Full Album Stream: Solfernus – “Neoantichrist”

Twelve years is a long period of silence from any band, including Czech black metal outfit Solfernus. After a lineup change which brought in new drummer Paul Dread (best known for his work with second-wave black metal group Root), Solfernus finally recorded their second LP, Neoantichrist. A step up in terms of both production and songwriting, guitarist Igor Hubik caught us up on what Solfernus was up to in their downtime and how the record came together, along with an exclusive stream.

Solfernus’ first album, Hysteria in Coma, was released 12 years ago, with nothing following it until Neoantichrist. What were you doing in that 12-year downtime?
We played out a few shows and filmed two video clips to promote this debut album Hysteria in Coma back then. Probably the biggest live appearance of Solfernuswas a monster metal event Brutal Assault Open Air. We started to write new music in 2008 but never recorded it. Our original drummer Coroner left the band and founded Cult Of Fire. I was and I am still active with Root, of course. We wrote ten new songs for Solfernus about two years ago and recorded it with new drummer Paul Dread (also Root’s drummer) who was producing the whole album as well. You can now listen to this new actual music from us and be sure that we´ll record the next album sooner than in twelve years this time.

Has your sound changed or evolved since Hysteria?
I could explain it more clearly: Neoantichrist sounds different from Hysteria in Coma but the main idea is still the same. We want to have live metal sound without modern trendy things in the production. Solfernus is a black metal project based on sharp guitars, natural drums and brutal vocals. We did not use any special effects, just guitars linked in Marshall and Engl amps and full drum kit with two bass drums. Everything by the oldest metal laws.

What were your influences when writing this record?
As with musical influences, maybe listeners should describe it better. I´m just playing guitar and thinking about single songs. I don’t think it should sound like this or that, you know. And about the lyrics, there are more themes hidden in new songs. Everybody can listen and read between the lines. But I love one from the track called “Glorifired,” which represents this album pretty well: IN CHAOS WE REIGN!

Neoantichrist is available October 13 through Satanath