Interviews: Radiant Black

On this new occasion, we had the opportunity to interview the Progressive Death Metal/Melodic Death Metal project Radiant Black from Israel. Check out the interview and follow the project on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. How did Radiant Black come together, and what inspired the creation of the project in 2022?

Radiant Black started as a very deliberate decision to stop waiting for the right circumstances and just build something. In 2022, being between jobs and after some years of playing in a band on my own, I already had a good, rough idea of how to produce music myself. I decided I wanted a vehicle for releasing heavy music on my own terms — no compromises, no schedules dictated by a full band, just a focused creative output, and a purpose to learn how to produce music independently to a high standard. The project launched with the Epoqualypse EP that same year, and it's been in motion ever since.

2. Where did the name Radiant Black originate, and what meaning does it hold for you?

It's a contradiction that feels honest to me. "Radiant" suggests something emitting light, warmth, intensity — and "Black" grounds it in darkness and weight. Metal at its best does both simultaneously. As someone who studied physics in university, the name is inspired by what’s called ‘black-body radiation’ in physics.

3. Looking back at Epoqualypse, Reborn, and Rituals of Anarchy, how do you feel the band has evolved leading up to Through the Valley of Decay?

Each release was a natural evolution. Epoqualypse was about establishing the core sound — melodic riffing, solos, structured songwriting. Reborn was about an evolution of that, pulling it faster and heavier, relying solely on a unique guitar tuning I came up with, and that was used on Epoqualypse’s last song, Immortalized. Reborn was also the first time I mixed the record on my own, so it was another step in my learning process. Rituals of Anarchy went bigger, as a full-length album, it expanded to new territories and established the band’s identity even further, incorporating various odd guitar tunings, some shifting tempos, and slower songs too. Through the Valley of Decay, I felt more confidence and freedom to expand the project's sonic palette even further; the compositions, phrasing, and transitions are bolder, and in a sense feel more personal.

4. What inspired the title Through the Valley of Decay?

The imagery of a valley — something you descend into and move through — felt like the right metaphor for what the album explores emotionally, and for life itself. Decay isn't just destruction; it's transformation. Things break down before they can become something else. The title is about that passage.

5. Was the album conceived as a complete journey from the beginning, or did the narrative emerge naturally during the writing process?

Honestly, a bit of both. There was an intention from early on to create something continuous — not just a series of tracks but a descent. But the specific shape revealed itself during writing. Some songs became the anchors, and everything between them fell into place around that tension. The first song, Ascent, and the last two songs, The Witness and Hall of Voices, were written last, while trying to shape the identity of the album and give it its closure.

6. The record feels very cohesive and cinematic. How important was album flow when arranging the track sequence?

Extremely important — probably the thing I thought about most besides the music itself. The sequence is almost like an emotional argument. Each track needs to earn its place in relation to what comes before and after it. I didn't want it to feel like a playlist; I wanted it to feel like a single experience you move through linearly. In that regard, some songs I had were already recorded, but didn’t make it to the album because of that same reason, while other songs came to life in order to shape the album’s narrative better.

6. The opening track, Ascent, sets a distinct tone. Why did you choose it as the gateway into the album?

Ascent is short and immediate — it's almost a prelude. It establishes mood and intention without overstaying its welcome, and it creates forward momentum into Viridian, which is where the album really opens up. I wanted something that felt like a deep breath before the descent rather than a conventional opener that tries to do everything at once.

7. Several songs balance beauty and brutality. How do you approach creating that contrast in your music?

I think about it harmonically and dynamically. Beauty in metal usually lives in melody and space — moments where you let something breathe. Brutality comes from density, aggression, and a sense of pressure. I believe the two can coexist, and that’s what I try to do most of the time. The challenge is in the transition between different parts: how you move from one to the other, and how quickly. If the contrast is too abrupt, it feels arbitrary; if it's too smooth, it loses impact. Finding that threshold is a huge part of the creative work.

8. What themes are explored lyrically throughout the album?

The album orbits ascent, collapse, and continuity — what remains when things fall apart, what identities survive crisis, what it means to witness your own deterioration and keep moving anyway. First Light is about spiritual resolution. Between the Faces deals with fractured identity directly. Elegy for the Condemned leans into grief and acceptance. The witness is about the power of staying present. Hall of Voices is about what accumulates over time — memory, weight, resonance.

9. Which song on the record best represents the current identity of Radiant Black?

Viridian. It has everything the project is built on — the guitar work, the melodic depth, the structural ambition, the balance of aggression and atmosphere. I'd be comfortable handing that song to someone hearing Radiant Black for the first time.

10. What was the most challenging track to write or record, and why?

Elegy for the Condemned. It's the most spacious and emotionally exposed thing on the record, and that kind of restraint is genuinely harder to execute than density. Knowing what not to play, letting something hang — that requires a different kind of discipline. Hall of Voices was just as challenging as it had a lot of space to fill, but ironically became one of the densest songs on the album. The song is packed with vocals and guitar layers, while also being rhythmically intricate. Fitting it all was quite a challenge.

11. Raphael, how has your approach to guitar composition and lead work evolved on this album?

I've become much more fluid about where leads live in a mix and what role they're serving emotionally. Earlier, I wrote leads that were primarily technical or melodic statements. On this album, I tried to write leads that serve the song's emotion — sometimes that means space and sustain over runs, or a single bending note held longer than feels comfortable. I can also say that most lead guitar ideas come to me while improvising, and that this time I’ve taken more freedom to not overthink some parts that could be seen as bold or even odd. Also, while recording, going for takes that resonate with me emotionally rather than being the cleanest of the most conformistic ones.

12. First Light features a guest saxophone performance from Hugo Lee. How did that collaboration come about?

Hugo is one of the most in-demand session saxophonists working remotely right now — he's the most-hired sax player on platforms like SoundBetter and AirGigs. I came across his work, heard immediately that he had the sensitivity to navigate something that wasn't a conventional pop or jazz context, and reached out. It was a remote session collaboration, and he delivered something that genuinely surprised me.

13. What inspired the decision to incorporate the saxophone into a melodic death metal context?

First Light had a very long instrumental section, which was later partly filled with a guitar solo. I was thinking about what could fit the kind of space that the song had. I wanted a texture that felt organic and ancient rather than synthetic. Saxophone carries a kind of melancholic expressiveness, and in that specific context, surrounded by the weight of the album, it felt completely natural rather than gimmicky.

14. How much freedom did Hugo have when creating his contribution?

I gave him the musical context and then stepped back. I had a rough idea of the shape I wanted — something that doesn't resolve too cleanly — but the actual lines were his. He sent a few takes, which I then edited to my liking. That's the right way to work with a professional. It’s better to hire the right musician in the first place and not to over-direct them.

15. The album ventures further into progressive territory. Were there specific artists or albums that influenced that direction?

It’s hard to point to specific bands as I don’t usually try to follow a specific band’s sound, and rather do what feels personal to me. That being said, Gojira is in the background for me in terms of how atmosphere and heaviness can coexist. Rivers of Nihil's Where Only Owls Know My Name — the way they integrated non-metal textures without losing edge — was relevant here. Fallujah's approach to space and density. And going further back, the structural ambition of classic prog where albums actually go somewhere over the course of their runtime.

16. How was the experience of independently producing and mixing the album yourselves?

Demanding, but the only way I'd want to do it at this stage. Being the producer means every decision — arrangement, texture, dynamics — runs through a single creative filter. There's less friction, no external schedule. The mixing process is where the album's character gets locked in, and having full control over that is important when cohesion is the primary goal. I sometimes consider working with external producers and mixers but it usually doesn't end up as great, as my taste gets pretty locked in the process of putting a lot of thought into it.

17. What did Dave Otero bring to the project during the mastering stage?

Dave understands extreme metal at a technical level that's rare. His work with Archspire, Cattle Decapitation, and Fallujah — he knows how to give a record-crushing weight and presence while making heavy music feel alive. That's exactly the balance this album needed. He gave the mixes the final touch and polish they needed, and took the end product one step further, after I had already done my best to mix it.

18. As an independent band, what challenges and advantages come with maintaining complete creative control?

The challenge is everything operational — promotion, distribution, timing, momentum. No label infrastructure means you're doing that work yourself, or it doesn't get done. It’s also hard sometimes to make artistic decisions with no one else to give their opinions, push back or other ideas. The advantage is that the music is exactly what it's supposed to be, every time. There’s no need for commercial fit, no external pressure on timelines, just a self-reflection of your musical identity.

19. What emotions or experiences do you hope listeners take away after hearing the album from start to finish?

The album is called Through the Valley of Decay for a reason: it's a passage, not a destination. If someone reaches Hall of Voices and feels the weight of having traveled through something, that's the response I'm after.

20. Do you still view albums as the ideal artistic format in an era dominated by singles and playlists?

For this kind of music, yes — unambiguously. Singles culture makes sense for a lot of contexts, but progressive metal built around emotional arc and thematic cohesion simply doesn't work as singles alone. The songs on this album are in conversation with each other. Pulling one out and serving it without the surrounding context is possible, but it’s missing a part of the full experience. The album format isn't nostalgia for me — it's the intended format.

21. What has the response been like since the album's release?

The early response has been small, but very encouraging. The premiere went well, and the underground community that's been following Radiant Black seems to recognize this as a step forward. The reaction to the progressive elements has been particularly positive — people aren't thrown by the saxophone or the quieter passages; they're leaning into them.

22. What are the next goals for Radiant Black following Through the Valley of Decay?

Getting this album heard widely, but also being okay with the limited exposure it might get. While sometimes there’s a feeling of exhaustion from working on music for so long, the music will probably keep moving. The project has never had a long pause between creative cycles. After an album has been done, it usually starts with a period with a more laid-back approach, which includes collecting and experimenting with different ideas in my free time, and coming up with very rough demos, before committing to the more demanding stage of the production itself. There are already ideas developing that push what this album started even further. The valley has been crossed — now I might want to see what the other side looks like.

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