It’s now well over a month since the release of Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse, and I’m still blasting the album almost daily. It’s just that damn good, and with the monumental track “Beyond the Frozen Meadows” alone there’s no way it’s not ending up high on my AOTY list. Devastating riffs, beautiful melodies, and most of all great fucking songwriting. Marrow of Man is an Amsterdam-based melodic black metal act from one Sahand Mozdbar, and is glowing proof that one-man black metal is perhaps getting better and better as time goes on. If you’ve read my review of the album you’ll already know how good it is, so dive in below to get what I believe is the closest look so far into some of the story and inspirations behind this up-and-coming artist.

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How and when did you first get into playing music, or metal more specifically, and how did your band get its start? Any pushback from family/those close to you?

I got into playing music quite quickly after I got introduced to metal via my older nephew. I was something like 13/14 years old and he took me aside during a family gathering and told me ‘you gotta listen to this shit’ and put me on some Maiden, Lamb of God and even Disturbed. I was in shock and it’s fair to say that the trajectory of my life has been changed by that very special and personal introduction to metal music.

A couple of months after this had happened and I was well along my journey of discovering the vast arena of music we call metal, I picked up an old, rusty guitar my other nephew still had laying around. It was truly in a horrible state, with the action of the guitar being so ridiculously high that it was barely even playable. After initially giving up after a few weeks, I picked up the instrument again soon after and bought my first real guitar for 200 bucks in a nice little shop in Zwolle. This is the guitar that I still play the most to this day and I’m still just as much in love with it as I was back then.

Fast forward to about 3 years ago, and the dawn of ‘Forlorn Hope’ was officially upon the world through a sludgy single that I took offline a while ago because it didn’t match what the rest of the project was going to be about. For anyone unaware, ‘Forlorn Hope’ was the name of MoM under which I released the first two EPs. I was very undecided in terms of what kind of music I wanted to write and release, and you can actually still find some very bad and amateurish tracks on a SoundCloud page under the name of ‘Forlorn Hope.’

After getting way more recognition than I ever expected through my first two EPs, I decided to change the name of my project to ‘Marrow of Man’, as quite frankly the name Forlorn Hope was already taken by a multitude of bands and it felt weird to be releasing music under the same name as another band, at the same time as them.

As for family and friends, I have been lucky enough to have amazingly supportive parents, family and friends that have been there for every little step of my musical career. My parents and little brother have put up with hearing the same little part of music on repeat because I was mixing, and never complained about anything and always let me do what I wanted to. On my first ever live show in my band (Cult of Carnage), everyone close to me came out and supported what I loved doing. I will never take their support for granted and couldn’t be more grateful about it.

How would you describe your band and what you play to someone who is completely in the dark?

I honestly find it very hard to describe my own music, but I think the most basic way to put it is melodic black metal with major death metal influences. I am very much a fan of strong melodies in music, and I really like to carry that over to black metal through my own music. I also like to think that my music is quite varied, it goes from very fast and melodic, to slow and sludgy (sometimes in the same song) and I always try to keep it interesting. So if you are someone that likes strong melodies, hooks and fast drum patterns, but also more sinister, heavy and slow parts, my music is probably something you’ll enjoy.

Is there one thing about your latest album that no one will find in any interview or review that you care to divulge?

Maybe the fact that it’s not only all played (or programmed in case of the drums) by me, but also that it is mixed and mastered by me. I honestly haven’t done much interviews (excluding this only one), so I don’t think that’s out there. I am pretty proud of how the latest record sounds mix-wise, so if anyone cares, I did that!

Any funny stories from playing shows / tours / festivals, etc?

Marrow of Man is a one-man studio project (with no plans for live shows), but as some might know I am also guitarist and founding member of the extreme metal band ‘Cult of Carnage’, that does actually play shows.

During our first gig (which was also my first ever live performance), just half an hour or so before we had to go on stage, a good portion of my friends that were at the venue disappeared. Turns out they walked around the corner and started taping pictures of a really ugly photo of myself onto shirts and writing all kinds of shit on it, related to me. It was crazy to play my first show in a very small but absolutely packed venue and to see most of my friends wearing shirts with my face on it. It really meant a lot to me that they all came out and the fact that they went the extra mile and did something like that is both heartwarming and extremely funny to me.

What do you see as some of the great things happening in and around the metal scene, and what are some of the worst things happening right now?

I don’t really keep great track of what happens in the metal scene honestly, but what I do really love to see and have experienced myself recently, is the sheer amount of passion and dedication fans of the genre have in supporting the artists. I was, and still am, utterly blown away by the amount of people that are still willing to buy physical copies, go out to shows or otherwise financially support artists. I think this extremely supportive fanbase is one of metal’s strongest suits and is unmatched when compared to other genres of music (in my humble opinion).

What I don’t like, especially in the black metal scene, is how prevalent and quite frankly normalized fascism is. I mean, we even have a damn subgenre for it (NSBM). It sucks that there are so many weirdos/edgelords/genuinely problematic people in the scene and that they get enabled by people who pretend to be ‘apolitical’ and only ‘care about the music.’

I think that it is more important than ever to make a stand against fascism, by at least not supporting such artists. I’m not asking anyone to make a political statement against such music, but staying away from it, not financially supporting it and labels not featuring music with nazi themes seems like a pretty obvious thing to expect from a scene.

Most folks have passions for a cause or causes that are close to them. What, if any, are some of the most important issues (social/political/humorous/etc.) for you and how do you insert those issues into your music?

I don’t really feature it in my music (yet), but I have been going through somewhat of a political awakening the last year or so. Some issues I feel very strongly about are the genocides going on in Palestine, Congo and (South) Sudan. As an Iranian, I also have strong feelings about the wickedness of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and my heartfelt support goes out to the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.

I honestly could go on and on about politics and issues both contemporary and of the past, but the ones I mentioned are the ones that occupy my mind the most recently. I am thinking of including some of my parents’ history with the country and them being political refugees in my next album though, so look out for that (if I actually decide to write about it haha).

Do you have day jobs or hobbies you want to share?

I am currently in my last year of the bachelor Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and will be writing my thesis during the next year! I really enjoy the course and even though I have no clue what I’ll do with my degree, I am very thankful for all of the knowledge I have accumulated through my time being there, which has truly changed my world-views and changed me a lot as a person.

What advice do you have for music critics and outlets out there? How can we all better serve the genre in the eyes of a hard-working musician?

What I’m going to mention is not necessarily related to music critics or outlets per se, but I’ve noticed that in this industry responding in a timely fashion and properly communicating is sometimes VERY HARD for people. If there is one thing I’d like to change about the industry, it’s the communication and response times. For music critics/outlets, I honestly think they are doing a great job of highlighting the underground, but some more attention could be spent on up-and-coming artists and a little bit less on all of the big bands.

Any specific long term goal(s) in mind?

Continuing to make music I really like, getting vinyl pressed for my music (which is actually in the works now!!!) getting more merch and slowly growing my audience. I guess some of these aren’t very specific, but they are the goals I am most concerned with currently.

When you’re not obsessing over your own material, what are some of your favorite albums to listen to currently?

Lately I have been really getting into Trhä. I really love the triumphant and complex songs they made, and the news that they have disbanded is very saddening to me. Some other works of music I really enjoy are The Sad Realm of the Stars by Odium, Against the Seasons by Woods of Ypres, Eternal Sorcery by One of Nine and Musta Seremonia by Rippikoulu.

What is the near future outlook for you or your band? Any specific events on the horizon that the masses should be aware of?

I’m currently working on some exciting stuff for future releases! Some stuff I unfortunately cannot disclose (yet), but I can say that I am already beginning to write for my second full-length album. Other than that, merch and more physical copies of my music are on the way.

Summarize your band in one word.

Thoughtful.

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Eternal hails to Sahand for his time!

— Colin

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Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse is available now, with physical represses TBA through Fiadh Productions. For more information on Marrow of Man, check out their Instagram page.