Interview: Givre
The first time I heard Givre, I was blown away by the depth of their music, particularly in their use of various instrumentation. They’re not strictly a black metal band, but rather, they incorporate various influences in their music that make it flavorful and rich.
Straight outta Canada, Givre is a solid act recently signed by Eisenwald (a great signing, in our opinion). Like the cold weather up North, Givre’s music has a chill that reverberates in your inner being, all while there is a hopeful element that is intangible, yet very real. It’s impossible to miss the historical symbolism the band embodies, which I believe plays into their music overtly.
Blacforje had the honor of asking Givre some questions about their music, what inspires them, and the story behind the band.
Thanks for joining Blacforje for an interview! It’s an honor, guys. So, you’re in Canada, right? What part?
We are from Québec, the French province at the east of Canada. More specifically, we are from Rouyn-Noranda, a town in the isolated region of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, at the northwest of Québec.
If you don’t mind, tell the readers a little bit about the band, your history, and what brought Givre together.
Givre is band we founded at 16-years-old in high school. The first demo was actually composed in the context of a “project class” we had once a week. Around 19-years-old, we moved away from our hometown. A few compositions were intended to be on a second record, but when it was the time to make the project happen, it was with 3 new members, and the songs were a lot more progressive and jazzier. We decided to change the name and to forget about Givre. Entheos was born and put out three albums between 2015 - 2020.
In October 2020, Jean-Lou moved in my apartment in Montréal, and being together in lockdown, we started to make black metal together again in my home studio. We realized Givre was now 10 years old! Mathieu was also excited to work with us, even if he lives in Gaspé (10 hours away from Montréal). The choice to come back with the name Givre was too obvious of a choice for this new project idea since the original members were all hyped to work on it.
Your most recent album titled Destin Messianique was released in 2022. How do you feel it has been received by fans, as well as the black metal community?
I’m really happy with the reception the project had. I saw a good amount of positive reviews. It’s great to see that, even for an album that is homemade and with no production cost!
You are currently signed with Eisenwald. How has it been working with them as your label so far?
From my experience, the Eisenwald guys are very serious and hard working. It is really because of their investment in the project that it now has some visibility, and I’m really thankful for that! It is really motivating to see that kind of energy put into our band!
If I’m not mistaken, you are all Catholics, correct?
Well, we are born from the Catholic tradition in a province that has Catholic heritage. But none of us really is a devoted Christian.
How does your faith inspire your music, both lyrically and artistically?
The inspiration comes more from an obsession for history of ideas. Our culture here has gone through a huge transition in the last 100 years in terms of its relation to religion. In the early 1900s, Québec was a Catholic state, and now the churches are closing. So, I think we try to observe this strange relation to religion without prejudice and maybe learn more about ourselves along the way.
When people listen to Givre, what do you hope they take away from it?
Well, I guess our main focus would be to make engaging music that has enough meat around the bone for people to dig into if they want. But the foundation of the project is three friends making music with passion and no pretension, so I really hope this is what gets to the listeners.
What bands and artists have inspired the overall “vibe” of Givre?
We certainly got inspired by many metal acts over the years. The obvious would be Miserere Luminis, Lantlôs, Krallice, and Yellow Eyes. Another band that particularly influenced me a lot in terms of atmosphere and production is Across Tundras.
Most important question: when playing live shows, which member of the band gets into it the most? Are they just weird, or are they super rad?
Easily the drummer. He has a very rich vocabulary, and when he gets excited during live shows, he just comes up with these completely wild and savage fills that always blow my mind!
