Nastrond. Interview with Black Winter.

Interview by Jay Parker.

Hi, this is Jay…Today I’ll be talking with Black Winter from Nåstrond, from Medellin, Colombia, a band with a long history, experience and wisdom in Black Metal.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Winter…

Greetings to the editing team and to all the macabre readers!

1) Tell us about Nastrond… When and where was the band formed?

The band was formed in Medellin, Colombia, in 2002 by Black Winter and Lord Lagash, where we both took charge of all the artillery… in 2004 our lead vocalist Hibernum joined and in 2007 we recorded our studio demo, “The Arrival Of Misanthropic Kingdom, and in 2008 the Ep “ Apparitia Spell of Black Magic… then, in 2009 we were joined by guitarist, Gusthav from Mysteriis, giving us a heavier sound. In 2012 lord Lagash was replaced by Lord Azazel, taking over the lead guitar and participating in our 10th anniversary compilation, “The Horde Of The Last eclipse”. After that, we rested for a while, and our members continued with other projects. Lord Azazel started with his project, Dismal, raw Satanic Black Metal, and in 2015 along with Black Winter, he released “Vobsicum lux Ex tenebris”. In 2018 we started writing again, for Nåstrond, and released the demo “Cruzando Las Puertas Negras”, and in 2020, the most recent and full-length album, “Obumbratus Spiritus”.

2) The name of the band comes from Norse Mythology, the giant who chewed the corpses in Hel, Does your music have a lot of Nordic inspiration?

Before we formed the band, we were inspired greatly by Scandinavian bands, not just the music but the mythology too, and that helped us find a name for our horde. 10 years ago there was a Swedish band with the same name (Nastrond 666), with many years of music behind them. However, we decided to use it because it represents punishment, suffering, agony and death, topics which encompass our ideology and the music we wish to transmit…

3) The new track, “Lux Ferre”, (The Bearer Of Light) is a fantastic work of dark art. Tell us about the new album.

Lux Ferre is a sonorous Ode that enhances the flame that dwells in the abyss of our mind, Luciferian fire embodied in our souls, and which is from our album, Obumbratus Spiritus (The Darkened Spirit) and alchemic record with 8 Black Metal odes to Occultism, death, all sealed in the arms of the Kaosphere, luciferian doctrine, from the low frequency plains, the Shadow Spirits. The total comes from a medieval Latin phrase from the work of Carl Orff, Imperatrix Mundi, Obumbrata, and modified to create the title.

4) Who were your musical influences? Why did you decide to play Black Metal?

The influences will always be in an indirect manner; the process of composition comes directly from the soul. In our case, our influences are very wide and varied, not just from Metal, but from other genres…we could say that chamber music has contributed a lot in the process, along with Metal and Black metal in their various waves… A few to mention would be… Jerry Goldsmith, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Howard Leslie Shore, Saint-Saens, Carl Orff, Amadeus Mozart, Sergei Prokofiev, Paganini, Tartini y Vivaldi, Karl Jenkins… Bands like Bathory, Celtic Frost, Tormentor, King Diamond, Darkthrone, Isengard, Emperor, Moonblood, Demoniac, Tenebre in Perpetuum.

5) What are your plans for the future?

At the moment we are recording tracks for a Split between both hordes, entitled Maleficis Tenebris.

6) Tell us about Medellin… What is the Black Metal scene like there? Recommend some bands for readers of Inside The Darkness, please.

I think that Colombia, especially Medellin, has been the cradle for great bands who have risen worldwide, since the first wave in the 80s, known as Ultra Metal. Referring to the Black Metal scene, we would be generalizing… there was a massive wave in the 90s, and at the turn of the new century, The first wave in the 90s was divided by radical sectors, like the Legion de Las cabras (The Goat Legion), El Culto de Los Lobos en Contra de Cristo (The Anti-Christ Wolf Cult) who were really pioneers, with raw, brutal groups, also there were smaller groups, and without titles and names… it was a warrior’s lifestyle.

The Medellin underground scene now spans the generations, the old school is still present, but there are new faces, bands and ideas, forming smaller circles, although if we look hard, many of the bands share members.

I personally recommend… Mullebarp “Parabellum”, Astaroth, Profanacion, Danger y Reencarnacion, Kraken el I &II although it’s not Ultra metal; from the 90s BM wave Erzebet, Nebiros, Thypon, the first album by Infernal, Lemures, Mysteriis, Maleficarum Tenebrarum; and from the 90s and the surrounding areas of Medellin: Tzelmoth, Oscuridad, Nox y Mantra Anguis, Agrestia, Hellion, Perplejica, Felonias, Atrium, Bosques y Unlastiath.

7) Do you have anything else you’d like to add for our readers?

A massive Horns Up in gratitude to Inside The Darkness for this space and to the readers, may they invoke the occult and advance in their descent into the abyss… Keep the black flame lit, with force, from your guts and your soul… Vobiscum lux Ex tenebris (May the light be with you in Darkness)

Thank you, Winter.

A massive thanks to Winter for sharing the darkness of his soul and his wisdom of music with us today. Black Fucking Blood my brother, a horns up and a massive hail for COLOMBIAN BLACK METAL.