Your band is one of the well known bands in the black metal underground I know, but can you give a short description of the most important events from your bands history?

Cirith Gorgor was formed in 1993 by guitarists Astaroth Daemonum and Asmoday. Shortly after, Lord Mystic joined on bass guitar and Levithmong on drums. After Nimroth was recruited in 1995, songs were composed and the first demo "...Mystic legends" was released in 1997. This lead to the contract with Osmose Productions, on which the debut "Onwards to the spectral defile" was released in 1999. After the release, Asmoday left and was replaced by me. The second album "Unveiling the essence" came out in 2001, also on Osmose Productions. Shortly after, Astaroth Daemonum decided to leave Cirith Gorgor and was replaced, after quite some time, by Inferno. In the meantime we had already recorded promotional material to be used in the search for a new label. Two songs of this promo were released on a 666-handnumbered 7" on Ketzer/Regimental Records called "Through woods of darkness and evil", which we gave a very underground look on purpose. At the moment we have all material finished for our upcoming full-length.

Your first demo was releases a long time ago, and through the time you have released two albums at the mighty Osmose from France, how was your relation with this cult underground label?

It was quite OK, even though we always had the feeling that there has been very little promotion for our releases. Also the communication with Osmose proved to be quite difficult. Nevertheless, we are proud to have released two CDs with them, it’s a cult label which already released black metal very early.

Your latest material was released by the German label Ketzer, why have you choose this label and not other ?

Our singer Nimroth came in contact with Alex from Ketzer records. He was really interested in Cirith Gorgor, he liked our music and wanted to release our 7". For us it was easy and ideal, since he’s a hard-working guy with a lot of heart for black metal. So the choice was very clear. By the way, it a co-released by Regimental Records from the USA. It’s now almost sold out.

When will Cirith Gorgor release a new album?

All songs are ready at the moment. We will start to record in the first weekend of August. This means that, hopefully, the new opus will arrive in the fall of this year. We have negotiated this release with a certain label, whose name I will not mention, since we have not yet signed a contract. I can give some titles: ‘Eternal damnation’, ‘Fields of eternal glory’ and ‘Arcane illusion’. The album will consist of seven songs plus intro. It will be a perfect mix between sheer brutality and melodic complexity.

It will sound in the same Cirith Gorgor vein or you will make some experimentation, because lots of bands nowadays are leaving the black metal territory?

We will have refined our style even further, meaning brutal black metal with a melodic touch. It will without any doubt be the most brutal Cirith Gorgor release so far, but also the best. We will try to give it a real underground feeling. So at the moment there’s no need for experiments. I will do the lay-out for the album myself this time, expect some really grim evilness!!!

On the album "Onwards to the spectral defile " you have an instrumental track "Thorns of oblivion ", the last on the album , which is played only on piano, what is the meaning of the track, on a raw black metal album?

It’s a moment of reflection.

Why don’t you use keyboards in your songs?

That does not fit our music!

A big part of your lyrics is inspired by Tolkien’s trilogy, why do you use this book for inspiration, why do you think that lots of black metal bands are using this book, for inspiration of their lyrics, and why do you think that they take their names from there?

Astaroth Daemonum was very inspired by the book and has written several lyrics about it. Since he is no longer part of Cirith Gorgor, the real Tolkien influence is gone now. But, yeah, the book is absolutely fantastic! I don’t know why a lot of people take their names from ‘Lord of the Rings’, it’s just quite inspiring apparently.

What is your opinion about the movie "The lord of the rings" is it comparable, in value, with the book?

The movie is really great but could never compete with the book. The way they have to rush through all the events is a real shame. The part in Moria (part I) and the battle of Helm’s Deep (part II) I especially liked.

Your band has a satanic look, are this your beliefs? If yes, what does Satan represents to you?

The satanic look, as you call it, is something we use to oppose the Christian/religious dogmas in this world. My interest in Satanism is only small.

What do you think that is the difference between Cirith Gorgor and other black metal bands?

Not much, I guess. Perhaps the combination of brutality and somewhat complex melodic structures in the songs. Also the fact that our songs are generally long and quite some people have difficulty in completely understanding the music.

Besides black metal do you listen to other styles, which? What bands do you like?

Not really, only some other sorts of metal like Morbid Angel, Hypocrisy, Deicide, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Metallica and Judas Priest. My favorites in the black metal scene are Abigor (r.i.p.), Amestigon, Dark Throne, Mayhem, Burzum, Necromantia, Varathron, Enthroned, Satyricon, Taake, Lugugbrum, Samael, Belphegor, Rotting Christ, Immortal, Marduk, Heidenreich, Emperor, Gotmoor, Lunar Aurora, Nargaroth, amongst lots of others.

Are you interested in other arts than music?

Not really. I’m more into science than into art.

What is inspiring you when you are creating music?

There’s not particularly inspiring to me. The only thing I can think of is the desolate mountains in Austria, where I used to go a lot. So it was very special for me that we played in Austria in March of this year, even though it was one of the worst gigs we ever did.

What was the feedback to your album "Unveiling the essence"?

In general, very good. Although people weren’t satisfied with the sound of the album, but then again, we weren’t as well. I have read a lot of positive reviews from all around the world. It’s of course nice to hear when a lot of people like the kind of music that you play, but I must stress that in the end we make the music for ourselves. We will never turn in some direction because people want us to.

Are there many black metal bands in your country?

There are a lot of bands, especially in the underground. Some bands that are more well-known are Fluisterwoud, Onheil, Walpurgisnacht, Sauron and Liar of Golgotha.

Add something in the end!

Thanks for the support! People can visit our homepage on www.cirithgorgor.tk and we can be reached at cirithgorgor@hotmail.com. 666! Hails!

 Interview by Cătălin Carlaonţ, 2004