While listening to the new excellent Nocturnus AD-album "Paradox" I came to the conclusion that I should do an interview with the band. Nocturnus is a well-known and respected name in the history of extreme metal, also due to the fact that the band had some kind of pioneer role in integrating synthesizers in death metal. So I spoke with mastermind Mike Browning about the new album, his other (previous) bands and projects such as After Death, Acheron, Voodoo Gods and Morbid Angel, occultism and the death of ex-Morbid Angel guitarist Richard Brunelle (R.I.P.), who sadly passed away in the course of this interview.
The new Nocturnus AD-album "Paradox" was released some months ago, how are your thoughts and feelings concerning it afterwards ? Where would you place it in relation to the previous Nocturnus-albums "The key" and "Thresholds"?
The reviews and sales have been way past my expectations! I knew that we would have people that liked it and I was hoping that a few people would say that it is a worthy successor to "The Key", but I never expected for everything the record company made has sold out and in a second pressing already and the reviews are not just good, you can tell by reading the reviews that people are going in great details about the songs, lyrics and how it makes them feel when they listen to it and that it is the perfect followup to "The Key". It's really blowing my mind, but it is hard to judge your own songs because you never know how people will receive it, especially on the internet.
To me it is the direct continuation of "The Key" lyrically and maybe even musically. "Thresholds" has always been a weird bittersweet album to me because I knew it was the beginning of the end of what I wanted Nocturnus to be when I started the band. I wanted "Thresholds" to be the followup to "The Key"- story and there is not one thing on "Thresholds" that continues from "The Key". It was a good album by itself on its own, but it was nowhere near what I wanted it to convey, so that is why "Paradox" is a real paradox! 