Interview With The Enigmatic Folk Duo “Tabernis”

Hear the call: TABERNIS summon the shadows for their debut album, Seasons of the Dark Hive, out April 24, 2026 via Napalm Records. Born out of a passion for history, the enigmatic folk duo created an immersive sound, with bagpipes and davul bringing medieval times to life. TABERNIS intertwine ancient tradition and dark mysticism, their haunting harmonies gifting melodies to the delicate art of beekeeping. Already having performed at major festivals like Wacken and Summer Breeze Open Air off of their debut EP, Seasons of the Dark Hive will divulge more of the band’s secrets to an ever-growing following.

Crafting captivating tunes from echoes of the past, TABERNIS explore age-old heritage with an almost other-worldly charm. Reaching out into the darkness, the duo arranges an ethereal undertow as seductive as honey. Seasons of the Dark Hive is an intoxicating experience, an alluring journey into the shadows. Amidst the bees, you are never alone. Together, we rise. Welcome to the Dark Hive.

It was a pleasure to have the band on an Interview with Metalheads Forever Magazine, Check out below the conversation on the new album and much more.

Your new album Seasons Of The Dark Hive was out on April 24. Would you like to tell me about the album and the work behind it?

Seasons Of the Dark Hiveis built as a cycle rather than a collection of songs.

We structured it around four seasons that belong to our own universe, Aurora, Abundantia, Collectio and Vespera. Each one carries a different state, a different tension, and shapes the way the album moves.

The work behind it was both solitary and shared. Most ideas were born separately, through instinct, sometimes a melody, sometimes a rhythm. When we brought them together, the focus was not to reshape everything, but to listen and keep what felt alive.

We tried to push each piece as far as it could go, without adding unnecessary layers. The goal was not complexity, but intensity.

In the end, the album is meant to be entered. It breathes, it shifts.
It is less something to listen to, and more something to move through.

Does Seasons Of The Dark Hive have a concept or a theme that it was focused on?

Each phase carries a different state, growth, abundance, gathering, decline, and shapes the emotional movement of the record.

At the same time, it is not a narrative in a traditional sense. It is more a space where these states exist and transform.

You move through it rather than follow a story.

15 amazing songs, enigmatic, great musical awesomeness with the sound of the bagpipes totally mesmerizing, as a creator, how do you feel about the outcome?

For us, an album is not something that feels finished once it is released. It reaches a point where it can exist on its own, and then it leaves us.

What matters is that each piece carries its intention fully. We pushed the material as far as we could without losing its identity.

Now it belongs to those who listen to it, and to what it becomes in a live setting.

There is a form of distance that appears after the release, but also a curiosity to see how it will evolve beyond us.

Would you like to tell me about the singles and making of the music videos?

Each single was chosen because it carries a distinct state of the album.

Rather than presenting everything at once, we wanted to reveal different facets of the Dark Hive, different atmospheres, different tensions.

For the music videos, the process follows the same intention. It is not about illustrating the music directly, but about extending its space.

We had the opportunity to film in a full castle, which gave us a very specific environment to work with. It allowed us to place the project in a setting that resonates with our visual language, without having to construct it artificially.

The focus remained on coherence. The sound, the place, and the imagery all had to move in the same direction.

Would you like to tell me about the costume that you guys wear and the reason for hiding your faces?

Our costumes are inspired by medieval beekeepers. They are part of the visual language of the project, and directly connected to the idea of the Hive and what it represents.

Playing masked allows us to put the focus away from who is performing. The identity of the musicians is not the central point.

What matters is the music, and the immersion it creates.
The audience is not meant to look at individuals, but to enter a world.

Will there be any touring to support the album?

We already have a few shows confirmed this year, including some major festivals.

For now, we are focusing on these performances and on bringing the album to life on stage.

There is no full tour announced yet, but we are open to what may come next. The live aspect is essential for us, it is where the music fully takes shape.

Tell me about Tabernis and how it all started?

We wanted to build a project where the faces were not central, where the attention would shift toward the sound, the atmosphere, and what happens between people.

At the same time, there was a need to anchor it in something real. The preservation of pollinators became a natural direction, and the Hive emerged as a structure, both symbolic and concrete.

At first, it was only music. The ritual aspect came later, when we brought it to the stage. It became clear that the sound needed a form, something immersive, something that could be shared.

That is where Tabernis truly started to take shape.

What’s next for the band? Where are your future focus and plans?

As we already said, for now our focus is on bringing the album to life on stage.

We have several important festivals ahead, including M’era Luna Festival and Wave-Gotik-Treffen, and we are working on refining the live experience.

But at the same time, we have already started exploring new material. It is still early, but the next phase is already taking shape.

The work continues in both directions, on stage, and within the Dark Hive.

Would you like to share any message for the listeners?

To all who have listened, and to those who have just begun, you are already part of it.

The Dark Hive is not something we build alone. It grows with every presence, every voice, every moment shared.

Wherever you are, if the sound reaches you, it connects you to others who feel it too. There are places where this presence gathers, where the Hive continues to move and take form.

Welcome to the Dark Hive.

TABERNIS online:
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
TIKTOK
WEBSITE

Seasons of the Dark Hive tracklisting:
“Sanctus”
“Tenebrae”
“Noctilis”
“Mel Obscurum (Palästinalied)”
“Sylvanot”
“Verbah Oblitah”
“Aurora”
“Florenscentia”
“Apem Vidi (Ai Vist Lo Lop)”
“Lupanar Apum”
“Apiare”
“Hive Dance (Bransle du maître de la maison)”
“Meliferum”
“Calcinae”
“Apes Saltis”