V I N D A L F

Absolutist Contemplation of Darkness

Thank you very much for your availability. It is a pleasure to have you on this small publication. 2022 was a busy year with the release of 2 albums. Can we start off by looking into your creative process? 2 albums in one year, 1 musician… how does it work?

Salve! First of all thank you very much for the consideration! Well, the truth is that this year was very good for me, the winter was quite hard with the rainy days, which of course for me was a kind of blessing when I started a new creative process. Sitting in my room listening to the rain and feeling the winter cold was a great inspiration for me to create lyrics for the albums, and then put melody to them. The creative process of both albums was quite interesting, which began their production at the arrival of winter or simply cold days. What I consider a pretty faithful technique to incorporate the darkness and the pure cold.

But before you jump back into the present, I would like to ask if you could tell us how this adventure started. What were the motivations behind the idea of starting a Black Metal project, and why alone?

Well, it all was born in the winter of 2014 seeing every day the snowy mountain, the rain and the dark winter days, which for me was a total source of inspiration and we put that together with one of my favorite hobbies, listening to Dungeon Synth and Black Metal. Basically for me Black Metal is the music that combines all that darkness of nature and transforms it into something totally glorious. I always felt comfortable being alone in general, and I believed that by composing music in solitude I could capture all my emotions in a more pure and contemplative way without any distractions.

Your music sounds very - to me, at least - centered on 90ies Black Metal. Well, not completely of course, but there is this “scent” that takes me back in time, and I just love when music is able to do that. Was this always your aim, to sound… “old” (please, read old as a compliment. I still live in 90ies Black Metal, so…)?

For me it was always a goal to sound like in the old days, where there was not so much concern for modern sounds or for a kind of "good production" my purpose with this was to remember that old sound, that sound that gave you to understand that what you were listening to was dark cold and old unique and pure. Based on that, the vast majority of Dungeon Synth tracks on my releases are recorded with a 90's Casio keyboard that I found in my grandparents house.  Everything was recorded in my room, guitar, drums and keyboard, as it has never been my intention for now to go to a studio, of course as long as I can do it myself.

Nevertheless, do you see Vindalf solely as a Black Metal project/entity? Your sound does have more elements, and intricate structures that turn it into a more complex being, from what I understand.

As you say is more complex, Vindalf is far away from being just a Black Metal project, vindalf is an absolutist contemplation of darkness, is a union with the forgotten gods, is a way to honor magic and sorcery never named before. Vindalf represents darkness, death and eternal life. Since the project was created in completely dark and mystical days in many ways, there is a part of my soul in the project.

Where does the Ambient/Dungeon Synth influence come from? Do you think that these elements are pre-understood/present whenever we mention Black Metal from the 90ies? The Symphonic side of the genre did grow in that decade… but I might be assuming too much, my apologies.

All that Dungeon Synth influence was born from the beginning of the project, since Vindalf at the beginning was going to be completely Dungeon Synth, because of my fanaticism to Tolkien's book saga and ist world or simply for love to the genre. The one that later evolved little by little until becoming something darker without losing those sounds and memories of the early days, but already transformed into pure Black Metal. For me DS and BM will always be together, either by the time they were created or by the way of representing in a similar epic and glorious way the darkness .

You started back in 2021, and in that same year you released a Demo, an EP, and a Full-length. Again, being a one-man project, how does this reflect on how you create, you record, your process. It has to be overwhelming. Or a moment of release, I reckon.

As I said before, I am a lone wolf in this, I play, record and produce everything by myself, which is absolutely liberating. I don't feel it's overwhelming or exhausting at all, because it's a way to connect with myself, which helps me a lot to compose and create without rushing or any opinion against it, I feel quite comfortable.

Going a bit back to inspiration and influences, where do you draw it from? Both musically and lyrically. I am always interested in the artist’s perspective of the genre, of how he depicts the artistic - and sometimes spiritual - essence of Black Metal.

Although my influences to create are born from my love for listening to Black Metal, this is not my main inspiration or influence. Literature has been fundamental in my creative processes since it has always been present in me and in my project. The books and the dark world created by Professor Tolkien has been a total inspiration in the lyrics and song names. The forgotten memories of ancient medieval times. The Norse mythology and its gods and the ancient heroic sagas of which I have always been a fan where brave heroes fight with sacred dragons. And musically, without any doubt in classical music, specifically in composers like Bethovenn or Richard Wagner whose works represent an eternal power and an enormous majesty.

In a more personal, and opinionated side: how do you see today’s Black Metal scene? For the last years we have been overwhelmed with Raw Black Metal like I have never seen before; yet, I see musician going back to the usage of keyboards, which makes me very happy (as I feel it as a fundamental instrument in the Black Metal I prefer). However, more and more projects have been surfacing. How does this help the artist, and the listener?

The truth, I see the Black Metal scene very well, with very good bands and musical projects full of future and some that should have more support, and it is a very good way to encourage other bands to create or listeners to discover different types of bands and styles, and support the Under scene, of which I feel represented. But on the other hand there are some musicians/bands of the scene that are moving away from the true path, forgetting the true purpose of which all this started, to combine spirituality or inner darkness with music. Making music with a completely monetary or aesthetic purpose forgetting the magic of creating, looking like some kind of "teenage fashion", which makes the name of the movement seem ridiculous and inconsequential.

“Entrance to the Catacombs” is a remarkable piece of Ambient and clear Medieval Dungeon Synth… massive. Where were you, spiritually, when you wrote that album? And where were you when I was questing in old RPG books or playing Zelda? This is the perfect sound for my childhood spirit. Thank you.

Thank you so much! I'm really glad to know that the release generated that in you in a similar way to me, because in the recording process of Entrance to The Catacombs I was surrounded by role playing games and full of fantasy books, and it was a period where I listened again and fell in love with old dungeon synth albums, like Depressive Silence , Jim Kirkwood, Mortiis etc... which made me remember the beginnings of Vindalf totally dungeon synth and also my childhood with role playing games. The other thing that completely marked the creation of that album was the concert through Twitch of my friends from Mazmorra Arcana was a very good experience!

I admire the fact that you are able to go from a Medieval Black Metal sound to the Sword & Sorcery Dungeon Synth melodies; how do you put yourself into the right mindset for that, or does it just happen?

Maybe it's a little difficult to explain, I would say that it just happens and that there is also a more important work. Throughout the whole Entrance to The Catacombs album I tried to incorporate a more "ambient" sound without losing or forgetting the darkness or mysticism of the BM. That's why I recorded everything in a different way. Most of the album was recorded with a single keyboard in complete darkness, only by candlelight, recording all the tracks at night by moonlight to fit the style without losing that feeling.

How did the Chilean Black Metal scene receive your work? South America is known for a much heavier and violent Black Metal sound, and I totally love their connection with Heavy Metal in general, making it almost a religion.

Incredibly was very well received vindalf here in Chile, much more support than I thought and very good comments from people , making the physical releases are quite requested (cassettes and CD's). And in the Under and general scene, Vindalf already has an important recognition and respect, which I did not expect at all because for me was never looking for people's liking, that's why I will always be very happy with the support they have given me.

“Ancient Spell of Darkness” came out via Signal Rex, from Portugal, my country. How did this come about? Signal Rex has worked - and still does - with other South American acts, so it did not surprise me, and quality is one of his characteristics.

Fortunately my friends from Signal rex who for me were already quite well known and I knew them a long time ago for their very good editions appeared at a precise moment, since I had recently released "Ancient Spell Of Darkness" an album that was very well received here in Chile and in other countries. of course my intention was to release it in physical format since many people were asking me about it. So after some very nice conversations Signal rex offered to release it on CD, which honestly for me is a pretty good edition, and luckily many copies have already been sold.

Vindalf Official Bandcamp

Signal Rex Store