With „A New Dawn“, the third album of his post-black metal band SKYFOREST, which used to be his solo project, Bogdan Makarov has presented a prime example of the fact that music with a confident mood need not be without substance. Why his music has become less depressive over time, why metal will nevertheless always be a part of his work and to what extent coincidence played a part in the vocals on „A New Dawn“, the Russian musician answered us in the following interview.
Greetings! Thank you for taking the time for this interview. How are things going with you at the moment?
Hello! Things are going very well. The album „A New Dawn“ has just been released and so far I’ve seen many positive responses to it. After almost a year of being in production it feels great to finally release it. This year will also see another album of my other project A Light In The Dark which I’ve been preparing in the second half of 2019. And even more music on the way in other projects. This year is promising to be productive.
Your music used to be very depressing, but has become more and more hopeful with time. To what extent did that have to do with your personal circumstances?
Of course, all music I make reflects certain periods of my life. Years ago I was in much worse condition and I started my musical path by making depressive black metal demos back in 2010, in the previous project Annorkoth (now defunct, SKYFOREST is a direct continuation of it). With time my surroundings changed, my view on the world and life changed and many other things happened. In general I’d say things are much better now than they were before. All my music has those hopeful vibes, I just couldn’t bring them to life before I made peace with myself.
How do you feel now when you look back on your earlier albums?
„Aftermath“ was quite a depressive album which is mostly because lyrics were written by Tim Yatras (who also provided agonizing screams on that album). The only thing I didn’t like about it was the sound quality, but this was dealt with on the remastered edition of the album which came out in 2017. The original artwork was also done poorly – I made it in a way of collage from different photos. I understood it was not the best but I wanted to do it by myself – this way it would be a more honest representation of the album. Still, the remastered edition had different artwork in a more minimalistic way. „Unity“ is perfect in every way in my eyes except maybe the sound of the drums – that was the first time I recorded an acoustic kit and I didn’t have a proper place, skills and enough equipment to do it properly so I had to improvise around. But I’m not going to remaster/re-record that ever. „Unity“ was a big milestone of my life, that’s for sure and I’ll let it stay as it is. From the „Harmony“ EP onwards – I’m happy with anything there, it’s all done with proper thought put into it.
The idea that great art often comes from great suffering and that people which are considered to be happy create less substantial art is still widespread. What is your opinion on that?
I’m not sure how this works but it’s exactly like you described. Happy music tends to be more simple and straightforward. It doesn’t need much foundation to it. And when you create music based on some unfortunate events of life in general and raise philosophical questions, it reflects in the music itself and makes it more complex at some point, be it lyrics or melodies or both.
Since the mood of your music is almost confident at this point, many listeners seem to disagree about whether it should continue to be regarded as black metal. What do you think about that?
The only album I claimed to be „atmospheric black metal“ was „Aftermath“. And when I released „Unity“ I described it as „melancholic metal“. Without any „black“ part in it. But there were many different opinions. I can say for sure that I use musical elements of black metal – compositional structures, guitars and drums techniques. But never the lyrics and ideology. There’s a genre called „post-black metal“ and I think it fits very well there, since this genre is basically exactly what I described – musical elements taken from black metal while the lyrical themes can be completely unrelated. Anyway, I think people should focus more on the music rather than figuring out the genre. Participating in the „tag war“ means losing it. When I tag my music on bandcamp, it’s just for the people who check those tag pages. I think the music would be interesting for them if they like this certain genre like „atmospheric black metal“.
However, you still use some of the stylistic devices common in black metal like tremolo picked guitars and blast-beats. Why do these elements still play an important role in your music despite the different context?
When I started to make music, I started from DSBM as I mentioned earlier. In that period of life I listened to many DSBM bands as well as some atmospheric black metal bands. I always found its techniques like blastbeats and tremolo-picking guitars very entertaining and carrying a lot of emotions on the way. It makes music fast and heavy like a bullet train. Only years later I realized that I could try to make something different while using these techniques – apply different melodies, different instruments and a different mood. And it was always working very well! Now it’s like I’m doing a different task using the same instruments and I don’t see anything wrong with it if it works.
Could you also imagine creating an album in the future in which you completely abandon the metal parts?
There’s always a small part of metal around in anything I make. The farthest I went away from that is my project Blurry Lights, which is neoclassical music with somewhat metal drums at times (but mostly post-rock-ish). In SKYFOREST, only „Harmony“ is non-metal so far and that was just an acoustic experiment. I highly doubt I will go any further from metal than that within SKYFOREST. I believe when the genre or ideology changes too much it’s time to make a new project.
What about your personal taste in music? Which bands and musicians inspire you nowadays?
Most of what I listen to consists of dream pop, shoegaze, post-hardcore and blackgaze. Music of those genres inspires me with its atmosphere or production. Lyrics rarely inspire me, I’m more moved by the music itself, sometimes I pay attention to how instruments are utilized. Overall I’m kinda conservative when it comes to music and rarely check out new bands except at times when friends recommend me something. From time to time I browse around in search of new music though, but in general I just follow the bands I already like. Contrary to that, I’m open to any kind of music and happy to try something new. In recent years I wouldn’t say I’m inspired by some particular bands – my music style is already established and evolves naturally by itself, but artists like Woods Of Desolation (Australia), Infinitas (Germany), Svarti Loghin (Sweden) definitely made a huge impact on me back in 2011-13.
While some people appreciate the emotional impact of your music, others probably think it is rather cheesy. In your opinion, where is the line between emotional and cheesy?
That is hard to say. I never wanted to make it cheesy though, except some times where it was done on purpose (A Light In The Dark’s self-titled album, 2015). I always aim to deliver the emotions the way I feel it, nothing more.
Since the album „Unity“ the vocals in SKYFOREST are performed by Michael Rumple. Why did you decide not to do everything on your own anymore?
I tried to do everything on my own, even epic clean vocals. „Unity“ was supposed to be my one-man effort where I did everything on my own (including the artwork again, yes – but it was done by Sergey instead, more on that later). But no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to get my clean vocals on the level I desired in this project. I asked Michael to be a session member on the album, thinking I would get better for the next release. In the end I got better but not nearly as good as what Michael does. And on a side note, I couldn’t imagine SKYFOREST without his voice anymore as years passed. So since the EP „Harmony“ he’s now officially the second member of the band.
Your current album is entitled „A New Dawn“, which in a way suggests a positive new beginning. In what way is that the case with this record for you personally?
„A New Dawn“ is something like a rehabilitation. While I was making it, I’ve been going through a rough period of life and yet again reconsidered a few things, so I wanted to make it in more positive way, hopeful. Just as a reminder that there’s more to life than suffering.
The song „Wanderer“ was described by yourself as perhaps the most personal on the record. What is it all about?
„Wanderer“ is also the least positive among all. It’s about a long journey where one is searching for a perfect place and a perfect answer for all questions. The wanderer found such place and sees it from far away. But getting there only revealed a harsh truth. There’s nothing. The „right“ place can only be built by the man himself and there’s no universal truth for everything. You are on your own.
The lyrics read very encouraging and comforting again. While writing them, did it ever occur to you that you could give people strength with this?
Yes, this time it’s occured to me because I already got such feedback since „Unity“. A few people told me that it „saved their life“ in one way or another. These are very nice words to hear. On the other hand, my lyrics were never something outstanding, but at least I’m sure they are completely honest.
Both the lyrics and the artwork contain many links to nature. Do you think that the pursuit of harmony inevitably leads people away from urban space?
Urban places mean many people around. To make peace with yourself, you can’t just lock yourself in an apartment. It’s kind of a depressing environment even, especially with all the outside-sounds around. But being somewhere in the forest or near the ocean alone feels freeing and refreshing for your body and your thoughts. Better air plays some role in this too, I’m sure. Sounds of ocean waves, rivers and the wind between the branches is very relaxing.
The record also features guest vocals by Claire De Lune. Why did you want to let her in particular sing in these songs?
I had an idea to get a female vocalist on the album as I was just writing instrumental melodies. I didn’t know who that would be yet and thought I would make some auditions around when the time comes. But all of a sudden she contacted me saying she liked my music and how it made an impact on her, and by chance she was also the vocalist of Edenfall and offered me some vocals if I would like. After hearing her performances I was clearly sure she’s the right one for the job!
The cover of the album was again created by Sergey Shenderovsky. Do you think that his artworks will become a trademark of SKYFOREST in the long run?
Absolutely. We are working together since „Unity“ and it’s always a pleasure to work with him. He understands my ideas very well and his painting skills are impeccable. A true professional of his field. I absolutely recommend his services, he can be contacted here: https://www.facebook.com/shenderovsky/
So far you have always released new music very quickly. Recently, however, there was a phase in which you didn’t release anything for a bit of a long time. Do you think the successor of „A New Dawn“ will see the light of day a little quicker again?
There was quite a gap between albums if we don’t count the „Harmony“ EP, yes. I’m not quite sure about that. It depends on many things, but especially inspiration. For a project like SKYFOREST there needs to be more time to recharge, gather new ideas and life experiences. But for certain, this album is not the last.
At this point I would like to close the interview with our traditional Metal1.info brainstorming. What comes to your mind while reading the following terms?
Symphonic music: Dimmu Borgir
Spirituality: Drone ambient music
Elitism: The metal-archives website
Camping: Relaxing somewhere in the mountains looking at stars near the bonfire
Lo-fi production: Morose
Love: Violet Cold
Thanks again for your time. Would you like to say a few last words to the readers?
Thank you everybody who listened to the new album and left some nice words around. Your support is always appreciated! And thank you for the nice questions.
24. April 2020 Stephan Rajchl
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