Interview with Orcrypt

‘PURE GOBLIN BLACK METAL, FORGED IN THE FIRES OF MOUNT DOOM’ is how ORCRYPT describe their music; an unholy alliance of HELLHAMMER, BURZUM and early SATYRICON built around a concept based on Tolkien mythology, Warhammer, and D&D gaming. The three-piece have been creeping around the subterranean regions of the English scene since 2010, when they unleashed their 4-song demo ‘The Mirkwood Massacre’ upon an innocent public. Five years (and hundreds of slaughtered elves) later, their first full length album ‘Mercenaries Of Mordor’ saw them hacking and burning their way to the top of the UKBM mountain, alongside the likes of CRAVEN IDOL and AKERCOCKE. In 2019 the band re-emerged with a changed line-up and new demo ‘Dice & Damnation’, comprising two ruthless new songs and a cover of EMPEROR’s ‘Lord Of The Storms’. Now black smoke is rising over the English countryside once more as they prepare to put out their new album ‘Balrog & Roll’. Taking my life in my hands, I contacted UGLUK (drummer and sole original member), J.R.R. Martin (screamer and Dungeon Master) and guitarist SAMMAEL to talk about black metal, eating man-flesh, and hoping for everlasting pestilence…

 

How did Orcrypt begin and what are your main influences and motivations?

UGLUK - ORCRYPT began to glorify the atmosphere of low-fi black metal masterworks 10 years ago.  A home-recorded demo tape aesthetic pervades our first recordings, and that is exactly what we wanted.  Our riffs and songs are designed to be totally orthodox, unremarkable and entirely within the confines of the vision set forth by the early 90s.

For the debut album, we took lyrical inspiration from the equally flawed Bakshi animated version of Lord of the Rings; It was rough, cheap and unfinished - yet has some of the most stark scenes ever made in a cartoon.

J.R.R. MARTIN - For the new album lyrical inspiration was drawn from Gary Gygax's Dungeons & Dragons. A lot of people seem to have forgotten that in the 80s this simple game was feared as a corrupting and destructive influence in the same way that black metal was in the 90s.

                     

After 'Mercenaries Of Mordor' the line up changed, with GRUUL and GAUROTH departing to be replaced by J.R.R. Martin and SAMMAEL on vocals and guitar respectively. What happened to the old members?

J.R.R. MARTIN - I believe one was eaten by a dragon, and the other started working as a guard for a warlock.

UGLUK - Some people disappeared, some didn't have time.  As a result, the vision of the band is more refined and the new line-up is more appreciative of the foundations of the band.  This is Black Metal for people who reject the overproduced, homogenised trendy music that now parades as Black Metal.  We offer you: raw, underground atmosphere with no aspirations of fame or notoriety.  This is True.

 

What can you tell us about the new album ‘BALROG & ROLL’ and how it compares to 'Mercenaries...'?

SAMMAEL - It's clear we've taken far more influence from other genres and tried to incorporate it into our sound more than Mercenaries did but you can still hear it’s ORCRYPT from all Ugluk has contributed.

UGLUK - People who want it to sound like it's recorded on a dictaphone under a pillow in a cardboard box may be disappointed, but not too much.  The riffs are Classic Black Metal in the style of the debut albums of SUMMONING, ISENGARD and BURZUM, with a little DARKTHRONE and MOTORHEAD. There is also a dark dungeon keyboard track, like on the debut.  That's important - but is strictly MINIMAL. We use broken, low-budget second-hand keyboards from the late 80s to retain that unpolished, low-fi minimal sound.  You could put it on loop to use in a ritual, but you’d have more fun drinking beer.

J.R.R. MARTIN - ORCRYPT are still working within the restrictions we set ourselves, however whereas on “Mercenaries…” the atmosphere dominated the riffs, on this album the riffs are far more dominant. Lyrically the focus has also shifted from Tolkien’s Mordor to Gygax’s Dungeons & Dragons, firstly because everyone seems to be making music about Mordor, and secondly because Dungeons & Dragons is filled with darkness, corruption and evil. Ultimately for a lot of people the appeal of either Dungeons & Dragons or Black Metal is that it gives the opportunity for power fantasies, cathartic release and getting in touch with something deep, dark and primal, we have just merged the two.

     

How does UK black metal differ from what comes out of Scandinavia and elsewhere?

J.R.R. MARTIN - That’s a difficult one. Those Norwegian bands made such an impact and left such an influence that in the thirty-odd years since there are still thousands of bands, from all corners of the globe, that desperately try to sound like those initial demos. But beyond that, there is such variety between those Norwegian bands that they ended up sounding as different as they did similar. Lyrically they often tread the same ground, but change the names and locations. While to their credit, some bands do try to incorporate a “local flavour” to their music, the vast majority of bands end up sounding the same, regardless of where they originated.

SAMMAEL - Genuinely have no idea how to answer that, it's never been something I've considered haha! UK black metal is very similar to Scandinavian black metal except lyrically less centred around Norse Mythology. Though I will make a point that recently I've been listening to a lot of Cumbrian black metal artists, I think they've added more atmosphere and character to Scandinavian black metal. UK black metal often has more humour also, I find a lot more UKBM bands don't take themselves too seriously in comparison with Scandinavian Black Metal.

UGLUK - UK black metal bands largely seek fame and fortune from creating what is largely a load of noise.  We differ because we are honest, without ambition and with zero budget.

 

Do you prefer the 1st and 2nd waves of black metal from the 80s and early 90s or do you favour the modern kind?

UGLUK - Late 80s, early 90s.  Modern Black Metal is extreme metal pop music.  However, there is a growing number of bands and fans rejecting the consumer-friendly polished turd releases of large labels.  We celebrate the grim and raw.  Cult's Not Dead.

SAMMAEL - 1st and 2nd wave... Absolutely.

J.R.R. MARTIN - Why not both? VENOM & BATHORY? Fantastic! MAYHEM, BURZUM, DARKTHRONE, SATYRICON, EMPEROR? All incredible! But did these bands stand still? No. They changed, evolved, and expanded. Some people like that, some don’t. Bands like VOICES, ZEAL & ARDOR and Video Nasties are continuing to take black metal into new spaces. Some of it I like, some I don’t, some is barely black metal anymore. But that isn’t what ORCRYPT is about. ORCRYPT was built upon and thrives within our self-imposed limitations.

                        

The black metal scene has been criticised for the right-wing politics of many of its top bands. Is the criticism justified, and where do you stand on the NSBM issue?

SAMMAEL - is NSBM becoming an issue in black metal? I've heard about it multiple times over the last few weeks... Politics has no place in black metal, in my opinion.

I, like most others, don't want to be associated with it.

J.R.R. MARTIN - One’s politics are one’s own. If someone makes a political statement, through their words, actions, or music, they open themselves up to criticism and debate. When a band or musician is called out they can attempt to: justify their actions; explain if they were misunderstood; or apologise. In a lot of cases though, bands don’t do this, becoming defensive or insulting fans and journalists, and it creates drama. As for NSBM itself, I have no time for it.

UGLUK - All of that finished in the mid 90’s.  That was 25 years ago.  Our only political agenda is to enslave all under the heel of Morgoth!

 

How has Covid19 and the lockdown affected the band?

UGLUK - It hasn't. We have been social distancing since birth.

SAMMAEL - Hasn't affected me a great deal, I never left the dungeon anyway.

J.R.R. MARTIN - It’s true. We barely tolerate each other, let alone other people.

 

What are Orcrypt's plans for the future after lockdown?

SAMMAEL - We've got a few things in mind!

UGLUK - We will finish mixing the new album and release it.  But we hope lockdown continues for eternity.

J.R.R. MARTIN - Once lockdown ends we might have to finally make that music video we were thinking about.

 

What is the most memorable experience you've had with Orcrypt?

UGLUK - Recording the debut album onto an aged, sun worn cassette, then recording back onto the computer to master.  It is gloriously low-fi and is like listening to it on Long Wave radio. 66.6 Long Wave Mordor International radio broadcast

SAMMAEL - The creation of the music has a certain black magic to it I'll never forget.

 

Which new UK bands would you recommend?

J.R.R. MARTIN - VOICES, DEVASTATOR, OLD FOREST, VIDEO NASTIES.

SAMMAEL - Check out our brothers OLD FOREST, a big influence on me in general... Another great band is OLD CORPSE ROAD!

UGLUK - ORCRYPT!

 

Any further comments?

SAMMAEL - Check out deathtomusic.com for more from ORCRYPT!

UGLUK -Curse the Elves, feast on Man-Flesh and listen to ORCRYPT!

J.R.R. MARTIN - Roll dice, worship Satan, enter the ORCRYPT!

 

Thanks a lot for agreeing to do this!

J.R.R. MARTIN - Thanks for asking us and thank you for your continued support!

 

The new ORCRYPT album ‘Balrog & Roll’ is due out soon. You get a taste of it from the song ‘Vermintide’, which is on the new Wulfhere Productions compilation ‘Supporting British Black Metal Vol. 4, alongside songs from SKIDDAW, SKULLTHRONE, WHINLATTER, ULFARR, BLASPHEMOUS DEGRADATION, GOATVOMIT 666 and VOLNIR.

 

 

J. Cooper

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