SATANIC WARMASTER INTERVIEW

November, 2017

Hello Werwolf, how have you been lately? Is there any upcoming projects for Satanic Warmaster? You performed in Colombia in July. How was the audience, organization? I suppose you should have met with many Satanic Warmaster enthusiasts at there.

Both the organization and the audiences were brilliant on the recent mini-tour in Colombia and Mexico. Especially seeing the maniac crowd and meeting legends from bands such as Reencarnacion, Parabellum, Blasfemia, Nebiros and Maleficarum in Medellin was like a dream come true for me.

Satanic Warmaster has a long run from 2000s. Your latest full length is Fimbulwinter released in 2014 which I find more melodic and epic with norse mythology influences than the previous works and it is also one of my favorites after Carelian Satanist Madness album. What do you think about evolution of Satanic Warmaster music?

I have always considered all my albums to be entities of their own that reflect the visions and the ambitions of the time they were made in. I always start building a new album from a clean slate, with no reference to the previous albums. With this recipe a Satanic Warmaster album can be anything and even I don’t necessarily know how it will turn out in the end.

Black metal found its real form in the beginning of 90s with Norwegian black metal bands and spread all over the world. But however it is a Scandinavian music with the themes of wild Nordic nature, coldness and isolated attitude. How do you interpret black metal as a Nordic band carrying the specific culture?

I wouldn’t say the wave started by the Scandinavian bands is necessarily the “real” form of Black Metal, as there have been so many other interpretations of the idea that have been equally pure. Despite the fact that nature has always had a certain level of impact on me, the core and the primal force that reflects into Black Metal through me is Satan.

Finland had been out of the inner circle back then. In the beginning of 90s Norway ruled the scene and there was some contradiction between Norway and Sweden. In 2000s Sweden started to be dominant and many recognized bands have shown up. What has been Finland’s position in the scene so far according to you?

I really cannot consider Finnish Black Metal as a positive trait anymore. As it happened in other countries that gained attention because of the bands that emerged from the country, sub-par bands are now exploiting the trend in Finland as well. The amount of true bands such as Musta Surma, Warloghe, Clandestine Blaze, Goatmoon, Behexen etc. is still as low as it ever was.

You have released an EP in Chinese in 2015. What is the story behind?

This was actually just the vinyl re-issue of the “Gas Chamber” demo tape that was previously not released on vinyl.

In 2016, you released instrumental versions of Strength & Honour, Carelian Satanist Madness and Opferblut. What is the reason of this idea?

I was going through my archives, and found tapes with instrumental versions of the albums. As things like this were spread in the ‘90s through tape trading circles, I thought they might be interesting for some maniacs.

I would like to ask which parts of the town influence you while creating your dark art. You know towns like Bergen, Goteborg are identified with their specific sound created by the bands from there.

The parts that not in the actual city, but as far away from it as possible.

What does Carelian region mean to you? Lapppenranta is part of it where has a specific subculture inside Finland. Have you tracked any history or folklore about this region?

It is where I was born, and the lands given to my blood by kings are here. There are several pre-christian sacred places, sacrificial stones, sacred meadows and such.

You had a contradiction with journalist Kim Kelly. What happened really? What is the problem of this man?

Politically motivated journalists who try to drag you into their little games have no value. Kelly obviously needs to grab reality with both hands.

What does black metal mean for you as it has diverted paths lately including nationalism that has taken roots from Burzum?

Black Metal has never had real boundaries, if it’s Black Metal, then it’s Black Metal. No matter if it deals with national pride, suicide, love or whatever. If it’s life loving and equality preaching shit, then it’s not Black Metal.

Misanthropy has always been part of black metal that is used in lyrics and found its place in the ideology with isolation. How do you define misanthropy for your life and in black metal?

I define it literally: a dislike of humankind.

Satanic Warmaster lyrics are also into themes as vampirism and lycanthropy which are part of horror literature. As a horror story author, I am curious which authors; poets are you interested to read?

Vampirism and lycanthropy are not horror, they are reality and a part of magickal work, paragons of the true Satanist and symbolic archetypes of great power. When you bring these characteristics to the real world, horror literature has no value. Personally I am not a great aficionado of poetry.

As a band carrying its name, what is your point of view to Satanism? There are many ecoles while interpreting Satanism. There is a satanic mass in Scandinavia which sounds like an organized religion; Anton La Vay has his own ideas; or symbolic Satan as a rebellious figure where the art is called dark arts.

I am a Satanist. I believe in the Satanist’s ultimate power over the weak, and the destructive and therefore initially creative force of the dark king of the universe, Satan.

Have you ever taken influences from melancholy? What is that ancient black bile mean for you? Is art born from suffering?

There have been darker times in my life when melancholy has reflected in my music as well. In many cases art is indeed born from torment.

Finnish people are known with their drinking habits. What do you think? What is your favorite drink if you are into? How is Sahti by the way, does it worth to try?  As an interviewer, I am coming from wine country and I always think that wine fits black metal more than any other drinks. Could you please tell us your favorite grape if you like wine?

I personally like to drink a lot. I like a lot of different kinds of drinks (wine as well, even though I am not really an expert), but good vodka is always the best.

For my point of view, in Finnish culture being in extremes, pushing the limits and being weird are way more common than any other culture. Do you think if this extreme life style might be the reason to let people discover black metal?

Finnish people have a similar characteristic with f.ex. the Japanese, that if we find something that we truly appreciate, we embrace with excessive passion. Those willing to venture deepest into darkness will naturally sometimes discover Black Metal, too.

Please share you last words and wishes. Thank you for the interview. 

Thank you for the interview. LUX EX TENEBRIS. Ave Satanas.

KARG INTERVIEW

August, 2017

Hello Wahntraum, how have you been lately? What is the news from Karg’s side?

Nothing special so far. I’m currently working on two EP’s. A Black Metal one, and one with acoustic tracks. Unfortunately, that’s all.

You released Weltenasche which is another ambient masterpiece. How do you feel about this album? Please tell us about the composition process?

The composition process was kinda hard. I lost my cellphone with all the demos I recorded, so I had to rewrite the album, because I forgot nearly all the riffs that were on my cellphone. The good thing is, that this was a time where I played the guitar nearly every day, so I had many new ideas. The writing was then finished like a year ago, and I recorded everything last summer. And yeah, thanks for the nice words, I think it’s one of my best works so far.

What are the lyrics of Weltenasche album about?

The main topics of the lyrics are farewells and partings. In the time “Weltenasche” was written I ended a long-time relationship which lasted my whole adult life. One of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. This is one part of the lyrics. The main subject is the death of one of my best friends who I grew up with. I lost him to the noose, nearly the same time. The remaining lyrics deal with such things as estrangement and agonie.

Cover art resembles a death end, union with despair for me. Who did the cover art? Why did you choose it?

I chose it because it resembles grief, sorrow, death and for sure despair. It’s a simple, but a dark piece of art, that what I think, perfectly fitted the music and the content of the songs.

At some previous cover arts and photos you use for Karg, a symbol of triangle includes a Horus like eye took my attention. Is it a reference to any symbolism or something that you created for your way of thinking?

I chose it because it’s a strong symbol with an interesting history and a strong meaning.

You have been writing lyrics in German? Is it about phonetics of German language that fits the atmosphere? What are your reasons? Do you have any plan to write in English or tell about concepts of albums to your audiences who do not know German? As you know lyrics are very important in black metal as well as music.

Haha, every german guy would cry if you say the lyrics are in german, but no problem, how should you know better 😉. They are written in a sort of austrian dialect which is spoken around the Tennen Mountains, a part of the alps where I originally come from. But I sang in written german language before “Trümmermensch” in 2013, that’s also right. I always knew that I want to write the lyrics in my native language, I never had to think about it. And yeah, to me the lyrics are very very important, as important as the music, cause to be honest, I see myself more as a poet than a musician. I never had plans translating them to English… I don’t know if it would make sense. But maybe one day, who knows…

Since “Von den Winden der Sehnsucht”, 9 years passed. What had changed for Karg over the years? You stopped giving concerts for instance, what was the reason?

Many, many things. When I recorded “Von den Winden der Sehsnucht” I was like 18 years old and still went to school. Since these days I moved a lot around, lived in different cities and for sure also changed the style of Karg a little. We played like 50 shows with different line-ups. I had a lot of fun, but I never felt it. The other problem is, when you found a band when you are still very young commonly your fellows and bandmates are too and with the years their priorities begin to change. They don’t want to play Black Metal anymore, found a Jazz Band, can’t arrange their political interests with this “scene” anymore or whatever. Karg was a band of friends, not even one professional musician ever played in this band and so it began to become a pain in the ass. Lousy concerts, unmotivated people, the list is endless and for sure I didn’t want to fire my friends. I also played in two other bands at this time, so I decided to quit Karg and continue as a studio project like it was in the beginning.

Karg music is a new approach with creating the darkness with acoustic parts, raining screams in suffering and eerie atmosphere that feeds the artistic vein of black metal. How do you define black metal in your own words?

To me Black Metal always was another word for freedom. This might sound pathetic, but as a teenager I felt like that. A music and a basic attitude where I could define myself from the 08.15 society and their rules. Musically it was the same. I always had a small feeling of artistic freedom in the Black Metal scene. When the music was cool and had atmosphere, it didn’t matter how good the Master sounded or who produced it. It was always music from maniacs for maniacs. Individuality as highest bid.

The very feeling hunts me is melancholy while I am listening Karg. What does melancholy mean for your art and for your personal life?

I’d call myself a melancholiac. It’s a feeling that was and is always there, doesn’t matter if I’m happy, sad or whatever, so also my art is and will always be melancholic. I don’t think this feeling of yearning will ever leave me.

I have one special song from the first album that I cannot start the day without listening these days. What is the story behind song “Dammerung Im Herbst” from “Von den Winden der Sehsucht”?

Fuck, if could remember my intention behind this song I’d tell you, but I don’t really know, it was 10 years ago I wrote it. In English the title’d be something like “Autumn Dawn”, and that’s basically what also the lyrics are about and what I tried to express musically. Good to know somebody remembers this one.

What are the sources of influences for Karg?

Life on a daily basis, I’d say. Things are so fucked up and I’m desperated by this life, humanity and everything around. Humans give up friendships and relationships so easy, they forgot what love means in this fast moving world. And of course this is just one example. This is what lead me into depressive music, lyric and drugs and at least writing music for Karg.

Where do you see yourself in terms of self-destruction? What does Karg brings to you, a healing, escaping from ugly reality or destroying self to create? Do you think if art is a suffering?

It’s a little bit of both. I have something doctors call a borderline personality which contains self-destructive behavior. But it’s part of my character, no stupid Black Metal image shit, I was like this since I was a child. But it’s getting better I think, the older I get. So Karg and also my other bands are part of the disease but also part of the therapy as well. But yeah, the best art comes out of suffering I think.

What did you read last? Do you have any favorite authors, books?

I am and have always been into authors like Bukowski, Henry Miller or some austrian ones like Stefan Zweig, but lately I didn’t read that much. I try some times, but mostly I’m simply to restless to sit down and read.

Can you give a few names for latest black metal albums that you appreciate? You are the founding members of Harakiri For The Sky which is also one of my favorites.

Yep, I’m one of the two founding members of HFTS and the singer. Thanks.

I listened to a lot of black metal in the last months, but I can give you a few examples:

1    A Light in The Dark – Vanished 

      Violet Cold – Anomie

      Numenorean – Home

4    Oathbreaker - Rheia

5    Sun Worship – Pale Dawn

6    Addaura – And the lamps expire

7    All My Sins – Lunar/Solar

8    Unreqvited - Disquiet

9    Ashborer – Bloodlands
Ultar - Kadath
Azelisassath - Evil Manifestations Against Mankind
Forteresse - Thèmes pour la rebellion
Nehëmah – Shadows from the past

And everything of the Swedish band GRAV

If I am not wrong you moved to Vienna. I have been in Vienna couple of times. As an outside view, with architecture and boosting of museums, galleries, expositions, it seems fantastic. As a local, how is the living in Vienna? How is the metal scene (audiences, concerts, organizations, pubs) there also?

I hate Vienna. In my opinion this city should be burned down like emperor Nero did it with Rome. Living there is just a compromise to me, because of studying, working and for sure because of playing in HFTS. But yeah, the cultural side of Vienna is great. When I’m out drinking, I visit a lot of concerts, but mostly Hardcore, Post Rock or Indie Gigs. I hate the Metal Scene nearly as much as Vienna.

Please end this interview with your last words. Thanks!

Thanks as well.

AETERNUM SACRIS INTERVIEW

August, 2016

Eerie sounds flowing freely among melodies carrying bleak, desolate feelings that let the one to have crush on a doomed love… Music of your last breathes…Aeternum Sacris…

I’m honored to meet with Aeternum Sacris, one-man band from Japan. You released A Doomed Love EP by internet the latest. What do you want to say about this album, its genre and target audience?

My dear friend, the honor is mine! For a “A Doomed Love” like everything I do, there is nothing planned at all, it’s just what I feel at the moment. There’s no target audience, but what I really love is people like me who listen and enjoy good music no matter the genre, from metal to jazz passing through new wave and shoegaze, etc.

Your music is surrounded by eerie sounds flowing freely among melodies carrying bleak, desolate feelings that the listeners crush on. Please tell us more about your main focus in music and what do you want to emphasize while creating your art?

I love textures and sound layers for I somehow started playing music because of the shoegaze and dream pop movement from the 90’s. I’m influenced by bands like The Cure, Echo and the Bunny men, The Mission (UK), The Chameleons (UK), Breathless, Fields of the Nephilims, so one can think about my music as a mixture of all those bands but in a metal style. Main focus on music is to transform what I feel into sound; there are a lot of guitar melodies, keyboards and details on each song because that’s how I feel things, because I’m very complicated person!

What are stories of the lyrics used in A Doomed Love album?

“A Doomed Love” was something that I needed to do, because I was passing through difficult emotional times. “It was not love” is a very old song from 1998-99 which is about my first so called real love and what happened when we broke up. “She” and “Doom Metal Girl” is about a girl I have met, it’s her story; she is a very special woman who is always coming and going like a comet visiting the earth. Just after a long time, when you start to forget her, as a comet she returns for a little time and then disappears again. That’s how I compose my music; all the lyrics are real and from experiences. The song “Snow” from my other music project Autumnale Laburnum is about her!

The cover work of A Doomed Love reminds me ghost within us trying to escape from our body-prison. What is the concept behind this work?

It is about how painful memories can trap us in a veil of sadness that is subtle to notice as a thin mesh always covering us, every day at every moment, even when you think everything is fine, and it turns out that it’s not! Even when you smile you are crying inside. Loneliness of this modern life makes it harder to overcome the pain! In the end we become some sort of a ghost hunting our own life!

Album with a name A Doomed Love…  What does love mean to you? What is the dark side of love?

Love is so important that I cannot believe in it! The dark side of Love is about its importance, if you have it with you, then you’re complete, but if you don’t have it, then you are incomplete and completely wretched. I have seen people doing bad things to themselves because of a lost love, so love is a very complex thing to really understand, it doesn’t matter what vision of love you have, the scientific or the spiritual vision, it’s still a complicated thing to live with, it can be the cure that saves you or the poison that kills you!.

Many bands release special editions or albums including bonus tracks for Japan. Far from Europe but should have been very alive metal music market at there. What are your thoughts about that?

Metal here? I think it’s more like a Visual Key than anything else, but don’t take my word as the truth. I don’t know too much metal bands since I have paid no attention to the metal scene.

Japan has exclusive works on horror/thriller genre in cinema which are disturbing and hitting in scenario that some of them have also remake versions. The Grudge, Dark Water, Kwaidan, Noroi-The Curse, Another and Audition & Over your Dead Body from Takashi Miike among the ones in my collection also. What are reasons of this success on horror genre? Do you have favorites?

There has been a horror vision since ancient times, you can see also a lot of great illustrations made by the great Katsushika Hokusai and others, but even modern Japanese people are not believers in religious way, they tend to be very superstitious. There are also some “haunted” places like the Aokigahara forest that makes people still believing in ghosts and related things. So we can say that it’s a part of the Japanese culture. Japan is so calm and peaceful that people need to feel that they are alive and also need something which is hard to feel it. However I don’t watch any horror movie or anything that can trigger any stress related response in my brain, since the brain can’t understand what you are watching is not real. I always try to keep myself in the better mood as I can, taking care about every part of my existence, I mean my body, my mind and my spirit!

Japanese horror culture often involves with the threat coming from water. Do you think if this fear of water related with tsunami that Japanese have been experiencing as a natural disaster for ages? You also have an album called 11.03.2011 dedicated to ones passed away at Tsunami.

Very good question, I think it’s the same for any place with a big concentration of water, oceans, lakes, rivers. There’s always a horror tale or a mythological creature living inside the water. Even when water for Buddhism symbolizes purity, clarity and calmness, you can never see at the bottom, in the depths… and people tend to fear what they can’t see, more if it’s dark, and the imagination is always prone to think about dangerous things, of course this is an evolution feature to stay alive.

There are some Japanese authors whom books are translated into Turkish also like Kenzaburo OE, Haruki Murakami, Osamu Dazai, Yasunari Kawabata, Ryunosuke Akutagawa. What I see as a common point of these authors is suicide theme. What are your thoughts about them and suicide itself as it is known that there is an ancient hara-kiri culture in Japan?

There are always good and bad things about everything; one thing that I don’t like from here is being an ultra-organized, systematic, methodical first world country. There are too many laws, too much behavior protocols that in the end make you a faint-hearted person. So to be a part of the society you have to be a “good guy” always smiling, always diligent doing what the person in charge says. If you are a man, you lose the “man thing”, the beast inside and become a pussycat, and then you are against the evolution. It is the biggest reason of too much Otaku culture that some of those guys feel like they are little children. So, what happens when your beast inside starts to take control of you? You can’t handle that fight inside of you. Your real nature is against what people expect from you! Then you become crazy or kill yourself! I don’t really care about society or what others thinks about me, so suicide is a matter that I was never interested to make a self-research because it was never an alternative for me.

Do you think if art is born from misery?

Somehow the best music in my opinion was made under the influence of sadness and misery. So, I think it’s not the only way, but certainly is one of the most creative and prolific tool!

There is an intense darkness and melancholy that catches the listener and drag into desolation in your music. What does melancholy mean to you? How do you like black metal in terms of musical and ideological senses?

I was not a happy child; the most of my life was a melancholic journey in solitude. Eventually I learned to be a friend of that melancholy; even fell in love with her, music became a way to translate what she told to me. About the Black Metal, I like the speed, aggressive feel on it and love the tremolo picking and that darkness! But I’m not interested in any ideological thing about anything, for me it’s just music and not a “religion” or a way of life, that’s because I don’t like any kind of fanaticism so I just see things by giving the importance it deserves!

Japanese language is very rich and ancient. Do you have interest in Japanese writing styles? Have you ever thought to write lyrics in Japanese? How would it sound like?

Every language has its phonetic; somehow that can make you sense a certain feeling. For example I always felt in love listening female singers singing in French then listening the same song in other language. I don’t like how Japanese sound in metal as I don’t like how Spanish or other languages sound in metal, so there’s no way of me singing in Japanese!

What are the things you criticize/appreciate about Japanese culture or lifestyle in Japan? As Japan is also known with its strict commitment with traditions that new generations do not want to take it into their lives as it was before.

What I criticize is Work-work-work-work-rest-work-work-work-work-rest-rest-rest-work-work-work-work-work-work-work-work-work-work-rest- (insert here the over time) -sleep-sleep-sleep-sleep-sleep (repeat everything until you die, thanks for your service and goodbye!). So I hate how consuming has Japan become, everything is about to buy new things and people pay too much money for things that have no real values, sorry louis vuitton! I also don’t like the “Asian” culture of praising guys that looks like anorexic androgynous whatever. Too many protocols, too much keeping oneself inside a shell, friends and even couples are not friends and couples; sometimes they don’t even share a real important bond together.

What I appreciate from here, are that people don’t care about your life so there are not too much gossipmongers, almost zero violence here; people don’t need to carry guns or to be some kind of a Bruce Lee to feel protected. It’s very difficult to see a bare hand fight that here is a very secure country. Girls can wear whatever they want and guys don’t even notice, I mean you can see an awesome girl with an awesome body using a little, very little skirt, and no one cares! In other countries she would be harassed by some guys trying to mate like animals with her! The different sub-cultures are living together in peace, no one cares about the look of no one, you can both see a lady wearing a kimono and a lolita, etc. Respect is the thing other countries are losing while you can feel it at every corner in here.

What are your plans for Aeternum Sacris, you have been releasing EPs so far, so will there be an album in the future? What about live shows?

I was working with a Chinese record label to release the first album “We Are But Dust And Shadow” but these guys are unprofessional so I ended up by breaking things with them. I’m working with another record label and there are others interested to work with me, but sadly I have no time because of “work-work-work-work-rest…” thing. So far, I have completed 3-4 albums and all of them have full of very great songs from the first to the last!

Please share your last words…

My last words are, always live as it is your last day on earth, live with honor, respect others, defend the defenseless, don’t be a coward and fight for what you believe, keep dreaming and believing in life, enjoy everything even the saddest times and love, and say your love when you love one, sometimes people need to hear!

Originally published on Filhakikat.net.