In late January, Polish black metal band Outre released “Chant 3 – The Fall”—a terrific, five-minute glimpse at their upcoming full-length, Ghost Chants. [Check out our review here] The song was impressive not just for its effortless melding of a wide range of styles, but also for the fact that the band had parted with vocalist Andrzej Nowak only a month prior and started recording anew with versatile guest vocalist Stawrogin. We’ll save the hyperbole for our formal review, but suffice it to say, it was an inspired substitution that paid dividends all throughout the album.
Ahead of Ghost Chants’ formal release next month, we put forth some questions to Outre guitarist and founder Damian Igielski on that last-minute swap, as well as some of the other key factors in the album’s development. Here’s what he had to say:
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First off, congratulations on Ghost Chants! After a bit of a turbulent time over the past few months, how does it feel to be releasing your first full-length?
Thank you. It feels really great to finally have the album ready. It was a long road and we had a few setbacks but the final effect was definitely worth the extra wait. Every song on this album started as a pre-production made solely by me and it was really thrilling to see other musicians give the best they had to complete and expand my visions. Outre started as a one-man project and Ghost Chants hailed that ideology to some extent, however every person affiliated with this album elevated it to a higher level. The final outcome is therefore nothing close to a solo/one-man metal band and that’s really cool. I am also really pleased with our cooperation with the labels—these guys really know what they are doing and they do it out of passion.
Your former vocalist, Andrzej Nowak, left the band back in December. Was this a spur of the moment decision, or had it been building for a bit? Are you still on good terms with him?
Yeah, it was building up in us for some time, but it escalated quickly in December. We finished the second part of our tour with Thaw and started recording guitars, bass and vocals. At that point, we realized that some steps needed to be taken to guarantee that the album would be the best we could create at the time…you know the rest of the story. In the end, the music is all that matters, so sometimes we need to make hard decisions. As for him…can’t say that we are still close friends, but none of us has a problem in shaking hands.
That departure made way for a terrific performance from Stawrogin, though–and on pretty short notice, too! Can you walk us through how you ended up getting him to sing on Ghost Chants? Was there any previous relationship with him?
Stawrogin did a great job on recording the vocals. I seriously can’t imagine anyone who could do it better. We knew his work before; we were all really impressed with Esperalem Tkane by his band Odraza, and the guy lives in Krakow so we thought that he might be the best choice. In late December, we went to see Triptykon in Krakow, and Massemord—where Stawrogin plays guitar—was one of the supporting bands. I had burned a demo version of the new material and we had a short chat with him. We knew each other only from the bands we were playing in; we had no previous personal contact whatsoever, but he reacted very optimistically to our offer. Working with him was a blast; the guy knows exactly what to do both from the musician and recording standpoint.
I see he’s only credited as a guest or session musician on the album, though. What’s the plan for vocals going forward? Is there any chance you’ll try to bring him on full-time, or was this a one-time deal?
The deal was to record the album only. Stawrogin already plays in a couple of bands, so we were aware that he would have a hard time participating in active touring. He is however playing the nearest gig with us (with Svartidaudi, Emptiness and Antediluvian) and I am really stoked to see how it’s going to turn up.
Compared to your previous output, Ghost Chants seems like it’s got a bit more of a nod to your countrymen, Behemoth, particularly on songs like “Lament.” The sound seems much thicker and meatier as a whole. Were there any specific changes to your songwriting process that brought this on, or was this just a natural evolution?
I know that we will be compared to Behemoth because of the country we come from, but seriously, this music has nothing to do with the blackened death metal Behemoth plays. “Lament” is more of a nod to Deathspell Omega and the French scene than it is to anything that Behemoth played in the past.
This album is far more aggressive than anything we done before and I believe that is a natural progression. We stand in opposition. Most of the bands just get softer with every album they make, which bores the hell out of me. To keep things interesting, I was listening to a lot of aggressive and mad music—that had to influence the album since it is far more fierce than anything we have done up to date. The meatier sound also comes from the fact that this time, I wasn’t the only person responsible for recording—and as I stated before, I was lucky to have really great musicians on this album. This fact and their devotion to record the best parts possible is reflected in the sound and feel of the album as a whole.
You brought M. from Mgla aboard to produce the album–did he play a role in this sound shaping at all? What else did he bring to the table that you guys particularly liked?
M. is a really important factor of the album’s final sound. He was not only recording the drums and mixing—he was giving us advice on how to do certain things so that the album would stand its ground. He helped us shape both the sound and some musical ideas found on the album, and he brought to the table a certain level of professionalism we were not familiar with. I must say that I was really impressed with the way he was working on the album; he is both a very gifted musician and a professional sound engineer.
To build on the last two questions, you’ve shown a great deal of growth as a band, from the Tranquility EP, to your split with Thaw, and now here on Ghost Chants. Are there any particular pockets or subgenres that you can see yourself exploring more in the future? (Is that even something you think about when you’re writing, or do you like to just let the songs happen as they will?)
No, I don’t plan ahead, usually I let the songs flow freely and then after a while I can choose from different recorded pre-productions. One thing is certain: it will be black metal—not post or avant-garde/ritual shit, just pure black metal. The same principal applied to Ghost Chants; I don’t see this album to be “post” in any way but some people tend to throw it on this bandwagon, which is kinda funny. I don’t fight it, though—some minds just need to tightly categorize everything, so I’m fine with it as long as it helps them understand the musical point.
Finally, what are your plans around the release of Ghost Chants? Any live dates or other promotional work on the horizon for the band?
As I mentioned before, we will play a rather big gig in Katowice in May alongside Svartidaudi, Emptiness and Antediluvian. We have some touring plans ahead, but it is too early to say something about them. The whole thing with changing the vocalist ruined our plans for this year’s summer fests; we had a substantial delay so we were unable to join some awesome lineups. We are looking forward to see what the future brings for Outre, this life is the only one we get, and we are bent on embracing it fully.
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Many thanks to Damian for his time.
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