"I do the guitar, bass, keyboards, sampling, vocals, electronics, bone percussion, and all of that. I also write the lyrics and the music. Lurker does guitars, bass, keyboards, sampling, vocals, electronics, bone percussion, etc. he also writes the song structures."
I must ask, why was Vrolok on hold?
"Because it was overwhelming us. We are still recording, truth be told...it is just much easier to tell people that the band is idle so no one expects anything. Everyone expects something...We no longer operate as most bands to, though. For a while, that was happening. We'd say it's time to record, plan it out, and do it....We simply record now, releaseing things as we see fit....we recorded about three albums worth of drum track, so if I decide we should release something, I sit down and record. This is much better way of doing things."
Why is it that Vrolok will not be able to contribute to the split with Everwinter?
Were you looking forward to making the split with Everwinter?
"No."
What is the process that Vrolok goes to make an album?
"There really is no process...Lurker records the percussion, mails me drum tracks, and I record my parts over top of them. The songs, since the beginning of Vrolok (and especially when it was just a one-man entitly), have been improvied as we record. I can think of maybe four instances where a song was fully written prior to recording (in fact, I can name them-Satanic Beast of Fury from the first demo, Goat Blood Ritual from the first demo, Flight of the Hellhorde from Resurgence, and a Thorns-esque song from an upcoming release). Improvising the songs makes it much easier to convery an emotion and the state of mind you are in whilst recording. Nothing is forced or contrived that way. The lyrics are written separately from the music, sometimes years prior...rarely ever written after the mucis is recorded, onely a few times per release."
What are some of the subjects that come across in your songs?
"There are many...on the first demos, mostly just occult-influenced stories...Resurgence followed in this vein, but the lyrics were more satanic and sort of abstract. The lyrics on Resurgence II were very inspired by the occult, the three Realms of Existence, shinning the light of Christ, the Innter Funeral, and destroying the moralist ways of old. There were many opiate references, as well, which most did not pic up on...especially Sleeping Close to Death which is about heroin overdose. Newer lyrics follow suit, but contain fewer stanzas and are maybe even more abstract. I think the lyrics whold be my favorite part of Vrolok if I was just a fan."
For the people who don't know who you are how would you describe your music to them and in what way is Vrolok Black Metal? Lyrically, Instrumentally or both?
"We don't give a fuck what people see Vrolok as...it really does not matter in the slightest way. Of course most would say we are a Satanic black metal band, and rightfully so...Vrolok is a negative entiry creating very dark art. I would descrive Vrolok as its own beast...I don't know of many bands that sound how we do, although our influences (which vary constantly, these days being far from the reaches of metal) are shown from time to time. We are very driven by our ideologies and the unknown...without that, Vrolok would be another pseudo-black metal band played by the village idiots, sounding like every other bands and lacking any direction and/ or purpose. Too many of these bands already exist, so if I feel that we are going down this path, I will sever the veins that keep the band alive. Originality, feeling, and emotion are the key to any art form."
In the future when all is well are there any bands that you would like to tour with?
"We don't play live, more we plan on it. There are times when I would love to feel the envery of a live performance, but very few people even deserve to bear witness to such an event."
What is in the future for Vrolok?
"New releases, more progression, and I am sure more releases have been dropped by incompetent run-of-the-mail labels. We will only work with the top labels that are up-front with us about things from now on. This 'I promise' and 'we're sory about that' shit has to go. I would likst some upcoming releases, but with how reliable labels are, I am sure a lot of what is planned will crash and burn. Fucking cunts."
Well to close this interview up is there anything else you would like to say?
"Fuck the 'scene' and all of those who leech off of its rotting corpse. Black Metal is only dead if you do not look in the right places. When all people do is bitch about pre-1847 black metal and whatnot, it is time to get the fuck out. They should go listen to Queen."
I'd like to thank Diabolus of Vrolok for giving me this interview.
Line up
Diabolus-guitar, bass, keyboards, sampling, vocals, electronics, bone percussion
Lurker-guitar, bass, keyboards, sampling, vocals, electronics, bone percussion