Leslava: At first I heard Cristalys At the Ragnard Reborn festival. I didn’t find almost any information about the band on the Internet. Tell me the story of creation, the key points.
Jhellm: Cristalys was founded in 2002 by Northail (guitar/voice) and Blizzard (guitar) in Toulon (south of France). We play Ancestral black metal with some parts of thrash and heavy. Lyrics are about great history of Europe and against the rotting ways of modern world. The name of the band is the contraction of ‘‘Cristal’’ (for the purity) and ‘‘Lys’’ (white flower of the French royalty flag). We’ve made 2 demo/albums and 2 albums. You can go to our site
cristalysblackmetal.com
or join us on
www.facebook.com/cristalysmetal.
I’ve personally joined the band to help them for a live show and we’ve decided to stay together to replace Blizzard.
Leslava: How do you rate Ragnar Reborn? What was good? What is not so good? What are your impressions of Ukraine?
Jhellm: Ragnar Reborn was for us a really good opportunity to play in Ukraine and to participate at this fest of European brotherhood. The organization was professional, bands were very good, the location was very impressive and Ukrainian people welcomed us very well. We can regret a lack of people and the difficulty for western fans to come in Ukraine (travel very expensive). But for a first edition we can really say that it was successful. Ukraine is a very nice country, his people is proud and friendly. Kharkhiv is a beautiful city and we can just regret to see the scars of communism plague….but now it’s over and the future will be brighter.
Leslava: Ukrainian metal bands are often not easy to be heard on the Ukrainian market, it may even be easier at international space. How are things going in France?
Jhellm: So for Ukrainian bands I only know some bands like Kroda, Drudkh, Nokturnal Mortum, Astrofaes, Khors, Hate forest…they’re known in France because of their quality…In France it’s difficult for French bands to emerge because it’s not a rock or metal country…and most of the labels prefer foreign bands (Norwegian, Swedish).
Leslava: Who from the legends of the world scene inspires Cristalys?
Jhellm: We’ve so many influences in Cristalys…Legends like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer inspire us but many bands from thrash metal to black metal. Personally I’m more in death metal but I like so many bands.
Leslava: What do you want to achieve in music?
Jhellm: Our goal is to write and play good music. We are as brothers who plays together with the same spirit.
Leslava: What is Cristalys doing now?
Jhellm: Now we’re writing the new album. It will be more thrash influenced but still with epic parts.
Leslava: With what bands would you like to perform together?
Jhellm: There’re so many bands we would play with. I can say Marduk, Misanthrope (France), Nargaroth for example.
Leslava: I know you’re big fan of horror and I was happy to talk with you in Kharkov. Tell me about yourself as a horror fan. What is your favourite horror movie and game?
Jhellm: Yes it was a pleasure to speak about horror with you and to show you my passion for Jason Voorhees ah ah!! Since I was a young boy I’ve always been interested by dark things, bloody things and I had a vivid imagination about all horrible things who could walk in the night…and now I like all stuffs about horror: music, movies, games, books... I don’t have one favorite movie because there is so many goods movies like Martyrs, The Exorcist, From Beyond, Reanimator etc.… For the video game I love “last of us” for example.
Leslava: What are you afraid of?
Jhellm: I’m afraid for the future of our civilization and for my country. Loss of identity, loss of ethics, moral, fighting spirit, virtues. The horizon seems to be blackened for us.
Leslava: What do you think about Halloween? Maybe horror fans should create more scary holiday?
Jhellm: Halloween is for me a big commercial joke but it’s ok to have fun with. It’s typically an American festivity so I’m not into that. I prefer celebrate Samhain with my friends…
Leslava: What do you think about art-therapy? Is it possible to have horror art-therapy?
Jhellm: The art therapy is a good idea particularly music therapy I think. For the horror art maybe it could be successful treatment for serial murders ah ah!!!
Leslava: What do you think about religion?
Jhellm: Religions have to be personal and not dogmatic. No one can explain me what god to believe in or to pray for. Aggressive people with aggressive policies to spread their poisonous dogma should be killed.
Leslava: Finally a couple of words to your fans. Thanks.
Jhellm: I would like to hail all the real people who support Cristalys and follow us since years. We also want to thanks all the bands we’ve shared stage with. I want to say a bloody “thank you” for this interview. Strength and Honor!!