[Interview by Negrura]
Winter Lantern is a one-woman vampyric / raw satanic black metal from the depths of the tortured heart! Based in Greensboro - North Carolina (USA), the band has released some great demos and stuffs since it was formed. Here Carmilla II Dracul explains everything…
Hails Carmilla II Dracul. Would you please introduce something about yourself?
Hails! Well as you know I am the lone wampyre behind the raw black metal project Winter Lantern, and I’m fully dedicated to infecting North Carolina with the raw underground black metal plague!
What encouraged and inspired you to form Winter Lantern? Tell us more about the band history?
I had wanted to make black metal for a long time, but it had felt kind of out of reach, like something I couldn’t really accomplish myself. That is, until around October of last year. I grew tired of waiting on bandmates in other projects and decided that I must at all costs release something, which is how the first demo came about. I was never planning to do any more than that but the attention that release got was really encouraging, so I kept on going and here we are.
Are you comfortable and confident to work as a one-woman-band?
Making music by myself is definitely the most comfortable and stress-free way for me, but the quality of the music must come before my own comfort, so I’m excited to announce that I’m adding a drummer and a bassist to the lineup. This will surely mark an improvement in the way forward.
Please conclude more about your music genre in Winter Lantern and state some examples of bands that really influenced you?
I’ve always considered Winter Lantern to be a pretty orthodox raw black metal band, with some light ambient and dungeon synth elements. I listen to so much black metal, it’d be hard to give a complete list of my influences. Off of the top of my head to list, say, five, Grausamkeit, Vampirska, Sargeist, Phantom Spire, and Mutiilation have all had colossal influence on my musical direction. These are all bands and artists I listen to nearly every day and am still blown away by. I take quite a bit of influence from ambient and folk music too, particularly the french drone duo Natural Snow Buildings had a huge influence on my style of composition and guitar playing. I’m also heavily influenced by music from video games, but I try to downplay that haha.
Elaborate more on the lyrical concept and message you want to convey through Winter Lantern?
The lyrics of Winter Lantern are kept secret, but the concept is to express at once the sadness and the malevolence of the vampire. Lyrics often delve into romantic and sorrowful subject matter, but are spit with hatred. I want to balance the figure of the vampire as the byronic, tragic figure with the idea of the vampire as a bloodthirsty, inhuman monster.
Provide some important information as well as your personal quote for each of the following releases:
(i) “Torturous Howls Beneath Blood Banners” (October 2020)
Torturous Howls beneath Blood Banners was interesting to make, as I was homeless at the time of recording. I didn’t have access to a guitar or any equipment, so that demo is compiled like Frankenstein’s monster from disparate riffs I had left over on my computer from other projects. The wind sounds between tracks were added because I was listening to a lot of Paysage D'hiver at the time, and I definitely overdid it, they go on for way too fuckin long. I didn’t at all know what I was doing, but I’m still proud of it.
(ii) “A Pale and Haunting Moon” (February 2021)
A Pale and Haunting Moon is where it really all came together. I had just moved into a new apartment and gotten my guitar back, and by pure coincidence I also contracted Covid-19 at the same time. It was the perfect opportunity to sequester myself and be fully dedicated to the music! From recording the first note to publishing the album on bandcamp the whole process took about four days, and I’m enormously proud of the result, I think the urgency of the recording really comes through. This is also where I fully delved into the vampyric aspect of the band, as all of the lyrics on the demo deal with matters of the undead. “in moonlight inscribe the black sign, the lights above the cemetery call, to leave my coffin through rotting skin”.
(iii) “Festering Vampirism” (July 2021)
Festering Vampirism I think is more reminiscent of the first demo in sound. It’s a little slower, a little more brooding and atmospheric. It took me forever to get started on, but once recording began it went by very quickly. There’s more of a focus on atmosphere here than riffs, and I think it works out really well.
(iv) Winter Lantern / Possession Cult - Split (September 2021)
The tracks for the split were actually recorded all the way back around March. They definitely took a lot longer than everything else, but I think my half of the split is my best material so far. Nastros from Possession Cult has become a dear friend through the process of putting this one together, so I definitely think of it very fondly. The lyrics here actually don’t deal much with vampires. The House at the Heart of the Wood is about a ghost encounter I had as a child, and The Hanged Man Rotting on the Clock Tower (the best Winter Lantern song so far in my opinion) deals with cosmic horror and the existential dread of human insignificance.
Winter Lantern has also participated in a compilation titled “Underground Ritual Vol.1” (June 2021). Tell me something about this release? Do you want to be involved in more compilations in the future?
I’m super proud to be on that compilation. Pesten of Tundra initially reached out to me about it, and initially I didn’t grasp the significance or enormity of the compilation, but damn there’s so many sick bands on there. Hails forever to true underground black metal! I would be glad to appear on more compilations in the future.
How do you see Winter Lantern progress (musically, soundwise, etc) from one release to another?
From release to release my goal is always to grow and expand as an artist, with A Pale and Haunting Moon I was aiming to get faster and crueler, and with Festering Vampirism I wanted to get darker and more atmospheric. I’m always aiming to do something I’ve never done before. Specifically I’m trying to move into tighter songwriting and album structuring, really making every second count.
Anything confirmed for the next releases? What can we expect for your new works?
Yes! I’m working on a new EP, hopefully to release around Halloween. It’ll be the first Winter Lantern release to have live drums and bass, so it’s a significant release for sure. After that I’ll be moving into working on the debut full length album, either late this year or early next year.
I see there is a side-project of yours called Bloodbells Chime which has released “Forlorn Seas” Demo 2021. Tell us about Bloodbells Chime and what are its specialties?
Bloodbells Chime is a project I’m really excited about. It happened simply because Poppet is a good friend of mine and we’ve been wanting to work together for a long time. I would say the main difference with Bloodbells Chime is the focus on a more magickal and dreamlike atmosphere, which definitely comes on her end. We’re planning to record a second demo soon, she’s an absolute pleasure to work with.
What is Black Metal from your perspective?
If black metal is one thing it’s underground! Of course there’s a million shitty trendy bands calling themselves black metal while they play lame mainstream indie rock or whatever, but true black metal is nothing but underground, ritualistic self expression. It is only for those who really get it.
Salutant Winter Lantern. May success be with you! Some of your last words?
Thank you for your interest, and all glory to the underground! Look forward to more Winter Lantern soon.
winterlanternbm@gmail.com