1. First of all I’d like you to fill us in on what’s happening in the OGEN camp at the moment. 

We've just released our debut miniCD, through Kolony Records and are just into the media-promotion of it, doing interviews, releasing press kit and stuff, in order to shed a bit of light on the band, which is, of course unknown to the vast majority of the metal audience.

The most important moment so far has been the whole production cycle of the EP and the way the recording sessions went, having been really smooth and kind of a really natural process, fulfilling what we had in mind in terms of sound since day one.  

“Black Metal Unbound” is – in my opinion –  a fresh and hopefully convincing miniCD, consisting of 5 tracks of both raw black metal moments and atmospheric edges, sometimes avoiding speed for speed's sake and leaning towards a more complex sound, made of unusual chords progressions, clean, layered vocals, time signature changes and some acoustic bits. Its highlight is, I think, the song ''Crest of the Forgotten'', which somehow manages to embody all these elements without being pompous nor boringly long. As a weak element, I may think of some acoustic guitars that would have enriched even more certain parts.

The band basically was born as a solo project of mine, set to be an easy and immediate expression of a side of my musical tastes. Of course OGEN has so far relied on just one person's views and compositional skills, but I think that this very factor helps keep the project very coherent sound-wise.

Hopefully the next songs will appear on a full length album; there's already been some talk with the label about this option but it's too early to say anything more on this. Of course there are some musical sketches here and there, that I might describe as having a more defined identity and a will to explore some new musical realms, without losing the freshness of ''Black metal unbound''. 

I think OGEN is an honest project, really tight from both a musical and lyrical point of view; moreover I feel that the 'atmospheric' element within the songs is really intriguing and not born of a formula, being led by a very firm artistic approach.    

I usually get loads of inspiration by the very things which the lyrics talk about, like mountains, woods, and the Alpine environment. I usually try to depict these topics, giving prominence to the sense of wonder and awe that they can inspire. So writing a tune is not very much a mathematical operation, but the aftermath of an inspiration process. 

Like I said, maybe ''Crest of the forgotten'', to which I may add ''Black Tusk Retaliation''.

The main sources of inspiration are the very thematic foundation of the lyrics, being them the perennial struggle between man and nature and the fascination of elements the same age as the Earth, like, as I said, mountains,which I try to depict in all their features and as an ideal theater of  heroic endeavors.

The term 'unbound' refers to the musical essence of the EP, which is for sure indebted with the early black metal sound, though at the same time contemplates some not so obvious musical elements which are primarily to be found in some chord progressions and guitar melodies that I think are the real 'trademark' of OGEN.  

The cover artwork is a photo taken by a Russian guy Kolony Records' boss personally contacted in order to be granted the use of it for the EP. I really don't know which place it is but we soon like its simple, strong, ominous impact, and we sensed that a landscape photo perfectly fit the lyrical contents of the songs.  

We already played a gig prior to the release of the album and have some, still undefined live plans for late 2011. The promotion so far has mainly been made by doing interviews and sending regular press-releases, also submitting for reviews the album to as many magazines and webzines possible. The Internet is maybe leveling things a bit but still is a very powerful instrument for a completely unknown band like OGEN.

It's no secret that the Internet made easy stealing something that the vast majority of people used to pay for back in the day. Now you are supposed to store on your computer as much music as you can, and smart is he who simply downloads it doing harm not only to record companies but, which is no way less important, to those who create music.

I think that OGEN's music is good for a resident trip to forgotten landscapes reminiscent of the sublime majesty of nature.

''Old legends I will seek no more, for I've become one out of them'' (which by the way is the backprint of the first run of T-shirts).

It's a word which has the same meaning as the word 'ocean', I found it in a erudite book from the XVIIth century.

Thank you for the great interview! Just give OGEN a listen, I'm pretty sure you will find something worth your time.