German atmospheric black metal band Black Autumn is about to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary this year. Formed in 1995 as a two-piece by multi-instrumentalist Michael Krall and vocalist Torsten Hermes, the band has been under Krall’s sole creative force since 2002.’
This is a band that I have been following closely since hearing the album Rivers of Dead Leaves in 2008, and always hoped to release more of its material through my record label, Abridged Pause Recordings, but was never lucky enough due to financial limitations.
The band recorded and contributed an exclusive song, “Metatron,” to Abridged Pause Recordings’ 2009-released Various Artists compilation album Diluvian Temperals. This was to be a precursor to Abridged Pause Recordings releasing a vinyl edition of the band’s album Aurora – Morgen Rothe Im Auffgang in 2010, but alas…
When I set out to compile a follow-up to Diluvian Temperals in 2012, Black Autumn was one of the first bands to record another exclusive track for this Various Artists compilation album, “Rites Of Passage.” However, the release stalled for three years before being revived in 2015 and finally titled Billowing Tempestus.
It was scheduled for release in April 2016, but wound up getting shelved at the last minute. In promotion of Billowing Tempestus, and to accompany the digital Various Artists compilation album, each of the eighteen featured bands was extensively interviewed for a digital fanzine, which was to be bundled with the download of the release.
For that reason, an in-depth and retrospective Black Autumn interview was conducted with sole band member Michael Krall in February 2016, which covered the first ten years of the band’s activities (1995–2005).
Multiple attempts have been made to publish this interview over the years, each time revising and adding a few more questions in an attempt to shed light on newly uncovered archival material from the band’s lengthy span (some of Krall’s answers were completed in May 2025).
It also evolved into a three-part retrospective on Black Autumn, with the other two interviews each covering another decade. But so much of the band’s activities from 2005 carried over into 2006 and 2007 that I felt those two years needed to be covered in the first interview. Hence, this Black Autumn interview focuses on the first twelve years of the band’s existence, from 1995–2007. And after nearly a decade, this is finally available to the public.
Has Black Autumn ever played a show or been offered to play one? If you were to play a show, how would you envision it?
Black Autumn has never played a show. I have been offered to play internationally every now and then, but due to not having a line-up, I have always had to decline. If I played live, I probably would not do much in terms of effects or any other dramatics. I’d like to have friends with me on stage that understand what the music is about, maybe some people that I have collaborated with. I’d love to go beyond the boundaries of a normal black metal or doom metal gig that simply replays music from their albums. I would rather try to focus on the atmosphere I’d like to transport. So a Black Autumn concert would be a mix of already released music and non-album tracks. Probably a few covers and re-interpretations as well. Some doom here, some acoustic songs there. Then a cover of something that’s totally unrelated to metal, but that still transports the same mood that Black Autumn does. A lot could be done in a live situation if you just dare to do something different. I already have a few things and songs in mind that I would love to do live. Since it’s not totally planned yet, I won’t go into much detail.
Your photographic skills are renowned, and you often post pictures of your explorations on Black Autumn‘s Facebook page. Your album artworks are constantly amazing. Have you studied photography or any type of art? Have you done artwork for bands other than Black Autumn?
I have not studied anything like that, it’s all self-taught. Some of my photography has been used in other people’s projects and releases, but I’ve never done any artwork or layout for any bands other than Black Autumn. My photography work was used on Fallen Voices’ Fields of Cathartic Souls, Infamous’ demo tape From the Hermit’s Paths, the three-way split by Infamous, Solitvdo, and Warnungstraum titled Il Rifugio Del Silenzio, and the Naturmacht Productions various artists compilation Naturmacht Compilation V.
What was Hemer, Germany’s metal scene like back in 1995?
There has always been a scene for metal and rock in Hemer, so there were quite a few people around listening to that kind of music. Even today, it’s quite common there. When it came to black metal back in the day, it was a totally different story. That scene was actually quite small. Maybe ten or twenty people, and that was it. Black metal was far from being as popular as it is today. Due to its often extreme nature and ideologies back then, it was usually seen as something better not dealt with.
When did you move from Hemer to Dortmund and why?
I moved to Dortmund in 2013 when my girlfriend became pregnant. It was easier for me to move to her and live in Dortmund than the other way round.
What is TH’s full name, Black Autumn‘s first vocalist, and how did you two meet?
His name is Torsten Hermes, and we lived in the same village. I was in the same grade as his younger brother. When living in a village, you tend to know everyone by first name sooner or later, so we were bound to meet and find out that we had the same interests! We became really good friends in a very short time, and the chemistry was all there.
Whose idea was it to start a band? Had either of you played in other bands before?
It was an idea from both of us. I don’t think it was something that we came up with suddenly. We were talking about it for a while, and at some point it just started! We had not played in any bands before and had no real experience playing in a band environment at all. We just started writing songs, lots of them!
Black Autumn was apparently formed in the autumn of 1995 and was going to be a black metal band. Does that explain the meaning behind the band name, or is there another story? Which one of you came up with the name?
The season was surely a factor in choosing the band name. We were out in the surrounding woods almost daily during the autumn and winter back then. We wanted to translate this atmosphere into music. So it was obvious that the name was going to represent that. We had a few other names in the back of our heads, which I cannot recall anymore, but we weren’t satisfied with any of them. One song that inspired us to choose Black Autumn was “Black Winter Day” by Amorphis. That’s absolutely not black metal, but that song stuck with us for a long time and had a special feeling to it. We somehow went from that song title to Black Autumn.
When did you become aware of other bands named Black Autumn? Of course, you have by now become the best-established band of that name, but at the time, did it make you want to change the band’s name?
Even from the start, it was quite obvious to us that it was likely that other bands, somewhere out there, might have the same name. But it really didn’t bother either one of us much. Actually, I got to know about other bands with the same name through the rise of the internet. One day, I was contacted by a guy from an American death metal band called Black Autumn, asking if I could change the name to prevent confusion. He was surprisingly quite nice, even though the request itself was tacky. Luckily enough, they split up before I could even start to think about it.
What kind of bands influenced the project in its early days? How have your influences changed over the years?
Early on, we were influenced by the Norwegian scene. Burzum, Emperor, Satyricon, Ulver, and Ancient were the bands we totally worshiped. Over the years, other things entered into our music repertoire; some industrial, doom metal, and neo-folk. One steady influence that has always been present has to be The Gathering. Completely unrelated to black metal, but they changed the way that I perceive and understand listening to music and making music. Especially their album How to Measure a Planet?. It taught me what is possible when thinking outside the box you’ve built in your head.
For Black Autumn‘s self-titled demo, I really can’t tell what I was influenced by. To this day, I still have no idea how I came up with the music on there. It’s so different from anything I have ever done since, and it’s outside anything Black Autumn was intended to be. It’s still strange! Cult of Nihil probably owes some of its harshness to Darkthrone’s album Panzerfaust. The material for Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom was mostly Burzum-ish.
The first big changing point was Rivers of Dead Leaves. I started using more styles from very typical doom metal records, and I purposely tried to work with traditional rock and roll song structures (more or less) to see what would come out of it. Surprisingly enough, most people still name this as their favourite Black Autumn album. So, seemingly, there’s something about “the formula”. Later on, with Aurora, I started including more electronics and post-rock elements in my songs, trying to find new ways of layering sounds and harmonies and abandoning the idea of pre-structured songs.
I’ve read that from 1995 to 1998, Black Autumn didn’t have access to proper recording equipment and therefore no proper recordings were made for some time. I’m intrigued by this early period of the band. What did you use to record? Do you still have those recordings stashed away somewhere? How would you describe them? Is there any chance of it surfacing on your Bandcamp some day?
Those were the glory early days indeed. We really had practically nothing to make music with. We used a Jackson Randy Rhoads guitar (that I used for all recordings up to Aurora!) and a Peavey amp. We took a pair of headphones and hung them up on the ceiling, and used them as a microphone. I’m not even kidding!
I do still have these tapes. They’re a part of my history that I don’t want to forget or abandon. The recordings themselves only consist of guitars and vocals. Rough early works, some already more elaborated than others, ranging from fierce to atmospheric. But they are not of a quality that would be thought of as release-worthy nowadays. I always had the idea of going back and revisiting some of these early works, but somehow, the time hasn’t felt right yet. They’re kind of like a sort of sanctum; you know it’s precious, but you don’t dare to enter and disturb its aura.
What was the band’s attitude from 1995 to 1998? Were you sending some of those raw recordings to record labels, promoting them around your town, in fanzines, or online? Were you trying to play shows or looking for additional band members?
We never circulated those tapes. There were maybe only seven to ten people who ever heard snippets from them, ourselves included! They were mainly for our ears only, thought of as a sketch book to return to later on. Our treasure chest, so to speak. We were thinking about building a steady line-up, but in the end, we never found suitable members. It didn’t even get to rehearsing with possible members because we couldn’t find anyone worth serious consideration.
In 1998, Torsten and you got hold of a 4-track recorder and a synthesizer. About how many songs were recorded using this setup, and what happened to them? Was a demo made, or did you reach out to any record labels with this material?
I bought those pieces of equipment from one of my first real paychecks. Our local music stores were mainly selling guitars, so I had to drive to the next largest store, which specialized in music equipment, around an hour and a half away. The synth was an old Korg 05R/W module that had quite a few solid sounds for the era and the budget. A little later on, I got a Yamaha RM1X workstation, which enabled me to do proper sequencing for the recordings. Quite an untypical recording setup for a black metal project, I suppose!
I started working on a number of ideas with this setup, but I think that in the end, only four songs were fully recorded and completed. Two of them, “A Distant Light Before Dawn” and “The Seven Gates of Illusionary Vision,” made it onto the Cult of Nihil demo CD-R, which was also later released on tape and CD by different labels. The other two songs seem to have been lost somewhere along the way, one of which was a cover of Death in June’s “Little Black Angel”.
Wasn’t “Ruins” from Cult of Nihil one of those four songs?
No, “Ruins” was actually recorded later. I was working digitally already at that point and got interested in sampling and sound experiments. “Ruins” is a result of that!
What motivated you and Torsten to cover “Little Black Angel” by Death In June? The song was once available for download from Black Autumn‘s website, but why has it never been included on any release?
I believe Torsten was already out of the band when I recorded “Little Black Angel.” It was actually suggested by a friend to do that because it had the right atmosphere, and he thought it would
make a good black metal song. And it’s incredibly simple. The song never got released on any official release because of the copyright issues it would probably cause.
When and why did Torsten leave the band? How did this affect you? Can you remember how long the band was on hiatus? Was it a planned hiatus, or did you only later decide to continue using the name on your own?
Torsten left quite early on after having recorded only four songs for Black Autumn. I have no recollection of when exactly this took place, but it was in the late 1990s. The main reason was a change in interests, both musically and in terms of life choices, friends, and activities. There was no bad blood involved in any way. He decided it for himself, and things were fine. To this day, we’re still good friends!
It did have an effect, though, since from that moment on I was totally free to do whatever came to my mind, style-wise. This is quite apparent on the first, self-titled demo. It totally differs in style from anything else I have done musically. It was a time of experimentation.
Black Autumn‘s hiatus was not planned in the sense that I said, “Ok, I’ll let this rest for a while and pick it up later.” I just didn’t get to do much with it for quite some time. I’m not even sure if there was any reason for that, except that maybe I lacked inspiration and life kept me busy. Maybe I strayed too far off the path that I started on in the early days of Black Autumn. It took a while to get back to it and realize that this is truly me.
When Black Autumn resurfaced in 2002, how much of the material composed with Torsten was kept, reused, or reworked?
When Black Autumn came back to life around 2002, it was a complete restart. I started working on the material that would eventually become the self-titled demo. Everything on it was written from scratch and then recorded from October 2002 to March 2003. With the exception of the two songs that ended up on Cult of Nihil, I’ve never reused any of the material from back then.
Had you done vocals before 2002? What motivated you to handle that instead of looking for a new vocalist?
I had never really done any vocals before that, so it was kind of a new thing for me. I decided to handle it myself because Black Autumn was a very personal thing for me, and that way I could express myself without having to compromise anything. I chose what the project would be about and how it would be performed.
The lyrics to “A Night In Hell” are credited to “a French poet”. Which author is this and which poem? What motivated you to use it?
The lyrics are actually the first paragraphs from the poem “A Night in Hell” by Arthur Rimbaud. When I first read it, I was awestruck. I knew I just HAD to use this. Or at least parts of it. I just felt it. It’s equal parts giving up and defiance. Self-destruction and pure life. I love it. The album title Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom is also derived from this. In the poem, it’s Ecstasy, Nightmare, Sleep, but I thought “doom” sounded better with it.
Early lyrics for Black Autumn were actually inspired by French poets like Rimbaud, Baudelaire, and Lautréamont. Many lyrics were written by means of écriture automatique or automatic writing, which was also used by surrealist writers.
How did you release Black Autumn‘s first CD-R demo in the spring of 2003, and how many copies were made?
The first demo CD-R was self-released in a totally DIY manner, and I distributed it myself. There was no limitation of any sort, and I have absolutely no idea how many of them are around! The covers were printed at home on heavy paper, and so were the CD-Rs. It was housed in a slim jewel case, so it only had a front cover and an inside; the cover design on the front and the track listing on the back. The CD-Rs were regular retailer products without any stickers or layout printed on them. All the copies were sold within a year and a half.
At the time, you described Black Autumn‘s debut demo as “drug-induced dark metal based on mental disorders”. Elaborate on that.
The topic of mental disorder is in relation to the lyrics, which focus on depression, addiction, borderline syndrome, and stuff like that. After the recordings were finished and I listened to the results as a whole, it appeared to be one pitiful, delirious nightmare, someone going through a personal hell and making things worse by giving in to addictions. It was quite interesting doing this, even though it is something that is very much not me!
Following the first release, you wasted no time composing a full-length demo, released as Cult of Nihil in March 2004. Some of the material on this demo was brand new, while other portions came from Torsten’s era. Precisely what material was reused, and what material was brand new? Were any changes made to the older material, or was it released as is, straight from the 4-track recorder?
Tracks one to four on Cult of Nihil were the brand new songs that I wrote as a one-man project. Tracks five to seven were taken from the original 4-track tapes. The first two featured Torsten on vocals. I added the old songs to the release because I thought that they had a similar feel and atmosphere to the new ones. I didn’t want to leave them to disappear unused, as I was, and still am, very satisfied with them! Since I had no idea how long the project would last, I thought it might be wise to have them out as early as possible.
How many copies did you make of Cult of Nihil, and how did you handle the design this time?
I handled this the same way as for the self-titled demo. I did it all by myself, except that I had the covers and inlays printed at a local copy shop. The CD-Rs were again burned at home on my computer. This time it was a standard jewel case. The front cover was taken from a drawing by Käthe Kollwitz, while the back cover showed an alleged ghost photograph, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, I don’t even have a personal copy left, so I can’t look up additional details. I remember the covers being of varying quality due to the print shop owner being really bad at what he was doing! The CD-R sold out in eight months.
The success of Cult of Nihil gathered interest from a record label that offered to release a split between Black Autumn and Misanthropy. What can you remember of this planned collaboration?
I had been in contact with the guys from Misanthropy (the American band) for quite a while at the time. I had met one of them at the Wacken Open Air festival. We had quite a lively email correspondence and had the idea to work on something together. Unfortunately, the release never materialized, likely due to my not being able to record fast enough, and our communications faded away. I don’t remember which label was interested in releasing it, and I am not sure what happened to the songs that they intended to use on our split, perhaps they ended up on their other split, Conquering the World with True Black Metal War, which was with Besatt, Armaggedon, and Inner Helvete.
The songs that I was working on were never finished in time, so I used them in later releases. My way of working was badly organized at that time, and I didn’t bother to archive most of my material, so I can’t track down where exactly that material was reused. Looking back at it today, it’s a real pity!
Later in 2005, you wound up doing a split but with a different band, Abyss from Italy. How did this collaboration come about?
I was in contact with Francesco, the owner of Eyes of the Dead Productions, through trading, and he proposed doing a split record. He introduced me to Abyss, whom he thought would be a worthy partner for the split. So it was basically his suggestion to have them aboard. I liked their material a lot, so I was fine with it!
At first, the split was meant to be released on a 7″ vinyl. What happened with that? How did Eyes of the Dead Productions and Farbstoff Abstrakt Media Productions end up co-financing the CD-R together in 2005?
The idea of releasing it on vinyl was a nice thought. But vinyl production was expensive, and it would have been a financial risk. I’m pretty sure it was Eyes of the Dead Productions that contacted Farbstoff Abstrakt Media Productions to join in on the release.
Who handled the artwork for the split with Abyss, and who came up with Black Autumn‘s new logo with what appears to be a Griffin creature?
I think it was done by either the guy from Eyes of the Dead Productions or from Abyss. But I’m not sure about that.
The alternative logo for Black Autumn was done by me back then. I just wanted to test different things and didn’t have a real logo back then. That’s why it was different with every release. I also made the logo that was used from Rivers of Dead Leaves onwards, and that became the official logo used mostly from then on.
In April 2005, Massenmordt Productions released the Various Artists compilation G.O.A.T. – Unholy Alliance. The CD compilation featured the new Black Autumn song “The Cold to Come,” labeled as a preview of the forthcoming album, Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom. Did the version of the song on this Various Artists compilation change at all from the version later released on Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom, or from the version on the split with Abyss? How did this collaboration happen, and was there talk of more releases with Massenmordt Productions?
No, it’s the exact same version that was later used on the split with Abyss. It actually didn’t make the cut for Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom, for some reason (but did appear on END). It was chaotic back then.
Massenmordt Productions approached me and wanted me on the compilation, and that song was ready to go. I don’t know if they released anything after that. But as far as I remember, there was no talk about any other releases with Black Autumn.
In November 2005, the first Black Autumn t-shirts and buttons were made by Unternehmen Chaos Propaganda. How many were made? How did this come about, and were there plans to work on more stuff with Unternehmen Chaos Propaganda?
It was a small, limited batch, but I don’t know the exact numbers. Around 20 shirts and 10 buttons. Black Autumn reached quite a few people back then, and Unternehmen Chaos Propaganda contacted me and wanted to do this because of that. But it was a one-off thing, like a lot of releases back then. People were doing loads of stuff out of their living rooms, and labels were often very short-lived.
By that time, after ten years of existence, it seems like Black Autumn was finally doing well because a whole lot of releases happened in 2006 and 2007. In hindsight, did you notice that happening? Were record labels contacting you, or did you still have to reach out to them? Did you feel you were starting to have a fanbase?
Yes, I absolutely noticed that. I was contacted quite frequently by fans and labels, and was in touch with so many people. It was a very active time. When Rivers of Dead Leaves came out in 2008, it really took off, and I still feel it was the most successful album for Black Autumn. From that point on, I had a fan base in some way. It went so far that I was actually recognized and approached at concerts and festivals. That was great, but also kind of weird.
Right after releasing the split with Abyss in August 2005, Eyes of the Dead Productions offered to release your first full-length album, Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom, on Pro-CD. It was scheduled for release in late 2005, but the record label vanished and left you hanging with no news. What was that about?
From what I know, it was a personal thing on Eyes of the Dead Productions’ side that put the label on hiatus. There was absolutely no bad blood or anything like that. They just had to take a break and take care of other things in their life. But I’m glad to see they are active again nowadays! Maybe there’ll be a chance of working together again in the future!
In February 2006, Made With Hate Records released the Various Artists compilation Death to All Sampler 2 on tape. This compilation featured the new and exclusive Black Autumn song “Psychic.” When was this song recorded, and what’s the story, since it’s such a different type of song from what you were writing and recording at the time? How did you get to work with Made With Hate Records, and was there talk of more releases with that company?
I think that piece was actually recorded at or around the time the material for the self-titled demo was written. I was trying to do a lot of sound design back then and listened to electronic music and noise quite a lot.
I was contacted by Made With Hate Records and still had this on my hard drive. And since it was so different from what I usually do, I thought this was a good place to release it into the wild. But there were no plans besides the compilation.
Also in February 2006, Kassetten Edition Dreizack re-issued Black Autumn‘s 2003, self-titled four-song demo under the new title Isolation. Why was the title changed? How did you come into contact with Kassetten Edition Dreizack? Was there talk of having more releases on Kassetten Edition Dreizack? Do you know what happened to the record label? Seems to have disappeared a year later.
There was no special reason. It was just an idea that I had with Kassetten Edition Dreizack, the label that released the tape version of the demo.
Who is Stefan Weise, who designed the artwork/layout for the cassette? Did you decide to work with him, or was it Kassetten Edition Dreizack?
I have no recollection of that, actually, so I suppose that was a decision on Kassetten Edition Dreizack’s side.
Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom was ultimately released on CD through ISO666 Releases and on tape, under the title END, through Bylec-Tum Productions. Each version has its own distinctive track listing and artwork. Can you elaborate on how this happened?
The version of Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom on CD, released by ISO666 Releases, is the original version, although it was released after the tape version (the tape was released in November 2006, and the CD was released in September 2007). That’s how I originally envisioned, wrote, and compiled it. All the tracks are from one and the same recording session. It was Bylec-Tum Productions’ idea to alter the track listing, adding “The Cold to Come” from the split with Abyss and “Empty Thrones” from Cult of Nihil. It worked very well with the original songs, and I liked the idea. It showed that there was some sort of continuity throughout the different periods of writing the material.
“Emptiness, Your Silence” was split into two tracks on both versions, but on the tape, you can’t tell because there are no track numbers. I wanted to separate them because I felt that the intro to that song would make a good short experimental interlude. I was listening to more experimental music at the time, and that’s how I got the idea. I’m not sure why Bylec-Tum Productions left “In Autumn” off the tape version.
We decided to title the tape version END (the initials of Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom) because the word captured the atmosphere of the album, and it also referred to a tragic event in the life of the owner of Bylec-Tum Productions, which he was going through at the time. Other than the changes and edits on the track listing, there are no other differences between Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom and END.
What was your motivation behind recording a cover of Current 93’s “Immortal Bird”? Are you still happy today with how it turned out? How do you compare your approach to this cover versus the Death In June cover you made earlier?
I went through a breakup back then, and this song put things into words better than I could. And being a huge Current 93 fan at the time, I felt the urge to make my own version of it. I’m still very happy I did it, but I could have made more out of it. I mean, everything is totally out of tune, but I still went for it. But that’s where the raw energy comes in. I suppose I’d do it too polished these days and wouldn’t be able to give it that aura of dread. So yes, I’m happy.
It was a bit different to work on compared to “My Little Black Angel” since it is more of a droning song, and the way David Tibet sings and structures his lyrics makes it a bit harder. “My Little Black Angel” is just the simplest song you can imagine, while “Immortal Bird” is more like a little piece of sublime art compared to that. Still a simple but very immersive song.
The lyrics for “Obsession” are adapted from a poem by Charles Baudelaire. Which poem was that, and how did this come about?
It’s the poem of the same name in Les fleurs du mal. As I said earlier, I was quite obsessed with this kind of French poetry, so it was a decision of fandom. Fun trivia: this song was to be used for the soundtrack of a Blumhouse horror movie. But I actually don’t know if that was ever released. I should go back and check on that.
Who is G.G. Plague, the artist who designed the artwork and layout for the END tape on Bylec-Tum Productions?
I’m quite sure that this was Mr. Gelormini, head of Bylec-Tum Productions, himself!
Bylec-Tum Productions is one of the record labels with which you have worked the most. As of 2013, you have released two tapes and one compact disc with the company. How did you first meet Giancarlo Gelormini, and why do you think Black Autumn works so well with Bylec-Tum Productions?
I think Giancarlo reached out to me via mail or even MySpace originally. We got along immediately, and he helped Black Autumn grow incredibly and was tireless in spreading the word about it. Always putting in more effort than you could think of. I am very grateful for that. He’s putting his heart into the label and the music he releases. And at that time, it was just a perfect match. Being a tape collector myself, I’m always eager to have my music out on that format.
How did you first come in contact with Kim Carlsson, owner and founder of Unjoy/Insikt Productions? Were you already familiar with his bands Lifelover, Kyla, Hypothermia, Consider Suicide, Kall, or Life Is Pain? It seems that when working with someone as established as he in the black metal community, Black Autumn should have done a lot better from that point on. But instead, the tape on Insikt Productions turned out to be one of the most obscure of your releases and one of the hardest to find. What happened?
Kim contacted me via email. Totally out of the blue, as I remember. I have no idea where he had heard about Black Autumn, but I was, of course, honoured to be considered for his tape label. The label was not that active after that anymore. There were only two releases that year, and a last one a year later. I suppose not many people were aware who was behind the label, and the releases were very limited, home-dubbed editions.
How was it decided that Insikt Productions would release Cult of Nihil on tape, rather than another release? Was it because Isolation was already out, and Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom was already secured by then?
I don’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure he specifically wanted to release Cult of Nihil. So there was no discussion about any other material to be released on his label. And as stated earlier, it was not the most active label at that time and was quite selective. Maybe he got a copy of the CD album from ISO666. But, honestly, I can’t recall the exact timeline of events.
Who designed the artwork and layout for the tape version of Cult of Nihil?
Me, yours truly!
Once ISO666 Releases came into the picture, what was going on with Black Autumn? Did it look as if ISO666 Releases was going to be Black Autumn‘s long-term record label? It really seemed that the company was doing well; it had a good roster of bands and steady releases.
Things really seemed to take off at that point, and of course, I was hoping to strike a long-term deal with ISO666 Releases after the release of those two albums. It was a respected label with great releases. But as history shows, it unfortunately went down.
Was it the record label’s idea to release both Cult of Nihil and Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom, or did you talk them into it?
Yes, that had been the label’s idea. I wasn’t sure about doing a double release, but, of course, I went with it. I was excited to be able to officially release on ISO666 Releases and trusted the company’s decision.
Cult of Nihil and Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom were originally scheduled to be released at the same time, in September 2007, by ISO666 Releases. But Cult of Nihil was pushed back for a while because of “issues at the pressing plant.” Do you remember what happened? Was it really a pressing plant error, or was it related to ISO666 Releases, since the record label closed down very shortly afterward? In fact, Cult of Nihil and Hordagaard’s Poltergeist album, the two releases that were pushed back from their original release date, are the final releases by ISO666 Releases.
It actually was problems with the pressing plant. As it turned out, a significant number of the CDs were corrupted, and the inlays were cut too large for standard jewel cases. The printing job, especially, was messed up. As it turned out, about a third of the batch of CDs I got were still defective and couldn’t be sold. But I don’t know if these incidents led to the demise of ISO666 Releases. I never had any contact with them afterwards, unfortunately.
Did the two releases suffer from a lack of promotion and distribution because of the untimely closing of ISO666 Releases? Was there also a plan for ISO666 Releases to re-issue Black Autumn/Isolation on CD as well before the company’s closing?
No, I don’t think so. Maybe it would have been better if the label had survived for longer, but the albums were still quite widely distributed. They appeared in a lot of mail orders very quickly after their release. There were no other plans discussed with the label.
Soraia Cunha is credited for the photography of ISO666 Releases’ release of Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom, but I read that Fabrizio Pavia at Metaphobia had designed a full layout for the album. Was that version of the artwork not used, or is he uncredited in the album?
Soraia Cunha made the photos and is actually the woman in the pictures. I created the layout with these photos, but I have no recollection of any alternative artwork for the CD release.
You handled the layout for ISO666 Releases’ CD re-issue of Cult of Nihil. Where do the original images come from? It seems to be the only release that hints at Satanism. Was that on purpose?
I just felt that the album had an occult feeling to it, and it would be very fitting if the artwork reflected that. I think the picture was from a medieval protestant pamphlet depicting the pope as the antichrist. Other than that, Satanism has never been a topic for Black Autumn. Even the song “Luciferian Microcosm” isn’t Satanic. It’s actually inspired by John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness!
This concludes the first segment of Black Autumn‘s retrospective interviews series, covering the years 1995 to 2007. Parts two and three will be published at a later time.
