"Womb Of The Word", Qrixkuor's second full-length album appears to be one of the most interesting together with one of the most disturbing albums in death metal for some time. With its interesting string instrument orchestrations which seem to be more abhorrent than anything else this is for sure no easy-listening but a challenging experience. I sent S. (vocals, guitars) a bunch of questions, enjoy the interview and check the band if you haven't done yet!

Michael

Hey, I hope you're doing fine?

Splendid, with the UK seemingly accumulating enough consecutive days of rain to achieve the Great Flood. It provides some atmosphere while simultaneously keeping a few of the idiots indoors and out of the way.

Before we start to dive a little bit deeper into the band and music, could you tell me what the meaning of "Qrixkuor" is? I guess many listeners wonder about that.

It is drawn from the name of creature within the Kenneth Grant canon - while this world is somewhat inspirational in its lurid fantasy, the ambiguity of the word was a quality that we found especially attractive by way of allowing us to charge it with our own energies - a bizarre and unusual moniker for bizarre and usual art. Thus, the definition of Qrixkuor is simply our work to date.

With "Womb Of The World" you have composed a nightmarish and very intense horror trip through the abysses of the deep. Where did you get the ideas for such ill-fevered abominations?

Standing at the edge of the world at the 13th hour, dwarfed by the restless and relentless energies of the heavens above and of the oceans below. Consumed by the endless serenade of the moribund stars and the primordial growl of the bottomless seas, once formed, they were never still again. I don't have to use my imagination because this is my shrine to the Devil.

A lot in the songs is more or less chaotic; how do you write a song like" Slithering Serendipity"? Was there a lot of improvisation during the recording process or was everything more or less planned and written?

Nothing is improvised structurally. Certain embellishments may be left more open than others, but it is a very small percentage of the overall content that has not passed significant trials and tribulations to be rewarded with its inclusion far in advance of that final recording sessions.

What I personally like in the songs is the use of sting instruments and choruses. Usually one connects harmony and positive feelings with them but you use it more as a prolonging strain the nerves of the listener even more than it would be without them. Was that the intention or did I catch you on the wrong foot here?

Yes - the jovial manner in which orchestral instrumentation within extreme metal has generally been utilised throughout its history could not be more antithetic to the context, save for some notable and obvious exceptions. The intention of introducing them into Qrixkuor's soundscape was to achieve the exact opposite of that.

Nevertheless it seems that you have a certain penchant for classic music, I guess?

I'm not entirely sure whether you mean classic or classical, but I suppose that both are equally applicable. Modern (since the beginning of the 20th century) classical music harks back to a time when structures were not yet dumbed down to verse-chorus formats, when experimentation was rife and intention and emotion were all. It is promises these principles, along with many others, in which we find kinship and which have most deeply affected our work.

Classic is also the artwork of the album. It reminds me of ancient Greek and so does the music also at a certain point, all the drama and the arc of suspense. Are you somehow inspired by ancient history?

It is the first time that I have heard that particular observation, but I can certainly see the angle that you're coming from. Indeed - all that has passed is alive until the last time that it is mentioned by name. Much lies forgotten that should we be remembered.

Looking at "The Womb Of The World" as a whole – is there a certain concept behind the entire album or do we just dive into four different stories?

The album concerns the return of matter to the beckoning soil of its birth upon death and the fragments left behind - or otherwise - in the process, and the blessings and curses of an existence bound to walking the ever-thinning tightrope between madness and genius, never quite knowing on which side you will fall until the fall happens. The four chapters of the album convey this rise and fall and rise and fall in sequence. 

Musically you are deeply rooted into cavernous death metal like Krypts, Grave Miasma and stuff like that. What are the bands that mainly had an influence on you?

That wave of death metal spearheaded by the likes of Grave Miasma and Teitanblood, sure. Looking further back, I would mention the likes of Morbid Angel, Immolation and The Chasm, as well as Demoncy and Von, both of whom we covered live back in the day. The old coffin spirit still lives even if things have progressed somewhat on every level since that period. Outside metal, the most notable and obvious names might be Elend and Dead Can Dance, as well as Penderecki, Schoenberg and Shostakovich, in addition to many others that I have named at different times in other publications.

Performing "The Womb Of The World" live would be a great challenge, I guess and an amazing experience for the audience. Are there such plans for the future?

A great challenge indeed, and I am afraid that it will likely always remain logistically impossible at our underground level to reproduce ‘The Womb of the World' at anything close to the extra-metallic textural density of the original recording. Whether there exists another way to achieve this does not disservice the recorded material is a question that I do not currently have the answer to, but one that remains open.

Now that 2025 is over, what were your favorite albums of that year and to which album are you looking forward to be released in 2026?

Probably Sijinn, Omegavortex…maybe Blut Aus Nord. I'm usually well behind the curve and what was released in which year has less relevance than the actual time that it made it to my ears. As far as 2026 goes, I share the hope of many that the dream of another Dead Congregation is finally made flesh.

Thank you very much for answering my questions – now the last words are up to you!

Thank for you the interview, and to all readers and listeners.