NEPENTHE returns with The Fading Promise of Tomorrow + Elegies of Loss and Doom, merging their latest EP with their 2020 debut. The band reflects on their evolving sound, thematic depth, and future direction.
1. Your
upcoming release, The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow + Elegies Of Loss
And Doom, merges your new EP with your 2020 debut. How do you feel your
sound has evolved between these two works, and what can fans expect from this
combination?
NEPENTHE:
In some sense, we view Fading Promise as a transitional work. Part of
why we paired the two EPs into one release was to show the maturation of our
sound over the past several years. We have a lot of new ideas that we are
trying to work towards with our next work, so we intended Fading Promise
to fully realize the sound we were trying to achieve on our first ep.
2. Thematically,
both of your EPs delve into themes of depression, loss, and existential
futility. How do you channel such deeply personal emotions into your music, and
what impact do you hope it has on your listeners?
KONRAD: I
write Nepenthe’s lyrics based on my emotions and personal experiences. I find
it the most natural for me to write lyrics from my own perspective, as it helps
me to channel my feelings into an artistic medium. With that being said, I am
not trying to convey a specific message to anyone, although I hope that people
can find meaning in my lyrics, and that it can have an impact on them.
3. Your
music draws philosophical inspiration from figures like Nietzsche and
Baudelaire. How do their philosophies influence your lyrics and the overall
atmosphere of NEPENTHE’s music?
KONRAD: I
think it is natural to write from experience, however, what I read can have an
influence on me, and it usually seeps into whatever I’m working on. Nietzsche’s
message of overcoming adversity through war against the self, and Baudelaire’s
decadent prose have had a great influence on me and what I write for
Nepenthe.
4. “Upon
These Unfamiliar Shores” is an epic that touches on themes of love, poison, and
solitude. Can you dive deeper into the symbolism of this track and what
inspired its creation?
KONRAD: My
hope with our work is that people can derive their own meaning in what we
write. The most I want to share is that love is a beautiful thing that can
nourish and fulfill us, however, it is also a poison which can cause great
pain.
5. NEPENTHE’s
sound blends doom, atmospheric black metal, post-metal, goth rock, and
neo-folk. How do you approach blending these genres while maintaining the
emotional and atmospheric depth of your music?
NEPENTHE:
We find it easiest to write emotionally compelling music when we write what we
know and love. We don’t usually try to write based on a specific style. This
may sound vague, but we simply let our artistic influences and personal
experiences take hold, and the music flows out in a natural way.
6. You’ve
mentioned that The Fading Promise Of Tomorrow reflects both
personal and artistic struggles. What were some of the biggest challenges the
band faced during its creation, and how did you overcome them?
NEPENTHE: A
lot of the issues that we have dealt with were centered around finding our
footing as a band. For all of us, Nepenthe was our first experience of being in
a band, so we really didn’t know what we were doing, both from an artistic and
an organizational perspective. Maybe it isn’t the most interesting answer, but
a lot of these problems were overcome simply through trial and error, and being
helped along through meeting like-minded people. Other than our professional
struggles, there have been personal experiences that have directly affected the
creation of both releases, and we do not wish to share them.
7. Your
band has often been associated with other acts like Woods of Ypres and
Panopticon. How do you feel NEPENTHE stands out within the atmospheric
blackened doom genre, and what sets your music apart?
NEPENTHE:
Our greatest shared influence as a band is Woods of Ypres, so we always feel
honored when we hear praises such as that. Artists like Panopticon and Woods
have left a huge mark on us, and we hope that our sound is reminiscent of them.
As for what sets us apart, we think that at this point, it is too early to say
how we stand out. What we can say is that we hope that with our collective
influences and passion for writing music, we will one day create something that
stands out and is remembered in our genre.
8. Looking
back on NEPENTHE’s journey since its formation in 2018, what has been the most
fulfilling part of your artistic evolution, and where do you see the band
heading in the future?
NEPENTHE:
There have been many things that have fulfilled us over the years. We love
writing music, performing, and meeting people. Nepenthe has been a vessel that
has allowed us to achieve all of this. We hope that our future plans are
consistent with what we have done so far, only at a greater scale. We want to
keep writing music, play more shows, and connect with more like-minded people.
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