Bacht’n De Vulle Moane interview

Bacht’n De Vulle Moane
Meditative and motoric

Bacht’n De Vulle Moane is a new Belgian black metal band formed last year by A.A.R. and Scum (Apovrasma, Ordigort), although their sound goes much wider than black metal. You can hear influences from new wave to krautrock and from P.I.L. to D.A.F. on their debut 'Klaagrituelen', released as a tape on Haunted By Ill Angels.

Bacht’n De Vulle Moane is tagged 'black metal' but I also hear a lot of new wave, industrial and even krautrock in it. Rightly so? What do you think of references like Front 242, Sisters Of Mercy, Swans, The Neon Judgement and TC Matic?

A.A.K.: We are both big fans of the genres and bands you mention. Belgian bands like Front 242, The Neon Judgement and TC Matic also use the raw sound of analogue synths and were a direct influence on what we do with Bacht’n de Vulle Moane. Swans has that aggressive wall of sound that we are looking for.
In the 90s, krautrock inspired a lot of Norwegian bands. Projects like Tangerine Dream, Cluster and Neu gave their own twist to black metal and in this way krautrock indirectly left its mark on the scene. The meditative repetition and the motoric rhythm is the basis of our music. We also like a lot of gritty black metal bands like Beherit and Ildjarn.

When did Bacht’n De Vulle Moane start? Last year? Is 'Kraagrituelen' your debut?

We started jamming during spring 2024. By the end of summer 'Kraagrituelen' was mixed. It is indeed our only release so far, but we are not sitting still.

I love the drumcomputer and synth sounds on this album.

Since we are both big fans of electronic music, it was quickly clear that synths would play a prominent role in our music. And with synths we do not mean the pseudo-symphonic strings but hard pulsating oscillations. The question that was asked in the beginning was whether we would still look for a drummer. However, we quickly came to the conclusion that drum computers were the answer. We fully embrace this instrument; we do not try to disguise our drum computers as a real drummer, but let it pound hard and motorically.

Who is behind Bacht’n De Vulle Moane?

Bacht’n de Vulle Moane is Scum and myself.

Who does what?

We both play guitar and electronics, and Scum takes care of the vocals. For the upcoming live concert, we will be joined by LQW on guitar. We have been around for a while; we were both teenagers in the 90s, so the music from that time has definitely left its mark on us.

Can you tell me how this album came about? What kind of album did you want to make with 'Kraagrituelen'?

I have a home studio and all the songs were written and recorded together here. I wouldn't call it a 'traditional' way of working like a rock band, though. Technically, 'Kraagrituelen' was written as electronic music, but with guitars. On some tracks, the guitar was sampled and processed into a whole new sound, and on other tracks the synths sound just as dirty and distorted as the guitars. Our way of working is liberating and allows us to explore paths that are difficult to achieve in a traditional setup.
When we started working together last year, we both already had a bunch of ideas to get started with, so it went pretty quickly. I expect a new release to represent even more of the individuality of our combined forces and it will probably turn out even more experimental.

Joeri Bruyninckx
https://bdvm.bandcamp.com/album/klachtenrituelen