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LH: Hails! How are things going at the moment? Could you give a brief introduction to the band?
Engwar: Of course! A.M. (Drums and vocals) and I (Vocals, guitar, bass, piano) created Vehementer Nos in 2000. We worked on the 5 songs that make this album between 2000 and 2005 to finally record them from summer 2005 to summer 2006. We rapidly signed on Osmose productions to release the album early 2007.
LH: You released your debut album not so long ago which you were recording since 2005. Would you say that there is anything about the album you wish you had done better, or differently, or are you 100% happy with the finished product? Do you feel you were able to produce better results by taking that little bit longer with the process rather than rushing to complete the record?
Engwar: Actually, as I said above, we started to write the music 5 years ago so we were pretty confident about the material we had. It’s the recording that we started in 2005 and it took us an entire year to put down to tape all the elements that make our sound.
I’m 100% satisfied with this album, specially compared to the means we had to record it. I still like it and I’m proud to have managed to do this album by our own.
LH: How did you gain the interest of Osmose Productions, and did you have much other record label interest? What were the main factors for you in deciding to sign with Osmose?
Engwar: Osmose replied very quickly to the promo CD we sent them. They were very enthusiastic about the album and as it’s a very respected and honest label, we quickly decided to sign with them. Now that I see the promotion work they’ve done, I’m totally convinced that it’s the best label possible for us.
LH: You have a classical quartet on your debut album. What inspired you to incorporate this into your music, rather than simply using samples as some bands do. Also, is this something you plan to continue using on future albums?
Engwar: We wanted the album to sound 100% organic (we didn’t use any Trig on the drums for example) and we knew the only way to achieve this result was to have only real instruments. It was complicated to organise but in the end it was worth the efforts we put into it.
This classical element is part of our sound and we’ll surely use them on the next albums. But to be honest, Id like to take it one step further, for example using trumpets and horns…
LH: I understand that your lyrics are all sung in French. Do you have any opinion on bands that choose to sing in English rather than in their native tongue? Do you see a need for bands to sing in English perhaps to make their music more “accessible”?
Engwar: Yes, most bands sing in English to try to catch a larger audience but I’m not sure it works this way. I’ve had many feedbacks of people liking the fact that we sing in French even if they don’t understand the lyrics. It’s my case as well, I like to listen to band that sing in their mother tongue, whatever it is. And I think that writing lyrics in your mother tongue is much more challenging than writing in English, unless you are an English literature graduate which most metal lyricists aren’t, are they?
LH: The name, “Vehementer Nos” refers to a papal encyclical circulated in 1905. Could you tell us a little bit about what this is, and also what made you use this as your band name.
Engwar: You’re absolutely right, Vehementer Nos is the name of an encyclical that condemned the French Separation of Church and State law in 1905. This law was a new starting point for us as a country and, strangely enough, when I heard of this encyclical back in 2001, I was already working on the lyrical concept of the album which starting point is the fact that we’ve voluntarily let god abandoned us. Such a strange coincidence made it obvious for us to call the album Vehementer Nos. And when we discovered that Vehementer Nos means our struggle, our passion, what we vehemently believe in (so many terms that describe our relation with our music) it became obvious that we should name both the album and the band Vehementer Nos.
LH: It’s just the two of you in the band; Engwar on guitar, bass, vocals and piano, A.M. on drums and vocals. Would you consider bringing in extra musicians so that you could play live? Or do you intend to keep Vehementer Nos solely as a recording project?
Engwar: No, for the moment we want to keep it as a recording project. It would be very complicated to get all the musicians to form a live line-up and for the moment, we don’t have the time nor the means to do it.
LH: Have you begun work on your second album yet? Can you give us any indication of what the next album will be like and when it will be complete?
Engwar: I’ve already started to work on a few ideas but nothing very serious yet so I can’t tell you where it’s going but We want to take Vehementer Nos one step further. We’ve spent 6 years defining our style so there will be no drastic changes but we want it to be more extreme. Faster, more strangely orchestrated, sadder but more powerful… wait and see.
LH: That’s all the questions I have for you for now. I’d just like to thank you for doing this interview, and ask if you have any final words to say to anyone reading this?
Engwar: Thank you very much for the interview. If some of you are interested in getting the vinyl edition of the album, send me an email (engwar@hotmail.fr), we need more pre-orders to put it to print so you can help us. Thanks again, bye.
 | Vehementer Nos is available now on Osmose Productions. Resources: |
Interviewed by Luci Herbert