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Pioneers of Slovenian dark extreme metal, Noctiferia, are not the band with massive or instant production. Rather than that, the guys from Ljubljana decided to walk a deliberate path, and whenever we get a new release from them is a special one. After the acoustic album with reworked songs from their previous three albums, Transnatura (2016), with which they stepped away from metal into dark mystical and experimental folk/jazz, Noctiferia released a special album, a tribute to their idols, Laibach, Reforma - Tribute To Laibach. The band began in 1994 as a black/death metal band that later turned into the extreme-industrial metal machine and is becoming more and more prominent with each new release. Because of their professional attitude, they always enthuse their loyal fan base all around the world. Noctiferia is most certainly not a kind of a band doing bodged kind of things, and that's the main reason why we need to wait for four or five years between each its release. Noctiferia is an original band, striving to be different, though always accurate. This interview is the first "face to face" one in a long time, conducted on a hot August evening at the Slovenian seaside, about two hours before Noctiferia's performance. Which was great, by the way. We talked with one of the two founders and original members, guitarist Igor Nardin, about their latest release and many other things regarding Noctiferia. It is all here.
Interview with: Igor Nardin
Conducted by: Tomaz, Jerneja
Translated and edited by: Jerneja
Tomaz: In May, Noctiferia released the album Reforma, containing Laibach covers. How long have you been working on it, and how was the public response?
Igor: The response was surprisingly good, as from Laibach as metal public. The critics are even better than expected. Most of the written reviews were very positive regarding this Noctiferia project. But yeah, it took us quite some time to release Reforma. At first, we only wanted to cover the "Smrt za smrt" track - the idea came when we were working on the material for the Transnatura album. Before the Transnatura got released in December 2016, we had already recorded some Laibach covers. So, in a way, we were working on two projects at the same time, though, at first, we didn't intend to make an album out of Laibach covers, more like EP. But the cover songs kept piling, and in January 2020, we had all the material for Reforma - Tribute To Laibach prepared. Unfortunately, the pandemic slowed things down.
Tomaz: It is usually harder to make an album out of covers. If nothing else, there is a greater risk...
Igor: Definitely, especially when not dealing with classical covers but remakes. Regarding Reforma - if not familiar with the lyrics, one probably wouldn't recognise Laibach's songs. Perhaps only "Eurovision" and "Smrt za smrt". The other tracks are completely different. They have different structures; in other words, we made them our own.
Jerneja: What about Laibach - how did they react to the cover proposal?
Igor: They have been very supportive from the beginning. They were interested in how would the whole thing sound and what is our approach to it. We've sent them some previews, and they were satisfied with them. But since they are not into metal, they couldn't have given an entirely relevant evaluation.
Jerneja: Is there any track Laibach stated about it to be even better than the original?
Igor: No, that didn't happen. We have been talking with Laibach's bandleader and songwriter, Jani Novak, and, regarding the conversation, they don't listen to metal music but gave us their full support for this project.
Tomaz: Since Laibach has an extensive musical opus, I wonder how you decided on the tracks for covers?
Igor: "Smrt za smrt" was the first track we chose. It's a groovy track that already sounds like Noctiferia. After that, we decided on "Now You Will Pay" and "Das Spiel Ist Aus". Then we were performing concerts with the Transnatura album and put this project aside for some time. Then search for a label started, having just some demo records, Nika Records suggested recording the whole album first. And that's what we did.
Tomaz: Regarding Noctiferia musical style, I would also expect cover tracks of "God Is God" or "The Cross", to name some...
Igor: "God Is God" is not Laibach's track; it's the Juno Reactor's track cover. But it's a great song. As for me, I've always been Laibach's fan - regarding its designs and aesthetics, but I only became its music fan when the album WAT got released in 2003. I bought this album, and I've been listening to it. That's why three out of seven tracks is from WAT. Then we decided on an older track - "Nova akropola", for it has a great concept. The rest of the tracks we took from the WAT album's followers. Also, "Smrt za smrt" is a remake of the Laibach Revisited's version, which is insanely good, even better than the original one... About "The Cross" - it must have had slipped out on me. Some Laibach's albums we haven't even checked out properly. We bypassed the Jesus Christ Superstars album, for example, since the guitar has too rock sound for my taste. Although I think Matej Mršnik is a great guitarist. Yeah, perhaps we should have had checked on some other albums also.
Jerneja: I'm interested in how would the "Edelweiss" track sound in your version...
Igor: I don't know. We had a few more tracks on lager, but we decided to leave them out since we were in a hurry a little. Especially, regarding the fact that the idea for the album emerged in 2015 already.
Tomaz: And what effect do you think these collaborations provided regarding the recognisability of the album?
Igor: I don't know. If nothing else, any additional sharing on social media and other channels means more promotion for the release. Although, Reforma - Tribute To Laibach was meant to be a musical work of many artists from the very beginning.
Tomaz: Many people described you - regarding this album - as an extreme version of Rammstein. I know you are not happy with this comparison or with comparisons in general, though, I must say, it is a legitimate one...
Igor: Yeah, I'm not fond of comparisons, but I guess, in this case, it is probably because of quantized beats. Besides, some tracks are in the German language, which also provokes associations... There are not many bands like Noctiferia, meaning being metal with only added electronics sounds. Classic industrial bands usually operate with, let's say, 70% of electronics sounds. If you take away the synths, the music decomposes. It is nothing like that with Noctiferia's music - namely, we only use synths for enriching the atmosphere. There are some bands like White Zombie, Rob Zombie, and also Rammstein functioning in the same way as Noctiferia. Here we could probably find another comparison with Rammstein - although its music structure is more pop and Noctiferia is still a metal band.
Tomaz: Now, about the album cover... I guess many see it as a vase with flowers, but it has a different gist...
Igor: It's about reform - about changing the purpose of something. The vase is a futuristic sculpture of Mussolini transformed into a vase. And with flowers in it, it presents a tribute - not to Mussolini, of course, but to Laibach.
Tomaz: Before Reforma - Tribute To Laibach, you released, to the surprise of many, the Transnatura album, which presents an entirely different musical style. We haven't been talking about it yet since the last interview we had was right after the release of Pax in 2014. Although it's been about five years since Transnatura got released, you still perform with it, also tonight...
Igor: Less and less... It all started with an invitation to Jure Longyka's show on national radio - "Izštekani". We were to perform a small concert with covers of our own tracks there. We liked how it all turned out, and we were drowned like little children into the idea to continue. The whole thing then evolved into an ambitious project also joined by some guests. It took us about a year and a half to release the album, and once out, we did the usual, presenting it on concerts and tours... I guess it was similar with Reforma - Tribute To Laibach - at least regarding this child's enthusiasm being present. I got an idea for Laibach's covers when listening to "Smrt za smrt" at one of their concerts, and I first thought there was much room for metal. So, Noctiferia started to work on this project, one cover track after another, as already mentioned.
Tomaz: In all this time also the Noctifera's line-up has changed quite a lot...
Igor: Yes, keyboard player Dame Tomoski joined us for the Pax album. He came from Macedonia to study composition in Ljubljana, and since he had already been a fan of Noctiferia, we quickly connected with him. He made the arrangements for Pax and Transnatura albums and some tracks for Reforma - Tribute To Laibach but then went further abroad. So, we are again without a keyboard player at the time. Also, Urban Krč replaced Matjaž Gergeta on drums in 2019, and Andrej Blatnik the guitarist Roman Fileš in 2020. They both were long-time members of Noctiferia but decided to leave due to a lack of time and focus.
Tomaz: I've always thought that Roman Fileš was one of the essential members of Noctiferia, responsible for many compositions?
Igor: No, he wasn't involved in the process of making music. He took care of the organizations of concerts and tours and similar stuff.
Jerneja: So, only you and the bassist Uroš Lipovec stick with Noctiferia since its very beginning in 1994?
Igor: Yes, but our singer Gianni Poposki has also been the band member for a long time - 19 years.
Tomaž: You are currently without a keyboard player, so, when performing - back on matrix, I guess.
Igor: Well, nothing new to us. We act like before Dame joined us, and he was only with us for about three years. Anyway, only the new album involves that many synths' sounds, otherwise we only used synths in some intros or as additions. So, it's not a problem, really.
Tomaz: If we return to Reforma - Tribute To Laibach... In my opinion, it is the darkest album since the year 2000. The synths make it sound somehow atmospheric, even gothic...
Igor: Yes, the synths are definitively more in front - it suits the electronic genre and this mid-tempo. Although, there was no intention for them to sound gothic since none of the band's members is a fan of gothic music.
Tomaz: Will we get to see you sharing the stage with Laibach by any chance?
Igor: I don't know. So far, we haven't planned anything regarding this matter. Laibach and Noctiferia are two different worlds. Of course, some people listen to metal and Laibach, but these are still two very different and specific productions. It could be possible, though, most likely at some festival.
Tomaz: What are Noctiferia's plans now? Will we also have to wait this long?
Igor: Hopefully, not. We have already some music pieces stored. Besides, we decided to take a simpler approach this time and to return to the analogue. Nowadays' digital music sounds much the same - that is why we want to return to the "old fashion" way of making music. That is to record instruments and then add some digital sounds, and not the other way around.
Tomaz: You have recently signed with a new label - Blood Blast Distribution, a sub-label of the Nuclear Blast. How did you come in contact with them?
Igor: We have collaborated with Extreme Management Group from the USA for our last album's purposes. So, it was them who made this happen. They also take care of PR and promotions for Noctiferia.
Tomaz: And how are you satisfied with Blood Blast Distribution so far?
Igor: They only take care of digital sales. The album got released at the end of May, and I'm not familiar with the sale's numbers. But regarding Nika Records, the sales are good. Definitively better than in the Transnatura case. Probably because it was difficult to promote it - namely, I still don't know what would its target audience be; most of the Transnatura albums got sold at our gigs.
Tomaz: Are you already planning any tours in hopefully soon to come post-pandemic times?
Igor: We are just working on it. We would like to promote the album abroad since Slovenia is just too small; you get to perform a few gigs, and that's it. The fact is, that market for metal music is abroad, and that is where we want to go. But in these uncertain times, agencies tend to be very precautious when it comes to making tours' bookings since it became a high-risk investment.
Tomaz: Thank you, Igor, for the interview! Now that it has come to an end, do you want to communicate something to Terra Relicta readers and Noctiferia's fans?
Igor: The biggest wish right now is that everything goes to normal so that you can check us live.
Noctiferia links: Official website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bandcamp, Spotify, Myspace, YouTube
Noctiferia line-up:
Igor Nardin (guitars, keyboards, programming), Uroš Lipovec (bass), Gianni Poposki (vocals, percussion), Urban Krč (drums), Andrej Blatnik (guitars)
Noctiferia discography:
Baptism At Savica Fall (1998)
Per Aspera (2002)
Slovenska Morbida (2006)
Death Culture (2010)
Pax (2014)
Transnatura (2016)
Reforma - Tribute To Laibach (2021)
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