Metal Roots From Sound To Sustainability
This project by the Chasing The Light Art photographer Iuliana Pasca is born from her desire to explore the intersection of metal music and environmental sustainability. Through stories and photographs she is hoping to inspire you to rethink how you can contribute to a more sustainable world. Her unique website is Metal Roots / From Sound To Sustainability and you can also follow her on social media to keep update
Frost band interview ~ Iuliana Pasca
About the band
With a history of nearly three decades, what would you say is unique to Frost’s sound and message in the black metal scene?
Hello Iuliana and welcome readers! Frost’s musical sound is always changing, but we always strive to make our music sound as clear and understandable as possible, while maintaining the atmospheric dark mood. This is very important. Previously, one of the stylistic features of Black Metal was a chaotic and noisy sound, but from the mid-90s, bands appeared that changed this. Later, we followed this path. What is the message? Over the course of 29 years, we have dealt with many topics through our lyrics. Occultism, nature and dark mood-painting lyrics have regularly appeared. However, the lyrics of the latest albums are about the dark side of the human soul, about hatred, anger, oppressive moods and depressive feelings that come to the surface. So there is no particular message. We simply give ourselves to the music and the listener can either identify with it or not.
The landscape
Black metal frequently draws inspiration from nature. How does the Hungarian natural landscape influence your song writing and creative process?
There are two main approaches to Frost’s nature lyrics. One is the monumentality of the natural environment around us, as we see it. The other part of this theme is the mystical feeling that comes over you, for example when you spend a night in the forest in the cold of winter or when you walk among the trees on a foggy grey day in autumn. The point of it all is to be able to connect with your inner being to the deep and mystical moods that the given natural environment offers. If you succeed, you will have experiences that really inspire you to write a song or a lyric.
Spiritual darkness
Winterblood evokes a blend of darkness and nature’s power placing us in a harsh environment. Do you see this as a resistance against nature’s power, or as an acceptance of its overwhelming force?
Nature must be accepted as it is. In Earthly existence, nature has the greatest power, even if most of humanity imagines it differently. If you mentioned the album “Winterblood”, the structure of the lyrics there is a bit more complex, it is not just about nature. Spiritual darkness, loneliness, mysticism, occult themes are present in almost every song. It is enough to think of the opening song of the album (In Me).
The Bükk Mountains
The Bükk Mountains are often present in your music. What personal or cultural significance do these landscapes hold for the band?
The Bükk Mountains are a landscape in northern Hungary. Frost comes from here, we live here. We often visited these forests when we were very young, in winter, summer, rain, mud. In addition to walks and hikes, we often went out to the forest with friends to party, instead of going to a rock club or a pub. We gathered wood, made a fire and spent the nights outside, no matter what season it was or what the weather was like. We know every face of the Bükk. This is very inspiring when writing a song.
Nature’s Revenge
Your song Nature’s Revenge explores humanity’s downfall and its broken relationship with the Earth. Could you share the inspiration behind these lyrics, and do you see this as a critique of modern society’s disconnection from nature?
I think you answered your own question! (ha-ha) Well, yes… As the centuries pass, thanks to technical and scientific progress, humanity has more and more tools at its disposal. The problem is that the vast majority of humanity is unable to live in symbiosis with anything. Sooner or later, the eternal law of nature will prevail: the strong survive, the weak perish. The lyrics of “Nature’s Revenge” are essentially about destruction, death, and a process. A short description of the occurrence of a law.
Earth’s destruction
Many of your lyrics give a sense of cosmic inevitability where the Earth’s destruction seems both personal and universal. Do you want your music to be received as a warning or more as a reflection of societal and environmental issues?
No, we don’t mean it as a warning at all. Our lyrics and music should always be viewed from an aspect in which occultism, mysticism, hatred or dark emotions are the driving forces, with a dose of misanthropy. We deal with or say things that the average person ignores or doesn’t like to deal with because they consider them negative and depressing. But these things still exist. For example, the theme of death, but I could mention many similar things. So we don’t want to convince anyone of anything and we don’t expect them to think the same way as us. With our music, we express our worldview and convey various moods that the vast majority probably won’t like. That’s it.
Natural themes
What do you hope listeners take away from your music, particularly regarding the natural themes found in your albums?
Those who listen to our music think similarly to us. Those who don’t like this style of music and what’s behind it will still not be interested in what we have to say. So I don’t expect anything in that regard.
New Album
As Frost continues its journey, what can we expect to see emerging from the fog? What deeper truths or untold stories would you like to reveal, not just in your music, but in the path you’re walking as individuals and as a band?
The new album will be released in September 2025 by Grundrecords. We will continue on the path we have started, both musically and lyrically. No drastic musical changes are expected on the new album, we will continue the atmosphere of the previous albums, with even darker riffs and even more somber melodies. Fans can expect more concerts from us this year! I hope to see you there!
Hail Black Metal
Thank you for taking the time to share your insights. Your music and reflections on the themes that drive Frost are inspiring.
Thanks for the interview, all the best Iuliana and all the best to the readers! Hail Black Metal!
Listen to the band
Keep up to date and listen to the Hungarian Black Metal band Frost with the following links.
