"Maybe death is nothing more than the memory of our own fear of being born". What's your opinion on this and alike assertions?

- I do not want to insist on anything. Everyone has his own point of view. But basically we should know what we are talking about. Do u know what death is? Of cause u can answer that death is the end of all biological processes in our body but u definitely mean the other thing… Again, all of us have own definition. For me death is just the total end and I do not believe in some shit like eternal life and different incarnations of my soul. Actually I hardly can assume that I have a soul. I guess that all the scares about death were born by human fears caused by uncertainty of what will happen after. But this can appear only if you live your life without any reason: I mean when u have no any aim to reach, no purpose nothing. That is my opinion. Well, good start by the way…

Are you feared of death? How do you conceive your mortal end?

- To be honest I am afraid only of that I'll have no time to finish something. That's it. Maybe this sounds strange but I started to understand the beauty of death after certain time, after I became a witness of several deaths. U know we wrote a song about that and its name is "Mere Mortal". The song is about the human reality. Sometimes when I wander across the boundless scope of our country I think that the memory is the best thing we have been gifted by our nature. To be able to remember… That is just great. People live by their affairs and they live in their affairs. And I can consider eternal life like the life of what I've done. But sometimes the knowledge of my mortal end gives me a special mood I mean those minutes of bright sadness when u hear the music of the universe. I wish I could repeat it but unfortunately the only thing that appears after my attempts is an ugly likeness of ethereal tunes…
 
Which one amongst the numerous way to die you consider to be the most preferable for you?

- I don't consider the way to die, cause I don't want to die. I guess I'll get enough time to think about death, but now I think of life and moreover of how I can make this life better. Even if it happens very locally…

The human breed is weak, both mentally and physically… I hope you won't dispute this statement, huh? What's your view on our race, and particularly those who ridiculously consider themselves misanthropes?

- I don't think we are weak. At least the human body can stand more than 100 degrees temperature difference while almost all mechanisms cannot. Also we don't fully know all the abilities of our bodies, he-he. Well at least the assumption that we are weak should be built in comparison with something… And I suppose this something should be also alive. So that is the question. What do I think about our race? I think that a single life means nothing. Even if 100 millions people die, that is also nothing. And that's pity cause we unlearn to pay the tribute to every life. Well I can think whatever but I can't change anything, that's the truth. As for misanthropes… The great law of our nature implies the following: the life must contain the equal amounts of black and white, of good and evil… And the equal amount of PEOPLE and SCUM I dare to add. So if we are people someone take the part to be the scum!

Do you agree with those who keep on stating that the one in true solitude is billion times stronger than a horde of narrow-minded individuals?

- Yeah, the history knows some precedents when it took place… But what happened then? WWW I and II, or attempt to build a communism… We live with that but we don't want to remember that till it happens again but then we sorrowfully say: "It is too late…". A crowd or a horde is a horrible stuff… On this hand the human race is really weak in general. U cannot distinguish one person from another when the crowd is in action. And all the times it brings destructions only. Nowadays u can observe that weakness in the USA… The economics is strong but the population is rotten to the core… Believe me, it cannot longer exist that way… Something is going to happen soon.

Whom do you consider yourself to be, an anchorite or the one who appears as inalienable part of society? Judging by the moniker of the band you take part in, definitely not the latter  ;)

- Heheheheee. The most important thing to me is to be able to do what I want. I do not care what people said about me and my music, cause I like the way I do. BUT! If somebody ask me to play for him I wouldn't say "no way" cause it is always good when somebody gets some good emotions from your songs. U see that is a very good question, cause when u are acting like an anchorite u seem to be a hero! Wohoo! Yes I am a true underground person but nobody knows about u! And when u appear on a stage u definitely become a participant of society due to all tat crap like contracts and deals and studios and whatever. But is it so bad? Just do not loose your path and do not let the river to carry you to where the river wants. Be yourself and don't care what u should do for people to see you most convenient for them way! Otherwise it's gonna be something like Britney Spears or whatever from that side… They get millions but they live one or two days… So I conclude that here I am, just like I am and I do not follow any fashion in music.
 
"Forest stream"… This moniker immediately brings to life the vision of serene yet somber woods and alike images. Why did you name your band this way? "Mother Nature Uber Alles", huh?

- Kom op! Dat is niet waar! Hahahaa! The first idea was to get rid of cliches. We didn't want to give the name of say SICKNESS (but I am fond of this band!!! Hehehe u know what I mean!) or something regarding to death or terror to our band. The general idea of our music is thinking, discovering, realizing, and contemplating of what we are surrounded with. We wanted to make our songs language-like to describe everything we are not able to express by words. What words are the best to say that? May be some metaphors like: the songs of our emotions, silent flight of our thoughts. And once me and Wizard Omin came to a bank of a small forest stream. We were just walking around and contemplating the nature. That was a late autumn day, u know, all around was clad in this gold and silver colors, flying gossamers and fallen leaves. And then we realized that our name should be the same. "Forest Stream"… which express hidden treasures of forest, which gives the life to trees, which murmurs adding its tunes to birds singing, which grants the life to a lakes and rivers and oceans… It is like a small story and a small life. Having its own grace and mystery…

What is "Last Season Purity", a demo work or rather an album of the full value?

- This is a demo work. We plan to release our first full-length album added some songs from our first demo called "Snowfall", which also got a very good reviews but has just a crappy sound. So I guess that it soon to be released by Silentium Records, maybe by some foreign label, may be by our own! All depends on my time and money… U see, this is unbreakable link to society! Hahahaa! We are doomed!

All the tunes off "Last…" are rather lengthy, however no one of them strikes as the one synonymous to the notion of "boredom". How did you manage to come up with such a compositional riddle?

- Ah! U know, from the very beginning we (me and Omin) follow the principle "throw away without remorse". So we never put melodies together when they don't go well. It is better to forget about this song for a couple of months and come back to it when u can overcome so called "Nepruha"… And also we never use a well-known cliche: Intro+ couplet + refrain + etc… We try to play the way we like it. And also we think about the melody first of all! That is the most important thing for us. Yes, rhythm is a good stuff also but it plays the second roles anyway. Well, I can never stop talking about musical aspects about chords and keys, about measures and triplets whatever but this is not a book, right?

The rumors say that you re collaborating with Moscow's Coronach Records. Is it really a record company or just a bunch of jerks (sorry) aiming to start a valuable label? What have they released so far? You see, this question arises mostly because of the fact I haven't ever seen ANY Coronach's releases being sold ANYWHERE!

- Yep! That is true! This project appeared to be a support to underground bands. But unfortunately I do not know much about the people who established this "label". So the first compilation CD they released (it was "Coronach compilation 1") contains err… rave and black metal bands. So all of the 600 CDs were sent to different labels and zines abroad… Still no answer… I do not want to blame those guys but that work was extremely unprofessional. I hardly can think that somebody has a patience to listen that CD to the end… Crap. We still have friendly relationships with them and agreed to support them with their second compilation ("Tunes Of Dusk")… I hope it is soon to be available and not only abroad. This CD is also very contradictory. I liked some bands from that CD but not all of them… But anyway, that CD suppose to be interesting to discover some new names of Russian Underground.

FOREST STREAM isn't a regular black metal act, is it?

- Nope. We are not a black metal band in a sense that we don't profess satanism (violence, black messes, sacrifices and other crap like that), but we are the black metal band cause we sing about eternal freedom and sadness, about our mortal nature, about the world without god… Sometimes we sound maybe doom-like, but as I said before. We play the music of our emotions, of our mood. And maybe it all come from that we are a bit idealists… The ones who want to change the world but doomed to fail a priori… We don't want to hate cause there is a lot of hate around of us…

Why did you start the band; was it an attempt to create something innovative or you just wanted to play the kind of music you get high on? By the way, let's won't be forgetting that black metal is not only music, but a certain ideological basis as well…

- We started the band because of the lack of music. We wanted to find a music we like but unfortunately it was unsuccessful. So the best decision was to play it ourselves! But by the way we still didn't succeed… I hope we'll come a little bit closer to it in our next CD - "The Crown Of Winter"… Yes I never forget about the ideological basis of black metal. And this music lives in our hearts. But I am not an insane to be thirsty for christian blood. This way is wrong at least because when all the christian will be dead by hands of satanists the satanism itself stops to exists any longer. Nothing to compare! It is obvious. Black metal is a state of mind when u dare to create and to be free! When u live different way comparing to what was established by Jesus (if you believe in those stupid fairy-tales, me not…) I do not to be both a slave or god or a slave of devil. I am free. That is our ideological basis. But we play also aggressive music cause we fight against that shitty infestation of mass pseudo culture. People get crazy in general… Anyway I can not understand how it is possible to like say Boris Moiseev… Fuck fuck fuck… may be it also has its right to exist but why the hell I should bear it from day to day. Is it a true art?!! I'm not gonna tolerate that…

What do you mean saying "this stuff is undoubtedly atmospheric"? What is "atmosphere" in regards to black metal?

- I mean the eternal freedom, flight of emotions, and thought. Imagine a man who is clad in black, standing at the top of a hill, raising his hands towards the sunset and crying "My scarlet sunset!!" It is like a something inside that I cannot explain. Black sword, a sign of wisdom. A wisdom that is lost by crowd. "Embrace me with a winter blizzard, give me the power of all the wind, in the serenity of the endless woods, embrace me with my shadow…" May be it is a sort of magic. Tears when u smile, and a smile when u cry… It is nothing and it is everything. Sometimes I can look at myself from above, u know that is really atmospheric feeling.  Finally I would call atmospheric music the music which gives u the following feelings: u feel that at the moment u watch the different world. And the sky gets so close to u. And all the sounds and melodies penetrate into your body making it weightless… Then u understand something… that u cannot understand after…

What kind of ambience were you attempting to capture on "Last Season Purity"? I bet, you prefer "tremendous" and "sublime" over "somber" and "misanthropic"?

- We didn't set our minds to something certain. Maybe our music is sad and sorrowful but it never can be misanthropic. Life is sacred. We even have no clue about how great it is. The main concept of "Last Season Purity" is enjoying the life grasping its features and secrets. Understanding the eternal grace of the mortal and the immortal. The play of different colors of sensible existence. I guess the u would agree that true ART itself has constructive principle…

If I'm not mistaken, you've once been  interviewed  by those freaks from TERS <ters.chat.ru>. What's your opinion on these undoubtedly mentally deranged "individuals"?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah! That was so funny! Imagine I got a message with questions and then found my interview with a very strange interpretation! (the same with me - ED) They curse us but even that was unskillful… Hehehe. But anyway that was so funny! And what is my opinion about them? I would say that they are so furious cause they know how they are wretched… Remember? "Ai, Mos'ka! Znat' ona sil'na, kol' laet na slona!!!" They suck! Hahahah! And we shouldn't pay any attention to them…

Shouldn't we act the same way as the ones from the city of Sparta once acted, i.e. annihilate mentally and physically handicapped, once they're born?

- Nope! They are already dead! Don't you see that? They blame everyone cause they cannot do anything. They have no hands to build and they have no eyes to see… Poor ones… That's why they choose to be that way. When one child envies to another about his sand castle the simplest way to revenge is to destroy that castle. Not to build the better one but just to destroy. Which definitely corresponds to the level of their evolution. Alas!

By the way, if you had a chance of waging a war, whom would you choose to fight at your side, and whom would you battle?

- War is hell… It is dirty and disgusting thing and I don't want even to think of any possibility to wage a war to anyone… But in any case I prefer to defense only! And if it is desperately necessary to defense I would choose any sane human being to join me… I consider the war against the war only.

What about those who're still aiming to divide BM scene into the "true" ones and "posers"? Isn't it utterly useless? You know, activities of this kind result in nothing…

- Yep! U are absolutely right! Moreover! Every time I hear it I think the following "Kak-to raz po utru, povstrechalis' False i True!" Unfortunately this can not be translated but u know what I mean. The same story was written about two rams on the bridge… Of cause u remember the end of that story!

Have you ever tried to reach a certain status abroad? What market do you consider the most important for the FOREST STREAM; Russia or Europe?

- We are not a commercial band. But we got a lot of positive and excellent reviews in different web zines and labels. So we have some offer from foreign labels to have a deal. But almost all of them need just a desperate concert activity we cannot allow to us… Most of us are still studying.  But I guess that this summer our first CD will be out at last and also we plan to perform a lot of live gigs in Moscow and St.Petersburg and maybe in Holland. If our deal will be successful we also plan to make a movie clip or to record our next album. I am not a haughty one, but daily I get tons of messages from all the parts of our planet. "Where can I buy your album?" "When the next one will be out?" "Where r u going to play this summer?" Shit!! What should I answer to them?!! Excuse me but it is still unclear! I hate myself for that… But as I said we'll try to make the situation better. And… don't u think that Russia is a part of Europe?
 
Lastly, have you reached anything with FOREST STREAM? Let's just summarize everything you've done throughout these years and make an  attempt to figure out what the grand total would be.

- Okay! Despite we are very young combo, just 2 years, we recorded two demos: the first one is "Snowfall" (but with crappy sound, so we r gonna re-record that album or part of it to add it to "Last Season Purity" for full length album). We got tons of positive reviews so FOREST STREAM is known in Europe, Asia, and America now. We played several gigs in our town Chernogolovka (yes, yes u have definitely heard of it because of the famous vodka…) and one concert in Moscow, so a lot of people came to our next gig in Chernogolovka… But we are unlucky with our line-up… Positions of drummer, keyboardist and second guitarist are still unstable. I used to play drums but I had to switch to guitar and vocals… Due to… U know that it is a very difficult to fine a person with good English pronunciation playing heavy music… That is almost impossible cause all of them already play in some bands…

No, the previous questions wasn't really the last one ;). More likely, this one will be the last one: could you please make your comments on contemporary Russian black metal scene (even though I doubt if we should call it a "scene")?

- I guess it is growing up! Of cause we still have no such actions like Dynamo Open Air but anyway I know several really nice bands from Russia. Not of them are in BM but anyway they deserve for we to pay more attention to them. For instance I can say good words about SOMNOLENCE. This band rocks! We should unite to create a very strong underground scene in Russia. U see that we enter the period that is already passed by all European  countries. So now it is gonna be our turn! We believe in that and we work for that keeping in our mind not to repeat all the mistakes of say Norwegian BM bands… We should add something new in BM… So keep on going!

That's all. Thanks you for answering the interview. Would you like to wish our readers (and perhaps, me…?) anything you feel would be appropriate?

- Yeah! Of course! I would say thank u very much for your support and attention to our band, your work is worthy! I can advise to all the underground people to think more while listening to your fav music. It doesn't really matter what it is if it gives positive emotions to you. Try to create, try to learn more about how to create… That is the only way to evolve.  Every day must be something new. A new piece of knowledge and new piece of understanding of who you are. That is amazing trust me…

Sincerely yours Sonm the Darkest of FOREST STREAM.

FOREST STREAM contact -
Email: forest_stream@mail.ru