We’re all used to “black metal bands from North America” meaning something more hilarious than any hollywood sitcom, but a few bands have stood out over the years in their ability to keep with a task and develop their music according to a personal musical vision. From the sprawling concrete hell of the inland empire, bane shared a few moments with us to talk about their philosophy, music and methods of postmodern survival.

Bane founded right after the first rush of black metal, and you’ve waited out the last five years of stupid shit going on in the genre. What have you learned and how are you approaching your task differently?

Well we never really planned on waiting any time. We released the album when we were ready. I’m not really aware of many stupid things or many things having to do with the genre right now, other than the fact that during the last few years very few of the new or follow up releases from bands that I knew nothing of or admired greatly, have paled in comparison to work prior. It always seems that when we have moot that thought, about what’s going on, we always come to the conclusion that we all are very different people with different taste, for music, philosophy, ideology and instinct, and we are so out of the musical genre, subgenre, sub-subgenre loop. We all seem to live mentally recluse only to come together in a very interestingly creative symposium. DR

I personally didn’t care for the whole blackmetal/deathmetal battles we make brutal music for brutal people with hope to enlighten a few the whole pissing contest is stupid just fucking play brutal music. We didn’t wait on our release really it was all circumstantial, we released it when we were done and happy with the outcome of our album hell we would of released it in the middle of the whole black metal rush we didn’t care.-Necro

What inspires you when looking at a conceptual place to a start the formation of a song, during the songwriting process?

We all seem to draw inspiration through different means. Lyrically we have drawn inspiration through a lot of reading, philosophy, true crime, news, retrospective thought about experiences, social and mental anxiety and relief. Musically we have had moments of pure creative flow as a symposium, and at other times we have gathered the spark of creativity through deep introspection. It’s a really wide variable we all seem to have our own unique way of bringing ideas to the table. Reggie and I at times have shared ideas digitally only to realize that organically the ideas do not work and vice versa. DR

When it comes to creating music we don’t really have a set formula. Everytime we start its from a different angle. On the upside it makes the creating each song exceptional from the rest of the songs. Because we don’t dwell on making status queue music and repeat other formulas it leaves us with more room to play with different ideas. It’s not even a process its more of an explosion [that] we try to piece back together and we find that there is a different solution to the puzzle. As far as writing lyrics, it consumes every topic we can conjure. As far as music goes, that is even more complicated. BANE keeps changing and metamorphosing the ideas all the time. Shit, just when I think its set here comes another change but it always sounds better and keeps me on my toes. I feel that because everyone in BANE is a powerful contributor of ideas from different sides of the spectrum that it leads our music to be more different everytime and it is a growth not a decline. Necro-

Friedrich Nietzsche may/may not have been a racist. How do you feel about this? (I ask as you cited him in an earlier interview, and I always find this question intriguing)

I am of the explorer type, I don’t tend to lend my values to other peoples words, I search for interesting points of views, inspiring points of views I tend not to judge people by their color of creed so much as by their actions and thoughts. I’m not a racist nor do I really care whether Nietzche or Gobineau were. Racism is such a petty thing for people to base hatred upon. Leave the hate for religion…lol… DR

I think when it came to Nietzche’s writings people took the interpretation with what they already had in mind. You get a skinhead to read Nietzche he’ll tell you the superman was the Arian race, you take a dreamer to read the same thing he’ll tell you the superman was comic book hero. People are gonna take what’s already contaminating their heads and interpret Disney flicks metaphorical speaking of the SS Reich 2003. I agree with David that racism is a petty thing to base hate on [as] there are way more justifiable reasons to hate for instance stupidity. Necro-

Friedrich Nietzsche stated that liberalism, Christianity and Judaism were the greatest enemies of humankind. Do you agree?

I think that ignoramus thought(that’s one hell of an oxymoron), is our greatest social enemy, whether it stem from liberalism, christianity or judaism. DR
Ignorance is definitely a killer, but far worse when the truth is in front of you and you fail to see it or you see it, acknowledge it and then deny it. The one thing that’s more threatening to humanity than stupidity is stupidity with out the desire to learn. I don’t know I think bell bottoms are pretty threatening too, along with Mc Donalds food, it’s threatening, and lets not forget the evil and vile vegans; they threaten humanity don’t you think David? Necro-

What angers you the most about the church?

To be completely honest, religion really doesn’t really bother me so much anymore, it’s one of those things that we are just to small to do anything about. Religion to me has become that pesky little mold that clings to your shower tile crevices that you become accustomed to ignore. And when you do decide to muster up some will to scrub your little fanny off in attempt to wipe it all out one square at a time, you realize that it’s just going to come back it better to worry about the mold in your cheese, the little we consume. DR

I can make a list and I don’t want to bother doing it right now cause I may run out of material for lyrics lol. Buy the CD and read it, my answer will be there. I think those of us who seek a higher purpose and make our own paths rather than to serve a master and have the path chosen for you, already know what is disgusting about it and even the servants of the fictional icon know that it’s disgusting they are just afraid. Hell we all know. Necro-

When all emotional responses are done with, what is your logical response to Christianity/Judaism/liberalism/et al?

Like I said……..whatever…… DR

These topics are always gonna be never ending battles with everyone. With BANE, we all seek a higher purpose than the labels you have mentioned which comes to my answer to that which is fuck it those who seek to be awakened will realize that the -ism is just another idea and must seek your own. Necro-

What do you think are the primary differences between Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and how do you see this affecting the use of these philosophies in the modern time?

Simple…Will to live, vs. will to power, will to create. I definitely take Nietzsche’s point of view in what his perception society should be. Nietzsche’s is more the artists’ philosophy here. In a sense there would be no art if people would not empower themselves to achieve(in full disregard that their achievement will have no real affect on the outcome of what is to become of the universe and/or modern time) rather than survive. I would rather write songs than sit around and make fire or hunt all day. Schopenhauer and Spinoza=platitude. DR

I would definitely be an artist rather than just a regular John Doe. Creators are gods in their own rite. BANE is a gathering of destroyers for a better creation. To always seek for a stronger evolution. Necro-

What kind of person, intellectually or in any other vector, do you see as being drawn to Bane’s music?

Hopefully other explorer types, someone who is looking deeper, or looking to look deeper other musical artists…..but probably just a bunch of aggressive types. DR

I’ve noticed that those who see BANE for the first time or just at face value will be the aggressive type. In our hopes it would be that they seek for more than just face value. The people who are more consistent with BANE are always looking for more depth; these people are few and far between we truly hope to see more of these people. But BANE is a brutal/deathmetal band so its expected to see those engulfed with chaos but it doesn’t mean they can’t be intellectuals. In the end it doesn’t matter we all attend shows, buy CD’s, buy shirts to support the scene, we take everything with it like I’ve said before may we hail a great victory. Necro-

It has been a long road for you guys to get to the first CD release party. What were some of the obstacles, and what are you going to do once the CD is cut, to celebrate?

We haven’t had a release party for our CD’s yet, but we are in the process of arranging one pretty soon. The obstacles we had to encounter were mainly how to finance and mass produce our CD’s for the first pressing. Other personal obstacles within the band(line up changes) we’re dealt with before we began pressing the CD’s. We celebrated as a band the same weekend we’ve received our CD’s. It wasn’t anything big, mainly with acquaintances and close friends. The CD release party show is in the works and we’re contacting bands to play for this occasion. Otherwise, we’ll let ya know how the celebration went afterwards! RG
It has been a long hard road we’ve encountered more bullshit than we expected. The obstacles were many, but I think we learned a lot from it (in a very brutal fashion) but were very happy with the outcome of the CD, the direction of the band, the growth and creativity we have with each other. As far as celebrating I think we’re not done yet lol we still go nuts over it, but think as major celebration we’ll work on the next album.-Necro

Do you think that black metal bands should sing in their native language and have ethnic/cultural associations? e.g. Norwegians singing in Norwegians, Chinese in Chinese, and bands like Melechesh attacking the roots of their own culture?

They can sing whatever they want. It’s none of our business to tell what they can and can’t sing. If they’re more comfortable singing in their own language, so be it. If they’re more comfortable singing certain topics/issue in their own language, then let them do it. Let them express themselves. On the other hand, it’s rather stupid, inexpressive and even hypocritical to label one’s music like “Swedish black metal from Oregon” or “Melodic Norwegian death from Orange County.” It doesn’t work that way but, whatever tickles their pickle…RG

This topic doesn’t interest me what-so-ever. I’m bored. I’ll go to the next question.-Necro

Do you think Zionism and liberalism are inseparable, as Nietzsche does?

I don’t know that’s a tough one, I guess they both involve a lot of expectations from the ruling powers involved. Who knows. DR

Ultimately, there is an order of rank among states of the soul, and the order of rank of problems accords with this. The highest problems repulse everyone mercilessly who dares approach them without being predestined for their solution by the heigh and power of his spirituality. What does it avail when nimble smarties or clumsy solid mechanics and empiricsts push near them, as is common today, trying with their plebeian ambition to enter the “court of courts.” Upon such carpets coarse feet may never step: the primeval law of things takes care of that; the doors remain closed to such obtrusiveness, even if they crash and crush their heads against them.

For every high world one must be born; or to speak more clearly, one must be cultivated for it: a right to philosophy – taking that word in its great sense – one has only by virtue of one’s origins; one’s ancestors, one’s “blood” (Geblüt) decide here, too. Many generations must have labored to prepare the origin of the philosopher; every one of his virtues must have been acquired, nurtured, inherited, and digested singly, and not only the bold, light, delicate gift and course of his thoughts but above all the readiness for great responsibilities, the loftiness of glances that dominate and look down, feeling separated from the crowd and its duties and virtues, the affable protection and defense of whatever is misunderstood, whether it be god or devil, the pleasure and exercise of the great justice, the art of command, the width of the will, the slow eye that rarely admires, rarely looks up, rarely loves

– F.W. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

Pornography was also something you mentioned in another interview. Do you feel that iconography is dangerous, as Nietzsche did? If so, how do you feel about pornography — which pulls the sex process outside of the lives which normally would generate it — is affecting your own processing of events?

I see nothing wrong with pornography. I think in a sense pornography can be helpful. Pornography gives the facility of a third person perspective, one that may help you realize a spectrum of lovemaking that you had failed to see while in the act, just like how a sports team studies its opponent before a confrontation…well maybe not exactly like that but you know what I mean …right? right? DR

LOL! I think that pornography is great. I would not put anyone down for watching it or being open about it. I believe that people feel threatened by it because they are trained to believe that sex is dirty (if it’s not dirty it’s not done right), but even in a marital point of view why do you think people cheat on each other. Maybe if people were more open about there desires there would be less infidelity, and maybe that’s what’s affecting people’s processing of events. Take it for what its worth.-Necro

Please give brief commentary on the following: Buddhism, fuzzy logic and sine curves; for extra points, unite all three concepts in the analytical method of your choice.

Well…Buddhism a very interesting philosophy, in which aspirations are to be at one with nature, with the universe, based upon “virtuous”(that’s a whole other topic) living, fuzzy logic expresses the need for a sense of between when speaking of the binary world, when speaking of strict two sidedness, and well sine curves are a way of graphing the relativity of the size of an angle to its sine…And with all that said, in a sort of grope like way, I think they all lead access to a more holistic perception of what is truth, a wider spectrum, a wider scope of what reality is or can be, that is, for someone that chooses to or realizes that a wider spectrum of perception is what they want. DR

If you had absolute knowledge, how do you think you would view sex? Pornography? Christianity? The right wing in America?

From a high place. DR

Number one how would I view sex? I’d be having more sex than viewing!

Number two how would I view pornography? Go back to answer number one.

Number three how would I view Christianity? In a fucked up way!

And number four how would I view the right wing in America? Go back to number three.lol!

I know these answers were not what you wanted but I was amused for 2 seconds.-Necro

Do you believe in reincarnation? If you are a materialist like Nietzsche, do you see there being any possible connection between nothingness or infinity, or is the only transcendence possible purely in the ideal, and of a non-“real” nature?

My Idea of what is real and achievable is and infinite goal, a long reach towards potentiality, ascension through what may be nothing really but a quest toward self realization. A goal unattainable maybe but a goal worth aspiring towards. Musically as ideally. DR

Reincarnation is funny to me like recycling souls! What does a person whom believes in reincarnation hope for? A better life the next time around? What counts is what you do here without any speculations of what might be “the after life” I would rather keep my goals in the mind and body for it’s when you can indulge in them. I agree with David that is to aspire constantly and when the goal is met set another one. To always hunger never be satisfied. Nothing wrong with enjoying vanity and the material, I wouldn’t want to be consumed by it but rather keep looking further and deeper even if its antiquated and ugly. To put my ism in a stupid fashion I want to bliss without being ignorant.-Necro

When you hear that a lot of people think something is a good idea, you
a) suspect their motives
b) trust the something
c) scream “FUCKING SHEEP!” and leave the room
d) become wary of larger forces than the individual?

E. Violently moot everything that comes out of their mouths. DR

F. First off trust nothing. Inspect and dissect the something. Watch these sheep revel in this something, as I revel in that sheep aren’t individuals and come back and realize once again that the larger forces are only the status queue mutating with the new generation of the heard and walk against the heard in hopes of figuring out how to kill the something! Necro-

Do you like any of these bands? The Crystal Method, Orbital, Biosphere, Autechre, Kraftwerk, Das Ich?

I apologize for being ignorant and out of sync with the music world outside but who, who and who?!? RG

I know of das ich im ok with this band. Necro-

What black metal bands most influenced your music?

I don’t really see our music being heavily influenced by much black metal, subconsciously, all of our strong racist hate towards the Spanish races stem from the love of Graveland though, j/k I think. Heeheehee DR

I like some black metal but I really cant define them as being any of our influences and lately I feel more influenced by my chaotic life than any other music. Necro-

It seems to me that most of metal is philosophically ignorant, excepting a few leaders. Any comment?

Music seems to be a reflection of what is going on in our environment as well as what’s going on within the ego of the being at bay. Looking to add a few notches to the philosophical spectrum of metal. DR

I hope to influence more people into philosophy, just as I hope to see more metal bands do the same for me. I always keep my search for new wisdom and knowledge hopefully people will see the same in BANE someday. All in all I thank your for challenging us with this interview. May we hail a great victory!

Thank you S R P (the GOAT!)

BANE is:

David Renteria (DR): Guitar
Reggie Galang (RG): Guita
Arturo Cotero: Drums
Necrolover (Necro): Vocals

Bane Homepage

From the start, Christianity was, essentially and fundamentally, the embodiment of disgust and antipathy for life, merely disguised, concealed, got up as the belief in an ‘other’ or a ‘better’ life. Hatred of the ‘world’, the condemnation of the emotions, the fear of beauty and sensuality, a transcendental world invented the better to slander this one, basically a yearning for non-existence, for repose until the ‘sabbath of sabbaths’ – all of this, along with Christianity’s unconditional resolve to acknowledge only moral values, struck me as the most dangerous and sinister of all possible manifestations of a ‘will to decline,’ at the very least a sign of the most profound affliction, fatigue, sullennes, exhaustion, impoverishment of life. For in the face of morality (particularly Christian, unconditional morality), life must constantly and inevitably be in the wrong, because life is something essentially amoral – in the end, crushed beneath the weight of contempt and eternal denial, life must be felt to be undesirable, valueless in itself. Morality itself – might morality not be a ‘will to the denial of life’, a secret instinct of annihilation, a principle of decay, trivialization, slander, the beginning of the end? And hence, the danger to end all dangers?…So then, with this questionable book, my instinct, an affirmation instinct for life, turned against morality and invented a fundamentally opposite doctrine and valuation of life, purely artistic and anti-Christian. What should I call it? As a philologist and man of letters, I baptized it, not without a degree of license – for who konws the true name of the Antichrist?- with the name of a Greek god: I called it the Dionysiac

– F.W. Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy

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Editor’s note: this originally appeared in issue #3 of the zine “voices wake us…” (“Voices Wake Us…” Zine. $1ppd. voiceswakeuszine@hotmail.com) but it can be disseminated freely so long as this notice remains intact.

Questions by “Voices Wake Us…” Zine.
Answers by MkM (vokillz).

First off, what is your name and what part do you play in the band (instrument or vocals, etc.)?

vokalist, disease holder of AntaeuS. Satanik stigmata & preacher of the Void. 27 years old up to this day, non dead to most humans. Frontman & main voice for AntaeuS, I do speak for Him.

Now to the real questions. Black Metal’s legendary “first wave” included so many legendary bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Immortal. Many conclude that the evolution of BM ceased after this period, so what do you think Antaeus’ relation is to the progression of the art? Is it justifiable to be merely more extreme? Can anything be added to the music at this point that has not been done already?

Black Metal does mix both ideology & musick, on this level, I would have to point out that most of nowadays bands have no linkz with the real meaning of this Art.Immortal never really took part of the bm kult, though their sound is very similar, their concept would be more based on northern landscapes, while bands like dark throne & mayhem had a more nihilitic death feels to the lyrikz & the aura was a bit more depressive in most cases.

We are payin hommage to those bands of the second wave, for their dedication in the early days & the message they did spread. We do evolve in the same vein, we hold the same message & our speech is based on hatred, denial of life & anything that would be related to “holyness” any religions wise, anything “human” related would be a target.

Black metal = SataN in its most strikt vision, we here speak of death, total death & the praise of the vortex that would swallow all. Though the utopia of such an ending is known of us, we do work in this way, spreading our disease & disgust of life and the concept related to it.

Sound wise, we are more extreme than the suscited bands, we couldn’t perform the same of art, for multiple reasons : we do breed violence more than depression (as individuals) & we do perform what we are & breath. The band is composed of 5 individuals more or less evolving on the Hate path. Me & Set being at the forefront of this, & since we are the main composer (him for the music & I being the sole responsible for any lyrikz & propaganda), we are the trademark of AntaeuS.

Also our approach is more destruktive than the “90s” gloomy approach of darkness, while they were opening gates of despair, we are opening gates of torment & pain.

Both are as effective, I truely find my inspiration in both, but violence is our key, our vektor.

Feel his pulse through us.

We are one stone of the edifice.

Black Metal is like a kathedral of Hate, it is not a question of evolution, the “evil”ution within takes place within the rankz of devotee evolving & praising the kult.

You have expressed dissatisfaction with the Cut Your Flesh and Worship Satan album as being too rushed in the studio. To me, I can say I do not think it harms the record and adds to the urgency of the album. However, you have a new album coming out and will this be different and in what way a “representation” of the band that we have not already seen?

Somehow you are right, now that the album is older to my ears (two years or so) I get to listen to it in different perspectives, not rekalling all the shitty detailz about its conception & its spreading.CYFAWS was a gathering of mostly old trackz, like demos & reh tracks, all gathered on the same full lenght. Only one track never appeared anywhere before the cd release (though I am not even too sure about that now, I should check the live tape on chanteloup creations…) also the cd had three different rekording on it, which was a bit messy & made it sound more like a recollection than anything else.

Now, I think that baphomet did allow the band to put all together the most efficient earlier track of the band (inner war, devotee, nihil khaos…) but a rerecording of the whole album would have been best, now that would be the main complain about this lp.

Also this album did cost us a lot of money, but I do not fool myself, it is the same way for many bands around here, still having labels to cash on your work without being fair to the band is something I will never tolerate. That made me freak out, the band never got a fuckin cent out of the sale of the band, considering it did reach around 3000 copies (which is amazing to us, we never expected this much) one could easily guess that we got massively fucked on this one.

DE PRINCIPII EVANGELIKUM the newest release presents a more compact release, being composed on a two years basis, the whole has a more “united” strukture & lyrikz wise, that did allow me to have something fully solid. This time the lyrikz are included, I had the time to type all in time so people will finally get to understand what lies behind antaeus, though it will remain obscure to most or simply fucked up.

DPE is less easy to get into, it took me a few month to get into some trackz myself, having one hell of a hard time to lay vokalz on those & get the whole strukture in the reh’ room

The band does reh’ around 6/7 hours per week in the reh’ room & more when we get nearer to live exp or studio rekording. We get ridd off a lot of material, our work is very serious & we are making sure to have the most efficient offering to the black metal kult.

I think that one thing that would lack on DPE would be the intro sektion that are truely important to me, this time the drummer & I did lack time to meet & do something of my taste, that is my main “negative critic” to the new album. Next release shall see a return to those sonic landscapes & all the frustration that did hide behind those.

Many BM bands are one-person projects (Burzum, Bathory, Taake, Krieg, Ildjarn, eventually Emperor, and at times Darkthrone). What is the band construct of Antaeus? How does the song-writing process work and who does most of the “legwork” for the band, ie: setting up gigs and record-related business. Any comments on past members or development of the band over time?

You would mention there strongminded individuals that had one hard time finding the right members to perform their art with, or simply couldn’t deal with others, due to ego conflikts.I was just a session member in the early days, being too busy with my zine & my distribution (& my former band)

When AntaeuS turned into a virus in me, I felt like it had to evolve further than the limitations that the main man back then had for it. I think that all took shape when I got hold of all the strukture of AntaeuS, getting set as main guitarist was the best move ever, since we have known each other for years & we had the same musikal taste (for the early 90s sound, nowadays we tend to listen to different aktz yet our basis are the same).

Drum wise, we decided to get ridd off the drum machine & never changed since.

Bass & rythm guitar wise, we might have had more than 20 different members within the band, but in 98 we did finally find the right one, being also involved in Eternal Majesty with whom we did a split demo back then. I did know them since they were working a lot with SPIKEKULT (since their first demo, “dark empire”).

Since then, the line up is perfekt & all of us are united & work on the musikal struktures.

For all the rest, interviewz, ideals, propaganda, kontaktz, ALL is done by me & me only. Mostly due to the fact that I am the only one speakin & writtin in english.

That does take a lot of my time, due to this I did stop all others implications (my zine, other bands & even spikekult for some months/years).

We do not seek gigs really, since conditions are always fuckin ridiculous or awful, I try to avoid to the max getting to play live, though we had two or three great shows since 94; mostly over the two past years.

Getting gas money & some beers seems to be the VERY best we could get in europe, even if we perform in front of 300 people… the cost to rent a place is so high that none could ever pay the band.

A couple reviews I’ve read of CYFaWS, while positive, have accused the band of not bringing anything new to the table. Stylistically, I would say that Antaeus is a) faster (I’d say only Krieg is as fast), b) more “grind”, c) less atmospheric, d) more brutal and divided into penetrating structures of noise than in an “epic” sense of many bands. Agree? What is the aesthetic you are going for here, other than just “fast.” Because it is definitely a unique and not just a retro sound.

I do agree with those reviewz, still we never did claim to bring anything to new, so I sometimes wonder why we are accused of that, just like we were lyin about it.True, we are faster, though I would use “more brutal” instead, since speed for itself doesn’t mean much to us, tons of swedish bands are playin hyper fast, but both the drumz & riffs are without any effects on the listener.

Brutality & Hate are the main faktors in AntaeuS sound, we do hold this pulse & seek to create such aura within any rekording of ours.

Our epic approach might be linked to the tension we do put in the rekordin process.

The grind aspect cannot be denied as well, musik wise, some bands are truely unique to me, but the message, most of the time, would be simply ridiculous or be the opposite of my ideas.

Older grind bands had more of a dark or sick approach compared to today’s fun/gore/political bands.

Hate is a large concept of the band. Does this reach over into politics at all? Many BM are clearly fascist, a politics based on hate, while others are nihilistic (and in that sense, partially anarchistic). Views of politics in yourself and in the scene?

Hate is anywhere, but most politics would serve some instead of others, while we support the death of ALL; all those fascist bands are always a source of interrogation in my kamp. All those linked to black metal & openly using both the sigils of SataNism & those of Nazism are creating a nonsense to me.the nihilistic part is often dealing with one hope for a brighter future, built on the ashes of nowadays society & values.

I do not have any hope of this kind, the only hope I have is tattooed on my chest.

Let’s go back on the nonsense, I don’t care about NS bands as long as they are not linked with black metal. Politics would limit the initial meaning of black metal.

NSBM seems more serious to the young than the “inverted cross”, since it would represent something more “socially involved”, having to deal with values that would be more “linked” to todays world & having more impact due to the importance of sigils (ie : the use of swastika or SS sigils are full of meaning & related to happening that took place less than a century ago). Politics are giving black metal a more “humanistic” approach, which I don’t really understand. I would understand sadistik exekution using SS symbols or funeral mist for their vision of death in general, but as far as “human values” are involved, I simply don’t get it.

Any individuals mixin bm with ns should realize that there is already a scene for that, anything metal related is more or less viewed as “outcast” due to the code of life (destruktive, alcohol, aggression)…

anyway when I think of those teens doing “sieg heil” here & there with their beers & long hair, they would be among the first to enter the gas kamp that does make me laugh

Death is the main goal anyway.

In what sense is Antaeus a “do it yourself” band that controls the aspects of recording, promotion, management, and production itself? You are clearly dedicated to the underground, but many people are not familiar with the metal underground as much as the more-established and cohesive American punk underground. How does the underground work and how much is Antaeus a separate entity from outside control and influence of labels, promoters, etc?

A would be my band then, since I would be responsible for most of those aspects.Being honest, I am not too aware of the punk scene, though got to meet up with some labels from around here pressing punk vinylz & their scene seemed much more “supportive” & less “inner war” in between labels & so on. I might have a wrong of it though.

I would be totally dedicated to one aspect of the ug scene, which I could describe as the only real scene, with true sick freakz & not wannabes & morons of any kind that would pollute the bm kult.

those idiots are numerous & for the past years, I would have spent way too much time on those inbreed fags instead on workin on my code of life & supporting what had to be supported with the scene (bands & labels wise). Now we are viewed as traitors to most, since we did sign to Osmose.

Osmose allows us a studio rekording budget & having the whole distribution in their hand, I could never deal with that myself, my daily job takes around 50 hours per week now (compared to 70 h per week for last year) which makes it nearly impossible to cope with the mail & any correspondance in general. Even reh’ with the band got closed to impossible for me. All is getting better now, but as far as I am concerned, if A didn’t sign to Osmose, all would have stopped. I couldn’t go on paying 300 usd per month for the band, not having enough to cope for my own living cost.

Now we do loose less cash, but we still loose. So when I get to read that we did become fucking rockstars or sell out, I might ask to whom did we sell out???

A band selling 5000 copies (which even ain’t our case) could never live out of it, I am sure that you are aware of that, but many readers out there that did write us do think that we do earn enough money with the band to live with….

It was ok to reply to those questions the first years, but after a while, it killed me that most people wouldn’t get how it workz…

But hell, we are talking about fuckin labels detailz & how bands are getting fucked most of the time

Right now with Osmose, all is doing ok, we just did spend around 400 usd for this one, (lay out & mastering) since we did excess a bit the budget allowed for the studio rekording.

How is the French “scene?” Are there many bands, zines, or venues to play in? Are there a lot of posers?

Scene in france is not my fave subjekt, I did support many bands from around here in the past, being proud of my “local scene”, but all those bands did fuckin backstabb us for no reasons or so. “allies of today are the backstabbers of tomorrow”, thus I don’t mention too much about bands from around here.There is a fair deal of akts though, most of them are amateurish to the core & spending more time in front of camera or doing shirtz than working on the musikal parts.

All of them are envious little morons who are offended when they realize it is not that “easy” to have a cd out. They all think that demos are useless & that the underground is just a chat room on the net.

For the older ones, we had either conflikts with them or totally different views.

Apart from a few dozen individual in the whole france, we don’t get along too much with individuals from around here.

I had my fair deal of war around here.

In the newer band ; dark opus & aosoth are among my faves

DEATHSPELL OMEGA must be the ultimate black metal band the traditionnal way. END ALL LIFE is without any doubt the best vinyl bm label, they must have by now the CYFAWS on lp out, & that is one Honour for us to be on that label.

Zines? well 666 is the best in the extreme bm/dm way, eternal fire was killer too but defunct (or simply no newz from them since long), stregoica was kult in its dayz, now they are doing ordealis rekords which is very promising (killer work from their part), deadfuckinchurch is a good zine but he said that his final issue will be the next…

Some distro are great too, like paleur mortelle & warchangel.

AntaeuS will have a split 10″ with AOSOTH on Paleur Mortelle (akhaeus@aol.com) in the comin month btw.

Gigs wise, the audience is way better than any us gigs that I got to visit (& I had my fair deal of us deals over the three or four stayz I did over there), we usually get from 150 to 400 nowadays, but places are not so numerous & each venues does cost around 2000 to 3000 usd to rent for a night, with such prices, no bands would get any payment, asking for gas payment is already a dream for bands.

Due to that, in 2001, antaeus only performed live Once.

We did perform a bit more over the past months, with bands like nargaroth, taake, enthroned, eternal majesty…

The last hellish gig we did do was in Paris with taake & enthroned, our best set ever since 2001

In nov 002 we will be among the opening bands for the DEICIDE european tour, we shall desecrate new countries & I do expekt that tour I must say.

It’s nothing you’d understand, but I do have something to say. In fact, I have a lot to say, but now is not the time or place. I don’t know why I’m wasting my time or breath. But what the hell? As for what is said of my life, there have been lies in the past and there will be lies in the future. I don’t believe in the hypocritical, moralistic dogma of this so-called civilized society. I need not look beyond this room to see all the liars, haters, the killers, the crooks, the paranoid cowards — truly trematodes of the Earth, each one in his own legal profession. You maggots make me sick — hypocrites one and all. And no one knows that better than those who kill for policy, clandestinely or openly, as do the governments of the world, which kill in the name of God and country or for whatever reason they deem appropriate. I don’t need to hear all of society’s rationalizations, I’ve heard them all before and the fact remains that what is, is. You don’t understand me. You are not expected to. You are not capable of it. I am beyond your experience. I am beyond good and evil, Legions of the night — night breed — repeat not the errors of the Night Prowler and show no mercy. I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells within us all. That’s it.

– Richard Ramirez

Most BM has diverged into “symphonic,” commercial crap. I’m sure you have some ventings on bands like this (Dimmu Borgir, Anorexia Nervosa, Ancient), or on “retro” bands like Dark Funeral. To many, Black Metal must remain underground and elite, and yet within it are elements that are more palatable to the masses- a band like Immortal proving that BM can be commodified over time. Thoughts on this phenomenon in Black Metal?

Like anywhere, when you get an artistic style that would be perceived as elitist & underground, one will have the wish to “extand” it on a different level, for various reasons.Some considers that the message should not be limited to one handful of individuals

some seems to think that they would sell more rekords having an “evil” image Some just find it “cool” to use such imagery Others are living the black metal kult, on a daily basis.

Music wise, I am closed minded when it comes to black metal, not opening myself too much to new genres, though I did try to pay attention to all those bands poppin up & crossing goth, indus & so on with black metal.

I must admit that diabolicum & mysticum were the only one that did match my expektations when it comes to the aura created.

On the other level, I also pay attention to the “performers”, for example : Anorexia Nervosa is often quoted as fag band, mostly due to the COF sounding of the musick. But on a personal level, the frontman is really a sicko & is among those few individuals I consider. Yet he would be a bit too much “rock n roll” sometimes eh too much drugz & autodestruction for me (which does provide a smile, that does you an idea on how fucked the man can be) aktually I think that when you get to meet him, he would be more in his place belongin to sadistik exekution than anorexia (musick wise) Ancient & dimmu borgir never made it to me, not even one track from their early days (the ep of ancient was ok though).

You did qualify some elements of black metal as “palatable” for the masses, yet we have to redefine masses then, since those masses would be the “extreme metal scene” which is not that wide, only a few thousands people I would say.

Not something that could be play on the air of any local radio show & musical tv shows or whatever. We are not dealing with “pop” music. But I do agree, black metal did sadly evolve to a wider audience & that doesn’t mean that the real audience did grow bigger, just that it did expand to people that simply don’t get a clue of what real black metal is about.

Having some individuals to compare napalm death to dark throne amazes me… the only link between those bands is mostly in the instruments used & some beats. (& some would kill me for the “rythm” comparaison)

Anyway, on our level, like other bands, we remain an underground band, you will most likely always find “cyfaws” & “dpe” on cd format, but we will go on doing limited tapes & vinylz. Only for those few sick ones that are also the pulse of the band.

It does mean a lot to us to be supported by like minded individuals, band members or zine editors or just listeners.

I do not get much letters in that vein, but with those few with whom we share visions, getting to read some comments on AntaeuS work is always rewarding.

Our satanik audio violence would be a weapon & only some individuals know how to handle it & how to view it properly.

Carcass or Bolt Thrower? Pick one.

Fuck… Bolt Thrower

at least they didn’t change & “cenotaph” is an instant classic for me, such as the “in the battle there is no law” lp. carcass had amazing trackz but fuckin wimped out too much for my taste.

When can we expect the new album (on Osmose, right?) and will there ever be an American tour??

the new rekordin shall be out on sept 23rd in europe, so obviously a bit later in the usa, osmose doesn’t have a distributor over there I think, so most releases are available mostly through ug mailorders & so on. I doubt one will find it as easily as CYFAWS over there. I seriously doubt on the american tour thing, though I wish we could go over there & perform with bands like black witchery, thornspawn, krieg, demoncy, gbk & so on. Since we are doing a european tour for “DPE” in november, as opening band for Deicide, I am not nearly sure that no tour will happen until the next release (the third album that is).Having us on a european tour would mean getting the band on a bigger “bill”, having an headlining band that could make it possible. As of now, I have no big expectation about a us tour, since it seems nearly impossible, we are not “selling” enough to be pushed that way.

The Deicide tour is already something really expensive.

In the future, who knowz? but I wouldn’t be surprised if the band never gets to perform over there.

Bands like marduk, satyricon & others took forever to go to the other continent & most of the time, itz like a money vortex more than anything else.

Time shall tell, we still have to perform over here first, that is our territory & we haven’t visited more than three countries as of now (which would be like performin in three different states for a us bands).

To you, what is most important in sustaining black Metal into the coming years, as it is increasingly an “endangered” form of music?

I see it that way : Evil will never dies, it might change shape, as long as some form of Art will be dedicated to its “grandeur”, I see no problem with itBlack Metal has somehow a more raw approach to it, a darker incarnation meant to appeal to more extreme masses, thus a minority of individuals are truely meant to understand fully the concept behind this genre.

Black metal is nowadays marketed as a musical genre only, with gimmicks to help the sales. Many bands did take the opportunity to rise using those “eye catching” ideas related to black metal.

Your top 5 BM records?

DarkThrone “a blaze in the northern sky”
Funeral Mist “devilry”
Katharsis “666” + “red eye of wrath” demo
Blasphemy “fallen angel of doom”
Beherit “D. down the moon” (& oath of the black blood)those are the ultimategettin near to that, I’d add sadistik exekution (all releases), profanatica, demoncy, krieg… I’d easily give 20 names that would represent the whole list of bands I really support…. Giving 30 names would be impossible though. not enough bands have individuals matchin the right ideology one should have within the bm scene.

Thanks for the interview! Good luck on your upcoming record and in the inevitable Satanic victory over the forces of light. Have a nice day

Forces of Light are forces of lies as well, they are their own failure & we shall be the witness & the temptation for them.Take a look in the abyss & the abyss will stare back at you

For we hold the ultimate void, we shall go on, we are Omega.

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