Questions by Mrik answered by Erik.
[Courtesy Of Foedus Aeternus Zine] [ http://www.foedus-aeternus.net ] I) Hail Erik! How are you guy fucking doing ? Whirlwinds of chaos and darkness here as usual… I don’t complain. II) Well let’s talk about what everyone is actually interested in: your latest effort called Casus Luciferi. Fuck man, this is the “album of the month” in one of the previous issues of Terrorizer Magazine! What was your reaction? And what about the other reviews ? Casus Luciferi is without doubt the greatest and most immense musical effort we have ever been a part of. Three years of dedicated composing and recieving is what lies behind it’s enormous (yet also simple) pattern, and the final outcome was just what we had prayed for… A great darkness coming down from the heavens, devouring all in it’s way! I think this album will appeal –and even come as a fresh breeze- to anyone whose heart pounds for honest Black/Death Metal glory, as it unlike most other crap that is released this days actually has an incredibly strong spiritual nature as well, something deeper, more sinister and dangerous than the actual music. It’s far from the one-dimensional nuclear blast releases that people simply forget after a week, and that seems to be an opinion shared by many. The response has been overwhelming, and our strife goes on… Evil has no boundaries ! III) In what extent is Casus Luciferi different from Rabid Death’s Curse? How could you define the evolution between these two abominations ? Rabid Death’s Curse was perhaps based more on impulse, wrath and flesh, it had a quite raw and violent feel to it. The foundation of Casus Luciferi lies more in spirit, mystery and demonic permeation, it has more of an epic nature to it. Both are however very representable of Watain. The best way to discover the differences is of course to check them both out yourselves… IV) Let’s talk about past stuffs now. Rabid Death’s Curse is regarded as a cult album. So cult that it was sold-out very quickly. But I heard that it would be re-released very soon, is that right? Can you tell me which label is going to take care of this? Will this new edition contain some bonus tracks or some other special stuff ? Rabid Death’s Curse was originaly released in 1000 copies on cd and 350 on lp. The idea was to re-press the cd when it had sold out, but that didn’t happen until now unfortunately, which resulted in the album being sold on the internet for ridiculous sums of money meanwhile. Now however, the cd version is finally in print again and will soon be available, unlimited this time, from Drakkar and their distributors. It will contain some different artwork as well as a bonustrack, which is a cover of “When heavens end” by Dödheimsgard. V) I unfortunately do not have the Misanthropic Ceremonies, that famous split 7” EP with the excellent DIABOLICUM. Anyway, WATAIN members are known for their authentic black-metal obedience whereas DIABOLICUM incorporates some indus touches in its music. What is your opinion about indus black-metal bands? Do you think black-metal has nothing to do with machines ? Different artists produce their art by different means, naturally. In the end it is just a matter of taste. I respect Diabolicums approach to Black Metal 100%, however my general taste circles more around the more traditional aspects of metal in general. But if one can add further elements to it while still keeping it genuine and interesting then why not, as long as it is done with the right intentions. Watain will be kept analouge though. VI) Let’s talk about gigs now. I read on your official website that you had great times on tour! Tell me more about your English and Italian dates. What does a WATAIN show look like ? Yes, we did two exlusive gigs this spring, first one in italy with the old gods Mortuary Drape and the latter one in London with Adorior and Perditor. Italy was a fucking weird experience, we had constant bad luck and our curse worked harder than ever to make us die, starve and just be miserable in general. But besides that it was pretty allright, the gig itself could have been better due to the usual sound fuck-ups and a pretty boring audience, but in general it was allright. London was cool as well, gig-wise far better than italy, with a really good turn out and response… I guess they all had expected the usual four headbanging guys with spikes on stage but our blood, piss, fire, death and black magic took them by surprise! And this will never change, our performances will always remain rituals of repulsive, morbid death… black masses were the inmost power of our creations is chanelled! It’s a very primal energy that gets unleashed and reborn within both us and the spectators. It is the true power of Black/Death metal revealed. We always take use of blood, fire, huge crosses, studs, animal-heads etc… the traditional way… the only way! I think most people, if unprepared, simply don’t understand shit during the first songs, the average BM concertvisitor is probably mostly used to a couple of guys with a clown-like look playing as good and fast as they can… To us the gigs aren’t for us to show off at or to proove our musical skills. We simply get possessed. Sometimes i hardly remember what has happened on stage, which is also why the amount of people watching is mostly irrelevant. The response does alot though, obviously, we don’t care to play for scared kids standing along the walls in their judas iscariot shirts. Everyone in the venue should be a part of the sacrificial feast… VII) I also read that you would take part in the Open Hell Festival in Czech Republic in next July. How are you going to prepare to this event? Do you know some other bands that will be there with you ? Yes it’s confirmed now that we’ll be one of the headliners of this event, and as we’ve been to this one before just as visitors, we know that we have a lot to look forward to in terms of morbidity and magic. We already have some special plans for this gig but we’ll keep them to ourselvse for now… I can’t remember really what other bands that are playing but it will be great to meet Root and DarkStorm (ex Maniac Butcher) again, who are always there playing… VIII) Your latest album was released on Drakkar Productions that is a French label. Some years before, you had released the split 7” with DIABOLICUM on Spikekult Records, another French label. Do you have many contacts with our scene? What are the French bands and/or persons you particularly appreciate ? I don’t know really why it turned out like that, i guess french people are just perverted enough to understand our concept. We have always had many good contact there like Drakkar, Antaeus, End All Life, Arkhon Infaustus, Temple of Baal, Akedia, Mutiilation and many more… France’s greatest pride –although it does not have much to do with the country itself- is without doubt Norma Evangelium Diaboli, the most extreme and righteous Black Metal insitutions ever and indeed the future of the scene we belong to… IX) I’d like to get your opinion about the Swedish current BM scene; I have discovered so many great bands during the last 2 years (I think about the excellent SILENCER, ONDSKAPT etc.). What do you think of the today scene in Sweden? You may be more pessimistic than me, am I right ? Judging from the demos i get sent to me that are of swedish origin i’d say its as shitty as anywhere else here. Mostly 15 years old kids trying to imitate Judas Iscariot. But of course alot of good bands around still, besides the obvious label-alllies of Norma Evangelium Diaboli (Funeral Mist and Malign) there’s bands like Unpure, Repugnant, Kaamos, Triumphator, Dissection, Nifelheim, Diabolicum, Kill, Funeral Frost and some others…. X) In a recent e-mail, you were telling me that the Uppsala metal scene was desperately poor. Then I had told you about SPORTLOV, but you immediately replied me I was totally wrong to care about that “shitty” band, as you asserted they were “a big joke”. I’m sure you are not going to give a long answer about them, but why do you consider them as fake? And second part of the question, which are the bands in Uppsala that are worth being listened to? Are there particularly cult bands ? Sportlov (translated “sports-vacation”) is a band consistant of members from Dark Funeral and some other guys (hej kaj), whose only aim seems to be to mock and insult the scene and music genre that made them what they are. It’s all very embarassing somehow, i don’t understand how they keep up with the shame, hah. Ok if it was a couple of punkrockers or whatever, but this is supposed to be “Black Metal guys”. I guess it tells quiet alot about the honesty and seriousness of their other bands. Anyway, they would just dismiss any critiscism with “what the hell, it’s just humour, who the hell cares about seriousness in black metal anyway”, and obviously that kind of thinking does not correspond very well with my mind at least, so no reason to go on about it. We are from different worlds. As for real bands from Uppsala, the only good one i can think of that’s still going is Defleshed, and perhaps also Ruinous although they are quite un-active it seems. Then there’s also the distro and magazine Voice of a tortured skull, but they keep silent pretty much all the time. It’s nothing like in the past anyway, when we had killer bands like Sarcasm, Goatworship, Abbadon, Gaurhir and half of Malign residing in the town… XI) As you know, I’ve been living in Uppsala since January and I’ll stay there till June. So my question is simple: will I be lucky to see you on stage in that fucking town?? Well, that’s all for now. I really thank you for your seriousness Erik. I wish you all the best for WATAIN. Now if you have something else to add, you can do it ! I don’t think we will play in Uppsala again in a very long time, playing in Sweden in general is pretty much unrewarding as people here rather stay home in front of their computers than go mad at black/death metal gigs it seems. We are not allowed to play in that many places in Uppsala anymore either, due to some past mischief… Psychopaths and deathbangers devoted to real Black Metal madness and mysticism, get Casus Luciferi! For those interested, we have shirts available for sale for 15 euros and other stuff as well. For info-package with bio, stickers etc, send 2 euros to our adress. Thanks for the interview, stay morbid… Contact : |