CRAFTEON have released a single turned video for a track off their debut album "Cosmic Reawakening" called "What The Moon Brings". The band's concept was inspired by the writer H.P. Lovecraft to create an entire album influenced by said writer. The whole album are based on classic H.P. Lovecraft tales such as ‘The Outsider’, ‘Dagon’ and ‘From Beyond’. Frontman vocalist and guitarist Lord Mordiggian pr Mordi for short, discusses this single, album, and some backstory about the band themselves.
1. First of all, we would like to know about the formation of the band. When and how was it formed?
Mordi: Crafteon began as a one-man studio project that was originally never intended to be a live band. I wrote the first songs in 2012 with the purpose of fueling my passion for the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and eventually the idea blossomed into a full album, although it took me a few years to get around to finishing recording the guitar parts. Once I showed a few tracks to a handful of friends, I was highly encouraged to take it to the next level, so I started recruiting around the local scene in Denver. I picked up our drummer Rhagorthua from my power metal band that had been around for a few years—he also plays in a couple other metal acts, Scepters and Sculptures of Rust. Our bassist, Ithaqua, I had first seen playing live in his doom metal band Thorns of Acanthus, and he was more than willing to help out with Crafteon when I questioned him about playing with us. Lastly, I found our lead guitarist Fthaggua through mutual friends in the Denver metal scene. The band first started practicing in late summer 2016, and we will finally begin playing live in late August 2017.
2. Tell me about CRAFTEON. Why did you decide to name the band with such a title? What kind of ideas did you explore before deciding upon it?
Mordi: The name “Crafteon” is a combination of the term “Lovecraftian”and the word “eon,” which appears quite often throughout Lovecraft’s works. While we explored several different band names, we wanted a name that had never been used before so that when a prospective listener searches us on the web, we are the first result. Also, we were interested in a name that immediately points to our theme—Lovecraft.
3. In your opinion, what is the best way to define CRAFTEON’s sound?
Mordi: The tracks on Cosmic Reawakening are first-and-foremost dramatic retellings of short stories by Lovecraft, so the first intention of the sound itself is to recreate the atmosphere of the individual stories, which often center around cosmic dread and descent into madness. I think most listeners would find Crafteon to be a particularly organic and rough-hewn style of black metal with a balanced production that offers a coarsely smooth listening experience, albeit an oxymoron.
4. What are your main musical influences? How huge is their influence in your sound?
Mordi: Stylistically, our sound is heavily influenced by Swedish black metal, as I have always been drawn to bands such as Dissection, Bathory, Shining, and Dark Funeral. It’s difficult for me to comment on the overall impact of my influences, as I don’t consciously try to emulate other bands while writing, but I know it bleeds through. Additionally, I grew up on Iron Maiden, and I’m certain that the few melodic passages on this album might pay tribute to NWOBHM, at least with the guitar harmonies.
5. How about when it comes to the song writing for your music making process, how does a song come into form for you?
Mordi: I found that writing for this album required a lot of work with structure and mood. Firstly, I would always re-read the Lovecraft story that I wanted to retell through my guitar, especially to re-establish the particular mood unique to that tale. Afterward, I typically noodle around with certain melodies until I could find a theme that seemed to represent the feeling of the song as a whole. Once I solidified that theme, I would begin mapping out the structure of the song, ensuring that it loosely followed the development of emotions in the story from beginning to end. I can’t say that my process was uniform beyond this point, but I tended to write the rhythm section at the same time, toying around with different bass lines and drum beats that best emphasized the mood of the song. As for lyrics, I always wrote them after the instrumentals were finished, and I took a sort of avant-garde approach with them on this album. Thanks to the public domain, I was able to use bits and pieces of Lovecraft’s original text, and wherever necessary, I filled in the gaps while trying my best to emulate his style. I think (and hope that) most listeners who look over the lyric booklet will have a hard time differentiating between Lovecraft’s contributions and my own.
6. Where and when did you record "Cosmic Reawakening"? Are you satisfied with how it turned out?
Mordi: The recording of Cosmic Reawakening was quite spread out. I recorded the first set of rhythm guitars at home in 2013 using a pretty simple rig—just a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and an SM-57. In early 2014, I recorded the second set of rhythm guitars as well as all of the lead guitars, and then I borrowed a guitar and amp from my friend Reginald Handy to lay down all the bass tracks. Next, the drums were recorded by Rhagorthua in winter 2014 at Module Overload studios in Denver with the help of Jamie Hillyer. Interestingly, the vocals weren’t recorded until summer 2016 because over a couple years I had waited around on several different vocalists to commit to Crafteon, but in the end I decided to take over the vocals myself, and I am happy with the result. After everything was recorded, the tracks were mixed by my good friend Michael Goodrich, and finally Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recording mastered the album so that we could send it off for pressing. Overall, I am quite satisfied with the result, and so far we have received positive feedback on the sound quality and musicianship with our newly released single, “What the Moon Brings.”7. Did you get everything you wanted from it, or were there some things you wanted to do that never got to be made possible?
Mordi: I don’t think many musicians out there would testify to a recording being absolutely perfect—so yes, there are many aspects from Cosmic Reawakening that I wish I had more time to retool, but in all honesty, the process took over four years from start to finish. I couldn’t possibly have handled waiting any longer than I have already. Sometimes you just have to call a piece of art “done.”
8. When it comes down to "Cosmic Reawakening" as your debut album, how does this make you feel, what crosses your mind?
Mordi: I have released a debut album in another band before, and I certainly learned from a lot of the mistakes I made back then—elements such as the recording, mixing, mastering, pressing, promotion, image, etc. With that in mind, I will say that I feel largely confident about this debut. When I think
about possible fans encountering this album, I imagine that they will find as much enjoyment in the music as they do in the artwork and lyrical content. This debut album is certainly engineered to please current fans of Lovecraft but also designed to recruit new readers of his work, and besides, I think most fans of black metal in general will find something to love with Crafteon.
9. Can you tell us something about "Cosmic Reawakening" and the lyrical themes behind each track. What were the ideas you wanted to put across?
Mordi: As mentioned above, the entire album is based on Lovecraft’s work. Specifically, each track is a retelling of a short story taken straight from my bookshelf at home. As a whole, while the album may offer a few glimpses of “hope” and “optimism,” altogether the themes found in each track point toward Nihilism of sorts—that the human race is infinitesimal and meaningless when juxtaposed with the inconceivable magnitude of space and time in our universe. I find this philosophy to be both fear-inspiring and invigorating—it invokes a strange sense of ambivalence when one considers that human civilization isn’t much more than an insignificant anthill among the billions of planets and stars (and other beings) in the cosmos.
10. "What The Moon Brings", became a single turned video for this album, but why was this so?
Mordi: The official lyric video for “What the Moon Brings” was designed by our good friend from Salt Lake City, Austin Bentley. We are extremely impressed by his work. The production of this video was encouraged by our publicist Jon from Asher Media to promote our album release around the world. We specifically chose this track because it best represents Crafteon’s individual style, and it is brief and succinct enough for those wanting to have a quick listen. So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
11. When can fans expect to see more singles or videos off "Cosmic Reawakening"?
Mordi: According to Asher Media, we should have another single premiering around August 1st, and then the full album itself will release on August 25th worldwide.
12. Are you all supported by your relatives towards your devotion to music?
Mordi: So far, our families have been entirely supportive of our passion for playing music. Thankfully, we all have careers in addition to Crafteon, so we haven’t necessarily bet the farm on this album, but we will welcome worldwide success with open arms if it turns out that way. Our families are cheering us on and offering their full support in the meantime.
13. Thanks a lot for the interview. Speak out to your fans, supporters, critics and our readers before we wrap up!
Check out the “What the Moon Brings” lyric video: https://youtu.be/Pb7-9mleQRk
Pre-order Cosmic Reawakening on BandCamp: https://crafteon.bandcamp.com/releases
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crafteon/
TOUR DATES:
Aug 25 - Denver, CO @ Lost Lake - (CD release show) w/ Sar Isatum, Amdusias, Solarfall
Aug 26 - Cheyenne, WY @ Peterfest w/ Horde of Draugr, Plaguehammer, Wodens Wrath
Sept 3 - Fort Collins, CO @ Surfside 7 - w/ Endlight, Infinite Conscious
Sept 29 - Colorado Springs, CO @ Ancient Mariner w/ Sceptres, Oaken Throne, Tovenaar
Oct 27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Club X - w/ Principium, Envenom, Unceremonial
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