The slovenian Art-Black-Metal-Band DEKADENT released their new album on Schwarzmetall Productions from Switzerland. It´s called "Manifestation Of Seasonal Bleeding" and gives us Black Metal from an other point of view. Read about wonderful black roses on the ugly garbage-place of humanity, suicide and more. Let Mastermind Artur Felicijan spread the word.InterviewWhat´s up with DEKADENT?

Dekadent was ignited in early 2005 as a Black Metal project of mine after a really long pause of creating extreme music. I was out of metal movement since 2001, when I quit my previous band Noctiferia. After a period of being devoted to education and business development, I again found a strong need of creating heavy music, Black Metal in particular.
I began with recording of "Manifestation of Seasonal Bleeding" in early January of 2005 and what at the beginning looked just as a project based on one single song, turned into a very solid and conceptual work of a greater meaning. In spring 2005 all the tracks were recorded, while already I got very supportive response from the music associates and metal media, which encouraged me to bring the work I created a bit more forward to the people in the metal business as well as to our very first fans.

Tell me something about the members of DEKADENT with the musical background

Since the early period of Dekadent, I wished to cooperate with external members in order to gain the talent they had to offer. Eventually, I recruited Valentina as a permanent singer. She came by just at the end of the album recording, so I had no time to squeeze her into more songs, but on our future effort she will be much more present. She has a really strong voice and is of energetic character, while she adds a lot to the airy atmosphere in my music without sounding pop.
I got in contact with our drummer Andraz at the time of the recording, inviting him to do certain parts I needed to incorporate in the album, and through him I got to know our second guitarist Bostjan and we are already rehearsing quite frequently in order to make our first appearance as soon as possible.
We are all very bonded to metal and have experiences in other metal bands, but we are always open to any musical genre, as long as the quality is there.

Why did you chose the name DEKADENT as your band-name? DEKADENT seems to be a big contradiction to your art-concept…?

Much of the music and lyrics I create is greatly influenced by romanticism and decadence. I tend to write lyrics of great individualism in a more or less covered and indirect way.
I chose this name not because I consider myself as a supporter of shallowness and depravity, but because I feel as a modern decadent in the current society and world movement. I feel corrupted and force-fed by the hollow ideals of materialism, which I immensely express through my lyrics as well as I do it musically.
I could put this metaphorically; Dekadent is like a beautiful, yet poisonous blackened flower, which blooms forevermore on the feces of fraudulent society, moistened by the blood of the forgotten virtuous mankind.

How did you get in contact with Schwarzmetall and are you happy with your label?

I got in contact with SMP when I was sending my stuff to labels and magazines. I made a small selection of independent underground labels among which was SMP. After getting a number of responses, I chose the one I had the best feeling to work with. I had a wish to cooperate with a label that would be 100% concentrated on Dekadent and also flexible on the other hand, which is really hard to get these days. SMP proved to be really into my music and were willing to devote their time to it. I am satisfied with the business we are doing together for now and communication is really good and honest, but it is only the beginning and a long and demanding road is still ahead of us.

Lets take about music: Is DEKADENT "Art-Black-Metal"? And what about working in studio? Something extra-ordinary happened. Don’t forget to mention the professional videos.

I always loved Black Metal for it gives me this huge variety of choices how to create music and I think Black Metal is one the most expressive musical genres in general. Through Dekadent I am able to showcase everything I ever wanted to express. The music is rather unusual, melodic and at times quite catchy, yet not typical. Most of the people find it very uplifting and heartfelt, which brings out the emotions not normally present in Black Metal. Some say we are Progressive or simply Atmospheric, while others say that we sound too elegant to be labeled just as Black Metal.

When I was recording our debut, I wanted to create raw and plain Black Metal. Eventually, I started to incorporate advanced compositions within the songs, adding new melodies and just following my feeling in creating something I would be proud of. At the end all that remained from the first step was the guitar sound which I deliberately left as raw as it is, as a Black Metal root in my music. My goal in terms of production was to create Black Metal sounding album with a bit more edge, atmosphere and strength to it. And with videos I can showcase that visually. I am working with a friend of mine, Andraz Sedmak, a professional who understands my work and helps me realize my vision. We work together on other visual projects as well and are always looking forward when giving other bands and companies our productive hand.

What about about the lyrics?


The lyrics I write are metaphoric and are mostly speaking of the nature of man and individual´s position in the modern world. I write romantic kind-of poetry, speaking of one´s freedom, love for nature, idealized living, yet at the same time these lyrics are often a testimony of misery, despair and hate.

The song "Dissident Dream" is vastly metaphoric, it tells of a new beginning, a time of great change in one´s life. I sing of a dream that needs to be find for whatever cost, even death. I keep mentioning the shores and the sea in this song, which is a metaphor for an open world, an endless horizon that awaits with the freedom beyond. And nothing could stop you from reaching that, no man or god, not even life itself.

"Vigred" is a poem written in my native language. The title means Spring (Frühling). Actually, when I started Dekadent, this was the first song I created and I really liked it and it´s title as well. So, I renamed the whole band project into "Vigred" and the song was rather called "Dekadent", which really reflects the lyrics as well. Hence you can find many reviews and articles about Dekadent actually speaking of the band Vigred. When the signing to our label drew near, I decided to rename the band into Dekadent, again. Dekadent sounded in away a lot darker and more international as well, and that´s what I wanted from the very start.
Anyway, this truly is a song of decadence, of a moral decline of mankind. The metaphor of Spring has the same philosophy as our band name. Everything is blooming and the blossoms are beautiful, but they are still growing out of shit, you know what I mean?

Another song that speaks both of freedom and decadence is "Blind Finale", the last song on the album. The lyrics are about an individual who lived a hollow life and when this person got older and realized all that was done was just trivial and the whole life was a stupid act this individual played to run away from reality. At the end, this person finally harkens to an inner voice and finds a solution of a greater and liberating nature. Suicide.

Your hailing from Slovenia, former Jugoslavia. Slovenia and most of the former jugoslavian states are a typical ”metal-lands”. Describe the music-scene, the circumstances for bands, all that stuff.


I was born and still live in Ljubljana (Laibach), which is the capital of Slovenia. Ljubljana is really close to Venice, it is like 4 hours drive from Munich or 3 from Vienna. Most of the Germans go through our small country when traveling to our coastline in Adriatic.
Anyway, Slovenia is not what I would call a typical metal-land, it is a lot like Germany when it comes to the music scene. Both Slovenians and Germans have passion for the same music. We exported a lot of pioneer bands of various genres which made a major impact on Germany and made multi-million album sales there (from dark industrial pioneers Laibach to original oberkreiners Avsenik). And while we tend towards the alternative and heavier music, we still have to bear with imbecilic techno music, turbo-folk and weird white rap/hip-hop.
On the other hand, people in Slovenia are in majority in favor of metal music, but there are very few artists that perform metal, what else Black Metal. Black Metal Fan base exists, but there are almost no bands that play it.

As I speak about your nation... What about social life, politics and so on? Here some hints: Problems with unemployment, criminality, mafia, terrorism, …. At the other hand your land is a nice land with impressive nature, with a lot of history (Laibach) , success in economy (gorenje!), great handball-Players like the hamburg Roman Pungartnik… Tell me something about your land.


Slovenia is taking on the standards of other EU countries. Fortunately, the employment is quite high and we manage to fight organized crime effectively. Of course there is still some corruption within the business (but nothing comparing to our neighboring Italians). The market really had opened significantly these years and even the metal scene was affected by that, in a good way of course. I am glad to note that Germany always was on our side (being the first country to acknowledge our independence in 1991) and we always were in good relationship on cultural and business level. Some see the current government as a conservative one, but the truth is, Slovenia is very liberal in politics and almost too open for alternative society.

Otherwise, the countryside of my homeland truly gave me great inspiration and so did the political events throughout the Slovenia´s historic timeline. Our land is very diverse and it changes quickly which creates a beautiful and dramatic imagery you can not get tired of. The music of Dekadent completely reflects the nature-side of my homeland.

How do you experienced the balkan-war, what consequences had that for you personally. And what do you think about the changes from multi-national jugoslavia to now?


Sure, it had an impact on me as it had on anyone who was there. I reflect upon this situation with pride as we were clever enough to avoid severe bloodshed and general catastrophe. I guess the war also planted a seed of patriotism in me, being thankful and proud of my fellow countrymen for winning us the freedom we always dreamed of.
I was young at the time of our war for independence, but I remember the thing started just over night. We had to flee in underground shelters when the enemy air force was attacking. Luckily, we had a competent defense minister who knew how to handle things quickly and with minor casualties. We faced the war against the whole Yugoslavia and handled the situation in mere 10 days, while other nations who followed our independence fought for nearly a decade!

As for the fate of Yugoslavia; we never had much to do with other nations in the federation. Our national ambition and sole mentality of Slovenians always was different from theirs. We are just glad we got out of that whole Yugoslav and Balkan thing at last.

What about nazi-influences in Black Metal. Have you something like that in your scene in Eastern Europe?


Well, we all know Black Metal is strongly linked with neo-nazi ideologies and racism, supporting such ideologies as a part of war against Judeo-Christianity. And it is obvious that NSBM is most widely spread throughout the eastern European countries like Poland, since National-Socialism is always present in the countries with a large social class or proletariat. While the majority of those problems is in themselves, they tend to blame foreigners as the reason for their failure and unemployment. Even in Germany, neo-nazi groups are seen most active in the eastern part, where the large percentage of community is working class.

NSBM does not exist in Slovenia. There are some groups who sympathize with pan-slavism, but there are many of us who have nothing to do with Slavic heritage in the first place. And even those NS groups that do exist have nothing to do with Black Metal. One might find a glimpse of light National Romanticism here and there in the art of Dekadent, but mainly as an expression of respect to the homeland and forefathers, not as an act of blind aggression.

What about touring?

I did tour throughout Europe with my previous band, but after I quit, I really couldn´t see myself in that situation again, as I felt it was jeopardizing my personal space. I got a bit tired of partying all the time, and being in constant presence of booze and drugs really made me hate the whole touring thing.
We are working on having our first live presentation though, but I doubt we would tour any time soon. We would definitely avoid being a part of a group festival or being a supporting act. Dekadent is a story of it´s own and we really want to make the best gig possible, with all the equipment needed to achieve great sound and atmosphere. We imagine of having "an evening with" kind of shows, just a few per year. But yes, we would definitely check out Germany as I feel you guys will easily discover the essence of Dekadent´s music!

What´s private life for a Black-Metal-Artist?


Actually, everything I do was some sort of a hobby at the beginning, but with time I always tried to develop it into a greater skill. For example, music always was my hobby. I used to go to the music school, played various instruments just for fun, but eventually I wanted to achieve something out of that. The same thing goes with the video work I do. I began doing video stuff mainly because I felt I could do it well, but at some point I wanted to achieve more in this area as well. So, I started to educate myself in video production and software editing, as I was aware I needed to develop a certain technical skill in order to realize the ideas I had in my head.
As a band we all like to enjoy our free time as much as possible. We either love doing sports and being in condition, while also being into technical stuff or motorbikes. Or whatever else comes to our minds.

And what do you do for living, besides music of course...?


I am an educated designer. I studied industrial design at first, but later on switched to graphic design and visual communications completely. As we were talking about hobbies in the previous question, I must admit that design no longer is something I would only do for fun. There are a lot of designers around and a lot of advertising agencies, which means you really have to think and work fast in order to survive in the business. In order to get myself a prominent client I always have to find a way to demonstrate why I am better than someone else and what do they profit out of that. Fortunately, I can do this for a living, and it is the work I love, but it is far from just having fun. I had to get used to constant pressure of deadlines, taking a lot of shit to please my clients, but that´s just how it is in every job today, I guess. A lot of stress comes with it as well, as in advertising business it is always that the designers are the last to know and the first to go.