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Mightiest from Freiburg in the legendary Black Forest was founded in 1994 and I always liked the melodic-symphonic aspect of the band, which never became cheesy, which was often the case with many bands in the past. That is a kind of unique selling point, to play melodic-symphonic black metal, which is still rough, hard and unpolished. I can think of Emperor, with whom the band was often compared in the reviews of "Recreation of the shadowlands". Of course in the early interviews Burzum, Darkthrone and Mayhem were mentioned as influences, the early Dimmu Borgir with "For all Tid" or "Stormblast" certainly didn't pass the band without leaving traces, I think.
From that time there are still Ral and Simon left. If I have researched correctly, in the beginning of Mightiest they joined forces with people from a local death metal band called Infernal Doom, but you won't find anything about them at Metal Archives either. The first release "Recreation of the shadowlands", a split release with Depressive Silence (the dungeon synth sideproject of Mightiest) takes, I have the impression, a very special place in the discography and history of Mightiest. The sound is distorted, the vocals very harsh, but perfect for black metal. These recordings have also been released a few times and now saw the light of day again via Urtod Records as a double LP. Singer Olli, whom I met in person for the first time at the awesome Dark Dungeon Festival in Anthisnes, Belgium, where both Mightiest and Depressive Silence performed, answered my questions. It is a band story of passion and friendship...But read for yourself.
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Sure, we were all active in other bands here in the area. Our drummer has helped out as a session member with some well-known bands.
But the important thing is that Mightiest is the mother ship. Since more than 20 years all activities have started from here and Mightiest have priority for each of us.
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"In 2023, it's hard to imagine that everything wasn't just a mouse click away and that the passion for music demanded hard work from every single person."
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In the scans of the old interviews you sent me, there was often talk in the fanzines about the positioning in the (German) black metal scene. Often there were references to the Norwegians, Darkthrone, Burzum, Satyricon, the topic was often that some bands were accused of lacking independence and were considered as epigones of the Norwegians. There were even German bands that had Norwegian band names, which I found a bit strange - to put it that way - at that time. What do you remember about those times in general and also about finding your own style and position?
There is no question that in the beginning we were strongly influenced by the second generation of black metal. In the beginning we certainly sounded a lot like "Norway". But this is the natural development of a band. Then, over the years, our sound has evolved significantly, but without denying our origins.
The time back then was exciting and dangerous. We had contact with like-minded people, which we kept up through letters. Especially the first generation of German black metal bands like Lunar Aurora, Nagelfar, Nordlys was incredibly energetic, which can be seen by the fact that many of the protagonists are still active in the scene today. The whole thing culminated in the legendary concert in Bad Wörishofen in 1997.
In 2023, it's hard to imagine that everything wasn't just a mouse click away and that the passion for music demanded hard work from every single person.
Well, in reality I don't think there was even a rehearsal. Those were just short term plans out of a beer mood. I don't know exactly what Nordlys are doing at the moment. Alex is active in the Finnish black metal scene and has some bands and projects going on.
No, we never wanted to dissolve. We were always active. Even if often only as a circle of friends who grill together and drink beer.
We function differently than other bands often do. We have been playing together in a band since 1994. That's almost 30 years. I joined in '97, Chris in the early 2000s. We were always working on songs and rehearsing, but the need to release an album just wasn't there. We also didn't play concerts for 10 years. That doesn't change the fact that we are there as Mightiest and also active as a band, but just under the surface just for us.
It's hard to divide it into episodes. I would say that since 2016 - by our standards - we are very active again. As an outlook, I can only say that we will also be there for a long time.
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"A listener who obviously engages intensively with our music is worth 1000 times more to us than the Spotify listener who listens to the record while washing up."
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An incredible memory is of course the concert of 2017, where we met many of the old companions again. It was and is great to see that even these men have not lost their faith in the music of the underground and do their part.
Especially the evening we planned before the concert in a Freiburg brewery was a sensational meeting. A bunch of middle-aged men babbled about the bad old times over some beers....genius!
Of course the contact to the mentioned bands - even if only loosely - still exists and it could well be that we do things together in the future. If you believe in it for so long, you won't stop even on the last kilometers...
I read an announcement about Mightiest the other day, where there was talk about Germany's best-kept black metal jewel. From what I've read and also otherwise, I had the impression that you are at peace with the fact that it was not enough for a bigger career and that it was always about the music itself. Nevertheless, did you sometimes think that if such and such had happened back then, Mightiest would be much better known? Despite recognition from the underground and fewer but more enthusiastic voices about the quality of your music, you never reached a bigger status like for example Desaster, Secrets of the Moon or even Lunar Aurora. What decisions or developments do you blame for this? Where was bad luck involved, where from your side maybe too little focus on advertising, promotion or networking and making contacts?
We have never been unlucky. We in fact put little focus on advertising, promotion and networking. As I said before, the few fanatic voices that love our music as much as we do are enough for us. The bands you mentioned have worked much harder for their success than we have, so they more than deserve it.
Let's move on to the Black Forest, your home region. Most people associate it with dark, impenetrable forests, myths and legends. How do you feel about this region? Are there moments when you think that this environment directly or indirectly -however concretely- influences your music?
Of course, as a "Black Forest" band, we love our home region and the environment you so aptly described. It's not for nothing that we recorded our last EP in the heart of the Black Forest. The atmosphere there is indeed very inspiring. Nevertheless, the Black Forest doesn't have a concrete effect on our music or lyrics. That it indirectly flows in and maybe that's why we sound different than bands from Oslo, Bergen, Tampa, London or Birmingham is quite possible.
As for other bands from the Black Forest, I can think of Imperium Dekadenz, and recently Thron have been making a name for themselves with a sound somewhat reminiscent of Dissection. There was also Brannthorde once. What other (black) metal bands from your region can you name and recommend? Funnily enough I had a promo CD of the debut album of a band called Unlord with the title "Schwarzwald" from 1997. At first I thought they were from your region too, but they were Dutch, haha.
You actually caught me on the wrong foot there, because apart from Imperium Dekadenz, with whom we are friends, I can't say much about this. I personally don't have much contact with other bands. Of course I know Thron, or rather their guitarist, for a long time and because of the personnel overlaps we have to do with each other. But I would be lying, if I would pretend to be a profound connoisseur of the Black Forest metal scene.
The whole weekend was sensational from beginning to end. I didn't expect that in my old age I would be able to experience a festival again that is so authentic and pulled off with such love for detail and the music. We can't thank the two organizers Denis and Esteban enough. From the gorgeous castle, to the home-brewed beer that was handed out in shapely glasses to the fantastic performances, everything just fit.
Saturday was especially exciting, because the audience was really just waiting for us and celebrated us to the hilt. We felt like real rock stars. Also from our side I would like to say that we delivered well and we are already looking forward to next year...
One question specifically about Depressive Silence: I had the impression that in the 90s quite a lot of black metal musicians had dungeon synth or even ambient projects, besides Mortiis and his other projects like Vond, Fata Morgana or Cintele Diavolui, Wongraven by Satyricon's mastermind or Neptun Towers by Fenriz from Darkthrone come to mind as prominent examples. Then I had the impression that it all pretty much disappeared again, and now it's been a relatively big thing again for a few years. Is my perception the same as yours? And were there any special projects back then that you found great and / or influenced you? Is there any current stuff that you can recommend, how were the other bands or projects from the dungeon synth day in Anthisnes, did you know their music before?
You really got me on the wrong foot there again. I have no idea about dungeon synth, even though I ordered some cassettes from our label boss that I like a lot.
In the castle I found especially Vampire Tower worth mentioning. Their rehearsal tape for the show is on Bandcamp and is really quite excellent. To my ears, it sounds more like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze than dungeon synth...but what do I know?
By the way, apart from Wongraven, a bit of Mortiis and the Neptune Towers track on the Moonfog sampler, I haven't heard any of this stuff except Depressive Silence in the nineties, I'm just a metalhead.
I heard that you were supposed to play two shows in New York with Depressive Silence, but unfortunately they didn't take place because of the corona pandemic and the restrictions that came with it. Is there still contact to the booker, maybe the shows will be repeated?
Yep, and it looks like we'll be in NYC Easter 2024 with both Mightiest and Depressive Silence.
Also the concert in 2000 (or 2001) with Secrets of the Moon in Erlangen was a great thing. That was a time when hardly anyone was interested in black metal. Long before everyone wore hoods and performed "occult rituals" on stage. For me personally, the gig with one of my favorite bands Abysmal Grief here in Freiburg was also wonderful. I already said enough about the 2017 reunion concert here in Freiburg above.
Three Mightiest band members also play in Second Coming, a great death metal band in best Massacre or Six Feet Under style ( "Haunted"- era). There was also a long break from 2005-2019, after that you played again and re-released the old stuff on CD and vinyl. What is the state of affairs regarding concerts and recordings?
There will be no concerts, recordings or anything else in the future. The concert was only meant as a little joke and above all homage to ourselves.
We all loved the band Second Coming, their direct aggression and especially the live performances. I agree that we were a fantastic live band. However, nobody ever cared about us, neither during our lifetime nor after the short reunion with the re-releases.
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"Those are the moments why we make music as a band. The four of us sitting in the room, cheering each other on and giving it our all so that when we're done we have something to be proud of because we did it together."
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A very good question. Our musical development will continue as organically as we want it to. I think you described the style very well. We have all been sworn metalheads for decades. That classical metal also flows into our music is quite clear. We have always had this epic element.
Whether we are still the "black metal Mightiest" and people think demo recordings sound better is up to them. We won't stick to rules of a scene and whoever wants to listen to the old stuff can put it on.
Because of your modulation, the vocals have a much broader spectrum than those of most black or extreme metal bands. Is just this a point, which you would like to develop still further?
Also here the same is valid as above. If a song asks for something and I can deliver it, I will do it. As long as the others find it cool and I feel comfortable with it at any time.
Here I like to remember the recordings of the vocals in the snowed-in hut on the Kandel mountain, at three o'clock in the night. We sat together in the lounge, which was also our recording room. The other guys sat around me and heard the vocals for the first time and were all completely blown away.
Those are the moments why we make music as a band. The four of us sitting in the room, cheering each other on and giving it our all so that when we're done we have something to be proud of because we did it together.
Have you already written new songs, are you thinking about a new release, however concrete or not?
Sure, as I said: you won't get rid of us so quickly.
