Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Karhmul: Well I started playing originally in a rock band called 'Man-Eating Fish' which imploded after its first gig, then in another called 'Ruins In Paradise'. After that demised I formed a two man black metal band called 'Perpetua' with Morgomir, which he quickly left, after releasing a few albums changed its name to 'Abandoned by Light'. Kadavr used to play in Arendia, a black/thrash band which he played guitar in, and released two demos. The band was formed when I sent an ad out online looking for someone to form a band with, and he replied, we jammed a couple of times before deciding to record material, and from there it blossomed into the dark flower it is now.

How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
Kadavr: Our influences wouldn't really surprise many people given the genre we're involved with. We listen to pretty much all black metal from its inception to the various directions it's gone into over recent years. The biggest influence on creating our debut album for me was definitely Marduk. They have mastered the art of trance-like melody presented in the most aggressive way possible. That's the sound I sought after on this album. The album has enough variety but it's for the most part blast-heavy, aggressive black metal. 

Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Karhmul: Well, the music is pure, old school black metal that doesn't take itself too seriously. The riffs are hard and fast, the drums are technical and brutal, and the songs are catchy, it's everything you want in a black metal album. Hopefully the future releases will continue to improve upon this one, and will showcase what we want from this band.

What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media? 
Kadavr: We have self-released our first full length effort " Ushering A New Era Of Agony" and we're calling it an album. We spent too long on it to call it a demo and it has too many tracks to be considered an EP, so we're being brave enough to just put it out as an album (a luxury of being involved in this very D.I.Y genre.) As for its reception so far we have had one review from Metalstorm.com and they 100% despise what we're doing. That review was a total shock to us and is definitely worth a read, the reviewer takes every opportunity to insult us; band name, logo, music, appearance, the full package. It was a bit of a shock to us as we're really happy with what we've produced. I think the best thing for us is to accept that some people just won't like what we do. The tricky part for us now is trying to take at least some elements of the reaction on board without compromising what we've set out to do just to please people.

Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
Karhmul: So far we haven't played live, nor do we plan to before we release the next material, but it is something that we have talked about, and I would love to one day play a few gigs, but we shall have to see what happens.

What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
Kadavr: Our primary aim is to produce as much extreme black metal as possible. We aren't a live band so we need to give people a reason to stick with us. This puts a bit more pressure on recording material as we don't have the luxury of keeping old stuff fresh by performing live. Plus we are still developing our sound. Not even we know at this stage in which directions our music will go. 

What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
Karhmul: Well this week we start work on the next release, which is going to be an EP, hopefully it will continue along the lines of this release, but improving upon everything. It may also feature a cover or two, then after that, we will talk about playing live and other plans.

Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Kadavr: Rather unsurprisingly, we are on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nokturnalritual
Our debut album is available to stream or buy at http://nokturnalritual.bandcamp.com/releases

July 2014