Homo-universalis: BLACK REUSS

· Your album Journey was released on May 6th, 2022, and recorded in your home studio. Can you tell us about that creative process and what Journey means to you personally?

Journey represents a very personal and introspective phase in the Black Reuss concept. After Metamorphosis, which focused on transformation—often painful and disorienting—Journey is about taking that next step: moving forward with what you've become. It's about navigating the uncertainty, searching for meaning, and slowly rebuilding.

I recorded everything in my home studio, which I’ve carefully developed to be a creative space that allows for spontaneity and emotional expression. The creative process for Journey was intuitive. It started with melodies, riffs, and textures that reflected the inner motion I was experiencing. From there, the songs evolved naturally. I wrote, produced, and performed all parts myself—except the drums—because I wanted every note to be emotionally honest and personal. Journey is that turning point where I begin to see beyond the struggle, even if I haven’t fully arrived yet.

· Your official website states that “Arrival” was released on December 1st, 2023, and features collaborations with Diego Rapacchietti and Anna Murphy. What did these artists bring to the project—and how did those collaborations come together?

Working with Diego Rapacchietti and Anna Murphy was incredibly enriching. Diego, known from Coroner, brought a level of precision and intensity to the drums that elevated every track. He understood the emotional weight of the music and played in a way that served the mood, not just the rhythm. And he was already playing the drums on the second album “Journey”. The drums were recorded by Tommy Vetterli, also from Coroner, whose studio work helped capture the energy and rawness we needed.

Anna Murphy, from Cellar Darling, joined me for a duet on Souls Awakening. Her voice added an ethereal and haunting quality that I could never have created alone. That track is about the awakening of something deeper in the self, and her vocal tone brought in a sense of contrast—hope, pain, and light all at once.

These collaborations came together very naturally. Everyone involved understood the heart of Arrival and contributed not just skill, but emotion. I’m incredibly grateful for that. I never would to a collaboration just because of marketing reasons. I has to be a fit personally and musically.

· Regarding your name, you chose “Black Reuss” as a symbolic blend of color and river. Could you share more about the personal significance behind choosing “black” and the river Reuss?

The name Black Reuss is a symbolic reflection of both my inner world and my environment at the time I began the project. The Reuss is a river in Switzerland, and I happened to be living near it when I was building what would become Black Reuss. It became a fitting symbol—a metaphor for the river of life, always flowing, always moving forward, sometimes calm, sometimes chaotic.

The word "Black" stands for my melancholic side—not in a negative sense, but as a deep emotional space where reflection, honesty, and vulnerability live. Together, Black Reuss represents my emotional journey through life’s constant movement and the darkness we all carry and learn to live with.

· Your project is a one-man journey—writing, playing, recording, and producing everything yourself (except drums). What is the most rewarding aspect of shaping Black Reuss entirely on your own?

The most rewarding part is the freedom—the ability to express exactly what I feel, without compromise. Every note, every word, every layer is a reflection of who I am at that moment. It’s raw, and sometimes that’s terrifying—but it’s also what makes it real.

Creating Black Reuss on my own also means I can be fully connected to the process. I’m not just performing or producing—I’m living the music. That kind of artistic control lets me be honest with the listener in a way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. It’s deeply personal, and that’s the point.

· You released the Poems by R. W. Brunhart, Pt. 1 EP alongside your albums. How does this EP fit into your overall concept, and what inspired its creation?

The Poems EP is a complementary piece to the main Black Reuss albums. The poems were written by my father in law R. W. Brunhart, and I was drawn to how they reflected similar emotional landscapes to my own music—existential thoughts, emotional depth, questions of identity and time.

I composed music to accompany the poems, using them almost like ambient reflections of the core Black Reuss themes. It’s more minimalistic and meditative, but still very much part of the overall journey. It allowed me to explore another dimension of emotional expression outside of the traditional album structure.

· You plan a four-album concept—Metamorphosis, Journey, Arrival, and Death—symbolizing the river of life. Could you walk us through that theme and what each chapter represents for you?

Yes, this is the heart of the project. Each album represents a stage of emotional and existential transformation—tied together like phases in a personal river of life.

· Metamorphosis was the beginning: a dark, inner collapse and transformation. It’s about questioning everything and facing yourself without filters.

· Journey was the movement—the attempt to move forward and navigate life after the storm.

· Arrival is the point where you stop running and start accepting. It’s not about being healed or finished—it’s about standing still and saying, “This is who I am now.”

· Death, the final chapter, will be released in fall 2025. It’s not about preparing for personal death, but more about exploring what may come after this life—philosophically, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s a reflection on endings, transitions, and the unknown.

Together, the four albums form a full emotional arc—a symbolic life lived through sound.

· Have you ever considered performing Black Reuss live? How do you envision a dream live show—would it include visual storytelling or other artistic elements?

Absolutely. Performing live is something I want to do with Black Reuss, and I’m currently working on building a live lineup to make that happen.

My dream live show wouldn’t just be a concert—it would be a complete sensory experience. I imagine a performance with atmospheric visuals, lighting, and perhaps narrative elements that align with the album’s emotional journey. Each phase—Metamorphosis, Journey, Arrival, Death—could have its own aesthetic identity on stage.

I want people to leave feeling like they experienced something intimate, even if it was shared in a room full of strangers.

· Your music is described as melodic gothic/doom metal with a melancholic heaviness—how do you translate that unique emotional tone into your music and lyrics?

I don’t try to write “melancholic” music on purpose. I just express what I feel. There’s a certain sadness in me that’s not destructive—but reflective. That’s where the heaviness comes from. It’s not just in the sound, but in the space between the notes, in the lyrics that don’t pretend everything is okay.

I use dynamics—slow builds, haunting harmonies, sparse moments followed by impact—to create a sense of emotional gravity. The lyrics often explore identity, longing, pain, and hope, but always from a place of emotional honesty, not cliché. For me, translating emotion into music is the most important part of what I do.

· The Arrival album has been praised for its atmospheric depth and subtle balance between darkness and redemption. As an artist, how do you shape that emotional journey for the listener?

Arrival is about being present with everything you are—even the broken parts. It’s not about escaping the past, but about accepting it. When I wrote Arrival, I wanted to give the listener space to breathe, to reflect, and to feel accompanied.

I use atmosphere intentionally—layered sounds, tension and release, contrasts between weight and fragility. Darkness and light aren’t separate in the album—they coexist. Redemption, if it exists, comes through recognition: the moment you realize that you're still here, still breathing, still becoming. That’s the emotional journey I try to offer.

· So, what’s next?

The final album, Death, is complete and we’re preparing for a release. It will close the four-part arc and explore different interpretations of what lies beyond life—not in a religious or fixed way, but more as emotional and symbolic reflections.

Besides that, I’m working on building a live band to finally take Black Reuss on stage. I believe it’s time to make that part of the journey real and connect with the audience in a physical space.

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VIDEO

Black Reuss - CRYSTAL CLEAR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBgwDFMgCm8