Interview с Cavus : DARKSIDE.ru

llo, W. Could you please introduce yourself and your band to our audience?

I am W, the vocalist of Cavus, which is a Black Metal band from Porvoo, Finland. It was started sometimes around early 2008 by our guitarist J.K. and our Drummer T.T.T. as outlet for nightly perversions and intoxications but soon grew to be an entire force of its own. Now the band consists of me on vocals, J.K. and B.P. on guitars, A.R.G. on bass and T.T.T. on artillery.

How did the band come about? Where did you meet in the first place? How long are you already working together?

Well our guitarists and our drummer have known each other for over a decade and played in various projects with each other too, but Cavus is still a fairly different concept and band compared to all the previous work. We are all originally from the same town so you can just say that the stench brought in the flies, so to speak. J.K. and T.T.T. recorded some tapes and when the rest of us heard the songs things just added up. Those first recorded songs then turned into our first EP which then sold out pretty quickly in 2009.

How would you describe Cavus music?

It would be best described as filthy oldschool Black Metal. Our sound is somewhat bass heavy compared to many other bands in the scene and our material is an unholy marriage between dirty grooves and blistering blastbeats.

How did you come up with the band name?

We did not have any

name when we started but our bass player always referred our rehearsals to as "caving". As in "let's go caving" or "let's go to the cave". That phrase started to live its own life in a way and then we thought that Cavus would be a suiting name for the band, since it's the original word from where the English word "cave" comes from.

You have just released your debut record Fester and Putrefy. Can you tell us something about the production of the record, where did you record it and so on?

We actually constructed our own recording studio in a old building that has been abandoned for some time, since the ground got contaminated by cyanide and other toxins. It's also been used for some of our members rehearsal place for some years. We wanted a really unpolished and decaying sound for the album so we used 8-track recorders and stuff like that instead of the normal digital ProTools approach. The drums are actually recorded with one take, from the first song of the album to the last song, without any editing or cutting done afterwards. We also used old Soviet-made tube amps for the guitars like Novik, Sovtek and Spetl. We have been using them from day one and they are superb, with all the old MiG-tubes inside and whatnot, glowing and hissing in the dark. That combined with baritone guitars and a low tuned bass made the end result quite unique.

In Cavus, who writes the music/lyrics or is everyone in the band involved?

So far most of the ba

sic song structures are done by J.K and our drummer and then all the other members contribute until the song is considered to be done. I write all of the lyrics and so I'm in charge of the "philosophical" side of the music and imagery in that sense.

What song are you most proud of and why?

It varies from person to person. Our drummer for instance likes the fastest songs like "Scorched Flesh & Ravaged Souls", which also features a guitar solo from Aura Noir / ex-Mayhem Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen. It is a really brutal and fast song so it gives him a good workout behind the drumkit. I personally enjoy the slower more grooving stuff since it gives me more liberty as a vocalist to truly grasp the feeling and essence of the music.

Do you think it’s harder for a new band to establish itself here in Scandinavia which has been the womb spitting out numerous black-metal twin-bands?

That depends totally to what you compare with and what kind of music you play. Scandinavia has a very well connected and healthy music business so coming from here might also have many advantages if you know the right people. There is of course a lot of competition in that sense too, but the key is simply to stand out from the masses and find your own thing. We don't really think of these things, we just do what we do and see where it takes us. We don't have any business plans and we are not doing this for any fans, Black Metal is not about success and Cavus is no

t a company. It's a lifestyle.

What is your dream, where does your motivation come from?

Everything comes from within, our music is something that streams out of us naturally. There are countless of BM bands with no balls what so ever, recording whiny shit in their bedrooms and hoping to get enough courage from the devil to kill themselves. Cavus is the opposite of that, standing for unlimited power from the one unknown. Our motivation is to unify the master and the servant, to become one with the flame, the antimatter, the adversary and those dark holes of the universe itself.

What was the strangest place you have ever played at?

We have been able to choose the places we want to play pretty good this far, so the strangest place would be our rehersaplace with it's moldy walls, stench of rotting wood and smoke. Our first gig was at a small bar that was not really built for gigs and we had a 80's rock band as supporting us. The crowd didn't really know what to expect so when we started to play they went berzerk and had these weird mosh-pits and everything while not even beeing all into metal. That was quite strange.

Who are your musical idols? Who inspired your playing, singing?

Well again, we all have our own personal inspirations depending on the position in the band. Our influences lay mainly in stuff like older Gorgoroth and Mayhem but you can pick up everything from Ufomammut to Darkthrone or Deat

hspell Omega to Motörhead. I ended up as doing vocals after playing instruments all my life, guitar, drums, piano etc. I always knew I had a good throat for this but I've never had a chance to use it before Cavus. It's just one part of the artistic outlet.

What do you do when you’re not in the band?

Since making music in an extreme subgenre cannot really be called economically profitable, most of us have jobs on the side. I personally also study arts and culture while not trying to create wormholes in space through meditation. What we do in our personal lives does not really affect our music in any way so it does not really matter.

Do you have other musical projects besides Cavus going on?

J.K. and B.P. have a kind of blackened death metal band together and we all have our own projects on the side. I'm doing some vocals here and there and planning some own stuff too, a little more on the experimental side. Cavus still takes up most of our time and is hence the primary band.

What do like/hate about being a musician?

The best part for me is to create art and be myself to the fullest. When you stream through your art it is like creating life, you truly are a god of your own universe. Relentless touring can then a downside, especially if you're violent hermetical drunks like most of us. Cavus is not really a touring friendly band in many ways.

What was the most exciting/disappointing moment for the band so far?

When we got contracted as the supporting band for Mayhem's 25th Anniversary Tour with fellow Finnish Black Metalers Behexen was in many ways a great moment. I don't feel like that really needs an explanation if you are at all in to this music genre. Also of course moments like signing the record contract and stuff like that stands out. The worst things would include intoxicated rampages during or after shows that always destroys things we have worked for, but that's just the way it is. We are extreme individuals and when you put many of these in one place, it doesn't always end up as a party. You can't really blame anyone either since this is very much a force of its own, going its own way.

With which band would you like to go on tour?

As stated above, the gigs with Mayhem have been something we were really enjoyed doing. In a few days we are off for a European tour supporting Gorgoroth a couple of days ago, so we will be heading out on that in the end of November. As long as we get along and work with the other bands it doesn't really matter. Immortal could maybe really be something, as well as Marduk or maybe Watain. Then there's alot of other groups like Craft, Avsky, Sarkom or Taake that could work out brilliantly aswell, but time will tell.

What would be "the band´s worst nightmare"?

If J.K. would kill another member of the band while we are on tour. That's at least the only thing we are afraid of.

What are your plans for the year 2011?

We are negotiating for some domestic tours at the moment that would take place during the winter, together with someone off shows here and there. Spring will bring the festival season so we'll see what will be possible. Other than that we are mostly concentrating on promoting the new album while working on the next one. Cavus is a endless journey for riddles without answers and the absolute without reality. We just chase the dragon and pick up what we find on the way.

Victoria Maksimovich
20 авг 2011 the End

Cavus

The new generation of Scandinavian Black Metal