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NOTHGARD Interview with Dom R. Crey
Interview by dalia di giacomo
NOTHGARD is a German Epic Melodic Death Metal Band. Nothgard's 2nd full-length "Age Of Pandora" has been recently released at Sept. 12. Moreover, vocalist & lead-guitarist Dom R. Crey recently joined German top-notch Epic band EQUILIBRIUM. With this new and second album NOTHGARD is heading straight towards to technical finesse and maturity. The formation stands out for 3 technical guitars and epic orchestral parts combined with influences of Folk, Classic, Melodic Death and Hard Rock. dalia di giacomo of GryphonMetal has quickly found interest in this band and, after having written about "Age Of Pandora", talks with vocalist and lead-guitarist Dom R. Crey about the band , the music composition of the album, about lyrics, projects, tours, symbology and much more.
People can really be part of the lyrics.
Hi,
Dom. Thank you for finding
the time and „speak“ a bit with us „gryphons“!
I think you are satisfied about the bright new album „Age Of
Pandora“, because of the many very positive reviews and the enthusiasm
that grows around Nothgard. Which is the most important reason that makes
you happy about this work? Hi
Gryphons! Yes we are very satisfied so far. Right now it seems like we are
really getting bigger. Well the most important thing about our new record is
the fact, that we have exactly done what we have always wanted to do. In
this case I mean the music. It’s much more technical than its precursor a
bit heavier and much more powerful. And the coolest thing about it is that
people really seem that they like it more than “Warhorns of Midgard”. Melodic
Death/Symphonic Pagan-Metal. What does it mean for you in just one word? This term we have taken for “Warhorns of Midgard” . Right now I would not call Nothgard als Pagan-Metal band. We decided to call it Epic Melodic Death Metal. Of course it’s just a genre type what we have generated and I also do not like to split up all metal genres but for us this term means epic orchestras, powerful and technical guitars mixed with harsh vocals and a kick-ass attitude. Listening
to Nothgard means listening to virtuosic musicians. Moreover in Nothgard’s
lineup there are three
guitarists (one lead guitar and two rhythm guitars). Why a wall of 3
guitars and one bass? Is perfection in sound a priority for Nothgard? In
particular, how many hours a day do you play your guitar? First of all, thank you very much for your kind words. We came up with the 3 guitars in 2012, after firing our former keyboard player. Don’t get me wrong it was not because of personal purposes it was just all about different prospects. But then we thought, hey we have much more guitars on our record than we can play live. So lets hire a new guitarist and not a new keyboarder. In fact right now we say that Nothgard consists out of 1 lead guitar (Dom R. Crey) a second lead guitar (Daniel K.) and one rhythm guitar (Skaahl). This is because on Age of Pandora Daniel plays along me most of the time so i wouldn’t call him as rhythm guitarist. In fact i don’t know about my band mates how long they practice per day because everybody should feel free at least if the one is able to play the stuff live. But i can tell you about me. Right now i just stopped playing and I play a lot right now. In 2 weeks we will be touring Europe together with Equilibrium and Trollfest and before a tour i always practice a lot. On average maybe about 6- 8 hours. But this is also because i have to play 2 sets this time. Dom,
you are front man of Nothgard, founding member of the band, and
the new guitarist of Equilibrium too...It
seems to be, this, an
extraordinary time
for you… Yep,
well extraordinary or not… it is definitely exhausting right now. But i
could not complain at all. I love what im doing and i love to be on the
road. In Nothgard i had my closest friends and i still have. And in Equi i
found also new closest friends. Im very happy to play along with such
skilled musicians in both bands, and such cool people in general. So in
fact, im hanging out with my best friends all of the time. From
Nordavind to Nothgard. Why the band decided to change name? And what does it
mean actually the word „Nothgard“? We
have changed our name because there was already a Norwegian band called
Nordavind. We spent many days thinking about a new name and then we came up
with that. Nothgard comes from Nothgarde what is more or less an ancient
sword technique. Can
you tell us how the songs of „Age Of Pandora“ were born ? Have all
members of Nothgard worked together to compose the songs? The
songs for AoP were all composed by me. So in this case it sounds bit weird
to talk about it. But well… But of course it is not like im the big chief
and nobody can bring in his ideas. Definitely not. Actually I have always
composed the stuff for Nothgard. On AoP even more because the bandmates were
busy and I was somekind of composing rush. Most of the time I think about
cool stories, this means I already have some topics in my mind and then I
start with the music and then (weird I know) I write the lyrics, but our
guitarist Daniel helped me a lot with it. And of course I do not compose the
drums J
this is all up to our drummer. Which
is your fav song
from „Age Of Pandora“ and
why? For
me it’s “In Blood Remained”. First of all I really like the name. On
the other hand I love the solo. Seems all bit selfish but I guess you want
me to be honest J Should
you extrapolate just some lyrics fron one song, which lyrics would you pick
up and why? I
would choose “Obey the King”. When we wrote the lyrics for that song the
North Korea topic was really up to date and in my opinion modern warfare is
just like about some pushing any trigger and the whole world will perish. So
I think this is one is a very up to date song. By the way, on Age of Pandora
we have tried no to sing about mythology. We tried to choose important
topics, may the be personal or may the be in the news or what ever, and
invent a cool story, a metaphorical story what fits to the music. And we
think this time people can really be part of the lyrics if they read it. There
is a clear evolution in the composition from „Warhorns of Midgard“ to
„Age Of Pandora“, yet it seems that it’s hard to leave behind
the Power-Metal flavoured guitar solos; nonetheless the Death and
Dark Metal
elements in Nothgard are also great. I have the impression that the
musicians in Nothgard favor different genres. Is it true? Yes
there is an evolution. I think it’s just normal that musicians try to
improve themselves. I listen to so many types of rock and metal and also to
classic and other stuff. I also believe that this is important. Of course
some people wish the old Nothgard but there is no use to record the same
stuff what we have done years ago. And you are definitely right that our
musicians have a favor for different genres. So even if I am the main
composer I try to integrate stuff what the others recommend to me. From
Midgard to Pandora .
360° Paganism? Haha. Well yep, seems like. This time, as I already mentioned, we wanted to pick up more up to date topics and then we have written most of the lyrics but had no name for it. And somehow I read about Pandora, all the evil and the good things in life, the world and what surrounds us. So I just had the desire to name the album like this what fits just perfect if you read the lyrics and know the story about Pandora. After
the "Black Clouds Over Iberia Tour" , Nothgard is about to start
the European "Erdentempel Tour" with Equilibrium and Trollfest.
Which were the best moments during the Spanish tour and which are your
expectations for this next upcoming tournee? The best moment was a fucking sold out show in Barcelona J we have never expected that. We were the first time in Spain and recognized that we really have fans there. It was also great to meet our friends from Northland in Barcelona. Furthermore the Spanish audience was just great. Partying all the time, very friendly and they seemed like the would really have a need for foreign bands. So I was definitely not the last time we will be touring Spain. During the Erdentempel Tour we expect to reach more people with our music, have a great time and just do what we love to do. Music
and FaceBook, is this a positive sinergy? Nowadays
i think social media is one of the most important things for musicians. So
yes, definitely. On
Friday
the 05.09.2014 your first official video Age Of Pandora was released. Can
you tell us about the making of this video? Compliments because the
atmosphere of the video perfectly fits the cover art of the album. The
"making of" was great. It was a bit hard because we shooted the
stuff till the late nights but there was a great atmosphere and a even
better results. Within a few weeks we will release the official "making
of". So stay tuned for it J
A
band inspired by dark
elements comes
from the strictly catholic Bavaria...? Of
course J
I think that you have to know about things before you are able to negate
them. All of us are secular or atheistic. So no big deal. I guess the
catholic Church is one of the most twilight institutions. But there are
plenty of more who are as bad as them. The
artwork of Age Of Pandora shows so many symbols which
belong to religions and to
secret societies. They
jump out from a sort of Pandora’s
Box or
what ? Can you please explain us a bit more the meaning of this
coverart ? Those
symbols are exactly what the myth of Pandora is telling. About the good and
evil things in life. Hate, fear, light and hope, religion and more. Also
mathematics. For all those who are really interested in this topic should
read about that stuff. Maybe
it ‘s too
soon for speaking about future projects ? Future
projects? I dont know about my mates but maybe i come up with a rock
project. Can
you suggest us a touristic journey in Baviera? Will
you visit the Oktoberfest? Haha not really. Visit the Bavarian forest maybe. I have never been to the Oktoberfest. This is not my cup of tea. All
bands that are interviewed for the first time by GryphonMetal are invited,
as last question, to
the Game Of The Tower. On a very high and bloody Tower three bands are
waiting for your sentence. You must kick down two of them, saving only one.
The bands for you are: We
save
Belphegor. Thank
you Dom for this interview. Horns
up! Interview by dalia di giacomo - September 2014
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