The specifications were quite simple though: It should be a small country and it should be a scene, which was underrepresented on an international scale. After some discussion and due to „genetic ties“ of Annas and my family, the decision to deep-dive into Czechia and to czech out (sorry, it had to be done!) the scene was a go!

Our first stop was the Thrash Nightmare in Pisek and to be brutally honest it was nearly already more than we could chew and simply overwhelming. The billing, while not particularly „Black Metal“ turned out to host three of the most important artists of the Czech scene in the form of Ota Heres, Silenthell and Blackosh, who each contributed to the most influential Black Metal bands Törr, Master's Hammer and Root – and are very active to this day. At the Thrash Nightmare, where we went quite „blue eyed“ and rather unprepared, we encountered a hurdle that should reveal itself as the biggest one.

English.

While being able to communicate quite well, we chose to stay in the mother tongue of the artists to make sure no info would be „lost in translation“. Lucky for us, the hospitality of Petr Kolar didn't end with allowing us to film at the Thrash Nightmare. With joined efforts we managed to get two of the most important pieces of interviews right away and we were hooked by Czechia and the scene! Working on the material then showed itself rather impossible. With no idea about the language whatsoever the idea of translating it ourselves was more than naive and doomed from the start. Luckily, a nice young lady who doesn't want to be named, translated or lets say transcripted the full interviews (which were countless pages of text) and we could outsource the whole subtitle issue to another young lady, who doesn't want to be named, on the Fiverr plattform. After really understanding what Blackosh, Silenthell and Ota Heres were telling us, the foundation of „Czechia Under The Horns“ was set.

Yet, it dawned on us, that we might had bitten off more than we could chew  because  the initial  research  already  was  like  going  apeshit  on  a  whiteboard  in  a  mental  asylum. 

With the experiences of the scene in Tallinn and Tartu, that grew over several years and countless visits, it was kinda easy. Only 1.3 million people in Estonia, a rather small group of artists that shared bands, places and spaces, the research could be done quickly and deeper. The other factor turned out to be in form of Krüxator, a German-Estonian by heart who was himself interested in pushing the documentary and was deeply rooted in the scene. His advice, remarks and contacts proved to be highly valuable and opened the doors to the more suspicious Estonian soul.

Czechia, with 10 times its populace, nearly double its country size and abundance of bands, protagonists, was a whole other story. We quickly learned, while being more hospitable overall and after we introduced ourselves and our cause, the Czech Black Metal head could be described rather suspicious and cautious. 

Reaching out was more like „Who are those Germans? What the fuck do they want? Hell no, get off our backs!“ Still, when finally convinced and in front of the cameras, the ice broke quickly and the soul of Czech Black Metal revealed itself to us!

This blog series is dedicated to our effort to show the path we took to dive into the Czech Black Metal scene - Stay tuned for part two: "Enter The Eternal Fire" or "Darkened summertime in Volyne"