The Eyes of Noctum

By Crazy John Kerecz

Eyes of Noctum, a dark melodic metal band from Los Angeles, whose shows could be described as walls of guitars leavened by slabs of keyboards and drums, topped by monstrous vocals, first started to materialize into our plane of existence in 2005 when Arcane (Singer/Founder) experimented in the dark arts of underground music.  Later, Arcane and former Noctum guitarist Asmodeus began working on material together that would be the ectoplasmic backbone of the band’s music.  Finally, in the summer of 2008, the Eyes of Noctum band was formed with the addition of Vardar (guitar), Templar (keyboards), Moloch (bassist), and Donner (drums).  Asmodeous shortly after left the band and was replaced by guitarist Neboran.  Almost immediately the band began conjuring their first complete album which was released in the spring of 2009.  The album, titled “Inceptum” was produced in Sweden by Fredrik Nordström (Flames, Opeth) with contributions by renowned music producer Jack Douglas (Iron Maiden, Cheap Trick, Alice Cooper, Areosmith), and consists of a caldrons mixture of  black, death, doom, industrial, Viking, gothic metal and more!

Metaphorically speaking “Eyes of Noctum” symbolizes both the stars and the universe, which philosophically translates as the guidance through darkness.  The writing took Arcane years of development and experimentation to get it to evolve into what it is today. After completing the present tour that the band is on, they will be working on their next album containing new material that represents their HYPERLINK "http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=nAh&ei=ScppSse3JciBtgfdnPGiCw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=metamorphosizing&spell=1" metamorphosizing sound.

Arcane, who’s real name is Weston Cage (son of actor Nicolas Cage), is the founding member of Eyes of Noctum.  Arcane’s previous project was Hells Disciple, an instrumental solo project.  After exploring literature, philosophy, mythology and theatre, Hells Disciple was put on hold.  Then dedicating some time to poetry, creative writing, and developing his own ideology, Arcane was pulled back by his musical passion. Eyes of Noctum is a vehicle that enables him to tell his stories in a metaphoric tongue set to metal. 

I got to briefly speak with Arcane and Vardar while they were on their 2009 tour:

Crazy John:  Tell me a little about the band.  How long have you guys been together?

Arcane:  We have been together for a little over a year now.  Basically, we just started through auditions and it started to snowball; through mutual friendships we just kind of became more solidified and became a band after that.

Crazy John:  What can you tell us about your music?

Arcane:  We just try to be very diverse and try to do something different.  We don’t want to reiterate something that’s already been done before, or recapitulate something that someone’s already created.  We are just trying to do something straight from our hearts that is very true!  We still have our influences, but we don’t like to over-saturate our music that we generate through different songs.

Vardar:   I think I am 100% with him actually.

 

Crazy John:  Who are your influences?

Arcane:  Actually, the first band I really got into was Rammstein.  Then after that System of a Down, and then I started to get into Emperor.  From there, I just completely got immersed in black metal as opposed to just listening to it; I wanted to participate and become a wolf in that horde.  I think it’s good to have dynamic inspirations as you go along and not to just stick to the same thing.  And as you learn and absorb things, eventually you output it into your music. 

Vardar:  Well said.

Crazy John:  Would you define your music as Black Metal or Dark Metal?

Arcane:  We are just a blackened melodic metal - a darkened metal; we have so many different varieties and I think we do very diverse songs.  I don’t know how to classify or define us except for just pure honest music.

Crazy John:  So far you have one CD out, right?

Arcane:  Yes, it’s called Inceptum, and it is our first CD.  When we get back from this tour we are going to start working on new material.

Crazy John:  If people wanted to find out more about you guys, do you have a website or a myspace page?

Vardar:  Yes, Eyesofnoctumofficial.com, or you can just go to our myspace and see our page there which is myspace.com/eyesofnoctumofficial.

Crazy John:  You are on tour right now, are there any interesting shows coming up that you might want to mention?

Arcane:  Of course, I always have had an affinity for Louisiana and the South!  I am very, very excited to play there; I just love the atmosphere and the energy that’s swarming around that state.  It’s just amazing!

Crazy John:  Actually, talking about Louisiana, I had a friend that went down there with a guitar and just played on the streets; he made more money than most make at clubs just playing on the streets daily because the people enjoy music so much down there - it must be phenomenal.

Arcane:  Yes, I love that about that culture 'cause they respect music for what it is - there is no vanity tied to it.  That is something that I really despise and have a lot of animosity for is those little boy bands trying to play metal just to show off.  I really cannot stand bands that play for shock value or exhibitionism.

Crazy John:  Thanks for letting me get an interview with you guys.  Hopefully people will check out your websites, buy your CD, and come to see one of your shows.  I look forward to hearing your next CD. 

Arcane:   Thank you very much.

If you want to join the Eyes of Noctum’s mailing list for the most up-to-date news and tour dates, visit HYPERLINK "http://www.eyesofnoctumofficial.com" www.eyesofnoctumofficial.com and sign up.  To contact the band, e-mail HYPERLINK "mailto:eyesofnoctum@gmail.com" eyesofnoctum@gmail.com