WOLFMARE interview online!

I interviewed Dmitri Petras from the band about the next WOLFMARE album, his interesting personal life and more.

01. Hello Dmitri! Before the year of 2013, you told your listeners that you were working on the new WOLFMARE album. Is the album recorded now ?

Yes, the album is recorded. Moreover, mixing was finished several days ago.

02. What left to do on that album ?

The only thing left is a mysterious procedure, called mastering. Already recorded and mixed songs are to be driven to a sound that is comfortable for the audience. Everything will be louder, stronger and less clear. Something will be better and something poorer. Loudness war is not over. And of course the album needs some artwork – the cover, the booklet, some pictures, and all other things that will be inaccessible for ordinary mp3 users from the Internet.

03. Can we know the name of the future WOLFMARE ?

Yes, it’s a high time to proclaim it loud and proud. It is called (tada!) “The Sacred Mushroom and the Crows”.

04. Any special guest to feat. on the new album ?

This time there are no guests, everything was fulfilled with our own efforts. Nothing was needed from the outside.

05. You know, we in Sword Chant, are very interested to know all the instruments used by members of bands... You have already revealed us instruments used in previous albums, so heres my question: What are the instruments used for the new album ? :)

There are only a few instruments now: the drums, the guitars, the violin, jaw’s harp and the keyboards. And fortunately no bagpipes. It is much easier without them from any point of view.

06. Musically speaking, how will sound the upcoming album, comparing with your previous work ?

It is hard for me to compare production of the albums, since I produced them myself. As for the general aspects of sound, the new one is definitely heavier and stronger. Much more attention was paid for the sound of guitars. After all, first of all this is metal. It’s meant to be heavy. If you mean style, there was no revolution, just an evolution. It’s for the audience to analyze it in detail.

07. Can you list the tracks composing that album ?

Oh, and here goes the tracklist :)

Some titles may change at the very last moment, but currently it looks like this:

Miss Barleycorn

Where Toadstool Glows

Preacher’s Daughter

Twa Corbies

Lust End

Muspilli

Herlaþing

08. Is it a concept album ?

Maybe yes, maybe no. There are some links between the songs, and the album title supposes some concept as well, but there was no attempt to make some concept while composing and arranging the songs. To say, it’s just a trace of our Weltanschauung at definite moment of time.

09. What are the lyrics about for each song ?

Twa Corbies: this one is a traditional Scottish ballad, which lyrics were translated into a number of languages. I think it is well-known by everybody.

Muspilli: it is based on an ancient High German text, which sense is a research issue for modern Historians. Unfortunately, we cannot ask its author who had left us without leaving any comments and even his name, so anybody can interpret this song as one wants.

As for other lyrics, let their author Andrei say something about them:

First of all let me outline the missing concept of the album. Since we are a metal band, we must be true and evil ;). Each song must be a sin. Deadly sin, of course. So each of the seven songs present a specific feature of the human nature, and each one is based on some known story.

Miss Barleycorn: I think it’s not right that everybody knows everything about John Barleycorn, but no one knows anything about his daughter. And he would be much weaker without his daughter, the bottle of Whiskey. I realize that gluttony, including hard drinking, is a sin, but it’s a most pleasant sin ever.

Where Toadstool Glows: this is a song for pride. Pride of our Northern woods, swamps and wastes, full of little shining mushrooms that remain the same through the ages. Attention, it’s not propaganda for psychedelic plants, but just one hymn for the Mother Nature ;).

Preacher’s Daughter: another sin is envy. Maybe you remember one of our fist songs “Of Ye Birch Tree Slain” about a birch tree who used to turn into a girl and come to dreams of a lonely woodcutter, and then killed him? Why such trees may appear? From envy of course. Another lonely man was too jealous for a pretty preacher’s daughter and that ended with death and destruction. The cursed birch tree grew at the grave of the girl.

Lust End: this is a psychedelic journey of a man who lies on a hospital bed. He is helpless, pitiful and dying. Even a doctor can do nothing. The reason is lust. Free love can bring not only a pleasure but also a divine punishment. Be aware of dirty women!

Herlaþing: the last song is for sloth and obedience. It is a kind of gothic story about a man who met the Wild Hunt and said nothing to the hunters. Now he rides in line with them.

As for two sins and songs left, the black metal piece Muspilli is for the wrath, and Twa Corbies going to eat the knight’s corpse to the bones personify greed. By the way, you can also interpret these songs as Seven Wonders of the World. Everything depends on your viewpoint.

10. Are the lyrics in english ?

Yes, except “Muspilli”.

11. Can you describe us the artwork ?

There's a painting on the cover, which is hard to describe in detail. It has crows, mushrooms and other stuff. I'll post a preview pretty soon.

12. Who made that artwork ?

The pictures are painted by an acquainted lady painter called Sludge Genius and the concept is mine. It is for me to incarnate all ideas. I think it is a question of the nearest future.

13. When do you think to release the new album ?

We want to do it to the end of the summer but it is hard to forecast something now. The release date is yet undefined.

14. Will the album be released under the banner of one label ? 

It’s an interesting question. In April we agreed with the CCP Records, that released two previous albums by Wolfmare, that the next album will be released by another label. The times have changed, and Internet downloads are displacing the CD industry, so it is hard times for the small labels. After all, just printing some copies at CDs and deploying mp3 at iTunes and Google Play is feasible for any band that really wants it. But other important questions are the key. They are called distribution and promotion. They are the main tasks of a label. Major companies are good in it, but small ones must take much more efforts to attain success. As a result, the part of small labels is continuously diminished.

But let me return to the question. The answer follows. Most likely there will be several labels. We already have an agreement of release in Russia and CIS states, as well as plans to distribute it worldwide, but who knows what will be if tomorrow Nuclear Blast, Metal Blade or some young and proud label will invite us? Everything can change, so we do not hurry.

15. Where could the people purchase that album ?

It is hard to say something about offline shops, but I am sure that everyone worldwide can buy our new album online. Nowadays it’s easy, the only things one need is a credit card and a bit of wait. And of course one can buy the album at our concerts, for example, at our concerts in Germany during September 2013.

16. Are the previous albums always available for sale ? 

At least two of our previous albums can be easily bought from the online shop of the CCP Records, and in a number of other online shops as well. As for the first one, released under other band name, a few copies are still available at the local Russian label that released it.

17. Will the new album be available for download to buy as well as physical version ?

Yes, of course. There is no other way nowadays.

18. Do you have some gigs planned, promoting that album ?

If we really release the album before autumn, the first concerts to support will take place at German fests:

6.09 Rock For Roots (Nauen)

8.09 Festival Mediaval (Selb)

We do not plan any tour yet, but some concerts in Russia will take place in autumn as well.

19. isn't there one special place or stage where you would like to play but haven't got the opportunity yet ?

Almost any place I think. It is much easier to recall some place where we would not like to play at, but I suppose there are no concerts at all at such places.

20. What are your best & worse souvenirs from gigs with the band ?

The best memories belong to a mini-tour at Russia with Cruachan in Autumn 2005. Cruachan are great people and very good friends, we are always glad to see them. It was wonderful!

Unfortunately, the worst memories are also from this tour. In Moscow one local musician, the leader of a local band (which is said to be still quite popular in Moscow), did his best to prevent our appearance on stage. Even when his band had nothing left to play he tried just to chat with the audience. As a result, his band which was just a support act was on stage for two hours, we played for 20 minutes, and headliners Cruachan, who granted us a piece of their time played about an hour. To be honest, I never see such bastards as this “local band leader” on a rock stage.

21. Do you plan to make one official video for the new album ?

I hope this time we will do it. We already have a concept of scenario, and know who is ready to professionally produce, shoot and film the clip. Maybe in Summer or Autumn we will hold on ourselves and make the video. :)

22. Have you recorded a video-souvenirs of the recordings for that upcoming album ?

No, not this time. Earlier it seemed to be interesting and we had some videos of this kind, but it is really needed by few people. So we decided not to waste time and concentrate our efforts on recording itself. Maybe after years we will feel sorry that only memories of these sessions are some photos at Instagram.

23. What do you think of Folk Metal in Russia ?

In Russian folk metal (as well as in a number of other fields of modern Russian culture) there are two trends: “Western” and “Slavic”. One can think that the last ones should be more “authentic”, but really the “roots” they praise are almost deleted from the history. As a rule it is just imitation of traditions, with funny and ingenuous neo-paganism, close to the row of “matreshkas, balalaikas, vodka and caviar”. It is hard to believe in something unreal, does not matter if that is imaginary friend or fairy tale. It’s just a “Slavic role-playing game”, too far from the real roots. It may be fun for a part of audience or a way to popularize some ideology, but it is far from music.

On the contrary, the “Westerners” do not try to drive themselves into some frameworks and pay more attention to the music, and usually their music is much more interesting. If not all the songs are about beer. It’s a pity, that there are few of them.

24. ...And in the world ?

Now this kind of music is not as popular as 10 years ago, but the audience’s interest develops as a spiral, so soon there will be a folk metal revival, similar to recent doom and thrash metal revivals. Unfortunately, there are few new good bands in the genre, but future will show everything. Sometimes each release labeled as “folk/viking/pagan metal” was interesting for me, but now I will scarcely listen to it. The quality degenerated to quantity. After all, it is typical for any genre. Stagnation is needed for a genre to die and reborn with new power and new names. It is a typical story.

25. What is your most favorite band in Folk Metal, in Folk & in Metal ? Why ?

It is hard to me to answer this question “globally”. Now I like one band, tomorrow another. My taste is not constant. So let me recall no one, since the list may become wrong just as I fill it.

If your question was about an album of the month, maybe the answer was more specific. :)

26. Tell me, Dmitri, how did you start music, what was your first instrument ? When was it ? And Why ?

It was a Russian folk instrument called Domra. I was about 8 years old. My grandfather who played many instruments as well, got a domra, I listened to him playing and wanted to be “like grandfather”. But in the folk orchestra they gave me bass balalaika, since it was huge and I was tall. When I was 10, I successfully got rid of all these folk songs and balalaikas and joined a percussion department of musical school. Unfortunately they gave me not the drum set but xylophone. It was a great pity that symphonic percussion is too far from the rock instruments. As a result, I studied in the musical school for a year and left it and stopped studying music at all. I recommenced it at age of 14, when my class-mates decided to form a band. Not anyone could play but we had a strong desire. It was a time to recall bass balalaika, since there is only one string more on bass guitar, and their tunings are almost the same. So it was the beginning. It was in 1982.

27. Can you describe a bit your musical path as a listener ?

It is a very long list. Let me recall it in chronological order.

1980 – first acquaintance with records by Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Queen. I still like these bands and listen to their albums. Shortly after fell into more “progressive” Genesis, King Crimson, and Jethro Tull.

1983 – I’m a fan of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Accept. It’s heavy metal time.

1985 - thrash metal arises (Metallica “Ride The Lightning”). Metallica was my favorite band for a long time. Just up to “Load” and “Reload”.

As a matter of fact, I listened to music of different genres, so it is hard to find the main trend. It is somewhere between Depeche Mode and Cannibal Corpse.

In 1999 I joined rock radio station as a musical editor, That meant I began to earn money for listening to music. A kind of professional listener, haha. That time I badly needed music which is distinct from mainstream rock to listen it for free. I always liked such bands as Jethro Tull, Clannad, and Dead Can Dance, so movement to the folk music was natural.

In 2000 I founded a weekly radio show devoted to the heavy music. It lasted until 2011, and was closed not because I closed the project, but since the radio station itself cancelled the format with live DJs and live shows. These 11 years I had to listen to about 20 new albums a week. Sometimes I did it with pleasure. Now as the radio came to other holders and cancelled all the shows, I feel free to listen to the music I really love. As a rule, it is a random process. I look at the CDs on shelf and notice an album I had not listened for years. It’s a good occasion to be happy with a good music as if I have listened to it for the first time. Anyway, I also listen to the new albums, but not with former attention. One cannot listen to all the music of the world.

28. ...And as a musician ?

The first “real” band I took part at was Llanfair P.G. in 2000. For that moment it was quite popular local band that gathered about 300 fans at small clubs of St. Petersburg. Everything that was before hardly can be called serious projects. These projects never achieved any substantial results. The only that deserves to be recalled is a band formed in 1985-86, which tried to play music we now call Doom Metal. Then it was called “let us play like Black Sabbath”. If we lived in Sweden, we could make the history like Candlemass. :)

2002 was the year when Wolfmare was formed (as Wolfsangel). That’s all the history.

29. What are the next instruments which followed ?

From the professional point of view, I can consider myself only as a bass player. If speak about playing for fun, I can play guitar, keyboards, various whistles, and percussion, but these skills are beyond the basic level. Any musician can easily attain it with an instrument that is new for one.

30. How did you start these instruments ? Is it because of WOLFMARE or was it far before ?

I like everything that sounds very mush. Any musical instrument is interesting for me. I even have a small collection of strange musical instruments from different parts of the world. But I doubt whether I will study to play them professionally. I am still too far from perfection as a bass player, so it is no reason to take something else.

31. Nowadays, what is your favorite instrument ? And Why ?

Bass guitar. I am satisfied in everything that concerns this instrument. It is comfortable for me.

32. Don't you have a preference in some musical gear ?

Of course, the preferences depend on both finances and space I can give to it. I would like to have my own studio, but now it is impossible, so I have to be unpretentious. Now I am happy with my Warwick Corvette Double Buck, and also play acoustic bass by Ibanez, that is not presented in our records. As for processing the sound, I use two marvelous stomp boxes by Swedish company EBS (MultiDrive and MultiComp), and that's enough to form my sound.

33. How do you compose songs with the band ?

Each song is presented to the band as a model, composed with computer. Everyone can listen to it in almost live sound. When the musicians admit the song, it may sufficiently change, but we always have some base. Of course, many styles enable creating music during the jam session (“Wow! This is a song! Let us record it!”), but this method is hardly implacable to serious metal music.

34. Do you have some good souvenirs from the band to share with us ?

There is no reason to live in the past, since future is always more interesting. Although, there is another opinion: "THERE’S NO FUTURE... ONLY THE PAST THAT HASN’T HAPPENED YET" ©.

35. Some words to add for the members of Sword Chant ?

This interview appeared to be such huge, that I’m not sure that somebody will reach this question. But if it happened, congratulations, you deserve a prize. Please recall it when I see you again ; )

Thank you for the interview, Dmitri! :-)