Interview with Ebonillumini

Lurking somewhere between the realms of life and death, floating between both existences dancing among the shadows and drizzle of an English morning comes this amazing band, Ebonillumini. Having been around for a few years now and also releasing a phenomenal demo, The Ebon Channel, this duo is another avant-garde black metal band to surface. I’ve been a HUGE fan for the last 6 months or so since I discovered them on a compilation of UK Black Metal bands and was instantly engulfed by their sound. Many bands that go this route are successful as their background is generally in another form of metal of neo-folk/pagan and these projects become an outlet for a change and expression of something different. On the other hand there is a decent amount of exhausted mediocrity or just plain weak attempts to create a more neitherworldly or dreamlike environment within the music that will begin to surface as does with most good things, although drone doom never caught on with me too well.

It seems as if half of the stuff that I’ve reviewed as of late have been more of the atmospheric/pagan/avant-garde black metal and they have all been promising and so far delivering on that promise even with the nay-sayers labeling it all as weak and the labels promoting it as “shoe-gaze”. Maybe it’s just my personal bias as I’m a huge neo-folk/pagan/ambient fan and always have followed that stuff fairly closely and enjoy literature, and love to see some of that influence in music and art. I was wrong about Germany winning the World Cup and was almost certain that it was a sure bet because of a weird dream but I still couldn’t bring myself to make that bet, but I would be willing to make this bet that many will find this band to be as enthralling as I do regardless of their personal preference in metal/music. So without further delay, here’s my brief interview with the band and one of my most recent and longer lasting musical obsessions:

DOTDR: Although some elements of black metal are present, especially from the more ethereal and folksy styles of BM as heard in artists like: Alcest, Lifelover, Finnr's Cane, Sorgeldom, Lik. You fit perfectly in that void between the neo-pagan/neo-folk sound as heard from artists like: Ataraxia, Olen K, Allerseelen and the other artists mentioned. How do you guys view your sound and what do you want to portray through it?

Christina: I view our sound as Avant-garde black metal neo-classical folk!
The lyrical & musical concepts are intended to fascinate, disturb, evoke and entice, to reveal emotions & visualizations. The atmospheres created are the reactions of light illuminating deep inside all things dark, forbidden & shadowy. Our task as The Monk & Maiden is to convey and release the hidden stories, secrets, sadness and beauty hidden therein. The theatrical decadence of the avant-garde black metal domain has given me balance as a performer, writer, singer and musician to experiment into greater depths with the darker sides of my creativity.


J.D. Tait: I’ve always had a love for In The Woods… but only had the chance to express some of the atmospheres in small parts through my other projects. Ebonillumini gave the opportunity to create an entire release awash with dusky dark atmospheres. I would of hated to just imitate ITW so I tried to incorporate some stranger elements but the element which is most unique to our sound is Christina’s dark jazzy vocals which as far as I know no avant-garde Black Metal band have incorporated thus far. We wish to portray our journey through our part fiction part non fiction travels through areas of the world with elements of personal, historical & fantasy based concepts.



DOTDR: What do you guys have planned for the band?

Christina: We are planning on continual creative works which will expand endlessly in the form of our conceptual approach to be discovered with our forthcoming debut album.

JD: Our debut album is the next stop & will be following close to our demo but with some blacker moments as well as some stranger avant-garde moments. Once this release has birthed its gift we may start to think about the possibility of performing live. One thing you can always expect from us is the unexpected & to never close the door on evolving the bands sound.

DOTDR: Are you hoping to stay unsigned and independent (I totally support that route myself if a band can do it successfully)?

Christina: I am hoping that the work we produce will obtain optimum awareness; it is very difficult to achieve this without label backing.

JD: You can only successfully self release when you have built the foundations & gained a solid fan base. This is what we’re in the process of doing right now.



DOTDR: Are there any other releases out there besides "The Ebon Channel" and I've gotten several people ask me directly about how to get that release because they read the review and heard the tracks on the show/audiostream?


Christina: At the moment there are no other releases available out there ‘The Ebon Channel’ is our only release, which can be purchased through our myspace. However our debut album is now 90% complete.
www.myspace.com/ebonillumini



DOTDR: Is there anything that you'd like to touch on that hasn't been so far ?

JD: The avant-garde BM scene is flourishing at the moment & as always when a scene grows a lot of good but unoriginal bands start to appear. Your job as the listener is to discern between the dross & the truly unique bands that have something new to bring to the table, mediocrity is not something to praised.


DOTDR: I honestly can’t thank you both enough for your time and creations, your visions have begun to manifest themselves already and I’ve gotten massive responses to your music from my site. I’m looking to the album and everything that you guys create, as it is more of an experience than just another atmospheric black metal album. Best of luck with all of your prospects and keep evolving and being


For band info,contact, and audio samples:
http://www.myspace.com/ebonillumini

You really HAVE to check this stuff out!!!!