At the very beginning I give the voice to the members of the band:
1. I must confess that you couldn’t choose a more fitting and disturbing theme to haunt man´s psyche. Why to endlessly engage into themes of war and Satanism, when the possibilities of space are just infinite? What was the primary impulse for you portray cosmos through Black metal? Were you directly influenced by something or someone?
The primary impulse that drew us together was the love for atmospheric music and a deep fascination for the cosmos and the energies interacting in the universe. We didn’t choose our concept from an assortment of possible themes, it simply emerged out of nothing and it was essential to proceed on the path shown to us.
2. What really fascinates you about space that you decided to musicalize it? Since I have heard you for the first time I can´t imagine space without your music.
We always were and still are influenced by a broad variety of art forms, literature or scientific discoveries. We believe that Space is not simply “out there” – we are in it and part of it.
We propose an experiment: Choose a dark and clear night. Lie down on your back. Look out for the stars. You will feel like looking “up” into the sky, but in Space there are no such things as “up” or “down”. You are adhered to the planet by gravitational force only. Visualize that situation and look “down” into the stars. You might feel the fascinating fear to lose planetary contact and soar into the void - at least this is our usual personal experience.
3. I´m really fond of using samples in music. In case of your first album there are samples from “Event horizon” and “Prince of darkness”. While the first named is a mix of science fiction with horror, the second is purely horror movie. How much do you feel affected by these genres?
We choose sample lines for what they are: words with a meaning and intonation suiting the feeling we get when listening to a special moment of our own tracks. We thus create a new context for them.
We do like the feeling and aesthetics of certain science fiction films a lot - a lot more than the pure horror genre.
4. Thinking about the previous question, as a sci-fi fan, I can easily imagine “Darkspace” music as a soundtrack for various movies. Do you find it possible that one day your music may serve as a background for a fitting movie or video game?
It would be an interesting challenge to underlay and to fit music into a given framework - we would be honoured to be asked to compose and contribute soundscapes for inspiring films or virtual realities.
5. I like when the bands are cloaked by aura of inaccessibility and secrecy. I’m not afraid to say that you’re representing this. Extensive informations about the band are nowhere to find for fans. The Question is if you’re doing it for your privacy or for the reasons stated above.
We are not deliberately hiding ourselves - we think that in the context of Darkspace, our private lives or the roles we play in Earthly society should be irrelevant to the audience.
Darkspace speaks for itself.
6. It has been a long known fact that you decided to release an album trilogy. It´s not vain to say that work should end at its peak. Well, “Darkspace” had closed the aforementioned trilogy and now we just have to ask what is going to be next? Can we expect another musical project or do you feel like realizing yourselves in your personal fields?
We have never proclaimed to release a trilogy, neither privately nor publically and we have got strong visions about future activities, music and releases with Darkspace. When we set off for this journey, we didn’t know where this path would lead us at all, and we are still discovering new possibilities and ideas as time elapses. Darkspace IS our personal field and is still far from having come to an end.
7. With every new album the evolution in the terms of composition, musicianship and technique is clearly evident. It is quite difficult to digest your music and I guess that live reproduction is similarly intricate. That’s why you have to take your special equipment with you at the concerts. Could you describe what types of equipment you are usually taking with you?
As we have chosen to work with machines, we are equipped with a machine-human-interface integrating ourselves into a synchronized, electronic organism. Once the biomechanoid is activated, we follow the pulse given by the central nervous system we call "death cube", mainly consisting of a hard disc recorder.
8. I assume that you will take this equipment on Dampfzentrale show too. It´s not just about the sound equipment but about the visualization as well. Could you tell us what can we expect during the performance, and on the other hand, how do you look forward to playing in your homeland?
To us, a Darkspace concert is a journey on which we invite the audience to join us. The quality of sound or visual details may ease the departure, but in our view, the main aspect contributing to a fulfilling concert is the energetical feedback from the audience and our response to it.
We hope the Czech audience will join us on the journey we have planned for them.
9. As the all “Darkspace” members participate in vocals I suggest this applies on composition as well. Or does the every member has his own sphere of competence and on the end you just make it into a one piece? How does the composing looks like? Do you create cosmic scenery on the keyboards first and then you lay guitar parts on it?
Even though every member has his or her special talents, all members are free to compose whatever they want on whatever instrument they choose. There is a big artistic freedom for the individual member. All tracks are generally composed and supervised by all three of us, and even if a member is physically absent, his or her spiritual presence supports the others and exerts influence on the decisions made meanwhile. A track may emerge from a guitar line, a synthesizer tone, the sound of an engine, a film sample, whatever. There is no recipe or formula behind it all.
10. The main aspect which makes your music concept so unusual is the fear of unknown. Impenetrable dark, thanks to the human fantasy, is much more frightening than the most horrid abominations created by writers and directors. This can be considered similar to child’s fear of “dark spot under its bed”. Do you have some vision what may exist behind the borders of our perceivable cosmos?
Darkspace is represented by a tripple approach to universal questions. While none of the three theories is fundamental, Wroth mainly relies on esoteric / spiritual views, Zorgh represents scientific thought patterns where as Zhaaral goes for a metaphysical approach to the cosmos and the existence of Darkspace. We constantly elaborate new points of view and discuss philosophical questions within this trinity.
11. I also wonder is your approach to space is more philosophic or scientific. Great discoveries are made with every moment but the question is if they are worth of something.
As you probably know, the CERN project, which is slightly intervening into territory of Switzerland, is primarily doing research of high energy particles. Do you consider they research as a benefit, or do you think that they are just playing with the powers beyond all understanding?
We do have interest in scientific views of the universe and are curious to read about the results of the CERN’s particle collision experiments. We have also visited the CERN institute in Geneva as well as the synchrotron light source of the Paul Scherrer institute near Zürich. We do believe that a Large Hadron Collider will enlighten our understanding about the birth of the universe, but it will not inform us about the meaning of our existence. Science is descriptive, it illustrates what we perceive with our senses, it speaks in mathematical patterns and allows certain deductions and predictions. As fascinating as it may be – it still is a unilateral approach to the Cosmos and its life forms. We are sure that neither esoterical semi-thruth, nor scientific limitations nor any religious dogma spoken for itself may reveal the true nature of the universe.
Tracklist:
- Dark -1.-1 (13:05)
- Dark -1.0 (12:00)
Band: Darkspace
Lineup:
Zorgh - Bass, Vocals
Zhaaral - Guitars, Vocals
Wroth - Guitars, Vocals, Soundscapes, Drum Programming
Genre(s): Absolutely unique combination of space ambient and black metal, which can't be closed in any "generic drawer".
Album: Dark Space -I
Lyrical theme(s): Personal thoughts about Space, Darkness, Cosmos
Country: Switzerland
Year: 2002
Type: Demo
Label: Self-released
Nowhere is the expression of this terrifying, silent space articulated with greater ferocity than in the music of the Swiss black metal band, Darkspace. The collected works of Darkspace, comprising two demos (Dark Space -I [2002], Dark Space -I (re-released in [2012]) and three albums (Dark Space I [2003], Dark Space II [2005], Dark Space III [2008] engages with the place of the Earth in the the infinite universe. In distinction to the bulk of black metal bands peddling themes of religious evil on the one hand, and eco-friendly paganism on the other hand, Darkspace eschew the human realm in favour a speculative thinking about the nonhuman universe, as the band report on a Pascalian note in a interview posted above:
We propose an experiment: Choose a dark and clear night. Lie down on your back. Look out for the stars. You will feel like looking “up” into the sky, but in Space there are no such things as “up” or “down”. You are adhered to the planet by gravitational force only. Visualize that situation and look “down” into the stars. You might feel the fascinating fear to lose planetary contact and soar into the void.
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