Photo Credit: Twan Spierings
(At the end of September Eisenwald released Spiritus Sylvestris, an excellent new album by the Dutch band Iskandr, and that moved Comrade Aleks to get in touch, leading to the following interview with founder Omar K.)
Iskandr was started by multi-instrumentalist Omar K. in around 2016 as his solo black metal project. The solo-project turned into a duo as the drummer Mink Koops joined Omar, and since then they started to work together.
Primordial and natural, Iskandr’s black metal evolved from Heilig land (2016) to Euprosopon (2018), and then from less blackened Vergezicht (2021) to brand new and ethereal Spiritus Sylvestris, which was released on September 29th.
The chain of metamorphoses leads the project to a new form that combines black metal spirit and a deep, in some ways heathen magical, and almost psychedelic, experience. As Omar, the band’s ideologist, says: “I wanted to write a eulogy to the world we have lost; a funeral dirge for the natural world we have left behind and an omen to the world that is to come”.
We caught Omar in the middle of Iskandr’s tour, but he found time to answer a few questions.
Photo Credit: Twan Spierings
Hi Omar! How are you? What’s going on in Iskandr’s lair today?
Hello! I’m doing fine, writing these answers currently in a van going across Europe on tour to support the new album!
You started Iskandr as your solo project. How did you come to the decision to recruit Mink as a full-time drummer? Was it necessary?
Yes, at first, I started it myself. I think it was basically from practical reasons: a project I could do in my own time on my own pace and with my own vision, with no pressure behind it. After one album and an EP I really felt I needed more careful and better-sounding drums, but because of my limited abilities I decided to ask Mink to help me out. We are friends besides music so this was an easy decision. And he always gets what I want to hear and I really admire his style of drumming: very precise and powerful.
You and Mink are involved in a few more bands and projects, so which one is the “main” one for you after all?
That’s a really difficult one to answer. It varies across time; sometimes one or the other project is more on the foreground. Obviously right now Iskandr is at the front because I was working towards the new album and the shows around this. But who knows, maybe we return with Solar Temple soon!
How did you shape Iskandr’s sound through the years? How far does Spiritus Sylvestris stand from the first album Heilig land?
I think it’s really far from each other in some ways, while in others there is a certain red line connecting all releases thematically and spiritually. I think the feeling I have in mind and am trying to evoke, is basically the same, just the musical language used to express this has evolved over time according to my taste as well as my abilities.
Metal-Archives sums up Iskandr’s lyrical themes as paganism. What does this term mean to you? How important is it to channel these ideas through your music?
I don’t really know why they call it paganism on there; I used to describe my music as Heathen but that means something a bit different to me. But maybe that’s just splitting hairs over nothing. I’m thinking of the deep historical past and the way our world connects to the old ones; through ideas, ruins, archeological remains, written sources, and our imagination. Pre-Christian beliefs and polytheistic and animistic structures of thought really inspire me; a return of regocnizing the magical spirit of the world around us.
What’s the main concept behind Spiritus Sylvestris? How would you summarize its poetic content?
I wanted to write a eulogy to the world we have lost; a funeral dirge for the natural world we have left behind and an omen to the world that is to come. By investing the natural forces that wield immense power over us with personified stories and personal character, I try to make these forces tangible and understandable, like the gods of old.
Spiritus Sylvestris was the old name for carbon dioxide that was released when burning wood; like the spirit of the wilderness that was trapped inside this natural material getting released into the ether. Similarly, we have released so much of this spirit in the last hundred years that now it is starting to haunt us and become our undoing.
Iskandr is known as a black metal band, so which aspects of the genre do you see as a core of Iskandr’s sound? Is it important for you to hold on to the genre’s original spirit?
Yes, I started with a black metal sound, but quite quickly I have started to incorporate elements of folk and ambience. There was always a bit of a different vision behind it than just to pay homage to the originators of the genre. I do think holding on to an original spirit is vital; however, this spirit has been the subject of endless boring debates over time which does not interest me the most.
I still to this day take a lot of influence from Darkthrone, Isengard, Trelldom, early Enslaved, Bathory, Aeternus, Hades Almighty and Helheim. This is easily traceable in the Vergezicht album. However, since that album I felt I really had achieved what I wanted with this style, and noticed that new material that was surfacing really demanded a new approach.
I work actually really slow with Iskandr despite the release schedule of the music itself; I think usually the releases are always a few years behind. So, this change in style to me does not feel so sudden since I worked on it for years already, but for the outside world I guess it’s really surprising.
There are books dedicated to Finnish, US, Norwegian, and even Icelandic black metal scenes. How big is Netherlands’ black underground? Can you tell if it has its own features?
It’s really big considering the size of the country, I think. There have been weekends in the last years when several sold-out events were happening at the same evenings within an hour travel from each other; all with a slightly different approach and eager audiences. Also, a lot of people have very high quality and original bands; actually, too many to mention here. But I would say to everybody to explore the Dutch scene thoroughly, there are a lot of very excellent artists operating; some more classic and old school and others very avant-garde.
How much does your surroundings, your land, influence your creativity? Some bands say that people inspire them to create misanthropic and nihilistic music, some are influenced by nature or history and channel these impressions in a different way. What about you?
I’m definitely in the latter category. I take huge amounts of inspiration from my local area (Gelderland), its history, its old towns, medieval castles, large forests. I think I also really like the kind of music that channels those feelings, either in metal or folk or new wave genres. It’s something that speaks to me way more than pure misanthropic nihilism or anti-Christian Satanism where just these ideas motivate the music. I can appreciate it sometimes for its artistic value, but not something I can do myself.
What are your further plans for Iskandr and your other projects until the end of 2023?
So far I am trying to finish the tour promoting the new album and hopefully get to write the follow-up to this one in December before going full gear into the new touring cycle of my other band Dool, where I do mainly just guitars, but we tend to play a lot which leaves less time to do Iskandr stuff. There is some more music coming from other projects that I cannot spoil yet; just can say: if people thought the new Iskandr is a big difference in sound, wait until you get to hear the new Solar Temple album!
How do you see the top level which you can reach with Iskandr? How far do your ambitions spread?
I feel I’m already reaching big heights for being a solo side-project: I never thought to transform this into an actual performance piece to be brought to stages across Europe. So far I’m beyond grateful for what I can do with this. The next album is going to be the same style but even more refined and developed, that’s for sure.
Thanks a lot for doing this interview and for taking an interest in what I do!
Spiritus Sylvestris is out now and hopefully we see each other on the road sometime.