Beastbane interview
Hello! You call Beastbane “the soundtrack of vampiric dreams”. Where did that come from? Is there an actual story behind the phrase, or did it simply fit the music?
Nik: There's no real story behind it, just me saying crazy things as usual.
Beastbane only started in 2025. Was the band really born in 2025, or had some of these songs, ideas or even the whole concept been sitting around for years before you finally put the name Beastbane on it?
Nik: The songs and ideas existed before Beastbane was officially formed. Some riffs and early versions of the songs on The Land Beyond the Forest were written as early as 2020. That was around the time my musical tastes started to expand. I previously had a black/death metal project, and by 2020 I knew that I wanted to start exploring other genres.
The Land Beyond the Forest sounds like a title that should belong to some forgotten 80s fantasy film. What is actually beyond that forest?
Nik: Good question, I don't really know. Probably just more forest, and some castles here and there.
You mention doom, heavy and symphonic metal. That's quite a mixture. Which of those sides usually appears first when you start writing a song?
Nik: Usually either the doom or heavy metal elements. Most of the songs on the album started with a guitar riff, however I usually let the guitars take the back seat and let the keyboard or vocal melody take over on some parts.
And which one tends to cause the most trouble?
Nik: Definitely the symphonic parts since I don't really know any music theory or play keyboard. Many of the keyboard parts we have were originally written on guitar, for example the main keyboard melody on The Howling Moon was written on guitar.
There's obviously a lot of old-school imagery here - vampires, forests, darkness, steel, heroism. Did you ever worry about going too far with that stuff and ending up in fantasy-metal cliché territory?
Nik: Not really, I love when bands are over the top.
On the other hand, maybe you don't give a shit about that. Are you deliberately embracing some of those clichés?
Nik: We're definitely embracing it. It's more fun to not take yourself too seriously.
What kind of vampire are we talking about here? The aristocratic gothic type, the ugly blood-drinking monster, something from folklore, or your own version?
Nik: More of the aristocratic gothic type, I'm a huge fan of Vampire Hunter D and Alucard from Castlevania, both very aristocratic.
How much of The Land Beyond the Forest is actually a story? Can you listen to the record from beginning to end and follow something happening, or is it more a collection of scenes and images?
Nik: It's more a collection with the overall theme being the same (nature, folklore, slaying beasts).
The phrase “a time and place long gone” caught my attention. What exactly is gone? Are you talking about a real historical period, an imaginary one, or simply a certain feeling that you think has disappeared?
Nik: I usually write music that's based in medieval times, but also sub-consciously I think it refers to my own childhood, I'm a very nostalgic person, most of the music and movies I like are from before the 2000s. So perhaps it's referring to both a place and a feeling.
Was the music written first and the story built around it, or did you already know what kind of world you wanted to create before the songs existed?
Nik: I knew what I wanted before I started writing. I like having the subject first because it will determine how the songs come out.
What was the first proper Beastbane song? I'm curious what the starting point sounded like compared with the finished album.
Nik: The Land Beyond the Forest was either the first or one of the first songs written. That song is inspired by Dracula, particularly the parts where Jonathan Harker travels through Transylvania to meet Dracula. I also watched Excalibur (1981) around that time, so I think I combined the stories in some way. Basically from that, the album had the whole sword and sorcery/adventure theme, traveling to unknown lands to fight evil.
And what was the last thing you changed on the record before you finally said, “fuck it, that's it”?
Nik: The vocals for sure. I had the hardest time getting the vocals to sound decent (at least I hope they sound decent).
Do you see The Land Beyond the Forest primarily as a metal album with a fantasy story attached to it, or as a story that happens to be told through metal?
Nik: Probably more as a metal album with a story attached to it since the story isn't really coherent. Maybe I would think otherwise if it were a concept album with a very particular story.
There's a huge difference between sounding dark and actually writing a dark riff. What makes a Beastbane riff sound like Beastbane?
Nik: Whatever I think sounds good while jamming on guitar, it's hard to explain. I tend to like simpler riffs. I do like riffs that break music theory rules, or that don't quite make sense but in a good way. I believe Tom Warrior from Celtic Frost has talked before about how he doesn't think about music theory or being super technical when playing, and he's written some of the best riffs known to man.
The symphonic side interests me because it can either add something massive to a song or completely bury the guitars. How did you decide where to stop?
Nik: Usually it depends on the riff, if there's a good riff I usually don't add keyboards. Also I don't add many symphonic layers, there's usually only one keyboard track going at a time. Ironically I found things sound bigger with less.
Who are the bands you listened to while making this? Not the obligatory five “influences” you'd put in a press release - what records were actually on your stereo?
Nik: Bathory (viking era mostly), Type O Negative, Tribulation, Opeth (earlier albums), and Theatre of Tragedy.
And was there anything you deliberately avoided listening to because you didn't want Beastbane turning into a copy of it?
Nik: No, never really thought about that.
The album is called The Land Beyond the Forest. If there were no vocals, lyrics or artwork at all, would the music itself still tell you where that place is?
Nik: I wrote those songs with the subject in mind beforehand, so I would sure hope so! I think the acoustic guitars in particular and the keyboards would help people visualize it.
You describe Beastbane as being about heroism, darkness and steel. Which of those three words is the most important one?
Nik: Heroism. As stated earlier, I'm a fan of Vampire Hunter D and Castlevania. Both of which feature a hero fighting evil, which is a common theme throughout the album.
Now let's turn the whole thing around. What is the biggest weakness of The Land Beyond the Forest? If you listen to it today, is there something you already wish you'd done differently?
Nik: Some of the vocal parts for sure.
You're a very new band, so there's no long Beastbane history yet. What do you want people to remember about this first record five years from now?
Nik: I wrote The Land Beyond the Forest with no intention of fitting in with a particular genre or audience. It's liberating to just write what you want and to not hold yourself back. So I want people to remember that, if that makes sense.
If Beastbane really is the soundtrack to a vampiric dream, what happens when the dream ends?
Nik: I never thought about that.
