Nokturnal Mortum

Nokturnal Mortum is a Ukrainian black metal band from Kharkiv.

History

Nokturnal Mortum originally started as a death metal band called Suppuration in 1991,^[1] then turned to black metal and changed name to Crystaline Darkness but "had to change the name back in 1993/94 to Nocturnal Mortum because there already existed a band with that name in western underground."^[2] Then the band "changed the letter so that we wouldn't find a band with the same name again like it was the case with Crystaline Darkness."^[2] Nokturnal Mortum gained their first Western recognition with the release of their album Goat Horns, their second full-length album, notable for having two keyboardists play on the album, often on the same song, and for mixing traditional Ukrainian music with black metal.

The band's first albums were released through The End Records and (as licence pressings) through Nuclear Blast,^[3] but the label and band separated after releasing the album Nechrist and a re-release of the Lunar Poetry demo due to a disagreement. According to Varggoth, "We had a contract with The End Records but it was broken. We have different points of view. They didn't like our policy, we didn't like the way they do business. They owe us some money. That was enough for a conflict."

In autumn of 2014 band frontman Knjaz Varggoth (real name Yevhen Gapon, Ukrainian: Євген Гапон) published the statement declaring that he and Nokturnal Mortum was out of politics in order to avoid rumors concerning his personal views and band ideology. ^[4]

Discography

Albums

• 1997 – Goat Horns
• 1998 – To the Gates of Blasphemous Fire
• 2000 – Нехристь
• 2004 – Мировоззрение
• 2005 – Weltanschauung (English version of "Мировоззрение" with alternate instrumentals between songs)^[5]
• 2009 – Голос Сталi

Live Albums

• 2009 – Live in Katowice
• 2011 – Коловорот (released in 2012 as DVD)

EPs

• 1997 – Return of the Vampire Lord (re-released with Marble Moon on CD in 2003)
• 1997 – Marble Moon (re-released with Return of the Vampire Lord on CD in 2003)
• 2003 – The Taste of Victory

Demos

• 1992 – Ecclesiastical Blasphemy (as Suppuration)
• 1993 – Mi Agama Khaz Mifisto (as Crystaline Darkness)
• 1995 – Twilightfall (re-released on CD in 2003)
• 1995 – Black Clouds over Slavonic Lands (re-released as bonus tracks on 2005 CD re-release of Lunar Poetry)
• 1996 – Lunar Poetry (re-released several times in different formats)

Splits

• 1997 – Path of the Wolf / Return of the Vampire Lord (Metalagen Records). Split tape with Lucifugum.
• 2007 – Eastern Hammer (four-way split EP with Graveland, North and Temnozor featuring a new version of "Kolyada")

Compilations

• 2004 – Eleven Years Among the Sheep (compilation of old, unreleased, demo, and Suppuration & Crystaline Darkness songs)

References