Greetings from Metalheads Forever Magazine, I’m Keith Clement the editorial head, how are you today?
Hi Keith, great thanks!
“Reforma” is scheduled to be released on May 28, can you tell me a bit about the songwriting and production behind this album?
At the beginning we didn’t have an exact plan of what we really wanted to do. We were playing around with the idea of remaking one Laibach song which later turned into three songs and finally into the whole album. Side effect is that it took us longer to finish the project than we would like. Songs were selected pretty randomly, but the guests weren’t.
The album is a tribute to the legendary band “Laibach” can you tell me the reason for the tribute, and how Laibach has been an influence for you guys?
One major fact is that they come from the same environment and are the only Sloveninan band we were looking up to in our career. Their provocative way of communication and great visual aesthetics were always something we were fond of, so in a way it was just a matter of time when we will try to do something to pay them respect.
The album features some iconic guests like David Vince (Ex-Morbid Angel), Atilla Csihar (Mayhem) Jorgen of Shining, how did the collaboration happened, can you tell me a bit about it?
Since this is not our normal studio album we were up for some experimentation which included guests which we never did before. For those who know Morbid Angel’s history David Vincent was an obvious choice and a huge honor to work with. Since we have been touring Europe with Mayhem in the past we knew Attila was a fan of Laibach also, and for Nova Akropola, which is the most experimental song on the album, we were looking for something different and Jorgen came to our minds. All three guests did their jobs beyond our expectations.
How it was like working with Henrik Udd, how did you guys feel about the outcome of the production from someone like Henrik?
We were very excited to have an opportunity to work with such a world class producer. We were after the clear and punchy production and he delivered big time!
You guys are the first Slovenian band to be on Wacken, how did you feel about being the first?
It’s a little sad that it took so many years for any Slovenian band to perform at Wacken in the first place, but it’s a nice feeling, not so much about being the first but rather about performing at Wacken at all which I believe is a goal for every metal band out there.
You guys are always open to collaborate with any genre’s can you tell me how you are managing to stick with multi-genre’s how does it make it easier to work on something like that?
I guess it is just something within us. In a way it is much easier for us to be diverse and experimental than stick just to one formula. We are not giving it a lot of thought really, the main thing for us is the quality, in whatever musical genre.
The band is known for its diverse musicianship, you don’t like to sound same and there is always something different to each of the album, How do you feel to work with so much diversity, have you ever thought of having a signature genre for Noctiferia?
As I mentioned before, it comes pretty naturally to us. When we were younger the experimentation was kind of a challenge we made for ourselves, but today the music is the reflection of us and things around us, and since times change, people change, so does our music. We never thought of creating our own genre but if you dig into our work you I think you can find our signature sound.
What would be the next plans for the band post release of Reforma?
Currently we are looking for some touring possibilities in 2022. At the moment everything is pretty messed up due to Covid and we are hoping for the best. Plan is to release one more video for Reforma and in the meantime we are also starting to work on our next studio album.
What do you think would be the reaction from Laibach towards a tribute to their band?
They’ve heard the album and their response was “In the metal genre we couldn’t do it better ourselves.”
Can you tell me how the musical journey has been for the band?
So far very interesting. We have released 7 studio albums (including Reforma), toured with bands like Hypocrisy, Mayhem, Samael, In Flames, Meleches etc., performed twice in China then Wacken, Bloodstock, Metaldays festivals and worked with various renown music producers. In a way we experienced and met much more people than we’ve ever dreamed of. Music wise we started as a black / death metal band and soon began to explore metal boundaries with our third album.
What would be some of the great moments of the band?
Performing at Wacken and Midi fest which is the biggest Chinese music festival, opening for In Flames on European tour as the only support band, acoustic performance with symphonic orchestra at national Opera house, working with guests on the latest album etc. We’ve been around for 20 years so we had our fair share of great moments.
Finally what would be the message for the fans?
Seek for quality not quantity, check out Reforma and keep it heavy!
