Interview with Fascist, the vocalist/guitarist of the black metal band Winter of Apokalypse |
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My feelings towards the now defunct American cult known as Thy Infernal have always been slightly lukewarm- while mildly enthused by their icy, blastbeat-laced brand of impietyI always found them rather monochromatic and bland. So color me surprised when I heard this record, a product of former Thy Infernal members that manages, in the succinct span of 35 minutes, to reinvigorate a sound that has been well-flogged by more illustrious (and grossly overrated) Swede and Finn counterparts, cohering barbarous iniquity through a palate of Panzerfaust-era Darkthrone, Kronet Til Konge Dodheimsgard and vintage Satyricon. While such parallels appear to have been bestowed on every corpsepaint-donning group of pretenders thriving on message board hype, Winter Of Apokalypse have an acute, consummate sensitivity to just what made early Moonfog so special- superb songwriting stuffed to the seams with headbanging first-wave riffage, grooving, swinging rhythms, a variety of dynamic tempos that ensure not a second is wasted. ‘Twas a true pleasure interviewing a band that will likely impress for many years to come.
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Diabolical Conquest: Infernal hails, Winter Of Apokalypse! I just got done listening to the new record for the third time in a row, and it truly obliterates! Black metal that is cold and frosty without sounding pretentious or overtly minimalistic, filthy and nasty without sounding amateurish or underproduced. I don’t remember Thy Infernal being this interesting at all, don’t take this the wrong way, because Winter Of Apokalypse in my opinion stand head and shoulders above that project! The motivations for Winter Of Apokalypse are clearly different- it’s more dynamic, more referential of BOTH the first and second wave of black metal…could you describe the musical outlook of WoA? Fascist: Winter of Apokalypse has always been an entirely separate entity from Thy Infernal. The musical outlook for Winter of Apokalypse is to create freezing, heavy, barbaric metal....with each song marked by its own negative degree of impurity, and inversion. The next album is basically written at this point, and is quite different from the last album. I believe that this should always be expected of Winter of Apokalypse. We do whatever the fuck we want to do. Our form of metal is created for ourselves because we believe that the current "black metal" scene is universally worthless. Those who tend to "critique" a band like ours should usually be kicked in the teeth because they obviously have no idea where we are coming from. It isn't worth my time.
DC: Again, I don’t mean to rub you the wrong way at all, but to me Winter Of Apokalypse really resurrect the feeling of, say, "Panzerfaust" and the early "Moonfog" Darkthrone stuff, "Kronet Til Konge"-era Dodheimsgard, stuff of that ilk. It’s a pretty well-beaten genre at this point, as you may know, with everyone from Craft to Clandestine Blaze to Matricide peddling a similar sound, but I feel that you are far more involving and more viscerally affecting than many of these acts. At the same time, many naysayers may suggest that there is nothing original in your sound and instead flock to some crappy ‘’progressive’’ pseudo-bm band like the new Mayhem (YUCK). What would you say to people who say you merely replicate old Nordic sounds?
DC: I asked Summon this question a few weeks ago, but I’d really like to know your opinion considering the fact that some of you have been around the USBM circuits forever with Demoncy and Thy Infernal. Nowadays “USBM” is a term that has virtually no meaning when describing a sound- you have bands like Morbosidad, Profanatica, Tearstained and Xasthur all sharing the same “USBM” descriptor, while none of them sound alike. Do you think there was ever a point in time where there was a definable ‘’USBM’’ sound, as typified by bands like VON, Profanatica, Havohej, Demoncy, Necrovore and bands like that?
DC: What I fucking love most about the new Winter Of Apokalypse is the fact that unlike so many superficial, cosmetic Darkthrone worship bands there is a very conscious sensitivity for just what made Darkthrone so cool- the grooving first wave, Bathory/Venom/Celtic Frost riffage and the rocking rhythms. This isn’t to say that the WoA album is frivolous at all…but there’s so much headbanging to be had here! As such I infer from listening to the tracks that you don’t just reference Darkthrone, but you go back further to the first wave for inspiration, which I really, really appreciate. Could you tell us how the old ancient ‘80s cults informed your music?
DC: One thing I feel is slightly irritating nowadays is younger kids who are so eager to categorise and pigeonhole everything…while I feel that Merycful Fate, Venom, pre-Viking Bathory, hell, even Black Sabbath and Witchfynde should be bracketed as “Black Metal”, many kids view black metal as some higher intellectual, ideological movement that exists separate from the ‘80s music that inspired it. As such, to many kids early Bathory, Venom was all a big joke, and jokes have no place in black metal. What does the term ‘’black metal’’ really mean for you? Fascist: I've become so bitter nowadays that I am going to say that the term "black metal" doesn't mean anything to me any longer. Instead..."metal" means everything to me. A close comrade of mine, and I still tape trade, and keep that underground spirit stimulated in our personal lives, but that very same spirit has certainly left the planet Earth for another place, and time.
DC: I think there’s a very cool theme running throughout the lyrical content of the record- the cover depicts a path into a darkened, unexplored forest, one where demons and satyrs might possibly roam. Then throughout the record there’s a lot of talk about expeditions into darkness, walking paths towards the heart of the night, journeying into the forest to sacrifice virgins…I fucking love that stuff, it reminds me of TRUE OCCULT music like Mercyful Fate, Death SS, Black Widow, Ritual (UK) and such bands that took Satanic philosophy back to its paganistic, sacrificial roots. The music really, really complements the desolateness and atavistic barbarity of the lyrics. Tell me about your agenda with the lyrics here.
DC: I think with occult, esoteric music there’s always been this fascination with the forest, with the wilderness as a dimension for pagan spirits and the unknown. This draws itself all the way back to Dionysus and legends of satyrs and such, and I can really appreciate how the lyrics on the new WoA are simplistic, to the point, yet imbued with that ancient paganistic theme throughout. They aren’t pretentious, pseudo-poetic, just to the point, primal and vivid, really navigating the listener through demon-haunted ‘’moon constructed’’ ‘’dark and sinistral paths’’. I wanted to say how much I liked that aspect of your record…this isn’t just some silly “FUCK GOD RAPE MARY PISS ON JESUS” rhetoric, or some Laveyan “I live my life how I want to!” stuff, there’s some real ritualistic stuff in here. If you don’t mind informing us about your perspective towards ritual and Satanism, I’d be most interested.
DC: Again, no offence meant at all…but one truly could not have imagined that the sounds of the new WoA record has its roots in Portland, Oregon, haha. While I am not entirely familiar with the landscape in Oregon, I was wondering if location informed your music at all. Fascist: I definitely think that the atmosphere of the NW is at least somewhat inspiring. The NW seems to carry a very "doomy" atmosphere a lot of the time, but also very green, etc. Note* check out Inquisition, and Velvet Cacoon if you have not done so already. [Inquisition are one of my faves….Velvet Cacoon are one of my least faves, hahaha…-Nin]
DC: I think there’s a real genuine honesty that runs throughout the record that I dig a lot. Despite the themes of some of your songs, there’s no lame spoken word intros, no idiotic Varg glockenspiel instrumentals, etcetera. It’s just 7 songs of pedal to the metal, harsh and spiteful metal, a brief record maybe (35 minutes), but not a single boring moment in sight. I think that’s a real accomplishment. Was it your intention to make it so brief, direct, no-nonsense? Fascist: Yes...that was a goal that we tried to maintain. It isn't that we have anything against "intros", etc......we just felt that "Solitary Winter Night" had the best flow the way that it was presented in the end. So that is what you have....a fussless attack.
DC: That’s about it from me this time. Hails for the new record, I truly enjoy it, and being the jaded bastard that I am, I would say that’s quite a feat, hahah! Here you can let our readers know about any tour plans and upcoming projects. Fascist: Check with the Moribund Cult for updates. |
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Solitary Winter Night (2005 Full Length, Moribund Records) [Diabolical Conquest Review] [MP3] [Record Label] |
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