曲径向月 - 加拿大Post-Black Metal / Shoegaze / Ambien乐队Unreqvited专访

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创作从来不是一条笔直的道路。听者与创作者的共鸣，存在与宇宙中的偶然与必然之间。作为国内后黑乐迷最熟悉的音乐家之一，Unreqvited背后的音乐家——鬼（William Melsness）连续两年在Ghost Bath以及今年四月份的Can Festival为国内的乐迷们带来了难忘的演出。在2025年发行第七张专辑《A Pathway to the Moon》后，Unreqvited再一次通过独特的音乐叙述将自己的音乐语言提升到新的维度。在Unreqvited与Heretoir开启中国巡演前夕，我们与Unreqvited的主创鬼进行了一次专访。鬼向我们分享了两次中国演出的感受与个人创作的心得。

（V: 代表笔者 G: 代表鬼）

Creation has never been a straight path—it lies in the resonance between listener and creator, and in the interplay of chance and necessity within existence. As one of the most familiar musicians to domestic fans of post-black metal, 鬼 (William Melsness), the artist behind Unreqvited, delivered unforgettable performances for Chinese audiences over two consecutive years with Ghost Bath, and this April at the Can Festival. Following the release of his seventh album, A Pathway to the Moon, in 2025, Unreqvited has once again elevated his musical language to a new dimension through his distinctive narrative. On the eve of Unreqvited's joint China tour with Heretoir, we sat down with 鬼 for an exclusive interview, in which he shared his reflections on his two previous performances in China and his personal approach to creation.

(V: Represents the author; G: Represents the 鬼)

采访对象：鬼（Unreqvited乐队创始人）

采访时间：2026.09.10

V: Hello鬼！非常感谢你参加我们的采访。在今年4月份的Can Festival之前，你曾作为Ghost Bath的现场吉他手参与了他们2025年的中国巡演以及Can Festival的演出。2025年的巡演是你第一次来中国演出吗？那次的演出有哪些让你印象深刻的时刻？

Hello鬼! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us. Before this year's Can Festival in April, you'd already toured China and played at Can Festival as a live guitarist for Ghost Bath in 2025. Was that your first time performing in China? And what moments from that tour stood out to you the most?

G: 和Ghost Bath一起登上Can Festival的舞台绝对是那次巡演中最难忘的时刻之一。站在那个舞台上，面对数千名的观众，那种感觉真的不太真实。但说实话，我最喜欢的回忆反而发生在舞台之外——和乐队成员一起在深夜探索城市、品尝各地美食、演出后和乐迷见面，以及看到人们与我参与演奏的音乐产生共鸣，而这一切发生在地球的另一端。所有这些都让那次经历变得非常特别。

Playing CAN Festival with Ghost Bath was definitely one of the biggest highlights. Standing on that stage in front of thousands of people was absolutely surreal. But honestly, some of my favourite memories happened offstage. Exploring the cities late at night with the band, trying local food, meeting fans after the shows, and seeing people connecting with music I helped perform on the other side of the world. That made the whole experience feel very special.

V: 据我了解你可能是首位代表不同乐队连续参加了两届Can Festival的乐手。参与Can Festival这种泛后黑+后摇的音乐节与你之前参与过的国际金属音乐节有哪些不同的感受？两次的音乐节体验有哪些让你印象深刻的乐队？

From what I know, you might be the first musician to perform at Can Festival in two consecutive years with two different bands. How does Can Festival — being more of a post-black metal/post-rock oriented festival — feel different from the international metal festivals you've played before? And were there any bands from either edition that particularly left an impression on you?

G: Can Festival有一种非常独特的氛围。很多音乐节给人的感觉是围绕持续的高强度冲击来构建的，但Can Festival同样重视那些营造氛围和情感的乐队，而不只是看重攻击性。观众给人的感觉像是在体验每一场表演所带来的一段旅程，而不只是等待最重的段落或最快的鼓点。参加Can Festival的第一年我特别喜欢柏大辅（Kashiwa Daisuke），我之前从未看过也从未听说过他的演出。今年这一届的话，最打动我的表演绝对是Heretoir。我听他们的音乐已经很多年了，想到很快就要和他们一起在亚洲和欧洲巡演，我真的非常兴奋。

CAN Festival has a really unique atmosphere. A lot of festivals can feel like they're built around constant intensity, but CAN embraces bands that create atmosphere and emotion just as much as aggression. It feels like the audience is there to experience the journey of each performance rather than just wait for the biggest breakdown or fastest blast beat. The first year, I particularly enjoyed Kashiwa Daisuke, whom I had never seen nor heard of before. From this year’s set I have to say the most moving performance was absolutely Heretoir. I have listened to their music for many years now, and I couldn’t be more excited to tour Asia and Europe soon alongside them.

V: Unreqvited在Can Festival的表演获得了许多观众的好评，其中有喜欢你们很久的乐迷也有第一次听Unreqvited的观众。许多观众都惊叹于Unreqvited的现场相比录音室专辑有着让人震撼的感染力，你认为是什么让Unreqvited的现场能够如此打动观众？

Unreqvited's performance at Can Festival was well received by a lot of audience members — both longtime fans and first-time listeners. Quite a few were blown away by how powerful the live show felt compared to the studio recordings. What do you think makes Unreqvited's live set connect with people so strongly?

G: 我认为是因为我们尝试去重现音乐所带来的情感体验，而不是简单地复制录音室版本。专辑里层层叠叠地铺了大量吉他音轨、合成器、人声合唱和环境氛围织体，这些东西显然无法同时在舞台上全部呈现出来。我们没有去追求完美的还原，而是专注于捕捉那些歌曲背后的情绪。现场乐队带来了很多录音室版本中未必存在的能量，我觉得这种反差让歌曲在现场有了不一样的冲击力。

I think it's because we try to recreate the emotional experience of the music rather than simply reproduce the recordings. The albums are layered with tons of guitar tracks, synths, choirs, and ambient textures that obviously can't all exist on stage at once. Instead of chasing perfection, we focus on capturing the feeling behind those songs. The live band brings a lot of energy that isn't necessarily present in the studio versions, and I think that contrast makes the songs hit differently.

V: 去年我去了你与Ghost Bath在北京的演出。乐迷们对你的签名印象深刻，因为那是五个签名里唯一一个汉字。为什么你会用“鬼”这个字作为你的艺名？

I caught your show with Ghost Bath in Beijing last year. A lot of fans were really struck by your signature — because among the five autographs, yours was the only Chinese character. Why did you choose "鬼" (Ghost) as your stage name?

G: 我一直很喜欢黑暗音乐中的匿名性——我觉得它为音乐和创作者都增添了一层神秘的面纱。这个想法最终是受到了很多其他单人黑金属乐队的启发，他们也做了同样的事情。当我在早期决定不让自己的名字与这个计划绑在一起时，我选择了“鬼”，因为我希望创造音乐的这个角色/存在，能够和音乐本身一样带有一种超脱尘世的气质。

I’ve always liked anonymity in dark music, I think it adds a shroud of mystery around the music and the creator. It is ultimately inspired by tons of other one-man black metal bands that have done the same thing. When I decided early on that I didn’t want my name attached to the project, I chose 鬼 because I wanted the character/ entity that creates the music to have the same otherworldly aura as the music itself does.

V: 可以介绍一下都会有哪些乐手与你一起完成这次Unreqvited的首次中国巡演吗？这次巡演的歌单会有哪些调整吗？

Could you introduce the musicians who will be joining you on this first China tour of Unreqvited? And have you made any adjustments to the setlist for this run of shows?

G: 我的现场吉他手Victor和现场贝斯手Robin都是我从小到大的好友，这些年来我们一起在多个不同的乐队里演奏过。Victor主要是一位嘻哈音乐制作人，但他同时也负责混音Unreqvited的最新专辑《A Pathway to the Moon》。Robin也负责Unreqvited的大量平面设计工作，这些年来设计过无数的乐队周边产品。我的鼓手Alex是现场阵容中最新的成员。Can Festival其实是他和我们一起演出的第一场，他是一位非常有天赋的多乐器演奏者，大概整个Unreqvited的演出曲目他每种乐器都能演。歌单会和我们在Can Festival上演的相当接近，只做了一些小的调整。

My live guitarist Victor and my live bassist Robin have both been close friends of mine since we were teenagers, playing in different bands together over the years. Victor is primarily a hip-hop producer, but he also mixed the latest Unreqvited album, “A Pathway to the Moon”. Robin handles much of Unreqvited's graphic work as well, having designed countless merch pieces over the years. My drummer Alex is the newest member of the live lineup. CAN Fest was actually his very first show with us, and he's an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist who could probably play the entire Unreqvited set on every instrument. The setlist will be fairly similar to what we played at CAN Fest, with a few small changes.

V: 我想请向中国的乐迷介绍一下Unreqvited的早期历史。Unreqvited是你的第一个个人乐队吗？是什么让你想组建Unreqvited？

I'd love to give our Chinese fans a bit of background on Unreqvited's early days. Was Unreqvited your first solo project? And what made you want to start it?

G: 这大致上是我第一个真正的个人计划。十几岁的时候，我会创作一些小型的器乐曲目，用各种化名上传到YouTube上，但那些都不是我特别当真的作品。我是在大约20岁、还在和另一支乐队一起巡演的时候开始做Unreqvited的。虽然我很享受巡演和与其他音乐人合作的过程，但我越来越强烈地感觉到一种冲动，想要创作一些完全属于自己的东西。大约在2016年年中的时候，我开始整理自己在过去一年里独自写的那些音乐，那些歌曲最终汇聚成了Unreqvited的首张专辑"Disquiet"。

It was my first real solo project, for the most part. As a teenager, I'd compose small instrumental tracks and upload them to YouTube under various aliases, but nothing I considered especially serious. I started Unreqvited while I was still touring with another band around the age of 20. Although I loved touring and collaborating with other musicians, I felt a growing urge to create something that was entirely my own. Around mid-2016, I began gathering the music I'd been writing on my own over the previous year, and those songs eventually came together as Unreqvited's debut album, Disquiet.

V: 2025年你发行了"A Pathway to the Moon"，在这张专辑中你一如既往地包揽所有的歌曲和歌词创作。不同的是，这张专辑中清嗓的部分比Unreqvited之前的任何作品都要多。是什么让你选择做出这个转变？

You released A Pathway to the Moon in 2025, and as always, you handled all the songwriting and lyrics yourself. But one thing that stands out is that this album features more clean vocals than any previous Unreqvited release. What prompted that shift?

G: 这一次，我在创作时更多地以歌曲本身为核心来思考。我更加强调人声旋律和歌词内容，而Unreqvited早期的大量作品则更依赖于器乐叙述。我想要创作出情感脉络更清晰的歌曲，让人声成为一个核心元素，而不只是偶尔出现的一个层次。我在写这张专辑的很大一部分时也考虑到了现场演出，这自然影响了歌曲的结构、节奏和整体的动态变化。我希望观众能够在现场跟着Unreqvited的歌一起唱，与歌词产生共鸣。

This time around, I approached the writing from a much more song-centric perspective. I put a greater emphasis on vocal melodies and lyrical content, whereas a lot of the older Unreqvited material relied more heavily on instrumental storytelling. I wanted to create songs with a clearer emotional arc, with the vocals serving as a central element rather than simply an occasional layer. I also wrote much of the album with the live show in mind, which naturally influenced the structure, pacing, and overall dynamics of the songs. I wanted the audience to have the ability to sing along to Unreqvited songs and connect to the lyrics in a live setting.

V: "A Pathway to the Moon"的歌词主题延续了Unreqvited一贯的宇宙/自然意象 + 情感内省风格，你的歌词总能巧妙地把握从宇宙尺度的到个人尺度的情绪描绘。在创作歌词时，你一般如何选择歌词的切入角度，让宏观主题与个人内心的表达和谐地存在于同一首歌里？

The lyrical themes on A Pathway to the Moon continue Unreqvited's signature blend of cosmic/nature imagery and emotional introspection — and you always manage to strike a delicate balance between grand, universal scales and deeply personal feelings. When you're writing lyrics, how do you usually approach finding that entry point, so that the macro and the micro can coexist so naturally in one song?

G: 对我来说，这两者往往自然而然地来自同一个地方。我很少会分别从"宏观"或"微观"的角度出发去构思。通常，我会从一个我正在试图消化的特定感受、经历或想法开始，然后我发现自己围绕它所展开的意象会自然地扩展成某种更大的东西。我一直被这样一种想法所吸引：某些极其个人化的东西可以在某种远超我们自身的事物中得到映照。月亮、星辰、风景、季节以及其他自然元素，它们可以让人感觉无比遥远和宏大，但与此同时，当它们与某段特定的记忆或情绪相连时，又可以变得非常私密。我觉得这种反差正是这些主题如此吸引我的一个重要原因。在创作"A Pathway to the Moon"时，我并非先构思一个宏大的宇宙叙事，然后再把个人经历塞进去。更多的是用那些宏大意象作为一种方式，去表达那些否则难以直接言说的东西。宇宙和个体在我的写作方式中就是会自然地重叠在一起。

I think for me, the two tend to naturally come from the same place. I rarely start out thinking about the “macro” or the “micro” separately. Usually, I'll begin with a particular feeling, experience, or idea that I'm trying to process, and then I find that the imagery surrounding it naturally expands into something larger. I've always been drawn to the idea that something deeply personal can be reflected in something much larger than ourselves. The moon, stars, landscapes, seasons, and other elements of nature can feel incredibly distant and universal, but at the same time, they can be very intimate when they're tied to a particular memory or emotion. I think that contrast is a big part of what makes those themes so appealing to me. With A Pathway to the Moon, I wasn't necessarily trying to create a grand cosmic narrative and then fit my personal experiences into it. It was more about using that larger imagery as a way of expressing things that are otherwise difficult to articulate directly. The cosmic and the personal just tend to overlap naturally in the way I write.

V: 专辑的创作和录制都由你一人完成，从专辑的编曲到演奏都能听出来你在打磨作品上下了很大功夫。那么，一首歌曲到什么程度你才会觉得“完成了”“可以被放进专辑里”？

Since you write everything on your own, it's clear from the compositions and performances that you put a tremendous amount of care into every detail. At what point does a song finally feel "finished" to you — ready to be put on an album?

G: 对我来说，一首歌到达一个节点时就算完成了——在那个节点上，我觉得再做任何改动，更多是为了满足自己的完美主义，而不是真正让这首歌变得更好。我对细节可以极其执着，常常会反复地打磨同一个段落，但最终你必须意识到这首歌已经把该说的都说完了。通常，当我回头去听它时，不再会想着"这里我要改一下"，我就知道这首歌已经准备好了。到了那个点，我会试着抽身离开，相信自己做过的决定。我不认为一首歌能变得绝对完美，但它确实会到达一个"完成"的状态，那是我最终在寻找的东西。我以前总觉得自己是在"放弃"歌曲，而不是真正地"完成"它们，因为我可以无休止地改下去。这些年来，我慢慢学会了什么时候该停下来。

For me, a song is finished when I reach a point where I feel like any further changes would be more about satisfying my own perfectionism than actually making the song better. I can be extremely obsessive about details, and I'll often revisit the same sections over and over, but eventually you have to recognize when the song has said everything it needs to say. Usually, I know a song is ready when I can listen back to it and no longer find myself thinking about what I would change. At that point, I try to step away from it and trust the decisions I've made. I don't think a song ever becomes absolutely perfect, but there is a point where it becomes complete, and that's what I'm ultimately looking for. I used to always feel like I had to abandon songs rather than properly complete them, because I could make changes endlessly. I’ve gotten better over the years at knowing when to stop.

V: 在创作"A Pathway to the Moon"专辑里的歌曲时，你会考虑到歌曲在现场演出的可能性而取舍一些段落，还是以录音室专辑的听感优先，尽可能地发挥你想展示在音乐里的细节和想法？

When you're writing songs for A Pathway to the Moon, do you ever consider how they might translate to a live setting and make adjustments accordingly? Or do you prioritize the studio experience first, packing in as many details and ideas as you want?

G: 我现在创作时确实会考虑现场演出的场景，但这是第一张我这样做的专辑。过去我更专注于录音室体验，会按照自己的想法层层叠加尽可能多的创意和细节，而不一定会去考虑它们在舞台上如何呈现。到了"A Pathway to the Moon"，我想在这方面更留心一些。我依然不希望现场演出左右创作本身，但我尽量在编曲中留出足够的空间，让歌曲在现场演奏时能够呼吸，核心的想法也能传达出来。现场版本永远无法复制录音室中的每一个细节，而我其实很享受这一点。有些东西只有在录音室里才奏效，而另一些东西在面对观众演奏时会变得更有力量。所以我会说，我仍然以歌曲本身为优先，但比起刚开Unreqvited的时候，我现在确实更意识到现场体验的重要性了。

I definitely consider the live setting when I'm writing now, but this is the first album in which I have done so. In the past, I was much more focused on the studio experience and would layer in as many ideas and details as I wanted without necessarily thinking about how they would translate to a stage. With A Pathway to the Moon, I wanted to be a little more conscious of that. I still didn't want the live show to dictate the writing, but I tried to leave enough space within the arrangements for the songs to breathe and for the core ideas to come through when they're performed live. The live versions are never going to replicate every single detail of the studio recordings, and I actually enjoy that. There are certain things that only work in the studio, and others that become much more powerful when they're played in front of an audience. So I'd say I still prioritize the songs themselves first, but I'm definitely more aware of the live experience now than I was when I started Unreqvited.

V: 目前为止Unreqvited在德国厂牌Prophecy Productions发行了两张全长与一张20分钟的EP"Perpetual Green of the Willow Groves"。你与Prophecy Productions的合作是怎样开始的？为何会选择这家厂牌？

So far, Unreqvited has released two full-length albums and a 20-minute EP, Perpetual Green of the Willow Groves, on the German label Prophecy Productions. How did that partnership come about, and what drew you to the label?

G: 和Prophecy的合作来得很自然。我之前一直在独立发行音乐，围绕Unreqvited积累了一小批听众，在2018年底的时候，我带着已经全部完成的"Mosaic II"联系了这家厂牌。我当时已经对Prophecy相当熟悉，对他们合作的音乐人也很尊重，所以感觉这是一个非常自然的选择。最初吸引我的是他们的签约阵容，以及他们似乎给艺术家留了很大的空间去发展自己的个性。厂牌旗下的音乐家们有一种鲜明的个体性，而不是所有东西都要被塞进某种特定的声音或美学框架里。这对Unreqvited来说非常重要，因为我一直希望这个计划能以它自己的方式存在。他们也一直在实体唱片的呈现上投入了极大的心力，这一点也很吸引我。

The partnership with Prophecy came about fairly organically. I had been releasing music independently and building a small audience around Unreqvited, and towards the end of 2018 I reached out to the label with Mosaic II fully completed. I was already very familiar with Prophecy and had a lot of respect for the artists they worked with, so it felt like a really natural fit. What initially drew me to the label was their roster and the fact that they seemed to give their artists a lot of room to develop their own identities. There was a certain sense of individuality across the artists on the label, rather than everything feeling like it had to fit into one particular sound or aesthetic. That was very important to me with Unreqvited, since I've always wanted the project to exist on its own terms. They've also always put a tremendous amount of care into the physical presentation of their releases, which was something that appealed to me.

V: 今年也正好是Unreqvited发行首张专辑"Disquiet"的十周年。"A Pathway to the Moon"绝对是2025年最好的后黑金属专辑之一，而"Disquiet"也始终是乐迷们最爱的经典之作。从"Disquiet"到"A Pathway to the Moon"，你认为Unreqvited最大的变化是什么？

This year also marks the tenth anniversary of Unreqvited's debut album, Disquiet. A Pathway to the Moon is easily one of the best post-black metal albums of 2025, while Disquiet remains a classic that fans still hold dear. Looking back from Disquiet to A Pathway to the Moon, what would you say is the biggest change Unreqvited has gone through?

G: 我认为最大的变化是音乐背后的意图性。"Disquiet"对我来说更像是一次实验。我当时还在摸索Unreqvited应该是什么样子，大部分时候是在为自己而写，并没有真正思考这个计划会走向哪里。十年之后，我对Unreqvited在音乐上和情感上应该成为什么样子有了更清晰的认识。我在创作、编曲、人声、制作——以及现在，音乐如何转化为现场体验——这些方面都有了更强的意识。与此同时，我觉得这个计划的内核并没有改变太多。它最终仍然是我探索那些从一开始就启发我的情绪和想法的一个出口。所以我认为最大的区别在于："Disquiet"是关于发现Unreqvited可能成为什么，而"A Pathway to the Moon"更像是——我知道我想让它成为什么，并且能够更自觉地去表达它。

I think the biggest change has been the level of intention behind the music. Disquiet was very much an experiment for me. I was still figuring out what Unreqvited was supposed to be, and I was largely writing for myself without really thinking about where the project might go. Ten years later, I have a much clearer understanding of what I want Unreqvited to be, both musically and emotionally. I'm much more conscious of songwriting, arrangement, vocals, production, and now, how the music will translate into a live setting. At the same time, I don't think the core of the project has changed that much. It's still ultimately an outlet for me to explore the same kinds of emotions and ideas that inspired me in the beginning. So I think the biggest difference is that Disquiet was about discovering what Unreqvited could be, whereas A Pathway to the Moon feels more like I know what I want it to be and I'm able to express that much more deliberately.

V: 如果要你用三个词形容当下你对Unreqvited的理解，你觉得会是哪三个词？

If you had to pick three words to describe what Unreqvited means to you right now, what would they be?

G: 这个问题有点难。我会说"表达"（expression）、"宣泄"（catharsis）和"演变"（evolution）是当下浮现在我脑海中的三个词。Unreqvited一直是我表达那些我未必知道如何用语言说出来的东西的主要出口。创作这些音乐有着很强的宣泄成分，而在十年之后，我觉得"演变"可能是最能形容这个计划现在所处阶段的词。它在不断变化和成长，和我一起，同时仍然保留着我刚开始时的那种情感内核。

That’s a tough one. I will say expression, catharsis, and evolution are the 3 that come to mind right now. Unreqvited has always been my primary outlet for expressing things that I don't necessarily know how to put into words otherwise. There's a very cathartic element to creating this music, and after ten years, I think evolution is probably the most fitting word for where the project is now. It's constantly changing and growing alongside me, while still retaining the same emotional core it had when I started it.

V: 感谢你抽出时间回答我们的问题！Unreqvited的乐迷们都期待与你在这次的中国巡演相见！最后，请对乐迷们说点什么吧。

Thanks again for your time, Ghost! Unreqvited fans in China are beyond excited to finally see you on tour. Is there anything you'd like to say to them before you hit the stage?

G: 说实话，我只想说一声谢谢。我们收到的来自中国乐迷的热情反馈真的非常不可思议。在今年早些时候有机会参加了Can Festival之后，我很期待能再次回来，重新感受这一切。我知道有很多人已经等待了很久想要看到Unreqvited的现场，所以这次我们终于能够进行这次巡演，对我来说意义重大。我们会全力以赴，希望每个人都能和我们共度一个难忘的夜晚。很快见面 <3

Honestly, I just want to say thank you. The reception we've received from Chinese fans has been absolutely incredible, and after having the opportunity to play CAN Fest earlier this year, I'm really excited to come back and experience it again. I know there are people who have been waiting a long time to see Unreqvited live, so it means a lot to me that we're finally able to do this tour. We're going to give it everything we have, and I hope everyone has an unforgettable night with us. See you very soon <3