Beyond the Cinderlands - Black Candle Wax Interview
Obscure US black metal act Black Candle Wax shares some brief insight into the hellish influences of their music. Originally to be published in Flail ov Venom Issue #4.
Black Candle Wax has been described as psychedelic dehydrated black metal. It's certainly an intriguing concoction. Would you like to speak about some of your influences?
As far as musical influences go, classic albums from Bathory and Root as well as some newer, raw bands like Ventos gave me ideas. Abhor, Morbus Chron, and Villains did as well. The brevity of punk music definitely had an influence on how I write songs. Really, any music that I like influences the sound, be it a country song, a jazz album, or black metal. I just try to make some version of the music that I want to hear.
I'm always intrigued if any literature or film inspires the music. At times this is more the case than musical influences. Can you shed any light on the themes and lyrics and where they are conjured from?
While making The Cinderlands and Bloodbat Mystic, I was heavily influenced by Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy). Movies definitely have played a role as well. Crematorium was partly inspired by a movie called Spalovac Mrtvol (The Cremator) (dir. Juraj Herz). Lyrically, some of the songs are made of coherent sentences and stories and some of the songs are not. Sometimes it's more about the way the words sound than what the words mean. Most of the lyrics on Bloodbat Mystic and The Cinderlands involve things that happen in Blood Meridian. Besides that, I tend to write pessimistic lyrics about death, time, and the macabre.
Your latest release The Cinderlands sold out on cassette pretty quick. Can you talk to us a little bit about the music on the tape?
The Cinderlands is the group of songs I made right after recording Bloodbat Mystic. A continuation of the same theme but without the doom sound. I wanted to incorporate folk and country music in some way. The acoustic tracks might be my favorites of the bunch. I had a few different unrelated ideas going on that all came together as The Cinderlands. They all share that common theme but I felt like I was working on multiple different projects when recording these tracks. It wasn't until later that they started to make sense together.
Considering the song titles, I suspect there to be some sort of Old West/Frontier thematic angles. Would I be right in suggesting this?
In Blood Meridian there is a line that really stuck with me. "Before man was, war waited for him." I think what appeals to me about the book and the western setting is the violence and lawlessness. What people will do given the opportunity. The inevitability of conflict and the self serving tendencies of man. These things are not exclusive to the Old West but the rawness of that particular time and place is interesting to me.
Your secretive approach helps the music stand alone. How important is this to you?
I don't like too much human in my metal. It is better to leave some things to the imagination. That being said, if it were about being truly secretive, I wouldn't publicly release the music at all. I try to find the right balance.
You have released four demos since 2019. Is this the best approach for BCW? Is it a choice or just so happens to be the result after you hit record?
I don't consciously set out to make demos, EPs, or full lengths. I don't usually think of it in those terms. I write and record one song at a time. When the songs stop coming to me, then I know that I'm done with that group of songs. I tend to go through short but intense creative periods followed by longer periods where I can't come up with anything new or I don't bother trying to. I prefer to listen to shorter songs and albums so that has something to do with it as well.
Is there any music you would like our readers to venture into?
Recently I have been listening to...
Mörkö - Ulvova Tyhjyys
Falsa Luz - Vozes Penadas
Madsher - Devil's Alley
Celtic Rainforest - Celtic Rainforwest
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