DARKESTRAH

The nation of Kyrgyzstan, also known as the Kyrgyz Republic, is a Central Asian nation of rugged mountains and windswept plains, which sits as the meeting place of many cultures, including Chinese, Muslim, Russian and Kazakh influences. It was part of the Great Silk Road which rambled from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China. People think of the United States as a melting pot, but Kyrgyzstan takes a back seat to no one in that regard. It’s a land where ancient traditions and respect for nature live on. And believe it or not, heavy metal has also made a home there.

Although the members of DARKESTRAH now reside in Germany, they are originally from Kyrgyzstan and they keep the history of their home country close to their hearts. They play a unique and powerful form of metal blending folk sounds of their homeland with huge and expansive black metal. I first heard them on their album “The Great Silk Road”, which blew across my mind like a whirlwind from the steppes of Kyrgyz. Rarely have I heard such a fresh and powerful sound.

The newest DARKESTRAH masterpiece is “Nomad”, which continues their time-lost tradition of Central Asian black metal in grand fashion. Black metal is known for having an “ancient” sound, but I haven’t heard a more authentic example than DARKESTRAH. Members Asbath and Cerritus took some time from their pillaging to speak to Wormwood…

WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Greetings and hails to DARKESTRAH, it is a pleasure to speak with you! The press sheet for the new album “Nomad” mentions that you have some “new blood” in the band. Can you let us know just who is in DARKESTRAH at the present time?

ASBATH: Greetings! The pleasure is ours. As of now DARKESTRAH are Charuk on vocals and percussion, Resurgemus on guitars and keyboards, Cerritus on bass and temir-komuz, Magus on several traditional instruments, strings, winds and percussion and backing vocals, and me, Asbath, on drums and percussion. Whereas I, Resurgemus and Cerritus are in the band for ages, Charuk and Magus have joined in in 2020, during the recording session of our previous EP “Chong-Aryk” and “Nomad” is the first time when we worked from the start with regard to their exceptional skill and knowledge of using traditional acoustic instruments in metal context. 

CERRITUS: There were also some new faces among the guest musicians on the album. Apart from our long time comrades in arms, Sharthar (cello) and Mono (acoustic guitars and throat singing) we had C.M.W. who played keyboards and recorder and Morten Bye, a Norwegian musician who we met by pure chance and who’s awesome throat singing my be heard on several song. 

WC: I know all of your albums deal with myths and history of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. Is “Nomad” a concept album dealing with a particular myth or hero of that past?

C: “Nomad” is the first DARKESTRAH album I wrote lyrics for that has no strict concept. Instead, I finally had the opportunity to implement several ideas that were ,so to say, in my backlog because they didn’t quite fit any of the into previous releases. “Destroyer of Obstacles” is based on ancient Mongolian hymn to Mahakala, “Nomad” is a contemplation on current event in the world, but written as if from a perspective of a nomad of old, “Quest for the Soul” describes a shamanic ritual, the so called “soul-searching”, the words in “The Dream of Kojojash” are a fragment of traditional Kyrgyz epic poetry translated into English. The only absolutely new idea was “Kök-oy”...that is, when the song was composed we decided that it would be another “Oy”-song, but since we already have songs about all Oys that I know to really exist, I decided to write about an imaginary place instead.  

WC: I know some actual Kyrgyz classical poetry is part of the music. Were these poems something you had always known about or did it take a lot of research to find them?

A: Kyrgyz epic poetry is well known in Kyrgyzstan, especially the epic of Manas that is considered to be one of the crucial national cultural treasures. Several important things are named after the eponymous hero...an airport, an order and a university among others. It is also in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest epic poem in history. We based one of our previous albums on this poem. 

C: I always wanted to use a fragment of Kyrgyz epic poetry for a song lyrics but for whatever reason couldn‘t find a piece that would be fitting. Also, Charuk doesn’t speak Kyrgyz, so it had to be translated. I finally chose a fragment of another poem, Kojojash, for the song „The Dream of Kojojash“ as the theme of an ominous dream was quite in tune with the eerie atmosphere of the song.

WC: No other band I know of mixes black metal and traditional music the way DARKESTRAH does. What is the process of writing like for you? Do you start with folk instruments and move to metal? Or is it the other way around?

A: We normally start with the riffs, they may be inspired by some traditional tune but they almost always come first, then drums, then the arrangement with keyboards and traditional instruments. This time ,however, we knew that we have Charuk and Magus on board, so we knew that there has to be more space to be left for traditional instruments. Charuk also has a great singing voice so the songs were composed with regard that there will be clean vocal parts.   

WC:. Your singer Charuk is a woman from Iran. She has an amazing on-stage presence. There must be an interesting story about how she became part of the band. Tell us a bit more about her.

A: We got in touch with Charuk and Magus through a mutual acquaintance when they were already living in Germany and had several projects together such as  NASHMEH, PAGANLAND, MOGH. We liked their music and we have invited NASHMEH to perform a show with us. During the recording of “Chong-Aryk” we fired our singer Merkith and had to think about the replacement and decided to invite Charuk. Funny enough for Resurgemus, Cerritus and me she was the first person who came to mind, so we didn’t even have a discussion. At the same time we decided to invite Magus to play acoustic instruments. 

C: It was an instant hit! The very first takes they did sounded great and when they finally were able to come to Leipzig (it was in 2020, mind you) the result skyrocketed. What they did in one afternoon just improvising with us would probably take us months of trial-and-error otherwise. 

WC: DARKESTRAH is known for being a “shamanic” band.  Do the members participate in shamanic rituals to get inspiration? And if so, what kind of visions have they had?

C: I’ve read a lot on shamanism, but I rarely practiced. I guess I am too skeptical for that. And the spiritual experience that I had is too personal to discuss openly. Magus and Charuk are way more into mystical practices than I am. 

WC: Most of mankind now seems to live in the world of the machine. People are less and less involved with nature. Using black metal, is DARKESTRAH giving us a path back to the natural world?

A: At least I hope we do. That is probably one of the most crucial ideas behind DARKESTRAH, so I‘d like to hope that it works. 

WC:  Do you think the ancient people of the steppes that you write about would have appreciated your music? Or would they have been terrified of it?

A: It‘s an interesting question. The thing is, several traits in Central Asian musical culture surprisingly resemble Black Metal. Tremolo picking is a common way to play the traditional Kyrgyz lute, the komuz, and throat singing resembles harsh vocals. We‘ve also received compliments from people who know nothing of metal but are well versed in traditional music. So the answer wouldn‘t probably be a straight „no“ here.

WC: You use a lot of traditional Kyrgyz instruments in your music. Is there one instrument in particular that is special to you, that means more than the others?

C: I like that gigantic Tibetian horn, the dungchen, that Magus has introduced to our music and shows. Both the droning sound and the visual presence are mind-blowing. I myself play the jaw harp, the temir-komuz, a little instrument I was always fascinated with.

WC: How did your deal with Osmose come about? This label should give you a lot of exposure that you haven’t had before.

A: We’ve been signed to Osmose in the 2010s already, but after “Turan” our contract was fulfilled. However when we’ve recorded “Nomad” we asked them again if they were interested and they were. 

WC:  Are there any live tours or shows planned for 2024? It would be great to see you in the US but I think that would be hard to do.

C: We just came home after playing at Turku Saatanalle, a great festival in Finland. Several things are in the planning at the moment, but nothing is sure yet. 

WC: What was the most unusual live gig you’ve played?

A: In 2022 we‘ve traveled to Australia, specifically to Hobart, Tasmania, to be part of the Dark Mofo festival. It is surely the longest and the most insane trip in our career so far. The show itself was also great...the organization, the technical part and the audience. Imagine you cross the Equator, travel to another continent and then some, and then you get over to the stage and somebody is calling out for “Cult Tengri“!

C: Same here. Tasmania was something out of books about geographic discoveries that I‘ve read as a kid, antarctic expeditions and such, not a place where you can actually come to and play at.

WC: Have you ever played in Kyrgyzstan itself? Is the country open to metal music or is it repressed?

A: We did when we were still living there. With DARKESTRAH  and ODYN’S NOCTURNAL NORTH, my band before DARKESTRAH and several other bands I’ve been in. Back in the 90s Kyrgystan had a vibrant metal scene, all relevant genres were present, gigs every week etc. But no money and thus no future. Even a computer capable of producing a decent demo recording was a rarity, so most of the bands didn’t leave anything substantial for eternity and disbanded.  

Generally there were no problems with such music in Kyrgyzstan apart from those any post-soviet country had back then, which were more annoying than dangerous. 

WC: If you could have dinner with any 3 people from history, who would they be?

C: Nestor Makhno, Friedrich Nietzsche and Claus von Stauffenberg as a rather random choice of historical personalities that fascinate me. Though I don‘t think that a dinner in such company would end up quite well. 

A: J.S. Bach, P.I. Tchaikovsky and Michael Jackson for me. Well, at least all three were musicians. 

WC: Any last messages to the fans?

A: Expect us! “Nomad” is another step in our journey and we ain’t gonna stop!

DARKESTRAH