A new addition to the Romanian black metal scene as of recent is the band Vampir Bei Kerzenlicht, which was fortunate to have started out very strong with their first gig with Diocletian from New Zealand and have since been spreading darkness and misanthropy all over the heart of Transylvania. Along the way they also released their first full-length album "Obscure Lights Through Endless Shadow" on CD via the label Nekro Morgue Productions, founded and owned by the band's guitarist Exu Morte. In this interview, we cover various topics regarding the band's musical background and place of origin, as well as the story behind their underground label Nekro Morgue Productions. If you wish to know more about these crazed vampires that lurk by the candlelight, feel free to tune in and I hope you will enjoy this conversation.

Vladimir

Greetings guys, a heartwarming welcome to you! How are you doing at the moment?

Spvrcat von Licht: Greetings! I'm doing great, still reflecting over our last gig with Crumble and Goatrocity. Such cool guys and epic live bands the organizers were lovely as well with us.

Exu Morte: Pretty good, gettin' ready for the November gigs!

Vampir Bei Kerzenlicht is still a relatively new and unknown band, but nevertheless you had a great opportunity to share the stage for the first time ever with the respected New Zealand black/death metal band Diocletian, and along the way you even released your first full-length album Obscure Lights Through Endless Shadow. So far, how was the general feedback that you got from the fans and other bands that you played with?

Spvrcat von Licht: Well, so far, we played with mostly local bands and obviously the Diocletian/Altars Ablayze gig was the biggest for us. The public seemed pretty intrigued when it came to our unorthodox blend of black and death metal or how someone referred to us as "Deathened Black Metal", quite ironic. Well, as we have more and more gigs, the crowd seems invested like we did not have a show yet where the crowd was fully stale, surprisingly each show was accompanied by chants and mosh pits, quite unusual for a black metal band not gonna lie.

Exu Morte: We got mixed reviews from our fans, but all in a positive way. Some people said we had a horrifying/chaotic live presence, either from the smell, corpse paint, pig blood, incense, etc. Others compared us to war metal bands since we share the same straight edge and serious figure while playing. Most new folks that attended our gigs were really impressed! The bands really appreciated us for the energy we share with the public, even for a first live show as you mentioned, we had no hiccups.

Your band name translates to "Vampire by the Candlelight" from German to English, and although vampire folklore is obviously very connected to Romania, particularly Transylvania, is there a special meaning behind the name? And who came up with the name?

Exu Morte: Mihai came up with the name, but there's no actual "special meaning", it's just a crossover between a vampire doing rituals or some sort. We just tried to be more original with the name and not just be one word, hence the name of the band was just "Vampyr" with "y", and most people still call us like that.

Spvrcat von Licht: Well, the name specifically came from an inside joke I took from Farvann I think, where he commented about the already stereotypical overly complicated foreign language names of some bands. I came up with the name when I remembered a fun moment after a Cradle of Filth show, where Albert yelled at me "Look at him, the vamp" and I also remembered the iconic Pelle picture of him with lit candles in that candle support surrounded by darkness and I thought it could suit me and it is an inside joke cause I and Albert always laugh at people who idolize Pelle Ohlin although they do not know shit about the man behind the white face paint.

Since the band hails from the very heart of Transylvania, it's no wonder that you have some vampiric influences flowing through your work. How do you guys feel about this notable fact? Does it in a way make you feel proud to have this sort of background or do you at least feel honoured when people connect that to you?

Spvrcat von Licht: When it comes to Transylvanian heritage, and the profit factor of vampires and the region itself of Transylvania, it came to my mind quite late and it still shocks me that we as Romanians did not use this more often, maybe it is too stereotypical.

Exu Morte: We are really honored that we show the true face of Transylvanian Vampirism while bringing fresh blood on stage, not how all companies try to change the story of Vlad the Impaler for this shit tourism. At our last concert on the 28th of September, Goatrocity's bassist called us on stage to show the "true side of Transylvanian vampirism" not how fake other bands try to be.

Although the band is still fresh and gradually evolving as it goes, have you guys faced any challenges along the way since the band's formation?

Exu Morte: No, our only problem is rehearsing. V.B.K. isn't a "city band" as most bands are. As Mihai is from Cluj, Daniel is from Oradea, and me and Rareș from Iasi, we can say the band is pretty well spread across Romania, roughly 600km apart. I'm not really happy to say that we are distanced, but we try our best to travel and meet to talk about songs and ourselves, just to keep us "sane" and close together.

Spvrcat von Licht: When it comes to challenges, the most prominent one is of course the distance which screws us up when it comes to recording and better communication between us as members of this band. Another one is trying to find the root of this band, trying to summarize its sound into one self-sustaining entity and through this knowledge to help it develop to say so.

Your style of music feels like a hybrid of various forms of black metal, ranging from bands like Von, Beherit, early Mayhem, Blasphemy, and Mortuary Drape to name a few, what can you tell me about incorporating all these various influences in your music?

Spvrcat von Licht: On this topic, when it comes to influences of my sound, I can instantly name 3: Lord Sabathan, Attila Csihar, and Daniel Rosten. For me, these 3 are the peak of the black metal vocalists. Such relentless voices and earraping too, Mortuus showing that especially in Funeral Mist, yet constantly not being shown enough recognition. I try to incorporate a few subtle nods of their stage presence in my persona such as their walk or gestures or even how they present songs sometimes even vocal approaches, for example, I constantly use the same high pitch vocal style of Sabathan live mostly, but these 3 are my big go-to's when it comes to inspiration and motivation.

Exu Morte: Let's say that you can't reinvent the wheel. All our work is indeed inspired by the bands you've mentioned above. Regarding the incorporation of these various bands in our music, we kept the same old-school vibe/sound, on the raw, non-polished side. I really think that most modern bands lack this incorporation, people forget their origins.

Aside from bands, you obviously have various role models like musicians and artists that inspired your musicianship, could you tell me which ones they are?

Exu Morte: For me, I'll pick the famous Abbath, Euronymous, Hoffman brothers of Deicide, Alvaro Lillo, and on the underground side: Fabrizio of Mortuary Drape, Marko Laiho (aka Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance) of Beherit H. Bosch of Caveman Cult, Juan of Proclamation, Caller of the Storms of Blasphemy, Ryan Förster of Conqueror and Cadaveria of Opera IX + many more, I don't have a favorite one, or a leader as such.

Spvrcat von Licht: It might come as a shock, but a bigger influence and inspiration than these 3 I mentioned earlier is Marilyn Manson. I always saw black metal as an advanced form of shock rock and there is no one who embraced the hate, fame, and captivated the eyes of the audience better than him.

This next question goes directly to Exu Morte, and it's regarding your label Nekro Morgue Productions which releases and distributes a limited edition of CDs and cassettes, while currently holding Vampir Bei Kerzenlicht under its banner, alongside other artists such as Mortuary Dripping, Gorthol and Wräthhammer. What is the overall story behind starting a label?

Exu Morte: To make it short, it was my wish to make music affordable for all pockets, because as you know merch got expensive over the years, and also, it was my wish to share demos of new-school Romanian bands, or from abroad. I had almost everything available to record cassettes and burn CDs, so my first experiment of producing and selling stuff was with Vampir, from buying various types of paper to print to ways of designing cassettes and CD disks themselves. I've received various feedbacks so I tried to make everything as professional as I can for a cheap price for starter bands.

I already mentioned that you have recently released your first full-length album Obscure Lights Through Endless Shadow on CD, and so far, it seems that the band has drastically evolved from the first demo Filth Lust & Fukkin Disgust from last year, in terms of musicianship and sound. What can the fans and followers expect from the band in the near future in terms of the musical direction?

Exu Morte: The band will keep the same old-school vibe, but our next upgrade will be technicality in terms of songwriting and even faster songs!

Spvrcat von Licht: Our future is the only thing certain. What we promise to our listeners, supporters or even fans is the evolution when it comes to sound quality, musical sound, and maintaining the same blasphemous and unhinged feeling of our music as before. Big things are coming that is what we promise.

At this point, are there any plans for the band or talks of future gigs?

Exu Morte: The next plan for the band will be to buy a van, and I'm not kidding about that. We will see about future gigs; the next ones are in Iasi with Sur Austru and Bucharest with Akral Necrosis + others. Some Romanian bands like Warhymn, and Mauna Sol already have an eye on us for 2025, but we have hopes for international bands too!

Spvrcat von Licht: Our close future sees gigs alongside Sur Austru and Akral Nekrosis through 2 different fests. The first one is Hillsfest in Iasi, Moldavia where we will be playing with Sur Austru, arguably my favorite band from Romania which is truly an honor for me personally, and the second one is Spears of Wallachia where we will be playing with Akral Nekrosis, one of the pillars of the revival of Romania's black metal scene for a couple of years now. Some bands like Warhymn and Mauna Sol have their sights set on us but we cannot confirm anything yet besides Sur Austru and Akral Nekrosis. We love playing live and we want to do it as much as we fucking can.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I am looking forward to meeting both of you someday and chatting about everything from quality Balkan food to great music. Are there any final words you'd like to leave for the fans?

Spvrcat von Licht: This was Spvrcat von Licht of Vampir bei Kerzenlicht. Thank you for this interview, thank you to our listeners for your support. Keep supporting the Underground, Stay Blessed and Possessed, and don't forget: KEEP. SUPPORTING.TRANSYLVANIAN. VAMPIRISM.

Exu Morte: Thanks for supporting us in this chaos, but not only us, all the bands in the local underground scene! Stay true to yourself and Hail to Transylvanian Vampirism!