Hello Khmar and welcome to Brutal Resonance! Let’s start up with a warm-up question. What are three of your favorite albums of all time and why?
Hello everyone. Number 1 is Das Ich 's "Anthchrist". There is a surreal atmosphere, and unusual-sounding synthesizers, all this is dissonant and otherworldly. This album sounds like no other album by any other band. The same is for all Das Ich albums. I also hope for a miracle that they will release something new. Number two is X-Fusion's "Vast Abysm". It also sounds quite unusual for its genre, epic and vicious. And number three is Death Metal band Hollenthon's “With vilest of worms to dwell”. An album with a lot of orchestrations, but at the same time not soft at all. And also epic and evil. All my favorite albums are like that.
You have your main project Distorted World. What made you want to create this side-project?
Distorted World was more personal, gothic and more experimental. But I wanted to write something more rhythmic, for the dance floor. There are almost no melodies here, only sounds synthesized on a weird hardware. This project is more entertaining, energetic, with more emphasis on kick drum.
What does the name Khmar mean? Why did you choose it for this project?
This is a word from mythology, similar to darkness, gloom, they can describe a forest with a terrible swamp, fog and wild creatures. I love this aesthetic, so the album is named after it.
Your music primarily focuses on industrial-techno. Did you find it difficult to produce this music instead of what you normally make with Distorted World?
It's even easier and more fun. Every time you invent a certain sample on the synthesizer, without being attached to melodies, notes, traditional arrangements and other things from the music school. This music is written with knobs rather than keyboards. I use a modular synthesizer, it looks like a spacecraft control panel with its knobs, jacks, wires, and it is almost fully analog, there are no presets in it, once you built a successful patch, recorded it, it will not be possible to recreate it again. Once you get some riff and say "wow!" - record it immediately. You can't decide to fix something in it later. So I think such process is more creative.
Your debut EP under Khmar was “Mrak”. When you made that EP, what did you learn about the genre? What did you bring from that experience to “Chthon”?
I would not say that there is something fundamentally new in “Chthon”. Rather, it continues what was already laid down in the EP. I continue to use the same techniques in composition as in the EP. So don't be afraid to listen to the tracks in any order LOL.
And what is “Chthon” about? What is the overall theme, story, or concept?
"Chthonos" in ancient mythology means "in, under, or beneath the earth". Also Chthon is a science fiction novel by Piers Anthony . This novel is about an underground prison, which is a huge cave that stretches almost the entire planet, where terrible creatures live. There are no cells, no laws, no security, no clothes either, because it's too warm here. Just a wonderful place :). You can also remember the underground Zion from the movie The Matrix. In general, you can make associations with the underground gothic club LOL. So the concept is: Caves, darkness, demons, everyone is drunk and having a party. Everything that we love. “Happiness in darkness” © Gothminister.
Machine Kaputt provides a remix on the album. Tell us what they did to the song that makes it so unique.
It contrasts in many ways with the entire album, which probably wakes up the listener if he falls asleep from a constant rhythm. After all, remixes should not be similar to the original.
Out of all the songs on the album, which is your favorite and why?
Of course, after the 1st one "Ghost" it is "Wir" ("We" in German). We is a dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin, and the voice sample in the track is from the corresponding German film adaptation of the novel, and this man screams that everyone should cut out fantasy. They did just that in the novel.
Do you have anything else planned for 2022? Any new singles, EPs, album, or live shows coming up?
Maybe a single, but it's hard to say right now. Live shows are often canceled, so we can't talk about plans here. Let's find a creepy cave, put a beer pipeline in there, and have an illegal party there. "Chthon" club :)
Lastly, I’d like to thank you for your time! You may use the space below to mention anything I may have missed!
Since I try to write music so that it takes everyone away from the boring gray everyday life, I wish that the disgusting reality does not absorb you. And thank you for the interview!
Steven Gullotta
info@brutalresonance.comI've been writing for Brutal Resonance since November of 2012 and now serve as the editor-in-chief. I love the dark electronic underground and usually have too much to listen to at once but I love it. I am also an editor at Aggressive Deprivation, a digital/physical magazine since March of 2016. I support the scene as much as I can from my humble laptop.
Share this interview
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Shares
Popular interviews
Psyclon Nine
Interview, Mar 24 2017
Night Runner
Interview, Oct 13 2016
Testube
Interview, Apr 02 2022
Kite
Interview, Feb 10 2017
God Destruction
Interview, May 17 2016
Related articles
Sister Machine Gun - 'The Future Unformed'
Review, Apr 09 2015
40 Octaves Below - 'Splintered'
Review, Aug 21 2022
Josie Pace
Interview, May 24 2022
Mummies And Madmen
Interview, Apr 10 2024
Green Elder - 'MINIVIEW: Offering'
Review, Sep 05 2015