#30-Inside the darkness

Vanwa - Black Metal from Germany
Today I’m lucky enough
to ne talking to Morquendi,
the genius behind the new
German band, Vanwa.
Guten abend! It’s a
real pleasure to be talking
with you, danke.
1 - Tell us about Vanwa,
when/where/
why was the
band formed?
The band was
formed 2 years
ago when
I had written
the first
two songs, “oh
dark son of night” and “the
depth of the misty woods.”
Interview by Jay Parker
I decided to put them out on a
record and therefore I formed
the band as a solo project.
2 - Run us through your stunning
debut album, undeniably
one of the best
debut albums in many
years…
The Black Metal and
Heavy Metal shows are the
most visited underground
metal genres in Germany.
The first
track of the album starts
with a long synth intro which
Interview with Morquendi
I originally want to put out
as a separate song. I tried
some different versions and
decided that it really connect
with the first song. The song
starts slow but becomes
a more and more aggressive,
demonic
but atmospheric
song.
The second
song is a very
straight song
and is for
me personally
made in
one session and goes
from one simple riff idea.
It is the first song I have
written for Vanwa.
Fortress of the cold east became
more aggressive than
I thought in the first plays.
Very Windir inspired and
an homage to Elizabeth Bathory
in the lyrics
and the song from
Tomentor. I’m just
a to big fan, haha. I
tried that you could
hear a cold castle
somewhere in the
nowhere of the east.
Through forest and
mountains would be
my personal homage
to Quorthon and
Bathory.
I was more into
first wave black metal
and particularly
the more Nordic and
folk stuff. I think
you can hear it.
Scarborough fair
was an idea I had
for a long time and I
decided to make my
own version of this
beautiful melody which always
keeps the spirit of nature
for me. You can see it
as a Bonus track.
3 - What are the inspirations
behind the lyrics?
I mentioned some things
before. Oh, dark son of night
would be some demonic worship,
like an arising antichrist.
All my lyrics have
always fantasy with in it.
The depth of the misty
woods will follow with
more depressive lyrics, like
trapped in your own mind as
an endless whirl of thoughts.
Through forest and mountains
tells a story of a questing
knight on a quest for
becoming a brave hero.
Further on his road he
will understand that it’s
not the path he really
wants to go on and finally
he finds the place where he
belongs. The beautiful nature
without any stuff that
can bothering him.
4 - What were your musical
influences growing up and
what do you listen to now?
I grew up with some classy
heavy metal. Metallica and the
The Number of the beast. I
was only 6 years old but for
many years i just listened to
them! It starts with 14 when
I searched for more
and more music. It
took me some years to
get to my music interests
of today. My biggest
influences are Windir,
Dissection and Bathory.
The songwriting, the
melodies and atmosphere
of Windir is
just incredible! Nodtveids
performance
and riffs had a big impact
on me! And Bathory
is just Bathory.
5 - What was the
process recording
the album?
The tracks are all
very well-orchestrated
and well written,
where was it
recorded? Who did
the production?
I wrote and recorded the
songs within two years and
on my own. The drums are
programmed because my
drums skills were not good
enough. So, it is a solo project
where I did all on my own.
6 - What are your plans
for the future? I understand
you’re planning to play some
live shows with Vanwa at
some point? That would certainly
be a powerful force
on the live stage…
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