One of 2024’s most noteworthy manifestations is still resonating across multiple dimensions of space and time, with the aural wonders of Dodekatemoria evoking both an inward and outer cosmic vastness that prompts extensive meditations, and illumination is further achieved here as my inquiries into its essence are answered by Fulmineos, the founding mastermind of ORDINUL NEGRU, from the majestic lore-drenched Romanian lands. Many of this work’s inner mechanics are explored throughout our dark meeting, including the spiritual awareness and various inspirational forces driving its creation, and these extend to other related areas like video portrayals and carrying out live ceremonies. The impact of more recent experiences on what is becoming for this black order is also found, which completes an insightful venture into the philosophy and symbolic nature of their artistry.
Greetings and many thanks for your time and this interview. Dodekatemoria has left a colossal mark since its release last year. What are your thoughts on finally having it complete and unleashed after its formation over the past few years?
Thank you for having an interest in what we do, it is a little bit rare these days in this abundant musical scene to receive a spotlight for your ideas.
I have to agree that Dodekatemoria was very well received by our audience, even though in the beginning, when we sent some promos, music redactors were a little bit confused by this rather experimental take into black metal, and we were quite puzzled in this response, because we see so personal our work, but in the end, we did what we wanted, so didn’t care too much. The most important thing is that we are very pleased with the results and yes, it is a work for over five years in our studio, testing the waters with two EPs before and everything was very mindful and with a clear purpose on our musical and spiritual development.
How did the approach to writing this album compare with those of your preceding works? Did any interesting events occur along the way that helped shape it?
The first sparkle is always a spontaneous event, we do not have clear plans when to begin composing a new material. The process always starts by surprise, at a certain moment, it simply pops an idea of a concept and sounds in our mind.
So this time, I was in the mountains, camping in an isolated area that is very close to my heart, in Carpathian Mountains, and at night sitting outside my tent and looking to the stars, the Universe simply sent me this message of an astral concept and through the power of the night and majestic nature I understood and encapsulated it in my mind, and when I arrived a few days later at home, I started the preproduction and recorded four songs: “Aleph,” “Dodekatemoria,” “Judas Goat” and “Zahir,” and sent the files to Urmuz and Putrid for feedback, adjustment, and their contribution.
“The Decrepitude of Centuries” was composed one night in pandemic times, after I arrived at home after I roamed through the deserted streets of the city I live in, and I thought the experience was so dystopic and cinematic that I took my guitar and recorded the first sounds for this.
“Palladian Rituals” was the last piece added to the Dodekatemoria puzzle; I had some ideas composed/recorded already, after a super spiritual experience I had while I visited an epic waterfall in the Banatian Mountains, but it was in a very raw format and didn’t have any clear lyrics, so one day again I received the wisdom to proceed in defining it and sent it to my other two colleagues for completion.
After that, Putrid took over the process of the album in Consonance Studios where we recorded a preproduction, let the songs rest for some months (we did test two of them live in this period) and then we began full recording, mixing and master for about two years with on and off periods of course, to clear our minds and to see the songs from different perspectives.
I know it seems complicated and it is a lot of work, but we enjoy it, and maybe we are a little too perfectionist, but it is our soul offered to the audience, it represents us, so when we release it must be the best of what we are humanly possible to give for the eternal conscience of the Universe.
One notable aspect of your sound is how it expands on different aural possibilities while retaining the dark and traditional essence of black metal. What inspires those more experimental or progressive elements in your music?
First of all, we compose our music in most cases visually, we meditate voyages and inner soul exploration, and this gives us sort of a freedom to play whatever we feel, without thinking if it is in a certain style or not. I think this is where we go many times in sort of a more “forbidden” direction of Björk, ABIGOR, St. Vincent, GODFLESH, NEUROSIS, Woodkid, SWANS or VOIVOD…and then it is the music with what we grew up in the nineties, especially the first and second waves of black metal…even if we don’t play in that traditional style, it is in our DNA, you cannot deny it after listening for more than 30 years of MASTER’S HAMMER, TORMENTOR, early SAMAEL, IMPALED NAZARENE and all the Norwegian Gods, that this is not imprinting anything in our music, let’s be serious! But most of the ideas we have after personal experiences like a long walk into nature, books, old noir movies, a pale of wind, evening’s mist on a lake…things on the emotional side and then I think when we turn on the amp and start playing the chords it is a combination of that feeling with our musical and cultural DNA.
The title “Dodekatemoria” relates to astrological and zodiacal concepts. How did it come to represent all the themes surrounding this album?
It is about the cosmos that surrounds us and the one inside us, it is somehow a bidirectional approach. On the search of the hidden paths of illumination, we also studied the meaning of numbers, and in correspondence with the stars our journey took us in looking into the Greek wisdom of ancient societies. So, we took this concept of karmic calculation of fate in a creative approach of our songs’ structures, so that in the end it really represented the basic fundaments of our album.
Aleister Crowley and Jorge Luis Borges are credited as inspirations for certain lyrical sections. Are there other authors who have influenced your lyrics or will in the future? Is there a specific work that has been particularly influential?
Maybe there are, but not on a conscious level…we like to read a lot from Lovecraft, Umberto Eco, Gustav Meyrink, Mircea Cărtărescu among the others…not a certain book, but a collection of ideas more likely.
How would you describe the impact occultism has had on your life and its importance overall?
It shapes my existence, but more on a personal subtle level, I am not speaking too openly in my social environment about this, it is something for me, it brings me a serenity to govern my life as I please, to take the important decisions and to be in connection with what I decide is important for my spiritual development, so basically this way it is inside me and defines everything.
A couple of the tracks were enhanced by visual accompaniments, especially the one for “Zahir,” with the scenes and symbolism it portrays, and then also a cosmic visualizer created for “The Decrepitude of Centuries.” What was involved in the production of these videos?
I have a very strong relation of friendship with the director of “Zahir,” Mihai Surdea, we know each other since the early days of music underground in our city, and all the time we like to discuss many spiritual concepts, music and even politics…so it is the third video we work with him, we kind of knew the process…we discuss the concept about several months in endless tobacco nights, then we spend another months in scouting different places for filming, and then discussing more months the actual process, crew assembly, costumes, filming, mounting etc. so it is a laborious and expensive process, but again it is something we really like doing. Many of the symbols in this video were this time brought to the table by Mihai and his girlfriend, Amalia Toma, and somehow it was an exchange of emotions and feelings based upon the initial concept we presented, and how they perceived it…you know, it always fascinates me to bring my concept to an external person and see what kind of message they receive…anyway it has also a connection to the primordial man that walked the earth with a scepter and defined the ancient zodiac.
“The Decrepitude of Centuries” was made by our long-time contributor for design and visuals, Alexandru Das, and yes…it was a cosmic vision upon dystopia and seclusion, it used the motif that I told you earlier of bidirectional cosmos and the fact that the mind is the most important magic tool and space of our existence.
You also played some live shows recently in support of this new opus. What do you enjoy most about the live experience and are there any places you would like to tour, or other bands you’d like to tour with?
We like to have this feeling that we are a band of cosmic priests descending with ceremonial magic sounds upon the audience, and we try to induce a form of trance to the persons in the room…we certainly experience this sometimes. We like to play in more intimate clubs than in festivals/open air, so that we are doing very rarely, we like to select very carefully our venues and with whom we play.
There are many nice places we visited and played with ORDINUL NEGRU or with other projects we are/were involved…for me personally the most precious experience was touring in China almost ten years ago, one of the best places on this planet and really nice, polite and friendly people there, in almost total opposition of how we, from western society, perceive them, for me it was a total surprise. Of course, I am no innocent when coming to their politic regime, but on the ground field all the persons were more than ok with us, even the authorities, so nothing to complain here.
Best band I toured with is I think SOLSTAFIR…funny, insane and really warm and nice guys, so I hope one day, maybe, to tour with them again.
Have any ideas been formed on the direction your artistic concepts or sound might take next?
Actually yes, based on the general depression and anxiety that surround us in the contemporary society I wrote six new songs…again it was something very spontaneous, because being overexposed to this dystopian environment, we all are experiencing negative bleak emotions that sometimes tend to overcome us, modern stress is very hard to isolate in lack of real moral values, fake news on social media, political tensions and war, manipulation, internet schemes, cheap and sad pornography, monetization of everything and abnormal consumerism… So, I needed to occupy my mind into something else and even at this point it is a more mundane subject, I am sure we will develop into something more personal and spiritual over the next years. I only sent two songs to Urmuz to contribute and we did not rehearse anything of these ideas yet, but as I said, the starting point has been released…
Thanks once again for your time and insights! Are there any final reflections you’d like to share in closing?
I also thank you for this opportunity, it means a lot to us, as final words for closing…don’t enter mental cages, try to think for yourself and what is good for you and your loved ones, seek for simple things in life because they are always the vehicle for something greater, more profound and fulfilling in the journey.
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