(For the Dead, released in March on Remorseless Records, is the first full-length from the Canadian death-doom entity Rötual, and what follows is Comrade Aleks’ interview of band-member Nicolas Miquelon.)
Since the release of the Canadian Norilsk’s first album, I haven’t missed a single one of their albums, and at some point I noticed that their guitarist Tom Hansen and vocalist Nic Miquelon, alongside their comrades Ben Bertrand (bass) and Mike Berrigan (drums), had formed a side project called Rötual. Over the course of a couple of years, the project grew into a band and recently released their first full-length album.
While Norilsk has taken liberties with the doom genre throughout their career, allowing for various experiments in related areas, Rötual strictly adheres to quite traditional death-doom. The men have invested expertly in the material and managed to successfully include virtually every element in the album For the Dead, from short bursts of lead guitar to its massive and dirty riffs, from growling parts to brief passages of clean vocals – and all in all it works and hooks.
The band’s ideology adheres to a pernicious, deadly canon, as evidenced not only by the cover and the album title, but also by track titles like “Mycelium,” “Worms,” and “To Live Is to Rot,” which I adore for its mournful, clear-voiced chorus. At the same time, For the Dead doesn’t feel particularly decadent – it’s clear that the band approached the work creatively, not simply taking the framework of ’90s death-doom but transforming it with their own ideas. As always, there’s hope that such a move as an interview may draw more attention to the band, and here we are to spread the word For the Dead together with Nicolas Miquelon.
Hi Nicolas! How are you? So finally, we have something new to discuss, not another Norilsk album. However, we did an interview with you in August 2025 — what’s happened since then in your artistic life?
Hi Aleks, I am doing good, thank you. Since we last spoke, I have been relatively busy onstage and off stage. Norilsk self-released its Gigantes Mortui live album in November 2025, so we have been promoting it as well as playing live on a few occasions. I always have a few other studio projects or bands I contribute to besides Norilsk, but the only other full-fledged band that I have at the moment is Rötual, which I am happy to discuss with you today.
You already had a band, a live and prolific one, so what pushed you towards something new yet in a similar direction?
There are different reasons, one being having the opportunity. As the world came to a standstill in 2020-2023 and Norilsk didn’t do many public performances during this period, I fulfilled my needs by playing with other musicians from the local scene. In 2023, as the scene was reawakening, we decided to create an entirely new band, with a strong focus on playing shows. This became Rötual. I think we picked death-doom because it was more down-to-earth, and somewhat more straightforward to build a set for live performances, giving us the opportunity to play with either doom or death metal bands.
With a focus on playing shows? Did you miss it with Norilsk? How did you think to make it work in Rötual’s case?
Yes, I have been missing playing in front of an audience during these years. It’s important to mention that we had a long lockdown period, that rules and regulations around public gathering and concerts were very strict, and as a result a lot of people didn’t go out and many artists either disbanded or waited before playing live again. This period of uncertainty made room for a new generation of bands like Rötual, who were willing to play in this context, even in front of a smaller crowd. Our attitude of openness is what made it work for Rötual, along with everyone’s contacts and ability to write music and play live.
You have a full lineup in Rötual. How long have you known each other?
We’re four guys from the Ottawa scene, who have known each other for over ten years through various bands we played with. Tom (guitars) and I (vocals) still play in Norilsk; Ben (bass) and Mike (drums) have been playing in various other bands including Whispers in the Maze.
How is everything set inside Rötual? How often do you rehearse? How spontaneously do you work on your songs?
Rötual does it the traditional way. We rent a rehearsal space where we meet every week. Ben or I generally draft the structure of the songs, which we present to the rest of the band, and then we work on the arrangements together in the rehearsal room. Because Rötual’s music is relatively straightforward and everyone is experienced and easygoing, the writing process is both fast and organic. The songs on For the Dead, for example, were written in the span of only a few months, and then we completed the lyrics and worked on the arrangements for another few months before recording it in the studio.
Who writes the lyrics in the band? Sounds like it’s common effort.
I generally write lyrics – it’s something I really enjoy doing while it’s a bit of a chore for others. Having said this, Ben came up with great lyrics for a song we released on the previous EP. We also adapted Charles Baudelaire’s poetry for two songs on the For the Dead album: ‘De Profundis Clamavi’, and ‘Chant d’automne’.
Your debut full-length For the Dead is obviously a death-focused death-doom album. At least, from a first glance. Is it just an artistic aesthetic which attracts you in this combination? Or is it a way to channel something different?
You are correct. As Rötual was something new to us all, I think this aesthetic helped provide a certain stylistic direction for our first album, although in retrospect there are probably one or two songs that don’t fit this tag but that we just adopted because we liked them. For me, this style of music helped me reconnect to my 1990s death-doom influences and dig some inspiration for lyrics and developing the overall band personality.
What I mean is that we probably chose to sing about death metal topics and dress up as grave diggers because we play death-doom metal, rather than the other way around. There is a distant homage to old school death-doom in what we do, however this is not a revival band.
Yes, I see, but how are serious are you regarding the lyrics? Is it just “metal lyrics” or do you seriously tend to reflect on life’s temporary nature?
A bit of both. I’d say all Rötual’s lyrics have to sound metal – this is intentional, as we are seeking this first degree of familiarity and hook. Many of the songs have a secondary level of interpretation, which can be more serious: for example, the song ‘Hell Is Other People’ is about expropriations that took place in our city; ‘Mycelium’ is about that organic connection between life and death; ‘L’horreur du vide’ is more of a reflection that death and loss can make room for new beginnings.
In the modern world creating a new band may be a challenge if you search for something more than pleasing yourself and amusing your work colleagues. What’s your artistic ambition for Rötual?
Playing live has always been one of our primary goals – and we’ve been playing very regularly since 2023. This album, and the EP before it, helped us put our name out there, at least in our region of the world. I think this is in part where we try to step up our game: trying to add some theatricality to our performances and offering something different on stage.
Was it difficult to be satisfied with one more doom album in your career? What makes you proud about For the Dead?
One cannot have too many doom metal albums… While it’s true that doom-death can become an exercise in style, Rötual is for me the most ‘old school death metal’ I have been going in terms of vocal delivery. As you know, in other bands when I sing, I also play bass guitar, so Rötual has given me a chance to improve both my vocal techniques and stage presence overall. And when it comes to For the Dead, it’s also satisfying (and refreshing) to appeal to a somewhat different crowd of metalheads than with our other bands.
Did your old contacts with labels and gig organizers work in the case of Rötual? Did your own experience and reputation make it easier to build all necessary bridges now?
Absolutely, and I have to praise Ben’s efforts as well. It’s great that our previous connections with bookers, promoters, and other bands can help Rötual. When it comes to labels, however, we wanted to work with new people, and see what our market is out there. I think it’s always best to work with people who believe in your music and want to release your album, rather than labels that may just do you a favor. We released For the Dead on Remorseless Records, a relatively new label who specializes in death-doom metal, and it’s been a natural alliance for us.
What’s your next step regarding Rötual? Will you leave the release as it is and gather next time when you have some firm ideas to discuss?
The writing process for our next album has already started, and so will the band and stories behind it. But for now, we’ll play live and hear what both audiences and reviewers have to say. Birthing our first album means it’s a first occasion for many people to hear our music and provide their reactions, which is important to us as it gives us direction and room for growth. We learn through all of this, as a new band as well as individual musicians.
Hah, just a spontaneous question — the album’s title reminds me Lee Dorrian’s last band With the Dead. Did you ever dig Cathedral and With the Dead as well?
Lee Dorrian is the man. I do love Cathedral, from their crushing death-doom beginnings to their disco-doom period, their stellar last few albums and their live performances. I like what some of the band members did in their other projects, including Gaz Jennings with Death Penalty, which I saw live at Dutch Doom Days. I remember being very curious about With the Dead, although I haven’t listened to their albums as much.
Thanks for your time Nicolas. That’s all for today, did we miss something important?
We worked hard on the visual of this band, both in the photoshoot but also in our debut music video for ‘Chant d’automne’. For those that may be more visual, check it out.
Thank you Aleks for the interview.