2 days ago6 min read

泊伊塞克湖的传说 - 吉尔吉斯斯坦Epic Black Metal with Folk influences乐队darkestrah专访

今天我们采访到的是来自吉尔吉斯斯坦的Epic Black Metal with Folk influences代表乐队Darkestrah，这是一个有着25年之久的老牌乐队。乐队于1999年成立并且发布了首张Demo"Pagan Black Act"，随后又发布了"Sary Oy"、"Embrace of Memory"等7张全长专辑。乐队将黑金属和民谣金属以及中亚的萨满教色彩融合，形成了独一无二的中亚黑金属风格，歌词也多以中东地区的历史故事为主。今年，中国厂牌Coldwoods再版了Darkestrah的前四张专辑和Demo以及EP并翻译了，这次我们联系到了Darkestrah的鼓手Asbath来做一次专访。

（V: 代表笔者 A: 代表Asbath）

Today we are talking to the Kyrgyzstan Epic Black Metal with Folk influences band Darkestrah, which has been a veteran band for 25 years. The band formed in 1999 and released their first demo, "Pagan Black Act", followed by seven full-length albums, like "Sary Oy" and "Embrace of Memory". The band combines black metal and folk metal with Central Asian shamanistic colors to form a unique Central Asian black metal style, and the lyrics are mainly based on the historical stories of the Middle East. This year, Chinese label Coldwoods reissued Darkestrah's first four albums, demo and EP, and translated each song’s title. This time we contacted Darkestrah's drummer Asbath for an interview.

(V: for the author A: for Asbath)

采访对象：Asbath（darkestrah乐队鼓手）

采访时间：2024.12.20

V: 你好，很高兴你们能接受我们的采访，我想这应该是第一次你们和中国的乐迷们对话吧，和中国的乐迷们打个招呼吧。Darkestrah的音乐具有很强史诗感并且与中东地区的传统乐器融合，当时为什么会想到做这种音乐呢？

Hello, I am very glad that you can accept our interview.I think this is the first time that you can talk to Chinese music fans, let’s greet to Chinese music fans. Darkestrah's music has a strong sense of epic and is blended with traditional instruments from the Middle East, so why did you want to make this music?

A: 你好!我是鼓手Asbath，也是Darkestrah的创始成员。Darkestrah是在中亚国家吉尔吉斯斯坦的Bishkek创立的，在黑金属中，谈论一个人的文化背景一直是一件大事。所以我们听着那些北欧乐队唱着关于维京人和阿斯加德之神的歌，把传统元素融入到他们的音乐中，我们想“为什么不根据我们的文化做同样的事情呢？”特别是因为吉尔吉斯传统音乐的许多元素与黑金属有相似的品质。说到演奏komuz的方式，传统的吉尔吉斯鲁特琴类似于黑色金属中使用的采摘技巧喉部歌唱类似于刺耳的声音。

Greetings! Asbath here, drummer and founding member of Darkestrah. Darkestrah was started in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country, and addressing someone’s cultural background is has always been a big thing in Black Metal. And so, we we listening to all those Nordic bands singing about vikings and gods of Asgard and so on and incorporating traditional elements into their music, and we thought “Why not do the same based on our culture?” Especially since a lot of elements of Kyrgyz traditional music share similar qualities with Black Metal. Say the way of playing komuz, the traditional Kyrgyz lute is similar to the picking techniques used in black metal and throat singing is similar to harsh vocals.

V: 看起来你的很多专辑都是概念专辑。你能简单介绍一下你的音乐主题吗？

It seems like a lot of your albums are concept albums. Can you briefly introduce the theme of your music?

A: 的，这是正确的。我们的大多数专辑都是概念专辑。我们讲述祖国的历史、文化、传说和自然。例如“Epos”是根据吉尔吉斯斯坦最大的湖泊伊塞克湖的传说改编的。根据传说，湖底有一座沉没的城市，能看见的人随时都能看到这座鬼城。“The Great Silk Road”是基于丝绸之路的历史，丝绸之路是穿越中亚连接中国和西方的伟大商队之路。

Yes, that is correct. Most of our albums are concept ones. We address history, culture, legends and nature of our native lands. For example “Epos” is based on a legend about the lake Issyk-Kul, the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan. According to the legend there is a city sunken on the bottom of the lake, and that ghostly city may be seen at cetrain time by those who can see. “The Great Silk Road” is based on the history of The Silk Road, the great caravan way that went trough Central Asia connected China with the West.

V: 你们乐队是否受到了其他乐队或其他事物的启发？

Has the band been inspired by other bands or other things?

A: 当然，特别是在我们的早期Emperor，Helheim和My Dying bride对我们风格的塑造非常重要

Of cause. Especially in our early days Emperor, Helheim and My Dying bride were extremely important for helping us shape our style.

V: 你能简单描述一下创作过程吗？这些歌是谁写的，它们是如何录制和混音的？

Can you briefly describe the creative process? Who wrote the songs, how they were recorded and mixed?

A: 我们在排练室作曲，以前我们去录音室录音。现在我们在排练室录音，然后去录音室做混音和母带。Disillusion乐队的Andy Schmidt负责了我们从“Epos”开始的几乎所有专辑的录音室部分。

We compose the songs in rehearsal room. In our early days we wen to a studio to do the recording. Now we record everything in our rehearsal room too and only go to the studio for mixing and mastering. Andy Schmidt of the band Disillusion has handled the studio part for almost all our albums starting with “Epos”.

V: Darkestrah的许多歌曲都很长，尤其是“Epos”，一首歌就是一张专辑。那么你为什么选择写这些长歌呢？

Many of the songs of Darkestrah are very long, especially Epos, where a song is an album. So why do you choose to write these long songs?

A: 我们希望我们的歌曲能唤起史诗般的壮丽，高山和广阔的草原，所以歌曲往往会延长，我想这是一个自然的过程。

We want our songs to evoke epic grandeur, the tall mountains and the great expanse of the steppes and so the songs tend to extend in length, I guess it is a natural process.

V: 看来金属音乐在你们国家并不流行，但是你们的乐队已经存在了25年。是什么让你坚持下去的？你的音乐给你的生活带来了什么变化？

It seems that metal music is not popular in your country, but your band has lasted for 25 years. What has kept you going? What changes has your music brought to your life?

A: 我们刚开始的时候，金属乐非常流行，金属乐的氛围充满活力和多样性，几乎所有的流派都出现了。但是，没有钱，也没有太多的可能性。所以大多数乐队都没有留下一张像样的唱片就走了。即使是一台能够制作出后来成为我们第一张专辑“Sary”的可接受的Demo录音的计算机也是罕见的。我想我们很幸运，我们找到了一个帮助我们的人。第二个幸运的决定是在21世纪初搬到德国。今天这里的金属依然坚挺。

When we started metal was extremely popular. The scene was vibrant and diverse, all relevant genres were present. But, there was no money and not a lot of possibilities. So most of the bands went out without even leaving a decent record behind. Even a computer capable of producing an acceptable demo recording that would later become our first album “Sary oy” was a rarity. I guess we’re lucky we’ve found one and a guy who helped us. The second lucky decision was to relocate to Germany in the early 2000s. Metal here is still going strong today.

V: 你有在中国演出的想法吗？

Do you have any idea of performing in China?

A: 我们很乐意！但不幸的是，我们不知道如何组织它。如果你能给我们一个建议，请确保我们不会错过这个机会！

We’d love to! But unfortunately we have no idea how to organize it. If you can give us a tip, be sure that we won’t miss on that opportunity!

V: 在中国发行前后花了大约两年的时间，Cold woods厂牌也给每首歌和每张专辑起了一个中文名字。你想对中国乐迷说些什么？

It took about two years before and after the release in China, and the Cold woods label also gave each song and each album a Chinese name. What would you like to say to Chinese music fans?

A: 让火焰继续燃烧吧！希望有一天能见到大家！

Keep the flame burning! Hope to see you all someday!