Offense zine #3

OFFENSE ZINE ISSUE # 3 AUTUMN/WINTER 2017 Al-Namrood (KSA)

Cauchemar (CAN)

Darkness (GER)

Enchanted (NOR)

Emperor (NOR)

Forgotten Sunrise (EST)

Furze (NOR)

Hyponic (PRC)

Lubricant (FIN)

Obliteration (NOR)

Spectral Voice (USA)

Strid (NOR)

The Black Dawn (FIN) Coverphoto: Sodom (1983)

EDITORIAL

PS. For the sake of authentity we have not removed the original bands’ contacts from the interviews. We hope noone would try to contact the bands using this information, for obvious reasons :) Most of the interviews have not been published before and are here in their original form: we have edited them either very minimally or not at all. All rights belong to the interviewers and the interviews have been used by kind permission. The aim of this zine is to introduce and publish the original interviews of the bands mostly from the 90s. We’re also trying to mimic a style, with which fanzines were made at that time.

Gates

info@offensezine.com http://www.offensezine.com https://www.facebook.com/OffenseZine

Knowing full well that if their identities were to be revealed, a prison sentence at the very least, and maybe even death penalty at worst would be the end result, Al-Namrood, the three piece black metal band from Saudi Arabia, have made very few concessions. One of those few is that we cannot make the faces behind this project public, for there would be severe reprecussions for the individuals involved in speaking their mind via the band. Al-Namrood is a group of three non-believers in a country governed by religion; artists honing forbidden crafts; black metallers who in the public eye might as well be black sorcerers. The ultimate musical rebels, who have defied the social norms of their homeland for a good 7 years by now. The name Al-Namrood translates to „The non-believer,“ and to find out more about this obscure band, whose end goal is to share their vision with the world, withouth being chasticized for it, read the interview below, conducted via email in August 2015.

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So is Al-Namrood literally the only band from Saudi Arabia releasing metal music, or are there other really underground groups as well, who are quietly doing similar things to you guys?

Black metal as a genre has a lot of occultism in it. Have you, for example, ever written about Melek Taus, or is religion of any kind a topic that you’d rather not associate yourselves with?

There is a lot of talk on this matter, but we don’t notice any real activity from musicians going on here. While it is mentioned on some website that we have over 20 bands in the country, I question how many of them are really active or still exist. This is worth pointing out due to the protocol of local people, who start a metal band, then stop at a certain point for cultural/social/religious reasons or whatever hypocrisy they are into.

No, we do not care about any religions, actually we cannot stand any religion, we are fed up to the point we get sick if we hear this word.

From your interview with Vice that you did earlier this year, one extract describes how you smuggled CDs from neighboring countries. Is Western music in general just not for sale in Saudi Arabia, or does prohibition only cover metal?

No, the guys who work in customs have no clue what metal is, so they will judge based on the art on the cover. This also goes for movies, but it will be a clear case when I (try to) get a CD from a band like Marduk (into the country), where there is blood, upside down crosses, corpse paint and nudity. Such items won’t pass if they (customs workers) happen to see it. I remem ber back in the ‘90s, where there were specific instructions to not let Michael Jackson’s music into the country. In this case it didn’t matter what the cover looked like, but one of my friends got it in by hiding it in a tissue box. Clever wasn’t it?

You also said in that same interview that you intended from the very start for the music to be catchy. Is it the most impor tant thing for you to consider whilst composing your songs, that there’s an element of catchiness to your work?

Of course, we do not want to create boring music or be just another metal band that, as always, has headbanging riffs. Our goal is to create something attentive to musical ears, have Al-Namrood fingerprints on black metal.

How do you find the places to rehearse at?

We don’t, we do it at home. The houses here are built in a way to preserve privacy (for a conservative society, they assert on these specifications), unlike the Western houses. So if you can do it, do it in your home, where there’s isolation.

You’ve made it clear that you detest the Islamic regime, but what do you yourself believe in? I take it that not in any religion, but what is the main thing that you have decided to put your so called faith into? Or are you a rationalist rather, that you believe in what you see?

We do not really know where we can categorize ourselves into, but we are not philosophers or politicians for sure, we are victims of a highly oppressive regime that inflicted us and left us with nothing but neverending rage and grudge. We didn’t choose this path because we overlooked the universal sciences, or read atheism books, or had worthless debates about the existence of god. We chose it due to what we have gone through, what we perceived from it, and what we have rationalized out of it. You can translate these phenomena any way you like.

What is the everyday experience of being an anti-Islamist living in Saudi Arabia like for you, outside of work hours? Do you have a close group of people around you who share the same views, or are you rather forced to often put on a fake smile and nod in agreement just so you wouldn’t get into massive trouble?

No groups that we know of, we are only 3 men who share the same concepts. Although I’m sure there are secret societies with different approaches in this country, but in very small numbers and tough to find, at least in our area.

I bet you’ve thought about leaving Saudi Arabia for some place that accepts you as you are. What has been the force holding you back from making that kind of move?

It is complicated and would need careful planning and very good connections. The authorities can still claim their citizens even outside the borders. One wrong step, and we end up back where we were born, and at that rate, it won’t be close to a safe bet. So we rather deal with this craziness for the time being because we know how to.

What if the unexpected happens and you gain enough notoriety that it becomes much harder than it already is for you to keep your identities hidden, which would make you susceptible towards serious legal action taken against you. Would such an occurrence force you to leave your motherland, or would you rather find a way to deal with it all at the spot?

At that rate, yes (they would have to leave), but we need to keep our heads right, and we know it would be very selfish of us to leave those who we care about behind.

But (at the same time) it is the instinct of survival that would drive us so.

How did your partnership with Shaytan Productions, a Canadian music label focused on Middle-Eastern-styled extreme music, develop?

It is a perfect match, the label promotes our music effectively, we wouldn’t be known on this scale if there was no great promotion.

You also have a new album coming out this year via Shaytan, titled Diaji Al Joor. What can we expect from it, compared to earlier efforts by Al-Namrood?

There are some changes; the guitars are heavier and more highlighted than before, Arabian instruments, like the Qanoon, are played differently this time, as we focused on tremolo playing. There is a darker atmosphere, with even greater Arabian feel to it. Overall we think „Diaji Al joor“is one of our finest works.

You cannot play your music live for the aforementioned reason of unveiling your identities, but if that was an option for you, where would you like to perform the most?

Europe for sure would be our preferred destination, we think that we can collaborate and bond with the European society the best. Not to forget that Europe is the most history-filled land in the world, where the most religious conflicts, human development, and transformation of civilization started from.

What would be your end goal with Al-Namrood? What is the one thing that you would one day want to look back on and say „I did it“?

Certainly being a globally known band that can tour the world freely & without restrictions. I live to see that day, even if it takes decades.

Interview by Magnus

Cauchemar interview fall 2015 1.

Hi Annick! How is it there, are the autumn winds blowing cold already?

Greetings! The autumn here in Montreal is a strange beast – it can go from 0 celcius to 20 celcius in one day! But we’ve had snow already, and the leaves have changed color.

It’s a beautiful season, my favorite actually!

It is a very creative season for us.

2.

Having listened to your music, I personally hear the best from Mercyful Fate, Candlemass and Bathory. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it probably is difficult to overlook the sources of inspiration.

Oh thanks, that is a huge compliment! We all worship these three bands to the death! But our influences are extremely fast, we worship so many things that it would take a whole page of your zine to write them all!

Haha! Here are some of our other favorite bands rock and metal bands: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, Budgie, Pagan Altar, Danzig, Saint Vitus, Paul Chain/early Death SS, Black Hole, Witchfinder General, Sortilège, H-Bomb, Vulcain, ADX. Hawkwind, Scald, Flower Travellin’ Band, Rush, The Cure, Blue Öyster Cult, Venom, Morbid Angel, Pentagram, Voïvod and a million others... haha! I’m probably forgetting some important ones, which I will regret later.

3.

How about Black Knight, Breaker or Sacred Blood? Yes…no?

They are all great bands, but they are not direct influences. I love Breaker, that album is a torcher!

4.

Is there a special reason why you decided to sing in your native language?

There aren’t too many bands in Quebec that sing in their native language and we wanted to bring something new and different to the scene. We also love French metal from the 80’s as seen in the last answer, and frankly – I just love it when bands sing in their own native language!!!

5.

Tell me a bit about your cooperation with Nuclear War Now! We’ve been working with Yosuke since day one – I’ve been a friend of his for many years, and when we recorded our first EP, we sent him a song and he right away wanted to sign us! A lot of people thing it is strange for us to be on that label, but people tend to forget that NWN! Is not just a black and death metal label, they have released some heavy metal in the past – Witchfinder General, Mercy, Heathen Hoof, Metalucifer, etc…

6.

Is Cauchemar rather a live band or you enjoy both the studio works and concerts?

When we wrote “La Vierge Noire”, we were talking of never doing concerts and keeping it as a studio project… but then the opportunity came to open for Vulcain (French speed metal), so we went at it, and we never looked back since! We have grown a lot since the beginning and our live shows now are very intense experiences. I often get into a trance and deliver everything that is within me…

7.

Besides the band you are known as a co-author of Iron Fist and Morbid Tales magazines. Are you still writing to them?

I’m only a humble contributor to England’s Iron Fist magazine – I write the “World Down-fall” column, which includes interviews with key members of different scenes around the world, and where they talk about the history of their band and their country/local scene/culture. I still am the editor of Morbid Tales zine, and I would love to release a seventh issue one day haha, but I’m busy as fuck with all sorts of other projects. It will come out eventually, promised! All older issues are available through a distro called “The Basar North America”. I also did three issues of Les Templiers ‘zine, which is a French-language traditional Doom Metal zine.

8.

Are you also interested in collecting fanzines?

I don’t actively collect fanzines, but I do have a large collection by default haha. I would love to own more early 80’s Quebec metal fanzines. I also have photocopies of old zines because original ones are so hard to find and expensive. One of the coolest zines I got is Blackthorn from Denmark, as well as photocopies of Metal K.O. from Quebec.

12.

You manage a personal camping/food blog named Into The Void. Have you received lots of feedback from the readers? How has it been?

I didn’t do any camping actually, it was a blog held during my 18-month travels around the world. I tried to document it as well as I could for my friends and family, and it turned out really killer I think! I did receive a lot of feedback from it, and still do in fact, it now serves as some kind of travel guide for like-minded individuals!

10.

But there’s always something special about the camping food, do you agree or is it just a hungry stomach speaking?

Everything tastes better when cooked on an open fire and eaten in nature! I wish I could experiment more with that, perhaps one day when I get a house in the countryside. I want to experiment cooking with archaic ways, like digging a hole, putting hot coals in it, food, more hot coals, and then burying it… mmmm!

9.

You are the author of a cookbook called “Hell Bent for Cooking”. How did that come about?

I thought it would be interesting to get recipes from my favourite metal bands from all over the world! I mean, we all know the bands’ musical influences… but why not discover them through their culture, with food for example? For example, three of the original MAYHEM guys wanted to give me the same recipe (Fårikål), which means that this dish helped shape the band into what they are!

Also, the book was originally a part of Morbid Tales #6, as a little zine. When Ian Christe, who became my editor, picked up the zine, he contacted me and asked me if I wanted to do a full-color cookbook! I said yes, of course!

10.

So what is your favorite dish?

Oh no! That question is not allowed! Haha! I can’t choose something in particular, it’s just too hard.

I could name at least 50 different favorite dishes, and it comes and goes in current obsessions. These days, I am obsessed with asian noodle soups with strong broth, smoked Yucatan-styled hot sauces, seafood, black-bean dishes, ceviche, tartare and bean-to-bar chocolate.

11.

I saw that you have also cooperated with such a wonderful Japanese legend as Barbatos?

Yeah! I played bass for their show in Montreal in 2008, and played a song (Rocking Metal Motherfucker – a Barbatos song) with Abigail when we shared the stage in India in 2012, haha! But that’s all, I was only a session member. The Montreal gig was recorded on tape via Kuravila records in Chile!

11.

Seems that you can be characterised as a passionate music friend and a record collector. Do you visit concerts often and how big is your record collection?

I’m a music fanatic indeed! I am quite picky with my concerts, I tend to go more to the underground ones as they usually have a better atmosphere and more feeling (on top of being cheaper!), but I do travel a lot to see concerts of bands I worship. I’ve been to European festivals, and traveled in the states and Canada for them. I’ve never counted my record collection, but I should have around 800 LPs, 150 tapes, 150 7"s, and about 2500 CDs? It’s actually quite modest but of very very high quality. Every time I buy a record, I try to get rid of one. It makes my collection better. I hate having records that sit on the shelves for years!

12.

Actually it’s quite an impressive collection you have there! Do you prefer a specific type of media over the other?

It’s not that much really, but I don’t care – I don’t collect to accumulate albums and not listen to them haha. I have a soft spot for demos on tape and original presses on vinyl.

I just love getting the album how it was meant to sound and look!

13.

What you think, do you have enough decent venues in Quebec? How’s the situation in there - are people still coming to see bands?

We are very lucky here in Montreal, we have so many venues to chose for! If I want to put on a gig, I have at least 10 venues I can think of to book, so there is not a problem at all.

People come out to gigs – depending on the line-up of course, but people here are very dedicated. Last month, I booked two local bands (including Cauchemar) as well as a Doom Metal band from Boston (Magic Circle) and 275 people showed up!! It was totally insane! But in Quebec city for example, there is only one venue left, and they only do gigs on Friday.

The scene there is very much hurt, something needs to be done asap.

14.

Canada’s biggest metal band Voivod is in studio at the moment. Do you keep an eye on their activities?

Of course! They are one of my favourite bands. I’m sure the new album is going to be incredible as they have been touring pretty much non-stop, and they know exactly what fans expect. Top band and top guys! I love them so much!

15.

Thank you so much for this interview! Last but not least - what was the last record on your player platter?

The last record I listened to was Uriah Heep’s Demons and Wizards, over in Cancun with a bunch of friends. Such a killer album! Try to find the dirty secret hidden on the cover…

Interview by Gates

Darkness (GER) interview fall 2015

1. Hi Arnd, as I understand you have a tight 3. Would you discuss a bit about your first album concert schedule right now - do you even have “Death Squad”, which was originally released time to relax? already in 1987? There are quite a lot of versions of this album by now.

Hi Gates. You are right, we were playing some great shows this year. It's good to be back on There are no different versions than the original stage! I hope in 2016 we'll continue that way.

But we don't relax, we are working on a new album but there are many different editions with more or less bonus tracks. And it was re-released on CD between the shows. and vinyl.

2. Darkness has operated rather steadily since the 80s. How would you descibe the band life 4. Throughout the years, guys such as Uwe from thoughout the years?

Sodom and Thomas from Holy Moses have played in Darkness.

We ended with DARKNESS in 1989.

From 1989 to approximately 2004 we all went our Yes, Uwe was one of the prime fathers of own musical ways.

Olli and Ray died DARKNESS, besides Lacky who, without doubt, is unfortunately, Bruno gave up making music, Andreas Becker played at Holy Moses, Pierre the founder of DARKNESS. Sometimes we meet Uwe founded JESTERS MARCH and is now playing in at concerts and he is always a welcome guest at several cover bands and Timo and Lacky played in the rare parties in our rehearsal room. different projetcs. I was writing and producing Thomas changed for HOLY MOSES, that's rigth. but for me it was a very dark time and I hate to Furthermore Pierre founded „Jesters March“ after talk about it. he had left DARKNESS and Emma who played in In 2004 Lacky and I were talking about EURE ERBEN and DARKNESS also played Bass in re-animating DARKNESS but first I was against SCANNER. it, so we founded EURE ERBEN. We were not very The Ruhrarea is some kind of a melting pot of successful with that and in 2012, after the 25th Heavy Metal Musicians and it happens very often anniversary show of „DeathSquad“ we decided to start again. Until 2014 we've had several line-up that musicians change from one to another band. changes but now we have a strong and steady line-up.

So there was large gap indeed....

5. As I understand you have had some serious backstrokes with some of the band members. How have these events influenced you as a band? Have they somehow brought you closer to each other or stronger?

The circumstances change, opinions change, people themselves change. That's the way it goes and unfortunately people come and go sometimes. That is sad but you have to go on with what you do.

Lacky and me are now friends for almost 30 years (we met when I was only two years old, he is way older than me, ;-) harharharhar!). I believe there's is something strong between him and me, otherwise that long period of making music together would not have been possible. I guess we both are completely nuts!

The current DARKNESS line-up is now the strongest and most DARKNESS-a-like line up since „Death Squad“. I am absolutely satisfied with it.

Considering this we can finally say: yes, all the trouble made us strong. Perhaps time is necessary to forge the right people together.

6. Having followed your recent activities though social media, I wonder if you have any time at all. You have a lot of concerts and if I undersand correctly you have a new album coming up next year?

Yes, we are very busy. And I am glad about that!

We have finished the songwriting and started the recordings for a new album in the beginning of December 2015. The date of release is not sure yet but it will be most likely in spring of 2016 – be prepared!

7. How is your relationship with High Roller Records are you planning to develop a longer cooperation?

HRR is a small but very good label. We met some of them at a gig in Zwickau, Germany last September. Really nice guys, they all are metalheads; they know what they do and how to do it because they are part of the Heavy Metal scene. They did some very good releases of DARKNESS. We are in close contact but yet nothing is sure. I would appreciate a co-operation!

TRASH TILL DEATH

8. I noticed you have an app called the “Darkness app”. What’s up with that? :) Nowadays you need multimedia and interaction. We just try to keep up with the new technic, that's all.

9. Your long-time slogan is “trash ‘till death” - does it apply also in 2016?

Yes, it does – definetly.

Intervew by Gates

1. Hi Iscariah! Have you already rested from the Blekk Metal festival? Was the crowd big and are you satisfied with the performance (tribute band C.L.A.S.P.)?

Iscariah: Hails! Yes its been some weeks now since the performance and it was a pleasurable experience to play together with such good allies. For me, that was the main factor, to experience to manifest this event with these individuals. Im not sure how many attended the concert but it was a decent size crowd for sure.

2. How often are you on stage nowadays?

Iscariah: Not so often as in the past. Maybe a couple of times in a year, but the reason for this is that we have been awhile now without a new release with my bands. Hopefully this will change for 2016 and we get to do more liveshows than we have in recent years. Having said that, we have gotten alot of offers, but we declined them since we did not see much point in playing the same material over and over again without a new release.

3. I believe not enough people know about your ealier (or first?) band called Enchanted. Can you enlighten us about the band’s history from the beginning?

Iscariah: We started the band in 1992 and released a rehearsal in 1994 followed by the demo “Breed my Sorrows” in 1995. In the beginning we had a different vocalist but we realised quite soon that it did not work out so I took over the vocals in addition to the bass. Then, in 1996 or so our drummer left the band and I took over the drums for the final recording of the band “Daylight Wings Collide” which we recorded in Grieghallen with Pytten in 1997. This release was only done as a CD single for promotion in 250 copies.

4. I’m a happy owner of the Enchanted demo “Breed my sorrows” (I received it back in the day through the old-school tape trade. I don’t exactly remember who sent it to me, but it was definitely directly from the band, most probably from you). Could you please discuss about this demo and what kind of expectations did you have with this release?

Iscariah: It was recorded in a studio outside Bergen called Studio 7B with a producer called Bengt Bakke who also did recordings for Asmodeus, Helheim and some others. The recording was kind of chaotic since our dummer at the time was at that point hard to work with and was suffering with depressions and was very pessimistic. The producer said that “You dont need another take.

You just need a proper psychiatrist”. He was anyways a strange guy this producer and later went on to do the one thing a producer should never do: make radio commercials. Little jingles for commercials. Horrid. Anyways, we pressed the demo ourselves in 500 copies professionaly and we were quite happy with it although we hear now that some earlier mixes did the recording much more justice. Oh and the cover artwork was done by someone who worked in the studio. I think he just used some pictures he had as a desktop at his computer haha. Grutle from Enslaved always said that it looked like the Lion King movie. He is right though but we didnt care and was happy just to have a cover done.

5. “Breed my sorrows� demo was never released in some other format than a tape. In 1997 it was re-released by a Polish label, was that also an official release?

Iscariah: Yes that is correct we had it done through now defunct label Vox Mortiis Records out of Poland in unknown quantities. It has a different layout which we had no saying in.

Quickly after we sent him the DAT tape, we lost contact with him for some years. After a long time I managed to get the phonenumber to this ripoff and first he said he never released it, but after some threats, we received a box with like 30 tapes or so from him. Never heard from him again. Probably started doing radio commercials he also.

6. Enchanted is not really black metal (lyrics are not about Satan :) ). I would rather compare it musically to Swedish bands such as Eucharist, Decameron, Unanmated, not to current Norwegian bands. Am I on a wrong path here, or do you see any similarities with these bands as well?

Iscariah: I think you are spot on actually because we were much more inspired by the swedish and finnish underground scene than the norwegian one. Back then there was mostly Black Metal from Norway but in 1995 or so the BM scene was dying and left only with remains of what greatness it spawned in the past annyways. If there was a Black Metal band that inspired us it must have been Dissection, but I dont label them Black Metal really anyways. Musically.

7. Did you manage to play on stage with this line-up?

Iscariah: We were supposed to play a show with Molested and Obtained Enslavement in Bergen but that gig never happened unfortunately. We only did smaller gigs for friends in our rehearsal place. There actually exists some video footage from those events but a friend has those recordings. I need to get those.

8. You actually stayed together for 11 years (according to http://www.metal-archives.com portal). Did this period include pauses or was the period active?

Iscariah: No we stayed together for 7 years as Enchanted but before that band, me and two others played together in a band since 1989 doing covers of Sepultura, Death, Pungent Stench etc, but we never did any self written material before we started Enchanted in 1992.

9. This question rarely has one concrete answer, but why did the band break up?

Iscariah: The main reason was that I joined Immortal and it just took up all my time actually. We never actually broke up but faded into obscurity actually. We had lots of material for our planned debut album but it never happened and remains on cassettes in my cellar for now. We will see...maybe one day we will reopen the gates.

10. Did you ever receive a sensible offer for the album deal during the time the band was active?

Iscariah: Yes alot of offers actually. We had offers from Voices of Death, Tandava, Century Media, Modern Invasion and a few others.

11. Do you still communicate with your ex band mates from Enchanted?

Iscariah: I am still in good contact with Arvid the guitarist who also helps me with some releases I do for my label. Mastering work and some mixing etc. He is still heavily into metal and live only half hour from my place actually. The others not so much. Jostein only a few chats in a year maybe.

12. You are currently active at a record label Edged Circle Productions. Is this your day job as well or just a hobby?

Iscariah: No the label is not a full time job. I work usually offshore but since my work rotation is 2 weeks work and 4 weeks home, I have plenty of time to run the label. We keep a steady pace at the label and release some quality stuff. This year (2016) we have releases coming from Reptilian, Magick Touch, Scorched, Putrisect, Wargoat and some more releases which are yet to be announced.

13. How do you feel about the current popularity of old formats such as vinyl and cassette?

Iscariah: Im a avid vinyl collector so Im happy although Im not so happy about the fact that it takes a LONG time to press vinyls now due to its popularity. Its good to walk into a record store (some so many left) though and find vinyls there again.

14. Some time has passed from your band’s Dead to This World latest record. What has been going on in the mean time and what kind of expectations do you have about the future?

Iscariah: We have now a new drummer who lives just 5 minutes from my house as opposed to our previous who lived in Italy. This will make it alot easier and we are now working on alot of new material which will be our 2nd full length release for Soulseller Records. We hope to have this out during 2016 and do more live shows. We will support Angelcorpse in Oslo this year and maybe in Sweden but mainly we will focus on recordings for now and then book more shows later.

15. The classical last question - what was the latest vinyl that you played on your record player?

Iscariah: Vader “The Ultimate Incantation”. One of the best Death Metal releases of the 90s. Thank you for the support! Bleed for the Devil!

Interview by Gates

"Furze to wade"

Interview with Reaper

Furze navigates in darkness, simple as that. Legions of endless mourners will gather around his latest album and experience abyssic hatred of everything sacred. We are about to witness mesmerizing of deadly snake, who's bite will give us non-destructiveness. Music by Furze is not conforming the predictable norms, it’s subversion of standardized genre metal black. We step into bonfire of maggots and given suspension will cloud memory of everything tranquil. So, before we take off on this plane of dark madness, i would like say thanks to Mr. Reaper for agreeing to this interview.

With his personal help i would like to explain what has been going on with the discography of Furze. In the end of year 2015 Fresh Tea Records released Furze's sixth album "Baphomet Wade".

Originally postponed as the third album. In May 2000 Reaper announced in the inner sheet of the "First feast of freedom" EP to watch out for the following releases: - Whilst the Trident Spawn and Spectre LP out July 2000 on A.E.R. - Necromanzee Cogent LP out on A.E.R - Baphomet Wade LP......

The debut album mentioned in EP sheet obviously changed its name to "Trident Autocrat". Back then "Baphomet Wade" was put on ice and became "UTD". For this 2015 release most of the material was written basically between 2012-2014.

Let us take off.

Mind the hearse. How are you doing, Mr. Reaper?

No offense, Im doing good (which means a soul every second you know). Thanx, rather good to have the album out. I kinda had a depressive aftermath after its release but I realize its actually the only Furze album that will stand the test of time, alongside the likes of “Worship Him”, “INRI”, “Bathory”, “Show No Mercy” etc. Its got that really intense darkness, riffage and really original feel at the same time which any classic should have. Furze should earn at least a little triumph in the underground with this release… What we stand up for is BLACK METAL, this is the style I want to survive in its old school form, which means, its gotta be original, that’s how the old maniax thought. Some people misunderstand and think old school black metal is about doing a style of some old band they adore.

But that’s completely anti-satanic thought and nearer to sheep mentality. YES black metal must have a really macabre unholy feel, but its not frightening if it ain’t a new monster coming around the bend, right ?

I mean, if you’ve seen it all before…..

So, new album. What do you mean to breed with your every outcome? Do you think about what new album is about before you enter the studio (point of no return) or you digest it in the studio or you analyze it by yourself again, when it is already released?

Ahhh by now I think our listeners have figured out this is an ongoing power of darkness. The opposites of the Triad are like a furious “ac/dc”-effect in itself. Im like a movie producer, I enjoy making this

occult metal gloom production and breath it every week (again: which people around me hates cuz there is NO money in this, just bills). It feels like Im more at wave length with my own being when I have good creative periods. When not, I mostly feel something is missing in life. This time it clicked into being “Baphomet Wade” somewhere along the process. As you said its been worked on a little in the late 90s/early 2000s as well, but as far as I recall this hasn’t had any direct impact on the work of 2012-14-era

riffage/lyrics since its been a period where it just came up thousand fold inspiration.

In the start of this period I worked under the working title “Into the Cauldron Fire” (which would be the fire beneath the cauldron) and then it transformed into the water element itself during some months and became “Baphomet Wade”.

Its got nothing to do with Knight Templars or any rewritten/copied tale/myth, except for the existential symbolic transforming of the Countess Bathory story into being the creator on the scales, in the song “Goat Cyclus”…it gives you a chill look on reality.. ”let darkness enter one’s feelings” aka “Baphomet wade”…which is the base for the lyrics: “Sathanas is here…” is an actual dream described as good as possible just after awakening… while ”Goat Cyclus” is a dark fantasy about the creator with tons of references to the story about Countess Bathory, only this time she’s a mirror of the driving force of the creator, like a feminine goat…goat cyclus…its there to say something about the fertile cyclus of life and it aint so nice ,really. …”One Night Before the Other” is 2 sided: it’s a force of - and hymn to devilish u.g.metal… on the other hand (of baphomet) you have it presenting one’s lost way of existing in this night; night where you can not see the whole, in a night, where you come from you don’t know(classic hen or the egg question indeed), a force put mankind here…we live,,, then we know only death will tell us what death IS about…so: One Night before the other we listen to and believe in ourselves, unholy metal and great music in general!

Also, I guess Ive made another record where I interpret already used terms/words/meanings – and give them a whole new meaning. F.inst I did the same with the word “trident” and “necromancy” (even spelt it necromanzee instead). But it’s the feeling and how its done which counts, not this theory on what I actually did – I just explain it since all reviews Ive ever read about Furze keep nagging about “ endless weirdness” and they just cant let go of it and keep talkin the same sheep talk saying the same things like each other you know? Back to your question; I do get new ideas along the way whilst recording but I do have a picture of the song before I start.

Sometimes a lot clearer upfront, sometimes becoming clearer later in the process.

Sometimes I strip away things I later understand wouldn’t fit for FURZE. These could be ideas more in the prog direction or even a psycho ballad or the sound of a 10 door slam mingled with nonsense. Some stuff is so much in the moment that Im completely unable to find it on the guitar again later no matter how hard I try, its just too much you know…a demon in the moment.

4 drummers in the making of "Baphomet Wade"? Intentionally?

What was the purpose of having different drummers?

The first drummer was supposed to last, Dececrator. Also called Mr De-C on the album UTD (he did drums on the song “Goat Breath” recorded in June 2004, we were in studio when Quorthon died I recall). Anyway, he quit for the same reasons in 2014 as he did in 2004: health issues troubled him and came to critical point. Then I got hold of Sadomancer (of Deathhammer) for live duties but as it turned out during rehearsals he did a damn god job so I used him on two songs…then I had already recorded drums etc of “R.O.D.” in June 2014 myself (and a lot of other songs not present on this album)…but, as I had suddenly completed arrangements of “Sacrifice” and showed it to the newly arrived Valbo whose also known as one of the best drummers of Norway, we made that song down to tape the 4th or 5th time we played it (and I wouldn’t have recorded it half as good on the drums as him!).

With less time than earlier available it’s cool to have the help of someone die hard enough to really catch up the Furze feeling displayed to ‘em, a mighty hail to these guys! What, that’s not a thing to say in OFFENSE ZINE you say ??????

It's obvious that sound plays huge role in Furze's delivery. So, how much do you plan the sound? Or are you the wizard that enters the building and your mental radar goes nuts if something is already fixed and air is ready for reaping or you burn inside and start to ferment to bring out the demons for the sake of evoking a sound more suitable.

I aim for what’s best for each song. But I guess Im not reaching a too good sound hehe! That part is something that thrills my mind just as much…I would REALLLY LOVE to have a serious stay in a pro analogue large studio rich on old equipment without stressing too much about time.

Ive got so many ideas and tend to create so much every week(poorly recorded on cassette decks since 92 – till now, but recent years more on a cell phone too) that I don’t use many % of it all…but I’d like to spend a lot more time to create a sound never before heard, very evil, very old school, but much more powerful than Furze have done anytime before. I can admit that this is my definitive irritation point…I’m never really satisfied with the sound itself. And this is probably a driving force too.. yet I AM SURE that if you’d put me together with a producer which could “speak MY language” and let me stay 4-5 days a week full time for a couple of years…..I can’t imagine how many records I’d make…it’s like, every week the last 24+ years Ive come up with so much stuff I don’t get to use…I don’t wanna produce great songs with shit sound either, on the other hand I don’t wanna overkill the necro prog of Furze either. And the real dilemma is being underground but in need of producing ugliness which COSTS HELL. Homestudio with good digital production wouldn’t be the same here.

Just for example - "Sathanas' Megolomania", a track on "Necromanzee Cogent" album. Reaper yet again found different solutions of evilness mixed together.

Devil with whom i am on the same level, asks me how do you work? Literally - how you do find those spaced-out praises about our Lord from Beyond?

CASIO magic of kids toys works hehe. Well, Its just how I work. I mean that piece was not planned, it just happened. One thing lead to another I guess. It does have a good dose of PATOS, which is what I wanted.

Isn't death-like experience flying on a plane over a desert? Endlessness…

The endless aspect is good records of in Furze lyrics but to most humans the pains of life seems endless enough, so turn on “endless pain”! Like said in DEVACAMO POSSESSED BLACK: “devakasha remains silent death-pictures”. With other words: it’s unlikely that the full picture of death has been or will ever be revealed to someone non-rigor mortis. Sad for you all, but that woe will be taken away, that I can , by my name, promise…

When its cold outside, Only Fur is Seen, right?

Going fast or slow or even more slower, how does tempo affect your musical visions? Does tempo help?

Going nowhere fast!

Tempo must be in balance with the riff. Tempo is a part of what’s being laid down, or better put, percussion department is ultra important in music! Its sound too. Of course nothing can beat the analogue days of drum sound engineering.

I see your way is not pointing a gun to listeners and having them to find what they want to find in Furze. But what do you yourself harvest by releasing albums? From producing to mastering.

Bills, bad reviews and shit from my wife haha! So you bet I have my days I just wanna burn it all to hell. Maybe its like someone said, too unique to die, too rare to live… I make a lot new every week and still write thy horror pictures of gloom and misanthropy so an old (nearing 40 years old, shit!) blacksmith can’t stop hammering y’know! I just keep blasting you all to Hell, but no one will notice before its too late haha !

Do you read reviews of Furze?

Yes I do, I think most of them are based on very little listening…right from the start of this band I learned the best response come from MUSICIANS, I don’t know why it is like that, but the only time I hear someone REALLY into FURZE, it’s a musician…

Do you go to concerts?

Not too many. I saw Anglagård last year (awesome). Sabbat/Deathhammer in 2011 was great. Its been 1-2 gigs a year, when I get time to go. This year I guess the last BLACK SABBATH gig is mandatory.

Furze has started giving concerts since 2015. What can we expect in the future?

Unique powers of darkness and evil! Right now it’s nothing planned but that’s because of practical matters. I’m rehearsing new material and focus on that now. We’ve had offers from big festivals but thanked no to everything (some stuff in Holland, as well as Blastfest, Inferno and so on) so far. As soon as something is booked we will promote it. I hope with all the guys from the line-up of last year. They are joining in as far as I know, but there’s some practical issues for me personally, not laziness.

What do you think is the biggest invention of mankind?

Music.

If you could erase "something" in this world with one movement of your hand, what shall this something be?

Total check in would sure be a most pleasurable volume; to please us all, but to make it lets say, less selfish, why not let the death worshippers of all time (the religious ones, the believers) have the honor and go straight to paradise first ? A short sum up: the perceptive line between life and death, during life, so that one could once and for all officially DELETE the self-righteous organizations and just look at those desperate faces …. It would be better than Armageddon to WATCH those faces, after such TRUE insight was given to all world. Everything they built up for Millenniums in the name of their god, to fall right here right now. Can you imagine a better day?

Burial or cremation?

Doesn’t work, Im like a zombie…I always return (to my job).

Are you familiar with the necrorealism movement in Russia? Most often captured on film and in film terms it's "filmed death".

Presence of death. It's anti-gore. Mental obscenity, non-codified and unmotivated.

Rural expressions of inhumane humiliations. Freedom of turning into a molecule.

No.

Many musicians playing a major role in metal bands have also recorded and released ambient music albums. Have you ever thought to make a electronic journey on your own? Then releasing it.

Ive recorded an electronic piece in ’97 which was released on the HIDDEN HITS…VOL 1 LP-box on Apocalyptic Empire in 2013. Ive got no plans for any ambient releases or such.

As an old scenester - you do collect music, right?

What since when and what how seriously?

Ive only collected HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST actively since 93. I buy the music I want to listen to, Im not buying a whole catalogue just for the urge of collecting. So, Im not a collector as such.

But I have a deep urge for music and listen every day to it, during breakfast, after work etc. And I love vinyl yes. As well as still having all the old demos which I still play now and then. If I see some old demo on vinyl on ebay and think it seems to be a quality release I might buy that too.

But there’s good new bands/releases like Goat Semen, Nachash, Void Eater (Valbos upcoming solo project), Pentagram(US), etc and theres always tons of old releases to explore so sometimes when I see HH/C.FROST rarities I want ( f.inst a 24th version of “Morbid Tales” I don’t have) I must skip that due to money and curiosity and buy new stuff or old music (if it aint too expensive) I don’t already possess you know…there’s definitely a lot of new metal stuff coming which I should have bought but haven’t…f.inst I heard a Vomitor album I want, the split ep of Pentagram(chi),,, Even though I have as different stuff as from Affinity to Dead Kennedys or Mephisto(swe) to TIP records releases I think my main drawing thru the years for music is the dark rock/metal bands.

So I love to find old jewels of some dark prog or heavy rock that really is something special.

BLACK MASS from ’71 with album “Lucifer” is an cool electric album…Selftitled WARNING (from 1982 on Vertigo) is intr as well as SARCOFAGUS “Envoy of Death”. Ash Ra Temple, Hawkwind, the Residents, or even the Beatles have intr sides. By the way, a mushroom trip, in 1996, was experienced with a complete repeat after repeat of The Beatles’ ”White album” on the stereo. I guess I prefer 85% metal/rock and the rest is all kinda things. Im glad I bought a lot of good shit like Bulldozer, Razor, Venom, Kreator etc 20++ years ago (with some stuff Ive gotta pay more for now which I didnt buy too) cuz now its more people wanting it. All kinda thrash heavy speed bands were not trendy in the early 90s…like, I bought first EXCITER on a 2nd hand shop in Oslo for 25 NOK in 1995, whilst NOW its trendy to listen to them so it costs hundreds of cash now you know…

One may mistake me for a collector since Ive always been into so much different things in music. But the difference is; I go for what I really like, A collector is not like that, it seems they buy a lot of shit for the sake of their collection, or the value or whatever. Of course I regret selling away the very first DIMMU 7”ep cheap rather short after its release, because it could have been good to sell now….

What's the status of your own label Sweet Torment Creations?

Did never exist. Sweet Torment was kinda our “production name”, whose name taken from a Hellhammer track, started first to use it on comp mix tapes (first one in “released” in June 1996) with a picture on the cover of me and 80s style/early 90s style lay out. There were two comps, one with some porn pics(two ladies sucking each other and then some) mixed with Sodom-style lettering, picture and trax from the likes of Necromantia, Samael demos, Exodus(1st),Monumentum, I cant remember what more..(one comp was more gloom one was more brutal deaththrash) I lost my ex’s but Sverre (fresh tea) got an ex of one of the volumes me back in the day I remember so I will ask him one day to see it again…

Sweet Torment Production = filthy raw sound Woe. Your pleasure?

Sometimes melancholia is a pleasure, but it demands solitude. People around you fast get either pissed or the like if you’re more or less in a scene of “near-to-pity” state of mind. Perfect for creativity to me personally…

Woe (the first name) is mankind’s deepest despair, J. (the two sided ankh and also a scythe) is the Unknown, Reaper is the eternal power inevitable… The blasphemy on the spine of the very first Woe J Reaper demo “Necromanzee” goes: “Jesus Woe at Dawn of Reaper’s Raid”. That’s how much I hate the religions, it’s a good summary in that very name… Because they acted in despair, they slaughtered in despair, painted Satan in despair…A NECROMANCY of of all that sorrow and despair, a full blown revenge for all those who died as witches – that was a lot of the background for WOE J REAPER/FURZE. Like I was possessed or chosen to do it. Like I was burned as witch back then and came back for our revenge, this is how Ive felt for decades. Even now when I write about it, I feel my pulse raised, raise the dead !!!

And since this topic (witches/revenge over Christianity) is often presented in metal lyrics somehow, I’d like to add that in the mid 80s when I was a brat and went to school and had not heard the words “black metal”, I had instinctively rejected to learn a verse from the bible as homework because I hated it already then, so I still have my old message book with teacher’s strict message to my parents that this was intolerable - which says something about my direction I believe.

Are you the man with the knowledge of illusion? As a last question this might be the hardest, but perhaps the easiest. So, we are done. What else shall we know about Furze???

Feelings are linked together with what you “know”.

Feelings are like water, unstable, fluid, abstract…

What any man knows is still within his own horizon and the horizon of the outside is too large for human knowledge to grasp. So our little bubble is very much wrapped in darkness and illusion I guess, who knows?

None really knows how much we know, because there is no REAL standard to compare to, or check anyone’s reality up against any major (holy) meaning, somehow “given”.

None really knows whether we’re slaves or free…

Sadistic Intent said its eternal darkness, I believe they’re right, but as you all know: There is one thing that is not part of this dark plan, this energy, this movement in time and space. The actual symbol of The Reaper is almost logical, cause in the end, (no one knows when) there will an END… and that is the thing which never started nor ever ends.

Interview by Veiko

Hyponic interview 2016

1. Hi Roy! I presume you share my opinion that Hyponic, at least in Europe, is not a very familiar band. Would you tell a little about the history of Hyponic?

4. While listening to your album Black Sun, the first comparisons that pop into my head are bands like Immolation, My Dying Bride, Celestial Season and for some reason I also hear something like the Finnish As Serenety Fades :) How much have those We are a band from Hong Kong. The Band bands actually influenced you? was formed in 1996. We have released our debut album Black Sun in 2001 and then My Dying Bride is one of my favourite bands and The Noise of Time in 2005. Our new album influenced me a lot, especially on drums and on the will be released later this year in 2016. arrangements from riff to riff. Celestial is good too. I have one CD of them. I haven’t listent to 2. You have been active since 1996. During Immolation before Black Sun is released. And yes, those 20 years, compared to the time you their music is good too. I have never heard of started, has it become harder or easier to Finnish As Serenety Fades until you mention now:) manage a band? Do you still have similar 5. I understand that you released the album by enthusiasm? yourself in 2001. How difficult it was for you?

For me it is now easier than when I 6. And it was also recorded by you? started. And yes I think I have similar enthusiasm.

Otherwise, I would have It was rather difficult. First of all we all have already quitted and not going to release day time jobs. We had been going to the Studio after work, then record till mid-night and sleep this new album. for a few hours and go to work again. Money is 3. During that time you have release two also a difficulty, we all are not rich. Yes we full-lenghth albums - Black Sun that recorded the album ourselves and it was the first was released in 2001 and The Noise of time for all of us. We made a lot of mistakes and had to learn from errors.

Time in 2005. Why so few?

In fact, we have also released 2 singles in between. First one is Metamorphosis and this piece was included in different compilations.

Another one is The Philosopher, a Death cover/tribute, after Chuck was passed away.

But yes still, it is not enough. Mainly because, at that moment, all band members have full time jobs. So we are not able to do more. Then after 2006, some band members left, and new member, Wah, joined in. Now, Wah and myself are the only 2 band members. So, everything will even take longer time. Then, in the last few years, there are also some family matters and other issues to take care of, that is why the new album only comes out now after 11 years.

7. I believe that if the album would have been released now, 20 years later, you would never have any problems with recording, production and distribution. But how did you communicate with different instances at that time? And how did you do the distribution?

If the album is recorded now, but without the previous experience, it would still be difficult.

For distribution, I think we were quite lucky those years. The situation in HK when looking back is indeed quite good. There was a Xmetal Webzine in HK. The website was in Chinese and brought a lot of metal information to metal heads in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan which is very rare in those years. From there, people from China, Taiwan, South East Asia and even other places from all over the world get known of us.

There was also a metal CD shop Trinity Records Hong Kong. He not only spread our music to local metal heads but also many other countries.

People in China also helped a lot. Our CD was well recognized by a few metal zine editors, like Wang Xiao (later he founded AreaDeath Production, XmusicK League and Beijing 666 Metal Shop) and Dust. Their CD review on Black Sun were widely spread on paper magazines and online forums.

Those are all quality indepth articles.

So, we in fact didn’t do much on distribution.

Those are credits of all the above friends.

The only thing we did is sending a few copies to some webzines in different countries.

8. The vinyl version of the album was released by Beijing company Psychedelic Lotus Order. I have understood that vinyl is something that almost doesn’t exist in Chinese metal (there are some expections of course), but looking at the releases of that company it seems times are changing. Do you, is it possible to produce vinyl in China or do you have to use the help of foreign companies?

The production of the vinyl was done by label so we don’t know much. But I guess there isn’t any vinyl factory in Hong Kong or China. The Black Sun vinyl was pressed in USA if I’m not mistaken.

9. Do you collect vinyls? For example on Hong Kong, are there enough stores selling metal vinyls?

I myself do not collect vinyls but my girlfriend has some. It is embarrassing to tell that there is NO stores in HK that specifically sells metal stuff. Some shops like HMV may have a few. There are also a few online metal stores, with very limited vinyl.

10. Your second full-lenghth album The Noise of Time is quite different from the first. There are elements from the first, but the album is much slower, heavier and also more experimental. I think of bands such as Thergothon and Esoteric in their heaviness and slowness. Do you agree?

Esoteric is another Band that I like very much. I never listen to Thergothon, just listened now, they sound quite similar to Anathema which is one of my favourite too.

11. The record’s booklet suggests that you also play drums! Do you have a musical background or have you learned it yourself?

Because we are not able to find a suitable drummer, I learned playing drums by listening to My Dying Bride and then recorded drums for the Black Sun album.

After Black Sun is released I had learned from a teacher for a while. And I played drums in The Noise of Time too.

12. This record was released by one of the first Chinese record companies Area Death Productions. You together Wang are the pioneers of Chinese metal - is it only natural that the given record was released

by Wang’s company?

Soon after Black Sun was released, Wang wrote some CD review and we met once in Beijing. He is a very nice guy and we become good friends.

He founded AreaDeath Production and we participated in the Tribute Album to Chuck which is the third release of his Label. Later when we are thinking to release an Asian version of The Noise of Time, he’s surely the one and only partner. Yes, it is very natural.

13. There’s also a Canadian version of The Noise of Time, right?

Yes, the album was indeed released by Oskure Sombre Records in Canada first. Then few months later, AreaDeath Production released an Asian version. At that moment, People in China cannot afford buying expensive CDs. Importing from Canada then sell it in China would be difficult. So with consent from Obskure Sombre, we have this Asian version

for the special market in China and Asia.

Oskure Sombre take care of the market in American and Europe.

14. What do you think, are there enough venues for gigs in Hong Kong?

There is mainly one live house for metal bands, and a few others. Consider the small amount of metal heads in HK, the venues may be OK. But for larger scale ones, like, Metal Fest, HK may not have enough venues.

15. I have heard that in China, metal concerts are more and more visited by people, who do not even listen to metal. Ordinary office workers etc‌ Can you tell me, what is up with that? :) Oh, I have no knowledge on that. Maybe you know more than me. But how do people know those going do not even listen to metal. Oridinary office workers can also be metalfans. :) 16. In 2006 you had a tour in China. Were you the only performer or were more bands involved?

How many cities did you visit?

Ritual Day from Beijing and HYPONIC are the only 2 bands that tour together to 8 cities. And then in each place, there were other local bands sharing stages.

17. I personally know only one metal music magazine in China - Xmusic Magazine. Do you know are there any others?

Yes, there is also one called Painkiller.

When Black Sun was released, there were CD review and interview done in Painkiller. It seems that the magazine is still running.

18. Are you interested in such publications?

Can you find something like that in record stores?

In the past, Wang Xiao will send me some Painkiller and Xmusic. It is also available in some record stores or book stores.

19. Are you following your local scene? Can you bring out any new or interesting bands?

Honestly, I am not active in the scene. To be there are new bands but not interesting I am sorry to say. The best bands had already come out 20-30 years ago. The new bands are just repeating the old things and nothing really interest me. Maybe the recording is better, but there is no new elements added in terms of music.

20. How is black metal doing in Hong Kong? I myself know only one band in Beijing Ululate.

I don’t know what is Black Metal now.

Sometimes, people call themselves Black Metal Band, but when I listen to their music, seems to me that it is not Black Metal, haha.

Interview by Gates

"A swab to swallow".

Symmetric interview with Lubricant.

Interview by Veiko

Second coming of Lubricant. Was it harder or easier (smoother hehe) this time? Lets find out.

Spilling not only beans, i can declare that i wasn't expecting it and given no hope to build something upon, the out come was positive and the return is worth to ask again what is the theme of Lubricant and about the chorus too, to which probably very few can sing along. I made the guitarist of Lubricant, Sami V., bite some of his free time and seemed he did not had any objections, so kiitos to him and let's fire it up!

Knock knock, Sami, miten menee?

Kiitos, it is going pretty OK, I need to say! After our re-union / comeback in Death Metal Maniacs Fest (Pori, Finland), feedback has been pretty positive and there is already some future gig arrangements going on, so I suppose we don`t need to go back to our coffins and bury ourselves deep inside the frosty ground... I think that we are a bit surprised that everything went so smoothly after all, because we had hard work to arrange rehearsals before the gig. This was mainly because we are kind of devided to other sides of the country, everyone has a families, etc…

So, speed metal was the genre chosen to get started with music? That style was already over-exhausted in beginning of ninetees or wasn't it in Finland? Did the O.V.D. demo got any attention? Or what happened to it anyway?

Well, I fell that Finland is always a bit late what comes to the musical influences, but the fact was that we were completely teenagers (age 13-15) at that time. I suppose that most of us in that age starts from hard rock and end up listening death metal, or something like that, am I right? So, after short period of time we were already moving towards thrash and death metal. Luckily we have all the time listened all kind of music, so it has been influenced Lubricant music to grow to a much wider direction.

After O.V.D. you changed the band name to Lubricant. How and why did you choosed that name?

What kind of fruits you intended to cut with that name?

What kind of fruits you intended to cut with that name?

Name was chosen very fast from English dictionary. As I remember right, it was me and Sami P (vocals) playing with dictionary. We were thinking, that it was kind of cool, that the name Lubricant didn`t sound too much like name of a typical death metal band. It was during the time before the internet, which means that nowadays through Google search you will find quite a lot “sex-oriented-stuff” by using search term : “Lubricant”. I still feel that name LUBRICANT describes quite well ordinary groove in our music and joy of playing live.

Now named as Lubricant, what fueled your artistic engine?

Well, our drummer Aki is a very talented musician. He actually wrote all of our songs and we kind of glued / mixed / compose them together as a band. I suppose, that our strenght is that we have always listened all type of music ( pop, punk, metal, etc. ) and I think that it gives to our music an extra flavor.

Unavoidable question about lyrics. What inspired you for this murmur? What sort of menace you wanted to cause? Any cryptic messages in lyrics? I predict endless hours at uni library as an answer or a born pathological enthusiast finally getting his chance to split the atom of english language... or?

I suppose that you are talking about our song: “Inflammatorious Pulmonectomia” – chorus part with “Donald Duck”-inspired vocals?!? In the beginning, it was kind of a joke. Lyrics of the song is dealing with some critical throat decease & breathing problems, so we decided to put in some vocals that sounds like an serious problem with voice and breathing! Actually we had an medical dictionary (Latin-English), that we used

Has recording in professional studio given you any different experience, than practicing in free environment?

I was personally always quite nervous, when we entered in the studio, because there is always a kind of a pressure to make things happen quite smoothly and not wasting too much time=MONEY. We actually recorded all the instrument live and after that Sami P was just singing vocals separately. And everything was analog during that period of time…

On the "Swallow" demo you send thanks to all the freaks in Bulgaria. What's that about?

There was some really enthusiastic fans in Bulgaria, that they just suddenly send to us 1 liter bottle of some weird Bulgarian Vodka in a normal post package! What a nice surprise.

How did Morbid Records find Lubricant? Was there ever a talk or chances to make a full length album?

How did you felt back then, when you finished the recording of EP "Nookleptia"? How do you reflect on it now?

As I remember right, I personally send our demo tape to the label and they were interested to make an EP with us. During that period of time we were happy with a result, but of course you can later on find some things that you would like to change, but I have a feeling that every artist/band would like to do the same.

About time to reveal the secret behind the name of "Nookleptia". Please enlighten us!

We found this amazing picture about this lonely guy sitting on top of the big stone in the middle of the lake. Nookleptia means that an individual person has a very strong feeling that someone is trying to steal his thoughts (this is a serious mental decease…). We felt that it fits really well together with an image of a lonely guy sitting on top of stone in the middle of a lake. Overall, most of us are kind of introverts here in Finland!

How did Lubricant felt itself in the finnish death metal scene? Were scene boots big or small to fit in? Anything you feel now, that you should have pushed more back then?

I feel that our main problems was that we had such a small lifetime before we decided not to continue anymore. Basically we just did 1-2 demos and Nookleptia EP and that was it. But, now we are back and let`s see what happens. Feeling enthusiastic like a little boy again…

When was the last public appearance of Lubricant before you hit the stages again in 2015?

I think that it was in Vantaa (Vernissa-Klubi), year 93-94?!?

What is your excuse for going into hiatus?

I think that there was multiple things together affecting to this. Everyone of us was of course busy doing studies, some new band projects, living in different cities, and later on everyone has families & kids, etc.

Were any of the members of Lubricant active in making music during the last 20 years after you went to hibernation?

Aki (drummer) and Sami P (vocals) have had some band projects almost all the time during these “silent” years. Me and Tero (bass) haven`t been active in any projects during that period of time. Some drunken playing alone at home during friday & saturday evenings. :) Isten zine has written two reviews of Lubricant.

"Swallow" demo review is positive, telling that they are "rock'n'rolling splatter-oozing deathcore". EP review is more critical: "They're giving up

Both of those bands are great and definetely have been somekind of a source of inspiration to us. Nowadays it is even harder to try to be very original, what comes to the song-writing, because there is so many new bands popping up all the time.

Besides metal, what finnish local music have you enjoyed through years?

This is my personal list throught these years (42 years), so other members have of course their own favorites: CMX, Absoluuttinen Nollapiste, Him, Apulanta, Viikate, YUP, Melrose, Tehosekoitin, Tulenkantajat, Timo Rautiainen, etc.

Skip back to the beginning of ninetees - so, it's friday evening, dudes gather again, beer cans fling open - what music was blasted in Lubricant camp? Any Santana, Elvis Costello or Kate Bush records cranking your stereo?

Most propably we were listening something like : Nirvana, RHCP, Bad Religion, Faith No More, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkings, etc. Some pop/rock/grunge stuff.

Parts of Scandinavia are well known for exporting black metal to the world. Have you ever been into black metal at all?

Personally I haven`t been interested too much about black metal, but I certainly understand people, that are into that music. My 17-year old son is listening black metal actively and he is constantly pushing me to that direction heavily!

Voices from the Darkside zine issue #3 reviews the EP. Good one it is overall. Does not go without mentioning Carcass and hardly pronounceable song titles.

Reviewer plots something that is hard to imagine: "Sounds pretty much like old-heavy metal to me, kinda like old-fashioned riffing in Sabbath-sound, played in a very simple style".

Never i would have associated Lubricant with Black Sabbath. Or maybe i have missed something??

Maybe it is because of our guitar sound on Nookleptia, I don’t know… We have actually never down-tuned our guitar and we have only one guitar player, so It could make our riffs a bit simple and also a bit thin what comes to the sound.

Enter year 2015. Lubricant breaks the silence in their camp and starts to roll again. Is it a case of "never say never", or what made you come back to hit the stages again?

In the autumn 2014 we were asked, that could it be anyhow possible to create Lubricant re-union at september 2015 as a part of a big death metal festival : Finnish Death Metal Maniacs #fdmmfest (Pori, Finland). Aki send us an message: Guys, how it sounds to put all things together again?! I think that we didn`t think many seconds after we all replied : HELL YES! I hope you understand the point of this question - it is always needed to be asked after a re-union, if we can wait new material or even new recordings by the band? I know, i know.. re-union is not the ideal word as you never split up, but point remains.

First of all, we are planning to remaster Swallow the symmetric Swab-demo and Nookleptia-ep, and release them together on vinyl & cd. This is actually already going on and I hope that it will be out during spring-summer 2016. What comes to new songs, I suppose that there will be some new material sooner or later.

On 12th of september in 2015 you played again on stage after 22 years.

Sami P., singer of Lubricant, said between two songs in Bar Kino, Pori, Suomi, that instead of feeling like old shit in old package, it feels like old shit in new package. How different is the new Lubricant from the old one? Spill it out now... all of it... kippis!

It is amazing, that attitude and bad humour is still the same!

It was a really weird feeling to see those guys after 20 years at first band camp. So the fact is that we haven`t seen each others in 20 years at all! Well Sami P. and Aki has been in touch during these years, but others not. Also playing live with this band had some magical “throwback”-feeling on top of it. As Sami P. said: It is OLD SHIT IN NEW PACKAGE. Whats next? Usually there has to be suggestion giving last comments, but somehow i feel this is not appropriate, because you have not ended it and keep going on. So - excellent when it was started and on top again, so... ?

Thanks for the interview, Veiko! It was nice and nostalgic feeling to go through these things! I will inform you when we have gigs in Helsinki, so you can jump to the ferry and come to see us on stage. ROT N ROLL!

"The Tale of the Third Ear".

Interview with Obliteration.

‌I hear crows. We all are in the right place now, right Sindre? Haunt is on.

So, Sindre, how metal are you going?

- I'm doing fine. Just had an operation done to my throat, which is still kinda painful, but other than that, things are going forwards here. Onward hail.

Serving darkness now for how long...? Do you have a method?

- Almost 15 years. One day at the time.

Can you locate the source of your ideas?

- No. They emerge through hard work and dedication.

What is hell? Where is hell? Who is hell?

-Hell is other people.

Getting tormented. Torment is getting them. How do you see Obliteration been obtained by the listeners?

- I don't know, you have to ask the listeners. Some like it, some don't.

What do you desire to get out of live performance?

- Energy, enlightenment and a touch of his infernal majesty. It just happens. It's a part of the cycle.

It's the end of the year 2015, when this interview is been done, new Obliteration album is in the making.

Perhaps it is finished and out before this zine gets printed, but what will you do for the album tomorrow?

And then the next day and day after that and then...

- It won't be out before. Writing an album can be swift, or it can be a long painful process, and Obliteration is usually in the latter category. We work on riffs, lyrics, ideas at home, but we all need to be together in order to make the magic happen, and time does not allow us to rehearse as much as we want to.

We also work on different projects, that also absorb time...

What is your view about representing the lyrics of an album? Lyrics of "Black Death Horizon" are very originally printed. Do you think it gives any boost to an album to have lyrics printed or is it obligatory at all? Do you take your time to specially read the lyrics of other bands?

-We have always done that in a bit different way, with just quotes as in Nekropsalms, or written in the monuments at Black Death Horizon. This was our drummer idea, as he also did all the artwork. No grand plan behind it, it was what felt right at the time.

Time will tell how it will be next time around.

Personally, I like reading lyrics of bands I enjoy, I take the time to listen to an album while reading the lyrics / looking at the art. But if the lyrics aren't as good as the music, it makes me like the band less that my initial first impression. But lyrics are very

How dare you request mercy?

Instruments of supernatural darkness make chilliest consequences.

Ill bloom of fearless dignity to shake the crowns of metal death. No guts no glory. Grunt and you will be sorry. Farewell your white promise.

It is the land of spikes and poisonous landmines. This is the tomorrows plague of which agony to escape there is only one coven for hiding and even that it is full of rabies. Obliteration is luminary.

Hails to vocalist/guitarist of Obliteration, Sindre Solem, for this opportunity to ask what is behind the sinister morbidity provided by O. Dealer of death undisguised.

Thrilled? We at the Offense office surely are, so i close the cemetery door behind me and enter it where... important, but they need to be presented in the right way.

What do YOU actually feel when you are done with the final touches of yet another new album?

Is the feeling different or (more) complete, when you have the final product in your hands?

- The greatest feeling for me is when a song is finished at rehearsal, when the energy is fresh, and everyone is satisfied with lyrics and music. Having the final product in your hands usually gives a sense of fulfillment, but at the same time, at that point you're often tired of the studio and of all the work that led up to the release / getting the finished product. I enjoy what comes after the most, the aftermath..

Photo by Ester Segarra

Do Obliteration albums build on each other? Any filthy intentions that you by now are leaving behind as exposed?

Just how infernal can you grow?

- No, no plans, but I guess they are a natural progression from each other. But we don't wanna do two albums that sound similar. It's getting darker and more sardonic day by day. It's not gonna be brighter any time soon.

What is complicated and what is easy?

What makes and what breaks?

-Nothing is easy. I do not hold the key to what makes or breaks. Quality and honesty lasts I guess.

Do you give a toss about instruments, amplifiers... upgrading instruments?

- To a certain extent. Having equipment that works is important. You vision cannot come to life if parts of the vessel is broke.

So having guitars, amps etc that work and that we feel comfortable is important, but we are not nerds on the subject. We do not go chasing the newest cutting edge equipment just to have it.

Christian Death, Hawkwind are some of the bands that you played on one of your mix-tapes.

What else in the same vein you enjoy? Or in the different vein that gets blasted at yours?

John Peel. Fenriz might be the new John Peel drawing so much intelligence out of music.

How do YOU analyse music? Getting also involved in as many styles as possible as John Peel??

Long question, but i prefer you answer it in every possible way!

-Hmm, difficult question, as there are so many bands. This Heat, Samhain, Magazine, Killing Joke, Afterimage, Your Funeral, Winterhawk, Leslie West -Mountain etc..

Lately I'm mostly followed what’s going on in the black / death scene now, as there is a lot of interesting things happening there. I don't analyse music, I just need to feel it. If it speaks to me, or not..

I'll never be as eclectic as those two lords, but there is so much great music out there, and we can learn a lot from John Peel and Fenriz.

Seems like there are a lot of festivals started or already getting the establishment in Norway.

What's the deal?

-No idea‌ There are at least a thousand times more festivals in Germany.

We appreciate cool music, so people here are trying to make the most of it. The best now is Krater (Oslo), Beyond the Gates (Bergen), Laudata Nex Magica (Nidaros), Heavy Nights (Haugesund). Total support.

As many albums as you have in your background, i would still like to ask what do you think about demo'ing? Any advice for death angels just starting their engines now?

-I love demo's. Just be fucking dedicated to what you wanna do. Focus on music and vision.

Lets say the world ends indeed. How? What gospel issues will lead us to the grave?

- Sure the world hasn't ended yet?

For a poor player is life just a walking shadow?

All the kingdoms, all the landmarks, all but for infernal dimensions, what are we playing for?

- For DEATH! TO THE DEATH! First ever Obliteration show was in Elm Street club in Oslo. You were underage weren't you?

-This is not correct, we had played Inferno festival before this, plus a ton of all ages youth clubs prior to this. Yes we were under age.

What do you pursue by getting tattoos? How many Autopsy tattoos will you eventually have, besides two?

- They are a extension of my attitude, soul and vision. I have no Autopsy tattoos. I have one Repulsion tattoo, and that will be my first and last band related tattoo.

What is your favorite poison?

-Champagne.

What Death Metal symbolizes to you?

Perhaps this: "I am not a turkey, neither you are.

Would you believe - rotting in love?" ... that's silly i know, but... concentrate----------------------------------------------------------What unholy portrait are Thanatomorphosis you trying to carve into our mental system?

- Death Metal is the vessel we use to spread our vision and our thoughts.

It is for all intents and purposes the art we are realising ourselves through, and where we find meaning.

When will we win the battle against the sickest invention of mankind - religion?

-Never. Religion is natural, ancient and omnipresent. We will die before it. Ideas last longer than men.

That was a comet in the sky so, your last wishes!

Lucky sailor within the dealers. Dealer of death undisguised.

Museum of death metal needs your certificate.

Your authenticity needs to be immortalized.

So... leave your mark.

Photo by Carsten Aniksdal (2013)

-Thanks for this interview.

Rejoice in the end, dance in the light of the burning world.

Interview by Veiko

Spectral Voice (US, Denver, Colorado) will tell you whats the difference between horrid phantasms and rotting auras. Spectral Voice is privileged to capture the down-tuned and morbid death metal in a very decisive way - cobwebbed path through freezing abyss into bottomless hell.

Spectral Voice released it's first demo in 2014. After another three tapes a split with Blood Incantation was released. So, lets hear it then what voices shall exhume in the panting future. Prowl into the haunted vaults crippled with debris of gravely mental distortions. Listen - some possessed frenzy is upon us.

Q: Who is in the band and doing what? Are any of the band members in other bands?

Who focuses on what in the band?

A: Hey, thanks for having us.

Paul - Guitar Morris - Guitar Jeff - Bass Eli - Drums/ Vocals On the demo, it was just Paul and I, he handles guitar,bass and some synth parts, and I played guitar, drums, and did the vocals.

Paul and I split the lyrics, but its usually a cooperative effort, as is the music.

We all play in other bands, death and black metal, hardcore, to ambient and experimental music.

Q: "Necromatic Doom" is so fucking cool, that it's needless to ask that what you actually wanted to achieve?

A: Thank you, when we started SV, we were inspired by the authenticity and feeling that the early 90s captured, especially the Finnish and the US scene. We wanted to create captivating, haunting and mournful music, truly engulfed in DEATH. Q: Death metal that Spectral Voice does is so sere, that it is impossible not to ask, what for do you kneel or give a finger for to your predecessors or successors?

A: We appreciate bleakness and despair in death metal. True DEATH metal should invoke macabre feelings and atmospheres, we have great respect for bands that create honest and powerful expressions of those feelings, and no respect for those who make a mockery of them.

Q: What malevolence are you preparing for us?

Do you have plans to record a full album of your rotten magnifiency?

A: Right now, we have two splits completed - one with Phrenelith (should be out by May 2016) and one with Chthe’ilist (our side is recorded, hopefully it will see the light for the end of 2016). The songs for these splits are a bit faster than the demo, with more aggression.

We are currently writing material for our full length, which will dive further into the malevolent atmospheres of fear and mourning.

Q: What is the essence of Spectral Voice lyrics?

A: We deal with the outer realms of consciousness and the inter-dimensional terrors that attack from the inside and out.

Q: Do you enjoy concerts? What do you want to evoke at the SV gig?

When will we see you in Europe?

A: We enjoy touring as much as possible. Our live show is focused on the power and weight of our music.

We try to capture an audiences attention, with the same feelings as our records. Our live shows tend to be more “energetic” than our recordings, without losing the dismal quality. As soon as our full length is released, we will be touring Europe as soon as possible. Hope to see you in Estonia!

Interview by Veiko

Strid is not a band that you see mentioned on concert announcements or festival line-ups very often. So when I had the chance to go see them at Black Metal Siege festival in Tallinn in 2010 I did not hesitate to book the ferry tickets for a weekend trip to Estonia and it was worth the travel!

NR: Strid has a long history but it has been very quiet about you guys in the last years. Could you tell a bit about the start of the band, its history and development?

Ravn: The band started already in 1990 or 1991 as ”Malfeitor”, and released a couple of demos with what one could call primitive black metal. The band changed the name into ”Battle” and recorded the one-track demo ”End of Life”. In this period the Norwegian language started to get a solid stronghold in black metal, and we were no less, so we translated the name ”Battle” into ”Strid” shortly after the recording of the demo. ”End of Life” gave us a contract with the German label Malicious Records, and in the autumn of 1994 we recorded what would become the 7” we released in 1995. At this time Strid was more or less not a band anymore, as all members were spread around Norway, being in the army, jail etc. So the process of composing the full length more or less stopped for some time. In 1997 we were again gathered and rehearsed again, but our motivation was more or less only to play music, not to record or release anything, and by 1999 we were apart again.

Our motivation, or rather lack of motivation to release anything was not the only obstacle Strid has met during the years, as it seems the band has been under a curse at times. From the former 4 members of Strid, only 2 are alive, and I am the only one still playing music.

Musically, the development of the band was quite radical from the demos of ”Malfeitor” to the ”End of Life”-demo. As ”Malfeitor” aimed for the primitive and raw black metal, ”End of Life” presented a more symphonic and atmospheric kind of black metal. The transformation was developed further on the 7” which brought ”Strid” into a deeper melancholic atmosphere. To us this was a natural change as we found a sound that created the music we wanted to hear ourselves. By combining the melancholic melodies in a traditional black metal line-up we managed to compose music we found hypnotizing. ”Strid” in the present is aiming to be true to the sound and heritage of the band, but as we now write 2015, instead of 1995 it is impossible not to take advantage of the technological development in the recording process, which most likely will give our new material a cleaner and more solid sound. We are at the moment recording the album which is planned to be released in the autumn of 2015.

When we talked about setting up this interview, you mentioned you have started becoming active in 2009 again. How did that come about and what have you been up to until now? What does the future hold?

When I then had the chance to interview Ravn a few years later, it seemed like having had the opportunity to see them live was meant to be in preparation of this interview. After a long history and many battles sometimes til death, a new and promising sounding album seems to be around the corner. A perfect time to catch up with Strid.

R: As ”Strid” through the years never were able to finish the album, the band has been a burden on my shoulders. Especially since the main reason for never completing the material, was the death of Storm. Just a few weeks before he committed suicide we agreed to start playing again, and we were never able to even begin the process. Naturally these plans were put on hold then. In 2009 I had been living abroad for some years, but returned to Norway and got in touch with Lars, who left Strid before we recorded the 7”, but who composed most of the tracks on ”End of Life”. We agreed to finish the album, and started the recording with a producer who turned out to be extremely greedy and very unrealistic about his payment. We made a huge mistake by trusting him, and should have written a contract before we started recording. During winter 2009/2010 we had recorded close to 1,5 hours of raw material, but due to the conflict with the producer we decided to put everything down and start all over. This process became a lot slower without a producer, so the progress was limited. Lars was at the time in a very difficult situation personally, and his life was very hard until he died in January 2014. Naturally also this recording process stopped after his death. Some material from this period exists and there are also several recordings from Lars alone, which we hope to develop and finish later. Now, in January 2015 we are again recording the album, and this time we are determined to finish it. The recordings are done in collaboration with Vicotnik of DHG, and his experience as a producer is very valuable to me in this process. It is also an interesting creative process as Vicotnik and myself have quite different musical references and history, and I believe the result will be affected by that.

Regarding the album, we will release it ourselves under the banner of ”Echo of Tears”. As it is not finished yet I have not much information to give, but it will most likely be an album of 4 new tracks, and if everything goes according to the plan, the album should be out in the autumn of 2015.

We had also talked about the two gigs you played in Helsinki and Tallinn in December 2010 - apart from that I could only find info that you played a gig in Germany in 2011. How do you choose those gigs and how do they fit into your plans for the future?

R: Our first live show was in Oslo in October 2010 I think, and with the ones you mention we have mentioned them all. These gigs were mostly a coincidence, and as we had the opportunity, we did it. We had been rehearsing for quite a short while, so the quality of the gigs is rather poor. We got some experience with presenting the Strid material live though, which we will benefit from later.

At the moment gigs is not a priority for us.

We focus on finishing the record, but we plan to do some more live appearances. I think I can say with certainty that the next time we appear live the band will be more compact and solid than at the previous appearances.

You also mentioned that during the Helsinki and Tallinn gigs the atmosphere was more aggressive than haunted because of tensions the band. What were those tensions and how are things now?

R: Tensions within the band I think is best to leave inside the band, and a band without tensions is not a proper band. The problem with these gigs was mostly the extremely poor sound-quality. I think we only got transistor-amps in both Helsinki and Tallinn, and that affected our sound a lot. To be able to obtain our sound live we need tube-amps, and a tight band, and we had neither. Right now there are no other tensions than me and Vicotnik having different opinions in the studio, so then everything is as it should be.

You talk about the haunted atmosphere you long to create - how do you manage to do that both on records and live as these are two very different settings?

R: So far we have yet to prove that ”Strid” actually works in a live setting, but I am quite certain it is possible. We are quite dependent on a proper sound and a tight band. With our quite slow and atmospheric music we are not able to hide that much behind distortion and blast-beats. So, when the recording of the album is done, we´ll put together a band again and start rehearsing and then we´ll see if we manage to combine the material both live and on record.

Since the time of the interview, it has again been quiet around Strid. Hopefully, they’ll win their battles and we will soon be able to hear the new materials as Ravn said, both live and on record.

Interview by Nira

True Black Dawn – a contagious disease spreading over the years The incubation period, the time for a disease to unfold its ailments in their full sickly glory varies, but after 15 years the one called True Black Dawn is at last descending on this degenerated universe again. Manifesting itself in a range of symptoms carrying the name ‘Come The Colorless Dawn’ True Black Dawn is back with force, last witnessed by an unsuspecting human race between the early 90s and 2001 when the first outbreaks wreaked havoc. Long forgotten and in the vain hope of having defeated this illness, True Black Dawn has returned and to borrow from Dante: “Abandon all hope, ye who are be infected.”

The only chance to gain some insight was to ask Wrath - doctor, patient and one of the creators of the illness itself.

NR: How would you describe the True Black Dawn?

Wrath: Spectrophobia (fear of mirrors) and Dementophobia (fear of becoming insane) come to mind as fitting mental aberrants. A distorted reflection lurking in the looking glass, a shadow self grinning in the dark recesses of the mind, a soundless laughter echoing inside.

NR: Where and how was it discovered for the first time?

By whom?

W: It began to manifest nearly a quarter of a century ago among a small group of deviants in Ostrobothnia, who broke the pious shackles and shed their blood free.

Throughout the years it has constantly changed, resisting all attempts of treatment.

NR: How does someone become infected? Who gets infected?

W: Insanity is contagious, once it settles in it's hard to brush off. Once tuned in, the frequency stays on.

What used to be static is now something else, when the oscillations are aligned.

NR: What are the symptoms?

W: The murky music bellows, blisters, and burrows beneath. The somber fragments of calm crawl under the skin, and increase the strength of the aggression.

NR: How do the symptoms show in a person or an organism?

W: There's no such thing as fun for the whole family.

When the children are lead to the razor-man, they walk away with permanent smiles on their faces. When you brawl with a pig, you walk away with its stink.

NR: What is the course of the disease?

W: It shines through the charcoal veil, and eventually claws through the mind's fabric. The black light that pours with a deep exhale. The rosaries of red, and the crimson grail. Silent, it's there, not far from here.

NR: What complications can be expected?

W: It's not uncommon to ejaculate black blood, feel infatuation for sharp objects, and speak uncontrollably in vile tongues.

NR: How does an infected person or organism experience the course of the disease?

W: The boundaries of reality become paper-thin. Something beneath peers through, grinning, making the strange feeling stronger. Feverous dreams of the pale sun burning like a beacon above, its flames engulfing the dreamer, and igniting him/her with an insatiable passion for the grey.

NR: What does it feed on?

W: They come in many forms, some of which might be unusual to the casual observer. More undefined and outlandish sources of nourishment seem to be generally preferred.

When you're musing on dread, you're bound to end up somewhere sinister.

NR: (How) does it spread?

W: From streams of ashes it becomes a river, that spills to the shores like oil. Painting its path grey-black as twilight. Like a faceless mouth it spews cold void mercilessly forward.

NR: Is there a cure? If yes, what?

W: Innocence once lost can never be regained, psyche once injured can never be unscarred again.

NR: Any health warnings regarding the future?

W: Nine diseases were unleashed on an unsuspecting populace, yet two still remain, patiently waiting for their turn to gnaw the lambs with their fangs.

NR: Any last words?

W: "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality."Plutarch Interview by Nira