Nocturnus
Wywiad przeprowadził Andrzej Papież
And here is something special for you. An interview with a very known band Nocturnus. The intie is not a typical classic interview. I asked Emo, the vocalist about many thing that you could hardly find in press after their split up in 93.
Hello Emo. At the begining could you tell me who or what made you come back? Why did we have to wait so long?
"As some of you know, we disbanded in 1993. After that I really didn't have any idea that the band would have ever gotten back together. In the summer of 1998 we found a web site that was a tribute to Nocturnus. At the time it was called "Matt's Official Nocturnus Page"(www.nocturnus.com). At the same time Lou and Sean were playing some riffs together and were putting them down on computer. Those riffs ended up being on our new album "Ethereal Tomb" and were the beginning sketches of "Edge of Darkness", "Outland", and "Paranormal States". I had been talking to them on the phone and decided that I needed a change in scenery. So I moved back to Tampa bringing my own ideas to the table and joined in on the writing. Mike jumped in on it immediately with his writing ideas as well. Soon after we decided that a drum machine wasn't going to cut it so we started trying out drummers. We tried out many drummers. As soon as we met Rick Bizzaro we knew we had found what we were looking for. This 
band always needed a well-rounded drummer and I believe that we found him. He has brought ideas to the writing table that really surprised us. He is the missing link we were looking for. Sorry for the wait, but none of us even ever dreamed that we would get back together."
You came back with a very interesting and absorbing album "Ethereal Tomb". Can you say something about how it was created?
"Sure! As always we have written the music to go along with the lyrics, the right atmosphere for the story line of the song. Sort of like a soundtrack to the lyrics. As a band we started with "The Killing" and "Paranormal States". These 2 songs were recorded as a demo and were the songs that we got signed with again. With the lyrics we, of course, went with the sci-fi stuff as well as some newer subjects of phenomena. From the subject of insanity and the darkest depths of one's mind (Edge of Darkness) to ghosts and humans mating to birth a new being (Paranormal States). "Apostle of Evil" is about our own serial killer and "The Science of Horror" is about human's worst nightmares and fears. I'll leave the rest to your imagination, because that is where we get most of our ideas. Usually Mike, Sean or myself will come up with a riff or idea for a song. Then Rick will come up with a beat for the riffs or even some arranging. Then Mike, Lou and myself came up with lyrics for the atmosphere we were looking for."
This album is quite different from the previous ones. It is slower. Some fans may be dissapointed. And I heard something like that "They chose the direction of a more rock and commercial playing..."
"Well to start that question off, We did not choose any certain direction. Like I said above we write the music to go along with the subject being spoken about. Just so happens that some of the stuff is slower, but to me the feeling is much more impacting. Listen to "Orbital Decay", in parts I don't think that song is very slow at all. In some parts it is but that is what it needed for its structure. If someone is disappointed then, I guess I must apologize. But to be honest I do not feel as though I need to apologize because we decided from the beginning of our reforming that we wanted to write this music for ourselves. If the fans like it then that is great!!!!!!! If they don't then we are not going to lose sleep over it. Don't get me wrong we might have some faster stuff on the next record but it will be in our taste the way we see it fit. We do what we do because we love to do it! If you don't play music for the love of doing what you do then don't do it. It's as simple as that!"
I don't care about the "rock" elements. I just hope that Nocturnus won't play like Bryan Adams ha, ha. Will you promise it to me?
"No problem!!!!!!! I can definitely confirm that for sure. There will definitely be no pussy music coming from us!!!!!!!!!!!"
What does the cover of your new album contain? Is there any connection between the music and the lyrical content?
"The cover is actually the "Ethereal Tomb" up close. It is a tomb in the sky which contains the stories told on the album. Yes of course the lyrics and music are definitely connected. That is what we are all about!"
What is the present lineup?
" Mike Davis(guitar), Sean McNenney(guitar), Louis Panzer(keys), Emo Mowery (vocals/bass), and Rick Bizzaro(drums)"
What do ex-members of Nocturnus do now?
"Well that is quite a list of ex-members. Lets start with Jeff Estes, he is in a band called Avant Guard here in Tampa. Jim O'Sullivan, no one has heard from him in years. Dan Izzo, he is in a band in Tampa here called "Crossbreed". Mike Browning is here in Tampa and I believe he does a public access show on TV here called Masters of Metal. As far as the rest of the guys, I have no idea. "
I heard that your previous drummer Mike Browning has his own rock band - Ash. Wasn't he intersted in coming back to Nocturnus?
"From what I hear, that band is no longer. I don't know if he was interested in coming back or not. He was fired in 1992 after the Thresholds tour. We didn't ask him to come back. "
"Ethereal tomb" was released by an underground French label Season of mist. Do they do what they promised at the beginning?
"Sure Michael and the crew are doing a fine job!!! Our US distributor "Necropolis Records" are doing a fine job as well! Both companies just flew us to New Jersey to play the March Metal Metdown. Which was a lot of fun!"
Were there any proposals from your previous label - Earache records ?
"No"
What were you doing during the break between "Tresholds" and "Ethereal tomb" ? Didn't you want to come back during that time?
"Well all of us kind of went our separate ways. Louis went to college for Psychology. I moved away and started college for Electrical engineering and Computer science. Sean and Mike worked. We all never gave the music up. All of us kept up the practicing. I played in a short lived band and Lou played in an alternative band. "
You have always been famous for very good guitar players... Were they interested by music during that time?
"Of course they were!"
Where is that satanistic amd cosmic face of Nocturnus?
" Well the cosmic face is still there as far as I'm concerned. Read the lyrics. The other is no longer. We feel as though "The Key" covered that subject so well that there was no more to say about it. In my book you can only go so far with religion before you get too monotonous. As far as sci-fi and the phenomena that we come up with, the sky is the limit."
What the hell did you change your logo? Once you have a pentagram...
"We made the change because we felt that we were at a new beginning. A logo change seemed appropriate. We like the new logo and are going to stick with it."
One of you wears a mask on the cover picture. Why?
"That's Rick our drummer. He felt as though it would be cool to wear it in the photo shoot we did. So we said go for it!"
I heard about such band as Nocturnus A.D. You don't have anything with it. Do you?
" No that is defiantely not Nocturnus."
"Ethereal tomb" is closed by a wonderful "Outland". This however has little to do with metal. It is like a hard rock symphony. Can we expect more such compositions like that in the future?
"I and the rest of the band felt as though it was a great way to end the album. You call it hard rock symphony, I call it soundtrack material. But they are closely related so you almost hit it on the nose."
When will you come to Europe and Poland?
"I hope to come to Europe and Poland soon!!!!! There are no concrete plans as of yet so keep your fingers crossed for us. We want to come there to play shows for sure!"
Ok. let's talk about your past a little. Tell me why did Nocturnus split up in 93? But honestly...
"Okay. It was a number of things that led to our demise. One-Earache dropped us. Two-The moral in the band was for shit. Everyone was pretty burnt out on the whole thing to be honest with you. We weren't getting any cooperation from Earache and I know that it wasn't all of their fault though. Lou and Digby didn't get along very well. That's another story in itself. We all went our separate ways for a while. As some may say, "Shit Happens"."
Is it true that your previous demo tape was produced by John Oliva of Savatage ?
"Yes"
"Tresholds", your previous album was full of cosmic climate. As far as I know you knew a lot about this subject.
"It sure was. That was what attracted me to joining Nocturnus. I love sci-fi and always have. I have been into sci-fi since I was a kid and so has the rest of the band."
And what do you personally think about alien forms and all that things?
"I am personally fascinated by the subject. Read the lyrics to "Search for the Trident" on the new album. It's about alien life forms from many, many years ago that lived on our planet. We have somewhat of a theory about them and that is what this song is all about. Could they be our ancestors from the stars?"
I don't know, maybe...Did you follow metal scene during the years between the split up and the reunion?
" Some of us did and some of us didn't. There are so many good bands out there. Of course the infamous Morbid Angel. I also like Slap Dash(RIP), And Oceans, man I could go on forever."
What have you been listening to recently?
"As of today I am listening to the new Pantera. Don't know what to think as of yet but one thing is for sure, they are much heavier than the last album. I also listen to the bands listed above. One band I have just started listening to that I am growing a liking to is Dillinger's Escape Plan and Witchery."
Nocturnus for many fans is a cult band... How is it to be a musician of a cult band ha, ha?
" We are just glad that there are people out there listening. 3 years ago we didn't think that there was any interest in the band. I guess we were wrong. :)"
Nocturnus origins were in Morbid Angel thanks to M.Browning. What do you think about present music?
"I like newer Morbid Angle. Trey has a shitload of killer riffs and good songwriting. I like the new singer Steve Tucker. He is a good musician and seems to blend well with Trey. "
And that would be all. Now. Emo promise me that you will not make another 7-year break.. ok?
" That is a promise. I just want to thank all the fans that have stuck with us and anyone who is just getting to know us! Even though I did say above that we wrote the music for ourselves you all still mean the world to us! Thanks and KEEP IT SICK and to all the young musicians out there, play what you feel in your heart. Don't let outside forces tell you anything to break you away from that. Stay with that and you will be a very happy musician. Don't forget check out www.nocturnus.com we will write you back!"
