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 ANTIHere is something from the dark vaults of Metal Sound. This interview with Blasphemer, ex-guitar player of Mayhem (the band which needs no introduction, really...) was done somewhere around the release of already classic “Ordo ad chao” and it was planned for the printed version; we ceased that activities, transferred our stuff online and somehow this interview fell through the cracks... until now when we decided that it is too good to stay unpublished, and also it will be interesting read from this perspective. It also carries a bit of sentimental value for me as this is the first interview I have done for Metal Sound and it proved to Marko that I was worthy enough to join its wicked ranks. No more words – read on and enjoy!
Be greeted, Blasphemer! How are you these days, my friend? I’m good, thanks. Just returned back to Portugal after 5 shows with Mayhem. Its actually the first shows we have done since the release of Ordo Ad Chao and they went surprisingly well. I guess we are a old and oiled machine, hehe. So, basically im just relaxing, enjoying fine, exquisite wine and good fumes. Its all good for now I guess. Ordo ad Chao gained quite a lot of success already - critics are raving about it, fans' reactions are also great, and the album even entered Norwegian album chart at #12, which is quite unusual for an extreme band like Mayhem. So are you satisfied with such a feedback? Does it mean anything to you? Well, it means something for the pockets if nothing else, doesn't it? hehe. Nah, I am not really thinking too much about it. There was a lot of expectations around this time and its good to feel that they have been accomplished so to speak. But seriously, an album of this caliber entering the 12th position in the Norwegian charts, and even holding on to a 15th position the following week, is groundbreaking and quite confusing to me. No offense here, but for me its easier to accept the fact that Dimmu Borgir or Satyricon ends up there. They play, after all, more accessible music. But i guess its all a sign of the times, there are more cruelty present in our world and with that, more questions follows, and the need to fill the hollowness with something is increasing. Let's return to the time before you even began working on Ordo ad Chao. What were your main intentions - did you have some sort of a master plan or you worked on it spontaneously? What was your initial vision of Ordo ad chao? I'm asking you this because this is really an unusual piece of music, uncommon in every way. Yeah, well, I wanted to go further than we have ever done before basically. To create something so stark and gruesome that it would defy the listeners way of hearing and feeling it. There are so many BM bands in this world, which is a good thing in itself I guess, but the problem however lies in the credibility of the persona's and the music itself.- There are way to much garbage and useless shit around. And this is kind of our fist in to the masses. A statement that there exists evil above the rather simplified conceptual understanding of the same thing. I believe this album came quite naturally after all. The return of Attila was an enormous help and push for the band as well, as it was a pleasure working with someone who put all their energies into the music. No offense to Maniac here, on the contrary i have huge respect for him, but sometimes he just wasn't that into it. He was more interested in going home than rehearse if you get my point. How did the process of composing look like? As we know, you are the main composer. Did the band had any input in composing or is this entirely your vision? Were Hellhammer, Necrobutcher and Atilla responsible for their parts or you did arrangements for all instruments? Well, of course Hellhammer’s drums always change things a bit. I believe its the process of playing the songs "live" in the rehearsal room that enables me to put the final nails in the coffin. Then its so much easier to hear if it has the desired flow or not, so in that case i believe everybody contributed. But for the actual riffs and a large part of the compositions; its all mine. I must also mention the inputs of Attila (as already mentioned), as for the spirit of the album. Without him this album wouldn't be able to complete as it is...we put an equal amount of energies and thoughts into it. We kind of pushed each other on how far we could actually go before it turned to over the top. It was very interesting working with him. You came out with unstructured arrangements and rarely repeating dissonant riffs. Did you have any song patterns or did you just play straight from your heart? It’s mostly from the heart, but at the same time its very important to know that nothing is random. The riffs are made without any concern or inputs from norms or musical rules whatsoever, and there lies the spontaneity. But overall, the album is highly structured; its just so much to accept at once, you need time to digest it and to put it into system.  My first encounter with Ordo ad Chao was like this - I pressed the PLAY button on my stereo. After the first minute of listening to Wise Birthgiver, I stopped all my activities, turned everything else off in the house, sat down and sat motionless until the last moment of Anti. After the listening, I didn't remember any particular riff or melody - only pitch black ATMOSPHERE, feeling of being in a darkened lifeless void. In my opinion, this kind of feeling is essential for true Black Metal, it goes beyond mere playing of fast riffs and blast beats, it is a much more spiritual thing that separates true masters from wannabe kids. How did you succeed in conveying such an inhuman feeling? Can you explain it yourself? Maybe not. But i knew that I would defy some "musical laws" with this album, as everything kind of is "against the stream", if you know what I mean. Its written to be anti-human/social in its entirety. Anti all laws, and dare I say gravity, hehe. Its written to challenge peoples interpretation of what is Black Metal and possibly what is music itself. Thats why its all dissonant, non-logical on the surface. People hate dissonant things; just look in our daily lives...everything is based on order, thats what we strive for. BUT, back to the album here, there exists something higher, something more developed in terms of the compositions behind it. As I previously explained; its highly structured, but with an chaotic feel. I guess this monster started to breathe itself and eventually made itself. In connection with my last question, the production work on Ordo ad Chao raised many eyebrows, it is truly ''necro as fuck'', as Hellhammer previously stated. It is incredibly lo-fi, your riffs are full of low end and muffled, Hellhammer and Necrobutcher are buried in the mix a bit, but I think it truly adds something to the overall dark feeling and is obviously baked to perfection. Am I right? What were your intentions with the production? Elaborate on this.. . Basically I wanted to have the same sound as i made the skeletons at home with, you know. Ive been working hard for quite some time now, to achieve this kind of sound. So, I brought all my home-recording equipment to the studio and plugged in and said; this is the sound i want. No questions asked and this eventually became the result. This goes for all the sounds on the album. They are all a part of the idea behind the album. further id like to say that everybody was very happy with the original guitar sounds i Ive created, needless to say they changed a bit(different softwares etc) but the same essence is there I believe. Name of the album ''Ordo ad chao'' is your reversal of the common phrase ''order from chaos''. The lyrics seem connected with themes of chaos and antihuman feelings. Also, album is not the collection of songs; it seems to be more like one long ceremony. Is this conceptual album of some sort? Could you tell us something about your inspiration and work on lyrics... Hmm, I’d like to leave this for Attila as it is highly thought through piece as work( as well with the music which is my aspect). Although I wrote the half of the last lyric "Anti" there are things that should come from his mouth. But for a few keywords I can mention; Sumerian tablets, Hidden Agendas as in secret or hidden knowledge(Lodge), the removal of religion, self, abilities of the self, occultism- Enochian" etc...It all ends with "Anti". Detraction of outer Space, hehe, While we're at it, I must tell you that I cannot imagine how these songs will work in the live setting. I always listen to the album in its entirety. So what are your plans about this matter, maybe playing the whole album live? I?d love to see that! I don't think we will do the whole album live but we do already 3 songs. And we will rehearse another 2 for the future sets, so no problems there. Keep in mind that this album was also rehearsed to its fullest(well, almost) before we entered studio. All is possible, except for the additional guitar-fills that is. I still only have 2 hands... This album also marked the return of the one and only Attila! He is the best singer Mayhem has ever had, IMHO. No offense to Maniac or Dead, but Atilla is truly THE man. What is it like working with him, since you never were in Mayhem together? How did he come up with his vocal arrangements? I always wanted to know that. For example, at the beginning of De consecrate he sounds like he had just lost his damn mind! His insane vocal lines gave a whole new touch to Ordo ad Chao, something that Maniac would not be capable of doing on this album, methinks... Clear us out the reasons for Maniac's departure from Mayhem, also... Yes, it was truly an interesting experience working with Attila. He gave me such inspiration to write this album, and as i already mentioned, this couldnt have been done with Maniac. Attilas way of thinking and seeing things made us a very good and solid base for this album. We often had long discussions about how the album should go or turn or whatever. There was an amazing amount of great ideas in which the majority came to life on this album. I think we are a good team together, hehe. I really needed him to outdo myself. As for the departure of Maniac, it was very non-dramatic really. We noticed throughout the European tour with Chimera that he was losing interest or started to behave very negative towards us and the fact that we were on tour. I believe the last show on the Chimera tour(in Denmark actually) it was the final nail in the coffin. I talked to Necro and HH about it after the show and they wouldn't do more shows if he kept on with his complaining and his rather arrogant behavior. Anyway, we did 2 more shows(festivals) and that was it. I remember calling Attila after our show at With Full Force in Germany( HH, our sound guy and me, drunk on Absinthe)and he was ready, so... I've heard the rumour that you played some bass on the album. Any truth behind this? And if so, why Necrobutcher didn't play all bass parts? Yes, I do. Mainly because the music altered continuesly. When he came to the studio it was already a lot of changed tones etc (all to make it seriously unpleasant), and to save time, i did it. Not very dramatic really...Note that he plays on the album, i just did what we thought could save us time. Hellhammer, as usual, shines through the entire album. Just his clever work on the cymbals is worth of pure gold! Now that he joined Dimmu Borgir, how will he handle the work in two big and touring bands? Is he the permanent member of Dimmu? I'm not sure if he is in Dimmu Borgir at present time, as they already left for an extensive European tour without him. Time will tell whats gonna happen, but for now; His ass is mine, bohohaha. Apart from your usual speedy picking riffs, Ordo ad Chao contain some more doomy / noise - influenced riffs. Any musical inspirations for such work? Do you have some musical inspirations beside extreme metal? Well, I listen to anything as long as its quality but i cannot say any specific influence no. For me everything from Dead Can Dance to Fields of The Nehilim to Black Sabbath to Hate Forest is close to heart. Everything for my many moods. But yeah, there is no denying that i have always been a huge doom fan. Some of my first encounters with obscure music in the 80s was Doom, and it kept by me, hehe,. I have found on your official forum that you said in Terrorizer' interview you dislike Chimera, you said that it was rushed and hardly had any good songs on it. I disagree with things stated above; can you tell me what you think about Chimera nowadays? Was its more straightforward style necessary thing for you, to put that out of your system before you could compose Ordo ad Chao? I think I wanted Chimera to be Ordo ad Chao in a way, but at the time i wasn't focused enough and maybe i didn't have enough knowledge to dive deep enough into it. I regret some things ive said about that album, as ive re-discovered it later on for its sheer "epic" style. Its good, but far from both Grand and Ordo. By that i mean that i still could alter or do things better given the right time on that album. Nevertheless, the album is what it is and there is no looking back in anger(as Oasis would have said it). its a part of me and Mayhem. Therefore it is important. As a final note on the question; it contains my fave Mayhem songs of all time, namely: Dark Night Of the Soul! De Misteriis dom Sathanas is IMHO the most important black metal album ever - it is dark monument for every black metal band to behold and learn something from it. Ordo ad Chao is truly the fist into the status quo of current black metal. Do you think that it can have the same impact on the scene as the above-mentioned DMDS? DMDS was embodied rebellious statement of black metal against innumerable death metal copycat bands. We have almost the same situation on the scene today - bunch of worthless bands copying Darkthrone, Bathory, Mayhem...and selling it under ''tr00 kvlt'' monicker. Can Ordo ad Chao be the leader of changes again? Let’s hope so. Time will tell. When that is said; its difficult to beat the dead in cult status and importance, hehe. But I hope that people will acknowledge this album for what it is. It is truly a fist in the face and a fuck off to everything, even to music itself(to a certain extent) What lies in the future of Mayhem? Where do you see your sound is heading after Ordo od Chao? Will you continue exploring the soundscape / atmosphere exploration of sounds, return to the more traditional sound, or something in between? Time will tell if there will be more Mayhem albums. Anything can happen you know. Thats one thing I’ve learned throughout these years. Do not trust or believe in anything when it comes down to it. Something for the end... Thanks for the interview. Hope to see you all out there in a future show. UGGH! Questions done by Trifunovic Slobodan |
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