Noctiferia

Noctiferia is a Slovenian metal band from Ljubljana, formed in 1994. It grew out of the death metal underground, built its sound on black and death metal and later took in industrial influences. Its first album, Baptism at Savica Fall, is still seen as the start of the Slovenian black metal movement.

Between 1997 and 2000 the band played more than a hundred concerts at home and abroad, and it first stirred the wider Slovenian public with its appearance at the Novi rock festival in 1999. The second album, Per Aspera, was recorded in 2002 at Studio Metro in Ljubljana, with the singer and guitarist Artur Felicijan, who had replaced David Kiselić. It sold 800 copies in Slovenia in its first three weeks, a record for a Slovenian death metal band, and the first video, "Fond of Lies", stayed at number one on the national chart Video spotnice for eight weeks. Gianni Poposki then took over as singer.

The American label Arctic Music Group released Per Aspera worldwide, and Noctiferia toured Europe with Kataklysm, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse, Marduk and Immolation, finding a particularly warm welcome in England, Scotland and Ireland. In 2004 they played the main stage of Metal Camp. With the new drummer Luka Čadež they recorded Slovenska morbida, finished in Sweden with the producer Peter Tägtgren and released on 6 March 2006, with videos for "Evil Against Evil" and "Mara" and a British and Irish tour with Hypocrisy.

Death Culture (2010), Pax (2014) and Transnatura (2016) followed. Reforma (2021) was a tribute to Laibach, made of covers of their songs; the band says it was the first metal band to cover Laibach. Produced by Henrik Udd, it featured David Vincent, Attila Csihar and Jørgen Munkeby of Shining, who played saxophone on "Slovenska akropola".

In 2024 Gianni Poposki, who had sung on five albums since 2002, left the band. Guitarist Igor Nardin, the band's artistic leader, carries on with Miloš Mihajlović on vocals, Uroš Lipovec on bass, Urban Krč on drums and Andrej Blatnik on guitar, and Noctiferia have since released the singles "Aeon Shift" and "Paradox Redux" with official videos.