Black Lilium: Sonnets From A Dead Man’s Diary

Photo Credit: Andy Grünitz

Black Lilium: Sonnets From A Dead Man’s Diary

“I’m hiding in the darkest corner of your mind, I’m in the backseat but I can take control of the way you drive,” is the ominuous commencement to Black Lilium’s exhilarating new album Dead Man’s Diary.  Presenting an absolutely thrilling take on an alternative metal genre amalgamation, the music of Black Lilium is sure to inspire all types of music fanatics looking for a new auditory adventure.  Based out of Germany, Black Lilium is sure to devastate an entire world with the 11 sonnets found within the thrilling confines of Dead Man’s Diary.  Highwire Daze recently caught up with a few of the Black Lilium members to find out more about this amazing band on the rise…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Black Lilium, and how long the band has been together.
Jan: I’m born and raised in northern Germany, close to the Baltic Sea. My job is to play drums and to take care of some organizational and administrative matters.

Marcel and I founded Black Lilium in 2014. Maurice joined us the first time in 2013, left for a few month and came back in 2014. In April 2017 we recorded guitars, bass and drums at LSD-Studios in Lübeck. Felix started recording vocals and keyboards in the summer of 2017. So we have been together for two and a half years now.

Where is the band based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
Jan: We are based out a little town called Eutin. At least that’s the place we started Black Lilium. I don‘t know of an existent music scene in Eutin and surrounding area. We just know each other from other music projects from the past.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Dead Man’s Diary title?
Felix: Not really. All the lyrics COULD actually be parts of the same persons story/diary, but that kind of happened by chance I guess. Well, the fact that they’re written by the same person might add to this, but there was never any plan we followed besides just making an album that feels like „ours“.

Cover art: Chris Valentine

Select two songs from Dead Man’s Diary and what inspired the lyrics.
Felix: : I’ll pick Demon In Disguise and „Beast In The Backseat then. First one was inspired by a thing that many people might have experienced at least once in their life. It’s about falling for a person who is not quite like they seem to be. There are many different ways to get into such kind of situations and you barely ever know it before it’s too late.

The Beast In The Backseat is about things that many of us might have to battle – fear, insecurity, doubt and other feelings that make it hard to go through life the way it feels we should be able to. In this case, we see through the eyes of some kind of being which personifies all of these emotions.

Who did the cover art for Dead Man’s Diary and how much influence did you have on it?
Jan: The first idea for the cover art was designed by Hanz Mann, a friend of Marcel and mine. Hanz passed away in October 2018. So Felix asked Chris Valentine from South Africa to develop it further. We are very pleased with the result.

What could one expect from a live Black Lilium show?
Maurice: A good performance with a few extras 😉

If Black Lilium could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Lasse: Any heavy band with a melodic background and a fun live show

Has Black Lilium ever played here in the States or plan to do so in future days?
Jan: We haven’t played live yet. Our current plan is to play a few gigs this year in our area.

Vocalist Felix is/was also involved in a band called White Lilium? How does this band compare or differ from Black Lilium and have these two bands ever played together?
Jan: White Lilium quit many years before Black Lilium was founded, so these 2 bands could never have played a show together. But that’s fine, since it would have been pretty tough to sing in 2 shows in a row. The music Black Lilium writes is quite different from what White Lilium did. The only thing both bands have in common, might be doing some type of metal. In the end, the most important thing to be said is this: Black Lilium was named Black Lilium a long time before Felix was even thought of to become the bands singer, so no one really meant to create a connection between these 2 bands.

Are any of the members involved in bands or projects outside of Black Lilium?
Jan: Felix is also part of the alternative pop band “OH FYO!”  Maurice has a Melodic Death Metal project called Surfyction. They are currently in the songwriting phase and will play live pretty soon.

What’s up next for Black Lilium?
Jan: The next steps are recording one or two videos and playing live.

Any final words of wisdom?
Nothing is final

Line-Up:
Felix Hochkeppel – Vocals
Marcel Wroblewski – Guitar
Jan Knoop – Drums
Lasse Lammert – Bass
Maurice Scholz – Guitar

(Intervuew by Ken Morton)

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