Music is a beautiful thing in that it transcends boundaries, both emotional and geographical.
Usually, this sense is felt more by the fans who listen to music rather than the performers, but on occasion that role is reversed, and the musician gets to experience the magic inherent in their art.
Such was the case recently, when Melbourne singer Nikki Brumen suddenly found herself at the crossroads when her band Pagan broke up. Pagan had been building steadily on the Australian music scene and were starting to get the recognition they deserved but that accounted for nothing once the band called time.
Faced with an uncertain future just before COVID decimated the world, Brumen found herself presented an opportunity, which, long story short, resulted in her eventual relocation to Norway as vocalist for Blood Command.
HEAVY sat down with Nikki earlier this week to hear the full story.
"In February of 2020 I had just recently slit up with my previous band Pagan who were a hardcore band from Melbourne,” she began. “We'd all just decided to go separate ways. There was no drama, it was just people's life decisions resulted in us deciding to break the band up. I didn't know what I was going to do musically, but I knew I still wanted to be a vocalist. I got a random message on Facebook from a Norwegian person by the name of Yngve Andersen, and they said 'hey, I heard your band Pagan just broke up, what are you doing with music now?' I responded saying I didn’t know and then he wrote I've got a proposition for you. Will you be the new vocalist for Blood Command, who are based in Bergen in Norway?
I had actually travelled to Bergen back in 2011 and then I was into black metal and fascinated by Scandinavia. So, I'd gone to Bergen, and I loved Norway and so without hesitation - not even in the amount of time it took me to reply the word yes - that is how long it took me to take up the proposition."
In the full interview, Nikki tells more of the story of how she joined Blood Command, discusses the upcoming album Praise Armageddonism, recording the vocals from Australia while the rest of the band was in Norway, the band’s eclectic sound and how she has impacted it, her relocation to Norway, meeting her new band mates for the first time, future plans and more.