by Niklas Göransson

With fortified ranks and sharpened purpose, Nightbringer embarked on a new cycle. Through the alchemy of dissolution and renewal, they traversed a path of blood, ruin, and revelation – toward Ego Dominus Tuus, the sovereignty of the will.

 

ALCAMETH: After “Hierophany of the Open Grave”, things really started coming together for NIGHTBRINGER. Both VJS and Ophis were fully back on board, whereas Nox Corvus had left and been replaced by Menthor. Writing an album with our new line-up introduced a different setup and dynamic.

Menthor’s first drumming contribution to NIGHTBRINGER was on “Circumambulations of the Solar Inferno” – a split with DØDSENGEL released by Daemon Worship Productions in 2013.

The split was recorded without VJS and Ophis on guitars. However, as work began on NIGHTBRINGER’s fourth album – their second with Season of Mist – both had returned, fully committed to the project.

VJS: By then, NIGHTBRINGER had an unspoken vision. Nobody planned anything beforehand; revelations came only after we exchanged song ideas, and everybody was pleasantly surprised by the cohesion. It’s pretty remarkable when you think about it.

ALCAMETH: All of us deeply understood the NIGHTBRINGER sound, and we were a bit obsessed with it. Again, I must give credit to Nox Corvus – that’s where everything began, even if it was more rudimentary back then compared to what it eventually became.

How would you describe ‘the NIGHTBRINGER sound’?

VJS: Imagine the architectural philosophy of building a cathedral – but using the masonry tools of black metal. That’s the simplest way to put it. A hierarchical structure reaching upwards, with every intricate facet, buttress, and vignette carefully designed, always balancing detail against the bigger picture. If you tilt too far in either direction, you risk overcomplicating or watering it down.

ALCAMETH: During the writing of “Ego Dominus Tuus”, there were intense energies – both negative and positive – in the air, and it felt like a daimon presided over the entire creative process.

VJS: Absolutely. Each of us followed the classic alchemical journey, moving through the well-known stages. NIGHTBRINGER as an entity underwent its own nigredo – and once the mortificatio phase had passed, quite literally, we were set for rubedo and beyond.

VJS references traditional alchemical symbolism, where nigredo represents a blackening often associated with destruction, introspection, and transformation. Mortificatio denotes a metaphorical death and decay, breaking down the old to make way for the new. Rubedo, the final stage, signifies redness – a culmination of enlightenment, completion, and renewal.

 

One such permutational event transpired in May 2012, inside VJS’ rehearsal and recording room in Colorado Springs.

VJS: I’ve always kept a studio, and after we played Maryland Deathfest in 2011, I moved from a smaller setup to a larger one during a rather inactive phase for the band. If NIGHTBRINGER needed to rehearse, we did so there – but it primarily served as the INCURSUS headquarters.

On this particular day, VJS came by to see his close friend, INCURSUS vocalist Horidus. The former NIGHTBRINGER bass player moved away from Colorado years earlier but had spent the past few months living in VJS’ studio while they recorded a new EP titled “Adaestuo”.

VJS: I hadn’t heard from Horidus in a few days, so I wanted to check the status of his vocals. When I arrived, I saw a bloody handprint on the door – not unusual since we both bled randomly, let’s say. But when I stepped inside, it was carnage. I found him in there, dead and disfigured.

ALCAMETH: VJS noticed a trail of blood leading to the restroom, further to the smoking area outside, and then back in. We concluded that Horidus had cut himself quite severely, gone for a sip of water or whatever, and then stepped outside for one last smoke for the road, I guess. After that, he returned, sliced himself up some more, and laid down to fucking die.

There’s plenty to unpack here, but I find it noteworthy that Horidus had the courtesy not to smoke indoors – even in his literal dying breaths.

VJS: <chuckles> True, I never thought of it that way. There’s a far longer story here – but due to a number of legal considerations, I’m not sure how much deeper we should delve. In short, Horidus had left me a long letter with instructions, and on the computer keyboard sat a note reading, ‘The vocals are done.’

One can only imagine what the constabulary thought upon arriving at a recording studio with walls painted all-black – save for the occult sigils – and a mutilated, bled-out corpse on the ground.

VJS: They grilled me for several hours and nearly took me to the station; it turned into a huge ordeal. Luckily, some rather grisly surveillance footage from the corridor showed exactly what had happened. I was then left to mix and finish the recording. Naturally, “Adaestuo” meant the end of INCURSUS. Even if I wrote the songs, I’d always seek Horidus’ opinion on riffs or arrangements.

 

Did you take his passing hard?

VJS: It didn’t upset me emotionally; I only felt compelled to honour the intensity of the moment. Horidus knew I’d find him, of course, since I was the only one who went there. He must’ve understood that this would be a pivotal moment in my life – an apex of extremity.

ALCAMETH: Horidus and I didn’t get along; we weren’t friends, but it was still a surreal thing to process. That said, this wasn’t an isolated incident by any stretch. It’s strange – everyone I know who’s been involved in black metal long enough seems to have similar stories. Ophis once said, ‘From a spiritual stance, we draw chaotic forces to ourselves. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when terrible things happen.’

VJS: Absolutely. For those who engage with true black metal, there are basically four paths: death, prison, institutionalisation, or triumph. If you treat this as genuine devotional work, you drift between those states.

ALCAMETH: That’s the thing with black metal, man. You know the type of people it attracts, so you inevitably encounter individuals like Horidus and my dear friend James Alabas. I always describe Alabas as a legitimately dark individual – through and through. You could say for better or worse… in this case, for worse.

Amid these developments, a tragic chapter unfolded involving James Alabas of SERPENTINAM. Once a foundational figure in the Colorado scene and an early member of NIGHTBRINGER, Alabas sank deep into the throes of alcohol addiction and his lifelong pattern of self-mutilation.

VJS: Alabas was incredibly unique. Dark, full of integrity – much like Horidus in that sense. Naturally, we bonded instantly. I remember being the last one still living at the NIGHTBRINGER cabin; late at night, I’d sometimes hear a slow knocking at the door. I’d open it, and there he’d be, unannounced. We’d sit by the fireplace for hours, sharing conversations I’ll value until the day I pass.

ALCAMETH: The last time I saw Alabas, he’d been working on some NIGHTBRINGER art. We hadn’t met in months, and when he arrived at my place, it was as if a completely different person stepped through the door – more like a homeless man off the street. Things had deteriorated that much. He passed out, drunk as fuck, but left his art book behind.

Some of Alabas’ NIGHTBRINGER art can be found on the “The Ruins of Edom” cover, as well as the back of “Hierophany of the Open Grave”.

ALCAMETH: I have to say, he’d done some amazing work. Honestly, I’m surprised he managed to pull it off. Alabas and I had so much planned – he was writing, composing, working on all kinds of things. But he fell too far, and everything came undone.

 

By 2013, Alabas had essentially drunk himself into a state of dementia. However, friends and family managed to talk him into seeking help.

ALCAMETH: Ophis lent him a hand with packing up the house, which looked like a hoarder’s nightmare – absolute chaos. Alabas had been living alone in the depths of alcoholism for months but was now supposed to go to rehab. That fell apart when it became clear he needed medical detox due to the severity of his condition.

In cases of extreme alcohol dependence, sudden cessation can trigger seizures, hallucinations, and even cardiac arrest. Without medical supervision, detoxing from long-term abuse carries a serious risk of death.

ALCAMETH: Once this became clear, he decided against rehab, and everything unravelled. Myrddraal and I started getting these nonsensical phone calls from Alabas – very intoxicated, clearly not doing well. It would be mostly gibberish and often hostile. The guy was lost. He’d be sitting on the floor, drinking vodka and bleeding out, all while threatening to come fuck us up. The ugliness of it all is that you eventually stop answering.

VJS: As I said, Alabas would show up unannounced in the middle of the night, and by then, I could sense his end was near. He made little sense – a pattern I’d seen before. With his mindset, the outcome felt inevitable. He was very much on a one-way road.

The story of James Alabas ended in July 2013, a little over a year after Horidus passed.

ALCAMETH: Buddy killed himself. Well, maybe; it’s debatable. Either that or it was an accident. Hard to say. The night Alabas died, he called both Myrddraal and me multiple times – but by then, we’d learned not to pick up after 6 pm. The next day, they found him floating in a river. So yeah, we had that one to process.

Do you think answering would’ve made any difference?

ALCAMETH: Probably not. It would’ve been more of the same nonsense – but that’s how it ended. His ex-wife called me and said, ‘James is dead.’ My response? ‘Well, I kind of expected that.’ He’d been a dear friend, but it felt inevitable. You could see it coming. I wasn’t surprised.

 

Still, something valuable surfaced in the aftermath. While helping Alabas pack up his house, Ophis discovered a hard drive full of riffs made in Power Tab – a software used to create, edit, and share guitar and bass tablature.

ALCAMETH: Ophis sent me everything, and I’ve saved it all. I also have some SERPENTINAM songs that Alabas and I wrote together, which I hope to record eventually. On top of that, there’s a tonne of unreleased material. It’s fucking amazing – but unfortunately, most of it is just fragments, bits of songs and riffs.

Can you do something with it?

ALCAMETH: We went through it all and found a few complete songs; I think there are three black metal tracks and an ambient piece. VJS was trying to start a label and wanted to release it – but unfortunately, that never happened. I still have them, though, and they’re damn good songs. Very lo-fi, all drum machine.

VJS: The SERPENTINAM compendium might still see the light of day. It could’ve come out five years ago or tomorrow – it’ll happen eventually. I have everything archived and spent time at my studio mixing, remastering, and finishing some pieces a few years back.

Now based in Germany, VJS operates a studio called Dirge Forge. In recent years, he’s done recording, mixing, and mastering work for bands like DEMONCY, SARGEIST, THERIOMORPH, and LURING.

ALCAMETH: I’d like to think that at some point, I’ll sit down, go through those tabs, and play them – because they contain some genius shit, man. In his alcohol fervour, Alabas somehow created the most incredible music. It’s sad; most of it will probably be lost to time. Hopefully, we can use this insane amount of Power Tab files to enshrine Alabas’ legacy.

That’s the same software you use for NIGHTBRINGER, right?

ALCAMETH: Exactly. Power Tab is great when you’re coming up with ideas on the fly because you might not remember them the next day – so you tab it out real quick. It’s also useful for writing keyboard parts since you can easily use MIDI to turn riffs into synth melodies.

By notating guitar riffs as MIDI data in Power Tab, one can take the structure and rhythm of a riff, convert it into a synth line, and then ‘play’ it with virtual instruments like keyboards.

ALCAMETH: Since everything with NIGHTBRINGER is done in Power Tab, we can easily show each other how to play it. I’ve written entire pieces that way. It’s a composer’s best friend – but also the worst enemy, because it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole and start obsessing over details. That’s exactly what happened on “Apocalypse Sun”.

 

Power Tab played a big part in “Ego Dominus Tuus”, the album NIGHTBRINGER worked on while all these developments transpired. One of the songs, “Salvation is the Son of Leviathan (Alabas in Memoriam)”, pays tribute to their departed friend.

ALCAMETH: There was this mutual drive where we all clearly understood what the NIGHTBRINGER sound should be. I’d send VJS my new ideas, and he’d be like, ‘Well, now I’ve got to up my game.’ Then he’d show me something, and I’d think, ‘Oh, wow, my turn to raise the bar.’ It almost became a friendly competition.

VJS: Some might call the exchange competitive – but to me, it felt more inspirational. Every element of our work had to contribute to the overall sound; if something monumental occurred in song A, we wanted an equivalent highlight in song B. It was our most creatively stimulating period.

ALCAMETH: Meanwhile – as VJS and I were cranking out songs, piecing the album together – everyone waited for Ophis’ one track, which always took forever. We’d come up with three, four, five songs while he worked on his secret composition. But once he finally unveiled it, we’d consistently be like, ‘Ah, amazing.’

VJS: That’s all he needs – one track from Ophis can carry an entire album. They tend to be the capstone pieces, tying everything together. As a classically trained musician, Ophis introduced us to counterpoint and a more baroque approach, broadening our horizons. His contributions have been crucial to NIGHTBRINGER’s evolution, and we still draw inspiration from him today.

ALCAMETH: Before picking up the guitar, Ophis’ main instrument was the piano, and he has a deep love for classical music – you can hear that influence in his compositions.

Ophis’ contributions to NIGHTBRINGER began with “Vir Sapiens Dominabitur Astris” on the “Rex Ex Ordine Throni” split, followed by “Caudua Draconis – Azra Lumial” on “Death and the Black Work”. The third album, “Hierophany of the Open Grave”, featured two of Ophis’ pieces, “Dreaming Above the Sepulcher” and “Via Tortuosa”, each reflecting his meticulous approach.

For “Ego Dominus Tuus”, he not only wrote “The Witchfires of Tubal-Qayin” but also provided the lyrics.

ALCAMETH: I told Ophis, ‘If you know exactly where these lyric lines should go, come over and track them at my place. If you’re not comfortable doing actual vocals, just speak them – I only need the patterns and timing.’ So, I let him take the lead on that.

Though Ophis knew precisely where the lyrics belonged, he’d never attempted vocals before.

ALCAMETH: I sat there watching him put the headphones on, and suddenly, he did this voice. And I’m like, ‘Keep going, keep going!’ Then I told him, ‘Whatever it is you’re doing – it’s uncanny. You sound like an ancient sorcerer.’ It was completely off the top of his head.

VJS: My first thought was, ‘Why didn’t we do this earlier?’ Usually, I’m wary of black metal vocals that sound too human, but in Ophis’ case – knowing his character and credibility – the delivery fits perfectly. It’s like a mage standing on a sand dune, roaring his rage at the stars.

More of Ophis’ oration can be heard on “Holókauston”, the 2017 album by Alcameth’s black/death project BESTIA ARCANA.

ALCAMETH: Someone once described Ophis’ vocals as ‘the mad prophet standing in Times Square, newspapers flying around, raving about the end of the world.’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly it.’ His intonation is like an oracle on the mount, completely unhinged yet commanding. That’s when I knew – I wasn’t replacing these vocals. I told him, ‘My friend, I believe you’ve just found your voice.’

 

By this point, after recording three NIGHTBRINGER albums, Dave Otero had developed a strong working dynamic with the band. Alcameth credits Otero as a key figure in refining NIGHTBRINGER’s sound, as fully realised by “Ego Dominus Tuus”.

ALCAMETH: We’ve been working together since “Superion” (EXCOMMUNION) in 2001. The thing about Dave – you must understand, his taste is incredibly broad. He works with major metal bands across the entire spectrum, including styles that are completely alien to me. But that just shows how versatile he is; to operate at Dave’s level in a studio, you need adaptability.

As a teenager, Dave Otero shared Alcameth and Nox Corvus’ obsession with EMPEROR’s “In the Nightside Eclipse”. So, despite not being deeply embedded in underground black metal, he understands exactly where NIGHTBRINGER comes from.

ALCAMETH: I track my guitars at home, but we spend a lot of time reviewing everything in his studio. He really dissects the material and takes the time to refine every detail. Dave listens with an incredibly sharp ear and will say things like, ‘Oh, I caught a little flub’, or ‘You might not have noticed, but there’s a sour note here; we should take another look at this.’

VJS: Yes, I’d go so far as to call him a shadow member. Dave pushed us in ways only he could, especially having known Kyle (Alcameth) before NIGHTBRINGER even began. He saw our climb from obscurity to Season of Mist, refining the vision at every stage – honing the diamond further, making it sharper and tighter each time.

ALCAMETH: Dave gets fully engaged in the process. He’ll tell us straight up which parts really shine, but he’s also brutally honest when something isn’t working. If a section feels like ‘two minutes of filler’, he’ll call it out. I love that leadership – it’s what makes him such an incredible producer.

 

With “Ego Dominus Tuus” completed in September 2013, Alcameth travelled to Chicago the following month to see MARE – a band from the Nidrosian scene. Nidaros is the historical name for Trondheim, Norway, out of which a new breed of Norwegian black metal emerged in the mid-2000s.

ALCAMETH: I’d been in touch with the Nidrosian scene since its inception. They were big fans of “Death and the Black Work” and would often send me their releases – KAOSRITUAL, all that shit. I remember getting the original “Black Majesty” demo tape. For a while, I was in direct contact with Eskil (Azazil, KAOSRITUAL), exchanging letters early on. I met many of them at the Chicago gig, including Ole from Terratur Possessions.

Terratur Possessions is a black metal label closely associated with the Nidaros scene. Its owner, Ole A Aune, was the driving force behind the long-running Nidrosian Black Mass festival.

ALCAMETH: Great fucking guy, but he won’t pull any punches. I introduced myself, and immediately he’s like, ‘NIGHTBRINGER? “Death and the Black Work”! Great album. “Apocalypse Sun” – shit album. What happened?’ Right out the gate. And I was like, ‘Fuck!’ But that sums it up.

 

After finishing “Ego Dominus Tuus”, NIGHTBRINGER geared up for touring. Over the next six months, the band held intense rehearsals at VJS’ new studio in Colorado Springs. With Menthor unavailable, they enlisted a local session drummer.

VJS: Months of preparation were needed, as it had been years since the last rehearsals. Some of the “Ego…” material pushed Ophis and me beyond our previous limits, so memorising everything – given those intricate parts – became a lengthy process. We wanted to be as lethal as possible for NIGHTBRINGER’s first proper outing in Europe.

In March 2014, NIGHTBRINGER travelled from Colorado to southwestern Germany for an appearance at Speyer Grey Mass – an underground festival featuring OFERMOD, SVARTIDAUÐI, MGŁA and ONE TAIL, ONE HEAD.

VJS: All our lives, we’d admired European culture, architecture, art, music, and philosophy – seeing ourselves as part of the continent’s spiritual tradition. Finally making the journey over to showcase our own work felt triumphant. First off, there’s the history of the Speyer Cathedral, which is a formidable structure.

Once the burial site of several Holy Roman Emperors, the 11^th-century Speyer Cathedral stands as one of the most impressive Romanesque monuments in Europe.

VJS: My standout memory is from early dawn: jetlagged and unable to sleep, I slipped out of my hotel room, watched the sun rise behind the cathedral, and thought, ‘This is our moment.’ The festival line-up itself was an ideal baptism, and we approached and executed it with confidence.

 

Immediately following the festival, NIGHTBRINGER toured Europe for the first time, joining PSEUDOGOD, SARGEIST, and IRKALLIAN ORACLE. The four bands made their way through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Belgium, and Holland.

VJS: I couldn’t believe how many ‘black metal people’ turned out. In the US at the time, we might’ve had fifty individuals on the same wavelength. A few years earlier, maybe twenty across the entire country who took it seriously – all of whom knew each other. Even mundane things like band shirts; I was astonished to find so many people sharing a similar aesthetic.