The Wicked Realm of Lord Vrajitor - Interview with OLD SORCERY - 4/29/2026

 The Wicked Realm of Lord Vrajitor - Interview with OLD SORCERY - 4/29/2026

        Anyone that knows me will know I hold Old Sorcery and all of Vrajitor's projects very close to my heart. This music is a huge inspiration to me, both while getting into Metal/Dungeon Synth and still some years into it. It is an absolute honor to introduce Vrajitor himself to Crypt's Burden with a written interview conducted yesterday... many thanks to him for the very fast responses and great answers! Now while you read this, I have some movies to watch...

        1. Hails, I am eternally grateful to be able to speak with you. How are things for you in Finland? What does your setting look like right now?

    Thank you for this interview. I am writing this in the end of April 2026, and approaching May which is for me an ideal folk horror season, so an annual rewatch of The Wicker Man is to be expected! The weather right now in Lahti is too cold for me, I like heat. Hopefully getting into that soon. Recently, work-wise, as opposed to my normal energy, I've taken things slow and chill. I feel like I am in a calm before the storm.


        2. Congratulations on the fantastic new release, The Outsider, Old Sorcery’s return to devastating magickal Black Metal. Sorrowcrown is one of my absolute favorite Black Metal albums so I was super eager for a “sequel”, but I have to ask, do you view The Outsider as a Black Metal “sequel” or as its own entity being that it belongs to a new trilogy? What things did you decide to do differently from Sorrowcrown this time? Were there any new inspirations?

    The Outsider is the second part of the Masks Of The Magi trilogy. Although the same characters and themes are present in Sorrowcrown as well, the story is different. Recording wise, The Outsider was done with a Korg four track tape recorder, and I wanted to explore the analogue side of things. This approach demanded more work and more witty solutions to add everything together. Old Sorcery is known for a lot of tracks and details so fitting all to mere 4 tracks was quite a challenge and also a bit nervacking chore.


        3. Speaking of Black Metal, I just recently became aware of your project Kerkerengel. The second crime released just this April and is exceptionally evil. The style between this and say, The Outsider or Sacrosanct Demonopathy, are very different. I’m curious which of your Black Metal projects comes more naturally to you in terms of songwriting? Are there ever any roadblocks when switching between styles so often?

    All very natural. For a few years now, I compose my albums with a guitar, pen and paper. I don't record anything until I am done with the paper. So in comparison, a complicated work like The Outsider still shared the same working method with the Kerkerengel's Raadon Unia album. The latter one just has a different vibe, and much less riffs/parts. And Kerkerengel is not even trying to appeal to the listener, it is meant as a soundtrack for the decaying process, pure rot, evil, hatred.


        4. Another great project is Vrajitor’s Tenebrarium. Of this I hear a lot more synths adjacent to Old Sorcery, combined with the classic sound of Goblin (particularly Suspiria). Can we expect anything else from this project, and if so, would the inspiration still lie within Italian horror or branch out to other sounds?

    I tried the Morricone method with this just recently. Which means that I composed a song without using any instruments, it's all in my notebook. So yeah, I will do a second album but I have to time it correctly so I can fully concentrate on it. Probably after the summer of 2026! As far as the inspiration goes, yeah, Italy is still there strongly, but I'd say that the next album dwells more on the European exploitation films of the 70's as a whole, not just Italian ones. Lesbian vampires of Jean Rollin, the UK's fantastic folk horror and Spanish werewolf stuff of Paul Naschy, which in terms of music would be a sleazy gorefest accompanied by a groovy fuzz-laden prog rock. Pure fun.


        5. As it stands right now my favorite filmmakers in horror are Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Brian de Palma, Lucio Fulci. What are some of your favorites, perhaps more underground? What about outside of horror?

    Those are my favourites also. I'd add Sergio Martino, Michele Soavi, Mario Bava, Lamberto Bava, Luigi Cozzi, Jess Franco, Jean Rollin, Michael Reeves, Pete Walker, Jose Ramon Larraz, Robert Eggers and the essential Hammer Films directors. And I am probably forgetting some essentials. Outside of horror, the list is as long. I like Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Lasse Hallström, John Woo, Tarantino, Roman Polanski, Alejandro Jodorowsky, the list is actually crazy long. But my all time favourite director changes between Brian De Palma, Dario Argento, Mel Gibson or Alejandro Jodorowsky. Oh, Guillermo del Toro!


        6. Do you have a burning hatred for any particular genres of film?

    Nah, but I'm not a fan of the musical or sport movies. Both can be done well though.

        7. There’s a certain charm in older movies where not everything was about perfection or realism but about just creating the most unique horrorscapes possible. Things like vibrant colors, practical effects, awkward camera shots, more attention to pacing, less cliché, all factor into a great (perhaps cheesy) movie. Are there any other things that particularly appeal to you about old-school film? Do any of these things overlap with what appeals to you in music?

    I like the feeling, the atmosphere. Films are very, very dear to me and I think there are a lot of these subconscious things that resonate with me and I can't really explain them. For example, the title sequence of Blood On Satan's Claw. The crow, the branches and the music, hell, even the choice of typeface make the scene magical for me. Or the intro to All the Colors of the Dark by Sergio Martino. It is only a shot of this riverbank, no music, only birds. The image slowly fades to black, and then a surreal nightmare sequence kicks in. There's something there I can't explain.


        8. I recall in an older interview you said you were working on score for different projects. Then in 2021, you composed the soundtrack for video game The Hand of Merlin. How did this come about? Did you find it a different challenge creating game-specific music or is the process about the same as it would be for anything Old Sorcery does?

    The music I make for clients' projects is a whole different game. You are making someone else’s idea better, and albums are personal.


        9. I saw on your Instagram page that you had completed the entire works of Steven Erikson’s Malazan.. I am still on Book One and ashamedly a slow reader. If you could rank the ten Malazan books, which one would be at the top? Where does Malazan sit overall in your fantasy literature list?

    The best fantasy saga ever written. Ranking them is gonna be hard, let me try.


1. Memories of Ice

2. House of Chains

3. The Bonehunters

4. Midnight Tides


    I'm not sure. They are all really great.


        10. Speaking of which, what is your preferred setting for reading? What are some great albums to put on while diving into a book?

    Nothing specific. Laying down, a slow morning with nothing in the schedule. I don't listen to music anymore while reading, even the simplest of minimal ambient draws my attention...


        11. Your live debut is happening at Fortress Festival this year! If you’re able to tell, what can we expect of your performance? Are there any other bands there that you are eager to see yourself?

    I play a 90's synth and I have heavily effected vocals. The rest is a surprise!


        12. I was surprised to learn we share an affinity for the Queen of Cult, Lady Gaga. Truthfully she is the only modern pop artist that I enjoy, and Mayhem is ridiculously fun. Are there any others in the pop world that you like? Have you ever thought about producing pop music yourself? There’s a French band Nuit Noire who I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to in a previous mag that has a ridiculous Black Metal cover of “Paparazzi”. Perhaps you could do that (maybe not as Old Sorcery, though).

    I love Lady Gaga so much. And thanks for the idea, I have to do a cover song for Old Sorcery. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier!!!

    I would be into producing pop, yes, if someone asked me. I love some of the 60s-80s pop and from artists today I also like Chapelle Roan and Cannons.


        Oddball questions to end:

            1. Most haunted place you’ve been to in Finland?

            I'm not sure... probably my bedroom.


            2. Best old-school cartoon and why is it Scooby-Doo?

            I haven't watched that much cartoons, I'm not in the scene.


            3. Opinions on Spanish horror (The Blind Dead series, The House that Screamed, etc.)?

            Great, great, great. Jacinto Molina aka Paul Naschy is my favourite. Of his films, favourites are Hunchback of the Morgue, Horror Rises From the Tomb, Werewolf Shadow, Inquisition, The Devil Incarnate.


            4. Films you could see yourself being in?

            As an actor? Hopefully nothing, but if forced, I would like to be alongside Nicolas Cage.


Thanks for your time in this interview, I hope these questions were somewhat interesting! If there’s anything else you’d like to add, you may do so below:

    Thanks for the interview! Be sure to check out my label and distro at wizardshatshop.bigcartel.com