Till. Interview with Roanoke

Interview by Namtar

1. Hails brother!! Introduce yourself to the readers.

Greetings. I am Roanoke, a member of projects such as Till, Xirgan and Darkest Bethlehem among others.

2. When you started the band Till, how did you come up with the name and were you the only member or were there others?

I had always had the name Till in my head for a Black Metal project and when I started the band in 2020, there was no question of what the name would be. I always felt it encompasses all of the themes of the project. Initially I was the only member, but as time has gone on, Croatoan has contributed to some of the guitars and Palisade has taken over drumming duties.

3. Listening to your music. You have a mix of melodic raw black metal. Who are your influences for the band?

There’s an endless list of bands/projects that I take influence from, and it’s ever changing. But I’d say at its core Till has always been inspired most by early Summoning recordings, the whole Quebecois scene (Forteresse,Departure Chandelier, Serment, etc), Darkthrone, Drowning the Light and Satanic Warmaster.

4. Who or what inspires you and the lyrics of your songs?

I try to take influence lyrically from not only your typical black metal themes but also from real historical events, folklore and nature. Particularly I felt like early American history was something that had a lot to draw from. However, for the next Till full length, the lyrics will be much more based on nature and folklore.

5. What bands are your biggest influences personally and musically?

Drowning the Light is probably what I’d consider my favorite band and the biggest influence in my starting of my own projects.

6. I, Blasphemous Creations Of Hell Records have released “Manifest Destiny” and “Oyer And Terminer”. Both are brutal as hell. What other releases can the readers check out?

We recently put out a compilation of Till split tracks entitled “Grand Mysticism on the Great Plains”. This would probably be the best place to start for any newcomers as it’s more indicative of the current sound of Till. There’s cassettes available from several different distros, and the comp has been uploaded to youtube.

7. Other than Till what other bands are you in and is Till on hold for now or will there be other releases?

I’ve done quite a few projects in the down time between Till releases. Xirgan, Darkest Bethlehem, Death Be With Thee, Tome of Alsiare, Gloria’s Garden, Thy Heart Thine Kingdom to name a few. There will certainly be new Till material in the near future. Given that it’s no longer a one-man band, the project has certainly reduced its output, but it’s not going anywhere.

8. Have you done any live shows in the past? If not do you plan on doing any?

Till has not played any live shows. Given the distance between the members it’s not likely that Till will ever become a live band, however, under the right circumstances, I would not say no to playing live.

9. There are many genres of black metal. Personally do you feel there should be so many? What is your opinon on the USBM scene and the black metal scene across the world?

I’m not particularly bothered by the amount of subgenres of Black Metal. I just personally choose not to listen to the ones I don’t like. I definitely think the term “Blackened” is overused. Overall, I feel like there’s some really great projects both in the US and around the world that really stay true to the essence of what I love about Black Metal. However, with the ease of access to home recording and the ability to easily upload music to the internet, and in the age of Social Media, there’s definitely a large amount of subpar music being spewed out day to day.

10. Do you feel the scene is getting back to where it use to be?

I definitely feel like there was a boom in bands/labels putting out music/physical releases and people supporting it during the pandemic. But now that everyone has gone back to their normal day to day, the amount of support/bands seems to be waning. I doubt with social media being around the scene will ever truly be like it was back in the early days of zines and tape trading. But I definitely think it is falling off in popularity from where it was a few years ago.

11. I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. Is there anything else you would like to say about Till for the readers and fans?

Just to give my gratitude to you and all those who have supported Till in any way over its existence.

I am honored to have worked with you on releasing two brutal albums. I hope we can work together in the future. For anyone who has not heard of Till you need to check out their releases. HAILS!!!