If you love symphonic black metal, you should definitely listen to the Russian band SINFUL. Their singer and guitarist Taus answered a few questions about the band, its past members and music in general.
Gravenkiss: Hello from Obscuro! SINFUL is a symphonic black metal band and it reminds me of bands such as Dimmu Borgir and Behemoth. Which bands inspired you most?
Taus: Hello! The bands which inspire us mostly play black and death metal, such as Rotting Christ, Hypocrisy, Limbonic Art, Hate, Crionics, Aeternus, Satyricon. I personally like industrial metal as well, Fear Factory for example.
G: Your band name SINFUL evokes lots of different ideas. Who´s the author of the name and who´s the most sinful person in the band?:)
Taus: I decided to name the band SINFUL circa 1999-2000. “For all have sinned”! Well, joking aside, we chose such a name because we don’t fear to be who we are – sinners. We don’t try to hide this state from the religious. Every man is free to choose his way in life just like to be independent of any religion or ideology he doesn’t approve.
G: Your last full-length album The XIII-th Apostle was released in 2011. Are you currently working on some new material?
Taus: Yes, we’re working on our new full-length album.
G: Your cover version of Dimmu Borgir´s Sorgens Kammer Del II. sounds really good. I also found your cover version of Slayer´s Disciple and Behemoth´s Ov Fire And the Void. Are there any more that you´ve made?
Taus: “Sorgens Kammer Del II” of Dimmu Borgir is a special track for us, so we decided to record it at the studio. We do like playing cover versions at our shows. In the very beginning of our career we also played cover versions of Katatonia (from their album “Brave Murder Day”) and Death (from the album “Symbolic”), a couple of years ago – Behemoth’s “Conquer All”. Our latest cover version is Dimmu Borgir’s “The Serpentine Offering”.
G: Some of your lyrics are written in Russian language. Do you prefer Russian or English in your lyrics? Can you tell me more about your lyrical themes?
Taus: Originally all the lyrics are written in Russian, since we’re from Russia and it’s easier for us to state our views in native language. But when it came to “The XIIIth Apostle”, we decided to make two versions of the album with Russian and English lyrics. The album has concept and I wanted people from other countries to understand it, so we translated the lyrics to the international language №1. As for the lyrics themes, this album speaks about the existing thirteenth apostle, who, unlike other apostles, had a different mindset of this world and its laws.
G: The video to the song Forbidden Fruit was really artistic. Who came up with the concept for this video and how long did the production take?
Taus: Thanks! The concept came up from SINFUL, but of course we needed a shooting team to organize everything, make decorations and edit the video in the end. Shooting crew of Polish studio Grupa 13 made it perfectly! Yet the editing needed a couple of months, the shooting process itself took only one day.
G: Mortifer was also a temporary member of your band. In 2013 he tragically died during the tour with Polish band Hate. What sort of input did he have in your music?
Taus: Mortifer played with SINFUL on Metal Spirit Resurrection tour vol.8 which took place in Poland in February 2012. During that tour we also shot a music video for our song “Forbidden Fruit”, where Mortifer appeared together with other band members. Mortifer and I first met in 2007 when I organized the previous Metal Spirit Resurrection tour for his main band Hate. We had good, friendly relationship. It´s too bad that such a talented guy left extreme stage…
G: Do you still cooperate with Elvira Alchemida of Blackthorn?
Taus: Elvira left the band a few years ago, she’s focused on her band Blackthorn at the moment.
G: These days only a few people go to metal concerts of local bands in the Czech Republic. What´s the situation like in Russia?
Taus: Same here in Russia. I think the first reason is too many gigs nowadays, the second one is the economic crisis, which makes metalheads expend their money rather on notorious bands like Slayer, Megadeth, Behemoth, Slipknot than on local bands.
G: Where can we see you live in the near future? Are you planning to play at festivals in Central and Western Europe?
Taus: Since we’re busy working on the new album, we don’t plan any gigs in the near future.
G: Do you have a final message for our readers?
Taus: Dear readers! Support your favorite bands, buy their CDs, have a blast at their shows! You are the most precious thing to us musicians!
G: Thank you for your time:)
Taus: Thank you for your interest in SINFUL! Come visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sinfulblack
Photos: band´s archive
