Introduction

Hi everybody, it is my pleasure to meet you! Would you please be so kind and introduce yourself to our readers?
“Hi, we are Nemoreus, a folk metal band from Vienna in Austria. We are 6 musicians combining heavy soundscapes with traditional folk instruments, such as violin, tin whistles and an Irish bouzouki. The current formation is active since 2018, but the roots of our band go back till 2012.”
What does the name “Nemoreus“ stand for? Is there any meaning behind this name? How was the name finding process and why did you choose this name
Fabian: “First of all the name finding process was really chaotic, since we needed to change our name twice until everyone was satisfied. Nemoreus is an old latin word, which roughly translates to “ belonging to the forest “.”

I personally like your band logo? The name of a part of the roots of a tree and the moon shining behind? Is there any deeper message behind the band logo?
Fabian: “Indeed, there are a lot of messages hidden behind our band logo. Basically it’s about the current situation of mankind destroying nature. We empathize with nature and reflect its growing hate towards humankind. Even though our tree has no leaves and appears to be dead, it is still alive. Our name, which is symbolized by the roots, shows, that we are on natures side, which are growing equally with the hate towards mankind. The moon will be a part of our lyrics, as it will become obvious in 2020 with our next release.”

Silent Watcher

In July 2018 you released your first EP “Silent Watcher” in a digital form. Some weeks ago you also decided to release this EP in a physically as CD. How had been this release received so far by your fan base and why you did you decided to release the same as CD nearly one year later?
Adrian: “We mostly received very positive feedback in respect of our first EP. The story behind the production of the EP is quite funny. After winning the Wacken Metal Battle 2018 we realized, that we had nothing to show our music to the people, so we had the in urgent need to present something to our fans. The EP was not planned at all, as in that time we were targeting to release a full length album as our first release. Due to our show in Wacken we decided to arrange this EP, which we did release  just a couple of days before our big show. It was a completely new experience for us to produce a record and everything was happening too quickly for us to process it. Already in Wacken and especially at the Mead & Greet Festival we received a lot of requests for a physical copy. In the end we had rather no choice but to release it nearly one year later in physical form in order to satisfy the needs of our fans.”

In March 2019 you published your first official video for the song “Dance of the Fallen”. In my point of view this video is done very professional. Can you please tell us a little bit about the story behind the video and why did you especially choose this song for the video?
Fabian: “The song tells the story of a mythological being which had been invented by Nemoreus, the “Silent Watcher”. He steals the souls of those who are out of touch with nature and therefore get lost easily in the woods. Hidden in a cave, he locks the captured souls in a coffin and devours them to maintain his power. The Silent Watcher is as old as the world itself and part of multiple Nemoreus songs.”

Austrian Folk Metal

You are defining your music as “Austrian Folk Metal”. Who is responsible for creating a new song and who is writing the lyrics and what are your inspirations when writing a new song and the lyrics for the same?
Adrian: “Mainly Fabian is doing the songwriting and the lyrics. The whole story about “The Silent Watcher” was also invented by him. Of course everyone can give their input to the stories and music and at the end we make a common decision in which direction we would like to go with said song.”
Fabian: “The process of songwriting differs from song to song. Sometimes a melody is stuck in my head and turns into a song. Sometimes a story or lyrical idea comes first and we build the music around that. As my  main influences I would name Irish, Scottish and Gaelic folk music, but maybe sometimes also Scandinavian folk. If I would need to say a band which gave me inspirations it would definitely be Eluveitie.”

Your band history must be read by some metal bands like a fairy tale. Founded in 2016, first EP released in July 2018, first of August performing the finals of the W.O.A. Wacken Metal Battle against bands like Motanka and An Theos at the most famous Metal Festival in the World. It must be for a band like a dream becoming reality. Can you please give us a little bit of insight in those happenings?
Adrian: “Well, this is again a really funny story. At the time we registered for the Wacken Metal Battle we only had been three people, so the other members just joined in time to perform the shows. For us as a young band we just wanted to play live and we never expected us winning  at the Wacken Metal Battle. After the announcement of the winners, we were really astounded. It was like a dream coming true. At that time we only played smaller locations in Austria, so we couldn’t imagine standing on such a big stage in front of so much people.Until standing in front of around 4000 people on stage, we did not realize what was happening and instantly felt the connection with the audience. We just had a slot of 20 minutes, played our EP and received a great resonance from everyone.  We also were really impressed by the whole festival, the organisation behind it and the Wacken-crew, which was very kind and helped us in every way they could.”

In 2019 you continued your success story in playing on the Mead & Greet Festival in Oberhausen together with bands as Gernotshagen, Ragnaröek, Haggefugg, Vanaheim and Tales of Ratatösk. Furthermore you played the support for Lagerstein in Vienna, a co-headliner show with Grai in Graz and many other smaller underground gigs in Vienna. What was your personal highlight this year?
Maike: “One of our big highlights was the Mead & Greet Festival in Oberhausen. Being a pure Folk Metal Festival, there was a very familiar atmosphere and we found a lot of new friendships with the other bands. It was very stressful for me, since I worked a twenty four hour shift in Vienna the day before the festival and had to jump straight from work to the airport. I arrived just in time for the soundcheck, but it was all worth it! We had a lot of fun, a lot of beers and some good German food.”

Beside all this great success you had in the last two years, I still guess that the Austrian Metal Scene is quite small and limited. How would you describe the Austrian Metal Scene to our readers?
Adrian: “We have a handful of metal orientated venues in Vienna. Concerts happen on a very regular basis, but still there are only a few folk metal bands in Austria. We played a lot of support shows for death or black metal bands in the past. just to get some live experience, since there are not that many Folk-events regularly.”

Something else

What kind of music you are listing privately to?
Fabian: “Irish and Scottish Trad Folk, Folk-Metal, Progressive stuff.”
Maike: “Apocalyptica, Tool, Queen.”
Kai: “Annihilator, Dream Theater, Judas Priest, Elton John”
Stef: “Gojira, Architects, Periphery, Fit for an Autopsy”
Adrian: “Anaal Nathrakh, Mgła, Downfall of Gaia, The Committee, Judas Priest, Primordial”

If you would have the free choice, which folk metal band you would like to share the stage with in future?
Adrian: “There is not only one to mention, as there are so many good bands out there. Our favorites would be Primordial, Eluveitie and Alphayn. ;)”
Talking to a band which already played at the W.O.A. or the Mead & Greet Festival, you already achieved a lot in your young band’s history. What can we expect from Nemoreus in 2020?
Fabian: “We are currently working on something new for 2020 and are very excited to show that to our fans, so  stay tuned!”

At the end I would like to give you the opportunity for any shout outs to the Folk-Metal community
“Alphayn! Saufts a Otte!!”

Thanks for the interview and all the best for the future!
“Thanks for the Interview!”

By: Juergen