Soleil Tryste no.1 by Soleil Tryste Zine

zine for unique eerie music

issue no. 1 路 april 2009

conversations:

special features:

apathia subvertio deus menneskevarg kult ostra records

skepticism pantheist ophis maieutiste f盲ulnis

A new dawn ...

Conversations ... fades Soleil Tryste Zine intends to call the reader's attention to original and unique eerie music and its background.

... and still I'm sitting here in this dark room in front of the window, starring lost in thoughts to the leafless and marked by the tides old tree. It's night, but the black of the night is lifting, and the grey of the new day cleaves its way, only to give way for the shafts of sunlight a few hours later.

Most of the featured bands and individuals are rooted in an extreme Doom or serious Black Metal milieu. The zine shall be viewed at as a platform for wellresearched, long and deep-going conversations.

The view blurres, and of the tree becomes trees. And as my sight is clear again, I see a little child, as it runs through an old forest, mesmerized by the splendor of colors, only the autumn brings year by year anew. And eyes stare from the brushwood, eyes from creatures of stories, which have been told of our ancestors, looking curious at this enduring and naive act of the child.

We are glad to share our first issue with some close friends and highly respectable musical projects. Our thanks go out to everyone who was involved and helped us as well as everyone interviewed for their loyality and trust in our work. Hopefully you are as satisfied with the result as we are.

And there are voices in the air, singing songs, so mournful but yet fair and beautiful, about times, long forgotten, and lost pride, might and wisdom. It's the wind, running through the wood, dancing with the leaves. And suddendly, everything blurres again, and the voices disappear, and I see clearly again, but questioning myself I'm starring to the leafless and marked by the tides old tree again. Is this all over again? Where has it gone? One of these small moments, full of joy and light heartedness, of discovery and nonchalance, of drifting in dreams of other lifes and greater times.

Regards,

Herr F. & Herr B.

... and knowing that such moments will ever be, coming back again and again, only rare and well-hidden in this cold and hectic world, I expect the new dawn ...

www.soleiltryste.org www.myspace.com/soleiltryste

A new dawn ...

Conversations ... fades Soleil Tryste Zine intends to call the reader's attention to original and unique eerie music and its background.

... and still I'm sitting here in this dark room in front of the window, starring lost in thoughts to the leafless and marked by the tides old tree. It's night, but the black of the night is lift ing, and the grey of the new day cleaves its way, only to give way for the shafts of sunlight a few hours later.

Regards,

Is this all over again? Where has it gone? One of these small moments, full of joy and light heartedness, of discovery and nonchalance, of drift ing in dreams of other lifes and greater times.

Herr F. & Herr B. www.soleiltryste.org www.myspace.com/soleiltryste

... and knowing that such moments will ever be, coming back again and again, only rare and well-hidden in this cold and hectic world, I expect the new dawn ... 3

on another dark and dreary day of my life, i received apathia's first sign of life called »through depression and ruins«. i had been listening to this ep for many times and soon decided to feature these italians on our first issue. vocalist nefastvm answered promtly and expeditiously. Greetings! I Hope you are going well. Who or what is Apathia? Hi. Apathia is a project which has taken form from our need to spread total hate against mankind and life itself, our negative visions. We need it as an outlet.

herr f.

feeling we have for the whole world. It represents the fact we watch the world standing proud on our own. We see the end every single day. I personally hate people, but this doesn't mean I am a »misanthrope« or something cool for a 15-years-old Black Metal teenager. I have relations with other people everyday, of course, but I simply judge them as idiot or superficial. I see in them the end, the end of our race. Emptiness, this is what rests in human hearts. The majority of them are nothing more than hollow beings.

Concerning your bandname Apathia, there are various meanings based on the original latin translation. There are three different options how to translate: the first one would be »apathy«, the second one »callousness« and the third and last one »sedateness«. What meaning do you prefer and why? What does the name mean to you personally? Apathia has been chosen as it is the common

How does the end become nocticeable to us? Is it the downfall of our society as we know it and its structures like politics, social environment 4

„The sense of failure. The wish of disappearing into nothing – forever.“ – Nefastvm

and so on or is it the downfall of man itself? And why? Is it of lack of intelligence or spirituality? And is there a chance in your opinion, to escape of the forthcoming end of mankind? Or does mankind simply deserve the end? Man has lost his way long time ago. I see that most of people, as I said, are nothing more than hollow shells: They forgot their spirituality, our lands, our ancient traditions, etc. – all went down in the name of power and money. But this does not concern with Apathia, it's a different topic which should deserve a unique discussion about itself. Your first sign of life is the »Through Depression and Ruins« EP which came out mid of

2008 on the french label Eisiger Mond Productions. How did it come to the contact? They got in touch with us via our MySpace page. Are you satisfied with the cooperation? I'm quite satisfied, at the moment, of their work. But it's too soon to judge, our album is out only from the end of June. I must confess that I, since a long time, didn't heard such a well-produced and musically appealing first release from an so far unkown band to me. Somehow I have the feeling that you guys behind Apathia are no newcomers whether on instruments nor to music itself. Am I right and what is your background? 5

I've had some little experiences in the past with some underground projects, nothing important, but I was working alone on Apathia since 2003 or 2004 until 2007, when I found the right people to involve in my project. Invictvs is responsible of all the recordings and mix/mastering of our release; all was done with semi-pro D.A.W. instrumentation in his home studio. Adversor plays indifferently guitars, bass and studies piano/keyboards since 15 years. Are you involved in any other bands? I also did session vocals for Tundra for a couple of gigs last year. The other two guys Invictvs and Adversor have their own band called

Invictvs

Vmbra Mortis playing raw Black/Thrash Metal. They're still working on their debut CD and made a live apparition during last June. How were the first resonances to your release? No feedback yet from press, etc. (Well, as we're doing this conversation right now we actually seem to like your EP – Herr B.). As I said before, »Through Depression ... « is out only from the end of June. How was it adopted – mainly in the Black Metal scene? I've spread it only to my closest friends and their response was good enough. But I don’t care. We play mainly for ourselves.

What I find very appealing to your sound is the fact that you match it to create such a sinistre atmosphere without slipping off into endless riff-repeating. Instead of that, you simply let the music flow and it is able to speak for itself. Futhermore I hear some rockish tunes here and there and I really appreciate them. How do you see that? Is your music based upon a natural, more subconscious development or is there a sophisticated concept behind it? No concept behind, only negativity and our pure, worst emotions. How does it look like when you write new songs and how could the whole developing-process be described best? 6

We are not a progressive gay band: We don't need to plan how a new song should sound. If we have an idea – a spark – we write it down and after a natural process of composition, we create the guidelines of the song. That's all. What are the main influences of your music? My personal influences become from life, from humans, from sadness, dark emotions, loneliness … all those negative things. Last years were fundamental to me. Let's talk about the lyrics. The EP-title, the opener »Lost memories« or »Lifeless« suggest that the lyrical part of your creation tends to be dealing with depression, negativity and

„I've seen a lot of bands trying to play this genre. A sort of Emo-Black Metal fashion.“ – Nefastvm

dark feelings. As there are no lyrics printed inside, am I right with my speculation? What influences related to the lyrics do you have? My lyrics are based mainly on my deepest emotions: A brief explanation can be that I speak about the feeling of loneliness and the fear of living among human beings. Reflecting on the nonsense of trusting too much into someone and the inner confl ict inside my head. Total negativity. The sense of failure. The wish of disappearing into nothing – forever. Realizing that all I hate in my life, is all I've always been. Nothing new. What shall they express? Should they affect the listener in some special way?

I have no message for anyone. I only need to express my feelings, and there's no other way to do that. Recently, it seemed to become a sort of trend that nearly daily new-formed bands start acting their »depressive feelings« out – apart from the fact whether it is adapted or not. Concerning my own taste there are enough bands like Silencer who have done – and Shining or newer bands like Kilte who still do – this stuff much better over the past years than the new ones. What is your opinion about it? Fuck all that »depressed« teenagers I see everyday, I hate them! This makes me really pissed off. From 2004/2005 I've seen a lot of bands trying 7

to play this genre. A sort of Emo-Black Metal fashion. Don't get me wrong: this is by no means criticism on you (Why should I interview you then? – Herr F.) but as your point of view is very interesting on this topic ... why you, too? When I started composing material for Apathia there were mainly Shining and Abyssic Hate playing. I hadn't a clear idea of what I was writing down, I followed only my instinct. But I don't think that we play common »Depressive Black Metal«. I prefer to call it »Negative Black Metal«, as T. from Trist called it during an old conversation we had. It fits perfectly. I must admit that some new songs are more Depressive/

Nefastvm

Suicidal Black Metal oriented but this comes naturally. We have the idea to release something faster, in the future, as we've done yet in some parts of our debut. Yeah, in my opinion »Negative Black Metal« fits really quite well when it comes to describe your music and I'm looking forward to hear some of the new tunes soon. You just talked about Shining and Abyssic Hate. I really appreciate both bands very much and it seems that Shining will spit out a new record this autumn 2008. I heard of Abyssic Hate doing the same in the near future, too. What do you think about these two bands – especially today?

I don't like Shining from what they did after their first opus. Their music now sounds empty to me but it‘s my opinion. On the other hand, I like what Abyssic Hate have done in the past and their works are a strong influence on us. Which bands do you prefer nowadays when it comes to depressive, negative and dark music? My personal taste about this kind of music goes to Hypothermia, Trist, Veil, Wigrid and Joyless. Personally I think that – in time of need – music dealing with negativity and related topics can be a kind of help. Referring to mental disorder it feels like a katharsis to me. What about you? Do you feel something similiar probably 8

when composing new songs or in your private life? Or do you need first of all such kind of music to become loaded with negativity in order to be able to work on new stuff ? I follow my instinct, as I said, when I write down new riffs. Is negativity a kind of »muse« to you? It's a kind of drug to me, but I can find those emotions in all kind of music. Dornenreich's last album is full of them, in my opinion. Negativity concerns often with strong deep emotive music. As you are mentioning Dornenreich, it seems that you listen to other kinds of music as well – I think Dornenreich can't be described as

Adversor

Black Metal only. Are there some other records to mention besides metal music where you are able find such emotions? Hm. Joyless aren't only Black Metal, too. And Skepticism did great things in the past. Speaking about Black Metal from Italy, there are some really excellent bands out there. Forgotten Tomb, Black Flame or Tenebrae in Perpetuum come as well to my mind as the old cult acts like Mortuary Drape, Bulldozer and Necrodeath. There are many more and it seems like Italy has a great and active scene. What do you think about the scene in your country? I don't have so much contacts here, mainly because I don't like people in the Black Metal

scene. I have some friends who play in other projects but I see the entire scene like a pathetic attempt of replying what the old scandinavian hordes did in the past. Can you figure out any differences in comparison to other countries, for example Germany? Germany has a great scene but every country has its problems, so I can't make a comparison between their Black Metal bands and ours from Italy. Which bands can you recommend to us? Some great bands – newbie and not – can be found in Vmbra Mortis, Tundra, Hate Profile, Kult, Beatrik, Defixio, Lorn and Near. Truly dedicated people. My support goes to them. 9

What can we expert from Apathia in the near future? A gig is planned on October 25th, as well as a split CD. Some new songs have been written but I don't know how and when they will be recorded/released – probably on next autumn/winter. Okay, thanks for answering my questions. The last words are yours! Thanks to you – Nefastvm.

www.myspace.com/apathia

listening to the first release of subvertio deus was my sign to start this collection of incoherent sheets named soleil tryste. now, i am very pleased and proud to present you a detailed correspondence with this religious and philosophically deep-going black metal output.

herr f.

Greetings! First of all, the obligatory first question: who or what is Subvertio Deus? As far as my Latin permits, your name could be translated as »the God which turned away« or something in this direction! Why has God turned away and to whom – and what does this name symbolize to yourself? The name Subvertio Deus literally translates to »To over power God«; this may wrongly, particularly by those familiar with the common ideologies strung along throughout Black Metal, perceived to be of anti-Christian relevance, but such a statement could not be further from the truth. It refers to the surpassing of the pinnacle of divinity, of perfection, a supreme being where lies a paradox of infinite recurrence, an endless cycle and contrasts between the finite and the infinite, the flesh and the divine, of man and of God.

„What makes Subvertio Deus may not be recognised by the eyes of the blind.“

Black Ritual Records have released your first demo in early 2008. It contains two long, simply »I« & »II« entitled songs and a kind of an outro called »Omega«. How satisfied are you with this published material and how was it adopted by the listeners? We are highly satisfied with how the demo was received. It shows the works of Psalms »I«, »II« and »Omega« envel oped in a warm analogue yet raw mixing of these tracks, which we feel to be very suitable for presenting the birth of Subvertio Deus. Black Ritual Records have made excellent work at the self-production of the cassettes and the very limited distribution they had by themselves was most no tably well adopted considering the little known reputation of such a great label. 12

In my opinion, the demo is really very good. I like it very much and I listen quite often to it. It has a very special nature – difficult to describe – building up an eerie, sinister atmosphere that surrounds you while listening to it. I am particularly pleased by the style of the vocals: A very unique style, no high-pitched screams but more a sort of aggressive growling – but nodeep grunts the Death Metal way. The production fits perfectly to the outstanding song-material. What is your opinion about it? Thank you. We had hoped to create a malignous, oppres sive atmosphere of apotheosized evil, glorifying the neces sary evil of the divine. I believe we do not have the place to state whether such feelings are invoked from Subvertio Deus to the ears of others, but I feel we have achieved some thing more than we had originally intended in the sound of the demo, so we are absolutely satisfied with the overall turn-out of both the demo and album recordings. What intentions do you have when you start work on composing new songs? When we start composing new songs we intend to manifest the foundation stones that this monstrosity has been built upon. By this, we mean there will always be new visions, new light opening to us, but what makes Subvertio Deus may not be recognised by the eyes of the blind. What are your influences? Our influences within the confines of sound who appeal to us strongly are visionaries such as Ondskapt, Deathspell Omega, Shining, Ved Buens Ende, Opeth, Blut Aus Nord,

Krzysztof Penderecki, Akira Yamaoka, Tyranny, Isis, Dapnom, Arkhon Infaustus and Antaeus. The demo contains no lyrics, thus I am very interested to talk about the lyrics with you. What are they about? I've read, that you deal with topics like death, philosophy and theology. Could you be a little bit more specific? Certainly. It is based around the highly doubted idealist scepticism position of Solipsism, how ever stating that only I, God, truly exists amidst a world I have created through my subconscious. Subvertio Deus is without »band members« and therefore without form or necessity for indi viduals to be recognised outside of the collective contribution as a whole. The lyrics deal with a reverse kenotic idea of tran scending from man to God through a christlike apotheosis and putting myself through various psychological traumas and denial of the physical world, emptying myself of all matter. Needless to say it has had a powerful negative eﬀect upon me and how I now perceive the world in such an iso lated manner, seeing the world how God would experience such a dead and distant world. This has disassociated me and created numerous un fortunate problems such as depersonalisation and depression which, in hindsight make me question the true value of this journey and whether mad ness is truly the most beautiful path to God.

And what literary works and authors have significantly influenced you? As for philosophers and theologians that have influenced me? Despite their existence being inconsequential anyway and merely being an extension of my perceptions, as are all things I have to merely feign ignorance for; the words of certain individuals have helped me understand myself and those beliefs more ardently; particu larly R. Descartes, G. Berkeley, St. T. Aquinas, St. John of the Cross, J. Calvin, Ariel Glucklich as well as the fictional works of the Marquis De Sade, Georges Bataille and James Hogg. In the demo's inlay, you have quoted the following verse from the Romans letters from the bible: »For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live« (chapter 8, verse 13). What is the significance of this verse in relation to the concept of Subvertio Deus? And what does it mean for you personally? It states the importance of immateriality and living without regard for existence, the flesh is worthless and living by such carnal, human standards will bring no mind closer to that of God. God is without flesh and without form and to become God, one must do away with their flesh and their humanity. 13

„Let us become the image of the one whole God, bearing nothing earthly in ourselves.“ – St. Maximus (Philokalia, Volume II)

Let's talk about the layout. Some elements of it bring some certain artworks of this so-called »Orthodox Black Metal« movement to my mind – all ahead Watain and Deathspell Omega. How do you see that, what is your opinion about and are there any parallels? What do you think about the above mentioned bands? And what are your thoughts about this nowadays established concept of »Orthodox Black Metal«? You posted a message, that you don't want to be associated with this term of »Orthodox Black Metal«, but respect their point of views. So, what is the essence of the diﬀerence between your point of view, your approach and theirs? Subvertio Deus is without a doubt Religious, with the intentions at conceptualising my own descent into transcendence, my own fall into assuming the divine, Religion, par ticularly that of Christian beliefs plays an important role within this. However, unlike religion and that of the »Orthodox Black Metal« movement, we play no role as worshippers, we play no role as humans subjecting ourselves to an authority and moral obligation other than ourselves. Whilst we hold re spect for bands which go beyond the typical pseudoevil imagery, E.A. Poe based lyrics and traditional aesthetics of Black Metal relied on as if they were to dictate one's sta tus within the »scene«, we certainly do not hold that many parallels between these bands and of Black Metal as a whole. Unlike a lot of Black Metal which takes its inspiration 14

from merely inverting Holy texts for childish blasphemy, or creating a theological account which originates from out side of the Holy words accounted in the bible, we find Evil to glorify itself resplendently more within the cosmos and God alike. Equally, I have no time for hypocritical ideologies and Satanism based upon Pagan teachings as the church has presented it. I am more inclined to be fasci nated by Deathspell Omega and Reverorum ib Malacht who present to us Satan in a divine form, that which transcends forms and the flesh and is a seed within us all; not a childish Goat and Heathen hypocrisy! It seems that you tend to shun the public when it comes to Subvertio Deus and it is generally difficult to find any information about it. In addition to a MySpace page only for information purposes, there is not much interesting background to discover. Why? And what do you think about the whole MySpace hype as nearly every day dozens of bands see the light of day? Keyword »information society«: Blessing or Curse? We personally like to keep to ourselves a lot, I cannot keep up with the MySpace culture, particularly with music and most importantly the Black Metal culture which falls into decline further with each passing day. Consumerist culture and media driven subculture clichés are not something we wish to be part of and so keep our distance as much as is possible.

Satanic Propaganda Records have released your new record called »Psalms of Perdition« a short while ago. What eﬀorts can we expect from you lyrically as well as musically? The new song »IV« is really, really good. So, please tell me a little bit more about this release! Thank you very much. It fea tures the three tracks from the demo, as well as another four which complete the album how it was originally intended to be. Lyrically, I discovered after writ ing them that it has followed a chronological order of »trans formation« from the position of man amongst the world to God aside from the world. The mix, I believe has been perfected won derfully and is diﬀerent to the demo versions; more powerful yet distant. Musically, it shows this progression brilliantly and takes a more avantgarde form in the latter stages for Psalms »III« and »IV«. Let's take a look at the present. In my opinion, there are too many faceless and untalented bands around and it is hard to find still unique and talented bands, who keep the flame burning – particulary in the Black Metal scene, but

not only there. What's your opinion? And what do you think about the current development of the Black Metal movement? Stagnation or recovery? I agree. I personally think from observation that Black Metal is now beginning to recover from its shallow faecal puddles of heavy metal and thrash roots that gave birth to it. It is maturing, it is be coming musically and ideologi cally based upon individuals, their ideas and abandoning the neces sity to regard tradition as impor tant now. We've heard Darkthrone before and do not need to hear countless people contributing their interpretations and oﬀering nothing new, nothing personal and nothing creative than rehash ing clichés and exclaiming what they can do to feel part of the Black Metal movement. Black Metal overall is very stagnant which is why it needs individuals, it needs progression and it needs rational thought to pull itself out of tradition and repetition. Which albums have you enjoyed in the last time? And to what do listen privately? Any recommendations from your personal record box? 15

As for albums I've personally enjoyed re cently, I would recommend: · Caïna: »Temporary Antennae« · Supplicium: »Atrae Poenae« · Ofermod: »Tiamtü« · Emit: »Abortions« · Shining: »V: Halmstad« · Svartidauði: »The Temple of Deformation« · Alcest: »Le Secret«, · Lifelover: »Konkurs« · Citalopram: »Asylum« and · Haizum: »The Temple of Diseased Flesh« As for what we listen to privately? Speaking for all of us, it could be said we collective ly enjoy: Akira Yamaoka, Porcupine Tree, Lycia, Atrax Morgue, Peste Noire, Dolorian, Sigur Rós, Alcest, Mütiilation and Grunt. Thanks for your time and your answers. The last words are yours! We have no intention on reaching out a mes sage to others or persuade others to share our way of thinking so we'll just say thank you personally for the interview.

www.myspace.com/subvertiodeus

skepticism, pantheist and ophis were touring europe in late october 2008. the Âťexorcising the funerealÂŤ tour was one the year's main events for the doom scene. our friend philipp from ophis wrote down his own impressions. reading his lines makes us mourn as we were not able to attend more than the nuremburg date.

herr b. & herr f.

exorcising the funereal tour 2008

Left to right: Skepticism, Pantheist and Ophis in Nuremburg.

All pictures were shot by Nils from Ophis or Sven Mihlan from www.doom-metal-front.de Drop a look at Sven's great concert photos with Doom bands from all over the world.

a diary of doom

sat · 25//10//2008, · d-hamburg · logo Much to our surprise Skepticism are already at the venue as our session guitarist Stefan and me arrive exactly on time. The fins spontanously decided to come on day earlier and spent the night drinking on the Reeperbahn. Especially Juha, the busdriver (!) suffers from a severe hangover. Minutes later, Nils and Martin arrive and we begin setting up. Because of a blocked road Pantheist arrive one hour late, but it doesn't matter much. During soundcheck, the female engineer of the venue does not seem very professional at all. To make things worse, my guitar amp is starting to make funny, unexplainable noises so I have to use the amp of Pantheist guitarist Ilia for the rest of the tour. Thanks a lot for the help!

his farting-device, which becomes quite favoured. At this place a big »FUCK YOU« goes to the Logo-crew. The boss, the bar girls, doorkeepers and soundtech were all such jerks and in my whole career I've never met such unmotivated, unfriendly, incompetent and unprofessional persons. I can only advice every promoter to avoid this venue! Apart from this, it's a good start for the tour.

Because of an extremely strict curfew, we need to open the show at 20.45, so most people are still outside and miss our first two songs. But in the end, we have more than 100 people in the venue, which is pretty good for a Doom Metal concert in Hamburg. Our gig is good, but not our best either. As we play with two session musicians, we need to get used to the new situation. Nevertheless, the response is pretty great. Pantheist have some sound troubles, so their gig is a little static today as well. Still they get good resonance from the audience. Skepticism are very celebrated tonight, the only downside is that a lot of people are talking loudly in the back of the club and because the low sound it gets a little annoying. Otherwise, it's a cool performance and with »The Organium« they even give an encore. After the concert we pack our gear and head to Hamburg-Altona where we sleep at my appartment and the flat of my girlfriend's sister. Ilia presents

Skepticism 18

sun · 26//10//2008 · nl-rotterdam · baroeg (dutch doom days festival) After only three hours of sleep we need to get up again, because we have to arrive at the Festival at 11.30! Just a quick shower, packing some breakfast and off we go! During this, the so called »Cocktime!« is introduced: yelling this ancient battlecry, the pants are pulled down and the wiener is presented. During the next days, this highly intellectual ritual of gentlemen will be celebrated a lot. Skepticism have their own mobile home and already departed during the night. We share a bus with Pantheist. At first, everyone is very sleepy, but around 9.00 everyone's getting more vital and the atmosphere among the bands is very good and friendly. The first two records played on the bus-stereo are Kate Bush and Autopsy, and this describes the musical span of styles for the tour pretty good.

We go on after them and play a much better gig than yesterday, although I feel uncomfortable on stage because of a bad monitorsound plus the fact that the lights make it difficult to see what I'm playing. Still, the gig is pretty good. The dutch audience is different than the german: during the songs everyone stands absolutely still and I already fear that they hate us, but between the songs, the crowd goes pretty mental and celebrates, so the gig becomes a success. Accordingly, people qeue up at the merch and buy lots of Ophis-stuff. Pretty cool. Fall Of The Idols play after us but I miss their gig, because I need to chill a little with Nils in the tourbus, and later I have a very good political conversation with Pantheist-bassist Mark.

On time we arrive at the venue somewhere in the southern center of the city. After the backline is built up and Hooded Priest begin with the soundcheck, Pete, Ilia and Martin go to buy some dope, and then the second day of the festival begins. Hooded Priest open the show, and already there are around 200 people at the venue.

Pantheist are much better today as well. Their performance is very emotional and tight, and they get a great response. Especially »O Solitude« makes the crowd roar. They are followed by Worship, which I usually appreciate pretty much, but today they are plain boring. So we go backstage and enjoy the dutch beer. Skepticism close the day as a worthy headliner. Sound and light are brilliant throughout the day, and so Skepticism's gig is no exception. The crowd is enthusiastic about them as well, and all bands make a good bargain at the merchandise. We stay the night at the house of promoter Felix Schoonen, which is very convenient. Catering was tasty hot beef and beans, so it's no wonder I need to shit twice at Felix’ bathroom, hehe. Everyone is rather exhausted, so we go to bed straight away.

Pantheist 19

mon · 27//10//2008 · d-nuremberg · kunstverein We leave the Netherlands about an hour late, but Pantheist-drummer Sterghios, who looks just like Glen Benton himself, is a quick driver and we can catch up to the schedule. Going to Bavaria also leads us through Belgium, where Pantheist perform an a-capella-version of the Star Trek theme. We take a break on a truckstop full of Rabbis which leads to a lot non-pc jokes (»Where is Nils?« – »Getting a quick Bamizwa on the toilet.«).

over and over with left-wing stickers, tags and graffiti. There is even a giant red star in the back of the stage, which is a strange contrast to the funereal sound of the three bands. On the other hand, this makes the concert somewhat special. Something special is also the accomodation, which is a sleeping room on the first floor of the venue. I guess the last time someone cleaned this place was around 1970, and I am not kidding. Especially the shower and the toilets look like a biochemical dump and the »fresh blankets« are partly covered with unidentifiable red and brown stains. Sterghios, Nils and I consider checking in a cheap hotel but the prices are way too high, so we stay. To make sleeping here easier, we do a little aftershow party at the bar and drink heavily. Especially Martin and Ilia get pretty wasted on booze and marihuana. I have a very interesting conversation with Skepticism vocalist Matti about their repertoire and music generally. Around 03.00 we all are wasted enough to get some sleep.

The Kunstverein is an old autonomous punk-club and thus a pretty crusty, vivid place. Although the venue is rather big, the stage is pretty small, which even matters more with Skepticism's organ and the Pantheist keyboard-rack. Setting up takes longer than expected, so Ophis needs to soundcheck while people are already coming in. Considering that it's Monday, the venue is pretty well fi lled with around 60 people. All three bands play pretty good gigs tonight. It's rather bizarre to see extreme Doom Metal acts in such an environment: a venue plastered 20

Left to right: Ophis, Skepticism, Pantheist, Skepticism.

very competent and friendly crew. The sound on and in front of the stage has nearly CD quality. No wonder that all three bands play fantastic shows tonight. A few minutes before we go on stage, I suddenly feel the urge to empty my bowels, but since the only toilet seat is in the girls room (which is constantly occupied), I need to run outside the venue and shit into the forest. The audience is enthusiastic, the sound great and we enjoy every second of the show. Cool thing that Pantheist fi lm our gig. Strangely, despite the very good response, we hardly sell any merchandise tonight. Pantheist play a very great gig tonight, very atmospheric, tight and powerful. Especially »Eternal Sorrow« unfolds a lot of mood tonight. The audience is cheering, a very cool gig!

tue · 28//10//2008 · cz-prague · black pes club

Skepticism recieve a selfmade grave chaplet from some fans (including inscriptions), which flatters them very much. They have switched their setlist again (they do so nearly every night) and play a good mixture of new songs like »March October« or »Antimony« and classics such as »Rising of the Flames« or »The March and the Stream«, with the latter one being especially atmospheric tonight. A very goosebump creating gig. They even play »By Silent Wings« as an encore.

Again we are a little late this morning, because some guys still suffer from a hangover. My painkillers become quite attractive. Nils goes out to buy some tooth-brushes, because we forgot ours and our breath stinks like rotten skunks. Some tom-skins are damaged, so we stop at a local music store to buy some new ones, then we leave Nuremberg. At a motorway truckstop Sterghios needs to shit, and as usual he needs pretty much time for this. Unfortunately he didn't think of the time-controlled flush-o-matic. While Nils and I pee in the cabins left and right to him, we suddenly hear some flushing noises and loud cursing and screaming, as Sterghios gets the disgusting cesspool-soup washed over his balls. Pretty amusing for everyone, except him of course.

After this great show we go to our hotel, which is plain simple but clean and nice. Unfortunately, there is no bar (neither in the hotel nor the neighborhood), so there is no aftershowparty, and we need to stick to our own alcohol reserves, which are pretty low. In the hallway I meet Skepticism guitarist Jani, wearing absolutely nothing except a t-shirt and a big greasy smile, as he wishes me »Guten Morgen« (good morning). In our room, Ophis celebrate a little, which results in some very, hmm..., embarrassing photos, before we finally go to bed around 4 in the morning.

Our GPS doesn't have maps for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, so we need to stick to a printed route planner. Of course we get lost in the traffic. We miss the venue by 15 kilometers and stroll through the outskirts of Prague for nearly 4 hours. Fortunately the venue itself is terrific, the best of the whole tour by far. A big stage, magnificent sound and light equipment and a 21

wed · 29//10//2008 · sk-nitra · rock club naozzay doesn't seem too interested, but after the show they want autographs and pictures. Matti even gets some smooches for a foto and one girl shows her Skepticism-tattoo.

There is no breakfast today, so we need to buy some bread and stuff at the local supermarket and eat in the cold damp bus, but nevertheless, the mood is great, although hardly anyone slept more than 4 hours. Czech only has two motorways, so we drive over land roads, which are partly extremely shaky. On the way, a local porn magazine is bought, in which the ladies look even more corroded than the roads.

Because of the low beer prices we have an aftershowparty right in the club, with some of the audience joining us. Really everyone is drinking more or less heavily tonight, and soon we have a real big party going on. Especially Skepticism, Ophis and Pete of Pantheist are gulping down one beer after another. Martin even has to puke twice and later he tells a local girl how much he’d like to fuck her. Unfortunately, he is too drunk to realise that he's speaking in German, and she doesn't understand a word. Bad luck.

The venue turns out to be a very cool Metal pub in the classical way. Placed in some catacombs, posters of Metallica and AC/DC are everywhere, and guitars and other memorabilia hang on the walls. Unfortunately, it is not very suited for concerts, as the stage is small as a rug, there is no backstage, the soundsystem is very motley and the crew is obviously overstrained (»we didn't expect you to bring so many fl ight cases«). Waldemar and Kate, the promoters, are also somewhat nervous. The fact that there is no catering (yet, only after the show in the hotel) and only one free drink for each person doesn't raise our enthusiasm. Pantheist are even told to pay for their stage water. Stefan, Martin, Nils and I go out to eat something at a nearby kebap, where we meet some very friendly local people.

On the way to the hotel, which lies on the opposite side of the pedestrian area, it's »Cocktime!« all the way. Just as I pull my pants down, some guy appears out of nowhere, grabs my hand, thanks me and disappears as quickly as he came. We also rush a photosession of some chicks who are hanging out on the benches by all at once jumping onto them. They take it humourously. A certain finnish tour member drops into the nearby brothel to visit two ladies for a mere 40 Euros and one of the english guys takes a young woman »for a walk«, whatever that's supposed to mean. At the hotel we have some great Gulash. I share a room with Sterghios and Kostas, while the other Ophis members make a small photosession in their room.

As we enter the stage, the monitor sound is surprisingly well and we play a tight gig. Only the audience is very distanced and hardly reacts to our set. We don't care and have just some fun. I change the lyrics of »Convert To Nihilism« spontaneously to some vulgar german swearwords, which of course nobody understands but raises our fun. Although people seem rather disinterested while we play, we sell good merchandise, and some fans surprisingly even ask for photos and autographs, to which we agree of course. Nils did bet that we won't sell any shirts tonight, so he loses and has to pay a round of beers. The other bands have a similar phenomenon: the audience 22

Skepticism's Matti at the border of transcendance.

thu · 30//10//2008 · a-vienna · escape ple. We change the setlist slightly by replacing »The Halls Of Sorrow« by »Dolor Nil Finis«. The crowd finally appears but is rather retentive at first. To break the ice, Kostas and Ilia come to the front and bang their heads. The trick works and some people come closer to stage as well and start to enjoy the show. In the end they even shout for an encore. Thanks a lot.

Fortunately we have a very short drive to Vienna, so we get to stay in beautiful Nitra until noon. The Finns have an alcoholic testing device, and as we meet in the morning to load the bus, Jani still has 0.9 permille. Again, there is no breakfast in the Hotel, so we all walk through the pedestrian area to find a bistro. Matti dances to the violin play of a street musician, who is, unlike us, not that amused. Pantheist and Ophis find a bistro and we eat baguettes and pizza for breakfast, while Skepticism enter a pub and keep on drinking. We buy cheap beers and cigarettes, then we head off to vienna. At the Slovakian/Austrian border we get into a passport control. At this opportunity, Skepticism turn up their bus stereo and Matti, Mark, Juha and Martin bang their heads on the parking place to Black Sabbath’s »Sweet Leaf«, while some exhibitionist behaviour is to be witnessed.

Pantheist play again a very good set tonight! Their show is pretty emotional and powerful. Not surprisingly the resonance of the audience is very warm. Nils and I bang our heads through the entire show. Skepticism offer a rather remarkable gig tonight, as they still seem to suffer from all the booze today, which makes their show to seem even more distant and funereal than usual. Especially Matti seems very engrossed and estranged. Luckily this fits to the music very well, which consists mainly of tracks from the »Alloy« album tonight. Close to the end of the gig, Jani takes over the mic and bursts a minute long, shrieking diabolic laughter into it: special showeffect à la Skepticism. Sadly, there are some totally drunk morons present tonight, disturbing the show with shoutings and other disruptions. Skepticism ignore them and finally they keep quiet.

We arrive early in Vienna, with the venue still closed. We seem to be in the local red light district, so we take a short stroll and find a gay sauna near by. Sterghios tries to trick Matti by recommending him this sauna as a great place to relax, but Matti calls the bluff at the sauna's counter.

After the show, we go to the hotel by bus which turns out to be a mistake. There are no parking spaces, and we spend nearly an hour to find one, so we end up there very late. The hotel itself is totally high class, and we can hardly believe the luxury it offers. A big thanks to Alex Wank! In the hallway, we have some very loud »Cocktime!« (to our luck no one complains, as the hotel is quite booked out), and some Pantheist members check the nearby amusement-area, but nothing special happens as most of us are still hungover from that party yesterday.

The venue's stage is located in the cellar, while the bar is in the ground floor. Thus, hardly anyone realizes our show start and we play the first song in front of three peo23

fri 路 31//10//2008 路 d-berlin 路 amnesie worse, the venue's curfew to day is even half an hour earlier than planned. Thankfully, the other bands propose to shorten their set, so that Ophis can play at all. Thanks a lot, guys.

As the waking-up-call rings early in the morning (again just three hours of sleep), the lifestyle of the last couple of days starts to pay back and getting up becomes a real torture. The fact that we have more than 800 km to travel to day doesn't make it any easier. We decide to go through the Czech Republic to reach or destination in order to save kilometers and therefor money. Big mistake! In Czech, we can not use any highways, so we drive across countryroads all the time, forced to follow tractors driving 40 km/h without a chance to overtake and there are speed limits everywhere. The trip takes four hours longer than expected, so that we are on the road for over 12 hours all in all. As Skepticism, who drove through Germany, reach the venue, we still stumble through Czech. Pete spends most of the ride asleep, so we decorate him with all kinds of degrading objects and take pictures. There's nothing better to do anyway.

We just build up and go immediately on stage. Expecting the worst, we are surprised by a brilliant sound on both stage and PA. Cheers to the almighty sound-man! The audience is brilliant as well. The venue is sold out today, there are even some more people outside who can't get in anymore. Our gig works out perfect, the kids freak out and some people in the front rows even know the lyrics and sing along. We enjoy it very much, a great gig to close the tour. Sad thing that we can only play three songs tonight. Also Pantheist blow everything to pieces tonight. Their original plan to wear Helloween-costumes tonight must be abandoned, otherwise this gig is perfect! Brutal and atmospheric likewise. Stefan and I join the front row and celebrate. And so does the crowd.

20 minutes before scheduled showstart we FINALLY reach the venue. No band can have a soundcheck, our gig has to serve as such. To make things 24

sat · 01//11//2008 · travel day Again we get up incredibly early without breakfast and off we go. Pantheist and Skepticism play another gig in Belgium tonight and they drop us off in Hamburg. Without problems or delays we get there quickly. We unload our stuff, then it's time for the final goodbye!

Skepticism shorten their set by merging their first few songs into some kind of medley, which is an interesting thing to hear. Although the stage is the smallest of the whole tour and there are only two lights, and although the place is packed, sweaty and hot, they still create this distant, funereal atmosphere. Respect. It turns out to be their best gig after Prague.

Finally I crawl home into the bathtub. This fantastic week was over way too quick! All the bands became good friends, we played some fantastic shows and met very great people. Hope that we may meet again soon.

After the gig, we let the evening fade out relaxed. Some friends of ours and my girlfriend Sarah are there, too. We are in party-mood, but Pantheist have another yet 1000 km drive tomorrow and want to get some sleep, which we of course respect. Skepticism leave already tonight, so it’s time for us to say goodbye. They invite us to play in Finland sometime. Now it's official guys, so you have to, haha!

– Philipp/Ophis www.skepticism.fi www.myspace.com/skepticism

The accomodation is quite good, despite the fact that the heaters, shower and bathroom-lights don't work. There are only 9 beds for 8 people, but one of us stays at a groupie's home tonight, so there is no problem!

www.pantheist.co.uk www.myspace.com/pantheistuk 25

www.ophisdoom.de www.myspace.com/ophisdoom www.doom-metal-front.de

At the moment Menneskevarg is known to a very small circle of chosen listeners only. You did not try to make any efforts in changing this circumstance at all yet. Please give us therefore a brief introduction on this band/project and its concept: What is the intention behind Menneskevarg concerning music as well as an intellectual approach/spirituality? At first there was no real intention behind the creation of Menneskevarg, it was merely a vessel for my take on forging my own mental condition into music and on the Black Metal genre generally. That's the whole background to the first two releases, there is no big intellectual approach behind it, both lyrics and music were created in states of emotional

based upon the foundation left by scandinavian black metal acts of the second generation, menneskevarg hails from the rural countryside of north germany. this is a close look at this yet little known, but promising and obscure band and its background.

herr b. & herr f.

»unrest«, so to say. The music of »Styrke gjennom ensomhet« was done on one evening, while »Tanker i fengsel« has a far longer history of creation, recreation, change and destruction of the musical material. The lyrics on »Tanker i fengsel« were written on the very same day the vocals were recorded. Since I am a very spiritual person there will be bigger spiritual influences on future releases. Back in 2005 Menneskevarg released »Styrke gjennom ensomhet« on tape. These copies were given to a few chosen people with a similar point of view only. The demo features one 20 minutes long song entitled »Klagelied des verstoßenen Propheten«

and the outro-like title track. Both songs are instrumentals. Is there a concrete intention behind the absence of any voice or was it just the result of limited recording possibilities? As stated above »Styrke gjennom ensomhet« was created in a rush of creativity, there were no real plans for it. I wrote the music, recorded it and then said »It's done.«. I never thought about vocals to the tracks. Some months after the release of »Tanker i fengsel« I thought about re-releasing »Klagelied des verstoßenen Propheten« in a new version with vocals and wrote some lyrics for it, but as of now these plans weren't further worked out. »Styrke gjennom ensomhet« is now available in its original form from Soleil Tryste and

swallow the feeder re/chords & dis/tribution to a wider audience. What led to the decision to spread it to more than just a few friends? The very positive reactions. I'm very anxious with releasing something created with me, so I decided to share the first tapes with some friends of mine I knew they listen to that kind of music and would be honest to me about their opinion on it. I always said to them »If you don't like it, don't throw it away, give it to someone else, some day somebody will like it«, but surprisingly the reactions were very positive, so I thought of releasing my material to a wider audience, but since I'm very contact avoidant the opportunity to hand the distribution of the Menneskevarg material to swallow the feeder was very welcome.

The monotonous character and the whole sound in general remind me a lot of the more rock-based Vinterriket material like the »Herbstnebel« 7"-LP. Is Vinterriket a strong musical influence for you? I don't know Vinterriket at all, only from your narrations. Maybe I should give them a try. Which general influences do you have? I don't know. Standard depressive Black Metal, some classical music, some Doom Metal. I didn't write the music with »Let's make some Burzum-ish Black Metal« in my mind, I just did. The most considerable influence might be Bethlehem, since I used Chiff renlyrik (cypher or coded lyrics) on »Tanker i fengsel«.

You use a kind of a wolf's hook (german: Wolfsangel) in the Menneskevarg logo and an algiz rune (the rune of life) on the cover of »Styrke gjennom ensomhet«. Using runes nowadays may have the most different reasons: From spiritual and pagan aspects to simple provocation or political propaganda based upon their misuse and misinterpretation during the Wold War II period. What meaning do runes – especially the ones you use – have for you? That's not a Wolfsangel, that's a binding rune, a rune created from combining different runes into one. That particular one is a symbol for the creation and destruction in general and in particular for the incarnation of my emotions and abstract thoughts into the more material form of words, music and sound storage mediums in the greater context of the mysteries of death and demise. Regarding that political stuff: I see a major discrepancy between Black Metal and National Socialism. To me, Black Metal is about individualism and misanthropy. National Socialism is not about individualism but about flock mentality, and it's about elevating one single race above the others, while misanthropy treats humans independently of their gender, »race« or similar. Personally I'm not at all interested in that politi-

cal, social or historical bullshit so it doesn't matter to me what others might think or be, as long as my individual rights aren't harmed. And I hate Nazis as much as I hate the rest of mankind. How does a negative and destructive concept as the one of Menneskevarg go hand in hand with the positive and spiritual original meaning of runes? Runes per se are no positive but neutral symbols. I know most of these heathen idiots out there won't understand this, but each rune has its positive and negative aspects, it's the same with other esoteric symbols like the pentagram or the inverted cross. Yes, the oh-so-satanic inverted cross is also a christian symbol! So, the use of the Algiz rune on the cover of »Styrke gjennom ensomhet« is not in a pro-life context, but together with the moon as a symbol of emotion, death and night very consistent with the concept of Menneskevarg. Regarding my spiritual background I'm not heathen, but rather some kind of chaos gnostic or pragmatist which has an individual, very

different viewing of magic concepts like the runes, tarot cards, planets, elements or similar. Regarding the runes in special, I use primarily their shadow aspects for my work, so I'm totally not seeing them as pro-life or positive symbols.

„Flock mentality is ﬂock mentality, no difference whether it's a herd of sheep or an elitist wolf pack.“

In 2007 the CD-R »Tanker i fengsel« has seen the light of day. Compared to »Styrke gjennom ensomhet« the three tracks seem to be much more worked out and even have great vocals now. Apart from the monotony and emptiness which were omnipresent at the first release I can additionally figure out some late 90ies

Scandinavian Black Metal influences as well as this certain atmosphere spread by the so-called suicidal Black Metal bands at the moment. How do you see the development of Menneskevarg? I think two releases are far too less to judge something like a development, especially if you

it went through some kind of evolution over nearly 4 years. You're not the first one saying you seem to recognize some 90ies Scandinavian Black Metal influences. I don't really know about that, they might be, but weren't planned. Was it your aim to create rather catchier material compared to the one on the demo or had it happened subconsciously? I think that's a result of the aforementioned evolution of the »Tanker i fengsel« material. Since current outlines of future Menneskevarg material are also developed over a longer period of time it might be catchier material too, but one will only know when it's done.

consider the different approaches to both recordings and the fact that the musical material of »Tanker i fengsel« is in its core older than the material on »Styrke gjennom ensomhet«. The only development that's surely present is that »Tanker i fengsel« is much more developed, not as raw as »Styrke gjennom ensomhet«, since

Menneskevarg uses a couple of movie-samples on »Tanker i fengsel«. The one which probably strikes most is a speech from Fritz Lang's classic »M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder«. This sample opens the last track »Angor Suicidii«. The speaker is describing his futile escape from himself and his feelings evoking subtle

pictures of schizophrenia. As there are no lyrics available and the song-titles can only give a hint to the real content these few understandable samples are the only access to the written side of Menneskevarg. How important are they for the whole concept and do they represent it well? Those samples are kind of symptomatic for that feeling of »fighting against one's self« and the war of reason against drive, which is consistent in many mental disorders and psychic diseases. Instead of schizophrenia I see some kind of paranoia or persecutory delusion, but not from people or external powers, but from the own, rejected part of personality. Together with the spoken intro the samples provide something like a frame around the self-reflection and emotional introspection which provide the lyrical content of »Tanker i fengsel«. Although Menneskevarg is based in northern Germany all song-titles are either in norwegian language or encoded like e.g. »E-958.9« – the opening track at »Tanker i fengsel« (english: »Locked Thoughts«). Don't you think that the listener therefore is missing a big part of the concept? Not really, I think that's rather unimportant.

Even without lyrics and titles the music communicates a certain emotional statement which can easily stand for itself. If somebody bothers to pick the lyrics out and interpret them, well, good luck, they can do what they want. In my opinion, there's a huge difference between what I wanted to express with the lyrics, the lyrics itself and what the lyrics induce in the listener, because you can only recognize the real intentions behind the lyrical concept if you know the interpret very well and know how he thinks and feels and the interpret can only induce certain emotions in his audience if he knows the listener very well and knows how he thinks and feels. So the main impulse behind the lyrics on »Tanker i fengsel« was the urge to write my own mental and emotional distortions down thus manifesting them so I could work them out. It was some form of self-therapy. I don't see any problem with people interpreting the music and lyrics of Menneskevarg their own way, maybe coming to the conclusion that the samples doesn't fit in one song or the lyrics of another don't correspond to the music, it's just a matter of taste. Why did you chose Norwegian to be the language of Menneskevarg? People naturally can express themselves best in their mother

tongue. Aren't you limitating yourself using a that foreign language? Norwegian is not the language of Menneskevarg. My knowledge of the language is far too less to translate more than the album titles and a few lines into it. The lyrics on »Tanker i fengsel« are completely in german, with the exception of » « (»Naud Log Fé«), which I roughly translated to obscure it. Since future lyrics will also be in german there's no limitation at all. I just don't speak any other language well enough to satisfactorily express myself with it. Did you chose the word »Menneskevarg« (translated from norwegian as the »human wolf« or the »wolf in man«) as a symbol for what Black Metal actually should stand and formerly stood for? Several notion of some »cult-persons« in the Black Metal scene come quickly to my mind. Do you want to re-awake the wolf in man? I don't know if I really understand your point of »what Black Metal should stand or stood for« or the »re-awakening of the wolf in man«. The name »Menneskevarg« was created just like the first songs: Intuitively. I like the wolf as an animal and he is of course a source of inspiration to me, but only in parts of its vargr-aspect

in its solitude, in which he is cast out of his pack, the lone wolf who is far more dangerous. The »criminal«-aspect of the vargr, the corpse desecrater, arsonist, »brannvargr«, which is often chosen by other Black Metal musicians as an inspiration, maybe even aforementioned »cultpersons«, is rather unimportant in the context of Menneskevarg and the aspect of the wolf pack which is often used in the so called NS Black Metal scene I really detest. Flock mentality is flock mentality, no difference whether it's a herd of sheep or an elitist wolf pack. The concept behind the name »Menneskevarg« is another. It goes back on »homo homini lupus«, that well-known quote of roman poet Plautus. The whole background is that only human is human's biggest enemy and only human knowing what it's like to be human can be a real misanthrop. So in my eyes the only correct translation of »Menneskevarg« is »human wolf«, not »werewolf«, like others would say. What could be meant with this »re-awakening of wolf in man«? Back to the roots of mankind, more focusing on this what's real and really important in life – against modern life with it's false values and ideas? What's your opinion about it?

Ah, now I understand what you meant with that »re-awakening«-stuff, and I strongly disagree. This whole greenie bullshit is no solution to the mankind-problem. Of course man is harming the nature and the ecosystem, but back to nature, back to the roots of mankind and that anti-modernist point of view won't do it. Nature would be destroyed a little less, but it would still be destroyed. From an ecologist point of view the only way to save nature is the extinction of mankind. ALL of mankind, no exception like a fantasized aryan super race and no »Let's colonize another planet«. I'm not living very ecologically, since I don't see any sense in despising the delights of modern technologies and don't see much sense in using green electricity and waste separation when man still procreates

and continues to pollute the earth with his existence. I rather sympathize with environmental organizations like VHEMT (»Voluntary Human Extinction Movement«) or the Gaia Liberation Front who call explicitly for the more or less voluntary self-extinction of mankind, that would be faster and more effective than all of those greenie crap. Recently, you have p a r t e d w ay s w it h your long-time session-guitarist. Will major changes result in the sound of Menneskevarg in the future? Borbarath was not a long-time sessionguitarist, he just recorded the guitars and bass on »Tanker i fengsel«, nothing more. Depending on my guitar skills I might ask other people if they'll help me in the future, we'll see. But I really doubt that

I will ever look for regular band members, I'm happy alone. By the way, Borbarath now plays in an extreme metal band called Seuchengewitter (english: »contagion thunderstorm«). The first rehearsal versions of their songs sound very interesting and melodic, I really hope to hear more from them in the future. Are there plans for further releases yet? Yes, there are, but it's far to early for revealing more details. Since I already scrapped many material – including material for two complete albums and a fourth song which should appear on »Tanker i fengsel« – I won't make any big announcements before I'm at least done with the recordings. Time will tell then how the material will sound, maybe more industrial influences, maybe less synths, maybe it will be a Doom Metal or a Jazz album, who knows? Thank you for your time answering to our questions. Regards and last words to you! What else is to say? Thank you for the interview, thanks to the reader for reading and to the listener for listening to Menneskevarg. And please don't procreate, nature will thank you. www.myspace.com/menneskevarg

the following interview with portuguese kult was done in novembre 2004. planning a printed unique fanzine similar to this one here this was one of the first conversations done. the zine actually never came out, so did this inti â&#x20AC;&#x201C; until now. meanwhile kult was put to death but it is still worth reading. once again sorry for the weird circumstances to you my friend. 32

herr b.

Hell-o Raven-B! How would you describe Kult's music to someone who never listened to it before? Hi! Kult is definitely Industrial, although with some incursions into fields of Dark Ambient and Noise. I think it's quite an hypnotic sound which settles in suffocating ambiences and beats. At least that's how I see it. When it comes to the general concept, it‘s quite an intimate subject, where I deal with wishes, fantasies, memories and personal wounds.

I believe that in a world like this, no one can say they aren't affected by images), feeling, personal experiences, etc. You always claimed Kult to be a very personal project. Why did you choose such cold and sterile soundscapes to put your inner-self into action? This is how I feel; this is the sound that can trans late my inner feelings and disturbances. I believe that I can express myself a lot better through these cold and sterile soundscapes, like you define then,

expression of the satisfaction of that same need. For most people sex is a very positive thing. But Kult sounds quite negative. How do these things go together? I wouldn't say negative, but extreme, yes. I think that's the word for it. I do not see sadomaso chism or fetish as negative. This all depends on your point of view. Since it gives pleasure to all the involved people, we can't say its negative, no matter the means you use to get that pleasure.

„Kult is about the pleasures given in acts of supremacy, humiliation, scorn & torment.“ – Raven-B I wonder where your affection for industrial and electronic noize comes from. Regarding your activities in e. g. Vorago, Black Plague web zine or Dungeons Records some time ago you seem to be rooted in the extreme metal milieu. How did you get infected with electronic music and where do you get your inspiration from? I started to get into the metal scene some years ago, but after some time I discovered bands such as MZ412, Ordo Equilibrio, In Slaughter Natives, Folkstorm, The Grey Wolves, Atari Teenage Riot among others. I never abandoned Metal, I still enjoy listening to it and I feel that I can relate both genres. My inspiration comes from differ ent things. It can be from literature, images (and

rather than by an organic approach. It suits the concept better in my opinion. Kult is about the pleasures given in acts of supremacy, humiliation, scorn and torment. In that way I prefer to have a more austere and cold approach. I hope I am not limitating Kult when I say that the whole concept consisting of music, titles and artwork is based on sado-masochism and other extreme forms of sex and eroticism. Are these strong topics of your life or just a visualization of your fantasy? They are both aspects of my life and fantasies. That's why it's my project. That‘s me you are hear ing. Kult was born of a personal need and it is an 33

Although some of your songs have some lyrics, they aren‘t printed in the booklets. Are they too personal or is the reason just a lack of space on the paper? The lyrics do not appear for two reasons: they are personal and because the use of voice in some songs is done as if the voices were instru ments or noises. That's why sometimes I almost make the words imperceptible. They are just a sound texture like the rest. You always use very fine and subtile fetish photography for your releases. Is this your girlfriend or some other individual close to you? Let's say it is a person who is very close to me.

A companion and intimate friend. I cannot find words for it. Far more that just a »girlfriend« or whatever you want to call it. So, due to the per sonal side of Kult, it makes the perfect sense I usually use photographs of her. Would you ever use photography of persons you don't know? I only use photographs from people I consider friends and that are well connected to the project. At least that's how it works for »solo« releases of Kult. Concerning splits and compilations, things get a little different of course. I work with a friend of mine called Sara Moreira. She's the photo grapher. Together we do the artwork and visuals for every single aspect of Kult, although some times I might use suggestions or images from close friends. The final design is up to me. Okay, let us get a little bit closer to your releases. Back in 2003 your first one »Overtures for violent Intercourse« came out Dungeons Records in a limited edition of 150 cd-rs. As Kult is dedicated to a few individuals only: What led to the decision to release the material written until that point of time? I decided to release it because it is my art, my creation. Art should reach out for the interested individuals. If not, I wouldn‘t record anything. The songs would be only in my mind. Anyway,

I am conscious that Kult is not for the masses. That was never my intention anyway. I prefer to create a limit on the number of copies. »Overtures for violent Intercourse« is the only release which features other Kult members except of you: Morbivs and HollowPain. Why aren‘t they a part of Kult anymore? Kult was always a personal project, but in the be ginning, both Morbivs and HollowPain were in. They were the elements that helped me in order to become Kult a real project. In the beginning, Kult was meant to be an Industrial Black Metal project, a bit like Thorns or Dodheimsgard. That way, I decided to ask Morbivs and HollowPain to help me. Meanwhile, thing took a different course and I went through the Industrial/Noise road. And so was born »Overtures for violent Intercourse«. After »Overtures ... « we just split up. It was a natural thing, and since Kult was al ways meant to be a personal project I kept on going with it. For the future releases, I‘ll have K. on the line-up doing samples and vocal parts. In the beginning of 2004 the 2-track cd-r »Wounds & Katharsis« was released. It features only the two tracks »Wounds« and »Katharsis« and is limited to 25 pieces only. In my opinion it is the best Kult material up to date. The output carries the subtitle »Chemistry of Love«. Is 34

there a certain concept behind the two tracks? Hum ... I think we can say there is a concept. The subtitle »Chemistry of Love« is the link between both songs. It's a new conception of love, based on »Wounds« and »Katharsis«. Almost as a way to re-define carnal passion in a more extreme way, if we can say so. Sex as a catharsis and wounds as the result. Love, representing here the carnal wishes, is the link between the bodies and minds. While I am sending these questions to you we are writing Novembre 2004. I just recieved your new split with Ambience a couple of days ago. A very fine double cd-r release in dvd format limited to 50 copies. I think »Submit + Obey« is the Kult stuff most far beyond what is called music ever. Are you satisfied with it? Ah, I hate that question ... (Therefore I am, haha. – Herr B.) no, I'm not! I will never be satisfied with anything I do. That will be the ghost that will haunt me until I die. But I‘m satisfied about finally releasing that. It was recorded shortly after »Over tures ... « was released, so as you can see it's a bit old. But don't get me wrong! I am very proud of it. It's a mark of that period of time, but of course that now I would have made it a bit different. Why did you chose a split release for your new material? I choose a split because it was with Ambience.

That's Morbivs' project and we are very good friends and, as you might now, we are involved in lots of projects. It was just a way of sharing a release, but this time on opposite fields. In the future, I will release some more splits, but al ways with projects or bands I know and respect. While Kult sounds cold and sterile as always, Ambience is quite more harmonic and calm. Is there a common concept anyway? The concept is the contrast, the opposition. Everything was done thinking about that. The artwork reveals that perfectly, I think. It's white versus black. As most of the people who are in closer contact with you know, you were running Dungeons Records with your fellow Fernando. Now this alliance split up into Dungeons Records where Fernando continues releasing metal related stuff and Void Rekordz where you release industrial and power electronics. What led to this split? Nothing special. We just thought it would be better since I am more into extreme electronics and he is more into metal. And we thought it would be better to direct both worlds into specific audiences instead of mixing everything. We still work together. I still do some artworks for Dungeons for example and he still prints some of the stuff for Void Rekordz. We cooperate in each other's labels. It's the best way.

Apart from a limited release of »Overtures for violent Intercourse« on mc format by AntiHumanism Records your first two outputs were released by Dungeons Records. »Submit + Obey« already came out on Void Rekordz. Arent‘t there any other labels interested in Kult or do you just want to have maximum control by releasing your stuff on your own? Good question, aha! I'm a control freak! I need to be in control of my releases. But yes, there are some labels interested in Kult, but I only trust in some. Anti-Humanism is a good label for ex treme and underground sounds, and although the very limited editions, the copies are well distributed. For the future, there will be more labels with Kult releases, but I think I will always keep something to release on my own. Until now cd-r seem to be your prefered format for Kult. Is it a dream to have a pro-printed cd or vinyl in your hands? Yes, sure! I would really like to do a vinyl or procd release. Let‘s way and see what the future holds! Interested labels, contact me please!! Raven-B, thank you very much for your great answers. Have a lot of effort with Kult in the future and feel free to spread some last propaganda. Well, thanks for the interview and good luck for your activities! Stay sick! 35

www.myspace.com/kultindustry

bands are featured in many zines. but one intention of soleil tryste zine is to introduce the people who pull the strings and create a vivid underground network, too. we met jean from ostra records on the hells pleasure festival 2008 in pößneck/germany and realized soon that he was not only in it just for the music. this was crucial to take this french doom label in our first issue. cheers jean!

Hi Jean, I hope you are going fine. Thanks for taking some minutes of your time to answer my questions. So, what's up – any recent news? Thanks! That's a real pleasure to answer your questions! Otherwise yes, there are many news which will be listed with each of your questions! You are running Ostra Records since a few years now and have released some of the finest extreme doom bands out there. In 2006 you started releasing records on CD-R format

with Abske Fides' »... apart of the World« and Mourning Dawn's »The freezing Hand of Reason«. Within just a few months you changed to pro-done CD format and put out Ordog's »Crow and the Storm«. Then you finally got into that what Ostra Records is probably most well-known nowaydays: High-class vinyl editions of Funeralium, Imindain, Ataraxie and a nice 10"-split-LP between Mournful Congregation and Stonewings. What brought you to the decision to start a label? 36

herr f. & herr b.

Hehe! Don’t go further; I’m not the Ostra Records' founder. The guy who created it is called Julien. He's a good friend of mine. We met simply as customer/provider. I was a doom metal fan and Julien had the wonderful idea to create a distro in France exclusively for Doom Metal. And trust me, it was some real innovation! If metal wasn't really liked by the French population, Doom was the less represented metal style and the less appreciated by metalheads. Why was that? Certainly due to the lack of information.

Many didn't even know that this music style was existing and the few who knew it without being fans were seeing Shape of Dispair as the incarnation of Doom Metal. Julien was very fond of doom so he wanted to try to stop the misinformation to some extent. Now, I think he managed to do it in some way although

Ostra in French is a root that adds to everything that is related to oysters. Why the oyster? I do not know, should be asked to Julien. It was him who chose this name for the label! I am often asked this question and I generally answer laughing: It is because there is nothing more Doom than an oyster. When you set your

Which release of Ostra Records' discography is probably the most important for you and why? It's quite a difficult question as in the end I'm not completely invested in the label yet. It's Julien who's the initiator of all the releases we have now. I think I'll be really proud when our next two releases come out. In any case, I wouldn't be

according to me most of the job has been done by just one French band: Ataraxie, but that's another story! Actually, I joined the label just a few months ago. Julien needed some help and I was by then one of his best friends. He knew he could trust me.

oyster, on a table, it stays there making bules; bules making is its main activite and that's super Doom!"

prouder about one release or another.

I couldn't find any answer for this one, searching up nearly the whole internet, so: What does the word Ostra mean and which meaning does it have for you personally?

What is your intention with Ostra Records? My intentions are I think very similar to any intentions a metal fan would have. I just wished I could sign my favourite bands. And that's with Ataraxie, Funeralium, Mournful Congregation and so on already the case. I could not be much more pleased. 37

Do you already have plans for further releases? For the moment, the vinyl version of Ataraxie’s »Anhédonie« is at work for an undetermined period but it shouldn't last for a long time! If everything goes well, Mournful Congregation’s next vinyl version album should come out by January 2009 (It came out in the meanwhile and is a real killer – Herr B.). I obviously have other projects but I can't tell about it for now, it's way too soon!

What makes your releases very special and unique is the high quality of their visual appearance/layout and the fact, that they always are great records from great bands. How do you come to put out those great records, are you getting confirmed or are you the driving force behind?

Which criteria has to be fulfilled to be completely satisfied with a new Ostra Records release? Personally, the release has only to be part of the records I will further listen to, hehe! That's all! How close is the co-operation between you and the bands when it comes to a release?

contact with you. But is it that all worth: The stress, the money (which is probably getting lost) and the expenditure of time? I think that somebody has to be very idealistic to do this over a couple of years. Which experiences have you made? How's your opinion about this topic?

„If you want to make money Hehe! I appreciate the compliment. One of our fundamentals is to produce bands that we like and when you like something, there's no counting! As far as I'm concerned, a label's objective is to make people discover the music that we like and when you really appreciate something you can truly go far with your passion. Vinyl offers the possibility to focus on a much higher quality: It allows to combine musical and visual qualities. I'm for example a big fan of Ataraxie’s »Slow Transcending Agony« artwork and the fact that now I have it in the vinyl version posted in my living room is for me as having a painter's artwork that I love with the only difference that when I usually look at this cover, it reveals for me not only the visual beauty but the auditive beauty as well.

I really like to make new friends who are similar to me in some ways and often, when a band produces some music that I like, the co-operation that we have between the label and the band is close to friendship. Now, Ataraxie’s members are very good friends and when I was already a fan of their music a while ago I would never think that it would be the case. Sorry for the next question but is it getting a little bit more private now. Tell me, it isn't that much profitable at all, releasing such extreme music for – mostly a few – devoted people, is it? Don't get me wrong, I would and have done the same and it is wonderful to see, if one's record is in great demand: The feeling to have done a good job and all the nice people who get in 38

As a passionate, I would say that it's worth it to go further in it. In any case, when you work in an association which is true for the present case, you don't make any profit on the releases. At the contrary, you invest a lot of money and you don't earn any. Why is it that we make this choice? For me it's similar to that kind of questions: Why do you go to the cinema? Why do you smoke ? Why do you buy a CD? In each case, you do it for your own pleasure. I can't see myself buying a pack of cigarets just to please the shopkeeper, hehe! If you want to make money it's better to do something else than music and obviously anything different from Doom Metal. I read on your MySpace-site that you want to release (extreme)-Doom bands only. Could

you ever imagine to put out a record aside the Doom-genre? What about if there's a chance to bring out a »kult« record – probably from the Black Metal scene? I think that there are enough Black Metal labels out there to release Black Metal records. As a matter of fact, we decided to focus on this music

of music-consumption or is it just a soulless series of bites and bytes? I'm absolutely anti-MP3 and this has been for a couple of years. When MP3 became popular, I was still in high school and everyone had an MP3 player already except for me with my old portable CD player. I tested MP3 after and was

mind talking of such an unique billing in words like »just« and »some«, haha. – Herr B.) on a festival? You are totally nuts, aren't you? Are you generally one of those guys, who run completely insane when it comes to metal/music? Hehe! It is indeed true that I came all the way from France for a few bands and mainly for

it's better to do something else than music and obviously anything different from Doom Metal.” – Jean style because we're basically fans of it. Otherwise I'm pretty fond of Black Metal and Julien as well. But I'm not fan enough to get into the production of this style. Neither is Julien! Are there any plans, to release a CD-version of a record again or will Ostra Records be dedicated to vinyl only in the future? The future is full of uncertaincies; we’ll figure it out with time. I prefer not to tell. How about breaking new grounds with offering records for download? Is this an option for you, too? I know that this is already practised by mainly mainstream labels. What is your opinion about »new media« like MP3, fi lesharing etc.? Is the MP3-medium the future

so disappointed by the sound quality that I decided to never re-experience it again. And sincerely, I think that without any cover or artwork you don't want to listen to any album. As far as I'm concerned, when I listen to an album, I like to read the lyrics, watch the pics... for me it's essential! The first time we met was at the Hells Pleasure Festival in Pößneck/Germany in 2008. I would never had noticed you if Herr B. didn't suddendly ran into you asking: »Goddamn, I need your fucking Funeralium-shirt«. Everthing else is history and very well-known to us three. What brought you to the idea to drive nearly 1000 kilometres from France to Germany just to see some bands (Herr F. seems to lost his 39

Warning (Hell, this was with no doubt the best gig I have ever joined... – Herr B.). I was by the way just like a child during the concert! It never really happened to me before. It was quite nice! But I must admit that it was the first time I was going so far by car for just a concert. It is sure that if my girlfriend would not have been there I would not have thought about doing the trip. Actually, I mainly did it for her at the beginning: She was dreaming of seeing Denial of God playing live and I wanted to please her! Now that she left me I wonder if I will have enough courage to come back to Pößneck! Certainly to get to see you anyway... hehe! It's so cool to deal with such nice people; it's so rare in a country so full of idiots like France (I think no country is free of them, neither is Germany. But the circumstances

were just more pleasant at the festival than at one's work or in the local supermarket. Anyway, you are welcome very, very much! – Herr B.). And how was your journey back home? The trip to come back was very exhausting for me! My girlfriend hadn't her driving licence yet and driving so many kilometres in just one shot without any help made me sick. I felt bad for a couple of days. What means music – especially metal-music and doom-music – for you?

You told me, that you are a student but I can't remember on what your studies were about! I hope this is not too personal to ask what you are studying? No problem: I'm a computer science student. I'm preparing my engineer diploma.

I completely agree with you. There are really a lot of excellent bands out there in France, whatever the music style is. However, these bands breaking out are mainly underground bands. There isn't any big band like Slayer in France for example.

What are interests and hobbies beneath your studies? I mean, just sitting around with a fi nger in your nose can't be all of your life, right? Well, I spend much of my free time listening to music. And that's all !

Which bands/labels are/were – in your opinion – most important for the french scene/for this progress? I think that if the French extreme metal scene is now acknowleged, it's thanks to one particular man: Noktu from Drakkar Productions. Without

„If the French extreme metal scene is now acknowleged, it's thanks to one particular man: Noktu from Doom Metal is for me a way to chill out, to relax. Furthermore, I believe it's really the music style which communicates the most with images, sensations... I travel a lot listening to Mournful Congregation, Warning, Ataraxie, or Saint Vitus. However, I'm very fond of metal in general even if I hate this new wave of War Metal (Revenge, Proclamation, etc.). I don't really know how it works abroad but in France for about 6 months, more and more people are following the fashion and getting to venerate these bands that very few people were listening to before.

As I have already mentioned you come from Lyon, France. I think the whole french extreme music-scene has taken a big step forward in the last years. There are so many great bands and labels hailing from the land of red-wine, baguette and frogs' legs now. It does not matter where you look there's something for every taste: Black Metal like Deathspell Omega, Blut aus Nord, Belenos and many more as well as Death Metal, Grindcore and – foremost important to me – Doom commandos like Funeralium, Ataraxie and many more of them. Do you agree with me? 40

him, the French scene would not have such a success. Black Metal would not be so acknowledged in France and now I even get to wonder if without him Black Metal would be so developed worldwide. What are your three current and all-time favorites? With no doubt, I would say : · Black Sabbath: »s/t« · Mournful Congregation: »The Monad of Creation« · The whole discography of Bethlehem.

Which music do you listen to in your private life? What do you mean by »private life«? What song I listen to when I make love for instance? Hehe! Recently I put on »Decontruktion of the World« from Sophia. Moreover, I had been really perturbated by the girl in question: I put on the album on 45 RPM instead of 33 RPM... (Isn't it actually the other way round? – Herr B.). So, let us come to a another point of interest. You're a member in Maieutiste, a Black Metal band from France. You gave me the demo

gether before we created Maieutiste. Then, other members joined us and they were mostly and basically friends. I've just seen, that you're also playing live with Maieutiste: What a great concert is the Thy Kingdom comes Festival together with Funeralium, Ataraxie and Kabbal Karma – I wish I could be there. How can we imagine a live-set of your band? Piles with pig-heads, blood, cum and guts or more the atmospherical kind of a

of things that became conventions to do Black Metal. Personally, a classic visual is perfectly enough: One shirt from a band I like, some jeans, and that's it, it's cool! Otherwise, we could try to work on a visual style for our live performances but it is not for now! Playing live is a way to express what we feel with our music and to share our sensations with the public. Our feelings are visible on our faces and not on our clothes ! We don't play that much due to the lack of time and also we're just starting out there. We only have a demo so far.

live set with candles or so on? Do you play live often? And how important is it for you, to play live-gigs? I ask this because I think, that Black Metal gigs are often disillusioning. The whole atmosphere and mysteries which a record of a band creates, often is getting destroyed by playing live. You know what I mean. How is your opinion on this topic? We are not fans of conventions or prejudices... and blood, pike necklaces, bracelets and stuff are part

Besides the music, I'm always interested on the lyrical part of a record and the whole concept – if there is one. Am I right with my thought, that Maieutiste is the french translation for the english word »Maieutics« (or the term socratic method), according to Socrates' art of negotiation? What deeper meaning do you obsess with this term and the whole concept of »Maieutics«? And am I right, that you

Drakkar Productions.” – Jean tape for free (Thanks a lot for this. – Herr F.) called »Socratic Black Metal« at the Hells Pleasure Festival. I have to say, that I really enjoyed it – very well done. So do me the favour and tell us a little bit about the band, its history and so on. What's your part in the band? And don't tell me, that you're only the band-groupie, haha. Hehe! Well, I'm a vocalist in the band. I'm part of the founders and it's been a couple of years now. The band was born on the long term: I knew the guitarist Keithan way before. We used to play to-

describe with your three tracks on the tape »Introduction in the Mirror«, »The Eye of the Maieutic Art«, »Reflect/Disappear«, the three grades of the socratic method? Who is responsible for the lyrics?

Jean's most favourite albums in 2008: Right, you're correct regarding a part of things. Maieutics is the art of giving birth to spirits. Socrates starts from the statement that men know absolutely everything from their birth and that they need to be guided in order to reveal that knowledge from the unconscious part of their spirit. Thus, he believes that prejudices can fall taking into account all that men think they know. The Maieutist is therefore »the one who gives birth to the spirit«. The demo is only a part of what we

want to tell by our music: Everything will be a lot clearer when the new themes come out. That's why I prefer not to tell right now. It's way more interesting to get some clues alone. Otherwise, so far the lyrics are written by Keithan the guitarist.

Satan«, »ODINNNNNN!!!« melody! As a matter of fact, when you get interested in one theme, you try to get some information, but I believe that the previously quoted subjects come to saturation.

· Ataraxie: »Anhédonie« Very great and personal. Probably the best Doom/Death Metal album of the year!

for the begining and this album is the most powerful release of this band.

· Mournful Congregation: »The Monad of Creation« I listen it every day!

· Warning: »Watching From a Distance« A masterpiece. Great sounds, great vocals ... great albums.

· Dead Congregation: »Grave of the Archangel« This is a fucking great band of Death Metal

· Nex: »Zero« Great Weird Doom/Death!

I see it with big concern, if the lyrical aspect of a Black Metal set it apart from the typically themes, and bring something fresh with it. I love it to look into a subject, which is totally new for me with it's meanings and statements. How about you? Do you like it to explore new food for thought, too? As far as I'm concerned, I focus on themes that I'm fond of. New stuff is obviously extremely refreshing: It changes from the »Worship 42

Where do you see your influences: Lyrically, spiritually and musically, which made you the person you're now? My vocal influences: Bethlehem ... musically, I would say Bethlehem again! And then: Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Cathedral, Trouble, Mournful Congregation, Ataraxie, Funeralium, Warning, Stargazer, Hyadningar, Dawn, Darkthrone, Crypt Of Kerberos ... spiritually, I don't really know. I'm not an adept of the unique thought

and I like to permanently think things over. Let's take a view on the future. What will the future bring us? New records on Ostra Records, a new demo/record by Maieutiste,

· Deathspell Omega/Svest: »split« The best song of Deathspell Omega. Very disturbed, crasy and clever. · Ice Age: »Buried Silence« Electro/Indus of Richard Lederer. Simply magic ...

kids & wife? Who knows, probably there's is no future anymore? Who cares! Do you? About Maieutiste, there's a lot to come! Our demo which was a very limited self-made release will be re-edited by a French label which only produces and the distribution will be carried out by D.U.K.E. (Blut Aus Nord, Darvulia, Lucifugum, Horna...). We also have a split project with Hyadningar, a full length, and probably a second demo after all.

So, that's all for the moment. Thanks Jean for answering my questions. I hope, we will see us again sometime in the near future – perhaps on the Hells Pleasure Festival in 2009. The last words are yours!

· Entombed: »Clandestine« ... my favorite metal album for everyday! · Hakuja: »Legacy« Black Metal from Japan on Drakkar Prod. I dream on this album ... like with Mournful Congregation but in other way !

Thanks for this interview! I also hope we'll get to meet up for the Hells Pleasure 2009. Here are a couple of websites for further information.

www.ostra-records.com www.myspace.com/ostrarec www.maieutiste.ovh.org 43

L The Trip. I leave home shortly after eight o' clock in the morning to catch my train from Regensburg to Hamburg-Altona just in time. The ride is okay. There are no serious delays and I am able to drop in a compartment with some calm girls instead of an horde of drunken pupils who take the same train. I spend most of the time with working on interviews for Soleil Tryste – many questions for Menneskevarg, for example, are written during this trip. About 2 pm I arrive in good mood at the central station HamburgAltona. After having a more or less tasty burger at a nearby fast food place, I meet two friends. We haven't seen eachother for a longer time and so the afternoon flies by really fast. We end up with a couple of beers at the Schanzenpark from where we break up to the Zeise Kinos after it gets dark.

fäulnis are already – at least in germany – more or less well-known for their unconventionally told lyrical concepts based on self-destruction, suicide or death and a meanwhile quite unique sound re-interpreting the heritage of scandinavian black metal. being a long-time friend with seuche – the main character behind – and therefore knowing fäulnis since the very early beginning, it was a point of honour for me to join the premiere of »letharg«: a shortmovie based on the same-titled one-track-ep. the event took place at the zeise kinos in hamburg/germany. 44

herr b.

At the Zeise Kinos. Although we take the wrong subway, have to change again and cannot find the cinema at first try, we still arrive about one hour before doors open and use the time to guide other fellows to the cinema via my mobile phone. Seuche of Fäulnis runs into us about quarter an hour later. He is very pleased to see us, but also a little bit pissed off because the manufacturing company was not able to deliver the movie DVDs to this special evening. Pre-orders are running for a while now and a hand of retarded lowlifes just seem to ignore the fact, that the delay is not Seuche's fault – which is obvious in my opinion. Instead, they spend their whole free time bitching around on the internet and writing cheeky e-mails for every half an hour. We get to the conclusion that such a behaviour

is mostly practiced by people who never get active on their own. Therefore we don't really care. Soon we are a group of about 20 people, most of us knowing eachother, waiting in front of the cinema and drinking out our last beers. None is seriously drunk, the mood is fine and everybody is very enthusiastic about watching »Letharg«. Doors open. And the small hall quickly fills to 2/3 of its capacity with about 45 - 60 people. With Seuche and N. the current Fäulnis line-up is completely present as well as the whole film crew including Stephan Lenze (main character), Bjarne Wilking (direction) and Nikolai Nivera (camera). The world turns out to be a small place one more time as I am already familiar with Bjarne from helping out his

And there it goes: After some short sound problems a pulsating monolith is unleashed – shot in black/ white is and joined by well-known Fäulnis riffs. We guide a young man through his day on an abandoned and deserted attic. Although just awaken from sleep, he is in a catatonic – well, lethargic – state of mind. He seems to struggle with himself and suddenly continues building a strange machine. After a while he emotionally breaks down, but is able to describe the state of selfenstragment and lethargy in his own words. He manages to recover and finishes his machine. Starring inside, it recalls pictures of a better past hanging out with friends and so on which obviously is missing in his nowadays life. Then, »Letharg« ends abruptly.

former band on bass guitar some years ago; Nikolai played in Cities of Sleep and I was getting inked at their vocalist's home. Therefore, I really enjoy running into these guys after such a long time. Really, a large part of the audience is somehow active in the underground scene: Members of Ophis, Menneskevarg, Sakramortem, Amelotatist and Joel from Garr Zine are among the visitors making this special evening even more unique. »Letharg«. The light dims and Seuche and Bjarne enter the stage in front of the screen. To my disappointment they stumble out an »Oh, hi! Well ... enjoy ... « only. To be honest I would have expected something more eloquent but on the other hand the movie surely will be able to speak for itself. 45

After a short break a making-of mixed with interview sequences from Seuche is shown. Soon it is clear that this bonus feature isn't meant to be too serious: You get it see the crew joking aroung during the shot and the usual mishaps: Nikolai stucks his car in the sand and stuff like that. This causes some serious laughts among the viewers. Critical reflection – The movie. »Letharg« is not a music clip but a 20 minutes short-movie based on the same-titled track by Fäulnis. There are no musicians performing and the main-character is played by Stephan Lenze and not Seuche – although he appears in one short sequence; But you have to figure this out on your own. It is an aesthetically made movie with expressive pictures often shot in close-up, well

artistic film. But: The movie and especially its look is artistic. You have to study the Fäulnis release in order to be able to get deep in the picture. I may be wrong but this certainly has a kind of artistic claim. arranged compositions and a great hard lighting. Believe me, I'm quite refined when it comes to the look of a movie but I can't find a single thing offending me in »Letharg«. To give a reference I would chose David Lynch's »Eraserhead« with its distant but yet familiar look. The symbiosis between the movie and Fäulnis' music can easily be described as nearly perfect. The track went through some smaller changes and innovations to fit better to the picture: Compared to the original »Letharg« EP some samples have been edited and the spoken words are recitated by the main character now. This gives the film an extra impact and makes the whole movie a more vivid experience. To sum up, »Letharg« is a brilliant underound production on a semiprofessional level with an over-

Aftermath. I try to start a discussion about the necessity of the more or less humorous making-of after the screening but have no efforts in it. We leave the Zeise Kinos quite fast and the crew and some friends end up in a nearby bar to enjoy the rest of the evening with some drinks, conversations and billiards. I have a very longs discussion with Seuche and party Philipp from Ophis whether it is good to reveal sides of yet so obscure and serious projects like Fäulnis in – for example – a making-of done as described. A main problem might be that Fäulnis often is regarded as a typical Suicidal Black Metal act which Seuche in fact strongly detests. However, I think this image is partly his own guilt as he used (and still does) pictures of cutting himself up on the releases. The first

the-top actor Stephan Lenze. It is highly recommended to everyone interested in visual as well as audial expression beyond – what usually is described as – mainstream. Critical Reflection – Making-of. I have to admit that I'm a little bit disturbed by the making-of – or better to say, by the fun aura is obviously has. This bonus is quite contrary to he image of the movie itself. Don't get me wrong: No one walks 24 hours a day in deep mourning but in my opinion this gimmick – especially shown/watched directly after the movie – destroys a lot of the atmosphere created. Another thing I strongly dislike in the making-of is a statement of Seuche where he claims that the intention of »Letharg« was to create a straight, not abstract or (pseudo) 46

edition of the debut »Cholerik: Eine Aufarbeitung« was even covered with blood. He states out the lyrics of »Letharg« are not glorifying self-destruction or suicide but merely handle the way out of this misery. Well, as the evening gets longer and the empty glasses more, the topic somehow drifts into strange directions. Philipp drops out the ultimate argument of us all as he leaves the bar while pulling down his pants and presenting me his butt. Really enjoyable. I end up at Seuche's home in the morning and soon fall asleep while still discussing. As I stay some further days in Hamburg I am honoured to hear some pre-samples from the upcoming new Fäulnis full-length. It might turn out to be the best and most melodic material so far and this band wasn't featured in Soleil Tryste Zine for the last time. That's for sure. www.letharg-derfilm.de www.sickblackart.de www.myspace.com/sickblackart www.dreadful-media.de

edition of the debut »Cholerik: Eine Aufarbeitung« was even covered with blood. He states out the lyrics of »Letharg« are not glorif y ing self-destruction or suicide but merely handle the way out of this misery. Well, as the evening gets longer and the empty glasses more, the topic somehow drifts into strange directions. Philipp drops out the ultimate argument of us all as he leaves the bar while pulling down his pants and presenting me his butt. Really enjoyable. I end up at Seuche's home in the morning and soon fall asleep while still discussing. As I stay some further days in Hamburg I am honoured to hear some pre-samples from the upcoming new Fäulnis full-length. It might turn out to be the best and most melodic material so far and this band wasn't featured in Soleil Tryste Zine for the last time. That's for sure. www.letharg-derfilm.de www.sickblackart.de www.myspace.com/sickblackart www.dreadful-media.de