Anyone that actively follows the Serbian black metal scene was very fortunate to have witnessed the triumphant return of Nadsvest with their brand-new debut album "Slovo Meseca I Krvi", 5 years since the release of their first EP "Kolo Ognja I Železa". For those of you who are unaware of them, Nadsvest is a two-piece band formed in 2018, founded by S, whom you may know as Atterigner of Gorgoroth and ex-Triumfall fame, alongside A, also known as Krigeist of bands such as Svartgren, Barshasketh, Belliciste, Ophidian Coil, Thy Darkened Shade (live/session) and many more. Both members are highly experienced in their craft thanks to being constantly active in the field of black metal, which serves a great contribution to their work in the band. Nadsvest has gained a lot of attraction for being highly influenced by European dark folklore, particularly Serbian, which is omnipresent in their music and atmosphere that is predominantly focused towards the style of occult black metal bands such as Master's Hammer, Root, Malokarpatan, Tormentor, Negative Plane and others. When it was unveiled that the band had signed to Soulseller Records and that the new album "Slovo Meseca I Krvi" is on pre-order sales with the official release date of May 17th this year, it was an unexpected turn of events that caught many by surprise. After some time had passed, it's clear that the feedback from fans and critics regarding the new album was a highly positive one, and thus it resulted in more interest shifting towards Nadsvest. If you are interested to learn more about Nadsvest and thread into their territory, please join me as I share a few words with both members of the band, discussing their history together, their work on the new album, and plenty of other things along the way.

Vladimir

Greetings brothers, a heart-warming welcome on behalf of MetalBite magazine. How are you doing today?

A: Hi, doing well today. Thanks for the interview!

S: All well here, and thanks from my side too.

I have just heard your new album "Slovo Meseca I Krvi", and just as I mentioned a couple of times, it is one mean album that successfully exceeded all my expectations. It is very different from your debut EP, it's much darker and more menacing as a whole, but that's what I like about it. How did you guys focus on the songwriting process of this album? What is it that you wanted to achieve this time differently from your "Kolo Ognja I Železa" EP? What was the direction that you were going with?

A: The songs developed over a fairly long period of time, and were reworked a number of times until we'd achieved the atmosphere we wanted. I think in terms of what we wanted to achieve and the direction we took, it was something quite vague and nebulous. It was more about achieving the right mood and atmosphere, rather than aiming for any particular sonic style.

S: Nothing to add here, A explained it perfectly.

Although the album was successfully teased with the single and first track of the album, "Vihori Boja", which song from Slovo meseca i krvi would you guys choose as your personal favorite and for what reason?

A: I think for me, the fourth track "Pojanje Crno" is my current favourite. I think this track perfectly encapsulates the menace, malevolence and mystery we were aiming for. It's hard to choose though, as every song has its purpose on the album and the overall flow of the entire work was something we considered very carefully. We wanted to ensure that the musical narrative flowed and followed the narrative laid out in the lyrics.

S: I can agree with A here that abovementioned song has almost all touches we wanted to encapture in this album, which make it very representative and it does stand out for me too. On the other hand, closing track with Alexandros on guest vocal appearance is something I also revisit often. I feel like that one is crowned with some of the darkest moments of the album, both lyrically and musically and takes me exactly where I want to be when listening to black metal.

It's been 5 years since your first EP was released and fans have been hungry for the new album to come out, and now that it is finally here you can tell that it was worth the wait. Was there anything challenging or demanding that you faced during the making of this new album?

A: I don't think there were any particularly demanding challenges that we faced during the writing and recorded process, except for perhaps a lack of time. We are both involved in a lot of other pursuits, artistic and otherwise, so finding the time needed to fully dedicate to crafting the album was difficult at times.

When you guys started out with Nadsvest in 2019 with your first EP, you obviously had a lot of past experience that you brought to the table and then used it to craft this new devilry. What can you tell me about how the band came to be and what were your initial plans when you formed Nadsvest?

A: We had already known each other for a few years before Nadsvest was formed. The idea grew organically out of many discussions and a shared passion for black metal. The initial plans were fairly basic in the beginning – to create dark and sinister black metal with a distinctly Serbian flavour.

S: I guess we also wanted to explore some fields we haven't been able to touch with our other projects and try to create something that we were missing so far.

I always loved the fact that the band's sound and style never shifted towards that second wave black metal like most bands do, in fact there are a lot of elements of bands such as Master's Hammer, Sarcofago, Beherit, Blasphemy, Mortuary Drape, Tormentor, Bathory and so forth. How did you guys come up with the decision of incorporating this kind of sound for Nadsvest?

A: I don't know if it was a conscious decision to incorporate those sounds. The first EP had a much heavier dose of second wave black metal within it, but those sounds were largely absent by the time the split with Necrobode came about. We are certainly fans of the bands you've listed, especially S. but from my side, the style came about naturally in the songs I wrote. I aimed to sonically capture my experiences of living in Serbia, from the greys of urban settings in the cold months, to the mystery and darkness that lies over the wilds of eastern Serbia.

S: I always felt that rural ritualistic atmosphere of the bands like Master's Hammer/ Root, necromantic and horror invocations of Mortuary Drape, early Death SS and chaotic aggression of Sarcofago embodied the unique energy essential for black metal music, but somehow that sound, in shadow of 90s and early 2000s bands wasn't widely spread. I found myself many times drawing inspiration from those gems in order to make our tunes more "wild and free, primordial"!

The band's lyrical themes deal a lot with the Serbian dark folklore, this time it's more focused towards the predominantly lycanthropic aspect. Are there any particular works of literature and cinema revolving around dark folklore that have influenced your work?

S: Lyrical themes were strongly rooted in researches of folkloric symbolism, rituals we could find in some works of historians of religion of 19th and early 20th century. A lot of inspiration also comes from Serbian epic ballads, both in spiritual and morphological aspects which can give transic vibrations to the lyrical lines. If we had to mention something regarding cinema in the context for this release, then it would definitely be "She Butterfly" (Leptirica) with its haunting soundscapes.

Both of you have performed and still perform in various other bands, with you A. especially being involved in lots of different projects and you S. doing band artwork under Khaos Diktator Design. How do you guys manage to keep up that tempo?

A: I can barely keep up to be honest. I've put a lot of projects to rest and ended my cooperation with some other bands. The well of creativity only runs so deep, so I made the decision to focus on the projects that held something unique and gave me some artistic satisfaction.

S: I guess it is the same with me.

This might be a bit of a difficult question for both of you, but here it is: Since you guys are very active and also experienced in the field of black metal, and on top of that you are always staying inspired to keep on going. What exactly fuels the engine and the hunger for you guys to continue working in this extreme form of metal?

A: At this stage, it's not even a choice really. I have a compulsive need to create, where it springs from, I couldn't say. It's actually pretty inconvenient at times, with sleepless nights, not being punctual for other engagements. When the stream of creativity opens, I'm pretty much incapable of doing anything else until things are just the way I want them to sound and the mood is just right. It's almost like squeezing an infected wound, prodding at it and applying pressure until all the pus and corruption has been expelled. One of the reasons I reduced my number of projects was to ensure this stream of creativity didn't dry up and so I could direct it to things I'm more passionate about.

S: Again same. It is certainly not a matter of choice and that stream of creativity can also be a burden a lot of times.

As a last question, what would you say is what matters the most in black metal music? What is in your honest opinion, the definition of "true/pure black metal"?

A: Obviously it has to spring from the nightside, in whichever form you might interpret that. It requires a fanatical devotion to the artform and its associated ideals. It requires a deeply personal relationship with darkness on a daily basis. It is more than riffs and composition, it should reflect the artist's journey on their path and all the struggles and triumphs that entails. All things severely lacking in today's scene. Personality, character and a zealous devotion to the art are key things and can clearly be heard in any black metal of note.

S: It is a vessel of adversarial forces.