Sylvan Fortress is a new Symphonic Black metal band from the USA. I had the honour of being the first webzine to interview this band. The other members of the band were currently occupied with other things, so Lonewolf and Lord Charles will answer the questions.

JesusMetal: Please introduce Sylvan Fortress and yourself, how did it all begin?

Lord Charles: Sylvan Fortress is Lord Charles on guitar, Vidar on drums, Lonewolf on lead vocals, and Sir Timothy on keys/synths. It all began when a band I was in disbanded. I was introduced to Sir Timothy from a mutual friend/vocalist. This mutual friend/vocalist who is known as Lord Corenth, Sir Timothy, and myself decided to form a new band. We agreed on the name Sylvan Fortress and we set out to lay the groundwork for the band. Now, Lord Corenth is no longer with us and has been replaced by Lonewolf. We recruited Vidar into our ranks. This is the short version of our beginnings, but this is how we began.

JesusMetal: What brings you in the mood for writing?

Lord Charles: I can't really say for certain. Inspiration can strike without warning at any given second. But a good cold storm always gets me primed for writing. Also tales of medieval battles and things also get my imagination in a nice creative mind flow.

JesusMetal: Which bands bring influences in your music?

Lord Charles: I listen to so many bands it is hard to say. I do want to say that I do not copy any band. But of course I am influenced by some of the bands to some degree. Everyone is influenced by those who they listen to in some way whether they admit it or not. But I actively seek to copy no one. But a short answer to your question would be Immortal, Dissection, Dimmu Borgir, Crimson Moonlight, Vaakevandring, and countless others.

LoneWolf: My personal opinion is that we are our own influence. We try to have a sound of our own.

JesusMetal: You'll be recording a demo very soon, what can we expect?

Lord Charles: You can expect black metal that has feels of melodic atmospheric styles as well as some aggressive and brutal moments.

LoneWolf: Our music will be a combination of ripping black metal as well as majestic atmosphere.

JesusMetal: Tell something about the demo, how many songs will it contain, how will it be named?

Lord Charles: The demo will only contain three songs and will be entitled Poetic Shades of Winter. But these three songs will be worth the price of the CD.

JesusMetal: You use artistnames, why?

Lord Charles: Black metal is a complete art form with music and imagery. The artist names are a part of the imagery we adhere to. As with Sir Timothy and myself, our real names really are Timothy and Charles so the inserting of titles 'Lord' and 'Sir' just adds to the medieval element of our image.

JesusMetal: Are you talking with labels at the moment?

Lord Charles: No, we are not talking to any labels yet. We want to get the demo out first so that the labels will know we are a real band, and we want to prove we have our place. Of course we will send our demo and some video of live performances to some labels right away and see if anyone is interested in us. But we haven't done that yet

JesusMetal: What do you do in your life besides Sylvan Fortress?

Lord Charles: I work full time. I pursue my interests in medieval life.

JesusMetal: How often do you practice and were?

Lord Charles: Well, we don't practice that often right now due to the great amount of distance between us all. We have had some transportation and scheduling conflicts, but we are working to overcome these problems as we speak. We would like to consistently practice once or twice a week. That is our goal. Currently we practice maybe once a month. And we usually practice in Lake Elsinor, California.

JesusMetal: What are you favourite bands?

Lord Charles: This is impossible to answer. It depends on what mood I am in at the time. But among my most common choices would be Immortal, Nile, Edge of Sanity, Dissection, Sinister, on and on and on...

LoneWolf: My musical interests are mostly symphony, true metal, spiritual.

Lord Charles: Yeah, I agree with Lonewolf.