INTERVIEW RÄUM

"In fact, we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We constantly experience an eternal movement of rise and fall, as a person, as a species and as a civilization."

At the Dark Dungeon Festival in the medieval castle in idyllic Anthisnes, the first band to play on the black metal evening was Räum from Liège, which left the hungry crowd satisfied and certainly found more than a few new fans. One more reason to ask the ambitious band (review of their debut album see here ) a few questions.

Please introduce the band. Since when Räum exists, where do you come from and how did you find each other? In which other bands did you play before or are you currently still active?

In fact, all the band members knew each other for years. We have all played in local scene bands. Xa (drums), Oli (singing) and Dina (guitar) played in a hardcore band called Face the Truth. Geoff (guitar) and Xa (drums) played in a sludge band called Kiss the Goat. So, we knew what the other guys were worth as musicians. Moreover, we had been friends for years and we were excited to come together around a musical project. Oli is still currently playing in Down To Dust (post hardcore) and Kocaze (post rock).

What was your impression of the Dark Dungeon Festival in Anthisnes? I think you were very well received, especially for the position as opening act. The audience was more traditional, but I perceived you as a pure black metal act live as well. Are people sometimes surprised because of your appearance, when such a black metal inferno breaks loose from the stage?

It was a awesome gig and place for us. A sold out show in a castle with Enthroned and Mightiest, you can’t ask for much better. We surely do not dress and behave like the traditional black metal bands but it’s also what makes Räum different and we plan on keep things that way, it’s going to disturb some people but so far the overall feedback is really positive.

Live you have been quite active. What bands, what kind of bands have you shared the stage with so far? How were the reactions? What are your favorite live settings, single concerts, festivals?

The bands we have played with are pretty diverse : from opening for Wiegedood to touring with the French blackened hardcore band Maussade to be on a festival bill with Dödsrit and Groza. We actually like to be on small venues where we are close to the crow and are able to feel the heat and the sweat. But playing in festivals or bigger venues often means playing in front of more people so there is also an obvious advantage to that. We take it all!

Coming to the stylistics, you are already a relatively straight black metal band, I think. The "post" influences are relatively small. Sometimes I even felt reminded of Marduk, and as far as the hypnotic-repetitive parts are concerned, of the Cologne band Ultha. Do you know the latter band? How would you describe your music and the connected feelings?

We absolutely know Ultha, it’s a band we like and we have already been mentioning them in interviews when being asked some influences for Räum. Regarding our music, intensity is the main word. Whether it’s in the length of the powerful riffs or in the quitter parts, we like things to be tense and we tend to emphasis this with our stage presence to bring the full package to the audience.

What does the word "Räum" mean? In German "Raum" is a room, "Räume" is the plural.

The definition of Räum is multiple, it is both a term that brings together the notions of emptiness, absence and chaos. It's also a demon that sows destruction and engenders human alienation. Räum is the reality joining the myth! At the crossroads are our deepest fears and unacknowledged hopes. (NB: the umlaut is purely aesthetic)

How has your debut album been received by listeners so far?

The reception has been way above expectations. At the first from the label itself (LADLO) and then by the audience or reviewers. All the reviews have been from positive to super positive and we constantly receive messages from unknown people sending us compliments over the record. So yes, we are super happy about all this!

Unfortunately, the lyrics are not printed in the beautiful digipack, what are they about?

The aim is to tell stories with our songs, we are not trying to confront some sort of pure truth or being political in any ways. We talk about our destiny. As human beings, we always think that we have control over our destiny. In fact, we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We constantly experience an eternal movement of rise and fall, as a person, as a species and as a civilization. In fact, we are doomed to disappear from the day we are born. We are cursed by this entity, regardless of our beliefs, who gave us life through the chaos.

You are now on the Les Acteurs de l'Ombre label, how does the label support you and what else do you hope to achieve?

To put it simply, being signed by such a great label makes you work harder. They help us in a lot of ways, tell us what we do right or wrong. They obviously have tons of contacts for the promotion and things like that. There are quite a lot of people involved in the label so this means a lot of extra advices. Also, being part of the type of roster they have makes us very proud and helps with the booking at some levels. The other piece we need to find beside the label is a independent booking agent that could help us land more gigs, but that’s a hard one to find.

I read in an interview with you that you also want to become bigger and better known in Belgium and that you want to play live a lot, but  you said that it is not so easy to do so in Flanders as a Walloon band. Can you say more about this conflict? As a German, I don't really understand it, there are three different regions in Belgium - Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels, and then also three different communities (Flemish, French, German-speaking), which are not congruent in each case. Around Brussels there are probably the most conflicts also just concerning the language, right? How does all this manifest itself in everyday life?

We don’t have any type of conflict with people from Flanders or the german part of Belgium. We have great connections with bands on both these regions. Oli has even been living in Flanders at some point. So it’s only love. What’s true is that there are so many great bands in Flanders : from the big names like Amenra, Brutus, Wiegedood … to the smaller bands. It makes it difficult for bands from Wallonia to make their path or name there. But it’s a clear goal for us because we love the scene, we love the venues. Time will tell but we’ll keep on trying for sure, with all the due respect.

Tell me more about your hometown, what are the possibilities for hard music in Liège, what clubs and bars? Wallonia, which starts right behind Aachen, I think is beautiful, how do you see your home region?

Liege is a small town but culture in here is a major factor. There are quite a few collectives that put out shows : PopKatari, Jungle, Mark It Zero, Silenceless… to name some. Places like La Zone, Kultura or le Hangar are venues ran by wonderful people open to any type of music, including hard underground stuff. We are blessed to be living here. We will be even happier when all these works for the tramway will be over. They make the city ugly, unfriendly and super difficult to navigate into for the time being, haha.

What are the next future plans for Räum?

The idea is to play as many gigs as we can with this record for at least another year and half. In the meantime we are starting to write songs for the second album. We will use some time off the road this summer to work on that and then get back to live shows as soon as possible starting in September.

The last words are yours!

We would like to finish this by expressing how gratitude towards everybody that has spent time with / for us : LADLO, promoters, reviewers, journalists, concert goers, listeners… Until next time!