Reykjavík Grapevine - aug. 2021, Side 18

18The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08— 2021Music
gpv.is/music
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Untamed
Ne!ativity
Adrian Brachmann’s explosive entrance to black
metal
Words: Erik Pomrenke Photos: Provided by Adrian
Album
Listen to Adrian’s work at nidstong.
bandcamp.com and akthganaheth.
bandcamp.com.
For the last two years, Iceland has
been cursed with a deluge of heavy
albums and EP’s, bursting upon us
like rats pouring out of Nosferatu’s
crypt. With various projects, in-
cluding Äkth Gánahëth, Ní"stöng,
Fimbul$ul, Spectral Full Moon,
Úlfhé"inn and others, the appear-
ance of the mysterious Adrian
Brachmann on the Icelandic Black
Metal scene was sudden and pro-
digious.
It is not often that a musician
emerges ex nihilo with so many
ideas and his corpus to date repre-
sents something of an omnibus of
contemporary extreme music, dab-
bling in dark ambient, black metal,
hardcore punk and noise. Clearly,
Adrian is not a man who spent his
lock-down watching Netflix.
Raw productivity
“Currently, I have four main proj-
ects going,” Adrian says, as if it
were the most natural thing in the
world. “Two of them are black met-
al projects and two are what one
would call dark ambient or dun-
geon synth. While they all have a
common influences, I definitely
see them as completely different
ideas.”
Adrian is something of a black
metal traditionalist, citing bands
like Darkthrone, Ildjarn and Celtic
Frost as important influences. But
his traditionalism is by no means
small-mindedness and he fer-
vently listens to everything from
hardcore bands like Integrity and
G.I.S.M. to Berlin-school ambient
and neofolk. “Outside influences
can lead to great results from time
to time,” he admits. But with re-
gard to his own creative projects,
he generally stays trve to metal.
Of course, not all of us hoard
rare Norwegian demo tapes. So
for readers unacquainted with
these niche subgenres—what does
Adrian’s music actually sound like?
“Raw, cold and primitive,” is his
terse response.
What is Icelandic black
metal?
Like so many artists, Adrian draws
inspiration from the landscape
and nature of Iceland. That said—
he’s originally from Germany and
only moved here some years ago.
“I’d consider my music Icelan-
dic insofar as Iceland has been
the environment that surrounded
me when I wrote and recorded it,”
Adrian states. “Iceland itself has
had tremendous influence on how
the music turned out in the end.”
Icelandic black metal has devel-
oped a very distinct sound in the
last years, but the sounds of Äkth
Gánahëth and Ní"stöng represent
a departure from the more dis-
sonant, anxious sound of house-
hold favourites Mis$yrming and
Svartidau"i. In contrast, both Äkth
Gánahëth and Ní"stöng are more
energetic, punky, affirmative and,
dare one say, fun?
“Musically, I don’t see myself
anywhere near any of the bands
on this island, although I respect
them a lot,” Adrian confesses. “My
influences come from a different
part of black metal.”
Untamed negativity
Adrian was raised on a steady diet
of extreme metal and hardcore
from the tender age of 15, citing
the “relentless raw energy and
untamed display of negative emo-
tion” as what drew him into the
scene.“Every walk in the moun-
tains or the forests is a black met-
al moment,” he explains. “Black
metal is an echo of nature, in my
books.”
Although Adrian’s previous
band, Fourth Crusade, was a vegan
metallic hardcore project—quite
different sonically from his dun-
geon synth and ambient projects—
there is, as Adrian explains, a spir-
itual continuity between them.
“I would always view music or
art in general as a vessel of the art-
ist’s spirit,” he says. “Hence, I al-
ways see a connection of music and
some certain set of views or ideolo-
gies that are reflected in it. What I
think and what I love or hate will
always be a central influence on my
music, even if it’s not necessarily
reflected in the lyrics.”
In times of plague
Of course, it’s impossible for an
artist to not be affected in some
way by COVID. For a solo artist,
however, COVID also presented
some opportunities for creative
productivity.
“The consequences of the pan-
demic were the cradle of the music
that I create these days. Without
COVID and all the frustrations
and anger that it has caused me I’d
likely never have recorded these
songs,” Adrian says.
Recording solo allows for great
freedom and while many of us
were wasting away in quarantine,
Adrian was furiously producing
material.
“People started to vent through
music and art so I think this pan-
demic pushed the creativity in
many individuals all over the globe
and helped them to create art from
honest feelings,” he concludes. “As
of now, I can’t really tell what will
happen after this. But I don’t really
see it all ending anytime soon.”
So have we seen the end of Adri-
an’s curse? The omens say other-
wise.
Adrian looking trvely grim
“Every walk in
the mountains
or the forests
is a black metal
moment. Black
metal is an
echo of nature
in my books.”