KRIEG's IMPERIAL Talks About The Band's Upcoming Release

KRIEG mainman Imperial recently spoke to the U.K.'s Live 4 Metal about his life philosophy and the New Jersey-based black metal group's upcoming CD, among other topics. Several interview excerpts follow:

Live 4 Metal: The next full-length album will be "The Harmony Virus" and you are writing this as we speak. Can you tell us a bit about what direction this will take and how do you perceive it differing from "The Black House"?

Imperial: "The concept is simple, though it will be explained in essay form in the release: humanity is bound by the need for companionship and peace, yet war and conflict are the natural order of life. What binds us to the ideals of friendship, love, peace and hope? 'The Harmony Virus' is the metaphor for humanity’s need for such things and why it is a plague that has infected almost every being to some extent. Musically it will be the most depressing, experimental and nastiest KRIEG release ever, with an amazing line-up of contributors from across the world."

Live 4 Metal: This is also said to be the last album that KRIEG are going to release. Why have you decided to call it a day?

Imperial: "Because, for now, I have almost reached the goals I have set out for myself. Perhaps KRIEG could return after I have pursued my next projects to their fullest. We shall see."

Live 4 Metal: Where else do you take inspiration from? Would I be right in saying that films have a certain impact on your musical output? I could be wrong but guess that the Michele Soavi film may have influenced "The Church" EP and you certainly have sampled the directors Dellamorte Dellamore.

Imperial: "The movie 'The Church' was possibly Argento's greatest work in my eyes and completely inspired the ideas behind some of the lyrics of 'The Church' due to the wonderful ideal of a holy structure decaying from the inside, corrupting its congregation. I believe ANTAEUS covered similar context in their 'De Principii Evangelikum' LP. Film and literature are a massive inspiration, especially the 'Patrick Bateman' MCD, which is completely based on the novel/film 'American Psycho' which is the single greatest work of fiction EVER. In my doom project the main concepts are depravity and degeneration, so something like 'Trainspotting' (another brilliant novel) and 'Requiem for a Dream' would come in handy. Finally while I ramble on about films, the track 'Flesh Descending' on the upcoming NUNSLAUGHTER split 7-inch is inspired and littered with samples from the film 'Boondock Saints' which attacks the idea of morality and killing with purpose from a very interesting angle. You might notice the idea of 'Murder without the Burden of Conscience' is strongly based on that theme and the themes of 'American Psycho'. Expect the final track of this series 'Infinite Wisdom: Patrick Bateman III' to appear on the split 7-inch with Canada's LUST in the near future."

Read Imperial's entire interview with Live 4 Metal at this location.