- Empyreal Destroyer
- Empyreal Destroyer are a London-based death
metal band who have been much acclaimed since their formation in 2006 for their striking
mixture of styles, impressive technicality and inventive song-writing skills. Named number
one Unsigned Act in the prestigious Terrorizer Readers’ Polls of 2007, the band have
not been resting upon their laurels since their success, but are instead toiling hard to
create the perfect debut album, sharpening their sound and reflecting upon where
they’ve come from, and where they want to be headed. I had the privilege of chatting
to frontman Cyclonis Niyil-ka.
- Hierophant Nox: Hail
Cyclonis, how are you doing?
Cyclonis: Hi Ellen. First of I’d like to thank you for taking the time to interview us. I think I speak on behalf of the entire band when I say that we’re in a very creative mind frame at the moment… If that answers your first question.
Hierophant Nox: Well it’s a lot more intriguing than some of the answers we receive to that question! Is your creativity focused around your forthcoming debut “I Am The Knowledge of Death”? What can we expect from this album? Are you pleased with the way it has shaped up?
Cyclonis: The debut album is literally a page from the book of Empyreal Destroyer. It represents the first two years of the entity’s existence. Listeners who have heard it (including fellow musicians) have been impressed. To sum it up would be impossible, but would go something like… “Symphonic death metal entwined in epic constructions that flow effortlessly into each other... Elements of melody combining with technicality to form something that can be classed as progressive… classical elements spiralling against blackened metal contributions… something beautiful and terrifying.” The last few months have literally been spent raising the sound quality… If you were to hear initial demo recordings and compare them to what we have now, you would be amazed. We have gone back to do some re-recording, including some guitar parts, bass lines, and are currently re-working the drums. We’ll be pleased to get this out as quickly as possible but at the highest quality possible. The album has yet to be mastered but all the time spent on the re-mixing will ensure that this is a quick and painless process.
Hierophant Nox: You’ve been a very busy band since your inception, having already produced a demo and 2 EPs since 2006. How have you developed since your first release?
Cyclonis: “Chaos Torrent” was the portal as I like to call it. It was ED’s first step into its unknown. All involved at the time were playing with ideas that we’d never really thought about before. The 2nd EP contained more death metal like elements in my view. We were in essence exploring ideas of self-possibility to put it plainly. Since then we have been getting the debut ready in all aspects. The debut will represent the first two years of the band’s existence. There was a definite classical influence at the beginning but I think by the end of it we would have ended up quite as discordant in comparison. Where we are musically now will see its seeds made apparent in the Spring/Summer of 2009, as we work with and from what we have done thus far, and let me just say with the idea we have flying around now… I can’t wait to see what comes out of it.
Hierophant Nox: In general you are reluctant to reveal much about the band’s members, but it’s clear you’ve undergone a few line-up shuffles; is your current line-up stable and something you feel confident about building upon?
Cyclonis: I’ve always thought that the band members themselves shouldn’t eclipse the band. The individuals at play, those that were, and many more that may, will never be as important as the band (as its own unique and separate existence) as it has shifted and evolved. I am completely content with the creative minds at play with my own in the band. I generally feel this current line up to be the one we see in 2009, 2010, and further.
Hierophant Nox: As regards the album, some of the tracks have had previous existence on your EPs; has the whole album been in creation for two years or did you set out purposefully with an album as your project at a certain point later on?
Cyclonis:: The debut album has been in creation since the first EP.
Cyclonis:: The artist was I. I’m glad you locked onto that element of beauty and terror since that was the feel intended for it. The initial concept was to have a destructive figure in a cityscape… But the more I thought it the more it seemed somehow inappropriate. The concept behind the artwork is one I often thought about… perception of existences. The idea came to me in a vision I had. I was staring at everything around me and questioning what I saw. As a creature that relies heavily on perception I began to ponder the limits of it from a mechanical sense. I can see only what eyes will allow me to see, which is in turn dictated by the visual spectrum, so I began to wonder what everything around me would look like were I to be granted access to all of the wavelengths known to exist. I began to think do I assume that everything is shaped because this is how I interpret it to be shaped? I began to ask how influential one sense was on another and before you knew it I was looking into ideas of multivariable existence, parallel existence, High Guardian angels, Djinns, etc… So I took a breath and devised this being that you see on the cover. The rest just followed through naturally.
Hierophant Nox: That’s really intriguing, and definitely adds to my appreciation of that piece!
The technicality of your music is often stressed by commentators; is musical complexity an important aspect of your art? Do any of you have a formal training in music or is your skill accumulated from years of practice?
Cyclonis: No member of ED has ever had any form of formal training to my knowledge. It is fortunate that ever member of ED to date has an appreciation for musical complexity and I think it is too tightly bound to the entity of the band now to think of it as anything less than necessary.
Hierophant Nox: What bands had the most impact on you when you were growing up and becoming interested in metal? Do you think that the quality of music produced by bands nowadays is better or worse than ten years ago?
Cyclonis: Well, I’ll have to answer this one on a personal level… The first metal band I ever heard was Mercyful Fate. I was digging through a friend’s collection and happened onto “Don’t Break the Oath”... From this I went onto bands like Morbid Angel, and Emperor. However, the more mellow acts have also had a huge effect on me… Ugly Kid Joe and Joe Satriani to name but a few. I think that the music industry is a very different place from 10 years ago, and ultimately lies in the taste of the listener. The bands of today could easily rival the bands of yesterday… it’s just a matter of finding them in regards to respective style.
Hierophant Nox: You’ve previously said that you put a lot of thought into your lyrics; what are the main concepts explored on “I Am The Knowledge Of Death”?
Cyclonis: Multivariable existences, Conduits to and from planes of existences and non existence, destruction as a beautiful entity, self-possibility, and the idea of perception as it means to exist. I could write an essay on all the ideas presented here so I’ll leave it at that since there’s also an element of levels of understanding as it relates to the listener too.
Hierophant Nox: In discussing this webzine we discovered that we shared an interest in esoteric knowledge and ‘occultism’; where did this interest stem from for you? In what ways do you incorporate this focus into your life?
Cyclonis: My birth given name is shared with quite a prominent figure in the occult to begin with. My own environment gave itself cause to look into the esoteric. It was the blend of meeting the extremities; but being aware enough to judge my own course and draw my own conclusion within my own being. It’s no surprise that ideas within the occult, on a philosophical level, often find their way into scientific fact. The more recent idea of dark matter and dark energy go hand in hand with the idea of “Dark Isis”. Ideas that transcend time share this forbidden nature and that is what I deem the occult in essence to be. A step into the unknown so that more may be known. If as an individual you limit yourself to what you can accept then you do not accept anything at all since everything shares a relationship with something else. An entity should be able to pursue its expression once aware of, and strong enough to accept, its own amoral self.
Hierophant Nox: Do you believe that music is a powerful tool for conveying and exploring meaning, or is it simply art?
Cyclonis: A deafening silence can itself be a powerful tool so it follows that deafening noise would do the same thing. Music can exist as art but that in itself gives it meaning as conduit.
Cyclonis: We were invited on. We tried to get on that last year and all I can say is thank you to all involved. The live arena is a very powerful and vital medium but one we have to be selective about.
Hierophant Nox: You played at Bloodstock this year as well, which must have been a choice gig; how did you find the whole experience? Was this the largest audience you had played to?
Cyclonis: So far it has been the largest audience. A few of our friends from London were there... as well as some of our fellow London bands. We were treated excellently, and I have nothing but praise for all the bands we played with, the people involved in setting up and running the festival, and all the thousands of people there to see the bands. The thing I remember most about it is wandering around the festival ground and having people ask me to take a picture with them... It was a very humbling experience.
Hierophant Nox: During the creation of the album you had some important interested label parties; did you end up signing with these organisations or are you still seeking the right match?
Cyclonis: We are still seeking the right match but we are very confident in that we’ll find the right match soon.
Hierophant Nox: Lastly, what are your ultimate ambitions for Empyreal Destroyer? Do you have any particular goals that you have set for yourselves?
Cyclonis: We would like to achieve a legacy… to grasp immortality the same way figures like Mozart have… what it will take is yet unknown to us but we’re working on it.
Hierophant Nox: Thank you very much for talking with us, and best of luck for the album release. If you have any further messages for the world, please go ahead:
Cyclonis: I’d like to extend my own personal greeting and thanks to all that read this. I would further like to add that as ever we are evolving and have already begun on the next evolution of the band and we can’t wait to see what sounds will emerge from the next era of Empyreal Destroyer. Thank you all.
Thank you and best of luck, Cyclonis.
