Obsidian Sea is a Bulgarian doom rock band that has its musical roots in the 70s proto-doom and early metal scene. Originally formed in 2009 by Anton and Bozhidar in Sofia, they managed to catapult themselves to the top of the Bulgarian underground metal and rock scene within a few years.
The band's bassist - Delyan Karaivanov, who had played in dozens of cult formations of the Bulgarian metal underground before joining Obsidian Sea in 2016 - is also significantly involved in this. The trio finds the source of inspiration for their work in the transnational imagination of man, archaic myths as well as also in the shadow parts of the psyche. As professional philosophers and ethnologists, they earn their bread by day teaching and researching at the University in Sofia.
Interview quotes:
Bozhidar: "Magic is understood as the directing and channeling of certain emotional states, i.e. the establishment of a holistic emotional attitude. Even in music, this term is used, for example, when a kind of magic is created through stage performance."
Delyan: "Magic actually has a permanent place in art. In music, the sounds resonate and vibrate in specific ways and the rhythm can unlock things that can make a person have a fantastic, or magical experience."
Anton: "Spirituality has a high value because art without spirituality means what the ancient Greeks called 'techne'. So you have a certain artistry, but seen more from a mechanical point of view. And to make something without spirituality is simply to create artifacts without putting any meaning into it. There is a pragmatic meaning behind it, but without the heart spark that you would put into it fervently. And without all that, it has no weight for me personally."
New Cast Member
Phra Ram