BRILLIANT COLDNESS – World domination

BRILLIANT COLDNESS er et teknisk death metal band fra Ukraina. Bandet ble dannet i 1997 av Mor og Angel og har med unntak fra disse to gjennomgått en del utskiftninger opp gjennom årene. Bandet slapp albumet "Poisoned Reality" via Apollon Records sist høst og det er pga denne skiva Eternal Terror fikk snurten av dette glimrende bandet. Det er vår reisende farbror Sigve som har stått i vår ende av intervjuet, mens det er Mor og Angel, bandets grunnleggere, som har stått i den andre enden.

Please tell us about the band members and what they do in the band. Could you please give us a brief outline of the history of the band?

Angel/Mor: Brilliant Coldness was founded by Mor and Angel in Lugansk, in the Ukraine, in 1997, and, like most bands, we went through several different member changes before arriving at the band you see today.  The current line up consists of guitarists Dimas (Dmitry Yemetz) and Angel (Udovenko Sergey), Napalmer (Alexander Kravetz) on  drums and Mor (Alexander Umurzakov) on bass and vocals. It's Mor and Angel who are also responsible for all the music and the lyrics. 

Our first release "Messages of Godness Immortality" appeared in 2002, and was followed two years later by "Beyond Eternity". We started working on "Poisoned Reality" in 2006, and it was released in October of 2009 on Apollon Records. We've had a very good response to the album worldwide, and we plan on recording the next one at the end of this year, and then hopefully hit the road on some international tours. 

The name of the band… tell us about it, how/why did you choose this name?

Angel/Mor: We associate the name Brilliant Coldness with the purity of spirit and the light of reason, and we chose it specifically because we wanted the band's name to display the spirit of our creativity. Brilliant Coldness is the goal to which we aspire. 

The creative process of making the music… tell us a bit about how you create new music?

Angel/Mor: Even when we took our first musical steps, we sought to create music that could withstand comparison with the elite of the world metal scene. Many years have passed since we set out on this path and "Poisoned Reality" is the result of this enormously long endeavor. We think of the creative process as a pregnancy and it begins with developing an understanding of the basic idea of the composition. This is a complex process and is stretched over time, depending on the depth of the work and individual development of the composer. Sometimes it takes years, and sometimes it develops into a single monolithic picture in a fairly short period of time. Until now, Mor and Angel always did the writing, but our second guitarist, Dimas, is also contributing to the next album. During 13 years of joint creative work, we have developed our approach to making music, for instance Mor comes up with an idea, I can continue develop it and vice versa, we understand how each of us works. Creativity has become part of our lives, and an integral part of our souls. We don't have difficulties with creating new pieces, the music pours out of our souls like the rays of the sun, piercing the deep darkness of space.

Where do you draw your influences from, musically and non-musically?

Angel/Mor: We listen to a wide range of musical styles. It could be jazz, classical music, blues, rock 'n' roll and different styles of heavy music. Nowadays the boundaries of Metal music have expanded considerably and what we are doing is essentially heavy metal with a number of different elements. But the core of our sound is definitely heavy & extreme metal. What influences us outside of music – our day-to-day lives, our outlook, attitude – we draw on the uncompromising harsh reality of existence and create the appropriate music to accompany it. Our creativity is really a reflection of this "poisoned reality." However, life consists of both the positive and the negative, and we try to express this in our work. 

What if any is the key element(s) in your lyrics? Could you describe with your own words the second full length album " Poisoned Reality"?

Mor: As with our music, it is "Poisoned Reality" – that tragic side of human existence that is the key element in our lyrics. The dark hell of human folly that leads to self-destructive acts. The list of horrors that affects humanity is endless: war, social upheaval, the shadow of nuclear devastation, corrupt politics, lack of independent thought, the degradation of spirituality and morality, the death of individuality, psychological hypocrisy, suicide … The main goal of our lyrics is to shed a light on the dark side of consciousness, to explore the cosmic abyss of the human psyche and its mental-spiritual nature. In general, we think that we achieved what we set out to with this album.  We feel that the material is quite diverse. Ranging from heavy riffs to melodic fragments and virtuoso solos. We worked very hard to perfect the arrangements and overall sound. But of course, it's up to the listener to judge how well it turned out.

What is your goal with Brilliant Coldness? World domination or local superstardom?

Angel: We prefer to aim at world domination rather than local superstardom. We want our creations to be heard throughout the metal world.  Statistics show that taking into account the 15 countries where our music is best know, the U.S. accounts for 70% of our fans, whereas the Ukraine only accounts for 4%. I think this pretty much tells you why we're going for world domination!

Could you please tell us a bit about the Ukranian metal scene and compare it to the rest of the world?

Angel/Mor: It is unlikely that I can give you a satisfactory description of the Ukrainian metal scene. Ukraine has many talented bands, but the country has no basis for the development of a serious metal scene. Any band that is serious about its music is looking for partners abroad. I think this is partly connected to the economy but mostly to the fact that metal was only legalized in our territory in the early 90's. We are all still very much at the underground level. We do have global metal festivals (MHM for instance) but for most of Ukrainian society heavy music still remain largely inaccessible and incomprehensible. I think that the best way to illustrate this is to look at significant releases. You have probably heard of bands like Nocturnal Mortum (black metal), Balfor (black metal), Mental Demise (brutal death metal), Castrum (death metal), Fleshgore (death metal) – all their stuff is released through labels abroad. The Ukrainian metal scene does have many interesting bands, but if it wants to become significant, its main goal has to be to develop a uniqueness and originality and, of course, develop technically to a professional level.

I have knowledge of some Ukranian bands, and to me it seems that brutality is the main key to the death metal from Ukraine, but you are giving a more technical Death Metal than what I have heard from other Ukranian bands, WHY?

Angel: From the moment we started we always wanted to play highly technical death metal. This is a genre where you need to be skilled both as a musician and as a composer in order to synthesize styles to create a new direction in metal music. This is a high bar we set ourselves, and we knew it would be when we decided to embark on the journey.  It's really only a goal that can be achieved over a long period of development, and only crazy maniacs like Mor and Angel would attempt it!

What do you know about the Norwegian metal scene apart from the history of the Black Metal scene here?

Angel/Mor: Ukrainian metal heads probably know more about the more significant Black Metal bands on the scene like Emperor, Burzum, Immortal, Dark Throne, Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir from Norway, than they do about the metal scene there in general. We ourselves were fans of Black Metal when we started out as musicians, and before then, but we don't listen to it so much now. I think that people listen to, and like, black metal for spirit that this music brings. It's significantly different in spirit from brutal death and technical death metal.  

Every band has had a "golden moment", what would you say your finest moment has been so far?

Angel/Mor: The first golden moment for us was when we finished recording "Poisoned Reality", and its subsequent release on Apollon Records. We're looking forward to the next one that's for sure, but what it will be, who can tell!

Finally… what is your choice of Disney Character(s)??

Angel: I can't give you an answer to this. I haven't watched any Disney films since I began listening to Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse. Maybe I should take it up again and you can ask me after the next album is released!

http://www.myspace.com/brilliantcoldness