Melencolia Estatica’s album Hel, inspired by Fritz Lang’s classic film Metropolis with its imaginative and talented mix of modern, harsh and complex black metal with a broad use of vocals was one of 2012’s musical highlights for me. Masterminded and steered forward by Climaxia it is just the kind off album that helps bolster black metal’s leading edge and Ave Noctum was understandably pleased to have a chance to discuss it with the main-woman herself. Climaxia did not disappoint.
AN: Honoured greetings to you Climaxia, and thanks for agreeing to do this interview. After releasing such a complex and fascinating work as Hel it is a real pleasure to be able to ask a few questions about it and Melencolia Estatica.
The new album is based around Fritz Lang’s classic film Metropolis. It is not the first time that the film has inspired music, but certainly your interpretation through the genre of black and extreme metal is a unique and dark one. Where did the original desire to create this album come from? What is it about an old, silent b&w film that spoke so strongly to someone in the 21st century? Has it influenced more than your music? I noticed a real style to the promotional photograph that came with my copy.
C: The idea of this new album was born from my desire to include in my music one of my passions, art and film of the early ‘90’s. From the beginning the intention has always been to not use in an ordinary way references and quotes of the film but to expose a personal point of view revised and reinterpreted in terms of personal lyrics, settings and emotions. Certainly when I speak about reinterpretation I mean a kind of reinterpretation of a modern concept of grey and feeble Metropolis and this has affected Hel both visual and mixing.
AN: I need to apologise too: In my review I did offer a doubt that the music could totally conjure the oppressive drudgery of the industrial workers, but having watched the film again with the album playing I could only admit that it does a superb job of that as well as the other aspects off the film. Have you ever thought of doing a full soundtrack for a film?
C: Generally speaking I would love to try one day to do some work that would fit in some film, but work on the soundtracks requires a fairly broad knowledge of music that I would one day be able to deepen, certainly in the future of ME there will be more space for ambient and atmospheric parts.
AN: You named the album Hel, I assume relaying to the ‘false Marie’ in the film. Does the destruction and chaos and the sensuality she brings appeal and influence the harsh music you create?.
C: I find your question very interesting, surely the chaos, destruction and a feeling of dullness were permanent component of the films that have inspired the preparation of Hel … the female was very highlighted especially in terms of visual rather than musical, a little ‘to create a sort of liked but homogeneous contrast between music and images. The sensuality in everyday language is never associated with chaos or elements “negative” and I find it very interesting to express this in a different and personal way.
AN: Do you relate the story of the workers and the rich in Metropolis to the situation across Europe at the moment or is this album more a personal reflection on the film, more about the hands, the head and the heat?
C: It is like I said the album is a collection of observations and personal interpretations of the film, ousting every aspect of the social or political past and the present in which we live. I try not to affect the project M.E. with issues of this kind, using it simply as a means to express a lot of my personal side and my passions, ME was created primarily for that reason, a personal window on my way of making music. 
AN: Although the collective that is Melencolia Estatica is driven by you, the lyrics were given over to Solitudo to provide. How hard is that to do when the project is such a personal one?
C: First of all, the lyrics of Hel were written and performed by Afthenktos. In general, there have never been problems in the drafting of texts, not being a singer, I always thought that it is always easier to do the work of arrangement of the lyrics to the singer in person, so that it is he himself who fit his way to sing and play the concept. Trust is a key element in this type of collaboration and for now I have never had any problem from that point of view.
AN: How is the writing and the arrangement off music done in the group? Is it collectively written, guided by you or do you bring finished pieces to the other collaborators? Do you find this difficult or part or the reason for wanting to work with people rather than doing it all yourself?
C: I tend to give directives, but usually certain to work with musicians I know or who shall I look at the capacity, in any case, I personally follow the unfolding of recordings, but I also like that each of the musicians I work with give a personal touch to the album, as I said before trust is fundamental when I work with other musicians. My limit is to not knowing how to sing and not knowing how to play the drums so inevitably I avail myself of external collaborations.
AN: Hel is a complex work. It can be brutal in sound or beautiful, or both together but, like experimental bands such as Blut Aus Nord, it is always challenging music. You have not taken the listener down an easy path. What influences were brought to Hel, musical or from elsewhere? What is it about this style that attracts you? How do they shape the unique Melencolia Estatica identity?
C: Hel basically born with the idea to close the previous chapter opened with the previous albums, a sort of detachment and evolution from the past, a step forward and a new life for ME. I cannot tell exactly what were my influences, I definitely got interested in very varied musical genres such as ambient, industrial or military that I have in a sense away from the typical optical of black metal and I led in each case to seek collaboration with Gnaw their Tongues which I found really interesting and suitable for Hel. I think the new identity M.E. can be easily defined black metal but with more attention towards ambient and atmospheres.
AN: As I mentioned in the review the variety of vocal styles and vocal sounds used on Hel is very broad but superbly used and interwoven. You appear to have a real affinity for the sounds that the human voice can produce. How do you approach vocal arrangements? Is the voice a particular favorite instrument of yours?
C: Since the beginning, voices were a key element in Hel, Afthenktos and I have worked hard on this trying to do something different and new to using our voices. As for the female backing vocals it is something I’m personally very proud of, the idea was to create harmonies that reminded me more of a tool rundown … not using them tacky or corny but as if they were real and his own atmospheric parts. It will certainly be an element that will return in the next work of ME
AN: You are also involved in a couple of other bands. Can you tell me what they offer that is different to your project, and how do you find the time to do them all.
C: Of course, one of my main projects are Absentia Lunae, a band I play with for several years and we are producing the latest album, the musical is a kind of military black metal with some neo folk influences.
Lintver is a recent project, which was only produced a record as a small label, folk black metal as a concept that has ancient legends from the valleys of the place from which I come. The time is not easy to gestile but that is Lintver ME are personal projects in which time is easy to manage.
AN: Even by general metal standards there seem to be surprisingly few women pursuing their vision and steering bands in black metal. This is despite the number of female fans of the genre. Do you have any thoughts on this? Do you think gender affects the way you view the music and the themes or do you think any discussion of gender to be irrelevant?
C: Generally I believe that gender does not affect the way we do or transpose the music. I believe that its sensitivity is something personal that evolves and matures beyond the gender, but through a series of inner reflections that go beyond the stereotypes
AN: As a listener as well as a reviewer I sometimes find it hard to pull myself out of a work like Hel that absorbs my mind so much, and back into my mundane world of work and chores so I can afford to eat and listen to more music, read, watch films. How do you cope with the inevitable wrench from the creative world of Melencolia Estatica back into the mundane? If you have another full time job does this help or hinder your music?
C: It is not always easy to find time to devote to music, unfortunately the everyday life and the responsibilities associated with it often separate us from the passions and everything that makes us feel good about ourselves. For me it is very important to cut the time to devote to my passions and this sometimes means having to give an order to their own priorities and manage their own free time and their projects in the best way. It’s always hard to find the right balance between duty and pleasure.
AN: What other work are you involved in at the moment, musically?
C: Right now I’m busy with the recording of the new album of Absentia Lunae, and certainly in the future I’ll take a little break waiting to start the fourth album by ME.
AN: Thank you for your time, Climaxia. My best wishes for your future endeavours and hope that Hel receives the praise and attention it deserves.
C: Thanks for the interview, I hope that Hel is perceived as a step forward and further maturation of ME.
Melencolia Estatica’s Hel is an album that that anyone interested in forward thinking black metal needs to take seriously. Immerse yourself in it and you will not be disappointed.
Interviewed by Gizmo
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melencolia-Estatica-Official/152540761487080
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