Exordium Mors Line Up:
Scourge Witchfvkker On Vocal
Santi On Guitars
Black Mortum On Guitars
Assailant On Bass
CJS On Drums
Well,friends of Aristocracy!
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will have, in all its emotions, the interview 173 of the Aristocracy.This time, we talked to a band that makes a very particular mix that is already established.The Mix is Death with Black. The proof that this song is unique is due to its complexity, its great violence and the sinister energy that accompanies it. For those who already follow this debut album entitled Apotheosis of Death, thanks worth the wait eight years as they returned even more brutally for this second album titled As Legends Fade and Gods Die.We're talking about the New Zealanders from Exordium Mors. Let's go to a song by them so we can start this exclusive chat for the Brazilian press. We thank the band and Santi for answering our humble but important questions.
A1:Talk about the composition work in As Legends Fade And Gods Die?
Exordium Mors:As it has always been with the band,we all in the end write together.Sometimes one member may come in with some riffs and arrangements for a section and this eventually morphs into a song once other members put in their ideas.There have
been times when we feel like we want to write a song that captures a certain
atmosphere and we work towards creating that song.As you can hear on this album,
our sound is that of unrelenting chaos, violence and white hot extremity but weaved
into all of it is a lot of melody and progression which comes from us being fans of the
great bands that have been part of Metal from all of the last 5 decades.
A2:I saw something that made an impact on me and that is this:The assessment of my soul
set me free from its path. Which way was your soul set free?
Scourge:I am assuming you're talking about the lyrics from 'I Saw Oblivion' which is "The
reckoning of my soul hath liberated me from their path". These lyrics were written
primarily with the concept in mind of someone who is trying to escape their "fate". In
this case fate is personified as the Moirai, in Ancient Classical Mythology, as the
Goddesses who control how long someone's lifespans are, and their allotment of
grief, misery and suffering they will experience in their lifetime. Subsequently,
however, it is futile as anything we do is rewarded with death, and thus death is our
ultimate destiny. The concept took full hold after visiting the mortuary and seeing the
dead in the post-mortem phase for the first time. "And with dead eyes, I saw
Oblivion..."So to answer your original question, in what ways has a reckoning of my soul set me free from their path? Knowing that death is always close, that thought forces me to
reassess my life's choices, to stay ambitious and to conquer goals. To not stray into
the common path of mediocrity, but to walk a path unfettered and unbound by
inferiority. Therefore, when death comes, as it does for us all in the end, I can rest
triumphant.
A3:Not that I don't agree, humanity doesn't deserve contempt. But we all have specific
reasons for feeling that way. I'd like to know Exordium Mors' reasons, please?
Scourge:It is often said humans are a stupid animal. For all our technology, our ability for
rationality, logic, and abundance of knowledge - most squander their time getting fat,
lazy and boring. Those that are in power waste their resources and citizens' goodwill
on irrational decisions based on warped "logic" and/or enriching their own position.
Like cattle to the slaughter-house, we are either too stupid, non-introspective and/or
too complacent to do anything about our own physical and/or spiritual destruction.
Most are more than content to wander into the slaughter-house and will happily swing
the axe themselves upon their own heads.This hatred was well established before modern events, it's only intensified watching it play out the last couple of years...
A4:Why did Roman and Greek wisdom influence the band?
Scourge:Originally, I wanted to write lyrics that were removed from the Judeo-Christian world.
Obviously not all songs had achieved that, but that was the original intent. I also draw
a lot of inspiration from the Ancient World, so it became a natural thing to write about
at first.
A5:Not that I don't like complicated songs, but how was that decision made?
Exordium Mors:It's not a conscious decision on our part, it's just how our songs come out.
A6:Why is it fair to compare the band to a sun that burns everything around it?
Exordium Mors:The sun is a sphere of fire: a life giver which is glorious and majestic yet it will burn what's in it's path. Our sound is melodic, invoking glory and majesty but at the same
time unrelenting in violence and fire.
A7:As a philosopher, I am very happy that the band had an influence on Nietzsche. But, why
Nietzsche influence the band?
Scourge:Nietzsche was the first philosopher who spoke to me with his writings. I read 'Thus
Spoke Zarathrustra' when I was a teenager and realised a lot of what he wrote was
how I felt about myself and the world at the time. To this day he still has a profound
impact on my thinking. In saying that, I'm influenced by a lot more than Nietzsche
these days, and find inspiration in a lot of philosophical and other literature.
A8:What ́s the idea behind artwork ́s album?
Exordium Mors:The end of everything.We first thought of calling the album “I Saw Oblivion." Oblivion was the general concept of the lyrics of this album and the imagery on the album artwork. The dying sun, the poisoned blood lake, the decaying corpse of the conqueror, his crown now meaningless.All that begins must end: Legends Fade, Gods Die.
A9:Who would be this triumph that the band refers to in the last song?
Exordium Mors:A triumph was awarded to an Ancient Roman citizen who usually had achieved a great military conquest and thus that citizen would be known as "The Triumphator". It is within anyone's grasp as citizens of the world to be their own Triumphator, go forth and conquer!
A10:How band arrive to Praetorian Sword Records?
Exordium Mors:We created this label.
A11:Not that I don't like the mood swings the band makes, but how and why does this
happen?
Exordium Mors:The same way that we create "complicated" songs, this just comes naturally.
A12:Can we say that your songs have a pessimistic aspect?
Exordium Mors:Yes, there is nihilism in the absolute on this album but some listeners may not see it this way.How we in the band perceive it is for us and how the listeners perceive it is
up to them.
A13:This album is conceptual?
Scourge:There is a common theme, but not conceptual like our previous album "The
Apotheosis of Death". I imagine you've picked up on that theme during the course of
this interview, as well as hearing the album yourself, reading the lyrics and seeing the
artwork.
A14:Why is outlier a good way to describe the band?
Exordium Mors:Metal has always been the outlier and even within Metal there are outliers who don't fit in with one scene or the other. We're aware that this is how this band is - we follow
our own path.
A15:Is anger the building feeling of an extreme metal band beyond passion?
Exordium Mors:We wouldn't say so.
A16:The band feel differences between The Apotheosis of Death and As Legends Fade And
Gods Die?
Exordium Mors:Time and the band evolving and developing as songwriters and improving on how we play our instruments has definitely made a difference between the Exordium Mors on
The Apotheosis of Death and the Exordium Mors on As Legends Fade and Gods
Die. CJS becoming our drummer has gotten the band to a level where we can execute
things that we previously hadn't been able to but wanted to. When we play our older
songs now, they do feel different as we're now able to play them as we originally had
in mind.The band now also has the means to produce it's own recordings and has access to a
proper studio (Dynamic Rage) where we both rehearse and record.
A17:Does Romanticism influence the band to some extent?
Exordium Mors:Talking about the art movement? Yes to a degree, but so does any art movement or cultural movement. Whether that's a positive or negative reaction it all acts as
inspiration for lyrics, visual art, the music itself etc.