Agonia Records shot over a review copy of the new Enthroned album, Obsidian. It also came with the opportunity to do an e-mail interview with the group. Nornagest took the time to answer those questions.

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First off I want to thank you for honoring me with this interview, I really appreciate it as a fan. I know you have plenty of other interviews lined up, buy aside that how are you doing today? I hope you’re doing well.

Nornagest:
Everything is fine, just very busy with the upcoming release of Obsidium.

Back in 2009, Enthroned welcomed in Neraath (formerly known as Nerath Daemon) and Garghuf to the fold. Did they have a good deal of influence to the material on Obsidium as compared to with your previous album, Pentagrammaton?

Nornagest:
Neraath has always been a very productive member. Before he left the band in 2004, he did participate pretty much to the song writing, which was a deliverance for me as I was almost the sole song writer within the band, and when he came back in 2009, he was even more enthusiastic and motivated than he ever was and still is today. Pentagrammaton was the album on which I composed the less actually, I wanted to take a step aside to see how the rest of the guys would do, but this was a one time experience only. Garghuf on his side, participated more on Obsidium as well, which is always pleasant, I mean when members are that motivated.

Obsidium definitely sounds a little tighter compared to Pentagrammaton, would you say that in the past few years they have matured and grown with the group to where Enthroned happens to be now?

Nornagest:
To me every day is a new challenge and the same goes for the rest of the band.

Actually, we spent less time thinking about this or that detail, we just focus on the intensity of the moment and I guess this is where our strong point is. I guess after all these years, it is a bit normal as a musician, to improve and perfect your skills.

One of the things I noticed on the album was a sort of hazy audio quality to the production, yet the instruments themselves were still pretty crisp. Was this an intended sound for the album to perhaps establish or enhance a specific atmosphere?

Nornagest:
This would be more a question for Phorgath actually; he is the one who took care of the production and the mix. But all in all, I can say that we just wanted the album to be “wider” than Pentagrammaton. On Pentagrammaton the whole feeling is pretty much as you would be choking in a room full of fungus, but with Obsidium the whole sound and intensity symbolise a certain aspect of the whole album concept, as the production became to us as important as the Lyrics and music, I mean, an integrant part of the composition.

Looking back at the effort, do you think it worked out considering the more aggressive approach to the music?

Nornagest:
Sure it does, why wouldn’t it? Fast and aggressive music is very hard to produce but Phorgath did an awesome job I think.

There were a good number of songs on here that, in the best way I can put it, felt more like an astral projection or nightmarish kind of sound, such as some of the material in “Nonus Sacramentvm – Obsidium.” Can we expect more material like that in future releases?

Nornagest:
Yes, those elements are a full part of Enthroned; we are only talking about real facts that are unknown to most people and we lived those experiences personally, and not under the effect of drugs or anything like that, something I am very serious about, so it is in some way normal that those feelings and experiences come through the music and will come back in the future.

While doing my homework on Enthroned’s more recent activities, I see you’re advertising for a show with Panchrysia and Cult of Erinyes on March 23rd. Is this more of a record release party for the group, or is this more of a precurser to any future tour dates you may have?

Nornagest:
Nah, this is just for the release party of Obsidium. We chose those two bands because they are quality bands, that not a lot of people outside Belgium would necessarily know and we have very good contact with them.

Can we expect Enthroned to be heading their way to North America in the near or distant future? Or is this possibility unlikely? Please explain if possible.

Nornagest:
Well, that would be great and that’s something we’re looking for to do, but we have again and again the same problem which is “How to obtain a Visa?” For the last years, it has been a real challenge to get Visas to be able to tour the US, don’t ask me why but it is like that.

The last time we came to the States with Destroyer 666, everything seemed right then and at the last minutes our Visas were delayed for a half week, so we missed the first four dates just due to some smart ass working at the US Embassy, so… yeah fingers crossed let’s say.How about a music video or something along those lines? I know you’ve released two tracks off the album through Soundcloud so far, but has there been talk of perhaps a promotional video, or any other kind of visual push behind the album from the label?

Nornagest:
Not really, we are not a band that would focus on something such as a video clip. IF we would find the right elements to create a video that would represent perfectly what we want to share then MAYBE, but honestly I’m not too keen about video clips within BM [Black Metal].

I see the press reaction to the album has been pretty favorable, but how about the fans? What has the reaction been like to those two songs for you, or to any parts of the album they may have heard?

Nornagest:
The reactions of the fans are tremendous! Actually we only published one track the other one filtered through an unknown person. But anyway, the reactions have been great; lots of fans are very curious about the rest of the album and the rest are over the moon.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention before I let you go?

Nornagest:
Try to get your filthy hands on Obsidium, you won’t regret it!

Again, thank you for your time. I appreciate it, and I hope everything goes well with “Obsidium” when it drops.

Nornagest:
Thanks!

Interview conducted thanks to Agonia Records.