Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
MELKOR was founded in the beginning of 2004, rising from the ashes of two-men-project Kheled-Zarâm. Initially, I (Patrick) was looking for musicians to form a band, but soon decided to continue MELKOR as a solo project in order to pursue my own musical vision. The first result of this ambition was the Demo »Call of the Enchained«, containing three songs with a running time of 24 minutes.
To acquire additional practical expertise as a musician, I joined Nocte Obducta as a bass player towards the end of 2004 and played many live concerts during the following years. In the beginning of 2007, shortly after Nocte Obducta’s breakup, I decided to dedicate myself fully to MELKOR and finally shape the gathered material into an album. The result was the debut »Ferne«, which was released in the first weeks of 2009.
In the following years I joined Agrypnie, the band of Nocte-vocalist Torsten, as a live guitarist. This collaboration was terminated towards the end of 2011. For a certain period, I had to cut down on the time spent on musical activities. This was followed by a couple of experiments with the integration of other musicians in order to form a live band, which were less than successful – so MELKOR remained a solo project.
In 2014, the project perfected its 10th anniversary with the release of the second album »Irrlicht«, which contains 8 carefully chosen songs that, as results of a long maturing process, get to the heart of MELKOR’s very essence. Not unlike the first demo, I recorded and engineered this work on my own.

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music? 
MELKOR is rooted in the Black Metal of the mid-90s, but open to some Folk-, Doom- or classical influences. The music is very riff- und melody-oriented and puts an emphasis on atmosphere above all, with varying levels of aggression, melancholy, nostalgia, grimness and dreaminess. Atmospheric Midtempo Black Metal might be a fitting description. Some influences might have been Summoning, Kampfar, early Emperor, early Ulver and Drudkh, but it is not a copy of anything.

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
I think there is no project quite like MELKOR around. This might not be a »prog«-oriented or technical band, but it creates a unique blend of nostalgic, majestic and brooding atmospheres with a broadth of expression and a skill of execution that is uncommon for solo projects. If you are looking for something authentic, raw and yet refined that doesn’t follow any trends but also is much more than just generic »oldschool« stuff and escapes stereotypes, you find it here.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media? 
In 2004, the 3-track-demo »Call of the Enchained« was recorded and only a few hand-copied units were sold. The debut album »Ferne« was released in 2009 to generally positive reviews (for example, 14 out of 15 points in »Legacy«-magazine, 8 out of 10 on metal.de). »Irrlicht« will be released on december 12th, so as of now, public reception is still to come. One first review on occultblackmetalzine.blogspot.com was very positive, though.

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
MELKOR is and will remain a solo project that doesn’t play live.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
MELKOR is a force to be reckoned with, founded 10 years ago and here to stay. This is not a »project« in the sense of some experimental side-affair, but a band with strong artistic goals and a consistent vision. So everybody working with MELKOR can expect reliability and honesty.

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
To promote the new album »Irrlicht«, to work on new material and to keep releasing quality music in the future by constantly pushing the boundaries of the vision that MELKOR stands for – without compromising.

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
2 Tracks from the new album can be streamed at https://soundcloud.com/thetruemelkor/ .
»Ferne« is available as digital download on https://melkor.bandcamp.com/  (here you can also listen to the tracks), as well as in CD format on https://melkor.bigcartel.com .
The new album »Irrlicht« will be released on december 12th, 2014. It will be available on CD on Bigcartel and on Amazon. Further information and updates will be provided on https://www.facebook.com/thetruemelkor . The band can be contacted directly via thetruemelkor@gmx.de.

December 2014