From their debut release ‘’Medieval Shadows from an Ancient Netherworld’’ in 2020 Athens Lunar Spells have created their own raw primal Black metal that is true and yet also their very own imprint on the underworld. The evolution of darkness and extreme art continues with their latest new album Sacraments of Necromantical Empires
V.T.: (Drums) This is our third full album and most probably the most aggressive, furious, yet completed album in comparison to the previous two full lengths. There is a different approach on this one regarding the sound, since we wanted something closer to the sound of our previous split, we released with Order of Nosferat. I think we managed to achieve the best result. Someone can easily listen the riffs and understand the structure of the songs. We have a very strong and positive feedback till now, and that makes us happy.
Your darkest release?
Cryptic: (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboard) I think yes, although lyrically we do not talk about anything new in comparison to our previous albums. Death, misanthropy, isolation & opposition against god is always present in our lyrics. The darkness on this album lies within the songwriting & the production as it is the most lo-fi album we made so far.
Your music is unrelenting and its dealing with mortality. What is the Sorcery of Death?
Cryptic: Sorcery of death may involve rituals aimed at summoning or communicating with spirits of the dead, harnessing their power, or even manipulating death itself. This can include practices such as Necromancy, divination involving the deceased, or rituals meant to control or influence death-related phenomena.
What do the dead have to tell us? Is it wisdom or despair?
Cryptic: The dead constantly keep talking to us and I believe they tell us stories of despair. Stories of restless spirits or malevolent ghosts warn of the potential consequences of meddling with the realm of the deceased. The messages from the dead contains despair, sorrow, or even vengeance.
The importance of keeping your music pure?
Cryptic: Lunar Spells is about expressing our vision about how we perceive black metal. We will never make an overproduced album or make shorter songs for the shake of approaching a bigger audience. We will continue doing what we like both musically and production wise. That way I believe we manage to keep our identity as a band. Some people believe that our music is boring repetitive and has nothing new to offer, but that is not the point here. We don’t want to bring anything new; we just want to pay homage to the bands that we like and have been influenced by, that’s the way we like it, and we intend to keep it this way.
Is it the purity of Black metal that allows for your subjects to be presented so clearly?
Cryptic: Black metal is darkness. Is there a better place to express your negativity, despair, or loathing against anything religious & oppressive? I think not. The purity of Black Metal is a sanctuary for many dark souls that need to channel their negativity and turn it into some mysterious & intriguing form of art for other people who feel the same way.
The allure of darkness and its shades? Is it impenetrable? And welcome?
Cryptic: The allure of darkness and its shades symbolizes the unknown, the hidden, and the unexplored aspects of life, drawing individuals in with its enigmatic qualities. Darkness can seem impenetrable when it represents fear, uncertainty, or negativity. It may evoke feelings of isolation, despair, or danger, making it daunting to confront. On the other hand, darkness can also be seen as welcoming, especially to those who embrace its mysteries and complexities. It can represent introspection, providing fertile ground for creativity. Rather than fearing the unknown, we may actively seek out the shadows, finding beauty and meaning in its depths.
Lunar spells are quite prolific, is the well of inspiration an eternal one?
Cryptic: In those three and a half years since the band formed, we have released 3 albums, one EP and one split album. Truth is that we are already working on new material that will be released next year. So, you can tell that L.S is quite prolific. The reason for that is that we have chosen to represent a style of music that is simple to make. There is no reason to spend years on making an album, for me if you do this you lose on spontaneity which is a crucial element of black metal. Also new music comes out naturally when I practice guitar, so all those riffs must be recorded and end up in an album. I hope we will have the same passion for making new music for the next years and never lose this inspiration.
What drives you to create? Does disgust for the modern provide inspiration?
Cryptic: The need to make music that we most missing listening to. I think that the 90s sound of black metal is missing a lot from today’s ‘’scene’’, and we try to resurrect it. Unfortunately, most bands today focus on overproduced sound which is an influence of the modern world. In our case we do exactly the opposite as a reaction to the trendy ‘’plastic’’ sound. I think that way the music has more character and not every band sounds the same. Don’t get me wrong, we as a band have been benefited from the modern world, since our music is on the internet, so I don’t believe that there is a disgust for it but some of its aspects are not really appealing to us.
The intention to keep the music traditional?
V.T.: Black metal needs to be itself a homage, to the first people and first bands that created this extreme kind of art. (Bathory, Hellhammer, Sodom, later, Emperor, Mayhem, Dissection, and many more till today). The way that black metal should be played, does not have necessary to do with how good you play your instrument. It needs to be true, straight to the point, extreme, aggressive, disgusting exact the way they did all the bands mentioned above. There is no modern black metal. It’s black metal or nothing. Playing in 230 bpm and screaming on the mic, having crystal clear sound doesn't make you just like that, a black metal band. In my opinion there is no word "modern" in all the subgenres of Metal. Heavy Metal is one. there is no Modern heavy metal. There is no need for the existence of modern heavy metal. In death metal, there is no need of modern death metal. Death metal needs to be just death metal, or we are talking about a different kind of music but not death metal, the same goes for thrash, or black metal. The word modern is a word that has nothing to do with real extreme metal music.
Plans for the future?
V.T.: A fourth album is on the works, a little different approach musically this time from all the previews ones. We are thinking of slowing a little bit down the speed, but the coldness, rawness and darkness will be present as usual. We also have material ready for a split release with a friendly band here from Athens Greece. More news will be announced soon.
Tops 6 albums of all time?
V.T.: Difficult to choose only 6 albums, but since we are talking about black metal, I would refer to the importance of the following albums-eps. The list could be endless if we talk about 6 albums of all metal genres. ha-ha. So here we are:
1.Bathory - Bathory
2.Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids
3.Sodom – In the Sign of Evil
4.Venom - Black Metal
5.Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
6.Darkthrone - A Blaze in The Northern Sky
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