See her crimson sword… The great queen, holy raven!
Let’s continue our journey through the dark realms of Black Metal by paying a tribute to the talented Turkish musician Duygu Gurcu, sometimes referred to as Naenia Virtus, but most commonly known as Lygbereth, the electrifying bassist for Turkish Black Metal/Epic Pagan Metal band Sirannon. And let me tell you that after knowing more about her life you’ll be amazed by how skillful this woman is, because not only she’s a badass bassist, but also a singer, a songwriter, an editor and, oddly enough for many people but not for millions of headbangers all around the world who have regular jobs just like any non-metal person, a hard working businesswoman committed to success.
Born in the year of 1983 in the city of Istanbul, Turkey, Lygbereth began her path in the world of music at the age of 7, when she started taking west music training (singing and piano) until the age of 12. During that period, she composed her first sonata with her piano teacher at the age of 9, also taking the stage for many recitals. Although that doesn’t sound very “Black Metal” for most of you, let me remind you she was just a little girl starting to carve her personality and experimenting different ways of applying her skills in music, and of course we all know how important an instrument like a piano is for children to expand their music horizons and boost their creativity.
Although she unfortunately had to suspend her musical training due to family issues and her education, it didn’t take too long for her to get back in action and work with her first band, Turkish Black Metal act Pogrom, where under her real name Duygu she did both guttural and clean vocals. When you have a true passion for something it looks like you can’t stay away from it for a long period of time no matter what, and when that passion is music that gets even harder, don’t you agree? Anyway, you can take a good listen at the band’s 2005 demo entitled At the Peak of Toros, where they blast our minds with three songs beautifully entitled Nergal Eyes Has Appeared at the Peak of Toros, Her Cries Echo at My Malice… and A Volcano Become to Extinct. I’m just not sure if Duygu was part of this demo, though.
After Pogrom she was involved with another Turkish Black Metal group called Nefastum as their vocalist, composer, editor and lyricist, playing several concerts with them. This case is no different than Pogrom, as I couldn’t find any reliable source online confirming if Duygu was part of any of Nefastum’s official releases, but you can get a sense of how obscure their music is by listening to the excellent tune Seals of Demogorgon. She was also part of Turkish Black Metal band Serpenta as their vocalist, bassist and songwriter, having recorded with the band a demo entitled Ophiliama in 2004, and an EP named Transformation in 2007. If you’re a diehard Black Metal fan, you can enjoy the gorgeous Duygu kicking ass with Serpenta through her harsh vocals and resonant bass lines in the violent song Masterpiece Of War.
It was just in 2007 when she joined Sirannon as their bassist, hence becoming Lygbereth, and since then she has been part of the band’s metamorphosis from pure Black Metal in their early days to a more complex Epic Pagan Metal in recent years. Obviously, the lyrics also shifted from themes such as war, pain, darkness and melancholy to topics more suitable to their new sounding like Paganism and mythology. Just out of curiosity, Sirannon was formed in 2005 by drummer Wesretkau (currently known as Thuringwethil) in the city of Izmir, the third most populous city in Turkey (after Istanbul and Ankara) with almost 3 million people, located about 500km southwest of Istanbul. Since joining this amazing Turkish act, she has recorded with them the split album International Black Scene Vol.1 in 2010, the full-length album Semper Caliga in 2011, and more recently an EP entitled Forgotten Laments Of The Forsaken in 2014, when the music direction of the band finally switched to a more melodic and intricate sounding almost completely. In addition to that, her role inside the band has also expanded significantly, from being only their bass player in the beginning to being responsible for the bass guitar, programming and samples in their latest albums.
In case you want to know more about the music by Sirannon, simply visit their YouTube channel or SoundCloud page and you’ll find many brutal compositions such as Ethereal Empire and The Holy Raven, as well as some videos of their live performance on May 18, 2008 at the Dungeon, in Izmir, playing the songs In The Shadow Of The Excommunication, Magna Mater and Children Of The Wolves.
Regarding her favorite bands and artists, Lygbereth provided an extensive list of important names in the world of extreme music as her main influences like Dark Funeral, Carpathian Forest, Ragnarok, Immortal, Satyricon, Emperor, Bathory, Enslaved, Old Man’s Child, among lots of other renowned icons. However, do not expect to find Lygbereth wandering the streets of Istanbul all geared up in leather and spikes and with her corpsepainting on, because as aforementioned our metal chick is also a dexterous working woman in her city. According to her LinkedIn profile, Lygbereth (or in this case Duygu Gurcu) has recently worked as an Import Operations, Senior Executive/Ocean Freight Import Executive at Veritas International Transport Co. Ltd. in Istanbul, an unthinkable position for most black metallers in the world. Well, as Lygbereth means “The Serpent Queen” in Elf Language, can you imagine how awesome it would be to work for a “serpent boss” like her?
Equipment
Ibanez Eurodyn
Behringer 45 watt/Ultrabass BXL450A
Behringer dynamic bass compressor & pre-amp
Shure c 606 microphone
Sirannon’s Official Facebook page
Sirannon’s Official Twitter
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 