Lightlorn writes about space in a way that stays tied to human life. The Ebb and Flow of Galactic Tides is built around scale, consciousness, and the fact that human existence sits inside something far larger than itself. That comes through in the album’s central idea, but also in the way Renwar talks about the band, his writing, and the questions behind it.
Renwar grew up in South Africa and later moved to Sweden. A lot also changed between the debut album and this one. Lightlorn became a three-piece, the writing opened up, and the new record came out through the band’s own label instead of Black Lion. In this interview, he talks about those changes, his South African roots, and the way Lightlorn approaches cosmic black metal.
“I’m passionate about astronomy. It’s something I discovered as a child in Africa, and I feel it’s the perfect subject matter for black metal.”
You’re based in Sweden now, but you’re originally from South Africa. How has that shaped the way you see yourselves as a band?
Renwar: I grew up in South Africa, where there was an excellent metal scene in the late ’90s. I got into black metal around 1997 after hearing Emperor’s Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and Satyricon’s Nemesis Divina. Years later, about 10 or 11 years after moving to Sweden, a friend and I decided to start a band. None of the bands I had played in before were black metal, so when I began writing songs, I quickly realized they sounded neither like the Norwegian bands nor like the Swedish scene. I suppose that comes from my South African roots. I didn’t grow up in a cold, dark climate, so naturally the music I write isn’t especially cold or dark. I think it would be disingenuous to write songs that sounded exactly like the Nordic style.
With The Ebb and Flow of Galactic Tides, what did you want to push further than you did on At One with the Night Sky?
At One with the Night Sky generally followed the same formula as our debut EP, These Nameless Worlds. With the new album, we wanted to experiment more and change the song structures. Our hope was that no two songs would sound the same. We also wanted to include a couple of tracks that were heavier than anything we had done before, while creating a strong balance between aggression and atmosphere. Even though The Ebb and Flow of Galactic Tides can be seen as a concept album, we still wanted each song to stand on its own.
A lot of your music reaches for something huge and cosmic, but it still feels very human underneath. Where does that connection come from for you?
I’m passionate about astronomy. It’s something I discovered as a child in Africa, and I feel it’s the perfect subject matter for black metal. At the same time, I’ve been fascinated by existential philosophers, particularly Nietzsche, for many years, and I think both science and philosophy ask the big questions: Why are we here? Are we alone? What is our purpose? The difference is that they approach those questions from very different starting points. The way I see it, we humans are not separate from the cosmos; we are part of it. And space is not something “above us” – it is our reality and the place in which we live. So I like to write lyrics from a perspective I call “existential astronomy.” I use the universe and its endless enigmas as metaphors and analogies for the human experience.
“Going from nothing in 2021 to becoming a name widely associated with cosmic black metal feels amazing.”
After the line-up change, Lightlorn became a three-piece. How did that change the way the band writes and works together?
On the first two releases – the EP and the debut album – Lightlorn was essentially a solo project. My friend Riaan Coertze (Mjöllnir, Nastergal, Sinthetic) from South Africa helped me with the drums, but all the final decisions were mine. Since bringing in Antagonist on drums and Robert on bass, Lightlorn has become much more democratic. We all have a say in the creation of the songs, artwork, photos, and so on. Writing music always benefits from having more than one person involved. Otherwise, there’s a risk it can start to sound boring or stale. With the three of us working together, we’re able to create something more dynamic and varied. We’ve also decided to add a fourth member to Lightlorn, but that’s something we’ll share more about at a later date.
You decided to release the new album through your own label instead of staying with Black Lion. What made this the right moment to do things on your own terms?
I’m not sure there’s ever really a perfect moment for a decision like this, but we decided to try it and see what would happen. Antagonist came up with the idea of starting our own record label through which we could release our albums. Black Lion is a great label, and they really helped Lightlorn in the beginning, but I think we all felt that we wanted more control over the album, as well as how and when it would be released. We’re very happy with how things have turned out, and the release of The Ebb and Flow of Galactic Tides has far surpassed our expectations. The number of listeners and fans has increased exponentially compared with our previous releases, and we’re quickly selling out the first run of CDs. So, was it the right time to strike out on our own? I don’t know – we’ll have to wait and see. But what I do know is that going from nothing in 2021 to becoming a name widely associated with cosmic black metal feels amazing. That said, we’re not finished yet – we’ve already started writing new songs that we’ll release either as an EP or another full-length next year.
You can buy or stream The Ebb and Flow of Galactic Tides on Bandcamp.
