Blot Mine one of the more interesting and special black metal bands out there, if they can be called black metal at all, instead of the usual misanthropic and/or satanic view at things, they are looking for a more profound answer to all questions. One thing is sure though, and that is that the music has its roots deep within the traditions of Scandinavian black metal. Earlier this year the band released the long awaited follow-up to "Porphyrogenesis", entitled "Ashcloud" a great and captivating album. I got a good talk with bassist Thorn about the band, their music and philosophy, and among other things got the quite sad news about "Ashcloud" most likely is their last album.

Hails, how are things in Sweden at the moment?

Not a whole lot to mention. Time passes on and autumn is turning into winter. Guess it's what they call limbo, huh?

Will you please start of by introducing yourself and tell us why you deal with black metal questioning the matters of the universe?

Im Thorn and I play bass handle the correspondence and interview part in this band. Blot Mine was formed back in 1995 after three of the members quit Setherial. Starting this band was not something that we planned or strived for but after messing around in the rehearsal place we all saw the potential that this might develop into something special. A demo tape called "Kill For Inner Peace" was released in '96 and the debut album "Porphyrogenesis" was released through Near Dark Productions two years later. We just released our second album "Ashcloud", which was recorded five years ago. More about that and a little breakdown into our philosophy regarding our lyrics and aim will follow later in this interview.

Blot Mine is right now ready with your second full length album "Ashcloud", how has it so far been received?

Overall it's been very positive. We didn't really know what to expect since black metal isn't exactly the flavour of the month so to speak. That and the fact that it was written and recorded such a long time ago was two factors that made us unsure on what the response might be. Now, after it's been out a while we can see that it stood the test of time.

The album is an old recording that have been re-mastered and then released, how old is the actual recording and the material?

We started to write the material right after we was done recording the "Porphyrogenesis" album. It's written between 1998 and 2000. It was recorded at The Abyss in early 2000 with the re-mastering being done in 2005.

Why hasn't it seen the light of day before now?

This is a question that doesn't have a good explanation. The recording of the album went as planned and it's been lying ready ever since. It just didn't seem like a good time to release it just after we recorded it so we decided to give it a rest for a while. This rest turned into five years and I understand that this might seem strange. Let's just let it remain as the mystery that it is.

How do you feel about the material today?

We are satisfied with how it came out. Otherwise we would have buried it six feet down and never released it. Someone asked if we waited so long with the release of it just because we weren't satisfied with the final product and this is totally wrong. I personally don't listen to a whole lot of new black metal bands nowadays but of the newer ones I've heard, compared to them, I have to say that this record shouldn’t be ashamed of either the song writing or the production. It still sounds fresh and wipes the floor with a lot of the crappy releases that we are over flooded with these days!

Is the material a representative for Blot Mine in your current stage of evolution?

We haven't rehearsed or written new material since we finished the "Ashcloud" recording session so I can't really give you an answer to that. We might as well be a reggae band when we start to write new songs! Heh. Nah, seriously. I'm pretty sure you would feel familiar with the sound if we decided to create new music. Fast, slow or mid paced doesn't matter. I think we have our strength in the melodies that might be our signature.

What do you expect from the release of "Ashcloud"?

I just like the idea that it's out there. It's released on a pretty small label and the promotion is done on a pretty small scale and this is perfectly fine with us. We do this primary for ourselves. If anyone else wishes to come along and likes what we are doing, that's cool but nothing that we think a whole lot about or take for granted. We feed our own egos by doing something that we like ourselves.

How did you end up on Metal Fortress?

"Porphyrogenesis" was released by Near Dark Productions and the two guys from that label decided to split the label in half. Metal Fortress Entertainment is one of these "half's" so it's more or less the same label. At least that's how we look upon it. We are long time friends with this guy so we have a pretty good insight at what he is doing with the label.

Are you going to release more material on the label than "Ashcloud" or hasn't that been decided yet?

This hasn't been decided. We talked about writing new material but this is nothing that has turned into reality yet. This might as well be the last album. We'll just have to wait and see.

When you wrote the material for "Ashcloud" what did you then want to accomplish with it?

Nothing more than creating an album that we can stand for and be proud of.

Do you feel you have accomplished that?

Yupp.

Why did you choose to call the album "Ashcloud" and what does the title symbolize?

This is a song that captures the atmosphere of the whole album. It's a name that catches ones attention and a suitable scene for an album cover. The line "Ashstormcloud" from the lyrics is being portrayed on the cover and I think it pretty much speaks for it self.

Will you initiate us in the philosophy of Blot Mine?

I'd like to think that we stand out from your usual dozen black metal bands. By that I mean that we strive to go deeper and not just scratch on the surface and making it too easy for ourselves. Perhaps I shouldn't neglect or generalize other band's lyrics like this but I have to be honest and say that 98% of all lyrics in this genre don't mean shit to me. Lately I've been noticing that we are often labelled as some kind of a "Cosmic - space – nebula - blah - blah – blah black metal" band due to our lyrics that may deal with some of these subjects. Vwreedes lyrics are of ritualistic nature and therefore nothing that we would label as science fiction or something from the latest Star Wars movie. It goes so much deeper than that and those who want to learn more and understand the concept of Blot Mine is encouraged to read the "Matters of matters" section on our website, or in the "Ashcloud" booklet. Read it. Try to understand it and make up your own mind. That's a good start.

You aren't the usual black metal band, why did you take another path and can we call your music for black metal?

We didn't choose this or that path. We just deal with subjects that we are comfortable with instead of focusing on what other people might think of us. Music wise I'd say it's no doubt that black metal would be the closest reference genre wise. I haven't really given this that much thought though. It's only lately when we got all these new brands and labels on us that one has given it a thought or two. Let's just say that the lyrical side of this band is one of the things we focus on (the other thing being the music, duh!). What we call our music isn't really that important.

What is black metal to you?

A genre that is much more than just the musical side of it. The term "black metal" is not that important to me. In short, it symbolises something powerful, at times fearful and something that fuels my intellect.

How important is the lyrical universe for Blot Mine?

I'd say that they are just as important as the music.

Do you think you can make a difference or change some people with them?

That's not the intention. Once again. We're not doing this for our surroundings. If people get into our lyrics that's fine. If they do. That's just a big bonus!

Let's talk about your music, who is the main song writer in the band?

Thunaraz writes most of the music and we arrange and structure the songs together.

Your base is in the older and more traditional melodic black metal, even though your lyrics stray somewhat away from the usual, how did the music end up like that?

The music for "Ashcloud" was written without any input from Vwreede since he was living in Denmark at the moment. We sent tapes back and forth but this was at a stage where we the songs were finished. We hadn't even heard some of the vocal parts before we got to the studio. Maybe the material turned out a bit more guitar based than the first album where we used the more traditional song writing style in terms of rehearsing with a singer.

Considering it is a while ago since the material on "Ashcloud" was written and recorded, have you been working on new material?

I think that we have rehearsed like once or twice after the last recording so we don't have any material written. Maybe a few riffs here and there but that's about it.

How was your full length debut "Porphyrogenesis" received back when it was released, do you still get praise for the album and do you know how well it did?

The thing that I remember most is all these comparisons with other bands. We sounded like all these black metal bands. Marduk, Setherial, Dissection, Dark Funeral etc. Guess it's better to be compared to a whole bunch of bands than just one of 'em. But yeah, "Porphyrogenesis" still seem to blast a few stereos from time to time. I have no idea of how many copies it sold.

How do you feel about the album today?

I'm still in love with that album! Heh. "Ashcloud" turned out good but still, it's #2 on my list of Blot Mine albums.

How do you look upon the future for Blot Mine?

I would be surprised if we released any new material with Blot Mine. That's the feeling I got right now. But I guess that you should never say never.

Will you share your 3 all time favourite albums with our readers?

These kinds of questions are more or less impossible to answer. This differs from week to week and just mentioning three albums is hard. Instead of giving you the usual "Reign In Blood", "Altars Of Madness" etc. albums that everyone else seems to stick to in answers like these I'll give you 5 albums that I enjoy a whole lot and tend to listen to pretty frequently. Not necessarily the best ones out there and probably not the first 5 albums that I would save from a burning house. Anyways. Some (metal) favourites just from the top of my head;

Autopsy – Severed Survival
Behemoth – Demigod
Necrophobic – Nocturnal Silence
Candlemass – Nightfall
Dissection – The Somberlain

Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to do it now!

Thanx for the space and for showing your interest in Blot Mine. We will have some new merchandise soon and info on that will hopefully be found on our website. Best regards!

Contact;

blotmine@hotmail.com

Blot Mine website