Crannk Interviews Noctiferia -

Slovenian heavy metal band Noctiferia is a really exciting band that has been spreading its unique style of extreme metal since around 1997. And are working on a new album “Reforma” A Tribute To Laibach and Jai That Aussie Metal Guy is a massive fan and recently got the chance to have a chat with Uros Lipovec of Noctiferia for Crannk.

Jai:Noctiferia Slovenian underground metal heavy weights thank you so much for making the time to have a chat with myself Jai that Aussie Metal Guy and Crannk I really appreciate it.

Jai Q:First off for those that may have not heard of Noctiferia who are Noctiferia?

Uros A: We are Slovenian metal band, performing mix of death, black and industrial metal since 1996. So far we released 6 studio albums and toured UK, Europe and China with bands like In Flames, Mayhem, Hypocrisy, Samael, Killswitch Engage and others… like A night in Texas.

Q:and how did Noctiferia get together?

Uros A: It’s a classic story of friends from elementary school falling in love with metal music at the age of 13.

Jai Q:How did you get into playing music?

Uros A: As we became fascinated with metal we started fooling around with acoustic guitars first and then slowly progressed until a few years later we recorded our first demo in 1996.

Jai Q:And how did you get into heavy metal music and what were some of the early metal bands you were getting into?

Uros A: Actually our first singers mother was from Poland and he always brought bootlegs when he returned from the holiday in Poland. He bought one as long as it had metal cover. First bands that got our attention were probably Metallica, Megadeth and Pantera.

Jai Q:What were some of your early influences that helped and inspire you?

Uros A: We were mostly influenced by bands like Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Samael, Hypocrisy, Nocturnus and then continued into discovering black metal with bands like Emperor, Mayhem and Burzum. We were also addicted to UK’s Headbangers Ball on MTV which at the time was a killer show and our main window into the metal scene.

JaiQ: Noctiferia have an amazing sound and I have been totally blown away and one of the joys of mine is hearing bands like yourselves that are just so amazing and refreshing as a metal head to hear. Each album I have heard from you guys seems unique and has a different feel on each one is that something as band you strive for to bring something new and unique each time?

Uros A: Thank you, we strive to have best sound possible. Regarding the uniqueness it’s something that we do unintentionally. We like to explore and evolve so you will never get two very similar albums from us. It is also one of the reasons it takes us quite some time to do a new record.

Jai Q: Noctiferia worked with the legendary Swedish Peter Tagtgren on the “Death Culture” album how did that come about and what was that process like?

Uros A: Actually we already worked with Peter on Slovenska Morbida album few years earlyer. We met him at Metaldays festival in 2004 (Metalcamp back then) and he was imidietly interested in working with us which was great. He mixed Slovenska Morbida in 2005, we toured UK with Hypocrisy in 2006 and he mixed Death Culture album in 2009. It was a dream come true.

Jai Q:The “Transnatura” album is great was awesome to listen to it really brings a different vibe and feel to these songs I can really hear those old European folk feeling to it was this something you have wanted to do for a while?

Uros A: We were thinking about this ever since we heard Sepultura’s Kaiowas in 90’s. It’s also a song we perform at Transnatura shows live.
It was great exploring your own songs from whole new perspective.

Jai Q:Can you tell me a little about Noctiferia upcoming album Reforma tribute to Laibach what was that process like and is this something you have wanted to do for a while?

Uros A: It’s an idea that was slowly developing in back of our guitarist’s mind (Igor Nardin). We were always fond of musical and visual estetics of Laibach and since we come from Ljubljana (Laibach in German) it was kind of natural for us to start playing with this idea for real. The songs were picked pretty randomly unlike the guests on this album. There will be seven songs on the album, some are completly re-made, some closer to original.

Jai Q:I see you have a couple of guests on this album David Vincent aka Morbid Angel/Terrorizer and Jorgen Munkeby of Shining how did that come about and what was that like working with them guys?

Uros A: We also have a third special guest whom we will announce in a few days. I first thought of David Vincent as he was the first extreme metal guy working with Laibach in early 90’s. We are also huge fans of early Morbid Angel so having him on our album is a childhood dream come true. As of Jorgen, we invited him to do a sax solo in a very experimental song. He seemed as the right person to do it and he nailed it! All of the guest were extremely happy to be part of this project so everything went fast and smooth and we are very thankful to them.

Jai Q:When can we expect Reforma to be released and what else have Noctiferia got going on at the moment going into 2019?

Uros A: At the moment we are finishing with recordings then it’s mix and mastering time. I think the album will be out in fall 2019.
At the moment we are focused on finishing the album and album cover and making first video, which is already in the process of making. After that we have a few shows in Europe and we are planning more touring after the album release.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions for Crannk and Myself Jai That Aussie Metal Guy I really do love Noctiferia’s music and eagerly anticipate the new album.

Thank you for your support and kinds words! – Uros Lipovec