On the Rise
The Blackmordia

It’s exactly a ‘does what it says on the tin’ statement for the French quintet, who formed the band when they were teenagers almost a decade ago in recording studios in Paris. The band’s drummer and founding member Sofiane Seddiki tells me that in Paris, studios are often where young musicians go to find other like minded people to connect with, crediting the scene for its camaraderie.

He’s joining our call accompanied by two of his bandmates, vocalist Peter Moisan and lead guitarist and synth player Max Kurtz, in a studio in London where they’re writing new material. The trio appear exactly how they are in their press shots, clad in Matrix-esque leather and accessories that speak to their visuals and sonics; a grandiose mix of electronica and glam rock.

Moisan joined The Blackmordia when he returned to Paris from a stint of living in London, with Kurtz playing in a metal band before, “we shared the same vision, [but] we have very different musical backgrounds and education,” Moisan tells me.

The quintet had big, curious ambitions as teenagers often do, talking about music for hours over the phone post hang outs in the studio, meeting at concerts, and eventually going on to play live shows themselves both in France and abroad. “I told myself I’d never release any music until I knew it was the right moment with the right people,” says Moisan. “When I met the guys, it was obvious that we were going to produce something unique that sounds great [and] deserves attention, putting all the energy and money in the early stages, and making ourselves proud.”

The Blackmordia’s ambitions to be a serious live act soon came to fruition, and to date they have supported household name rock icons across the field including Bring Me The Horizon, Nothing But Thieves, KISS and Nickelback, and even opening Download Festival in Paris in 2017.

“When we played with KISS, it was like a dream come true. It was a moment where our life changed, and we had a really strong feeling of trust in what we were doing,” Kurtz explains.

“It was a part of the plan in some ways,” Seddiki adds. “A lot of bands were not talking about supporting big bands, but we were, that was a part of the dream. I remember talking for hours, ‘imagine if you could support that band, on a stage like this’. It happened a few times with a lot of effort. Confidence is really important.”

Sonically The Blackmordia take inspiration from the huge rock bands that they’ve supported live, and are simultaneously fascinated by ‘80s new wave and synth pop. Through intentional modern pop production, their sound retains flair and a crystalline sheen, producing glistening arena-ready anthems that appreciate power chords as much as they do synthy grooves, writing mostly based on rhythm sections and basslines, as Kurtz explains, “the groove is really important.”

“We like darker stuff, but we’re very pop,” Moisan comments. “The Blackmordia is an oxymoron, it's dark, but it can be happy at the same time.”

Valuing strong visuals just as much as they do music, the band cite ‘80s electronic and hard rock legends like Depeche Mode and Judas Priest as those they admire when it comes to aesthetics. “Back [in the ‘80s], people were buying records just by seeing the cover. We want people to have the same feeling with us, like, ‘what is this? When in 2023, that sounds pop but that looks heavy?’ [We] love that type of contrast,” Seddiki tells me.

The band's debut album is pegged for release at the end of this year. Initially written pre-pandemic, they have taken the time since to go deeper musically and lyrically. Latest single "54" for instance, existed as a demo that was taken further during Seddiki’s time residing in New York. He was inspired by the city’s iconic Studio 54, running with the demo’s disco flared sound, and transforming it with his bandmates into an unconventional and angsty funk slow burner. Moreover, the band have just released a remix of the track featuring French Touch legend Cerrone. “It was a blessing,” Moissan tells me of the collaboration, “when I was a kid my parents used to put on the vinyls of Cerrone. Even though I didn't even know [his] name, I knew how it sounded.”

The Blackmordia are impressively perfecting all the details to propel their forging cross-genre cult status into a wider trajectory. Releasing music and the debut record via their own label, THRONE MUSIC, is a true statement of their intent, as Seddiki tells me, “on the creative side, we wanted to have that control. We have enough experience in the music industry to realise that we need to have our own vision, and we didn't want to have any outside noise coming into the creative process. We created that company to have freedom.”

“Straight away we had very big expectations,” says Moisan. “We had a clear vision to go far, not to go quick, but to be efficient, and we kept working for that. It can be very tough when you try to compete at a certain level, like when you go on tour with almost no experience, the first gig I did with the band was opening Download Festival in Paris. That was already something I couldn't have expected in the second week of being in the band. But the more you reach the highest target, the more you want another piece of the cake. That’s definitely a value we all share in this band, the strength and the determination.”