1994 marked the beginning of his first semi-professional musical ambitions, when RAL established himself musically as a songwriter for the black metal formation MIGHTIEST.
Along with this and not long after, interest in dark ambient music arose, which gave rise to one of the most influential dungeon synth projects to date: DEPRESSIVE SILENCE, with which RAL is now considered a pioneer in this genre as co-songwriter. Longing for a more individual sound, the dungeon synth solo project GOTHMOG was realized in 1998, with the last song "A view into my abyss" of the only released demo "Medieval Journeys" already clearly aiming at a fusion of the two styles black metal and dungeon synth.
Years passed, and what remained at first was the passion for the compositions around MIGHTIEST. But with the emerging rediscovery of the old tunes by a constantly developing Dungeon Synth fan community and emerging scene, the old fire was also rekindled, which, especially in recent years, led to a reworking of the musical relics of DEPRESSIVE SILENCE and GOTHMOG, especially for the purpose of live productions.
But as much and as much as one enjoyed a revival of the past, the desire - but especially the creativity and motivation - to expand one's own musical horizons with new compositions in the sense of combining the two styles also manifested itself.
This ultimately and logically led to A SPELL ENRAGED - mentally years before, musically the development took its course from 2022 onwards.
Without self-imposed pressure, without obligations, everything should be subordinate to the purpose of one's own self-realization. Now everything is finally coming together to form an impending debut, and the 2024 demo should give a small foretaste of what to be expected: a symbiosis based on dungeon synth with metal influences... dark-romantic, horrifying-melodic, grotesque-idyllic, brutal-enchanting, complemented by an overall lyrical concept dedicated to the horror genre.
The demo contains the song "Blood Is Life Eternal", which is a story about vampirism, as well as "Won't Wake Up", which is dedicated to the tale of nightmares.
Both have been released on October 31, 2024 (just in time for Halloween) as a deluxe box limited to 50 units, containing a CD, a tape, a download code and a lyric sheet. The near future will see a strictly targeted debut album, as well as the establishment of live activities, which should guarantee performances worth experiencing, not least due to good networking among ambitious musicians (references MIGHTIEST, DEPRESSIVE SILENCE, GOTHMOG).
-Interview- (12/26/24)
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? How did the name "A Spell Enraged" come about and is there any meaning to it?
It were the late eighties/dipping nineties when I first snapped up a guitar, highly influenced by 80’s Heavy Metal tunes. After several lessons in self teaching playing the guitar I joined forces with some cool Metal guys to establish an infamous underground Black Metal formation named ‚MIGHTIEST‘, which are still alive to date. Concomitant with that I also reached out to some eerie ambient sounds when – nowadays – co-creating the iconic and greatly influencing Dungeon Synth legend DEPRESSIVE SILENCE, which also led to a Dungeon Synth solo project called ‚GOTHMOG‘, where I finally had been able to extensively unfold my very own musical preferences. After those excursions the main focus had been laid on MIGHTIEST, and it took a while until I got back to those ambient tunes. Yet the main matter always have been to combine Dark Ambient with some eerie Metal, so in 2022 I started to focus on a new project which should merge these two genres, with the intention to orientate on horror, being it soundscape as well as lyrical aspects.
The name ‚A SPELL ENRAGED‘ is a dedication to the iconic horror movie(s) ‚EVIL DEAD‘… well, it should have be named ‚AN INCANTATION ENRAGED‘, but SPELL sounded slightly better, and furthermore the abbreviation ASE also could stand for the singular of an ancient Germanic divinity.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
Being frightened yet fraught, captivated yet thrilled, spellbound yet scared.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
Dark ambient tunes mixed up with eerie Heavy Metal, a blend of enchanting soundscapes and furious metalized rhythms.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Darkthrone, Mayhem, Summoning… hahaha! Musically fitting it rather could be THE VISION BLEAK, ZOMBI, GHOST.
5. What's your thoughts on AI generated music?
I respect almost every handmade kind of music, and I really detest such botches being ramshackled by none of knowledge, skill or effort.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Ambient Metal?
My musical taste is more dedicated to original Heavy Metal as well as the more extreme direction, so I’m not really into Ambient Metal as such. I know this seems opposite to my drift with ASE, but this is simply a direction my mood and ethos leads me to, all without being inspired or influenced by any given themes.
7. What’s the current music scene like there in Germany?
There are quite a lot of Metal bands around here, mostly underground, mostly extreme, mostly brilliant. Unfortunately no dungeon synth or dark ambient ones, about anything else I don’t really care.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
With all my musical ambitions I always moved deep down underground, so I didn’t get confronted with such issues, so this is gonna be another thing I don’t and won’t care about.
9. What’s next for A Spell Enraged?
Currently we’re up to finish the last of overall 6 songs, so plans to enter studios to finalize the debut album are about to concretize. Furthermore we are targeted on establishing a live debut performance in Autumn 2025, hopefully right after an album release.
10. Any shoutouts?
Sure, shoutouts to anyone taking a shine on our tunes – whilst listening to them, caring about them. Whilst being delighted, being frightened.
