currents
ISSUE 8 4 NOVEMBER 2010 currents@currents-online.com
SVARTIDAUÐI REOPEN THE TEMPLE
With the release of “Temple of Deformation” in 2006 Svartidauði took Icelandic Black Metal to a new level. Now, four years later we once again enter the temple as the demo was recently released on CD by Aquilus Cruoris, a small but devoted label from Chile. Sturla, Svartidauði's frontman, took the time and told us a bit about what's going on the STD camp. How does it feel holding the compact disc version in your hands now, as accomplished as when you guys released the cassette? Accomplished is not how I would describe my feelings towards these recordings, like we've wrote in the booklet of the CD version, this rerelease is meant to be both a epitaph for our past and a ill omen for things to come. I feel relieved rather then accomplished that the first chapter of STD is hereby finished. Heimsyfirráð eða dauði!
The band will be performing for the first time on foreign soil in Norway next month, on the Nidrosian Black Mass. Are there any plans for more shows abroad and is there much anticipation in the STD camp over this feat? There are always some plans and ideas floating around. Whether those plans will actually manifest themselves anytime soon is another question.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Nidrosian Black Mass will be complete madness and mayhem. We're always interested in spilling blood on foreign soil. Svartidauði has been silent since the demo, release wise, although I've heard there might be some change there. Care to elaborate on that? A split 7" with Chilean death-dealers Perdition has been recorded and will be released via the World Terror Committee sometime in the near future. Another offering is in the works which will destroy minds and reap souls. More info will be announced soon. The band currently has some copies of the CD for sale so contact the band at svartidaudi@gmail.com. myspace.com/svartidaudi aquiluscruoris.com/
DIABOLI
Charlie [MM]: Psychopathic Terror is quite a departure from Diaboli. Is Psychopathic Terror an outlet for aggression or just anything that doesn't fit Diaboli? Pete: At the time of forming Psychopathic Terror I had been doing black metal for quite a long time and I had material that didn't fit to Diaboli albums so I decided to do something different for a change. That was basically it. Charlie [MM]: Psychopathic Terror was looking for a label to release a 3rd album.Has one been found? Can you say anything further about the 3rd album? Pete: Couple of labels liked the new material but it didn't fit to their musical policy so they didn't want to take a risk and release it. Right now it looks like I'll put it out myself, sometime in the beginning of 2011. As I said, it's a bit different from the previous material, but I think it's the best stuff I have written. I'm sure a lot of close minded metal people will disagree, ha! It's got electric guitars & bass, drums and vocals so it's not that different after all.
Anyone with at least a small knowledge of the Finnish Black Metal scene has heard of Diaboli. Since 1995 the band has released six albums which is quite a feat consider the turmoil that has followed Diaboli since the beginning. Charlie of Mordbrann Musikk got in touch with him and got a bit of an insight into the story of Pete. Charlie [MM]: You've been involved in a number of different projects (Diaboli, Depravity, Psychopathic Terror) over the years and these bands obviously have different sounds. Do these correspond to different aspects of yourself or to different periods in your life? Would you ever go back to making old school death metal like Depravity? Or do you favor moving forward, rather than looking to the past? Pete: Well, when I left Depravity in 1993 I was a bit bored with death metal so I concentrated in Diaboli (Sigillum Diaboli at the time) for a change, which we already had going. Then in 2003, ten years later, we started doing the Psychopathic Terror stuff, death metal again, so things seem to go in cycles sometimes. I guess the albums are a picture of their time you could say. I have always listened to all kinds of music too, so the influences are countless. Lately I've been quite bored with any kind of metal, at least writing wise, so the 3rd Psychopathic Terror album will be a bit different from the first two.
iHATE MORBID INSULTER
The young Swedish Occultomaniacs in Morbid Insulter have a new EP coming out through I Hate Records in the beginning of November titled “Antichrist Blasphemies”. Four tracks of South American inspired Metal ov Death! myspace.com/morbidinsulter ihate.se
Charlie [MM]: Many metal musicians and fans cite bands such as Black Sabbath and Kiss for kindling their interest in extreme music. Which bands first directed you in this path? Pete: I think it was around 1984 when I heard music and saw videos from Wasp, Kiss, Mötley Crue, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Accept and stuff like that. After that it went to Venom, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax etc. and finally to grind/hc/death/black metal. I remember hearing Napalm Death's "From enslavement..." and"The Peel sessions" in like 8th grade and I thought this is the best stuff ever. I still think they are Napalm's best recordings. Charlie [MM]: What albums and artists have influenced you most strongly, both artistically and personally? Pete: Oh, that's too many to mention. Everything you listen influences you somehow. Charlie [MM]: Certainly Diaboli is your most prolific project. What album are you most fond of? Least fond of? Is there a pinnacle you're striving to reach with Diaboli or is each album its own statement? Pete: I think each album stands on it's own, there haven't been any master plan. I'm not happy with any of them really, some are ok, but you could always do things better. The three latest are ok.
APOCALYPSE COMMAND FINISH RECORDINGS
LIK CANCEL THEIR GIG AT NIDROSIAN BLACK MASS
Word arrived from the Invictus camp that Apocalypse Command had recently finished recording it's debut album. Gene Palumbicki is joined by CZ from Diocletian on drums and the layout & cover art is in the hands of another crazy Kiwi, Alex Brown of Witchrist. The album will be called “Damnation Scythes of Invicible Abomination” and a preview of it can be found at Invictus' MySpace site.
It seems LIK has cancelled its appearance at the Nidrosian Black Mass. No replacement will be found instead.
myspace.com/blasphemicapocalypse myspace.com/invictusproductionsmusic
This year's NBM is the last to be held & no news have been issued if the promoters of NBM will continue their endeavour under a different monicker. myspace.com/lekamenillusionenkallet terraturpossessions.com/nbm
Charlie [MM]: Do you keep track of the local Finnish scene or are you not very concerned with what your peers are doing musically? Pete: I read some metal magazines and check out news on the net to keep up-to-date, and luckily we have a weekly metal show on one radio channel which can be heard everywhere in Finland, so listening that you can hear what's going on. Charlie [MM]: What recent metal bands excite you? It's a common refrain to hear that there is nothing good anymore, yet it seems there is always something worthy but finding it is an increasingly difficult effort due to the sheer number of releases compared to older times. Pete: I'm a bit bored with metal right now, so I don't really check out any new bands.I stick to the old records. I hear a lot of new bands every week on the radio show mentioned in the last question but they just don't excite me, they sound all the same to me, regardless of what style they are playing. I don't think I have heard any really good new metal band in the last 10 years. Charlie [MM]: Finland is a land of immense natural splendor. How has it impacted your musical endeavors and is any impact more indirect than direct? Or is it something you don't concern yourself with? Pete: It could have in the beginning, for example the cover (landscape) photo in"Anthems of sorrow" was taken by me in the northern Finland. But nowadays I haven't payed so much attention. I mean, it's nice to have some trees even in the city where you live, but that's about it I guess.
Charlie [MM]: In some countries, like Sweden, anything National Socialist is strictly verboten. Your country of Finland, in contrast, had the Red Menace to contend with in WWII and therefore isn't as closeminded with regards to Germany's role during the war. What, then, are your views on National Socialism in black metal? Pete: I think most of the NSBM bands are doing it only for attention and shock value.But lately, and especially in the future I'm afraid there won't be any own countries or cultures to defend in Europe because of the New World Order plan of the international bankers/businessmen or Illuminati if you will, which has been going on the last 100 years in the U.S. and about 60 years in Europe.The situation in Europe right now is, that European Union already have it's own President and Flag. It's just a matter of time when all countries in EU cease to exist and are turned into states, the United States of Europe. All the countries lost their independence when they joined EU. If people don't wake up and see what is happening, some day we will end up with microchipped population under one world government, one bank and one army. And then there's no room left for any kind of culture or roots. Charlie [MM]: Is recruiting session members to play live something you would ever consider? Or is it more important that Diaboli remain solely your work? Furthermore, do you ever feel limited by being the sole musician in Diaboli? Are there things you'd like to do that you simply cannot because of the solitary nature of the band? Or do any such desires manifest through other outlets, such as Psychopathic Terror?
PROFOUND LORE UNLEASH T-SHIRTS North American avantgarde Metal connoisseurs Profound Lore recently issues limited edition T-shirts with two of their bands. Fans of Dawnbringer and Salome might like to act fast as both are highly limited and pick up the short-sleeves at the Profound Lore web shop. profoundlorerecords.com
Pete: In the early days there wasn't any people into black metal in my area(except Grimn'r) so I had to play all the instruments myself. And after I figured I could do that, it sort of became a habit for me, and it was easy, just write the songs and record them. No boring rehearsals. So I concentrated on doing that, and didn't have any interest in playing live, and still don't have. Otherwise I would have recruited session members and started to play live.When I was planning to record the Psychopathic Terror material, it was so different style that it needed a "real" drummer to make it sound more alive. Charlie [MM]: Your 7th Diaboli album, Invocation, was just released by Northern Heritage. What was your ultimate goal for this album, in relation to the rest of the Diaboli canon? Pete: Well, to make it better than the last one, and this time the material was also less melodic than on previous albums, so it should have turned out a bit more merciless and brutal. Hopefully that was the outcome. Charlie [MM]: Thanks Pete! Go ahead and leave the readers with some closing words. Pete: Thanks for the interview! Info can be found from: diaboli.net www.myspace.com/psychopathicterrorofficial
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