BLISS OF FLESH - INTERVIEW part 2 Order, chaos and blackened death

NOIRE: That's true, it came through in your music, in this album and the others. There are some pretty grandiose passages in your music, as well as a strong theatricality on stage. You told my colleagues in Memento Mori that you liked opera. But would you say that your world could be compared to a blackened death opera?

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): Well, musically, I don't think so, because the work done with the choir doesn't place the orchestration at the center; it accompanies and illustrates something that I originally wanted to be more raw. The fact that it gives this theatrical dimension is there. I find the question interesting, because we always wonder if the mask we wear on stage is the same one we wear in real life. I rather feel that the stage is a moment of truth. A theater actor would certainly tell you the same thing, in their own way. I don't get the impression that there's this slightly superfluous feeling, or at least the somewhat pejorative connotation that can be associated with it. For us, it's about authenticity; we go with our guts, whether people like it or not. Ultimately, the judgment belongs to the listener and the audience. As for the orchestration, the idea isn't to move away from a kind of primal violence, which was more pronounced on "Tyrant." This time, we were perhaps a little simpler in the way we organized the music. There are fewer guitar lines, and some of the instruments are a bit different. It's the first time I've played the piano, for example. On the other hand, we removed all the string arrangements from this album, “Metempsychosis,” because we wanted to do something a bit more raw, more visceral, less orchestrated than what we'd done, surprisingly, before. It might have a theatrical feel, but perhaps more in its universality than anything else.

"Bringing order to chaos, that's the whole ambiguity of our music"  (Sikkardinal)

NOIRE: And in the symbols used.

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): And in the symbols.

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT): In connection with theater, for us, staging is simply an extension of who we are. For me, it just has to be expressed that way. This album was very emotional. It was painful to write, painful to compose, painful to record. I wasn't quite sure how it would all play out on stage, because all of that had to come out, and it had to come out intelligently, without falling apart. That was the great paradox of the process.

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): Bringing order to chaos, that's the whole ambiguity of our music. And the opposite.

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT): Theater is just a form of expression adapted to the stage. If nothing's going to happen on stage, then I'll stay home. For us, if we go on stage, it's because there's something that matters, if we really have something to express, it's on stage.

NOIRE: Yes, it's about telling your story, in a way, and expressing what's inside you.

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT): It's about laying yourself bare! It's not an easy or straightforward exercise, especially when the work is personal. That's why it was so incredibly cool for us to see that people appreciated what we expressed and created through our music, and to share that with them. It was one of the rare times we'd encountered such a large audience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwT2L1jSv1g

Bliss Of Flesh - "If Only" (Metempsychosis | Black Lion Records)

NOIRE: While writing this interview, I wondered, beyond the symbolism surrounding the loss of the senses, if there might be, perhaps, an underlying fear of aging?

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT): I've already had that question, from a personal perspective, while talking with people.

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): That's a relevant question! BLISS OF FLESH (NECCURAT): Old age is perhaps something we face more at our age than we did 20 years ago. The fear of aging, I don't know, but the fear of being altered, perhaps.

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): There's the vertigo of time passing.

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT): The hourglass!

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): Does that mean the carefree spirit of youth has left us? I don't think so!

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT): We're at a stage in our lives where this questioning exists and is important to explore.

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): It's the time when we'll ask ourselves more questions and feel more of a sense of urgency. When we no longer have that feeling, when we step onto the stage and no longer feel the need to express our anger, our hatred against life and the passage of time, we will have to leave the stage, for good.

NOIRE: In the end, it's not a fear of old age, but rather a wisdom that settles in!

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT) : You bet!

Everyone laugh!

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL) : We're getting to it!

BLISS OF FLESH BANDCAMP

NOIRE: The Interview is over!

BLISS OF FLESH (SIKKARDINAL): Your questions were great!

BLISS OF FLESH (NECURAT) : It was cool. Thanks a lot!