Heathen Harvest: Svarrogh began as a black metal band, but it has become something much more idiosyncratic than that. Please describe how your interest in black metal developed, and who the earliest black metal bands you liked were. Were there any bands which specifically inspired the formation of Svarrogh? What was it that attracted you about black metal – what did you understand its central message to be? And what made you decide to develop Svarrogh’s sound away from black metal towards a more industrial-folk hybrid sound?

Dimo Dimov: Well, actually I’m not really up-to-date with what’s going on with any scene, but I always like to pick up some great jewels. The last marvellous records I heard were from Lunar Aurora, Urfaust and Drudkh. Of course, every single person is influenced by many different sources and other inspirations, and maybe it would be even better if we all could stand without influences and create something entirely original, but this is hardly possible. Maybe I was kinda amazed by the eastern European pagan scene at the end of the millennium. And to me, a dark and sombre atmosphere in music has always been like a red blossom for the bees. I would also like to say that black metal is not the only way to express darkness and ‘negative’ emotions, but it is indeed the most powerful and haunting expression for me, if it is done well – like a deep, black abyss.

I really can’t stand all that melodic metal, and metal music itself is nothing more than lifeless rock business and cheap entertainment. It’s just a musical circus for the masses, who want to listen to aggressive music without any deeper intention, without cogitations of unexplained emotions, death and transcendence. Playing loud guitars and headbanging is not enough to create something more than just music. Between black metal and normal metal music should be an abyss. That’s the big problem with metal – most of the people in metal bands are musicians, but they are not artists, and on the other hand you see other musical styles (for example neo-folk) where most of the people are artists, but they are not musicians! The best mixture of these two elements is the basis for a good band.  Svarrogh´s sound changed because I felt the need for change and challenge. Life is too short to determine yourself only on one thing. I think we must not wear blinkers.


HH: The latest Svarrogh album, Yer Su, though, has much more prominent black metal tendencies than Balkan Renaissance or Temple Of The Sun. Do you feel able to re-incorporate black metal into your music, now that the point has been made that Svarrogh isn’t simply a black metal band?

DD: No, I don’t think so. You can’t declare everything black metal just because there’s some fuzzy guitar, and see how the little gothic kids run away from a guitar riff!  I said already, there are several very different ways to express the being of nature and the earth. In the first Svarrogh albums, the symbiosis of folk and black metal was not satisfying for me. I cannot predict the future, we will see, but Svarrogh is definitely not a black metal band.


HH: I believe that Svarrogh has always been basically your solo project, although you have used lots of guest musicians on your albums and of course you have a regular live line-up. Have you ever considered forming Svarrogh as a regular band with other musicians, or are you happy with it as a solo project?

DD: Due to the fact that I play in several other groups, I’m really happy to have my own thing, my own compositions and creations. Nevertheless, the people I work with who are guests on the recordings always bring their ideas and visions into the music, and that’s always very nice. It’s also nice to see how other musicians work on a special theme or lyrics I have given to them before. As our live performances differ a lot from the songs on the recordings, which is also due to the live musicians, you could say that on stage we work like a real band. I’m currently looking for more musicians to extend the line-up.


HH: Please tell me something about your working methods – how a song is constructed, the kind of technology you use, where you record etc.

DD: I have very bad equipment – you can’t imagine what a cheap recording technique I use, but I think the results are always good. Here at my home studio in Munich, I record the basic instruments and arrangements and do the mixing and mastering. For special effects, drum recordings and synths, I use a professional studio run by my ex-guitar player Arioch.

A song begins with yearning and ends with stress, and often the mistake is to overload it. I try to compose the arrangements, and not just put different parts together. I try to paint with tones and sounds to create a musical picture of imagination. I mainly compose on guitar or tamboura, sometimes on piano. The construction of a song has to be unforeseeable, and the contrast of harsh and soft elements is important.


HH: One of the musicians you do a lot of work with is Gerhard Hallstatt from the Austrian band Allerseelen, who did guest vocals on the Temple Of The Sun EP, and who performs with you at live shows. You are also part of the current Allerseelen live line-up. Can you explain how you started to work with Gerhard, and how important he has been for Svarrogh. Did you, for instance, start to release Svarrogh albums on the Austrian label Ahnstern as a result of knowing Gerhard?

DD: I can only say that Gerhard was and is a big help to Svarrogh with organising concerts and finding me such a great label as Ahnstern. We started to work together more than three years ago, by a complete accident, after huge rumours of Antifa activity surrounding an Allerseelen concert in Rosenheim, Germany. He also introduced me to a lot of people in the neo-folk community.


HH: You also have a close association with the Bulgarian photographer and designer HaateKaate, who has done the cover art for the last three Svarrogh releases. How did that partnership happen?

DD: Gerhard introduced me to Katia (HaateKaate), after coming back from a trip he made to Bulgaria. And we met last year for the first time at a festival in Xanthi, Greece, where she had an exhibition this year. She’s a great photographer and artist, maybe the best I know, and also the one with most magical visions of common things and situations. I’m relying on Katia for all future Svarrogh artwork.


HH: Are there any other people who have been very influential on Svarrogh?

DD: Yes of course – all of the great and lovely guests who have helped me with the recordings, and their crea(c)tive ideas.


HH: What are the key inspirations for the music of Svarrogh? Tell me about any literature, art, history and philosophy which you feel has been influential for Svarrogh. And of course, the Bulgarian landscape which is referred to so often in Svarrogh songs.

DD: Where should I begin? First of all, every passing day influences me personally, and thus the music of Svarrogh. Previously, my nostalgia for my fatherland was the main source of inspiration, and it still it is, although in another, more mature way.  The wide Thracian landscape, a golden granary; the silent and solitary mountains of Pirin, Sredna Gora, Rhodopa, so wild and nearly untouched; the Black Sea during December; the sleeping villages and the rural life of the people; these things are my heritage from my ancestors, and I pay homage to them through my music and lyrics. The 19th century´s Balkan renaissance was a heroic and passionate fight of the Hayduks for culture and freedom, and so was all art and poetry during this period, a fight with quills and ink. I use a lot of works of Bulgarian writers like P.K. Yavorov (the last Svarrogh EP After The Shadows Of The Clouds was completely dedicated to his life), Ivan Vazov or Elin Pelin.

Ancient Slavic and Bulgarian mythology and heathen philosophy and spirituality is also a deep well for my music. As I am one of only a few people who want to combine Slavic and Bulgarian (Bolg-Aryan) traditions. The Bulgarians weren´t a Slavic people, they were an Asiatic horse-people from the depths of the holy mountain Immeon (Pamir).

The southern Slavs have a pantheon which differs a lot from that of the northern and eastern Slavs, as it is more Zoroastrian, and the Bulgarians have Tangrism, a shamanistic cult of the sky-god Tangra, with its own runic alphabet. You can say the first Svarrogh album Baxas Xebesheth 1883 was mainly about Slavic paganism, Lady Vitosha and Kukeri combined Bulgarian and Slavic mythology and heathenism, and were very spiritually strong and esoteric, especially Kukeri, while Balkan Renaissance was dedicated to the Balkan art of the 19th century, and Temple Of The Sun was a sun cult-oriented release with a lot of Surrealist and symbolist lyrics.


HH: Can you describe the Bulgarian pagan mythology behind the Yer Su album, including the album title itself. What does ‘Yer Su’ mean? What is ‘Tangrism’? What is the ‘Yer Su rune’?

DD: Yer Su means in proto-Bulgarian ‘water-earth’. It stands for the spirits of the ancestors living on shores, in caves, rivers and forests. Together with the earth-mother Umay, they represent the life on earth and the material plane. While Tangra is the eternal sky-god (tan = ‘sky’, nak = ‘human’, ra = ‘god’ –some researchers claim that tan originates in the Chinese ‘t´ien’,  and ra has ancient Sumeric roots). About the ritual practice of Yer Su, there’s a huge lack of documentation. But sacrifices and small improvised altars have been found in rivers and caves, while Tangra had its own official altars and temples. Anyway, the main theme of Tangrism is eternal cosmic harmony, which it is mankind´s duty to preserve, together with his powers, helping the wind horse Vihrogon to rise towards the sky.

About the rune – it is not documented that Yer Su had a special symbol; the ‘IYI’ symbol is the Tangra rune, and later the symbol of the Dulo clan, the first khans (‘kings’) of the Bulgarian sarakt (‘empire’).


HH: Many ex-communist countries in central and eastern Europe have undergone a great resurgence of paganism since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Has this happened in Bulgaria? These pagan revivals are also often associated with ethnic pride, folk traditions and nationalist politics – again, is this the case in Bulgaria? Do you have any formal involvement in Bulgarian paganism?

DD: Definitely, many people and groups in eastern European countries are developing nationalist movements after 50 years of communist slavery. New national identities are waking up after a long rest. But in Bulgaria, there’s no pagan movement. That is taking place more in the Slavic countries. In Bulgaria there is a strong nationalist movement. We don’t have neo-heathen festivals like in Lithuania or Russia, but our traditional folklore festivals and Kukeri games are widely practiced and supported.


HH: You are currently resident in Germany, and yet Svarrogh’s music is deeply concerned with Bulgarian identity, landscape and culture. Is your music essentially nostalgic for your homeland? Do you think your interest in Bulgarian identity has actually intensified as a result of no longer being there?

DD: This is a very interesting question, and I think you are right. But time heals all wounds, even the deepest, and now I can look more clearly on these things, and nostalgia does not occupy such a big place in my mind. I visit my fatherland as often as possible, and I know that my heart belongs there and that some day I will go back, but I love also Germany. On the other hand, if I’d always lived in Germany, I don’t think I would have created Svarrogh’s songs such as they are now. It’s not only heritage and identity which are very important for Svarrogh, but also the surreal vision of nature, of mankind and our nests – the big grey cities we live in, the industrial organism.


HH: Do you have any more releases planned for 2008? What about live performances? Or compilation appearances? What about your other project, Miel Noir – is there anything happening with that?

DD: We’re always looking for opportunities for new shows, and on 27th of September we will play at the Mediterranean Autumn Festival in Barcelona, Spain, together with Camerata Mediolanense, Arnica, Die Weisse Rose, Allerseelen and many other bands. After that, I plan to give Svarrogh a little creative break, in order to concentrate on a triple split CD with two great bands from Catalonia and Greece – Arnica and Défilé des Âmes. The new songs will be very powerful, but also very slow and sombre, melancholic and with a more simple instrumentation - just right to the point!

The Eastern Front are planning the first full-length release of  Miel Noir called Der Honigflügel (‘The Honey Piano’, but you can also translate ‘Flügel’ as ‘wing’) – it will be a very different album, without heavy drones, but with a lot of apocalyptic chanson piano. It will be released for our live performance in Tel Aviv, in January next year.  And I will also concentrate on the new albums of Sturmpercht and Allerseelen, which have to be recorded this year.

And I am proud to say I have recently become a member of the German neo-classical band Sagittarius. It was Cornelius Waldner’s suggestion to form a completely new line-up, and after his passionate telephone call, this came true. We are currently looking everywhere for new live opportunities, and working on new material.


HH: Anything else you’d like to add?

DD: Thank you, Simon, for your kind support – see you again somewhere, some day.  Stop the non-smoking madness!!!