You are certainly not a newcomer, but could you still tell us a bit about the visions of Empusae and what the project is all about?
I’ve been composing imaginary soundtracks for more than 25 years under the name of Empusae. Elements of beauty and darkness are always part of my compositions. Finding a balance to create tension and emotions is the main vision of this project I think.
Your contribution to our Arcanum compilation is the track “Invocation/Evocation” – could you tell us a bit more about this track; what was your inspiration when making it, and what emotions are you wanting to evoke / what story are you trying to tell?
I wanted to create a ritual to evoke the emotions I had inside at that moment. At the same time, the purpose was to invoke a certain inner demon and then to confront it. So it is a very personal composition, too personal actually to elaborate.
You have released some 13 albums so far – which would be your favourite out of these, and why? Is there an album in particular that you could tell us more about?
I don’t have a favourite to be honest. Usually, the last album is my favourite when it is released but within time it levels with the others, as they all represent a certain phase of Empusae.
The most meaningful album would be Lueur, for the obvious reason that it was composed to try to cope with my ongoing process of being blind.
Sounds from Beyond keeps sticking in my mind as I had a very satisfying experience composing it. A deep and intense journey into madness and attractive darkness.
My last album Mortusae III is representing the actual phase of Empusae very well and is an important album for it is released by the Ukrainian label Old Captain, a way for me to support them in this horrible war.
You are an established act in the dark ambient scene – what is it about making dark ambient music that you like in particular and what are your influences? What attracts you to the dark ambient scene?
Dark ambient is more and more the essence of what I like in music. It makes me dream away, travel beyond and emotes me. I couldn’t name acts as there are too many, but I think some influences in my music are quite obvious (Cold Meat Industry, Cyclic Law, Cryo Chamber, Consouling Sounds, just to name a few labels)
What plans do you have for the future?
After the recently released Mortusae III, there will be a split EP coming out at the end of the year. At this moment I’m finalising two other collaboration albums which will be released in the course of this year and next year. Yes, I’m into collaborations at the moment 🙂