Graveborne – The Highwire Daze Legacy Interviews

Graveborne – The Highwire Daze Legacy Interviews

Graveborne Bio: In 2008, the Finnish winter was thawed by hellish fire as two demons rose from the grave to form GRAVEBORNE. Marchosias and drummer Pentele first ignited the flame and recruited their legion – guitarist Brutalust, bassist Kalmo, and vocalist Raivo – to create intense black metal with the integrity, conviction, and aggression of the ’90s black metal scene. GRAVEBORNE unite the classic purity of traditional black metal with destructive melodies, unrelenting heaviness, and intense energy.

The Infernal Wrath of Graveborne

Originally Published: 01/18/14

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Graveborne, and how long the band has been together.
My name is Pentele and I’m the drummer of Graveborne. We have been together since 2008.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local metal scene like there?
We are based in Helsinki, Finland. There are a lot, if not many metal bands here. However, there are not that much opportunities and places to play gigs, especially when the scene is so packed.

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title Through The Window of the Night?
Yes there is. The comes from the song “Misericordia”. The phrase “window of the night” refers to the firmament. A starlit night sky is a classic poetic image and metaphor often used in thematic context of death and vanitas. The unfathomable vastness of space has always triggered a sense of the total insignificance of human deeds and existence in me already since I was a kid. It is a sort of nihilistic arch-image of absolute death, i.e., that there are no fixed meaning or values. In the song the Fallen One speaks through the window of the night, he delivers a message: besides absolute death, the starlit sky is also symbol for rebellion. As we all know, Satan was cast out of Heaven with his army of rebellious angels. Playing with an ancient theory that stars are holes in the sky which the light of Heaven shines through, I suggest that it was the casting out of Satans army that pierced those holes. So, the stars represent the rebellious, promethean attitude and willpower that is needed to re-evaluate all values and continue your existence knowing that there are no solid ground for any values. In the end all is meaningless.

Select two songs from Through The Window of the Night and what inspired the lyrics.
The lyrics of the opening track of the album “Burn the City of God” was inspired by the song itself. The first thing that came into my mind when I first heard it was war: the first riff feels like driving a tank, and the next one sounds like a marching army. The lyrics are quite basic blasphemous roaring. The war, however, takes place in Heaven to which both names – “The City of God” and “New Jerusalem”– mentioned in the song refer to. As such, the song is associated with “Misericordia” and its allusions to the War in Heaven as described above. So, in the context of the main theme of the album the song can be interpreted as a metaphor of the renouncement of one’s faith in all transcendent truths.

“Todkrieg” is more directly connected with the albums theme. As everyone familiar with Nietzsche will notice, the lyrics are heavily based on his “Todkrieg gegen das Laster”. I have, however, twisted the idea of text from a plain anti-christian attack to a more creed-like manifesto of a death cult.

How does this album compare to your previous release Pure Negativity?
I think the songs are more focused and the sound is much more heavier and dirtier on TTWOTN.

Who did the artwork for Through The Window of the Night and how much input did you have on it?
The artwork was done by Markus Räisänen, who also did it for our debut album. We discussed with Markus about the main theme of the album, the style and colors, and some references in art history, but gave him free hands to make his own visual interpretation. One of those art historical references was the so-called “Flammarion” engraving that represents a man crawling under the edge of the firmament. I really like how, Markus took this idea of passing through one dimension to another to the context of the casting out of Satan from Heaven.

What could one expect from a live Graveborne show?
We like to keep it simple. There are just five guys in corpsepaint drenched in blood, wearing leather and a lot of spikes, studs, and bullet belts. There is no talk or other bullshitting on the stage, we just play the set through as aggressively as possible with minimal or no pauses between the songs.

Has Graveborne ever played here in the States or plan to do so in future days?
Thus far we have only played in Finland. It would be great to perform abroad, especially on your side of the Atlantic since I’ve never been there.

If you could open up for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Robert Johnson, only to show him where his pact with the devil has led us.

What is your favorite beer of choice and why?
I don’t have any particular brand in mind, though, I’ve recently come to like Belgian and Dutch Trappist beers.

What’s up next for Graveborne?
Hopefully we will get some gigs to play. In the summer we will probably start writing new material for the next album.

Any final words of wisdom?
Thanks for the interview. Readers, buy the new album, it will truly support the underground!

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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