAL WILL HELP US TO FUND OUR UPCOMING RELEASES FROM FUNERAL FORNICATION, NETRA, AND THE FOETAL MIND!!!

Immundus signs deal with Quartier 23

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:29:48 +0100

Immundus has signed a deal with the Ambient/Experimental label Quartier 23 , and has thus left Hypnotic Dirge Records. I would like to thank Bruno Duarte - solo member of the project Immundus and a founding member of the original Hypnotic Dirge lineup for his cooperation and partnership over the past 18 months. We have successfully released the acclaimed "Haunted Memories" album together which was the first pro-CD Digipack release on HDR back in April 2009, as well as two digital albums since he joined the label. There were/are no hostilities between us whatsoever, and I wish him the best of luck with the next chapter in his project, and hopefully Quartier 23 is the right label for Immundus to present his haunting soundscapes on a label a little more suited to his style! We remain good friends through all this, and it will not affect us personally, after all...it is only music! We will continue to follow his developments and would gladly distribute his forthcoming full-length album in 2011.

Now, for a bit of a general statement about the state of Hypnotic Dirge Records - some of you may be a little bit alarmed about our slow release schedule through the first half of 2010, but rest assured that the second half of 2010 is shaping up to be extremely busy! We have some fantastic releases planned for the next 6-9 months, and my financial situation seems to have gotten to the point where I can release new material at a regular pace once again. Throughout the long history of a label, there is bound to be some personnel changes due to projects leaving, projects being kicked off, and projects being put to rest, but through all this, Hypnotic Dirge Records will continue on, and progress as it sees fit. Our next release kicking off the start of an extremely busy and proporous second half of 2010 will be the new Exiled From Light album 'There is no beauty left here...' released as a double-album on Pro-CD which you can now pre-order HERE!

MASSIVE HDR UPDATE - April 30th, 2010

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:49:57 +0100

Greeeeeetings everyone!
Here is some brand new news from Hypnotic Dirge:

04/30/10
One Dark Curse signs deal with Hypnotic Dirge Records!
I am pleased to announce that we have signed the experimental horror rock project 'One Dark Curse' onto the Hypnotic Dirge Records roster. Since the beginning of the label, I have always stated that we are not confined to genre restrictions, and that we aim to push the boundaries of what we can release and promote, and this signing marks the first sign of this fact. We aim to find musically-accomplished and unique acts to add to our roster here at HDR, while keeping within the originally vision of the label. One Dark Curse is the solo project of Nicholas Line (ex. A Dark Fantasy) and the debut album is in the works and slated for a fall 2010 release. You can find out more information about this project, as well as listen to some songs, and watch videos by going to the ONE DARK CURSE page on the website.
LINK: http://www.hypnoticdirgerecords.com/onedarkcurse-main.php

You can also visit One Dark Curse by going to their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/onedarkcurse

...Or their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/One-Dark-Curse/119409068073190?ref=ts
(make sure you add them if you have an account)

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MORE NEWS FROM HYPNOTIC DIRGE RECORDS/HDR ARTISTS

***At the moment, we are in a bit of a dry spell in terms of releases. We have only released one album thus far in 2010, but rest assured that this is only the calm before the storm!
We are at the point where we have decided to move on to Pro-CD releases, at least periodically. This does not mean that all of our releases will be Pro-CD, as that would be financially impossible, but one release that will for sure be a Pro-CD release will be the Exiled From Light - There is no beauty left here... 2CD edition. It features about 110 minutes worth of music, including three tracks from Mort's side project 'Funereal'. Needless to say, this will be quite the monumental release. We also plan to re-stock the Exiled From Light T-Shirts for all of you have missed out on the original pressing. The total for this 2CD album on Pro-CD, plus a re-stock of T-Shirts ends up at around $2500USD. Thus far, we managed to save up $710 through sales in the month of april (thanks in large part to the HDR $5.00 CD sale) but we are still far away from meeting our goal.
I ask you all, if you own a blogsite, website, or any other sort of means to the public to please take a moment to let people know of Hypnotic Dirge's existance, and releases/artists so that we can get a little bit closer to our goal of $2500. As soon as we get the needed cash for this, we are going to unleash this album/t-shirt onto the world!

***Also planned for 2010 after the release of the Exiled From light new 2CD album, and T-Shirt will be a short EP from the project 'Our Diabolical Embrace' (www.myspace.com/ourdiabolicalembrace), a new 'The Foetal Mind' album, a new 'Astral Luminous' album, a new 'Funeral Fornication album, the mentioned debut of 'One Dark Curse', a special limited edition 'Immundus' package, and possibly new releases from Neige et Noirceur, Valerio Orlandini, and many other things which are currently in the works.
We would also really like the oppourtunity to release more T-Shirts by our projects but funding is of course a major issue. Neige et Noirceur, Astral Luminous, and Immundus are all next in line for a T-Shirt release but this all depends on the amount of sales we can generate.

***On a personal level, I finish my school for the year next week, so the time comes again for me to find a job over the next 4 months untilo school begins again in the fall. Hopefully this can help to generate some funds as well, as this entire year has been tough on HDR financially since I have not been working since October 2009.

***Of course, I welcome all communication with you all. Potential customers wanting to place an order, just send me an email (hypnoticdirgerecords@hotmail.com), webzines, magazines, interviewers, reviewers - please get in touch if you wish to help promote Hypnotic Dirge Records, ...Other record labels and distros looking to buy from me wholesale, or ask about a trade, please get in touch also!

Below is a list of all of the HDR projects and their current happenings:

ASTRAL LUMINOUS
Astral Luminous is currently writing and recording for the release of their second album sometime in the Summer/Fall 2010

ANCIENT TUNDRA
Ancient Tundra is quietly writing and recording new material for a brand new full-length album. Do not expect it to be released until 2011, and there will be no online previews until the album is ready for release. The style of this new full-length is much different and will shock a lot of the Ancient Tundra listeners, but as far as news, and interviews go there will be no public updates for a while, just writing new music.

WINDS OF SORROW
As far as I know, Winds of Sorrow will NOT be releasing any more material. For the lucky view who happen to own the debut WoS album, consider yourself lucky - It is sold out, and will not be repressed.

THE FOETAL MIND
The Foetal Mind is currently writing and recording new material for their second album release on HDR. Some samples have been uploaded to their myspace page (www.myspace.com/thefoetalmind) and the sound quality and professionalism of the project has improved tenfold! TFM is also currently working on the album art for this upcoming release. Expect it out in the summer of 2010 on HDR in a limited Super Jewel Box, and unlimited regular jewel case. Honestly some of the best metal music. period. to come out of France in a while!!

FUNERAL FORNICATION
Funeral Fornication is currently writing and recording music for his latest full-length album on HDR entitled 'Pandemic Transgression' The album is coming along great, and Vultyrous of Funeral Fornication states that it is the best thing he has ever written for the project! Asides from this, Funeral Fornication and Uruk-Hai has joined forces for a split album which is also currently in writing process! So expect a very good 2010 for Funeral Fucking Fornication!

IMMUNDUS
Immundus is currently mixing and mastering his latest full-length album "Eye of the Serpent" The album's writing and recording process is now about 95% completed, and through hearing an early album mix of the record, I must say that Bruno has managed to make Immundus even more haunting than ever before. The sound has become more subtle and ambient, and ever-more experiental. Asides from this, Immundus has been busy writing theme music for a paranormal ghost show on network TV in Norway, and writing music for various websites!

EXILED FROM LIGHT
No new news from Mort and his many projects in terms of writing new material. Despite this, there is the monstrous Exiled From Light release coming up very soon on Hypnotic Dirge Records. This new album coming up is in my opinion the greatest thing ever released from Mort and his many projects. It captures Mort and Exiled From Light at their very best.

VALERIO ORLANDINI
Valerio Orlandini is currently playing live shows in Italy. There is a 2CD album ready for release from this italian ambent mastermind, but that likely won't be released for quite a while because of our busy release schedule. For those of you craving some work from Valerio Orlandini, I can recommend to you, the recent split album release between Ancient Tundra and Symbiosis which is available from Hypnotic Dirge.

OLD FORGOTTEN LANDS
No News from Old Forgotten Lands at the moment.

ONE DARK CURSE
One Dark Curse is currently writing music. The debut full-length release from the latest HDR signing is all complete musically, but what remains left to do is the vocals which is currently in progress, as well as the album artwork, promotional wok and videos. Expect a lot more news with this project to come soon! Also, ODC is busy with short-films on the side, as well as other interesting artistic endeavors.

NEIGE ET NOIRCEUR
A new album from Neige et Noirceur is ready for release, although it is currently up in the air as to whether it will be released by Hypnotic Dirge Records, or the Quebecois Black Metal giants - Sepuchral Productions. I hope, for my sake that it will ultimately be released on HDR, but that is tough to say at the moment. None-the-less, Neige et Noirceur remains an intregral part of the HDR lineup and if we do not get the opporutnity to release this album, we must move on, and plan for the future N&N releases on our label, as well as the planned T-Shirts.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for reading through this massive APRIL 30th UPDATE. If you have any questions, please don't hesistate to contact me!

Also, make sure you check out our latest signing One Dark Curse!!!

Cheers everyone,
Skog
HDR

Hypnotic Dirge tracks are playing at Het Vagevuur - Extreme Metal Radio

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:26:12 +0100

Het Vagevuur - Extreme Metal Radio Show

Every Thursday night, we obliterate the airwaves with an hour of extreme metal ranging from funeral doom through thrash and death to black, all of them in carefully selected portions with a good slice of info on the side.
We're on local Radio Scorpio (Leuven, Belgium) which is the longest running non-commercial radio station in Belgium, meaning we play what WE want, not what any sponsor tells us to. And it shows; we go far beyond the mainstream.
If you want to see AND hear whether what we say is true, go to www.hetvagevuur.be for streaming on demand. You can listen to a new show every week and check out our playlist history.

Keep the fire burning!
_____________________________________________________________________
The following tracks have been submitted for regular airplay on Het Vagevuur:

-Funeral Fornication - The Weeping Tree
-Funeral Fornication - Veils of Ice that impersonate mirrors
-Funeral Fornication - Beneath the Oak
-Exiled From Light - We Writhe as Worms
-Exiled From Light - Suffering Waits with wide open arms
-Exiled From Light - Clarity viewed through dying eyes
-The Foetal Mind - La Corde Rouge
-The Foetal Mind - Suicide Solution
-The Foetal Mind - Kill Me
-Neige et Noirceur - Crepuscule Hivernal Sans Fin sur les Terres de la Guerre
-Neige et Noirceur - Ancient Folklore Quebecois
-Neige et Noirceur - Croix de feu, Croix de fer
-Winds of Sorrow - Lament of the Withering World
-Astral Luminous - Binaural Vibrancy
-Ancient Tundra - Lost in Claustrophobic Thought

On thursday night, (April 15th, 2010) Het Vagevuur played the premier of the track 'Croix de feu, Croix de fer' by Neige et Noirceur on their program!!

HDR SALE - March 31st - April 21st *CD's for $5.00

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:30:51 +0100

Hello all,

Well... due to the need to raise money for some of our upcoming releases - namely the 2CD Exiled From Light - There is no beauty left here..., and the upcoming The Foetal Mind Digipack, as well as interesting new music from Astral Luminous and Neige et Noirceur plus T-Shirts etc. (you get the idea), and the fact that over the past 10 days, there has not been a single sale at HDR, and generally low sales for all of 2010 so far, I need to give people incentive to buy, and hopefully a storewide HDR sale will do it!

From March 31st(today) to April 21st, the following prices will apply:

*All regular priced CD's - $5.00US
*All deluxe editions, CD+DVD packaging, Digipacks, etc. - $8.00US

THIS APPLIES TO BOTH THE OFFICIAL HDR ALBUMS AND THE DISTRO ALBUMS!
-There are over 80 albums to choose from so this is a great opportunity to build your CD collection with cheap CD's as well as to help to fund upcoming releases which we desperately need help with!
NOTE: HDR - 012 : Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra split CD+DVD is still regular price.

A shipping charge will be added to your order. Here are the shipping prices:

Quantity        case/no case          CANADA            USA                INTERNATIONAL
_______________________________________________________________________
1 CD                yes                     $2.00             $4.00                   $7.00
2-3 CD's           yes                     $6.00             $7.00                   $9.00
4-5 CD's           yes                     $10.00           $10.00                 $14.00
6-10 CD's          yes                     $14.00           $16.00                 $20.00
1-4 CD's           no                       $3.00             $5.00                  $8.00
5-10 CD's          no                      $9.00              $9.00                  $12.00

Please take a moment to look through www.hypnoticdirgerecords.com in our official releases, and distribution section for any CD's that may interest you. This sale applies both to individual buyers, as well as other record lables.
Please send an email to hypnoticdirgerecords@hotmail.com with the subject HDR sale order if placing an order with this special offer!

We are desperetely seeking funds in order to be able to keep our activities going, take a moment to look through our available CD's on our website and consider placing an order as this sale is also a limited time offer and will probably not be back!

~Skog
HDR

Hypnotic Dirge Records interview with Heathen Harvest Webzine!

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:11:37 +0100

Nick Skog is the owner of Canadian-based Hypnotic Dirge Records, as well as the man behind the neoclassical / black ambient project Ancient Tundra. Hailing from the often forgotten province of Saskatchewan (which is nestled firmly between Alberta and Manitoba), the project and label get little local attention, however have managed a well-placed international foothold in their mere 3 years of existence. Hypnotic Dirge Records, for the time being, focuses primarily on Dark Ambient / Black Ambient, Neoclassical, and Blackened Doom at the current point in time, but as you'll see below, they have plans to expand. This interview precedes the label's upcoming debut venture into the DVD world, a CD+DVD collaborative effort between Ancient Tundra and Symbiosis.

Generalities

Heathen Harvest: Greetings and thank you for accepting this interview. Could you tell us about the beginnings of Hypnotic Dirge Records? What did the label seek to achieve in its infancy?

Nick Skog: Hypnotic Dirge Records began in the fall of 2008. The idea to form a record lable stemmed from a variety of reasons. One reason is that I wanted to have complete control over my project Ancient Tundra in terms of its promotion, the distribution of CD's and the manafacturing process. After that initial idea, I thought of the potential of opening up a record lable as a way to keep my mind busy and to be creative in another sense asides from just writing music. Since I personally knew of a few good artists that were without a record lable at the time, it seemed like a good idea to build a partnership of sorts with these artists as we all had similar goals and viewpoints on how we would build this record lable. The main idea for Hypnotic Dirge Records stemmed from my own thoughts but there was a lot of verbal exchange between myself, Bruno - Immundus, Scott - Astral Luminous and Mort - Exiled From Light to a certain extent. I think what stemmed some of the motivation from this record lable, asides from wanting to be in control of my own music and how it was distributed was also that I was not satisfied with the amount of apathy and lazyness that seemed to be abundent within underground black metal and ambient record lables and I was convinced that I could do a better job. Of course, this is not the case with a lot of fantastically-run record lables, but there seems to be more half-assed record lables than one's that are fully commited.

HH: Do you believe you've met those goals, or are you still trying to further the label?

NS: I believe I have reached some good things with Hypnotic Dirge thus far, but there is so much more I would like to acheive and hopefully I can keep the lable advancing for many years to come. There are going to be setbacks along the way. Hypnotic Dirge Records is ultimately not going to dictate my life, and is not going to be my main focus 100% of the time. I have plans to go to university this fall, which will take up a good portion of my time, and will be the main focus of my energy but HDR is always something that is going to be there. I can't predict the future, but I have come to view Hypnotic Dirge as one of the many important aspects of my own life and I would like to further it as much as possible. I don't judge success by monetary means so whether or not Hypnotic Dirge actually makes any money in the future doesn't really matter to me, (although that would be a sign that more people are buying albums, thus appreciating the music more) but basically my goal is for Hypnotic Dirge to have a strong reputation for continuously releasing quality music and for the name of Hypnotic Dirge Records to be well-known in the underground eventually.

HH: Tell us about the name. Hypnotic Dirge seems close to describing much of the music on the label, but it instills images of funeral doom in my head rather than the nearly neoclassical dark ambience we've become accustomed to.

NS: Right. Perhaps the name does resemble Funeral Doom in a way, I can certaintly see your point but I feel it also accurately describes most of the artists on the roster as well, and who's to say that I won't be adding a Funeral Doom project sometime in the future? The name is basically just a generality to describe the lable, and when I came up with the name I thought that it fit together nicely with the type of music I planned to release. Regarding the Neo-Classical dark ambient you refer to, Ancient Tundra is basically the only project on the lable that has a neo-Classical sound, and even that in my opinion is a minimal influence while remaining mostly within the constructs of Dark Ambient - with of course some outside influences.

HH: Hypnotic Dirge claims to be in existence to promote dark and experimental music. Do you really feel that you've delved into experimental regions so far? It seems most of your releases have been along the lines of well established genres rather than on the experimental front.

NS: You're correct, all of my releases asides from the Immundus album are in generally well established genres although the argument can be made that there are experimental qualities to be found in the Neige et Noirceur releases, the Astral Luminous album, and the Old Forgotten Lands/Ancient Tundra album. Anyway, I can see your point and I agree with you but Hypnotic Dirge has only been in existance for a little over a year so it will take me a while to seek out the right experimental projects which are without a lable. It`s all about maintaining a balance and that might take some time to become a reality. There is however a local project that is experimental in nature which has basically joined Hypnotic Dirge already although we have not made the announcement yet. Hopefully as the months and years go by, I will be able to add some new projects onto the roster although it remains unlikely that I will expand too much in the near future because of budget restrictions. I believe the current roster is strong right now, but it can defidently expand as well.

HH: Imagery seems to play an immensely important part in Hypnotic Dirge Records' appeal. While all of your imagery is dark and provoking, it still poseesses a style of minimal elegance that carried over to even the album artwork for your releases. For example, the latest "The Foetal Mind" release. Can you explain what emotions you are trying to provoke and what you feel this type of minimal beauty acheives regarding the music you focus on?

NS: I suppose this is a question that would be better answered by the artists themselves who came up with these concepts for each individual album. My opinion though, and this is purely philosophical in a sense, is that there is no such thing as black and white, and that there are always going to be shades of grey in between. Perhaps this is a bad analogy but it seems as if that minimal elegance that you mention is what makes the concept appear more real. If people were trying to explain emotion without a certain balance, then it would feel scripted or cheesy and that is the problem with a lot of the purely depressive black metal bands is that most people do not believe that these artists are genuine, and they become a self-parody of themselves. Incorporating that tiny glimmer of hope or elegance amidst a lot more negativity makes everything appear more real, and the negativity appears stronger as a result of that contrast. Of course, this depends on the artist and I don`t want to make the notion that every project on HDR is based around negativity as that is certaintly not the case. Hypnotic Dirge Records as a lable is certaintly not based entirely around negativity or depression but rather as the entire spectrum of emotion from the highest ecstacy, to the deepest depression. Even though that may not always be showcased properly, that is what is real and what is based in reality.

HH: Up to this point in the label's history, you've focused on dark ambient, black ambient, and black metal / blackened doom. Have you considered venturing out into other territories as well like, just for example, old school gothic doom like Saturnus and Empyrium, or even neofolk like :Of the Wand and the Moon:? These styles of bands seem to fit your style and imagery on the border, though not necessarily the music you've released thus far.

NS: Yes! In fact, I would be really interested in adding a project with a gothic or doom twist onto the Hypnotic Dirge roster. I would like to branch out with the lable into other types of music, and as you mentioned, these styles are not too far removed from the music currently on the record lable. I am personally a fan of a lot of different types of music so it would seem natural to me to add something a little bit different into the overall picture, for the sake of variety. Nothing is set in stone, and the lable is bound to change, and progress naturally as time goes on otherwise there is always the risk of getting bored with what you are doing. I want to be passionate about what I do, and the best way to do that is to follow your inclinations and branch out rather than be stagnant. The problem with this is that while receiving hundreds of demos in the depressive black metal genre, or just flat-out boring bedroom ambient music, (as well as death metal which I have no interest in releasing) I have not received a single demo from any interesting projects in other genres. Hopefully this will all come with time, and the lable will start to catch the attention of bands and projects from other genres once people realize that I am not limiting myself to specific genres.

HH: Many of your releases are unlimited. Do you believe in unlimited releases for the most part? What drives you to keep these records in print?

NS: I dont know... I think that I kind of get annoyed when I am looking up various projects and find that everything they have ever done is sold out. I personally think that people romanticize the idea of a sold-out release as they think it makes them look more "kvlt" or more black-metal, or maybe that just makes them feel more underground. I just think it's a stupid idea. I don't see any reason why a release should not be kept in stock. If people are still willing to buy the CD, why not make it available? If only a few people are interested, then simply re-print a smaller amount, but I think an album should be kept available for as long as its possible. Fans of black metal in particular have this ridiculous notion that they are better than other fans if they discover a band or project before, and they seem to want to be rewarded by being one of the select few to own a CD.

I guess, this comes from the theory that record lables must concentrate on new releases, so older releases simply disappear once they sell out, but I don't think it takes much effort to do a re-press of an album (that also would depend on your manafacturer - I am lucky to have a really good one that will consistently do re-presses for me in any quantity) and a lot of it comes down to quality over quantity. Would you rather have a slower release schedule and make sure each album gets proper distribution and promotion or would you rather shell out a new release every couple of weeks flodding the black metal scene with countless albums and projects that are just not neccesary.

HH: You also have a section of the website dedicated to free digital releases that have been released under the Hypnotic Dirge Records name. Have you embraced the digital realm from the beginning of the label in 2008? Do you feel that the digital realm is a key component of the label, or rather just a way for you to support releases you wouldn't otherwise have the funds to support?

NS: I don't remember exactly when I began releasing digital albums on the website but I think it was around June 2009. I never actually had plans for a free downloads section of the website at the beginning but naturally you get ideas along the way, and that's how the digital download section of the lable began. The free downloads aspect of the record lable is not really a key component. I suppose it's nice in a way, but it's just another aspect of promotion. The artists like it because it's a nice way to release extra material that is not meant to be showcased on a physical CD. Immundus is a good example of this, he had plans to release an EP and a single release on his official website, so of course I made the albums available to download from the HDR website as well, but he would of released it for free regardless so all I did was try to create more promotion for his music by also making it available to download from my website. That's the whole point anyway, it's just promotion and a thank you for people who are supporting us.

HH: Have you considered making your digital releases available through payment rather than free? Or even a "Pay what you want" style purchase?

NS: No. I don't do this for two reasons. First of all, I'm not greedy - If an album is in digital format, It will be free. I don't have to pay to ship the album around the world, I won't be shipping promo copies to reviewers, or trade copies to other lables. I won't be paying manafacturing costs either, so essentially there was no money spent on "releasing" a digital album. If I'm not spending any money, then I don't feel right in charging any money to listen to something that doesnt even come on a physically tangible format. Besides, I don't even consider digital releases proper releases, and they are usually just done for promotional purposes anyway. If people like what they are downloading and want to support the lable, then they can just spend a little bit of money on purchasing physical albums from me and they will get a much better product that way.

HH: Have you considered venturing into the world of Tape or DIY releases as physical alternatives to your digital releases?

NS: Not really. As I mentioned, the digital releases are just meant for promotional purposes and the best way for promote your music is to make it available for free download. If people enjoy what they are downloading for free, then they can easily support the lable and the artists by buying one of the official albums from HDR, or going through the distribution and making an order. I don't have a problem with tape or DIY releases, but I feel that I just don't have the time to step into another aspect of the lable. I would rather devote my time on concentrating on the current elements of the lable, and let the tape lables do what they do best.

HH: Hypnotic Dirge will soon break into the DVD world with the upcoming Symbiosis / Ancient Tundra collaboration, however, you haven't really touched the world of vinyl. Has this medium been considered for release? Dark Ambient especially tends to do pretty well on the vinyl medium.

NS: It's a nice idea, but I don't know if it's something that is possible at the moment. I have a hard enough time trying to break even and keep my activities going with my CD sales, so I really don't think that vinyl would be a possibility right now. However, when I started the lable, I never really considered the possiblity of a DVD release aside from being something to consider for the future when the opportunity presented itself so I won't completely rule out the possibility of a vinyl release in the future, but it is not in the immediate plans.

HH: Has the local music scene accepted Hypnotic Dirge Records, or is it like many small labels and not really even known by its local audience? Have you attempted to promote live shows with your status as a label owner?

NS: I have made absolutely no effort in promoting Hypnotic Dirge Records locally. There is nobody around here even remotely interested in this sort of music, and definitely no local bands that are of any interest to me. Of course, my friends know about the lable but most of them don't really have any understanding of what I am doing asides that I have a lot of CD's around and I spend a fair amount of time at the post office. I live in an extremely shitty town of 16,000 people that claims to be an important "city" for the region but basically it is an area filled with worthless people and mindless fucking idiots, asides from a few exceptions. Luckily I am moving out of here in the summer because it is a dead-end town with no opportunities, no decent jobs, no music scene, and basically just a bunch of idiots that waste their life away doing drugs without any desire to do anything with their lives.

HH: Does Hypnotic Dirge do DIY printing for their apparel or do you have them professionally printed? How many shirts typically are printed per batch?

NS: I get my shirts professionally printed from a company in California called Icon Screen Printing. The Ancient Tundra shirt design was the first shirt printed for the lable, which was printed in a run of 30 copies. The Exiled From Light T-Shirt had a run of 50 copies and is now almost sold out and I am thinking that all of the future HDR shirts will probably be printed in editions of 50 as well. So far there are plans to make Astral Luminous, Immundus, and Neige et Noirceur T-Shirts sometime in 2010 so hopefully this vision can be fulfilled. I would like to maybe make hoodies in the future too but I have not looked into the prices on that yet, but that remains a goal of mine.

Artists

HH: Immundus seems to be the odd man out on the label. His dark ambient style is perhaps the closest to experimental that Hypnotic Dirge currently hosts, and his fantastic logo in itself sets him apart from the other projects featured there whom have more traditional black metal-styled logo (with the exception of The Foetal Mind). Why was he welcomed into the roster despite seeming to be outside the norm?

NS: Immundus has been a good friend of mine for over two years now and it was him that I first spoke to about the possiblity of opening up a record lable at the very beginning back in the fall of 2008. I have always been a fan of his music and we discussed the possiblity of opening up a record lable with Ancient Tundra, Immundus, Astral Luminous, Neige et Noirceur, and Winds of Sorrow as the initial artists. We continue to have a very good relationship as friends, and artists to this day, and him being without a record lable at the time of the lable's inception, it just seemed logical to offer him a spot on Hypnotic Dirge right from the start. If he seems like an odd man out, then I view that as a compliment because one of my visions for HDR, is for every artist to seem completely unique from one another, and not to be connected to each other because of genre specifications. However, you are correct Immundus is probably the most experimental project that is currently on the roster, and is rather difficult to place him into a specific genre. Don't call him Dark Ambient, the purists will get upset!

HH: Requiem Nocturne is, visually, one of the more interesting artists that you have welcomed into the digital side of Hypnotic Dirge. Why haven't they been welcomed into an actual release if you believe in them enough to host 3 of their albums digitally?

NS: I would like to strongly emphasize that the digital promotion which is I do with Hypnotic Dirge is not really connected with the record lable, it is simply promotion. I am not too enthusiastic about releasing digital albums personally, so all of the albums appearing on there are for the most part, just to help out other artists and friends. I have known Bjorn of Requiem Nocturne for a couple of years now and he is a really good guy and an interesting artist, so I had no problem in hosting his albums digitally. He releases all of his albums in digital format for free download on his myspace page anyway so all I am really doing is providing extra promotion for him and hopefully creating more interest for his music. I have not completely ruled out the possibility of releasing a physical copy of his album some day on Hypnotic Dirge, but this is not something that is planned for anytime in the foreseeable future.

HH: With the exception of Neige et Noirceur and Ancient Tundra, you don't typically work with the same artists twice. Is this due to your wish to promote many artists and not enough funds to continue with others, or other reasons?

NS: I plan to continue working with all of the artists on my current roster. The reason why it may seem like I do not work with many artists twice is simply because in most cases, the upcoming albums are still being written and recorded. The lable is still fairly young so most of the artists have not had the chance to write a new album since their first album release on Hypnotic Dirge. Astral Luminous, Immundus, Exiled From Light, Funeral Fornication, and The Foetal Mind are all currently writing for a new album that will be released on Hypnotic Dirge Records in 2010. In the case of Winds of Sorrow, I believe that project is now dead so there are no further albums to come, and as for Echoes of Silence, that project was removed from the roster shortly after their only album was released on HDR. All of the projects currently on my active roster (asides from Winds of Sorrow) will see many releases on Hypnotic Dirge in the future as I plan to work with all of them exclusively and hopefully will be releasing all of their future albums for years to come.

HH: Since Winds of Sorrow only had a release of 100 copies and sold out, do you believe that you'll be working with them again in the future? Selling 100 copies from an unknown band on an underground label is a pretty good feat these days.

NS: Well actually I only sold about 35 copies of that album to individuals, but the remaining 65 copies went to other distros and record lables through wholesale and trades, as well as 10 copies to the artist, and a copy for myself. Even with those numbers, I managed to make a tiny profit from that release (less than $100) which is more than can be said about most of my other releases. As for releasing another Winds of Sorrow album, that all depends on Mort. As far as I know, the Winds of Sorrow project is probably dead because Mort is busy with his other projects, mainly Exiled From Light, and When Mine Eyes Blacken, but if he were to make another Winds of Sorrow release in the future, it would be released on Hypnotic Dirge! The debut album is now sold out both from myself, and all of the other lables who bought or traded for the release, and the myspace page was deleted by Mort, so all that remains of this release now is some fan-videos that were posted on youtube, so in that sense it has completely been removed from existance. I may post the album as a free download sometime down the road if there is a genuine demand for it.

HH: Echoes of Silence utilizes MIDI instruments instead of actual guitars. Given that this artist is from California, how did you come to work with him and why did you choose him for your third release?

NS: Echoes of Silence is a project I knew of for a couple of years before opening the lable, and I developed a working relationship with the artist. After opening up Hypnotic Dirge, he asked if I would be interested in signing him and releasing some of his upcoming albums. I agreed to do so, but looking back at it now, this was probably my worst decision in regards to Hypnotic Dirge. His music is far from what I believe HDR to represent, and I agreed to release his music based more upon our friendship than his music. I made this decision only one month after opening up the record lable and before truly realizing how to properly run a record lable, and that you cannot release sub-par music, as that is a representation of your record lable as a whole. I suppose I knew that, but figured there would be a few people interested in his music, and I would be able to eventually break even on his release. That was far from the case, I only managed to sell 2 copies! Later on, I talked to the owner of Clovenhoof Productions who released a few of his previous albums and he told me he has not managed to sell a single copy of any of his previous albums. I realized that it would not be possible to continue releasing his music, so I let him know that I did not wish to release any more Echoes of Silence albums on my record lable. After receiving a bunch of demo submissions since that point I realized there was countless other artists who were more deserving of a release rather than him.

HH: I've already interviewed Astral Luminous for Heathen Harvest so I won't delve too far into your relations with him -- but it does seem that you have the highest respect for Scott and his project given your explanation of his release: "Astral Luminous' debut album is one of the most intelligent, thought-provoking and innovative black metal albums to come out in quite some time." What exactly gives you such high respect for this artist?

NS: Astral Luminous is a project that I always had the highest respect for. I suppose that a lot of bands mix intelligent topics into their music, but I have always thought of Astral Luminous as something truly unique. The Lunaric Tide album is fantastic! Even after listening to the album for the past year, I still think the riffs are amazing and it is a pretty mesmorizing album. Asides from this, Scott Johnson is a perfectionist, It seems as if he was working on that album for almost 2 years, always refining little details and re-recording stuff, and he had the idea that he would not release the album until it was perfect in his eyes and something that he was truly proud of. Once you release the album to the world, there is no taking it back and changing things, so I highly respect the fact that he is highly dedicated to his project and doesn't do anything half-assed. He spent a LOT of time making sure the visuals for the album were perfect and you can certaintly tell in the final product as I think it has some of the most beautiful artwork to ever adorn a black metal album.

Sadly, about a month ago someone broke into his house and stole his guitar, bass, computer, and his flash drive which had all of his information for the second Astral Luminous album and this set things back considerably regarding the second album. He's a pretty persistant guy though, and I just spoke to him earlier today and he's been working to save up money for new equipment again. He has already bought a new computer and re-recorded the synth portions of the album and is getting a new guitar next week, so that is another admirable quality in him. A lot of people would of probably given up and sulked about it for quite a long time.

HH: You've now released two albums from the secretive Quebec project Neige et Noirceur. Neige et Noirceur gives off an aura not unlike that of Darkspace, Paysage d'Hiver, Trist (Germany) and others. What do you think is the strong allure for this project, which I personally feel is the most interesting amongst the others on your roster?

NS: Neige et Noirceur is a project that seems to always get positive responses from listeners. It is a quite secretive project as you mentioned but we are working to change that. Most people have never heard of the project but upon hearing it for the first time, there always seems to be a mention of a similar atmosphere to Darkspace, and Paysage d'Hiver in particular. I'm not sure why this project seems to be so well liked asides from the fact that the project sounds good, he is connected to a thriving Quebecois scene which is a birthplace of a lot of fantastic black metal, and that his presentation is that of a genuine artist. Neige et Noirceur is certaintly a special artist and I'm glad to have the priveledge to release and promote his music. It's cool that you also like the project!

HH: Why did you make the decision to re-release "L'Abime des Jours, l'ecume des nuits", originally on Dungeons Deep? Wouldn't you rather have showcased another new offering from the project?

NS: Dungeons Deep has pretty much disappeared from existance in the past couple of years, and I don't think many people are aware of the earlier Neige et Noirceur recordings, nor are they able to get a hold of these releases as they are have been sold out for quite some time. It was important for both myself and Spiritus to properly release and distribute the early Neige et Noirceur material before moving on to new material. This gave us to opportunity to release a double-disc album featuring the tracks from both Demo III and IV and release it with updated artwork which was something that seemed logical to us given the fact that the album was sold out, so we wanted to make it available again and give it a new presentation. The new Neige et Noirceur material will come shortly however, there should be a new full-length release in the summer of 2010 on Hypnotic Dirge. Spiritus is a pretty prolific guy and spends a lot of time writing music.

HH: Exiled from Light is perhaps the most typical of the artists on your label, despite his geographical location in New Zealand. How did you come to work with him? Do you find it strange that this area (Oceania) breeds such authenticly disturbing characters (see: Abyssic Hate, Drowning the Light)?

NS: Exiled From Light is the epitone of Depressive Black Metal, you are certaintly correct about that. It's typical of the genre but I don't think it is boring at all. Mort is an extremely underrated musician in my opinion and Exiled From Light is a very interesting project. I think his project is right up there along with the best of the genre, and unlike certain projects in this genre (I won't mention any names) his music is actually genuine, and with that carries a lot of real emotion. His unreleased material that will make up the second Exiled From Light album is a huge step up in terms of how the project has developed and as much as I like the first album, I actually consider the second album to be a huge improvement and one of my favourites in the genre. His other project When Mine Eyes Blacken on Self-Mutilation Services is also really good and seems to be getting a lot of attention. I met Mort about 2 and a half years ago when he only had a little project called 'Dimma Sinfonia' but soon after he created tons of other projects such as Balthazar, SerpentThrone, Schizophrenia, Beyond Light, When Mine Eyes Blacken, Winds of Sorrow, and then Dimma Sinfonia trasnformed into what is presently Exiled From Light. Unlike other bedroom black metal musicians with countless projects, his music was actually really good! Once I had the idea about starting up the lable, he was one of the first musicians I had in mind as far as releasing his music and luckily the other lables that were supposed to be releasing his projects (particularily Exiled From Light) were kind of dicking around and delaying everything, so it all worked out and I was able to release his music on HDR.

As far as the question about whether I find it strange that there seems to be a lot of depressive black metal bands in the Oceania area... Not really. The same thing applies in California and that seems a little bit weirder to me, but I suppose the time of geography having any thing to do with music scenes is pretty much over, since everyone is now connected by the internet.

HH: The Foetal Mind offers an exciting new era for Hypnotic Dirge, as it brings about your first release with a project that has a full band. Do you intend to further your release schedule to more band-styled projects?

NS: Whether or not a band plays live, or has a full band roster is of little importance to me. I will not be taking an active role in promoting band shows since my artist roster comes from all around the world, so they are better off to promote shows themselves or find a promoter who is local to them. I only promote via the internet, since I live in a small city of 16,000 people in the middle of the Canadian prairies, where there is absolutely no interest in what I am doing. To actually answer your question, I would gladly accept more band-styled projects and they would have my full support in playing shows, and doing tours if they so wanted, but ultimately the recordings of a band or project is what leads my judgement. Another way to look at it though, is that live bands have more opportunity to promote rather than to be lost in the sea of music on the internet, and that would bring more attention to the record lable, allowing me to expand my activities so that has to be kept in mind as well!

HH: Are there any local artists that you've been considering approaching about releasing? Are there any artists you'd like to take this chance to announce?

NS: Actually, strangly enough there is one local project which will be added onto the HDR roster fairly soon. I have not announced it yet before now, because I was originally going to wait until the second half of March after I got my next release out and finished the bulk of the promotional responsibilities and had a bit more time to promote a new project, but this is a good opportunity to announce the latest signing to Hypnotic Dirge. It is a project called 'One Dark Curse' which is a solo experimental project from my friend and old bandmate in a gothic black metal project that was active from 2005-2007. The One Dark Curse project is really hard to describe because it does not really follow any specific genre guidelines, but I think it is something really unique and experimental and quite a bit different than the rest of the Hypnotic Dirge roster. It's important to me to bring a different dimension to the record lable and not be restricted to specific genres, because although I have released a lot of Depressive Black Metal, and ambient music, I am a fan of a lot of different music and want to expand HDR beyond what it is known for today. To be able to help out a good friend of mine is a nice bonus, and being able to work with a local artist is going to be a lot of fun, as we can meet fairly often and discuss things in person, and of course he is full of good ideas. I've actually known this guy since I was about 8 years old. Anyone that is interested in checking out this project can do so by going to their myspace (click the hyperlink in this paragraph.)

News

HH: Has your distro been successful at all? Are there plans to increase your stock or slow it down?

NS: The distro has been moderatly successful. I usually only trade for around 5 copies of a distro album, so naturally a few albums have sold out from my stock, but most of the albums remain and I have gotten a few re-stocks of sold out items along the way. The distro sales has actually slowed down lately despite the addition of tons of great albums recently, and with the ever rising costs of shipping because of the beaurocratic postal service, it seems as if the logical choice is to slow things down a bit, at least until sales pick up again. I still plan on expanding my distro regularily but perhaps things will slow down a bit over the next few months. Although I fully respect record lables and distros with thousands of different titles in their stock and realize that there is a place for these mailorders on the internet, I prefer to stick with a quality over quantity guideline with my distro.

HH: How have sales for the label itself been? You started out really strong in 2008 and filled 2009 with many releases. However, 2010 has yet to see a release.

NS: Sales have been alright. When i first started out the record lable I expected more, but now I have a better idea of what to expect month to month. I have not made a single penny with the record label, and have probably lost over $5000 so far running the lable. It's unfortunate but this is an underground market and I think a good majority of people are not interested in buying CD's anymore. Also with the saturation of music these days, it becomes harder and harder for people to find projects and record lables they like, as they have to sort through so much shit and clones to find anything that stands out and is worth spending their money on. All I can do is keep releasing music that I personally appreciate and hope that enough people agree with me and my assessment of the music I release so that I can keep releasing new albums.

The reason I released albums at a faster pace from late 2008 - fall 2009 is because I had a regular job during that time and I spent my own personal money on releasing albums. Since September however I have been going to school and quit my job and have been living on a provincial traning allowance which is just barely enough to survive, it's ridiculous. So therefore, I can only release a new album now once sales reach a high enough point to fund the manfacturing process of a new album, so in this sense, releases are entirely dependent upon sales of the lable's previous releases. I have made this point recently on a number of different occasions so I hope this encourages people to spend more money on HDR, as this is now the only way that new albums will be released.

HH: Is the Symbiosis / Ancient Tundra CD + DVD still slated for release this month (February) or is it delayed?

NS: It has been delayed a little bit but not very much! It is now slated for a release on March 14th, 2010 which is now just a few short days away. I am now accepting pre-orders for this release as well, so people can buy it just like any other album on HDR. I encourage everyone to check out the Symbiosis / Ancient Tundra Promotional Video for the release on our official youtube channel, or by going to the videos section on the official website. There is plenty of information about this release all over the internet, so I hope people check it out, and give it a good listen as this is the product of over a year's work from both myself and Valerio Orlandini of Symbiosis.

HH: How did the idea for this collaboration come together, including the inclusion of the DVD? What will be featured on the DVD?

NS: I wrote the songs for the Ancient Tundra side of the release back in the late stages of 2008 actually, for a planned split album release with a project called Fjellelv. That however never came to be, and I was left with the option of saving the tracks for a full-length album or finding another project to release a split album with. I wanted to do a split with an aritst I really respected as otherwise I don't believe there is any point, and you may as well release an album as a full-length solo album.
I have always respected Symbiosis. I discovered him as part of the Dungeons Deep Roster back in early 2007 when he was still a relatively young artist. I watched his sound progress over the years and he reminded me a lot of my own project, His music has a similar quality to mine, also incorporating some neo-classical influence into his project over the years, whildst keeping with a nature ambient feeling, so I approched him about the possibility of releasing a split album and luckily he was interested.

As we continued to discuss how to make our split release memorable, and different from the typical bedroom ambient/black metal split album cliche, it became more and more clear that we both wanted to give a visual representation to our music and so we decided it would be a nice touch to film some music videos and include a DVD into our split album.

The DVD will include over an hour of experimental film including three music videos, a slideshow presentation, and a nature-scenes montage from my side, three music videos from Valerio's side and promotional videos of Hypnotic Dirge as bonus features.

HH: Winds of Sorrow's "Through Twilight" is now sold out -- do you plan on re-releasing it in the future, or will it remain unavailable? How many copies of your releases do you typically get printed out?

NS: The Winds of Sorrow album will remain unavailable. The first three Hypnotic Dirge releases are limited releases and will not be re-printed once they sell out. The reason for this is mainly because I am not happy with the visual presentations of the albums and prefer to put this era of Hypnotic Dirge in the past once the albums are sold out, especially in the case of the Echoes of Silence release (HDR - 003) because he is no longer on the HDR roster, and the project does not properly represent Hypnotic Dirge. As for the other releases (HDR-004 onwards) they are unlimited releases and will continue to be in stock as long as the lable is running. I usually begin by printing 100-150 copies of a release, and then get more manafactured along the way when I run low on stock so that it always remains available.

HH: Can we expect any upcoming live events or tour announcements from artists on your roster? I know that currently The Foetal Mind is perhaps the only band-format project on the label and thus the only project capable of carrying out live performances as a group. However, dark ambient projects aren't unaccustomed to carrying out sparse solo live sets.

NS: Immundus has been approached by Svartsinn about opening up for him on some shows in Norway, as I believe they are pretty good friends, and I have encouraged him to do so, but he is not really interested in taking his music to a live setting and prefers to just be a recording artist. As for The Foetal Mind, their vocalist has just recently left the band which is quite unfortunate as they had some shows planned with Forgotten Tomb, and had to cancel them. Other than the two I mentioned, I am really not too sure, I would like to personally play live at some point but it would not be with Ancient Tundra, so there is nothing concrete with that. However Valerio Orlandini (also of the Symbiosis project) is busy right now preparing for shows in Italy for his other project carrying his own name and has already previously played live with the Symbiosis project.

HH: Obviously you at least somewhat embrace the digital realm given several of your releases, but do you believe that illegal downloading hurts or helps small labels like yours? In one way its taking away potential sales...in another its free promotion. The typical arguement, but we always like hearing each label's viewpoints on the issue.

NS: My digital releases are not something I consider to be connected with the main aspect of Hypnotic Dirge. The albums that are available for free download are typically just old demos, sold-out albums, or just using the recognition of the lable to help friends get their music more widely reached (Requiem Nocturne). The only exceptions are the Immundus EP's 'The Method Learned II', and 'Poemia' and the Hypnotic Dirge Records Compilation album which was created to celebrate the one-year aniversary of the lable, and offer a sneak peak into current and upcoming releases for any prospective fans.

I believe illegal downloading hurts lables, small or big it makes no difference. The purpose of websites like myspace, reverbnation, and youtube is to show a few songs from a release, and more times than not, all of the songs get posted on youtube from fans anyway which I think is perfectly fine after the album release because everybody deserves a chance to listen to an artist's music before buying a CD to determine whether it is shit or not.

However, if we as music fans want artists to keep releasing something tangible as opposed to digital than we must be prepared to spend money on the product to keep the market alive. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I want to own a physical CD, and not just a soulless collection of songs on my Ipod, or computer. I do not even own an Ipod, but own a collection of about 350 CD's and I am certaintly not rich by any means.

It is not easy for a lable to keep afloat when people are downloading music illegally and I have absolutely no interest in succumbing to that reality and releasing albums digitally. I will continue releasing music on CD's or some sort of tangible physical copy, much like the old-schoolers that continue to release vinyl despite the fact that most people have long forgotten that this format still exists.

HH: What does the future currently hold for Hypnotic Dirge Records?

NS: I'm hoping to release the second Exiled From Light album sometime in April in funds allow me to do so. More than likely this will be the next release after the Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra Split CD+DVD, and then later on, there are new releases coming from Astral Luminous, Neige et Noirceur, Funeral Fornication, Valerio Orlandini, One Dark Curse, The Foetal Mind and possibly Immundus to close out the year. There are also plans to release T-shirts by Astral Luminous, Immundus, and Neige et Noirceur sometime in 2010 as well. This all depends on sales though, as was pointed out earlier so hopefully I can manage to sell enough albums to fund the manafacturing process of these albums in a timely fashion and nothing has to be delayed.

HH: Thank you for the opportunity to look into your world. Please feel free to take this last spot to say whatever you feel needs saying. Cheers!

NS: Thank you for all of these thoughtful questions and the obvious research that you have done in preparing for this interview. You have challenged me on certain questions as well, and that is a sign of good journalism. Keep up the good work with HH! For any prospective readers, I hope you found some value in this interview and gained some interest in Hypnotic Dirge after reading this. Please be sure to check out the official website! Cheers!

Hypnotic Dirge Records artists will appear on Dark Ambient radio station

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:14:00 +0100

Hypnotic Dirge Records has submitted 11 tracks by Ancient Tundra, Immundus, Echoes Therein Gale, Astral Luminous, and Old Forgotten Lands to be played on Warfare Radio Station based in Portugal. The songs are set to play on the program 'Escape' which focuses on Dark Ambient, Drone, and Experimental music and will be on air on Mondays between 8:00-10:00PM local time (Portugal)

The submitted tracks are:
Ancient Tundra - Triumphant Nature
Ancient Tundra - The Feeble Sickness and Depressive Rot
Ancient Tundra - Land of the Midnight Sun
Ancient Tundra - Wandering Along a Lonely Path
Immundus - The Grieving Widow
Immundus - The Hall
Immundus - Whispering Walls
Immundus ft. F. Klingwall - Sublimation at Zero Hour
Old Forgotten Lands - Tempestious Retaliation
Echoes Therein Gale - Echoes of Darkness Dissolve the Silence
Astral Luminous - Lunaric Tide

For more information on the radio program, go to:
http://warfareradio.blogspot.com/2010/03/escape-by-f-playlist-programa-01.html
warfare.pt.vu

Hypnotic Dirge Records/Ancient Tundra Interview with Voltage Media (01/30/2010)

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:12:14 +0100

Interview with Voltage Media 01/30/2010 - You can view the interview at its original location at this location. - Voltage Media - A Conversation with Nick Skog

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Hypnotic Dirge Records is a Canadian label specialising in the release of Depressive Black Metal, Dark Ambient, Funeral Doom, Down-tempo and Experimental music. Starting its operations in October of 2008, HDR already works with an amazing roster of ambient and experimental projects including; Immundus, Winds of Sorrow, Astral Luminous and Neige et Noirceur.

I recently had the chance to catch up with owner Nick Skog to discuss the ins and outs of HDR, his own dark ambient project Ancient Tundra, and the views he holds on the creation of his music, as well as the society around him.

What brought you to start Hypnotic Dirge Records?

Skog; The idea to start Hypnotic Dirge Records stemmed from wanting to have full control over my own project Ancient Tundra in terms of the manufacturing process, choosing release dates, shipping the orders, making trades to have it available in other distros, and sending away review copies to various magazines and web publications.

I wanted to be in full control of what I was doing. Luckily I already had good contact with Bruno Duarte (Immundus), Scott Johnson (Astral Luminous), and Mort (Exiled From Light) in particular so they were very supportive, offered advice, and we all sort of shared the same vision for what we expected out of record labels. We were all thinking on the same page so that was great! Luckily they trusted me with their projects and that is how it all began. I remember having numerous conversations with Bruno about HDR as we were sort of planning it out prior to making it public knowledge.

The label is still relatively young, starting its operations in the late of 2008. However, in this industry and the niche that its supports, it is doing very well. How has the support been from both the fans and the artists on your roster?

Skog; Well, as I've mentioned, the support from the HDR artists have been great. It's a very two-sided relationship I share with all of the artists and we are all after the same goal so there are no problems there. They understand that this is an underground market, and release dates are entirely dependant on sale figures.

The fans also have been great. I have been getting a lot of positive feedback about how the label is operated, and things such as the aesthetic, and layout of the website. A lot of positive comments on the promotional videos which I create for each release...different things like this. It is always nice to hear that people think you are doing a good job.

How many people are behind Hypnotic Dirge?

Skog; Only myself. Sometimes during busy times, I get help from my girlfriend putting together orders but it is only me that operates the label.

How difficult is the upkeep of an underground label?

Skog; I would say it is a lot more difficult than people realize. The main problem is financial. Of course, it takes up a lot of my time, hours upon hours a day replying to e-mails, creating videos, putting together orders, updating the website, contacting reviewers, trading with other labels, having conversations with the Hypnotic Dirge artists and so forth but I don't mind that aspect at all because I enjoy it.

The financial side is the difficult part. A lot of people do not realize the costs behind it... they figure only the costs of manufacturing CD's, which is of course quite a lot less than the price that they are sold for, so people automatically think that (underground) record labels are making money, but they don't consider factors such as paying artists for designing flyers, or album art, the costs of shipping trade packages, shipping review packages, printing promotional pictures and flyers, getting albums professionally manufactured, office supplies, the cost of shipping (which is getting absurd in Canada), taxes and customs, etc.

I could care less about the "business" or "financial" side of things... those things don’t interest me, and I have a very strong disregard for any sort of consumerism or commercialism as that only corrupts things - both artistically, or culturally, in society, in politics or anything else, but I am forced to at least care a little bit because the reality of our world is that I need money to survive, and Hypnotic Dirge therefore needs to break even so I can continue to release new material.

The moniker of HDR is very fitting to the music that you distribute and support, why did you choose to represent such an underground form of experimental metal, especially in the dark ambient genre?

Skog; I wanted to support music that I appreciated for its artistic value. I like a lot of different kinds of music, but some music is only entertainment, while other music transcends that and becomes art. Besides that, I already felt at home within the scene from my involvement in Ancient Tundra and my good friendships with Bruno, Scott, and Mort in particular who were all without a label at the time, so with having three good musicians right there without an outlet for their music, it just seemed like a logical step to go in this direction. I think the timing was just right because I can’t imagine projects such as Astral Luminous, Exiled From Light, and Immundus going much longer without finding a record label.

One can assume that you are a fan of the bands signed to HDR, are there any other bands that you are looking in signing at the moment?

Skog; There are definitely a few projects out there that I wouldn’t be able to turn down if they came to me and expressed interest in joining HDR. With that said however, I’m not actively seeking out any new bands and projects at this time just because I simply don’t have the funds at this time to release any other artist’s material. I have gotten countless demo submissions since opening up Hypnotic Dirge but unfortunately I can not give anything a very serious listen because I know I am unable to take on any more projects unless sales improve by quite a wide margin. That is unless something completely blows me away.

Actually, a band called Cormorant approached me about 6 months ago about a possible signing and they were a bigger-name band that had already played live with Wolves in the Throne Room, among others and appeared in Paganfest.

I would of had to scrape together money to put out 1000 Copies on Pro-CD for their debut album and take a new angle towards the label with different and more mainstream-type promotion ideals and would likely not have any spare time to work a day-job (or go to college as I do now) so I was skeptical of the idea, but looking back at it now, I kind of wish that we could of managed to work something out, as I seem to always go back to their MySpace page to listen to them, and always think of how amazing they sound.

There’s no doubt in my mind that HDR would be more financially stable and in turn that would benefit all of the artists on the roster, but I was afraid to take the risk back then. Anyway, it’s hard to look back with regret now, as you never really know for sure how things would be right now if Cormorant were on the roster. Either way, I am happy with the current bands on the roster, and feel like it actually gives me the perfect amount of workload.

What are some future plans for Hypnotic Dirge Records?

Skog; The Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra split album 'These Engulfing Winds Never Die' is next to be released. It will be a 2-disc set with a CD and a DVD, including a 12 Page booklet, and released in a Super Jewel Box. It is probably the most extensive and biggest HDR release to date so I am quite exited to have this finally released, as it has been through quite a bit of delay.

I just want the album out there in the public and I'm very excited to hear some feedback on it, as it is something that I and Valerio Orlandini (Symbiosis) have been working on for over a year. That should be out around the end of February - as soon as possible!

Next up after that is a couple of new merchandise items, an Immundus T-Shirt, and an Astral Luminous T-Shirt, as well as the debut Echoes Therein Gale album, and the second Exiled From Light album, among other things so things are definitely staying busy. I don't know the exact order or the exact dates yet, but these are next up for Hypnotic Dirge. The better the sales are, the earlier I can release stuff, which is always how it goes!

Your own musical project began in 2007. Can you give a little history about Ancient Tundra, and how you got involved in music in general?

Skog; Ancient Tundra began in 2007 from a desire to be able to release an album that was a “standard” in its genre. Previous to that, I was writing and recording Classical inspired metal music all on a $400 Yamaha keyboard, using drums from the keyboard, and synth guitars from the keyboard as well since I had no drum program, or guitar, and amp at the time, nor did I even know how to play guitar in 2007. It was for a project called A Dark Fantasy which was really my first music project, which began in 2005 with a friend of mine. You can still listen to some of these “recordings” at www.myspace.com/adarkfantasy and on YouTube.

In any case, after becoming more of a fan of Black Metal, and then later Burzum’s ambient material, Mortiis, and a little underground project from the Dungeons Deep Records label, called Fjellelv, I started to grow an interest in dark ambient music, and started writing the debut “The Desolation of an Arctic Landscape”. I was interested in finally writing material that sounded complete and comparable to other finished material in its genre as opposed to the hindrance of only being able to write demo sounding stuff in the metal genres because of my equipment.

Of course, the debut album was almost straight-forward dark ambient music although it still carried some outside influences, but it was not until the second album that I really began to develop my own sound.

Your music seems to be in ways aesthetic to the name, what is the meaning behind your moniker?

Skog; There is really no special meaning behind the name ‘Ancient Tundra’ other than I thought it fit well with the theme of the project, in particular the original writing style that dominated the project on the debut album.

Your first record “The Desolation of an Arctic Landscape” was released through Dead Moon Records; after the label’s disband you moved to EEE records, did this mark the point of you wanting to start HDR, if so why?

Skog; I signed with Dead Moon Records in late summer of 2007, which was actually the record label of Thorn – the sole member behind the aforementioned project Fjellelv.

Unfortunately, like you mentioned, he was unable to keep the record label running, and I had to search for another one. I can’t remember who it was that recommended that I take a look at EEE, but whoever it was certainly pointed me in the right direction, as they were a fantastic label to work with, and did a great job of re-issuing my debut album in the summer of 2008. I still keep in contact with Eric from EEE regularly now, and we get along good discussing music and our record labels. The way EEE handled Ancient Tundra had no part in me wanting to start up Hypnotic Dirge as I can only say good things about the man and the label.

Your music is very atmospheric and yet minimalist, what does it represent for yourself? The Ancient Tundra bio states that the music features elements of; classical music, score music, drones, funeral doom and black metal, what music inspires you?

Skog; Thank you! I try to keep a balance between creating Dark Ambient soundscapes and throwing melody into the music as well. The goal is to write simplistic melodies with a strong emphasis on atmosphere. My music is definitely not what the purists would call dark ambient, but it still has an ambient influence as well as an influence from neo-classical music. All of the above mentioned genres influence me as well as some others. Burzum, Life’s Decay, Paysage d’Hiver, The Cure, Alcest, Austere, Wolves in the Throne Room, Njiqahdda, Northaunt, Svartsinn, the list goes on and on from a variety of different genres.

Apart from music, what are your other influences? Be they societal, cultural, historical, and/or literary.

Skog; I get inspired by a variety of different things and usually it comes completely unexpected and out of the blue. Whether it be a good movie, a good documentary, doing some research on some interesting topics, listening to a good album, a relaxing drive in the countryside, walking, or just a day to myself to reflect on things. I know this is a pretty vague answer, but there are just too many things that inspire or influence me and I am sure that half the time I do not even realize it. I just hope to someday be able to write and record a sonic masterpiece that is a good representation of all of my influences.

You have stated that “The subject matter of the projects on Hypnotic Dirge Records varies from project to project but mostly things are on a more personal, or philosophical level as opposed to preaching a certain viewpoint about the world”, what is your the ideal behind Ancient Tundra?

Skog; I don't really have an ideal behind Ancient Tundra. I have my own views and opinions about the world, politics, religion, and philosophy but for the most part I keep that away from Ancient Tundra.

As with all of the projects on Hypnotic Dirge Records, I'm sure we all have our own views on politics and religion as any thinking individual should have, but I am of the opinion that it has been vastly overdone in Black Metal and Experimental music, and I guess that just speaks of the intelligence of this genre that people have an opinion (usually not a popular opinion) about these subjects and are not afraid to speak out about it, but it is also a double-edged sword as it has now become very generic and stereotypical for people to have an outspoken view on religion and politics in Black Metal and scream about it every chance they get while not even being slightly educated on the subject.

They scream of religious people being sheep for "following the pact and the trend" but it is quite humorous because these black metal musicians are also "following the trend" in Black Metal without having an individual thought of their own.

I'm not saying that music and art should not have social commentary. I really enjoy some projects that speak of the problems with our society, and a good majority of these projects have educated people that know what they are talking about, but it can get out of hand too when you get people that are bashing religion when they don't even know what the fuck they are talking about. They are displaying the same close-minded attitude as the Christians they are bashing.

What are you personal views upon our world, both politically and spiritually – and are these view points represented within your music, or is Ancient Tundra an escape from your reality?

Skog; Personally, I completely disagree with any religious or political system, and they are completely irrelevant in my eyes. However, the distinction I make is that I disagree strongly with the system, but not the people. I have no issues with religious people, because I believe that religion is a personal thing.

Something that cannot be proven or disproved should not be ridiculed by either side. However, with that said, there is no denying that religion has been completely corrupted by its power and it is run by the same system that runs politics, the military, banking institutions, and the corrupt media that drives popular opinion. Our social system is fucked, and in that sense Ancient Tundra is an escape from my reality.

I try to educate myself about the world which I live in, but there is no point in getting worked up about it. I don't get involved with the things that piss me off, I just try to do my own thing and worry about myself and those I care about.

“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” - Ernest Hemingway. From your artistic endeavors, melancholia and depression seem to linger throughout the music, would you agree with the above statement?

Skog; I can certainly sympathize with this statement. The more you learn about human psychology, human behavior, and the current state of the world, the more you realize that something is seriously fucked up. We think that we are so civilized in the modern era because we have computers, big vibrant cities, and all these technological advances, but we are just as backwards as we were 10,000 years ago. We still live within the same social classes and we still live by the same basic human tendencies because of our conditioning.

However, if you are completely happy being a social slave working for a giant corporation, and think that there is some value in coming home late every night and watching football games on TV, or spending a few hours on Facebook, all while being infatuated by all kinds of different gizmos as long as you have a bit of "paper money" by your side, and see nothing wrong with the system, then you’re going to be happy with your ignorance. Life is precious; we shouldn't be wasting all of our energy and abilities on sustaining our current system.

Continuing on from the above, there is a true emotional severity within your music. How does this thrive, is this a natural emotive stance when you begin to compose, or a mindset that you put yourself in?

Skog; I would like to think it is completely natural. I don't write unless I feel like it. I could never force myself into a certain mindset in order to write music, so I just wait until the mood strikes me and if things work out well, something gets accomplished and I am able to write music that means something to me.

Lately, I have been held back by time constraints and problems with my equipment so hopefully within the coming months I will be able to get back to it in full force and complete another full-length album!

What is the process behind writing your music?

Skog; I usually begin by playing on my keyboard for a while, without the intention to record or write anything in particular. I am just playing for the sake of playing until I start to get a good basic melody or I can see a song-structure unfolding.

I tend to lose my ideas pretty quickly because if I were to leave it until later, I would likely lose the mood I was in while I was playing, so if I can feel something good happening as I am playing, then I start to record a song by recording the basic melodies or ideas.

After that, it is pretty simple, I just continue to experiment with different sounds, and overlaying melodies until the song is complete. I don't really do anything too special, I just play and record, and experiment with ideas until it feels complete. Sometimes this process can take months for certain songs and things tend to change quite a bit throughout the recording process.

You have collaborated with other musicians on a multitude of works, how do you find working with others to reflect your own vision?

Skog; I enjoy it. As long as it is a musician that I respect, and that can bring a different dimension to my music then I welcome it with only arms. I feel the guest appearances on my second album 'Requiems of a World Lost' really stand out as some of the best moments on the album, and they all captured something different than I was able to do, as every artist can bring in something new and each guest gave the album more variety.

Having Kenji Siratori's vocals on the track 'Across the Valley, Wherein Nature Speaks' brought a different dimension to that song, as well as having clean vocals from Hideous on the final track 'The Feeble Sickness and Depressive Rot'. This seems to be one of the Ancient Tundra songs that has gathered the most notoriety from listeners and I feel Hideous' clean vocals at the end of the album really helped to bring a stronger sense of emotion to the record.

I am always up for more collaborations and guest appearances on my music and the latest one will be on a new 17 minute Ambient Black metal track that I completed a couple of months ago. Elan O'Neal from Old Forgotten Lands will be doing lyrics and vocals on that track!

After releasing two demos and one album, Symbiosis and Ancient Tundra worked on a split CD/DVD “These Engulfing Winds Never Die” that is due for a release in February of this year. What can an audience expect from this release?

Skog; 'These Engulfing Winds Never Die' is probably the best thing I have ever written, although the split with Old Forgotten Lands entitled 'Equinox' is also right up there as well, as both splits represent my newest writing style, and everything is done in a more professional way.

"These Engulfing Winds Never Die" has actually been in the works for over a year now (as I've mentioned in a previous question) and will be the biggest and most extensive Ancient Tundra, Symbiosis, and Hypnotic Dirge Records release yet. I can't wait to get it out in the public and get to hear some reactions from it!

Your forthcoming release “La Misere D'un Hermite Triste” is also due out this year. You have described it as an ambient black metal record. What is the story behind this album, and can we anticipate a darker, heavier sound?

Skog; I won't say much about this album as it has went through so many changes. It was initially a really big project of mine, and has actually been in the works since the debut Ancient Tundra album back in 2007, but obviously I have released a full-length album and a split album since then so it has kind of taken a backseat and I haven't had much time to work on it to be honest.

With that said though, I have some material written and recorded for this album that I have not shared with anyone, because I want to keep it a bit of a secret until it is ready to be released and promoted. It is certainly on its way, although I can't promise a release date. Plans are to get the Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra split album released and promoted for a couple of months and then begin to focus completely and only on this project. I will unveil more about this in due time, and there is definitely a story to this album. And yes, you can anticipate a darker and heavier sound!

How was the writing and recording process for the aforementioned record?

Skog; The writing and recording process is slow and gradual but certainly it is coming along! This is a big project of mine, so I will not release it until I am completely satisfied. I don't want to fuck it up!

Do you have any other side projects that the public does not know of?

Skog; My main current projects are Hypnotic Dirge Records, Ancient Tundra, Hypnotic Dirge Photography (photography offshoot of HDR – (www.myspace.com/hypnoticdirgephotography), and Our Diabolical Embrace.

I have been involved in other projects in the past such as A Dark Fantasy, Satanic Scums, Screenplay, Skog, and a prior photography project called Epic Canada Photography but asides from the first two, these are not really worth checking out and are all dead at this point, (a simple google or MySpace search and you will find all of these projects).

I still have a whole album worth of solid material for the Satanic Scums project which was never released but I doubt I can find a record label interested, and I do not really have the time to properly promote it so it sits dormant for the foreseeable future.

I have also recently written an intro and outro track for the Drone-Doom band Within the Torn Apart which will release an EP on Sullen Records and EEE Recordings. It was an honor to be asked from Napalm Dave if I would be interested in contributing to this album as this project also features contributions from Elan O`Neal and members of Njiqahdda so it should definitely be an interesting release.

Have you been interested in playing live, or will Ancient Tundra continue to be a recording band?

Skog; It would be interesting to play live, but I don't think I will ever do so with Ancient Tundra. If an opportunity came along at some point I would probably have to consider it, but I really have no knowledge on how to perform ambient music live to be honest, and not that much of a desire to do so either.

My first step would be to actually see an ambient concert live so I can evaluate it, and gain an experience about how they work. There is certainly nothing like this anywhere near where I live, so it will have to wait for a while although I do plan a trip to Europe this summer, so maybe I can see something there!

What is the local metal scene like in Swift Current, and what has been the reception of your music?

Skog; There is no metal scene here. As far as I know, there is one metal band in this town and from what I have heard of their music, I really have no interest in them. Not that they are entirely horrible or anything, but to me it just sounds like a generic copy of Iron Maiden or Metallica with no substance or originality.

I have not shared or showcased any of my music in this town and really have no desire to do so. I will keep to myself and wait until I move to a bigger city to find any like-minded musicians.

Last words?

Skog; Thanks for the interview Anna! Keep up the great work on Voltage Media, these were certainly some of the most in-depth and interesting questions I've had the pleasure of answering. Also, thanks to anyone who is still reading at this point and managed to find some of my ramblings interesting.

www.hypnoticdirgerecords.com
www.myspace.com/ancienttundra

Hypnotic Dirge Photgraphy

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:36:45 +0100

Hypnotic Dirge Photography

Hypnotic Dirge Photography has been created as an official chapter of Hypnotic Dirge Records. It will remain interconnected with Hypnotic Dirge Records, while att he same time being its own entity. It serves as an outlet for myself - Nick Skog to take photographs of some of the landscapes around the area where I live in all season - Winter, Spring, Summer, and Authmn.

With Hypnotic Dirge Photography, I will showcase all of my photographs on a myspace page whildst offering my art to bands and projects who wish to use my photography for album art, promotional photos, and merchandise. All I ask for in return for my photography is a copy of the album (or merchandise) in which the art appears in, and a credit in the liner notes of your album if using my art for your album design.

Please be respectful and do not use these photos without my permission. Myspace reduces the quality of pictures as soon as they are uploaded anyway, so copying and pasting these photos will not serve well for album art or merchandise anyway. Send me an email, or message if you are interested in using my art for your album art, and it will be no problem. I will e-mail you a high-resolution original copy of the photography which you request, and you are free to change the photograph after that point as you please, using graphic design.

Furthermore, I have printed up all of my photographs in standard 4X6 pictures, and all orders of 2 or more CD`s from hypnotic Dirge Records will get a free photograph thrown into their order.

I aim to go on photoshoots regularily throughout the winter months and continuously afterwards to get a wide range and variety of photos. Be sure to keep on the lookout for updates and new uploads as they are sure to happen with regularity.

Thanks for all your support in all of my endeavours.

-Skog
Hypnotic Dirge Records
Hypnotic Dirge Photography
Ancient Tundra
Our Diabolical Embrace

LINK TO HYPNOTIC DIRGE PHOTOGRAPHY: www.myspace.com/hypnoticdirgephotography