Interview by: Nkro
With the release of KRV`s latest offering "Ograma" released this month I sat down with Ban Krvnik to discuss the album, band news
and the Bosnian Black Metal scene. This is what he had to say...
Hello KRV!! First off, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. What is presently going on with KRV? What new things
can we expect from you?
Slava! Well, we have some things going on now, and one of them is that we signed to NHR Records. Also, we are in preparations for
tours in march and april.
Since this is your first interview with Voices from the Underground, could you please provide us a brief history of the band up to now?
Well, the band was formed in 2003. by long time musicians with the intention to play some real metal mainly influenced by first two
albums of Bombarder and some early works of Darkthrone...In 2005. we signed to a Walk Records and released our first album "Silna
volja srebra". A lot of gigs followed and in 2007 we renewed our deal with WR and released the second full lenght "Ukleta Zemljo".
Very possitive reviews from all over the world started to pour in which resulted with our first album being sold out within less than a
year. In 2007 we also released a tape EP for South American label Medieval Music Productions and also our second album was released
on tape by Portuguese label Sword Productions. In 2008, after signing a contract with German label NON-Salvation, we released our
third album "Ponor". Released as a gatefold 12" vinyl and also released on tape by Turkish BM label Spiritual WarArt Productions. 2008
saw the release of our first DVD entitled "Kroz krvavo nebo" for Walk r. again and in august same year we released a split CD with our
brothers from Spain, Foscor. Current line up is: Ban Krvnik - guitars, vox; Kurvar - drums; Vihor - guitars and Kralj Teror - bass
Not much is known about the "scene" (I hate to use that word) in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Please share with us what its like to be a
Black Metal outfit from your country and who should we look out for?
There is no black metal scene in Bosnia, there are couple of bands but the two i would mention is the oldest Bosnian black metal band
Silent Kingdom and the youngsters Odar. The rest is more or less unsignificant.
You have recently released a split release with the Spanish Black Metal horde Foscor entitled The Burial's Flavours. How did this release
see the light? And how has the response been so far?
The CD was released by Diachell Music from Poland which is led by two really cool people, Olena and Xander, who are really dedicated
to music and we had a great cooperation with them, we still do though. Everything went smooth as we signed a deal, delivered the
master cd and they released it on the date it was agreed. As far as i know the response was very good and we are quite satisfied
with that. I think that Diachell Music did a great job on promoting this release so we are still receiving a positive feedback. On the
other hand i would like to take this oportunity to hail our brothers from Spain, Foscor, especially the guy behind the vocals, Fiar! They
did amazing piece of music for this split and I'm really thankful for that. We contributed to this release with our EP of four tracks,
called "Kroz polja Slavije" and it's our best effort till now. We are more than satisfied with the outcome, music, lyrics and the
production.
Are all your lyrics in your native language? What do you normally write, and sing about?
Yes, we sing in southern Slavic languages mainly, but we also had some songs in English. The concept and the story behind our music
is too specific to be sang in any other language except in Slavic. Main lyrical themes are our Slavic history and sometimes about the
political situation in Bosnia. We just try to point out the problems of todays Bosnia and to compare it with the Pre-Otoman era. I think
everything was better than, political wise.
From listening to your previous recordings and releases your Black Metal vision is very traditional - Should our readers expect anything
different on your coming release through NHR Records?
Nope, there will be no changes in music that we play...Black Metal till the end! There is no compromise! What people who follow our
work should expect is better songs and maybe some better production, and that's it. I can promise that this album will be heavy as
hell with slow and fast tempos changing...Exclusively I will announce the title of the new album, "Ograma"....More info about the
meaning and the story behind will follow soon on the official pages of NHR Records and KRV.
You also recently toured the Balkan regions of Europe, co-headlining with the Norwegian Black Metal horde Koldbrann. What was that
like?
Yeah, we toured with those truly great guys and we are very thankful to the guy of Uriel Productions, Boris Mihacevic who invited us
on this tour. It was great to play with Koldbrann and not only that their music is true to the bone but they are great persons and we
stayed in more than good relationship with them. Mannevond was a guest vocalist on our "Ponor" album with song "Bundet Til
Masten" which became a underground hit.
Now that you have toured with Koldbrann, are there any plans of possibly working together on projects, contributing material, and or
music to each others future releases? Maybe a split release?
Heh, we do have intentions to cooperate with them in the future...I will take this opportunity to announce that Mannevond will sing
one song on our next album and I will be a guest on one song on their upcoming 7" EP which will be released by Poland based label
Agonia records. We talked about that split release earlier and it will definately happen in the future.
Do you have any touring plans in the immediate future? Be it domestic or internationally?
We are planning to tour Croatia and Slovenia in march and Czech Republic in april and may this year. We are waiting for dates to be
confirmed and than we'll publish them on our official website www.krvpropaganda.com
Are you or any of the other members of KRV involved in any side projects? If so, who?
We are all active in other bands. Kurvar plays drums in Sarajevo based black metal outfit Odar, they released their first album recently
on Walk Records. Me, Vihor and Kralj Teror are playing in oldest Bosnian BM act Silent Kingdom with which we released three studio
albums and three demos. Latest album was released by Czech label Zero Budget Productions and Walk Records, both on CD and vinyl.
What are the last Black Metal albums that have made an impression on you personally?
Hard to tell, but i think that Nachtmystium's - Assassins - Black Meddle, Pt. 1 is something really inspiring. Dark and cold music. I love
that album.
To conclude, I would like to thank you again for this interview and if you have anything else you would like to add please feel free!
Good luck with all your future endeavors!
Thank you for this interview and I wish all the best in your future work! Ban Krvnik
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/krvpropaganda
and the Bosnian Black Metal scene. This is what he had to say...
Hello KRV!! First off, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. What is presently going on with KRV? What new things
can we expect from you?
Slava! Well, we have some things going on now, and one of them is that we signed to NHR Records. Also, we are in preparations for
tours in march and april.
Since this is your first interview with Voices from the Underground, could you please provide us a brief history of the band up to now?
Well, the band was formed in 2003. by long time musicians with the intention to play some real metal mainly influenced by first two
albums of Bombarder and some early works of Darkthrone...In 2005. we signed to a Walk Records and released our first album "Silna
volja srebra". A lot of gigs followed and in 2007 we renewed our deal with WR and released the second full lenght "Ukleta Zemljo".
Very possitive reviews from all over the world started to pour in which resulted with our first album being sold out within less than a
year. In 2007 we also released a tape EP for South American label Medieval Music Productions and also our second album was released
on tape by Portuguese label Sword Productions. In 2008, after signing a contract with German label NON-Salvation, we released our
third album "Ponor". Released as a gatefold 12" vinyl and also released on tape by Turkish BM label Spiritual WarArt Productions. 2008
saw the release of our first DVD entitled "Kroz krvavo nebo" for Walk r. again and in august same year we released a split CD with our
brothers from Spain, Foscor. Current line up is: Ban Krvnik - guitars, vox; Kurvar - drums; Vihor - guitars and Kralj Teror - bass
Not much is known about the "scene" (I hate to use that word) in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Please share with us what its like to be a
Black Metal outfit from your country and who should we look out for?
There is no black metal scene in Bosnia, there are couple of bands but the two i would mention is the oldest Bosnian black metal band
Silent Kingdom and the youngsters Odar. The rest is more or less unsignificant.
You have recently released a split release with the Spanish Black Metal horde Foscor entitled The Burial's Flavours. How did this release
see the light? And how has the response been so far?
The CD was released by Diachell Music from Poland which is led by two really cool people, Olena and Xander, who are really dedicated
to music and we had a great cooperation with them, we still do though. Everything went smooth as we signed a deal, delivered the
master cd and they released it on the date it was agreed. As far as i know the response was very good and we are quite satisfied
with that. I think that Diachell Music did a great job on promoting this release so we are still receiving a positive feedback. On the
other hand i would like to take this oportunity to hail our brothers from Spain, Foscor, especially the guy behind the vocals, Fiar! They
did amazing piece of music for this split and I'm really thankful for that. We contributed to this release with our EP of four tracks,
called "Kroz polja Slavije" and it's our best effort till now. We are more than satisfied with the outcome, music, lyrics and the
production.
Are all your lyrics in your native language? What do you normally write, and sing about?
Yes, we sing in southern Slavic languages mainly, but we also had some songs in English. The concept and the story behind our music
is too specific to be sang in any other language except in Slavic. Main lyrical themes are our Slavic history and sometimes about the
political situation in Bosnia. We just try to point out the problems of todays Bosnia and to compare it with the Pre-Otoman era. I think
everything was better than, political wise.
From listening to your previous recordings and releases your Black Metal vision is very traditional - Should our readers expect anything
different on your coming release through NHR Records?
Nope, there will be no changes in music that we play...Black Metal till the end! There is no compromise! What people who follow our
work should expect is better songs and maybe some better production, and that's it. I can promise that this album will be heavy as
hell with slow and fast tempos changing...Exclusively I will announce the title of the new album, "Ograma"....More info about the
meaning and the story behind will follow soon on the official pages of NHR Records and KRV.
You also recently toured the Balkan regions of Europe, co-headlining with the Norwegian Black Metal horde Koldbrann. What was that
like?
Yeah, we toured with those truly great guys and we are very thankful to the guy of Uriel Productions, Boris Mihacevic who invited us
on this tour. It was great to play with Koldbrann and not only that their music is true to the bone but they are great persons and we
stayed in more than good relationship with them. Mannevond was a guest vocalist on our "Ponor" album with song "Bundet Til
Masten" which became a underground hit.
Now that you have toured with Koldbrann, are there any plans of possibly working together on projects, contributing material, and or
music to each others future releases? Maybe a split release?
Heh, we do have intentions to cooperate with them in the future...I will take this opportunity to announce that Mannevond will sing
one song on our next album and I will be a guest on one song on their upcoming 7" EP which will be released by Poland based label
Agonia records. We talked about that split release earlier and it will definately happen in the future.
Do you have any touring plans in the immediate future? Be it domestic or internationally?
We are planning to tour Croatia and Slovenia in march and Czech Republic in april and may this year. We are waiting for dates to be
confirmed and than we'll publish them on our official website www.krvpropaganda.com
Are you or any of the other members of KRV involved in any side projects? If so, who?
We are all active in other bands. Kurvar plays drums in Sarajevo based black metal outfit Odar, they released their first album recently
on Walk Records. Me, Vihor and Kralj Teror are playing in oldest Bosnian BM act Silent Kingdom with which we released three studio
albums and three demos. Latest album was released by Czech label Zero Budget Productions and Walk Records, both on CD and vinyl.
What are the last Black Metal albums that have made an impression on you personally?
Hard to tell, but i think that Nachtmystium's - Assassins - Black Meddle, Pt. 1 is something really inspiring. Dark and cold music. I love
that album.
To conclude, I would like to thank you again for this interview and if you have anything else you would like to add please feel free!
Good luck with all your future endeavors!
Thank you for this interview and I wish all the best in your future work! Ban Krvnik
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/krvpropaganda
