Beautiful yet brutal, sombre, and uplifting, encapsulating the juxtaposition between darkness and light V/Haze Miasma is a musical freedom that is delivered passionately with intense commitment. Nebula Is not only the logical progression for Germany’s V/Haze Miasma after their excellent debut ‘’agenda: endure’’, it continues their musical evolution, the four elements/musicians that are Atmosphere, Wisdom, Shine and Roar are reflections of their music and ideology. Primal earthen tones and timbres that stir the soul, wistful, damning, ferocious, and terrifying.
We talk to V/Haze Miasma about the new EP and more.
Metal-Roos: Gday what has been happening lately?
V/Haze Miasma: Just the common chaos as the new release slowly is becoming reality!
Metal-Roos: Your new EP Nebula is quite the progression from your album. Can you tell us about it?
V/Haze Miasma: „Nebula“ was part of the songwriting sessions for our next album. So it definitely is a hint of where our future path is leading. On the other side, it feels like a tribute to our debut „agenda: endure“. The track „Hypocrite!“ Is lyrically connected to „The Vicious Grimace“ from our album. And of course, there is this very special interpretation of „Hubris“. The sound of the „Nebula“ EP definitely is much rawer compared to „agenda: endure“ which I’m quite happy with!
Metal-Roos: The new version of Hubris is quite different to the original. Was there always 2 versions and its many vocal lines?
V/Haze Miasma: Not at all. I’m not quite sure anymore when this idea kicked my mind to create this quite upside-down version without any guitars and shouting. But „Hubris“ – the original – from the beginning of its recording felt quite perfect to us all. So I couldn’t resist the idea to tease out the whole potential of this song. The rest was delivered perfectly by our own SHINE on vocals and a very good friend of ours on piano, let’s call him DRIF.T from now on… I’m still blown away by how beautiful this piece turned out in the end and how much dedication both guys put into it!
Metal-Roos: It’s genre-less. Does this tie in with the four elements the band represents and is the music more important than the individual?
V/Haze Miasma: We don´t think too much about that but I think you are right. Definitely, music and visuals always have been more important than individuals or band members in this project. We all know the game of narcissistic self-portrayal very well from our other bands and musical projects. For my part, I’m tired of this, even if I know it’s just another role I’m playing now and here… But it’s a kind of freedom to hide behind pseudonyms and black and white nature images (which by the way all are packed with memories and personal experiences). And those pseudonyms do not represent individual egos but rather characterize the impact each member contributes to our project.
Metal-Roos: The inspiration lyrically and musically to combine the melancholy with the positive and all your contrasts?
V/Haze Miasma: I’m not born for writing happy music. For me, relevant music meanwhile always is emotional and mostly melancholic or even sad. It helps me overcome darker personal feelings but also catastrophes you are facing on a daily basis. So this is the positivity in it – and all in all, I ‘M a very positive thinking person. And for the contrasts – isn’t the whole life a rollercoaster of emotions? So is our music, as well as the black and white atmosphere of most of our videos or nature visuals.
Metal-Roos: The importance to create demanding music and asking questions about our world?
V/Haze Miasma: Without planning it, V/Haze Miasma turned out to be very intense. I never created music before that was so close to my soul and felt that right to me. And yes, I’m very concerned about many things that are happening to our planet or the way we treat each other. The hypocrisy of the nations of the northern hemisphere when it comes to responsibility, sustainability, and humanity – and then, I’m constantly crushed realizing to be just a part of this sickness… Hardly possible to not digest that in lyrics but instead write about dragons and elves, haha!
Metal-Roos: The earthen element is also a large part and a place of spiritual solace?
V/Haze Miasma: I would rather say – and as you see much more trivial – mountains, forests, and rivers, autumn and winter are the scenery that surrounds V/Haze Miasma. There can’t be more humility than watching or even climbing a mountain or experiencing the power of fire, wind, and water. In those moments everything else gets unimportant and small, which feels redemptive and calming.
Metal-Roos: What is musical freedom and how did you discover the journey?
V/Haze Miasma: Musical freedom means crafting music without thinking about who could possibly care about the outcome. But it’s only one way to create. I always enjoyed it in my former bands to throw in the ring a single riff and elaborate it in teamwork. In the end, it often moved far from the initial idea, but mostly got bigger and better. V/Haze Miasma instead gives me the opportunity to exploit the whole potential of my own imagination. It’s just another strategy. And by telling this I notice: Maybe V/Haze Miasma is much more about individualism than I usually would admit…
Metal-Roos: The inspiration and influences for your music. And the epic sounds awesome you create?
V/Haze Miasma: Everything I told you about nature is definitely a huge inspiration here. Musically I discover my own roots in V/Haze Miasma, and I think my bandmates feel the same. For my part, I was raised in the nineties, listened to lots of extreme metal but grunge as well. I was always fascinated by black metal in a special way. I didn´t like every true Norwegian BM combo musically but I always appreciated the emotional intensity of this dark cold stuff. Today I’m very into bands like Ghost Brigade, Der Weg einer Freiheit, Solstafír, Katatonia, Enslaved, Cult of Luna, Schammasch or all the Icelandic Blackmetal stuff like Sinmara, Almyrkvi, Audn or Svartidaudi. But I also adore progressive stuff from Ihsahn, Leprous, Ulver or even bands like Pain of Salvation. There is so much good music, I’m also quite into relaxed music like Archive, Madrugada, Emma Ruth Rundle and so on.
Metal-Roos: What can we expect next musically and a new album?
V/Haze Miasma: We will see. We´ll definitely keep the distinct V/Haze Miasma atmosphere but always are open for experiments, new instrumentations, new sounds. In my opinion, songwriting is getting stronger and more coherent with every track we record. So we are very looking forward to continuing working on the next album right after the release of „Nebula“!
Metal-Roos: Final thoughts?
V/Haze Miasma: I´m exhausted after answering all your questions and simultaneously thinking about V/Haze Miasma, the world, and myself… But most of all I’m thankful for your interest and for everybody taking time to read this and maybe listening to „Nebula“ on January 7th, 2022! Cheers!
V/Haze Miasma: Facebook
Interview Date: 2021-12-22
Interviewed by Sparky
