Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Dråpsnatt was started in the fall of 2005 by Vinterfader and Narstrand.
We both came from a background of playing metal music in different experimental forms, and around this time we were pretty fed up with what we had previously been doing.
Both of us had stored great amounts of anguish, hatred and pity, and right away we started writing songs right off the top of our heads, recording drums at random, jamming along with them for a while, puzzling it all together and voilà – a song is born!
This is still the way we compose our music, and everything that you hear on "I Denna Skog" is therefore pretty much improvised. However, we have through our experienced raised our own expectations, and this has meant that we nowadays revise parts of our music at times. The core of the music has always been improvised, though. The lyrical themes of Dråpsnatt has always been misanthropic, pagan, and very often focused on nature and its inherent spiritualism.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music? We shall mention some bands that have influenced us, although we would like to point out that we hope, and think, that we are original in the way we write our music. We have not once sat down and said "Hey, that's a good part/song that we should steal or remake into something of our own". On the contrary, we try to keep track on other bands in order not to end up writing a piece that sounds like anything you would hear on another metal album.
Some of the bands that I (Narstrand) grew up listening to are Mayhem, In the woods, Old mans child, Månegarm and Dark Funeral to name a few. Vinterfader has his roots in classical music, and have only listened to black metal for about 6-7 years.
When it comes to describing our own music in terms of genre, that is something that we try not to do. We lend a lot of inspiration from the black metal genre, folk music, classical music, the woods and in some cases also sound tracks from movies and so on. We have all these influences in the back of our heads, but the music that comes out is truly just a mishmash of spontaneous thoughts and feelings. However, we are currently classified as folk/black metal, and this label suits us quite well.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
A "metalhead" literally should mean a person that likes, or is at least interested in hearing, all kinds of metal
(unlike all the hordes of "true" retards that only listen to things that has been recorded with a 2-channel mixer from the early 1980´s).
So the answer is simple; we got electric guitars, growl for vocals and fast drums, the essence of metal is there. Also, we have something to convey to the listener, be it a feeling, our message or something else.
At least give it a try. If you don't like it, then throw it in the bin, we don't mind. At least we try to do something that we believe in, and perhaps bring some innovation into the scene.
Lyrically, Dråpsnatt is basically a musical depiction of how we as human beings are killing ourselves. Everything that our ancestors have represented is now gone, and instead we have pollution, cowardliness and spiritual weakness all around us. Dråpsnatt will never attempt these to alter this development, it is merely the spectator pointing the finger at all the pathetic creatures surrounding and constituting us, telling everybody that they truly deserve what is coming to them.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media? I Denna Skog is the first official release so far. It has been welcomed by many, and so far we have seen only a small percent saying anything even moderately negative about it.
As we have mentioned before, we have made two more albums in past times, but they just do not represent Dråpsnatt anymore. It would be pointless releasing them in any form. Our next release will be "Hymner till undergången” (Hymns to our downfall), a CD which should find the stores during the spring of 2010, also through Frostscald Records.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
To this date we have not played live. We've had plans for a live gig, but only time can tell when, where and with whom (session members) we will make it happen. We do not in any way feel stressed to play live and at this moment we are too occupied with getting our second album finished, but we have people in place who are willing to "do our bidding”, should we wish to make a live performance happen. Also, opportunities to play live in front of a "good” or "deserving” audience in Skellefteå or its nearby surroundings is, to put it delicately, scarce. For the most part you will end up in front of 20 depressed and ignorant kids that have no appreciation for/ experience from what negative music should be like.
What sound labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
Well, the "I Denna Skog"-album and the second upcoming album, are both made from scratch by ourselves. From recording, mixing to making the album art and all that. We are very devoted the cause of Dråpsnatt and feel the need to do
all the work that making a record involves ourselves. Frostscald Records found us via our myspace page, and we cannot really say anything negative about Mihail and his associates so far. We are probably very much at the very underground end of black metal community, but since we only released our first record this summer, awareness is naturally low. People within the scene should be interested in the fact that we are on par with current developments in the world while connecting to our roots (call it "forn sed”, heathendom, paganism or whatever)
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
Second album (Hymner till undergången) on the way, and plans have been made for a third album.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can listen to our stuff through our myspace page (www.myspace.com/drapsnatt). Our records can be purchased from Frostscald Records, your local metal dealer, or directly through us.
December 2009