It strikes as "When Fires Breed Blood" doesn't appear as the CD you've made your debut with, does it? Consequently, could you please give us a brief background on NOCTUARY?

- That is correct, "When Fires..." is our 2nd release. Our debut, "For Salvation...", was released by Lost Disciple back in '98. We formed in the summer of '96 as a conglomeration of two separate black-death entities. Then we finally produced enough material to lay down in the studio in November '96, thus the "Where All Agony Prevails" demo was born. NOCTUARY was signed in late '97 by Blood, Fire, Death records, but their funds were dwindling which lead to their inability to release the debut. Lost Disciple was interested, we sent them the advance tracks, and they subsequently offered us a 2 album contract.

Was this emphasis on bass lines and drum tracks made on purpose, perhaps in order to stay distinguishable?

- The bass definitely had much more of an importance this time around. I utilized more of my learned composition techniques on this album, regarding the harmonies and interplay between bass and guitar. With this album we definitely just went all out and threw all of our influences together without a care for what we might be labeled by critics and the like.

Almost all of the songs off "When Fires Breed Blood" feature certain kind of interludes placed in the end, thus making me to recall a couple of bands, such as CEMETERY OF SCREAM and ACHERON, as well as classical music...

- Yes, those interludes were placed to bring the album together, somewhat like glue binding the songs. They all tell their own musical story.

Do you consider NOCTUARY a black metal act? What is black metal to you, generally speaking? You know, there're many bands trying to disengage themselves from anything having in common with a genre of black metal... Perhaps, they act this way due to the fact black metal (especially EUROPEAN black metal) turned into some kind of a parody on itself during late 90ties...

- I consider NOCTUARY to be more of a heavy metal band that is influenced by death and black metal. Black metal, generally speaking, is dark music... lyrically dealing with subjects which frighten most average human beings... such as death, depression, hatred, lust, and blasphemy... musically being extreme, atmospheric, dark, and aggressive. I agree, I'm sure a lot of bands started distancing themselves from black metal due to the somewhat cartoon-like image it started to garner.

Do you take part in any side-projects?

- Right now I'm working on a band called FAEOST with the drummer of NOCTUARY and Albert Gonzales who did some guest guitar solos on our new album. This project was started by Albert who, along with Rob (drummer), was in the old school LA thrash attack EVIL DEAD (SPV / Steamhammer Records). He also filled as 2nd guitarist for DEATH in James Murphy's place on the "Spiritual Healing" tour with CARCASS and PESTILENCE. FEAOST is an aggressive death / black metal project with a little jazz and some interesting things going on. We're working on some new material right now, and are hoping to get some kind of demo recorded within the next few months.

What would you name as the main differences between European and US' black metal scenes?

- Well, that depends I suppose. It seems in Europe, some regions tend to be more uniform than others. Such as Norway and Sweden, in which metal bands tend to have a "Norwegian" or "Swedish" sound, with some exceptions. The US doesn't seem to have this uniformity by any region / state. Of course by saying Europe, we must include the UK, Ireland, Russia, Germany, France, Italy and all other western and eastern European countries who tend to stray from this uniformity as well. Another difference between the US and European black metal sound would be that most of the newer US bands tend to be influenced by the older European bands. That's mostly it, I guess.

What about Lost Disciple Records? Are pleased with the way they treat NOCTUARY?

- Yeah, they've managed to push us pretty far in our path and get us pretty well exposed throughout the world. Our relationship with the label has definitely been a good one. It's really interesting to see how far they've gone as a label since their early days.

What's your opinion on US-based record companies mostly dealing with BM, such as Root 'o' Evil, Moribund, Breath Of Night, Fullmoon, Sempiternal, Darque, Dark Realm, Elegy, Red Stream, Blood Fire Death, Theatrikill...? Which ones would you mark out as most honest and promising ones?

- I'm not too familiar with Sempiternal, Darque, or Theatrikill... but all of the other labels, I would say, are definitely honest and promising. I actually know about half of the owners of those labels personally, and know that they are really dedicated to what they do and are in it for the sake of metal, rather than the almighty dollar. Other US labels that are promising and show strength is Dark Symphonies and the upcoming Quadrivium Records.

How do you act yourselves alike, in your daily lives? Is there any link between what / who you are in NOCTUARY, and what / who you are in this reality?

- Daily life for me is work, school, and study. A pretty boring, but necessary schedule. The link between who we are and Noctuary would be that all of our music is an expression of who we are. Everything that comes out musically is a unique expression of the individual. Feeling and emotion are the most important part in music for me, and it is what keeps the music powerfully emotive and more "real."

What qualities should one possess, in order to earn your respect and
confidence?

- One should possess some intelligence, wisdom, and a unique sense of humor to earn my respect. An extremely negative trait, in my opinion, is arrogance, especially when the arrogance is unwarranted.

Does the environment (as well as particular climatic circumstances)
affect the human personality, what do you think?

- If by environment you mean social environment, I would say yes, most definitely. Human personalities are molded by the world around them. People are most certainly influenced by their peers, parents, and other's who they may look up to. A combination of this and other traumatic experiences one may have shape the individual from childhood.

Where do you think, scientific progress and technological development, will lead us, the mankind, to?

- The brink of our own destruction. There are too many evnvironmental problems to list, but a major problem we will face within the next 20 years is the loss of fresh water. Another major problem we're facing here in the US is an energy crisis. Most of our energy comes from fossil fuels and the moronic president is not looking into alternate sources of energy and is concentrating on drilling more oil.

Is there anything that you can't stand, be it music, behaviour, certain individuals, or what / whoever?

- There are million things I can't stand... I'm extremely tired of the 'truer than thou' attitude in black metal. There are so many different types of ridiculous attitudes in this scene that are just absolutely absurd. For instance, many black metal fans look to their favorite bands for philosophical inspiration and take it to an extreme... as well as those who attempt to be so 'avant-garde' and stray from the norms, which ironically isn't such an original idea.

Let's disengage ourselves from music for a while and discuss the
phenomena known as "human factor". How do you perceive it and what are your thoughts upon this matter?

- Is this in reference to Human-computer interaction as a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them? I'm not all too familiar with this.

Are you able to stab your enemy in the back (both, literally and
figuratively speaking)?

- I don't put that much energy into my enemies... I'll let their own faults destroy them.

Do you know anything regarding Russia? Any metal bands coming from the country of mine you've heard lately?

- I know Russia's per capita GNP is approximately $2410, your rank on the human development index is 52 and the gender empowerment index is 53. As far as the metal bands from Russia... I've read scene reports, but it's hard to find the music out here. I have heard a few samples of ROSSOMAHAAR recently and must say it is quite impressive. They are the most prevalent band from Russia that comes to mind... I do hear much about them.

AT LAST... your final words can be laid down here...

- Hails to you for this interview and your support! For those who have the album, if you haven't tried this yet, it's a slightly different experience in headphones...

NOCTUARY contact -
Email: noctuary@aol.com